Winter is coming • Hacker News Board

Re: Winter is coming

#151

Post by maaaats » Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 10:13 AM UTC

Pxtl wrote: post #35

IanDrake wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's about daylight exposure, not temp. Working indoors is a relatively new phenomenon in humans and effects us all a little differently. When it's dark when you go into work, and you don't have a corner office, and it's dark when you leave your body gets no sunlight. For some, this has a profound effect on mood.

Remember that the days are even shorter in Canadian winter, too. SF's shortest day of the year is 9.4 hours long. Toronto's shortest day is 8.7 hours long, and Toronto is one of Canada's southern-most cities. Montreal and Quebec City have it worse, but those poor damned Calgarians take the cake with only 7.7 hours of daylight on Christmas. Only about 45 minutes difference from SF here in Hamilton, but still, it's tha…

I live in northern Norway. Soon I won't see the sun more than a few hours a day and later it will disappear and not come back before the spring. :(

Re: Winter is coming

#152

Post by arethuza » Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 11:19 AM UTC

aptwebapps wrote: post #148

cgag wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm new to SF, but as far as I can tell it doesn't get cold enough to create new opportunities, just cold enough to make normal outdoor activities a lot less fun.

You don't have to go skiing _in_ San Francisco, you just have to mentally link the colder weather with snow in Tahoe.

Exactly, we don't usually get a lot of snow here in Edinburgh - but there are 4 ski areas within two to three hours drive of here (Cairngorm, Nevis Range, Glencoe and Glenshee - in my personal order of preference).

Having said that, sometimes we do get plenty snow here and then our ample supply of hills is quite handy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRJldrUKaDs

Re: Winter is coming

#153

Post by peterwwillis » Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 1:56 PM UTC

The most depressing thing about this post:

> Buy some lights

> You want to get lights that are at least 5,000 lux and preferably 10,000 lux. I recommend checking out Biobrite – that’s your first stop with the Per3 and the Philips light products as secondary options. Anything that doesn’t explicitly say it is either 5,000 or 10,000 lux is not going to do the job of stimulating serotonin.

GO.

THE.

FUCK.

OUTSIDE.

Wake the fuck up, as soon as the sun starts to peek out, and stay outside until you feel awake and full of life. Then go back to your rectangular cave and hide out. Until lunch time, when you go the fuck outside again. Wear a thermal t-shirt and shorts and run a mile. Then go back to your cave again. Before the sun sets, go outside once more and watch the sunset, preferably in a jog.

Serotonin my ass. You're feeling the pressure of human society weighing you down, and winter is a reminder of your own mortality. Go outside and look at a lake surrounded by leafless trees, sip some hot tea, and think about how beautiful it all is.

(and then remember and be thankful that you're not stuck in Florida, but maybe that's just me)

Re: Winter is coming

#154

Post by mdda » Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 3:09 PM UTC

threedaymonk wrote: post #64

Pxtl wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember that the days are even shorter in Canadian winter, too. SF's shortest day of the year is 9.4 hours long. Toronto's shortest day is 8.7 hours long, and Toronto is one of Canada's southern-most cities. Montreal and Quebec City have it worse, but those poor damned Calgarians take the cake with only 7.7 hours of daylight on Christmas. Only about 45 minutes difference from SF here in Hamilton, but still, it's tha…

I never stop being surprised by just how far south everyone lives in Canada. London gets about 7 hours and 50 minutes of daylight on the shortest day; in Scotland it's less than 7 hours.

One interesting thing to do is to scroll a Google Map world-view sideways, with your finger on European cities, and see where the correspond around the world. It's very surprising (and visual too).

Re: Winter is coming

#155

Post by vonmoltke » Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 3:50 PM UTC

xradionut wrote: post #68

vonmoltke wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar experience moving from Ft. Lauderdale to Dallas. The contrast was made even more interesting because many of the people I worked with when I moved out here originally came from northern climes, with a few coming from places where snowfall is measured in feet instead of inches. I have adapted to it, mainly because North Texas winters tend to be sunny and dry. I would still rather be back in South Flori…

Winter isn't that bad in North Texas. At worst we'll have a ice or snow storm once every decade that will shut the area down for a day or two. It's a great time for exercising outdoors and catching up on sleep. My dog loves the weather change, makes for longer walks in a cooler clime.

Its not, but you are talking to someone for whom the dead of winter was a low 40 for a few nights prior to moving out here. The snow and ice I actually like, mainly because it is infrequent.

Re: Winter is coming

#156

Post by teach » Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 5:33 PM UTC

simonhughes22 wrote: post #146

teach wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hypervitaminosis D is incredibly rare. Taking 1000 IU per day ought to be harmless for literally everyone. Even 10,000 IU per day is WAY below toxicity.

You are missing the point. Above a certain level, the negative side effects start out weighing the positive affects. So just because something is not close to toxicity, does not mean it is actually having a net benefit on your health. With vitamins, take the recommended dosage, or preferably slightly less, as it is likely you are getting at least something from your diet, not matter how poor. Anything above that is l…

I'm not talking about vitamins in general; I'm talking about vitamin D and how embarrassingly low the U.S. RDA is.

There are a great many Americans who would see immense benefit by taking (say) 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day. And I feel pretty confident there are no people for whom an extra 2,000 IU would be negative.