It’s extra frustrating because I created cosmetic filters for uBlock Origin that allow me to access individual Reddit posts (so I can still read Reddit posts that I find through a search engine) but not any of the feeds so that I can’t waste time scrolling. I can’t use those on the app.

Everything else can be looked up on Google

I think that there actually is value to rote and memorization. Adding more knowledge to your head expands the possibilities for what thoughts you’re able to have in a way that outsourcing to Google never could. My best example is GPS navigation vs mental mapping. A while ago, I stopped using GPS during my drives, instead spending some time to look over the map and memorize the directions before I set out. Since I started doing this, I have a much clearer mental map of the places I drive through. I can use my mental map to plan efficient outings, since I have a good idea of what places are close together and when/how to take alternate routes to avoid traffic.

The other problem with leaving things to Google is that it makes you less self-reliant and diminishes your ability to unplug from the internet and think and act in the real world. Sure you can use Google Translate, but actually learning a foreign language allows you to participate in conversations, appreciate jokes, and see the world through the lens of the relationships baked into another language (e.g. you see sparks and fireworks as “fire-flowers” because you know the words hibana and hanabi).

Also, analogies and examples form an important underpinning for critical thinking. And the best way to seed a student’s mind with examples is to make them read a lot.

Logarithmic scales are notorious for hiding spikes.

I bought 96 gigs of DDR3 for my server in December 2022. It cost $118.76; less than $1.24 per gig.

I do have brunch with my kids every day, but why would I say “data” during it? We’re still on Spock.

Should have known from the fact that the spine says “Quantum Entanglement”. This is the set my son was given. Looks like he actually has published a few more since then, but nothing Linux-related (yet). We love them!

NO WAY! They’ve got an LFS one now?!? My son got a bunch of them for his baby shower two years ago, and he’s been like super into them since he was like 15-18 months old. I highly recommend Bayesian Statistics; it explains the concept more clearly than any stats or data science class I’ve taken. His favorites are Optical Physics (because he’s into rainbows), Bayesian Statistics (because he likes cookies), and Quantum Computing (because he likes the word “data”, probably because he hears me say it in work meetings).

It’s certainly odd but my wife doesn’t mind it because she just makes me operate it 😅

Finally got sick of the FireTV so I plugged a mini PC into a dumb TV. It’s kinda sad to have to use a keyboard instead of a controller, but it was a minor tradeoff for a much better experience.

I’ve got two.

A lab freezer’s seal broke in the middle of a humid Michigan summer, so everything got encased in frost. In the process of chipping away the frost, the ink on many of the labels rubbed away, so we essentially had a bunch of mystery flasks. One such flask had a septum that was stuck really tight. When I yanked it out, the recoil caused some of the mystery liquid to splash onto my mesh shoe. Within a couple minutes, my foot started stinging. We later identified the contents to be acetyl chloride, so it was probably reacting with my foot sweat to make acetic acid and hydrochloric acid. I took my shoe and sock off and rinsed my foot in the lab sink.

I was putting sodium hydride into an empty round bottom and a good bit of it got stuck to the ground glass in the neck. Genius that I am, I turned a nitrogen line on with low flow thinking I could blow it into the flask. I didn’t realize that the nitrogen had to go somewhere and the only place it could go is back out, blowing NaH all over my face. There was very much safety-glasses-unless-there’s-an-inspection culture at my old university, but I was never more thankful that I made it a personal rule to wear splash goggles. Would not have liked for the moisture on my eyes to bubble off.

Aegis works perfectly. My university used Duo and then Okta, and both worked. I was unable to get Authy to work, though.