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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: August 1st, 2023

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  • Over the years I have tried a handful of subfields.

    I always felt particularly adept at assembly language programming, so I had a couple projects doing that, and applied to every relevent job I could find.

    As a math nerd I enjoyed data science and machine learning, I had quite a few projects like a neutral network from scratch in Matlab, and many data analysis and computer vision projects in R. I was always aware this field is very competitive and my chances were low here.

    I had a friend get a job in the biomedical field, so I tried to follow that, I have Python projects doing basic gene sequencing and analysis, even a really cool project that replicated evolution.

    Another friend landed a government job, so I followed his advice and got some security certs.

    I also had smaller projects and attempts at databases, finance programming, and video games.




  • You’re right that my time was wasted, and knowing the outcome, I wish I could go back and do more project work before trying to enter the job market.

    But I don’t think that is a financial possibility for most Americans. Going to school drained my savings, when I graduated I had almost nothing except for school debt, medical debt, and high rent. Saying “I’m gonna take off and work for free for a year” never really seemed like a possibility.

    And as for my apps, the 3000 were not shotgun, they were all personalized, custom cover letters, keywords, etc. It only averaged out to 3/day. I did not track the apps where I used AI to submit them- the AI ones were definitely shotgun.



  • No I have a spreadsheet with 3200 lines of submitted applications, which includes both entry level positions and internships. Many with customized cover letters.

    When you do the math its not even a strong pace, only about 3/day over 3 years. On a good day I was submitting 12-15.

    I even applied to some famous ones, like the time Microsoft opened up 30 entry level positions and received 100,000 applications in 24 hours. It is rumored thet they realized they cannot process 100k apps, so they threw them all away and hired internally.

    Whether they actually threw them out or not, that one always sticks with me. Submitting 100k apps is literally a lifetime of human work. All of that wasted effort is a form of social murder in my opinion.



  • I think the strongest argument is this:

    Before Oct 7, Gazans had been living in a concentration camp for 17 years. Israel regularly bombed, cut off food/water/medical supplies, prevented the Palestinians from fishing or having an airport, tortured prisoners, killed hundreds of peaceful protesters, etc etc. While Gazans endured these 17 years of horror, Israelis normalized it. The world was ok with it. While the Arab populations stand with Palestine, Arab governments were making deals with Israel, normalizing the slow genocide of Gaza.

    There was no future for Gaza, no hope for Gaza, only slow genocide.

    By taking hostages, the slow genocide has become a quick one. But now, at least, the eyes of the world are on Palestine. Instead of dying quietly, their deaths are headline news around the world. When fighting for their freedom and humanity, Gazans had 0 bargaining chips. Now with the hostages, they have 1.



  • I think the hottest genre is still “survival/craft”, but there are so many similar looking games, you gotta stand out somehow. Two of the best ways to stand out are combining genres, and having an interesting artsyle.

    I would start with the basics of Stardew Valley, people love farming, resources management, upgrading tools and buildings, wooing villagers. But what is lacking in Stardew? I think the battle system and world exploration.

    Instead of stardew’s generic 2d Zelda-style battles, I would suggest a card battle system like Slay the Spire. At night players can delve into the card battling cave, looking for new cards, new seeds, farm equipment, etc, always trying to delve deeper for better loot. During the day they work the farm, earning money, crafting new cards and foods that can buff their card battles.

    For world exploration, it would depend on your style choices and budget. If you stick with 2d pixel graphics I could see a Zelda style map filled with puzzles and unlocks. If you go bigger with a 3d engine I could see a sprawling Bethesda style map.

    As for artsyle, you definitely want to avoid being a Stardew clone. Go a bit darker, both in color and theme, while still creating a game that is suitable for children.



  • Since you are still completely missing the basics, let’s do a little history lesson then.

    The bombing of Afghanistan started in retaliation to 9/11. After initial bombing of Al-Quaeda training camps and Taliban headquarters, we asked the Afghan government to hand over Bin Laden. They said “yes we will hand him over if you agree to stop bombing”. George W’s famous response was " we don’t negotiate with terrorists". The bombing continued, and Bin Laden fled to Pakistan to survive for years.

    The propagandistic idea that we were there to nation build and create a liberal democracy only entered the picture a year into the brutal bombing campaign because the US populace was turning against the war.

    Then, we propped up a classic puppet government that was always destined to fail when we left. Elements of a puppet government include:

    • installing a leader from a minority faction
    • allowing them to violently repress members of the majority faction
    • brutal violence inflicted upon dissenters
    • development of natural resources for the desires of the imposing nation, a lack of sustainable development for the local people
    • creating a system with very little input from local leaders, and never giving them a reason to participate or have skin in the game

    The Afghan army had many huge problems. There is a plethora of news stories from 2008-2021 showing how the army is poorly trained, unmotivated, and largely drug addicted. Military leaders have been saying the entire time that this army would not stand on its own.

    The Afghan army did have one strong motivation though: money. It was a mercenary army. But when the US withdrew in 2021 we stole the majority of the funds from the Afghan Central Bank (over $7bln dollars was taken by the Biden administration). Not only did this immoral act of theft cripple the Afghan economy, it destroyed their ability to pay the mercenary army.

    No one who was actually paying attention expected the unpaid mercenary army to defend the puppet government once we left. Maybe, if the money kept flowing, they could have held up for a few months, but the stolen Central Bank funds ensured that was impossible.

    I’m not saying “we don’t care”. Many individual people did earnestly care, and tried their best. But the military and civilian systems created by the US were never built for the benefit of the Afghan people. Your positive spin on this war is naive and ahistorical.



  • I did not close my eyes when America turned it’s back on the thousands of Afghans who helped the American regime during the war. The people who helped America were left resourceless and with giant targets on their back. We betrayed them.

    I did not close my eyes when the flimsy and deeply flawed education system America propped up instantly failed the moment we left.

    The abandonment of Afghan allies and the destruction of girl’s education in Afghanistan are just two more data points showing the deep failures of the American model of foreign intervention.

    We did not spend truckloads of money trying to get a functioning system in place. A lasting functioning system was never the goal. I urge you to read into our military’s functions and objectives in Afghanistan, because you are deeply misinformed. Anyone who suggests our goals were “democracy and human rights” is obviously infected with US propaganda.