What a strange article to see Nick featured on HN.
Whilst this is interesting, Nick maintains a fantastic website full of interesting information about telephone software, antennas and all sorts of fascinating telephony articles.
Bell Labs gave up its roof to patch the Statue of Liberty
71–80 of 116 posts
Re: Bell Labs gave up its roof to patch the Statue of Liberty
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah I don't understand why people hate them so much either. I think they look nice too. Better than old-fashioned windmills. Where I'm from in the Netherlands there's is much less resistance to them anyway because we know the alternative is for our country to be under the sea ;)
It's not so much a wind turbine, as when you have dozens or hundreds of them in view at the same time.
Living in the North East of England, we have several dotted around in the surrounding fields of my home. There are about 8-10 turbines across a 360 degree view.
I think they look great, but I agree, there is a limit to how many people will tolerate.
Re: Bell Labs gave up its roof to patch the Statue of Liberty
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find Americans really don't like change. Still using a penny, still using dollar bills, not using the metric system, still using Fahrenheit.
Dislike of change is a worldwide constant, like gravity. Also, all measurement systems are functionally arbitrary - be it the kings foot, a rod in a library, or some mathematical constant - all are arbitrary, ours is just a little less rational and certainly less relational than others. Fahrenheit is just fine however thank you. (My ideal system would be a zero to 200 system, water would freeze at zero and boil at 20…
> for a bunch of historical reasons americans don't like dollar coins. (Mostly the size we picked is too close to the quarter)
I'm also surprised you like the dollar bills all the same size and colour. I don't know how I'd pay in a bar while drunk lol.
Though I guess like most people these days I just slap my phone on the reader.
Re: Bell Labs gave up its roof to patch the Statue of Liberty
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find Americans really don't like change. Still using a penny, still using dollar bills, not using the metric system, still using Fahrenheit.
Dislike of change is a worldwide constant, like gravity. Also, all measurement systems are functionally arbitrary - be it the kings foot, a rod in a library, or some mathematical constant - all are arbitrary, ours is just a little less rational and certainly less relational than others. Fahrenheit is just fine however thank you. (My ideal system would be a zero to 200 system, water would freeze at zero and boil at 20…
In terms of arbitrariness, note that your "traditional" units are only actually defined in terms of the SI system ("metric" units). Metrication is expensive and although the US is rich it declines to spend the eye-watering sums it would cost to do adequate metrication separately for its own unit system, so the pound is defined as some number of kilograms, the inch is defined as some number of metres and so on.
As a result to the extent all the systems are arbitrary, all the traditional units are automatically one step more arbitrary.
Re: Bell Labs gave up its roof to patch the Statue of Liberty
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah I don't understand why people hate them so much either. I think they look nice too. Better than old-fashioned windmills. Where I'm from in the Netherlands there's is much less resistance to them anyway because we know the alternative is for our country to be under the sea ;)
Some of them kill a lot of birds and bats. On top of that, they of course need access roads for maintenance crews to come do their thing once in a while, if located in a former pristine environment that isn't ideal. To say nothing of when the construction actually takes place, again, if it all happens in a pristine location then it's not ok.
The 'pristine location' you're talking about was most likely already formed by humans. There's barely any location on earth which hasn't been significantly altered by humans already. It's an arbitrary standard.
Re: Bell Labs gave up its roof to patch the Statue of Liberty
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find Americans really don't like change. Still using a penny, still using dollar bills, not using the metric system, still using Fahrenheit.
Dislike of change is a worldwide constant, like gravity. Also, all measurement systems are functionally arbitrary - be it the kings foot, a rod in a library, or some mathematical constant - all are arbitrary, ours is just a little less rational and certainly less relational than others. Fahrenheit is just fine however thank you. (My ideal system would be a zero to 200 system, water would freeze at zero and boil at 20…
> Also, all measurement systems are functionally arbitrary
It's not a question whether they are arbitrary, it's a question if they are technically consistent within themselves.
The metric system is: Everything is orders of magnitude, powers of ten, throughout all the measurements. Consequently, everything measured by base units of distance and mass follows the same rules: A Watt is 1 Joule per second, which is 1 Newtonmeter per second, which is 1 kilogramm per meter squared per second per second per second. 1 Grey (Gy) is 1 Joule of radiation absorbed in 1 kg of mass. If I have to do a calculation, I simply put the different weights and whatever in, and everything just falls into place on its own.
Additionally, measurements of distance and mass are not independent, but based on one another, also by powers of ten. 1000 cubic centimeters (a litre) of Water at maximum density is 1kg of mass. 1 Millilitre of it is 1 gram of mass. 1 m³ of it is 1 metric ton, which is 1000 kg.
Not only is that consistent, it also fits into our radix 10 numerical system like a hand into a fine glove.
I have yet to find any internal consistency in the various imperial systems of measurement. Everything is based on yet another arbitrary comparison with real life objects or references, and so nothing is consistent with anything else. A mile is 8 furlongs, a furlong is 10 chains, a chain is 4 rods, a rod is 5.5 yards, a yard is 3 feet, a foot is 12 inches. Land is measured in acres, which is a furlong by a chain.
Measurements of mass don't follow measurements of distance. A ton is 160 stone, or 160 * 8 "hundredweights", or 160 * 8 * 14 pounds, or 160 * 8 * 14 * 16 ounces. Not only is it not dependent on the distance measurements, the conversion rates are also dissimilar.
Re: Bell Labs gave up its roof to patch the Statue of Liberty
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Dislike of change is a worldwide constant, like gravity. Also, all measurement systems are functionally arbitrary - be it the kings foot, a rod in a library, or some mathematical constant - all are arbitrary, ours is just a little less rational and certainly less relational than others. Fahrenheit is just fine however thank you. (My ideal system would be a zero to 200 system, water would freeze at zero and boil at 20…
> Also, all measurement systems are functionally arbitrary It's not a question whether they are arbitrary, it's a question if they are technically consistent within themselves. The metric system is: Everything is orders of magnitude, powers of ten, throughout all the measurements. Consequently, everything measured by base units of distance and mass follows the same rules: A Watt is 1 Joule per second, which is 1 Newt…
> Measurements of mass don't follow measurements of distance. A ton is 160 stone, or 160 * 8 "hundredweights", or 160 * 8 * 14 pounds, or 160 * 8 * 14 * 16 ounces. Not only is it not dependent on the distance measurements, the conversion rates are also dissimilar.
Woah woah woah, don't put that evil on us in the USA, that stone madness is all British.
A US hundredweight is 100 lbs.
The metric system didn't invent water volume and weight correspondence -- a pint's a pound the whole world round. 1 pint of water weighs one pound, and one fluid ounce of water weighs one ounce.
Re: Bell Labs gave up its roof to patch the Statue of Liberty
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Dislike of change is a worldwide constant, like gravity. Also, all measurement systems are functionally arbitrary - be it the kings foot, a rod in a library, or some mathematical constant - all are arbitrary, ours is just a little less rational and certainly less relational than others. Fahrenheit is just fine however thank you. (My ideal system would be a zero to 200 system, water would freeze at zero and boil at 20…
Anyone involved with chemistry uses the metric system. As does anyone who plays soccer. It's everywhere. Go look at any item in your pantry, metric units will be printed on it.
The metric system is great but measurements in football (aka soccer) pitches are more naturally expressed in yards than metres given its historical standardisation in Britain.
I only played during PE lessons but don’t recall anyone ever referring to measurements during play. Just “the box” or the “halfway line”.
Re: Bell Labs gave up its roof to patch the Statue of Liberty
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find Americans really don't like change. Still using a penny, still using dollar bills, not using the metric system, still using Fahrenheit.
Americans use the metric system every day. And what's wrong with a penny? Decimal currency has to retain a fundamental unit or there are some amounts that can't be created.
I don't have a horse in this race, but I think what the commenter meant was, some places don't use the penny any more.
In Canada, the penny is gone. It was too expensive to keep (cost of producing them is just silly, for their value of 1 cent.). So prices are just rounded when using cash:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canad...
In as the penny was effectively worthless even a decade ago (when this was done), it just makes sense. I can't think of a single person, or retailer, who cared.
Most approved of it.
So, that's probably what someone meant by the penny comment. Whether the US should do the same? I don't know. I just know it worked out very easily, and well, in Canada.
Re: Bell Labs gave up its roof to patch the Statue of Liberty
#80I feel like it might look quite cool if it was patched with new copper (at least if it was done well). A bit like kintsugi pottery.
Often the kind of thing people hate for a while, and then with enough time becomes iconic and you'd probably end up with an article about how they were debating whether to preserve it or not as it aged. I think about this a lot when it comes to "eyesores", particularly wind turbines. When you think of how windmills are considered picturesque, it always makes me a little surprised when people moan about modern wind ge…
The modern wind turbines are absolutely massive and dominate the landscape in a mocking, domineering, ignorant hatred of nuclear power.