Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

[doster.zach]

 

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[Xeon]

"David is constantly lying to his mother. When she asks about the savings he is managing for her, he tells her not to worry. In reality, the $100,000 “nest egg” from the sale of her house is trapped at a crypto lending company."

“If I tell her, she’s going to have a heart attack,” says the 37-year-old from New York. “This was her everything.”

Subscribe to read | Financial Times

News, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publication

www.ft.com

 

[ZF Lee]

I am noticing more and more that the family institution is getting fractured...and will probably be
the death of us all when SHTF.

What do I mean by that?

Back then, folks simply put up with their grumpy, toxic parents or relatives or whoever-- even until they got married and had families and kids on their own.

These days, we just say 'move out'... 'leave' ... 'blood is NOT thicker than water' ... 'mental health first'.
Even my own dad (he's already close to his sixties) isn't going back for Lunar New Year reunion especially after grandpa passed away-- there was a lot of drama behind the scenes.

Or we just pack off the elderly to the care homes.

And just let them rot there...

I know because I've had one aunt with dementia taken to one. There was no choice though because out of her three kids-- only the eldest was keen on taking care of her. And the two other siblings just didn't want to have anything to do with it. I can't fathom the burdens of juggling work...his own family...the aunt's medical checks...all the way till she passed away peacefully. But a care home has this feeling of decay and mediocrity...no matter how well-run it may be.

Even in this Forum, how many of us complain that our parents HATE our Fastlane plans?

How many of us just moved out because of such fights?

We have one thread here that talked on how the family really makes it SO difficult for him to cook decent meals in the kitchen. For me, eating well is crucial to a Fastlane identity-- because you can choose to eat more healthily.

I write all this because I notice my own siblings and many other friends of my age quietly, silently 'quitting' the family.

In the next 5-10 years, I won't expect them to return home for family reunions.

And when these folks have their own families? What KIND of MESSAGE will they give their kids?

As much as I dislike toxic family members, I try to understand that perhaps they didn't grow up with a lot of love and patience-- and might be better to show them some grace now. And it feels that I might have to run family things a lot sooner than I'd think...

I have no idea how this can be solved.

I don't think another barrage of videos from Jordan Peterson-life figures is gonna make the cut. My generation (at least most of them) seem to have decided that its better to live life on their own terms-- even if it means abandoning family values in the name of 'mental sanity' or whatever frankenphrase they use these days.

 

[Andy Black]

So Google let 12,000 people go? And informed them by locking them out of systems in the first instance? (I could be wrong... I'm just going by posts I'm reading on LinkedIn).

I understand a business not wanting disgruntled staff sabotaging systems but surely there's a more respectful way of letting people go?

In case you didn't know it already: being able to eat what you kill means you can avoid these shenanigans.

 

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[monnffffiiiiiii]

I checked the more than 1,000 message conversations I have had with members over the years and can't find your name there, but here is my answer:

I deleted my account then came back, this is why.

So this means that none of these shops really compete on prices.

If they did compete, everything would be much cheaper.

They sell at 10X, then go on sale for 20%, then 50%, then 70%, and they still make a profit.

Thank you Walter!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

They sure are pushing this propaganda hard, this was from the front page of CNET.

There is a big difference with having SOME fat, and being fat. Sure fat is healthy, as a male dropping into the single % points is going to cause some hormonal issues but come on, if someone had a button they could press to be 12% body fat you don't think they would press it?

View attachment 46845

Yes, anything that will help adults to mentally continue to live like unaccountable children.

The woman in the picture is packed full of visceral, organ fat and is unhealthy to the point she likely is pre-diabetic and will become big-pharma's next best lifetime customer. Of course, only after she's eats herself into disease from readily available food poison available on every street corner, and on every shelf in Walmart.

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

@MJ DeMarco you have another fan on Medium

The Millionaire Fastlane By MJ DeMarco is Worth Its Weight In Gold

I was thrown off for years by the title. How crass.

medium.com

 

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[monnffffiiiiiii]

The list of the top 100 Shopify stores is impressive: Top 100 Most Successful Shopify Stores

Many big established brands use Shopify for their store.

You'd think they'd have enough means to make their own ecom shop but no.

Insane!

 

[Tony100]

The list of the top 100 Shopify stores is impressive: Top 100 Most Successful Shopify Stores

Many big established brands use Shopify for their store.

You'd think they'd have enough means to make their own ecom shop but no.

Insane!

The founder of Gymshark (number 5 on the list) talking about Shopify:

They've grown fast so it's probably easier to scale leaning on Shopify's expertise. I remember in another video he said they work closely with Shopify on Black Friday to make sure the website doesn't go down.

 

[Andy Black]

This is mad. It makes it look like you're looking at the camera.

NVIDIA Broadcast 1.4 Adds Eye Contact and Vignette Effects With Virtual Background Enhancements

Plus new options to mirror your camera and take a selfie.

nvda.ws

 

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[Kak]

This is mad. It makes it look like you're looking at the camera.

NVIDIA Broadcast 1.4 Adds Eye Contact and Vignette Effects With Virtual Background Enhancements

Plus new options to mirror your camera and take a selfie.

nvda.ws

An alternative to learning how to look at a camera.

This reminds me of adjustable golf clubs. Don’t get better at golf just compensate with this stupid club.

The sad thing is that it’s hard to find neutral weighted golf clubs anymore.

I’m not an “embrace your shortcomings” type.

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

The founder of Gymshark (number 5 on the list) talking about Shopify:

They've grown fast so it's probably easier to scale leaning on Shopify's expertise. I remember in another video he said they work closely with Shopify on Black Friday to make sure the website doesn't go down.

This guy is annoying.

He's probably a really good businessman but I can't see his face.

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

I’m not an “embrace your shortcomings” type.

There's different ways to see it.

I see leverage.

 

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[Kak]

There's different ways to see it.

I see leverage.

How so?

If you’re a shifty eyed person that can’t look at a camera, it will make people trust you more.

My solution is don’t be a shifty eyed person.

I find the entire concept dishonest.

 

[Andy Black]

How so?

If you’re a shifty eyed person that can’t look at a camera, it will make people trust you more.

My solution is don’t be a shifty eyed person.

I find the entire concept dishonest.

I think it's more for people to read scripts while maintaining eye contact, without using a teleprompter.

 

[biophase]

The list of the top 100 Shopify stores is impressive: Top 100 Most Successful Shopify Stores

Many big established brands use Shopify for their store.

You'd think they'd have enough means to make their own ecom shop but no.

Insane!

It’s not that they don’t have the means to do it. You have to ask why would they do it? Billionaires have the means to make their own car but they choose to drive one that somebody else sells. Why?

 

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[biophase]

An alternative to learning how to look at a camera.

This reminds me of adjustable golf clubs. Don’t get better at golf just compensate with this stupid club.

The sad thing is that it’s hard to find neutral weighted golf clubs anymore.

I’m not an “embrace your shortcomings” type.

I think this depends on how badly you want to excel at something. You can either work to correct it or compensate for it.

I had a friend who in basketball kept missing the rim just a few inches to the left. We could have worked to correct his form and make his shot go straight or we could have just told him to aim a few inches to the right.

Since he was a leisure basketball player, it didn’t make any sense to work on it that hard so he just shot the ball a few inches to the right and it worked.

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

It’s not that they don’t have the means to do it. You have to ask why would they do it? Billionaires have the means to make their own car but they choose to drive one that somebody else sells. Why?

I suppose it makes sense from a cost, risk, and time perspective.

 

[thechosen1]

I think this depends on how badly you want to excel at something. You can either work to correct it or compensate for it.

I had a friend who in basketball kept missing the rim just a few inches to the left. We could have worked to correct his form and make his shot go straight or we could have just told him to aim a few inches to the right.

Since he was a leisure basketball player, it didn’t make any sense to work on it that hard so he just shot the ball a few inches to the right and it worked.

I have not done a scientific study or a survey of all the players in the NBA, so I am using the W.A.G. method here, but I would bet you'll find people at the highest level using both methods (work diligently to improve weaknesses versus simply adjust to overcome them).

By the time they get there, it's going to be muscle memory anyway and they won't even think about shooting the ball the way they've done it the last 1,000,000 times, whichever way they chose.

Then again, maybe Shaq does the "little to the right" thing on his free throws. Lol

 

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[MitchC]

The list of the top 100 Shopify stores is impressive: Top 100 Most Successful Shopify Stores

Many big established brands use Shopify for their store.

You'd think they'd have enough means to make their own ecom shop but no.

Insane!

Really interesting list

I knew culture kings was a big business but not that big

Same with gym shark

There’s a progress thread on here talking about their dropshipping business doing 7-8 figures with some weird back end upsell subscription. I read it and was thinking maybe I’m doing something wrong by not doing that. Then they stopped replying and got angry when people started asking questions. Thats when I realised this:

Notice how none of the stores on this list, which I’d say are all easily 8-9 figure ecom stores, are doing any dropshipping or weird back end subscription upsells or any other scammy tricks.

Just good products, nice brands, loyal customers and good advertising.

Don’t get caught up following all these weird scammy dropshipping gurus and their tricks, you won’t see their stores on this list.

 

[Xeon]

I came across one article which says the average salary in Venezuela is about US$25 / month? For people to survive on this sort of figure, doesn't that mean that the cost of food/restaurants/housing per month is cheap as hell? $4/month to rent a shop space there? Eating out costs $0.15 a meal?

 

[Ocean Man]

I probably have too many thoughts on this.

I have gone through a personal journey on this over the last few years. If you look back at the earlier episodes of my radio show, I was a lot more political than I am now. During the last few years of the Trump administration, I had this deep urge that I was right and way too many people were wrong. I have documented my grievances with him and his conservative claims while hypocritically meeting every problem he even notices with a giant collectivist government solution.

I grew up listening to Hannity and O'Riley talk about the virtues of small and limited government. I took it to heart and began to solidify my understanding of the issue, a journey they evidently never took on. If you take this far enough, with enough actual thought, you don't land on conservative vs liberal, you don't land on republican vs democrat, you land on collectivism vs individualism. I am as far to the individualist side as someone can get. Funny, now commentary from Hannity, Waters, and Tucker sounds like collectivist propaganda to me.

While I fully despise the left. I also fully despise the modern "right." They are no longer a belief system that the power of the government comes from the consent of the governed. They are a party of everything the left does, just a little less of it.

They are all for government spending like crazy, just a little less than the left.
They are all for taxes, just a little less of them than the left.
They are all for gun control, just different than the left's ideas of it.
They are for seriously egregious control over the private sector, just a little less than the left.

They are the party of a little less of something they have basically admitted is good. The stingy party. If you admit this is all good, you lose the argument before it even begins. Here's how:

If government spending is a good idea, explain to me how more isn't better.
If taxes are responsible for the greater good, explain to me how more of them isn't better.
If some gun control is ok, why isn't more of it better?
If an entire economic system based on central control and regulations is good, why isn't full-blown communism better?

I know the answers to those questions, but the modern right doesn't. Is it any surprise how the left takes over a country when the right is built on a foundation of hypocrisy and an obfuscated, at best, understanding of freedom? It's not. Republicans are always a temporary condition.

I run my life like a VERY conservative person. I hold very traditional conservative values. I attend church weekly. I am the head of my household. I have a wife and an almost 2-year-old son. I plan to homeschool him and all of my future children. The difference is, I don't view Republicans as my allies in some deranged collectivist fight against an also collectivist left. I don't like to be politically defined, but I have a lot more in common with Ludwig Von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Frederic Bastiat, and Frederick Hayek than Sean Hannity.

I say all of this to help you understand where I am today. I am not involved in the American political system any longer. There is nothing there for me except a tiny sliver of an enormous variety of nonsense that considers itself "the libertarian party." I don't concern myself with anything that doesn't concern itself with me and my family. I believe you should know what you believe, why you believe it, and even discuss it every now and then.

There is a concept in Stephen Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He discusses what he calls a circle of concern, a circle of control, and a circle of influence. This visualization came back to haunt me like 10 years after I read the book. Being wrapped up in politics was being a person of concern.

What is a person of concern? Taken to its extreme... It is the jagoff that brings up how much he hates so and so politicians. How the world needs a different clown. They say "did you hear about...(insert some stupid-a$$ news headline)" constantly. Is their life going to actually improve if the DOJ decides to press charges on Hunter Biden for his laptop escapades? Absolutely not. After devoting tremendous emotional energy to the issue over extended period of time, they earned themselves a chuckle at Hunter's downfall, if it even happens. Then, they will be on to the next thing that Tucker Carlson tells them to be outraged about. It is a circle of death to the individual mind.

People of concern put their hopes and dreams into a better political outcome. They invest enormous amounts of time in "the news" trying to will a political change into existence and obviously resulting in a HORRID return on that investment. The time is totally wasted. Even worse, they are owned by the news. They gave away their brains to a television channel. The outcome would have been the same without their undying attention.

What are better investments? My family. Our life. The businesses that we are in.

My energy and emotions on the matter are better placed on those things. I am tremendously happier with my movement away from politics. It is a lost cause. A black hole for good and effective people. An addiction. The least identified pillar of the consumption machine of our world. They want you to look to them for the answers, don't.

Build your life independent of the prevailing collectivist arguments. Build resources. Resources are options. Understand you don't have to be a part of any of their bullshit, especially if you are wealthy. The world is a lot bigger than America. First, focus on your family. Then, as resources change, consider the geographical options that make sense. It's the only political change that is 100% in your circle of control.

The bottom line, political concern is a fruitless pursuit. As helpful to your life as a wishing well, and certainly more demanding of your time and emotions. I believe in fruitful pursuits. Own yourself. Don't let politics own you.

Very well written, Kyle. Couldn't agree more. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

 

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[Ocean Man]

I am noticing more and more that the family institution is getting fractured...and will probably be
the death of us all when SHTF.

What do I mean by that?

Back then, folks simply put up with their grumpy, toxic parents or relatives or whoever-- even until they got married and had families and kids on their own.

These days, we just say 'move out'... 'leave' ... 'blood is NOT thicker than water' ... 'mental health first'.
Even my own dad (he's already close to his sixties) isn't going back for Lunar New Year reunion especially after grandpa passed away-- there was a lot of drama behind the scenes.

Or we just pack off the elderly to the care homes.

And just let them rot there...

I know because I've had one aunt with dementia taken to one. There was no choice though because out of her three kids-- only the eldest was keen on taking care of her. And the two other siblings just didn't want to have anything to do with it. I can't fathom the burdens of juggling work...his own family...the aunt's medical checks...all the way till she passed away peacefully. But a care home has this feeling of decay and mediocrity...no matter how well-run it may be.

Even in this Forum, how many of us complain that our parents HATE our Fastlane plans?

How many of us just moved out because of such fights?

We have one thread here that talked on how the family really makes it SO difficult for him to cook decent meals in the kitchen. For me, eating well is crucial to a Fastlane identity-- because you can choose to eat more healthily.

I write all this because I notice my own siblings and many other friends of my age quietly, silently 'quitting' the family.

In the next 5-10 years, I won't expect them to return home for family reunions.

And when these folks have their own families? What KIND of MESSAGE will they give their kids?

As much as I dislike toxic family members, I try to understand that perhaps they didn't grow up with a lot of love and patience-- and might be better to show them some grace now. And it feels that I might have to run family things a lot sooner than I'd think...

I have no idea how this can be solved.

I don't think another barrage of videos from Jordan Peterson-life figures is gonna make the cut. My generation (at least most of them) seem to have decided that its better to live life on their own terms-- even if it means abandoning family values in the name of 'mental sanity' or whatever frankenphrase they use these days.

I can understand where you're coming from but I'm all for cutting out people in your life that make it net worse than positive. Sure, I'll attempt at first to improve the relationship. But I can only do that for so long before it's not worth it. Sometimes people and relationships don't change / improve and if there's bad blood then there's bad blood. Net positives in my life by cutting people out.

 

[loop101]

I guess VR is dead for now. I have not been fan of VR since seeing someone throw up after playing Dactyl Nightmare in the 90s. If you move in VR, and not in RL, you are probably going to get motion-sickness, and it sometimes lasts for hours. I don't see people accepting that, ever. Augmented Reality should be a success, since it is just virtual additions to what you see in RL.

Microsoft has laid off entire teams behind Virtual, Mixed Reality, and HoloLens

HoloLens, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality are all but dead at Microsoft.

www.windowscentral.com

"Apple Delays AR Glasses, Plans Cheaper Mixed-Reality Headset"

Apple Delays AR Glasses, Plans Cheaper Mixed-Reality Headset

Apple Inc. is still planning to unveil its first mixed-reality headset this year, but an even more important follow-up product — lightweight augmented-reality glasses — has been postponed due to technical challenges.

www.bloomberg.com

There’s No Fixing Meta’s Metaverse, Scrap It, Start Over

While everyone’s attention is currently focus on Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, it bears repeating that this the worst place Meta/Facebook has been in for an extremely long time, driven in part by Mark Zuckerberg’s relentless pursuit of his ...

www.forbes.com

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

Really interesting list

I knew culture kings was a big business but not that big

Same with gym shark

There’s a progress thread on here talking about their dropshipping business doing 7-8 figures with some weird back end upsell subscription. I read it and was thinking maybe I’m doing something wrong by not doing that. Then they stopped replying and got angry when people started asking questions. Thats when I realised this:

Notice how none of the stores on this list, which I’d say are all easily 8-9 figure ecom stores, are doing any dropshipping or weird back end subscription upsells or any other scammy tricks.

Just good products, nice brands, loyal customers and good advertising.

Don’t get caught up following all these weird scammy dropshipping gurus and their tricks, you won’t see their stores on this list.

100%.
I was thinking about this yesterday.

Since you can get a supplier and use Shopify to build your shop, what's the new barrier to entry?

Brand.

 

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[Xeon]

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[SamRussell]

I reckon the gold rush with AI will be creating an AI girlfriend. "She'll" text you during the day, reply to your texts, send you selfies. The user would share their social media and then the perfect AI girlfriend will be created. Pay extra to get her to send nudes

 

[piano]

We have one thread here that talked on how the family really makes it SO difficult for him to cook decent meals in the kitchen. For me, eating well is crucial to a Fastlane identity-- because you can choose to eat more healthily.

I am noticing more and more that the family institution is getting fractured...and will probably be
the death of us all when SHTF.

What do I mean by that?

Back then, folks simply put up with their grumpy, toxic parents or relatives or whoever-- even until they got married and had families and kids on their own.

These days, we just say 'move out'... 'leave' ... 'blood is NOT thicker than water' ... 'mental health first'.
Even my own dad (he's already close to his sixties) isn't going back for Lunar New Year reunion especially after grandpa passed away-- there was a lot of drama behind the scenes.

Or we just pack off the elderly to the care homes.

And just let them rot there...

I know because I've had one aunt with dementia taken to one. There was no choice though because out of her three kids-- only the eldest was keen on taking care of her. And the two other siblings just didn't want to have anything to do with it. I can't fathom the burdens of juggling work...his own family...the aunt's medical checks...all the way till she passed away peacefully. But a care home has this feeling of decay and mediocrity...no matter how well-run it may be.

Even in this Forum, how many of us complain that our parents HATE our Fastlane plans?

How many of us just moved out because of such fights?

We have one thread here that talked on how the family really makes it SO difficult for him to cook decent meals in the kitchen. For me, eating well is crucial to a Fastlane identity-- because you can choose to eat more healthily.

I write all this because I notice my own siblings and many other friends of my age quietly, silently 'quitting' the family.

In the next 5-10 years, I won't expect them to return home for family reunions.

And when these folks have their own families? What KIND of MESSAGE will they give their kids?

As much as I dislike toxic family members, I try to understand that perhaps they didn't grow up with a lot of love and patience-- and might be better to show them some grace now. And it feels that I might have to run family things a lot sooner than I'd think...

I have no idea how this can be solved.

I don't think another barrage of videos from Jordan Peterson-life figures is gonna make the cut. My generation (at least most of them) seem to have decided that its better to live life on their own terms-- even if it means abandoning family values in the name of 'mental sanity' or whatever frankenphrase they use these days.

And ?
Sure, they have their reasons why they act a certain way. Sure, it's not always their fault. Sure, I agree with the opinion that blood "isn't just water" as you put it.

But, what should we do? Should we stay in the family that makes your life harder?
I'm not saying to give them up early. I think that you should try to give your best when it comes to family and keeping it.

You see, we humans each have different personalities. Some are analytical, some are feeling.
It makes sense for you and people with your personality/similar values to think of it your way. But it doesn't for everyone.

I'm 16 and you seem quite a bit older than me. We both have different struggles and views, so I'm not even fully qualified to answer your post properly lol, thus I'm telling you to not see my reply as the answer or whatever but rather just as my limited viewing point.

I feel like I myself am going to regret many decisions I'll take from now, but heads up. Life wouldn't be lebenswert if it was only bright and happy. Amirite?

 

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[S.Y.]

What do you do when you don't know what to do to achieve your goal? Or when you have too many competing goals and struggle to determine what you should go after?

When that is the case, I first think about what not to do. 95% of the time it is easier to single out what I should do less off, what I can cut, or what has an abysmal Return On Attention. The next stop is to use an adapted version of "Occam's razor": identify the simplest action I can take, take it and learn from it. Or, for the second option, "Act, Assess, Adjust".

I read an article that explains the latter approach very well while adding a framework for setting goals:
- The Paradox of Goals.

.

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

From Unscripted :

You can start and grow a profitable company when:

• The company aligns with your values and purpose
• You take action
• You respect CENTS

A lot of people miss the "value and purpose". I did too.

"A company should support your personal goals, not the other way around". - Pat Flynn