scarabic

Metafilter

Some people say “make a decision” and some people say “take a decision.” In my experience most Americans say “make a decision,” but both are valid and mean the same thing.

Controlling the meeting calendar for the president is more than just the clerical work of a personal assistant. The president works and makes decisions by meeting with people. She decides who gets access to him today. She deflects people she doesn’t think are worth his time. Over the long run she can have extraordinary influence over him and what choices he has in front of him to make. She can effectively block people she doesn’t want to have any access. Thats a lot of power for someone most people don’t know by name.

I have kids and wanted them when I had them in my early 30s. I did not feel that want at 22. But neither did I think “I never want kids.”

A lot of people’s view on this eventually crystallizes based on who they choose to spend their life with. You could meet someone who changes you and changes your view and who definitely wants kids and with whom you feel good about doing it. You could change your mind and that’s what it would look like if you did.

I have had a vasectomy and when you do it you’re supposed to tell them if you have any chance of ever changing your mind. If I were you I’d answer yes to that.

There’s no guarantee a vasectomy can ever be reversed. However they can perform the procedure in a way that leaves as much of your tubes as possible in the event that you might someday want to reconnect them. In my experience they will also make damn sure you know that there’s no guarantee. However though people lean hard on emphasizing that lack of guarantee, the fact is that many vasectomies are successfully reversed, so it is possible.

Yes I believe there’s an over-emphasis on the visual here. There’s a low limit on how many distinct objects we can perceive visually at once but that’s not entirely the same as what numbers we can grasp and comprehend.

Or maybe they are finding raw materials. Perhaps they would make shoes as needed, and they had soles cut to a huge size so you’d be able to trim them down to whatever size was needed.

I remind myself that news media have a vested interest in keeping me outraged and on the edge of my seat, addicted to consuming their every update.

There are definitely things worth getting outraged over. But on top of that we have an outrage industry harvesting our attention and fear for ad dollars.

So I remind myself not to spiral down the doomclick drain. If something is THAT important I’m going to hear about it. I don’t need to be checking a news app daily.

On top of this I do what I can to support change. We donate to Ukraine and Gaza relief efforts. We vote. We make our political views known to those around us to support right action in them as well (not talking about politics is what Trumpers want - they want cover for their fascist hate and violence - I make damn sure that everyone I know is aware that there’s no room for that shit in my life).

Conserve your strength. Do everything material that you can, and don’t spend yourself past that point.

But that first part is important: DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN.

It plays quite well with the “I think about things for two seconds, and mostly think with my lower intestine” crowd.

They hear “kids shouldn’t be able to access porn” and they think yeah what’s wrong with that. Then they hear “Democrats want your kids to get porn” and they hit share.

Developers having a narrower list of browsers to support is not ONLY about greed. You say it is NOT about making something that works to improve people’s lives. And I disagree with that.

You can’t build a good piece of software and try To support every client under the sun since the beginning of time. There is a reasonable point to draw some lines and prioritize.

So while greed is ONE factor, you seem to be saying it’s the only factor, and that people are stupid and broken for doing this. That’s going too far.

It’s unrealistic to expect perfection. Today people want comprehensive client support. Tomorrow they will be outraged at some bug. But few realize: you may have to pick between the two. Because having zero bugs is a lot more achievable if you can focus on a small list of current browser clients. That’s just a fact. The next day they will be upset that there are ads in the site, but it may be ad revenue that pays for developers to fix all the bugs for all browser clients under the sun.

People love to rant online about how NO you should give me EVERYTHING and do it for FREE but this is childish tantruming and has no relationship to reality. Devs are not an endless resource that just gives and gives forever. They are regular people who need to go home at night like anyone else.

What?

the idiot desire to get more money

Yes, but we don’t have to make a total caricature out if it. We all need to prioritize our time. That isn’t evil, or broken, or wrong. That’s just life.

enormous

It isn’t though. Thats the exact point. It’s a moderate effort that would prevent infinitesimal damage. That’s just not good math. People have to prioritize their time. If you have a numbers case to make about why the damage is so enormous, make it. That’s what it will take to be convincing: numbers.