Brainsploosh

Science fiction is in it's essence the exploration of a situation when all the confounding factors have been magicked/scienced away.

Not uncommonly it explores the requirements of the technical solution, what would the machine need to do for this to work out? And/or What happens if it doesn't?

Take for example "Do androids dream of electric sheep" by Philip K Dick, it's about finding androids advanced enough not to know they're artificial and how to identify and relate to them when the only diagnostic is slow, clumsy, and suspect. It's more an exploration of what makes a person than it's around the marvels of The Machine™.

During the 1900s the vehicle for science to magick with had been machines, computers and AI. Remember that space travel, fission power, psychology, modern medicine were all new, hope inducing breakthroughs just this same period.

There's also the issue that the definition of the genre came after it becoming large enough to matter. The edges between scifi, punk/cyberpunk, speculative fiction, isekai and even to fantasy are all made after the fact, meaning modern machines go into scifi, old machines go into steam-/diesel-/etc-punk. The main difference between Science, Magick, and Eldritch horror is how detailed the mechanics of the solution are described, and speak to different people.

But on the topic of the story not being centered around a machine: try the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons.

Or go the entirely other way with Ring World by Larry Niven. There's plenty of machines-did-it in the fringes, but the central theme is to figure out what would be needed for a Ring World to exist, what would happen on it, and how would it be managed. It's an exploration of physics more than anything - more "what is the machine" than "machines-did-it".

And the Foundation series (Asimov) famously explore the premise "what if sociology works", and the other details solved by throwing machines at them.

You also have The Culture (Iain Banks) series that center on/around post-scarcity society and explore that.

Fantastic game!

It's scary to me that the daily casualty rate just keeps rising.

Definitely a grinding war...

Aww, I thought we were talking about Rimworld

Thank you, will check it out!

I came across the topic of AI security, and been reading up on it, but as I have a weak background in Machine learning, I'm not really able to follow the frontier discourse.

I'd very much appreciate any recommendations as to where to find more foundational level materials for getting into it. Any tips?

This is actually a great write up for beginner cooks. Well written!

I'd like to emphasise a thing that I found not as clear as the rest: When planning when to start cooking things, I find that starting from the end and planning backwards is helpful.

I want it done by 18:30. Plating takes 2 minutes, food needs done 18:28 latest. Meat takes 8 minutes, so should start 18:20 latest, veg takes 6 minutes but can be done at the same time - 18:24. Etc.

This is hard when you start out, but after having fried meat and boiled veggies a few times you'll get an idea both of how long it takes, how much you can manage at a time, and how much time is lost in the other things (getting plates, getting burnt, forgetting stuff, etc).

If you're the type of ND that doesn't work backwards, you either use your strategies, or perhaps group tasks in roughly equal blocks. Maybe chopping onions & garlic, browning them and then frying the meat in the same pan takes 20 minutes, which might be the same as boiling potatoes.

On the topic of kitchen cheating/checking.

You can taste things to adjust seasoning, use a spoon (like a teaspoon), dip it, blow/wait for it to cool, and taste it. Start with salt and main flavor, and as you get more experienced you can add more nuanced stuff ("this needs some orange zest" is a ways down the road).

Also: for any meats, eggs, fish, and flour dishes (and some others) you can use an oven thermometer for perfect results.

Look up and print out a temperature chart and you can have your dishes perfectly cooked every time, no dryness, gummyness or undercooking.

I feel you, I was in basically the same situation when I first learnt cooking. I just wanted some good, nutritious eats without burning my home, hands or wallet.

Cooking can be a way to nutrition, but it can also be a lot of fun experimenting and getting to know your own preferences.

My suggestion would be to a) face that this is going to be a process, there's both knowledge skill, time and planning to be sunk into this before you get good, b) get a basic level cookbook, c) simplify.

First of all, you won't gain several years of cooking experience without putting in the work. We're working baby steps, but we can do them in a way that's fun for adults.

You can almost certainly learn one recipe and one variant per week. This is usually much more fun as you get to pick and plan for the thing, and have a second go at something you'd like to.

Recipe books come in different qualities, and with different readers in mind. Have a browse through second-hand books, stores, online reviews and find a sensible home style cooking book. Make sure you can follow the recipes and that align with what you'd like to learn. We had a whole no-nonsense home cooking movement in the 70s here with recipes that are pragmatic, easy to adapt and hilariously different to current recipe culture (50 word recipe, vs 4000 words about the author's mother).

The reason to pick a book is to keep to one author and not switch between different cooking styles or writing styles, and have a way to check off progress. Also you'll learn what adaptations you prefer: more garlic? Less grains? More cowbell? Etc.

A good way to start is with something you know you like, a promising recipe and a few tries (maybe spaced over a week or so). You mentioned pancakes and French toast, maybe try a Spanish omelette, or a German (oven) pancake? Maybe eventually a fried rice?

As for variants, it's not harder than trying it either with slightly different ingredients (mushrooms instead of bell peppers) or in a different way/recipe (maybe the recipe was stupid). This also helps you learn what are the important parts, and what can be changed, in any recipe.

Last tip is to simplify. You're in this for the long haul. Maybe start with cooking 2 meals a week, or one per day, or whatever is only a little challenging to you. Don't do all different recipes, start with one, and branch to a few with time. You'll learn both how and when to vary your menu as you go along, meanwhile it's easier to progress (as well as cheaper and more nutritious) to keep to fewer but good recipes in a rotation.

For me, I keep to about 5 dishes per week, with two prepped big batch recipes for most of it, and a "novel" dish/day from a pool of recipes. Easy to shop for, easy to vary, and very little day-to-day planning.

As for cookware it depends on style of cooking. I'm European and we enjoy cooking from raw ingredients, so I mostly use two knives (one sharp good quality chefs knife, and a smaller knife), a good cutting board (wood!), a skillet (IKEA carbon steel is lovely), a spatula, pots (2 and 5 l, with lids), a whisk/hand mixer, an oven safe tray, some measures, a spoon for tasting.

There's some other nice to haves: like fruit peelers, oven mitts, kitchen towels, a tranche skillet (deep skillet), a colander, garlic press, etc.

But you'll figure that out as you find what ingredients come often.

As you continue learning one recipe at a time, some of them will stick with you, bookmark those, and most will be one-and-done. Between them and the variants, you should be able to both learn a bunch of useful recipes to put into rotation, as well as how to vary them according to season/pantry, but most importantly what you enjoy in your food. Nothing tastes quite like home cooked, because it tastes just how you like it.

Good luck on your culinary journey!

I have a background as a technical specialist and consultant, but not in software. Is the best way to transition through a re-education? Or are there other steps to try out the industry before committing years of school?

Also, how is the career prospects within the current mass IT layoffs?

So happy for you! The world is better off for your empathy and care <3

Thank you for letting me help, and hope you both have a better life from your encounter!

I've also done the 'sup head jerk with cats around the neighborhood, they start in surprise the first few times, then do it back.

It's apparently an acknowledgement/greeting between cats.

And yes, heed the advice to "ignore" cats until they approach. Sit calmly, do your thing, let eachother know you're there, and then wait. Often doesn't take more than 15 minutes.