I managed to cancel a (non-edu) Adobe subscription a few years ago, despite being a few days past the cut-off date for cancellation.
What worked for me was to phone them and insist on cancelling. The person I spoke to insisted right back that it wasn't possible. When I persisted they offered me an extended term for the same price. Then a discount, and then a better discount. After that they agreed to cancel.
My impression was that they had a customer retention flowchart to work through, and it was just a matter of getting to the right terminal node.
The quote originated with George Bernard Shaw back in 1903, not Nassim Taleb. And it has always been a lazy take. Some people just prefer to write (or teach).
I've seen recommendations for Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning by David E Goldberg as a classic/foundation text. However its 35+ years old. Is it still worth reading?
> No idea where vacuum tubes were invented but I'm sure the BBC could find someone to make them.
The BBC has just cut its budget by £500 million, in an apparent attempt to limit the damage from the latest charter renewal process - which determines its funding. The new director general (ie ceo) is an ex-Google person, and they seem to be pivoting to become a social media content provider. So I'm pretty sure that spending licence fee money on making vacuum tubes to broadcast a signal that nobody under forty listens to wouldnt get past a value for money test.
(I like the BBC and its radio output, and I'm one of those weirdos who still pays the licence fee despite never watching tv or any of the stuff that the licence fee is required for. But it is becoming increasingly lost to me: focussed on triviality and politically cowed. Sadly, I no longer expect it to last.)
I never met or knew him but, like many here, I've been following his blog for a decade or so. By impression and reputation he was a kind, thoughtful, and creative soul who did good by the world - and I'm saddened that he has gone. My condolences to his friends and family.
> Building their own AI models second: building the infrastructure data centres, talent pipelines third: chips
Most countries lack the capacity to build these capabilities in a way that provides any return on investment. Rather than everyone trying to achieve "digital sovereignty". I'd argue that a better approach would be to try to ensure the survival of free trade and a rules-based system of inter-state relationships.
> every country should make their own peter thiel and Elon musk
The social and political environments that led to the emergence of these two individuals are probably not things for states to aspire to.
> The whole attitude and process around this and the other topics gives me very little faith that Java can be steered in a sensible direction here.
I agree. The stewardship of Java seems rather lacking - particularly when compared to that of .net, where MS etc. mostly seemed to make the correct decisions from the start.
Does Java even have any value or mindshare at Oracle nowadays? The company seems to be a datacentre/compute business at this point, with appendiges for its legacy activities and a vast overhang of debt.
I sometimes wonder if the only parts of Oracle that are still profitable are the Legal and Lawnmower divisions.
> I’m currently at 2.5 YOE at big tech making 250k
250k is good money. I'd stay, accrue experience and contacts, bank some money. The startup probably won't work out anyway - they usually don't. And even if it does, 3% equity is too low for the financial and personal sacrifices you'd have to make.
Knowing when you die != seeing your future self die
There might be some value to some people in knowing how much lifespan they have left. But actually seeing your future self die seems like it would be horribly traumatic, as your present self would carry on living afterwards with that knowledge. And anyway, each of us will experience our own death eventually.