leopold has other models including the f980c, which has a numpad, though non standard layout. If you want a traditional layout with topre switches, there's the Realforce line.
> A novice was trying to fix a broken Lisp machine by turning the power off and on.
> Knight, seeing what the student was doing, spoke sternly: “You cannot fix a machine by just power-cycling it with no understanding of what is going wrong.”
(Tom) Knight says that fixing problems requires you to understand what's going on, and you can't just blindly turn a machine off and on again and hope it'll fix things.
In the novice's particular case, Knight understands what is actually wrong with the machine, and that in this case it will be fixed by turning it off and on again, so he does that.
The idea that in such a situation the machine wouldn't be fixed by power-cycling it when the novice does it, but would when an expert with deep understanding does it, is a joke.
The joke is mimicing the form of a Zen koan. Koans often play with contradiction, I think with the idea of shaking the reader out of simplistic black-and-white thinking into something more holistic and less dichotomizing. I don't think "you need to understand things deeply and not just make random easy changes in the hope of fixing them, but sometimes it happens that those random easy changes are what's actually required" really counts as the sort of holistic non-dichotomizing thing Zen is trying to teach, but it's kinda in the right ballpark.
Hi, I'm Asian, graduated from a state school with a humanities degree, worked my way from tech support at a tiny startup into engineering, and now (several jobs later) work as a software eng at Stripe. I've met plenty of other engineers here with non-traditional backgrounds.
I think you're:
1. way too hard on yourself. If you broaden your scope just a bit, you'll see that Amazon is an elite engineering organization.
2. buying way too much into phony credentialism. I don't make a big deal out of it, but personally I consider being able to hold my own engineering-wise while having gone to a state school as a badge of honor.
3. giving way too much headspace to comparing yourself with others in envy. There's always someone better, smarter, etc. I find them around me all the time. I choose to see them as mentors and role models, rather than rivals or competitors.
> I should have done research in high school and I should have gotten at least two first author papers to a top conference in undergrad - instead I got 2 2nd author papers to medium tier conferences because I could never come up with any compelling research ideas. All of my work is ultimately meaningless because it just wasn’t enough - it’s extremely depressing.
I don't think you're ever going to be satisfied if this is your definition of success. You should try to find meaning in the work itself, not in the recognition or status that comes from it.
We raised our daughter from 0-5 in big cities, and there is definitely a huge appeal to that. But on the flip side, kids don’t need to “go anywhere.” They just need other kids around. When I grew up, we just roamed the neighborhood causing trouble. That element is missing in most cities today. You can’t just count on having a mess of kids on your block. Parents are the minority, so they have to more consciously get together and schedule activities with other parents.
At least in NYC, growing up, there were always playgrounds and parks full of kids. And I could go there by myself and meet my friends there. If we got bored of the nearby park we could always go use public transportation and go to a different one. And when I got older I could go to restaurants by myself, or go to museums and shows by myself, etc.
There isn't that much within safe walking distance of a suburban home. Especially now that anchor tenants and the attached malls are starting to thin out. Anecdotally when I went to college, the kids from the suburbs definitely drank and did drugs much more heavily, and I suspect it was because that's all there's left to do if you get bored of video games and whatever little is actually at your fingertips.
I am glad you are giving your kids more opportunities than you had. I did not have the same experience growing up in a suburban environment, and my kids aren't the least bit lacking for activities, so to each their own. My suburban neighborhood also has transit service, so there's that.
Portlander here, I used to work right by the food carts downtown on 10th and Alder. The hospital bracelet guy is one of regulars, he's been running that schtick for literally years. There's a cast off characters like him who are fixtures there. I'm not against compassion for the homeless, but after running into a few of these repeatedly, I tend to refrain from supporting them directly and give to local charities instead. I'm not even arguing that you made a bad decision, just sharing my own experience.
Here in Austin, Texas I encounter homeless people regularly and have become a bit numb to the stories after talking to people more and seeing their stories change.
I've bought food and even pumped gas into portable gas cans for people, refusing to give them any cash, only to see their story unravel when they realize they won't get money from me. The original story about needing gas to pick up their paycheck morphs into something else that requires money.
I had a man yell at me after I pumped gas for him because I didn't want to give him straight cash. And then seeing the same people whacked out on something or drinking beer a few days later trying to pitch you the same story.
The unfortunate thing is that those people do need help, usually mental health help but solving that problem will require more than people temporarily supporting their addiction.
I don't think giving them money should be about "getting people back on track" or anything similar. It's just to give them money for a beer, a burger or something to ease their day. Personally, I think there will always be people who doesn't fit into society. It's easier if we don't expect them to open a savings account with the 20 bucks we gave them, and just realize that it goes towards getting drunk/getting something to eat to numb the absolute mess their lives might be.
How is that compassion though? “Here’s $20, go kill yourself somewhere out of my sight. I don’t care.” Is the worst kind of indifference and apathy to drug addiction and mental illness I’ve ever seen. If it was your family member wouldn’t you want better? It just seems like someone has to look out for people who are just self-harming themselves openly in public. Giving them a couple bucks to go away so we can go on with our life and pat ourselves on the back like we helped them is just apathy. Cops need to arrest the meth and heroin dealers but they don’t do anything. It should be appalling but it’s become normalized.
The arrogance that goes into thinking one can decide what is the best use of a couple of dollars to ease someone else's pain is mind boggling. People in this society have a huge problem with believing their crappy little jobs are proof of their superior intellects.
I wouldn't be surprised if this was a scam, but I'm not convinced. Between my own experiences interacting with the homeless and scammers, seeing his fresh physical wounds (including staples in his head), and the weird amount of knowledge he had about physics and obscure computer operating systems, I just don't see it. If anything, he deserves my help just for being so thorough.
Your post reminds me of a strange conversation I found myself in about 10 years ago.
I was approached by a guy at a festival who'd seen me taking "street photographs" with my SLR. He talked to me for a bit about photography and seemed more knowledgeable than average about the technical aspects.
After awhile we started talking about his personal circumstances-- being out of work, not having any cash, and finally pulling up his shirt and showing me a fresh-looking wound on his side and saying that he'd been attacked earlier in the day. I didn't end up giving him any money (I pretty much never carry cash), but if I'd had any I probably would have. Looking back, in light of your post, I wonder if there was a "help me I'm injured" grift that I just missed.
My general feeling is that the smoother the story, the more it is fake. If someone comes off exacerbated, blending the chronologically and details of the story, it is most likely true; extreme situations lead to extreme behavior. Now, when the story is smooth, it’s like a well trained actor orating a theater. The reason it’s so convincing is because the fraudster has had practice.
You're right, I suppose I should have said "because he's human", but I don't think this was a scam. Another point: he never once asked me for anything. Only after >30 minutes of conversation did I offer him a meal.
I don’t think you understand what the role of a CEO of a company is. Despite your flippant implication, being an incredible liar isn’t even close to qualifying you for CEO of an F500.
Have you never seen a shitty movie ? A good advertisement ? Not as much difference as you might think. This society is built upon rewarding frauds. Homeless people with engaging stories are only punished for being poor, not for fraud.
Reminds me of a guy who went to my school. He lives in Williamsburg as an artist. His family is very wealthy. He is always manufacturing crises (mostly health) to get (more) cash. Once I went over there to see my friend (his roommate at the time) and he'd dressed up a wound and setup a photo of himself "passed out" in front of his art work. People are so weird.
I guess he's doing the same gig just a bit more fortunate about his circumstances.
Years ago, and in a town that isn't Portland, I met a street dude with a similar story, including a broken finger supposedly incurred during the assault. His story seemed a little too "just-so", so I didn't stick around, nor give him any money.
Talking later with a local from that town, it turns out dude has been running that line for years, and regularly re-breaks the finger to give it that little touch of verisimilitude.
I have seen many scams over the years - the "ran out of gas" scam used to be common but it's finished now, etc.
As many people (even the Pope!) say, the best thing is still to give directly to homeless people but to never give more based on a story. The people with stories have a job, of sorts and I'll let them collect from their "employers". I just give a dollar here and there to those who ask.
You think if Apple, IBM, Amazon, or another American giant got caught doing this kind of stuff they would get sanctioned nearly as hard by the Trump administration?
Perhaps you are right --- Amazon would not be punished in this way.
But likely you are right for different reasons than you think?
US government can put US executives in jail. I'm sure it would put them in jail. You have to remember what happened here: ZTE was caught, paid penalty and promised to be nice, then they reneged on their promise, lied about it, and got caught again.
Feds in fact just recently put VW executive in jail for even lesser offense. US government has no such jail-time leverage with Chinese companies, there is no extradition agreement, so the only leverage US has, it used.
US companies operate under US jurisdiction, which means US can charge and convict the specific people involved in the illegal activity in US courts (instead of shutting down the company). Since US courts don’t have Jurisdiction over China, one has to rely on harsher but indirect methods like these.
Do you have an example for that? I looked around a bit and only found China not buying from weapon manufacturers anymore who also supplied Taiwan. When it comes to pressure on topics like Tibet they seem to mostly pressure countries instead of companies.
Is China trying to enforce any kind of similar ban?
I got the impression that trying to enforce unilaterally imposed global sanctions is a US thing. The next best thing coming to mind are UN embargos
