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Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

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Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#311

Post by shishy »

screye wrote: post #252

A better whiteboard/notes/mindmap app. (for windows) I can't be the only person who uses graphs, flow charts and images as a primary mental model for idea representation. This a domain I have been obsessed with for ages. The tech seems to be there. Ocr, shape recognition, pen technology is all there. New devices increasingly have the ML hardware to support it. Why isn't it here yet? We are living in the midst of a re…

An alternative to roamresearch: just use `org-roam` with `org` :). Will support zettelkasten style note taking for free.

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#312

Post by curiousllama »

anken wrote: post #209
yosamino wrote: post #196

Geothermal Energy. Extremely simplified, all you need to do is drill a hole deep enough for a high temperature difference. Then stick in two pipes, on for sending water down, one for steam to come up. Run a turbine, add a valve to regulate how much water you want to converted into steam to be able to regulate output, enjoy your first mover advantage and price the competition out of the market. ... It's not that I do…

On bigger scale, it seems this can sometimes cause earthquakes... One geothermal power plant is going to close in France https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Geothermal-power...

Sidenote: how steampunk is it that "causes earthquakes" is just like a common externality of new industrial technology?

Could you imagine if "causes F-4 tornadoes" or "causes "golf-ball-sized hail" were just normal things that new tech might cause?

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#313

Post by jodrellblank »

Tobias42 wrote: post #105
gisborne wrote: post #84

Computing tools for non—programmers. In the early days of computing, we quickly came up with the spreadsheet and the user-friendly relational database (Access, FileMaker). Then we just sort of stopped. The no-code thing today is a step in that direction, but we could do so much better. I’m actually ashamed of the software industry that we have done so poorly at this.

I recently thought about this, too. Is there any cloud-based, simple relational database, aimed at non-programmers?

Excel, web version.

( https://www.google.com/search?q=%22excel+database%22 )

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#314

Post by dwcnnnghm »

guitarbill wrote: post #247
dalai wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just LaTeX, groff gets no love even though it can deliver nice output. The syntax is even more arcane, but on the other hand it doesn’t need GBs to install. Asciidoctor is a good modern proposition that can handle more than markdown can, but it’s not without shortcomings. Unfortunately markdown, asciidoc, rst and friends have been focusing too much on publishing to the web. Conversion to PDF is mostly over html (…

> groff gets no love even though it can deliver nice output. The syntax is even more arcane I think you've answered it yourself. Also damning is that groff doesn't support UTF-8 directly. Most groff guides only do very basic formatting. Complex math/equation layout can be awful. Image files apparently need to be ps/eps. I just keep running into issues. There's also no accessible ecosystem for groff. CTAN. Code highli…

Plan 9 troff might work! It works with utf8 out of the box[0], and while I haven't used it for complex math typesetting, there is a command (eqn [1]) that was developed for it. I'd recommend Ali Rudi's port (neatroff [2][3]) for a minimalist implementation. There's also Heirloom Documentation Tools [4] which is an implementation of *roff-and-friends that uses Knuth's paragraph-at-once algorithm (instead of the original line-wise one) for typesetting, plus some other interesting features.

The authors of eqn wrote a paper about it: "Typesetting Mathematics" by Brian Kernighan and Lorinda Cherry. Kernighan also wrote two manuals (one in 1976 with a revision in 1992, and one in 2007 with updates for the Plan 9 version). [5].

[0] utf8 was developed by Ken Thompson and Rob Pike during the creation of Plan9. The entire OS is compatible. Story here: http://doc.cat-v.org/bell_labs/utf-8_history

[1] http://man.cat-v.org/plan_9/1/eqn

[2] https://github.com/aligrudi/neatroff

[3] PDF manual for neatroff: http://litcave.rudi.ir/neatroff.pdf

[4] https://n-t-roff.github.io/heirloom/doctools.html

[5] These (and more) can be found here: http://www.kohala.com/start/troff/troff.html

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#315

Post by TeMPOraL »

kevin_nisbet wrote: post #309

Maybe not so much surprised but more disappointed that sustainable public infrastructure isn't more in focus. Things like road surfaces that don't need to be replaced every couple of years, or better consideration when large infrastructure spending comes around how those bridges, dams, water works, etc, etc will be monitored, maintained and expanded over time.

To extend that point: I wish there was some focus developing low-maintenance technologies - i.e. things that live long and don't require active maintenace or attention, because they passively or actively clean and fix themselves. It would be nice not just for infrastructure, but also for every household. Despite the proliferation of machines that reduce the household workload, we're still wasting large amounts of time keeping our houses clean and in working condition.

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#316

Post by raihansaputra »

Bukhmanizer wrote: post #285

Social etiquette for online spaces. Especially during a pandemic year, I'm surprised that this hasn't been more of a topic of discussion. Mostly, if people do talk about social etiquette, it's within the context of not explicitly pissing people off, or looking good to your boss. I've never seen anyone talk about actually having good social interactions online. I've had a few friends change jobs during the pandemic, a…

I started a new job since March, this is similar to what I’ve experienced. Fortunately my team has some ways to work around the limitations (team lunch and what not) so it’s definitely not terrible, but I’m missing the spontaneous smoke/coffee breaks from in-office type of work.

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#317

Post by gangstertim »

Battery-operated household items. I have a cordless dewalt drill that I can use all day on my jobsite, but every single appliance in my kitchen needs a cord. Hand mixer? Immersion blender? Regular blender? Stand mixer? Everything has a cord. Why isn't there a kitchen battery system yet?

Similarly: I'd love to have a little reading sconce on my wall next to my bed, but running a circuit through the existing walls without tearing them up is impossible. Why isn't there any attractive battery-powered home lighting? Sure, maybe overhead lights for lighting a room need more draw, but there's no reason to plug in a desk lamp, wall sconce, or coffee table light every day. Especially for renters who aren't about to hire an electrician—why no battery-powered lights designed for the home? Periodic recharging is annoying, but it's better than literally not being able to have a light where I want it.

There's a market here and it's not new technology. It's just repackaging existing technology with a splash of industrial design. Hell, the battery requirements for my drill are much greater than the battery requirements for my immersion blender. It shouldn't even be expensive!

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#318

Post by withinboredom »

screye wrote: post #252

A better whiteboard/notes/mindmap app. (for windows) I can't be the only person who uses graphs, flow charts and images as a primary mental model for idea representation. This a domain I have been obsessed with for ages. The tech seems to be there. Ocr, shape recognition, pen technology is all there. New devices increasingly have the ML hardware to support it. Why isn't it here yet? We are living in the midst of a re…

I use InkDrop exclusively. It's a paid app, but it's a fancy Markdown editor that has plugin support and various organization systems (tags, notebooks, statuses like "in progress," "completed," etc). I use the Mermaid plugin which allows me to write out some fairly complex charts, but there's some other charting ones as well.

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#319

Post by TrackerFF »

It IS being worked on, but things move quite slow - and there doesn't seem to have been much progress for decades, but:

Cure for hair-loss.

Some might say it's just vanity, but if someone could come up with a cure, and sell it affordably, that would be a multi-billion, maybe even trillion dollar industry.

Going from quite balding (NW4-NW7 in balding terminology) to a full head of hair makes most guys look a solid 10-20 years younger.

The hair-loss industry has been in a permanent state of "in 5 years..." for 30 years now.

And yes, I know there are more pressing issues in the world of medicine, but it's a real problem for tens of millions of people.

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