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Why the Fuck?
241–250 of 528 posts
Re: Why the Fuck?
#242My fellow HNers: It does depress me, daily, that I do not have a career in physics or chemistry or biology or medicine where I could work on "big problems." The simple truth is, I'm not smart enough, I don't work hard enough, and I've been napping when opportunity knocked a few times in my life. That being said, sometimes a man in a saloon has a few drinks and yells at the television, telling the coach of some footba…
2. There are regulatory obstacles for businesses. As someone in the biotech space, this is by far the biggest factor. When you are dealing with humans, crashes and bugs mean deaths. Deaths mean increased regulation, often under the mistaken assumption that more rules would prevent engineers from making bugs. Modern testing and build systems might, but regulators aren't keen to change their testing systems, many of wh…
To the best of your knowledge, would it be illegal (notwithstanding any copyright claims) to produce an interface that would make FDA compliance easier?
Examples: - a website that republishes FDA information in a far easier to grok manner (assuming they are as impenetrable as most government websites I've had the misfortune to require using) - a choose-your-own-adventure formatted application made in Twine that would allow you to explicitly follow the known rules - an application that alerts drug/device developers of guidance updates
Re: Why the Fuck?
#243I'm the Co-Founder & CEO of Omada Health (http://omadahealth.com), and any engineers who are keen to help make a dent in the diabetes and obesity crisis should please reach out. Our company has built a web-version of a landmark clinical study called the diabetes prevention program (http://goo.gl/shiaw) to help the 78 million people with prediabetes from progressing to full-blown type 2 diabetes. Diabetes prevention is absolutely possible, and there are technology and design solutions that can help.
sean@omadahealth.com
Re: Why the Fuck?
#244My fellow HNers: It does depress me, daily, that I do not have a career in physics or chemistry or biology or medicine where I could work on "big problems." The simple truth is, I'm not smart enough, I don't work hard enough, and I've been napping when opportunity knocked a few times in my life. That being said, sometimes a man in a saloon has a few drinks and yells at the television, telling the coach of some footba…
2. There are regulatory obstacles for businesses. As someone in the biotech space, this is by far the biggest factor. When you are dealing with humans, crashes and bugs mean deaths. Deaths mean increased regulation, often under the mistaken assumption that more rules would prevent engineers from making bugs. Modern testing and build systems might, but regulators aren't keen to change their testing systems, many of wh…
My engineering services business does regulatory affairs and compliance engineering work for medical device manufacturers, in addition to embedded SW. IEC 62304 and IEC 60601-1 3rd edition, etc. I can say that the parent comment is spot on. Great summary, IMO.
Re: Why the Fuck?
#245Why? Because people don't want to change the world. Most people want a job that they can easily complete with minimal effort that still affords them a large salary. Most people want a comfy couch upon which they can stare a black rectangle on their wall for 4 hours each night. Most people want to sit on a beach for 2 weeks every winter. Most people want to pursue a lifestyle, not a legacy. An unremarkable life lived to achieve domestic success and hedonistic pursuits is an attractive proposal. I don't blame people for wanting one.
Re: Why the Fuck?
#246Why the fuck do we see this complaint pop up on HN every quarter?
There's a normal human tendency to occasionally worry about whether one is doing the correct thing with one's life. And then sometimes people extend that from themselves to those they associate with.
Re: Why the Fuck?
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'll never start a company that sends a man to Mars or discovers the cure to a horrifying disease. Maybe not, but you can work at one: https://jobs.counsyl.com I work at counsyl and we're hiring generalist programmers, devops, etc.
But we all can't work there. Not only are there not enough jobs at That One Company That's Changing The World, someone needs to provide the tools and services the business is built on; all the ancillary things that allow Us to make progress (computers, operating systems ... vehicles and their fuel ... food for the humans ... waste receptacles and their sanitation ... etc) How am I changing the world? A) By educating…
> there not enough jobs at That One Company That's Changing The World
I met some Counsyl devs at PyCon last year, they were wonderful. We talked about meaningful work.
There are so many companies and nonprofits trying to change the world. They need help with software. A partial list:
Broad Institute: http://www.broadinstitute.org (disclaimer, I work there)
JCVI: http://www.jcvi.org
Sanger: http://www.sanger.ac.uk
23andme: https://www.23andme.com
Re: Why the Fuck?
#248Why do we play videogames? Why do we create art? Why do we eat tasty unhealthy foods? Why do we go on hikes or climb rocks? Why do we write posts complaining about other people not saving the world? We do things we enjoy, things we're passionate or curious about, things we care about or have no choice but to do them. Glamour is a factor. Money too. Perhaps if I had diabetes, or someone very close to me was suffering…
But this just states what this generation lacks the most... Empathy. I couldn't care less if Facebook didn't exist because humanity focused it's work into solving real problems. But some people just don't care. As long as they are living their good life... who cares about diabetes? The biggest problem IMHO is our generation's goals. Money, money and more money. If the world provided better ways for us to help each ot…
We could live in a post-scarcity world, but, no, we have to have it all, and exert power over others.
Our own fear and depravity damn us to these outcomes. :(
Re: Why the Fuck?
#249If you're looking into making a big impact: http://80000hours.org/
The answer is usually not clear cut.
Re: Why the Fuck?
#250I can't speak to the other companies, though I know google want's "all the worlds info at your fingertips" which is a reasonably high ideal... I can speak to what Apple is doing as someone whose followed the company closely for a couple decades. Apple doesn't care whether you buy the 3.5", 4.0", 7.85", or 9.8" screen. Apple is bringing the personal computer to the 6 billion other people who weren't able to get in on…
Your description of how apple is on a noble quest to bring the personal computer to the poor of the world through the '$50 computer' that is an ipod shuffle is so far from reality in so many different ways that you are verging on a parody of yourself.
I can't believe you seriously typed all that out and then submitted it.