Corcaigh

This is the S&P performance for the past decade. In only three years out of ten investors have not done well, and in some years they’ve done exceptionally well. Better than historical averages. But for most of us we remember losses more than gains.

And because of volatility you see on the chart, trying to pick when to enter and when to exit the market is very inefficient.

32 minutes ago, CousinsCowgirl84 said:

 Looks like it might be $500

$2975, unless you are getting the family discount.

https://shop.tesla.com/product/cybertruck-basecamp

10 hours ago, PokerPacker said:

https://electrek.co/2024/03/08/tesla-shipping-cybertruck-tent/

And only $3000.

I’d like to see a diverse approach:

(1) more renewable, including home solar

(2) better energy efficiency - my utilities are a third now in a properly constructed and insulated home compared to the ****ty construction late-1980s McMansion I used to live in. And the square footage is higher in our new home.

(3) increase nuclear

(4) more reservoirs that can serve to smooth out the peaks and troughs of rainfall with climate change, and also to act as pump storage for when renewables are producing more than we can use.

8 hours ago, Riggo-toni said:

What about SMRs? Apparently Japan is developing plans to produce them at scale, and potentially producing hydrogen as a by-product.

I think we are still a few years away from commercial

SMR offerings and until then it’s hard to evaluate the economics. Because of complexity, nuclear reactors are currently about 50% higher than wind/solar and natural gas.
 

Reducing the size of a reactor might reduce some costs but would increase others such as security and waste management given there would be more of them and spread out geographically.

Nice quote from William Bernstein who has written a number of highly regarded books on investing and financial independence:

"People do not seek employment in investment banks, brokerage houses, and mutual fund companies with the same motivations as those who choose to work in fire departments or elementary schools. Whether investors know it or not, they are engaged in an ongoing zero-sum, life-and-death struggle with piranhas, and if rigorous precautions are not taken, the financial services industry will strip investors of their wealth faster than they can say 'Bernie Madoff'". 
 

Bogleheads.org - a message board with fabulous advice on investing and personal finance for people who want to self manage their finances. Incredibly knowledgeable and helpful people there.

7 minutes ago, Captain Wiggles said:

Do the cartridges still dry out after six months even tho I printed out maybe three pages in that time? 🤣

So far it’s worked. The cartridge status is monitored and they have supplied several new ones even though our use is very infrequent.

Alexa, which manages a bunch of devices in our home, including lights, plugs, doors etc., offered to connect to it and without thinking about it I agreed, and now Alexa is offering to ship me replacement printer cartridges via Amazon. 🤣

On 2/28/2024 at 9:05 AM, Destino said:

Oh man this is hilarious.  It looks like Willy Wonka’s meth lab.

Normally when people go to an abandoned warehouse for raves they take drugs and hallucinate colorful psychedelic experiences. The problem here was that the children and their helicopter parents didn’t load up on MDMA before entering the warehouse.

Shame on everyone …

… for not commenting that the only acceptable way for an American male to eat ice cream in public is from a miniature plastic baseball cap.

Most of our printing is with a BW laser printer.
 

I haven’t read the article but I also have a color HP printer that I agree to pay $1 per month for ink that meets our infrequent color printing needs. Occasionally I get shipped a new cartridge without needing to request it. In the few years I’ve had the cheapo HP printer I’ve never found that I was out of ink because the ****ing cartridges were either out of ink or dried up. This contrasts with prior decades where home color printing was often just a source of frustration.

i guess HP’s profitability model is based around people printing all sorts of **** they don’t need on a color printer.

Teichmann said ”Chess is 99% tactics”. That’s going to be the single activity that will give the greatest improvement until you get to 1500 or higher. Work on puzzles and you will start to see  these themes in your games.

On 2/27/2024 at 5:06 PM, @DCGoldPants said:

 

 

The next argument for immunity will be “Stupid Earthlings, I have no time for your puny Earth Laws.”

In terms of a simple thinking process in chess:

(1) understand your opponent’s last move. Is it threatening a check or a capture? Did it leave a piece or square unguarded

(2) look at your own options; first checks (forcing move), then captures, then threats

If you take a little time to do this each move your vision of the board will improve dramatically. If you play under time controls where you don’t have time to do this you won’t improve. You have to play slow in order to develop the quick recognition that will allow you to play faster and at a higher level of analysis.

Swiss GM Noel Studer has a really good blog and free newsletter about chess improvement. Here is one short blog post about thinking.

https://nextlevelchess.blog/how-to-think-during-a-chess-game/

2 hours ago, Thinking Skins said:

The Collie 

Bro, that’s a dog.

1 hour ago, Maxito said:

I know the moves, but I don't know any strategy from opening, midgame, and endgame.   I have watched my fair share of YouTube videos, mainly Anna Cramling's videos of her games.  Seeing her videos I never knew pawns were so important.   

There’s something about her voice that irritates and I find her videos almost unwatchable.

30 minutes ago, Jumbo said:

Aaron Nimzomich

 

 

He was special and top five in the world at one point. His first book chess principles is modestly titled ‘My System.’

He stood up in anger when he realized he was not going to win an important game against a world-class player and shouted “Why must I lose to this idiot?”

Another time he complained to the tournament organizer when an opponent put an unlit cigar beside the board, saying that he was threatening to smoke and that “the threat is stronger than its execution.”

On 2/28/2024 at 9:43 AM, Thinking Skins said:

 

 

If you wanted one book to start, Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess is good. If you wanted a video without singing cartoon pawns, this one on key chess principles is good.

After that, do tactics puzzles on lichess.org or chess.com, and play lots of games but take the time to review your games so you don’t repeat the same errors over and over.

TradetheBeal and Krystal Koons are the same person?

i think it depends on the area. In Northern Virginia the significant number of customers are over-entitled assholes with more money than sense and the car sales people smell money and don’t give a **** about long-term customer relationships. When I tried buying cars from the dealerships in Tysons Corner I felt I was on some hidden camera TV show as the salespeople were so sleazy. It got to the point where my wife wouldn’t join me on visits out of embarrassment because of my blunt hostility to their shenanigans. 

I don’t find the experience typically bad elsewhere as we go in well informed on what we are prepared to pay and current market pricing and we just walk if they try any stupid games. But most do not.

I used to play a lot as a teen and did win some small open tournaments. I have accounts on Lichess and Chess.com but play very rarely, but try to do a few tactics puzzles almost every day

@Sacks 'n' Stuff can provide guidance on how chess has helped him achieve mental peace

‘Islands of Abandonment - Life in the post human landscape’ is a good book looking at different parts of the world that humans have been, and then left. And how nature has done in the absence of humans in reclaiming the land. Some areas very highly polluted, including the Chernobyl exclusion zone, some due to natural disasters.

There’s also the interesting discussion of what population for Earth is sustainable. A lot depends on the consumption choices we are willing to make, but current behaviors are not sustainable for sure.

Oh, and that spinlauncher has enormous technical difficulties to overcome before it is useful. Such as how to survive travelling at Mach 6 at ground level atmospheric pressure. We talked about it before I think and Jabberwocky invited us to compose haikus. And humans will never survive the g-forces associated with a launch.

2 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

 

I doubt even that person predicted one day damn near one in every pocket.

It would take quite the genius to predict our dystopian present where everyone has a super computer in their pocket that gives immediate access to all the world’s information and can communicate with anyone anywhere. And its primary use is for distributing 30 second dance videos by talentless amateurs.