Nobody cares • Hacker News Board

Re: Nobody cares

#761

Post by flyinghamster » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 2:40 PM UTC

teslabox wrote: post #588

rob74 wrote: post #514

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My impression was that HPS lighting became so widespread not because of the supposed advantages of its light spectrum, but because it was simply the most light-efficient technology available at that time. Here in Germany, only main/multilane streets requiring more lighting were using HPS, residential streets mostly had lamps with white fluorescent lights, so switching those to LEDs wasn't as much of a change. But sti…

Low pressure sodium lights were more efficient, but they emit a single wavelength of orange light. These lights were strongly disliked by people who liked to admire their car in the streetlights (I suppose). > residential streets mostly had lamps with white fluorescent lights, … they used CFLs? The spiral fluorescents were invented in the 1980’s, I guess. I speculate the residential street lights used mercury vapor b…

Decades ago, my junior college's parking lot was lit by low-pressure sodium lighting. I recall the light being an absolute monochrome yellow, to the point that you had to be careful to remember exactly where you parked your car, because you weren't going to find it by color.

I can't vouch for Germany, but there used to be long, high-output fluorescent tubes and fixtures for street lighting in the US. They seem to have largely disappeared by the 1980s. They weren't very common, but some cities used them. They tended to be used on main streets when I saw them.

Re: Nobody cares

#762

Post by pdimitar » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 2:42 PM UTC

bruce511 wrote: post #516

autoexec wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If an "alternative" to McDonald's does exactly the same abusive thing it isn't a real alternative to McDonald's at all. If an "alternative" to McDonald's forces you to drive excessive distances to reach it, or it costs much more, or it sells Thai food instead of burgers, then it isn't a real alternative to McDonald's. A suitable alternative to McDonald's would be one similar enough to McDonald's for your purposes tha…

A suitable alternative to McDonald's is learning to cook. Or pay a bit more to go to a nicer joint. Quality does cost more. As long as you keep signaling to MD that you'll tolerate more and more crap for lower prices, they happily oblige.

Another trope that never gets old, it seems.

Many people have stopped going to McDonald's by the way. But not enough for McD to hurt.

Then what? What does our agency change in the world in this situation?

You are using cop-outs as well.

Re: Nobody cares

#763

Post by iandanforth » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 2:47 PM UTC

The sad thing about this article is that they can't be happy making the world a better place, instead they focus on what other people aren't doing.

"I am proud of my work" >> "You should work harder!"

Re: Nobody cares

#764

Post by NoGravitas » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 2:48 PM UTC

thrance wrote: post #300

This guy is this close to rediscovering worker alienation. Most people don't care about doing their jobs well because they don't really choose what they work on, they don't own the product they're working on and don't enjoy the fruits of their labor. They know working harder won't improve their material condition either, only tire them more, seemingly pointlessly. And so society turns to sh*t, but a lot of value is c…

> This guy is this close to rediscovering worker alienation.

A lot of people in the comments are, too. It's been a real interesting case study for me.

Re: Nobody cares

#765

Post by bruce511 » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 2:56 PM UTC

pdimitar wrote: post #762

bruce511 wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A suitable alternative to McDonald's is learning to cook. Or pay a bit more to go to a nicer joint. Quality does cost more. As long as you keep signaling to MD that you'll tolerate more and more crap for lower prices, they happily oblige.

Another trope that never gets old, it seems. Many people have stopped going to McDonald's by the way. But not enough for McD to hurt. Then what? What does our agency change in the world in this situation? You are using cop-outs as well.

Cooking for yourself is a trope? You realise that's what most of the world does every day.

If making your own meals is literally out of your reach then I feel really sad for you. That must truly suck to be so dependent on companies just to eat...

Re: Nobody cares

#766

Post by marcosdumay » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 2:57 PM UTC

gizmo wrote: post #614

tqi wrote: post #425

Its ironic, because this dude doesn't seem to care enough to even the slightest bit of research to understand why any of these problems he highlights are the way they are, and lazily attributes everything to OTHER people not caring. LEDs last longer, are more energy efficient, and also reduce light pollution because they are more directional[1]. Took me 30 seconds to google. There are enormous design standards for de…

Of course there are "reasonable justifications" for the shitty status quo, but that's kind of the point. Things are shitty for reasons but not for good reasons. The author points to Japan to illustrate that you do get measurably better results when people habitually try to do good work. We're not actually doomed to have crappy furniture, flimsy and buggy appliances, byzantine legal codes, ugly architecture, and hosti…

> Things are shitty for reasons but not for good reasons.

I dunno. At the first problem, impeding cyclists that want to merge into a walkway zooming at 20mph without paying enough attention to even see their lane is ending is a quite good reason.

Maybe he should be asking for some "cyclist-calming" measure instead, so they will slow down before not being able to make into the walkway.

Re: Nobody cares

#767

Post by pclmulqdq » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 3:02 PM UTC

podgorniy wrote: post #517

arretevad wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon only cares about enriching himself.

If that's true what would be explanation of his gaming/streaming? I believe his motivations are beyond getting rich. At some point in life money become means to goals, and goals are driven by real motivation.

> I believe his motivations are beyond getting rich. At some point in life money become means to goals, and goals are driven by real motivation.

They are now about acquiring power and respect from other people, after he became rich and everyone started making fun of him.

Re: Nobody cares

#768

Post by gspencley » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 3:03 PM UTC

tqi wrote: post #425

Its ironic, because this dude doesn't seem to care enough to even the slightest bit of research to understand why any of these problems he highlights are the way they are, and lazily attributes everything to OTHER people not caring. LEDs last longer, are more energy efficient, and also reduce light pollution because they are more directional[1]. Took me 30 seconds to google. There are enormous design standards for de…

> But sure, just assume it's because everyone is stupid.

He didn't say everyone was stupid. He said that no body cares. There is a very big difference between the two.

I tend to agree with him. Yes we can find examples, most commonly when it comes to safety standards, where there are systems in place that prevent the really bad stuff from happening. But why do those systems and checks need to be put into place? Because a lot of people simply do not care and would cut corners if their jobs didn't depend on them following the standards.

The problem with broad sweeping generalizations is that they never apply to all individual cases. It doesn't change the fact that the broad generalization is, well, broadly and generally true. Most people don't care about almost anything other than getting home to their families or pets. Most people will even happily admit that. It's not even that they're lazy necessarily (though a few people are). It's that they are working in what is, to them, "just a job / pay cheque." That's not even always a problem. It's just a fact of life that is as true as taxes and death. It's worth acknowledging because it is something that needs to be accounted for after identifying or choosing your fault tolerances. The systems and standards that you cite are the result of acknowledging this fact of reality.

Re: Nobody cares

#769

Post by headsupernova » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 3:05 PM UTC

lesona wrote: post #666

matthewdgreen wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Baltimore the city seems to have purchased a huge batch of defective LEDs that are actually purple. It’s disturbing when you encounter one.

They’re purple (blue is the other option) because veins are harder to see under purple light. They’re used to deter drug use, from my understanding. Edit: final clause

Not true, they're just defective and degraded quickly, resulting in the odd color.

Re: Nobody cares

#770

Post by FigurativeVoid » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 3:06 PM UTC

hoosier2gator wrote: post #344

As a physician who does care, I found it interesting that he chose to include doctors in this tirade but then patted himself on the back for squashing bugs quickly and feeling badly about having written buggy code. I know that there are outliers, but in meeting and working with literally hundreds of other physicians at this point in my career, I can count on one hand the doctors who truly do not care. And boy do we f…

This is a statement of privilege: find a doctor who cares and stick with them.

I'm T1 diabetic, and it took me a long time to find an endo and a PCP that care. I have long since moved away from their offices, but I still make the drive because they are worth it.

My tip on finding good providers is basically to get lucky and find a good one. Then you should ask who they recommend. They know who the bad ones are.