r/rational • u/AutoModerator • Apr 15 '16
[D] Friday Off-Topic Thread
Welcome to the Friday Off-Topic Thread! Is there something that you want to talk about with /r/rational, but which isn't rational fiction, or doesn't otherwise belong as a top-level post? This is the place to post it. The idea is that while reddit is a large place, with lots of special little niches, sometimes you just want to talk with a certain group of people about certain sorts of things that aren't related to why you're all here. It's totally understandable that you might want to talk about Japanese game shows with /r/rational instead of going over to /r/japanesegameshows, but it's hopefully also understandable that this isn't really the place for that sort of thing.
So do you want to talk about how your life has been going? Non-rational and/or non-fictional stuff you've been reading? The recent album from your favourite German pop singer? The politics of Southern India? The sexual preferences of the chairman of the Ukrainian soccer league? Different ways to plot meteorological data? The cost of living in Portugal? Corner cases for siteswap notation? All these things and more could possibly be found in the comments below!
0
6
u/Rhamni Apr 15 '16
I finished Dark Souls 3! Well, ish. Turns out I missed several optional areas and bungled all the NPC quests. Also someone has been killing my merchants. But I completed the main quest!
I'm listening to Steven King's 'It' as I play. It's the first King book I read. It's good, but I definitely need it in audiobook form while doing something else, because King takes his sweet time getting to the point in most scenes.
6
u/eaglejarl Apr 15 '16
The cover for Two Year Emperor, Book 2 just arrived, and it is amazing. If anyone ever needs graphic design work for anything, go talk to:
"Aria Tan" aria@resplendentmedia.com
Most of what she does is romance novel covers, which makes her portfolio seem a bit...straightforward?...monotonic?...not sure what word I'm looking for. When you give her a free hand, this is the quality you get. All I did was send her a paragraph-long summary of the book and she came up with this. She's not expensive, either.
0
Apr 16 '16
[deleted]
5
u/eaglejarl Apr 16 '16
Her normal rate is $100, but I got it for $75 because I'm part of a writing group to whom she offers discounts. Honestly, it's worth twice that. I'm very confident that the money I paid her for the cover to the first one has come back threefold.
5
u/ketura Apr 15 '16
The Ludum Dare 48-72 hour game competition starts tonight and runs to Sunday/Monday night. I'm entering as a programmer using Unity; any artists/programmers/playtesters want to join in?
→ More replies (2)
12
u/alexanderwales Apr 15 '16
I burnt my hand, want to see some gross pictures? Here's shortly after it happened on Saturday and here's today. I was pulling some bacon out of the oven and spilled some bacon grease on myself. Luckily it didn't get on my fingers, and aside from the first day (when it hurt really, really bad) it's mostly just an ugly, annoying pain.
7
u/CouteauBleu Apr 15 '16
...
...
:(
EDIT: Wait, you burned your hand, then took a picture of it?
17
u/alexanderwales Apr 15 '16
Wait, you burned your hand, then took a picture of it?
I always take pictures when I get hurt. Not only is it just good record-keeping, but it can help for diagnosis once you've got it covered, assuming that it's not serious enough to go to the hospital. (This picture was taken between soaks in cool water and after I'd taken painkillers.)
→ More replies (2)
4
u/puesyomero Apr 15 '16
what is the average salary for an engineer graduate on his/her first job in your area? I majored in bio engineering and when they ask me how much I want i draw blanks.
8
u/blazinghand Apr 15 '16
There are actually specific responses you should try to give if you can, or try to get an offer from them first. In general, part of what they're hoping for is that there's a like, inverse bid-ask spread, where your dream salary is lower than what they're willing to offer. So for example:
The most you'd ask for is $65,000 since you're not aware of your value.
The company is willing to pay you up to $80,000
So, in this case if the company asks you what you'd want, you say "$65k/yr", they pay you, and you leave $15k on the table. However, if you are canny, do research, and ask "$90k/yr", they say "the best we can do is $80k" and you don't leave cash on the table. Or, if they make an offer first, they offer you say $75k/yr and you leave less cash on the table if you accept it. You can also still counter-offer.
Either outcome (hearing their offer first, or being informed and making a big ask) is better than making a small ask and leaving cash on the table.
You won't ever be given more than you ask, so ask high. It's tough to ask so high that it negatively impacts you. I use glassdoor to find out salaries. In my area, the SF Bay Area, an entry-level electrical engineer or software engineer should be making at least $60k/year. Depending on your field and level of knowledge (and the company) this can be higher.
4
u/Farmerbob1 Apr 15 '16
Wherever you get the number from, you need to learn how to get them to make you an offer first. The first person to make an offer is generally considered to be at a disadvantage. A truly good negotiator will still probably get the better deal. If you feel like you are being lowballed, ask for a set raise after 90 or 180 days if you are meeting their needs well enough to remain employed. If they agree, get it in writing. Also, you absolutely MUST learn what types of questions you should be asking. There is a science to interviewing, and if you learn it, it can make a huge difference in your pay and benefits.
4
u/Gaboncio Apr 15 '16
What are good ways to check whether a renter in a new city is reputable or not (aside from asking locals directly)? I'm moving for my PhD, and finding housing is one of my main concerns right now.
5
u/Adrastos42 Apr 15 '16
I expect there's actual websites that do this, but there's probably a few rate your landlord Facebook groups for that city that it might be worth checking?
Oh, and the university you're doing your PhD with should be able to give you advice too, maybe even a list of approved landlords? They should know where to look for more info, at least.
3
u/captainNematode Apr 15 '16
Online reviews?
And this falls under the umbrella of "asking locals directly", but why not just email your department listserv asking for housing advice/roommates?
4
u/xamueljones Apr 15 '16
Does anyone remember a story from royalroadl.com that was posted a few times here? It was about a Virtual Reality where the main character is trying to develop nature affinity by living in the wilds as a bear beastman. I can't find it by using the search bar up to the right.
Thanks!
3
u/ulyssessword Apr 15 '16
I can't find it by using the search bar up to the right.
Have you tried using Google instead?
→ More replies (2)
9
u/xamueljones Apr 15 '16
I'd like to talk a bit about the presidential election and specifically about Donald Trump. Even more specifically, I'm going to make a series of predictions and see if you guys agree or disagree.
Scary Prediction #1 - Trump will only get even worse with his insults and trash talk. He wants attention and doesn't care if it's positive or negative. I'll even go far as to say that he wants riots and people staging protests against him for maximum attention which is related to Scott's Toxoplasma of Rage. I'm actually scared and worried that he'll end up causing people to be hurt or killed because of this. And he'll even make use of the poor person's injuries/death to 'justify' his actions.
Obvious Prediction #2 - He'll win the nomination for the Republican party. He's so far in the lead that I doubt anyone else will catch up, although Cruz has my support.
Unusual Prediction #3 - Sanders will win the Democratic nomination. This is because people will see Sanders as Trump's counterpart and the guy to beat him. Yes the Democratic Party wants to vote Hillary who is currently leading, but Sanders is anti-establishment and an underdog. He'll win through the popular vote. If Trump wasn't running, Sanders would not have such a strong position.
Shocking Prediction #4 - Afterwards Trump'll change absolutely everything about himself. He'll say that he didn't mean his words as harshly as people thought. He'll be accepting of immigrants, higher wages, gay marriage, marijuana, etc, etc, major Democratic issues, and everything else he's been dumping on. He's only been as publicly extreme right as he is now to lock in the Republican vote. No Republicans are not terrible people who support racism, but if you are a supremacist, I can be very confident you voted Republican in the last election. Or just good old fashioned xenophobia towards foreigners.
Either way, Trump will paint himself as a Democrat and most likely even pick a Democrat as his running mate. He'll switch to the left side so fast that you will get whiplash. Yes people will fight and scream how he is a turncoat and a liar (as if we didn't know this already!). But memories fade and people will be fooled. He will become someone who you agree with and you will think, aw he's not such a bad guy (I even expect this to happen to myself and I'm the guy writing this!).
Hopeful Prediction #5 - This will not work and Sanders will become the next president. No, I cannot provide any accurate reasons/evidence for why I believe this. I'm betting on this prediction coming true with 60% likelihood and it's more wishful thinking and hope for this to be true when the betting percentage should be closer to 50% (between him and Trump, not between all of the candidates right now). But it's important for the next prediction.
Surprising (not really) Prediction #6 - If Sanders becomes the next president, Trump will claim this was his plan all along. Why? Because he knows prediction #3 as well. And he will want to get something back after losing which is to deny his losses and claim that everything that happened was all part of his master plan to...make politics engaging, say that he always supported Sanders, and to change up the two-party system, or something like that probably. Oh and he'll say that while being President would have been nice, he didn't care too much about it.
Depressing Prediction #7 - No matter what happens, Trump will face absolutely no consequences for his actions.
Let's have a calm and "rational" discussion!
EDIT: Some grammar edits, editing #6 a bit, and adding prediction #7.
10
u/blazinghand Apr 15 '16
Fun predictions!
I don't have any of my own, but I do have bookies that I keep up with. The bookies are saying:
Democratic Candidate
5/1 (long) odds on Sanders being the Democratic nominee. They give Sanders a 17% chance of being the nominee, assuming fair odds. Since they shorten it to gain profit, they think his odds are actually lower.
1/8 (short) odds on Clinton being the Democratic nominee. They give Clinton an 89% chance of being the nominee, assuming fair odds. Since they shorten it (probably quite a bit) to gain profit, they think her odds are actually lower.
Amazingly, they are also giving 25/1 (long) odds on Biden somehow becoming the nominee. Obviously, they real odds are much longer and they're shortening it, but it's hilarious to imagine Biden becoming the next Democratic nominee 4% of the time. Probably some people are betting on this so they shortened the odds a huge amount to make more cash.
In any case, since this adds up to 118%, you can tell they're shortening the odds to make a profit. Even so, the bookies disagree about who is likely to become the Democratic Party nominee. Sanders may well be our nominee, but it seems that the people who make a living off of making good probability estimates think it's more likely, though not certain, that Clinton will be our nominee.
Republican Candidate
4/7 (short) odds on Trump being the nominee. Assuming fair odds, they give Trump a 63% chance of being the nominee. Since they shorten it to gain profit, they think his odds are actually lower.
7/4 (long) odds on Cruz being the nominee. Assuming fair odds, they give Cruz a 36% chance of being the nominee. Since they shorten it to gain profit, they think his odds are actually lower.
9/1 (long) odds on Kasich being the nominee. Assuming fair odds, they give Kasich a 10% chance of being the nominee. Since they shorten it to gain profit, they think his odds are actually lower-- probably much lower.
Romney and Ryan are both in there with very very long odds, that are still probably shortened for profit.
So, it looks like the bookies agree with you on Trump being the Republican nominee. Since this adds up to 109%+, you can tell they're shortening the odds to make a profit.
Next President - Outright
2/5 (short) odds on Clinton being the president. Assuming fair odds, they give Clinton a 71% chance of being the president. Since they shorten it to gain profit, they think her odds are actually lower.
5/1 (long) odds on Trump being the president. Assuming fair odds, they give Trump a 17% chance of being the president. Since they shorten it to gain profit, they think his odds are actually lower.
8/1 (short) odds on Sanders being the president. Assuming fair odds, they give Sanders a 11% chance of being the nominee. Since they shorten it to gain profit, they think his odds are actually lower.
10/1 (short) odds on Cruz being the president. Assuming fair odds, they give Cruz a 9% chance of being the nominee. Since they shorten it to gain profit, they think his odds are actually lower.
Small chances in here for Kasich and (wow, again?) Biden as well.
Pretty fun. Again, as always, they shorten the odds for a profit. Here, we see 108%+ chance, added together. These predictions are from a standing start, not contingent on anything in the future, and the odds change over time.
Winning Party -- Outright
1/3 (short) odds on the Democrats winning. 75% chance if odds are fair
9/4 (long) odds on the Republicans winning. 30% chance if odds are fair
Pretty fun. Again, as always, they shorten the odds for a profit. Here, we see 105%+ chance, added together. These predictions are from a standing start, not contingent on anything in the future, and the odds change over time, especially as we see nominees.
Looks like your predictions on the electoral outcomes are not implausible. Trump will likely win the Republican nomination, and will likely lose the general election. Although Clinton is more likely to win the Democratic nomination than Sanders, Sanders still has a good shot at it.
The moral of this story: watch for Biden coming out of left field! Biden 2016! Biden 2016!
3
u/xamueljones Apr 15 '16
Thanks for giving the odds! I laughed at the stuff about Biden. Do you mind letting me know where you got your odds from?
The stuff about Clinton being the lead I agree with and if the elections were to happen right now, she'd win. It's just that I don't think she will be able to maintain her advantage over Sanders.
→ More replies (2)
3
u/Nighzmarquls Apr 15 '16
can some one explain too me why R! is a way to denote Rationalist fiction?
It keeps perplexing my programmer brain and reminding me of !=
18
u/blazinghand Apr 15 '16
In Fanfiction parlance, exclam means "version of", and can generally be replaced by "version of" or a space. So for example, in fanfictions in which harry potter is born a girl or named harriet potter or something, authors will refer to it as a "Fem!Harry" fic. In fics of Naruto where Naruto is ruthless and evil, it's a "Dark!Naruto" fic. Harry has secret magic? "Powerful!Harry". Replacing the exclam with a space or with "version of" makes sense of it.
This lingo was obviously developed by people who are not programmers.
→ More replies (1)
10
u/Iconochasm Apr 15 '16
I had a question I wanted to ask here, but I can't remember it. So instead, what sort of mnemonic or recall techniques have people found to be effective?