• 3 Posts
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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: August 21st, 2023

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  • I don’t think the congressional districts are actually relevant to the electoral college, but the # of electoral votes is based partly on how many congressional representatives the state has, which is based on the state’s population.

    Most states award electoral votes solely based on the popular vote of that state. So if 5,000,001 people vote Democrat in California and 5,000,000 vote Republican, all of California’s electoral votes go to the Democrat.

    Many people would like to see gerrymandering ended, but I don’t think many people want to see congressional districts eliminated entirely. Congressional districts ensure that different parts of the state are represented in congress. For example, in a state like Massachusetts if the congressional districts were eliminated, then probably all of the representatives would hail from the Boston area which is the most densely populated.

    In fact, one way that the negative impacts of the electoral college could be partially eliminated is by using the congressional districts as electoral districts, as described here: Congressional Districts as Electoral Districts

    This would result in more states awarding partial electoral votes, but would have downsides such as allowing gerrymandering to influence the presidential election instead of just the congressional elections, and it would still technically be possible for someone to win in the electoral college but not in the popular vote.

    The best way to eliminate the electoral college in my opinion is for more states to award electoral votes proportionally. So in the California example above, half the electoral votes would go to the Democrat and half to the Republican.





  • Warm white 2700-3000k is fine for bedrooms Soft white 3500k is better for awake spaces that aren’t task spaces White/Daylight 5000k+ is for getting things done, I use them in the garage, the basement, and for some of the kitchen lights

    I used to hate integrated LED fixtures, but I put in under-cabinet lighting that can switch color temp so that is nice because I can set it to daylight during meal prep and warm during eating.


  • That sounds pretty nice, I have some devices compatible with Matter, but mostly I have Amazon plugs right now. I guess it’s not too late to start switching to Zigbee plugs.

    I’ll probably start by just disabling the microphone on the Alexa devices and just control devices through my phone’s assistant or the app, so at least it’s not listening to me all the time.





  • I’ve learned to recognize these fly-by-night “brands” that sell generic chinesium and then disappear before people figure out they are selling junk. For many things I’m buying on Amazon, I’m looking for some sort of established brand name that has a website and some videos on YouTube.

    I’m also very aggressive about utilizing the returns system. If it’s crap, it’s getting returned. Thankfully the returns process has been more or less painless, don’t even have to box them up anymore, just bring them to Staples.

    For desk chairs specifically, I recommend this brand. I know, the brand and website looks like it’s designed to cash in on AI hype, but I’ve had their ErgoChair Pro since before ChatGPT was a thing: https://www.autonomous.ai/office-chairs

    I’ve also learned to buy more from local stores, even if they are national chain big box stores, simply because they will NOT continue to stock garbage if people keep returning it. I’ve found that ACE hardware tends to have better quality stuff than Lowes/Home Depot.

    For cheap online purchases, I think some of these sellers understand that people are less likely to return online purchases, so they don’t have as much of a disincentive for selling junk.










  • I’m aware that the role of the US on the international stage is often not that of the good guys, but I’m not sure how you could argue that USAID and taking care of injured veterans are not examples of empathy.

    Keep in mind that there are voters in the US who think that we should take care of our veterans, but somehow agree with Musk when he says empathy is bad. I think it’s important to show those people some examples of empathy that they would support.