DrBob
@DrBob@lemmy.ca
Recovering academic now in public safety. You’ll find me kibitzing on brains (my academic expertise) to critical infrastructure and resilience (current worklife). Also hockey, games, music just because.
- Comment on The 1950s were wild... 1 week ago:
This method is still superior to Heimlich. But its difficult to execute under most circumstances.
- Comment on Objectivity 1 week ago:
OP misunderstood Kuhn maybe.
- Comment on Are all phone calls voip (voice over Internet protocol) now? 1 month ago:
No. But it’s getting there. In business continuity we used to be advised to keep a POTS (plain old telephone service) line around because it would the last service to go down and the first one to come up. About a year ago we were advised that we shouldn’t bother. The copper lines convert to VOIP at a switch station.
- Comment on How come hotel check-in time is always 3-4? 1 month ago:
Because checkout isn’t until 11. It takes time to prep a room between guests. Depending on occupancy and staffing levels you may be able to get in earlier.
- Comment on Google Podcasts is shutting down soon, users urged to move to YouTube Music 2 months ago:
I did too. Moved to AntennaPod when they first announced that bullshit. GPod was…fine. I started using it because it was there and it wasn’t enough of an irritant to switch over.
- Comment on The joy of finding an interesting gap in the literature 3 months ago:
I see you’ve found my publication record.
- Comment on William Shatner's TekWar is the technological future of crap 3 months ago:
I’m outraged that the article skimped on Mr. Shatner’s other acting accomplishments including the titular cop on T.J. Hooker, and whatevet his name was on Boston Legal. That was the lawyer show that wasn’t Ally McBeal. Or L.A. Law.
- Comment on [deleted] 3 months ago:
It’s all good. The generations thing comes from the boomers as well, the huge number of babies that were born in the post-war period and that covered a lot of countries. They needed a name and everything else just formed around them.
I won’t deny that someone born in 1946 had a very different experience than someone born in 1964, but from a programmatic view they all benefited from growth in programs and services aimed at children and youth. Those programs underwent a dramatic change in the 1970s as they became means tested or mothballed because of the small number of children.
Again, this is anecdotal, but I switched schools every two years before high school. Every one of them closed because there weren’t enough children in the catchment area. They were built because of the baby boom, and my Jones siblings walked to schools in the neighborhood because classes were full. I was bussed from Grade 1 onwards. And so on.
- Comment on [deleted] 3 months ago:
I’m not an American. Federal grants still exist in Canada as well, but the eligibility criteria changed and the program was no longer universal by the time I went to post-secondary. As I said that was an example and there are many. I also had to deal with the height of the AIDS epidemic. The first case report in the literature was 1981. And lead contaminated water was never an issue in our jurisdiction.
If you are a millenial you don’t have any lived experience from the period, so why do you question mine? I was part of the “baby bust” as they originally called it and programs and services that were available to my older siblings were not available to me.
- Comment on [deleted] 3 months ago:
No it’s not. My older siblings are part of Jones and with just six and eight year gaps they have had very different experiences than X. My favorite example; there were still government grants for university when they went through. They worked odd jobs during the summer knowing that grants would pay full tuition and residence. Government backed loans paid the rest. By the time I went through the grant program had been dismantled and loans were partially privatized. And I graduated into the aftermath of Black Monday.
- Comment on [deleted] 3 months ago:
Because cocaine was not a widely distributed drug in the 60s. It was another 15 years before it was being moved in significant volume.
- Comment on Expertise 3 months ago:
There is some field dependency - mathematics is notoriously fast. The other one I talk about below is the PhD portion of an MD/PhD. In some fields (mine included) there’s 2 years of coursework plus lab research so it was heavily results driven.
- Comment on Expertise 3 months ago:
But to his point the UK is the place I know that will take a three year undergrad for a PhD program.
- Comment on Expertise 3 months ago:
The length/number of post-docs scales directly with your start up costs.
Need a computer and a desk? You can go on the market right after your PhD or one post-doc. Need seven figures of equipment plus animal space? Don’t expect to get a job until you’re pushing forty.
Committees want to see a strong funding track record before they make that kind of investment
- Comment on Expertise 3 months ago:
I came from a very large lab; 18 post-docs, and half a dozen grad students. The general observation about the PhD portion of the MD/PhD program is that it tends to be very programmatic research. Typically applying a known technique to a neglected but not novel area. The straight PhDs had much higher expectations for novelty and depth. The MD/PhDs were out in three and the PhDs were five to six.
- Comment on Expertise 3 months ago:
Three years for a PhD? Must be a Brit or combined degree. Average is almost six at the moment.
- Comment on Finance worker pays out $25 million after video call with deepfake ‘chief financial officer’ | CNN 4 months ago:
Insider threat. My organization archives our town halls with the President. There are hours of video available on the internal site.
- Comment on xkcd #217: e to the pi Minus pi (31 Jan 2007) 5 months ago:
Oh grad school man. Yes it would. I was also amazed that there would be people sitting at the bar who could read hieroglyphics. And random shit like that.
- Comment on A literal child taking orders in a fast food restaurant in the US 5 months ago:
I am getting downvoted in another thread for pointing out that in Canada it’s illegal to identify minors taking part in, or convicted of a crime. So I am not pro-nazi, just that we view those children as victims as well. People get weird about this stuff.
- Comment on Half Of All Skills Will Be Outdated Within Two Years, Study Suggests 5 months ago:
I think this is a very limited definition of the word “skills”.
- Comment on "YOLO" and "Memento Mori" mean pretty much the same thing 5 months ago:
You’re focusing on the wrong part of my argument. The cat bit was a humorous throwaway.
Memento mori is directly and explicitly tied to humility and mindfulness. This is well documented from both contemporary and historical sources and is absolutely distinct from the indulgence of “making the most out of life”. YOLO is about risks and embracing the experience rather than contemplating the consequences. YOLO is closer to “hold my beer” than anything else.
- Comment on "YOLO" and "Memento Mori" mean pretty much the same thing 5 months ago:
This couldn’t be more incorrect. Memento mori is a call for humility. Carpe diem is a call for purposeful action. YOLO is a “hold my beer” moment preceding a calculated stupidity.
- Comment on "YOLO" and "Memento Mori" mean pretty much the same thing 5 months ago:
Carpe diem is a call to action - to not fritter your life away on inconsequential things. YOLO is a polite way to say “fuck it”.
- Comment on "YOLO" and "Memento Mori" mean pretty much the same thing 5 months ago:
Not technically correct, superficially correct. “A cat on a pillar and a caterpillar are basically the same thing! Amirite?”
- Comment on "YOLO" and "Memento Mori" mean pretty much the same thing 5 months ago:
Memento mori is a caution against excessive pride. We are all equal in the grave and we are all going to die. Memento mori tokens or reminders were carried by powerful people to remind them to temper their decisions and maintain humility. Definitely not the “fuck it” attitude of YOLO.
- Comment on HP raising Instant Ink subscription pricing significantly 6 months ago:
I don’t disagree with that, but she knew exactly what she was brought in to do and jumped in with both feet. Would it have been someone else if she turned the gig down? Of course. But she said yes so it was her.
- Comment on HP raising Instant Ink subscription pricing significantly 6 months ago:
I remember Carly Fiorina getting hired and almost immediately things started turning to shit.
- Comment on What is "FUD"? 7 months ago:
As others have said Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.
It entered tech lingo way back in the 90s when Microsoft was fighting an early wave of Linux on desktop. They would troll and present themselves as a reliable alternative.
They weren’t the first to do it. IBM’s unofficial motto in the 70s was “nobody gets fired for going with IBM”.
- Comment on I Can't Drink Now Like I Used to a Few Years Ago (26M), is that Normal? 7 months ago:
Mid-50s chiming in. In grad school I’d have 4-5 pints at the grad pub and then go downtown to go drinking lol. Those days are long gone.
I have a 2 drink limit now and will switch to water or soda. Otherwise I can’t function the next day. Hangovers are exponentially worse than they used to be.
- Comment on Need to fasten/glue roofing shingle type of stuff 8 months ago:
This is a use case for a step flashing or pan. Use sheet metal cut to shape and bent at a right ( or other angle) to give you a nailing surface. You nail it to the roof deck and it stands up.