Late one tonight, as I’ve been out of the house most of the day. Went out to spend some time with my Mom1Hi mom! and keep her spirits up, which involved some quality time and consulting/completing a number of projects. One thing I learned: a lot of otherwise rather nice furniture really cuts costs on drawer slides.
Anyhow, some quick notes to keep the streak alive, and we’ll see if we’re more verbose tomorrow.
Inputs
1: Apparently Star Citizen is still milking people for money. Per Aftermath, they’ve recently announced a bundle for over $48,000. For a game that is still in Alpha, after ten years.
I’m continually extremely happy I chose Elite: Dangerous in the space sim wars. A game which has not only released an actual game, plus expansions, including a deathmatch feature, but has done very well by its subscribers without asking of them $1,000 at a pop. Insert Jesse Pinkman gif here.
2: Started a casual rewatch (aka, chose to play as background noise while I poke around on the internet) of Psych.
I’m a huge fan of the show, from the incredible ensemble cast (James Roday Rodriguez and Dulé Hill are a pairing as good as any in television history, and play off each other so naturally and confidently, from the start of the series through all three movies [so far!]), to an intelligent yet funny premise that keeps an adaptable level of tension as a through-line to the show, to an amazing array of guest stars. For anyone of my generation, there’s an “oh man, it’s that guy/girl” at least once every three episodes, including longer arcs from favorites like Cary Elwes, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Ally Sheedy.
If you’ve never seen the show, I’d highly recommend it. And if you do go and watch it, keep an eye out for the pineapples!
3: This article from American Prospect about the success of S Group in Finland with a different approach to capitalism, as a co-op, who have been able to compete aggressively on pricing due to not having to hew to the same level of profit maximization that publicly owned corporations are addicted to2And not actually legally obligated to. While there’s a misbelief that corporations are forced to maximize profits, they’re instead obligated to work in the best interests of shareholders and the company. That could mean maximizing quarterly earnings, but it doesn’t have to. The one is not necessarily the other, and allowing a mistaken belief proselytized by misguided right-wing economists in the 70s and 80s to drive the actions of every publicly owned company in the US is not only short-sighted but leads to perverse incentives that are easily and readily gamed. Just another of Reagan’s long-term gifts to America. Christ, what an asshole..
I’m always tangentially interested in other ways of doing business, from co-ops, to federations of co-ops like the Mondragon Corporation in Spain, to worker collectives like the Amana Colonies and the Amana Society3Yes, that Amana. and the work of the Amish and Mennonite peoples.
Projects In Progress
Not much today, at least in personal stuff. Got a bunch done for and alongside others though, which was nice.
Notes:
- 1Hi mom!
- 2And not actually legally obligated to. While there’s a misbelief that corporations are forced to maximize profits, they’re instead obligated to work in the best interests of shareholders and the company. That could mean maximizing quarterly earnings, but it doesn’t have to. The one is not necessarily the other, and allowing a mistaken belief proselytized by misguided right-wing economists in the 70s and 80s to drive the actions of every publicly owned company in the US is not only short-sighted but leads to perverse incentives that are easily and readily gamed. Just another of Reagan’s long-term gifts to America. Christ, what an asshole.
- 3Yes, that Amana.