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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?

#871

Post by carlosdp »

WalterBright wrote: post #698
InvisibleUp wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a large part of this (in the USA, anyways) is due to how modern cities are structured. It used to be, 100 or 200 years ago, that your workplace, your home, and your usual hang-out place were all within reasonable walking distance of each other. It wasn't a huge deal to go out and meet new people, as you'd naturally bump into them every day. Nowadays we have a large portion of people in bedroom communities, is…

I miss living in the dormitory in college. Everything I needed was within a 3 minute walk. The dorm was full of my peers. There was always something fun going on. You had a room just big enough for a bed, a desk, and a sink. Everything else was common. If I was a developer I'd build a "dorm for adults" right next to places like Amazon, but at least around here zoning won't permit it. It's great if you're single and d…

The "dorm for adults" concept has been tried like 100 times by different startups and companies, always flops.

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

#872

Post by snow_mac »

acd wrote: post #401

That all parents must attend parenting classes. We have drivings licenses to drive a car. Yet there’s no such skill requirements for parents on how to raise children. Cost of dealing with miss raised children is very high.

Sounds like someone is for a communism run state. No thanks. I'll raise my kid the best possible way but the government cannot and will not tell me how.

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

#874

Post by slothtrop »

graaben wrote: post #226

Innovation in the mental health care space. Right now most of the top funded startups are working on either 1) Simplifying access for wealth people to the already available supply of therapists; or 2) Removing the human component entirely by creating with apps which have very little evidence to back them up. I see mental health care as one of the most important problems of out time, at the root of so many of the issu…

One frequent complaint I see is the difficulty accessing therapists either owing to cost or availability. Also just feeling lost as to how to attack the problem.

I see it as an information issue. According to research, online-administered CBT can be effective, and so are workbooks. Since CBT is so simple in principle, no reason this information shouldn't be easily accessible. I've even found free CBT workbooks online: https://depts.washington.edu/dbpeds/therapists_guide_to_brie....

This doesn't have to "replace" therapy, but it can be the first line of defense, along with what we know helps a great deal: regular exercise (boosts serotonin and reduces stress), adequate vitamin D3 intake (mood enhancer and helps anchor circadian rhythm), proper whole foods diet, enough socializing, etc.

I think the (possible) epidemic of mental health issues is exacerbated by a combination of isolation, stress (and negative newscycle bombardment), sedentary lifestyle.

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

#875

Post by ValentineC »

slothtrop wrote: post #866
baron816 wrote: post #243

In-person social organizations. Social isolation is probably the biggest cause of unhappiness in advanced countries. Having a strong social network has lots of advantages including providing better romantic and career opportunities, as well as improving physical and psychological health. Humans have a long history of dishing out lots of money to be parts of strong communities too--country clubs and fraternities have…

I believe this will be more important as the nature of work changes. In the short run, owing to more remote work as you say, and in the long-run, owing to jobs themselves being increasingly automated away. Irl organizations surrounding particular interests do materialize as extensions of online enthusiasm (we see this for meetup groups) but this is still insufficient. What's missing is accessible infrastructure to fa…

> We are going about things backwards, because it was all we could do: create organizations surrounding particular subjects, then have people join in. In many cases people are surfing around these groups as a means to an end, they don't care the slightest about the subject but they need it as a medium to connect with others.

As a long-time member of a hackerspace, I've always envisioned it as a "church" (of sorts) for tech. I feel like I've learnt quite a bit from just immersing myself in the place, and having conversations with people from various disciplines.

Unfortunately, we're always struggling to make rent. It's a pity that the concept doesn't seem to work well in high-rent areas — many people view use of such spaces as a transaction, and won't contribute financially if it's just like any other office or co-working space.

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

#876

Post by slothtrop »

aphroz wrote: post #287

Smartphone Keyboard I cannot type a single sentence without making a typo and I have been using a smartphone for 12 years. I miss Blackberry's keyboard. At the moment I even cannot use my natural keyboard layout with a fast and responsive keyboard. I type 3 times slower on my phone than on a computer keyboard.

I'm finding the touch keyboard too impractical for my purposes so I'm going back to BB, probably the Key2 LE. There are other keyboard phones on the market now that run Android but they also don't have the productivity toolset that I'm accustomed to and prefer.

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

#877

Post by wes-k »

indigochill wrote: post #72

You know "Explorable Explanations" ( https://explorabl.es/ )? I'm surprised more work isn't going into tools to optimize ease of creation of that kind of thing. Imagine any grade school teacher could create something like this for their kids (or even let kids make them for themselves - something like Scratch). I think that (easy development of interactive explanations) would be an educational revolution.

I'm working on this and I completely agree! I'm a LOOONG way away, my first goal is to create a drawing app similar to http://worrydream.com/DrawingDynamicVisualizationsTalkAddend.... From there, I want to create a WYSIWYG where you can drag in these drawings and add controls. Controls -> data -> drawings.

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

#878

Post by 0-_-0 »

pirateship wrote: post #281
oblio wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For news? I want an OS and browser integrate single payment system. I don't want to have to give my credit card details to everyone. I want a digital wallet that's an open standard and that's integrated with every form of online payment. Where I can cut off subscriptions easily and with no hassle, maybe one time payments, etc. For news, shopping, any kind of subscription (Netflix, AWS, etc.). I want banking-as-a-serv…

What about Brave Rewards? https://brave.com/brave-rewards/ You can set a budget to spend among the websites you visit, if they have "signed up" to the service.

This is indeed the solution, and I don't get the HN reaction when it's mentioned.

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

#879

Post by jhayward »

habosa wrote: post #809

Data Insurance. Almost every company out there is collecting tons of data, but 90% of companies don't have an IT department capable of keeping it safe and compliant with the latest regulations. Companies thought data was an asset but as the hacks and regulations pile up I think they will begin to view it as a liability. So what are their options: 1) Try and beef up your tech operation. Maybe spend $xxM with AWS and h…

As a foundation for the above, also add universal data provenance. I want to know, in exact detail and provable chain of evidence, how a specific fact or conclusion about me arrived in company A's database.

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

#880

Post by slothtrop »

acd wrote: post #401

That all parents must attend parenting classes. We have drivings licenses to drive a car. Yet there’s no such skill requirements for parents on how to raise children. Cost of dealing with miss raised children is very high.

It's not a problem of ignorance (limited to this particular area.. broader ignorance, yes). Anyone with a good moral compass will do a decent job of raising their kids and seeking out answers when they need to. The kind of person that would most benefit from changing their parenting style is also the kind that would actively reject it.
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