What are some of the most interesting problems from you respective domains that you feel should be solved but which aren't in focus areas of decision-makers and not being worked upon by enough people?
Ask HN: Interesting problems that should be solved but aren't being worked upon?
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Re: Ask HN: Interesting problems that should be solved but aren't being worked upon?
#2The government's lack of uniform application of the law and disregard for rule of law. I'm tired of the hypocrisy and corruption.
Unionizing or creating a standardized contract for software developers across the industry. I'm tired of companies breaking their own policies, eroding benefits, and having unrealistic expectations.
Political parties need to be refreshed and probably add more so there aren't just two mainstream ones. I hate that this election will be a choice between two corrupt, senile, old aholes.
Restructuring government spending and taxes. For example, property taxes funding education - it provides uneven funding based on the socioeconomic status of the locale and also provides a mechanism to throw the elderly out if their homes, or prevent that transfer of 'wealth' to the next generation (who likely need it). And the spending side is ridiculous with their turf fields, fancy new buildings, etc.
I could go on and on.
Re: Ask HN: Interesting problems that should be solved but aren't being worked upon?
#3Fusion! We know it's possible. We have some half working proof of concept projects. I was shocked when I learned that research spending on fusion energy worldwide is something like $1.5B. Thats basically a rounding error compared to the gains of solving it.
Room temperature superconductors also come to mind but I think that venture is somewhat better funded than Fusion.
Re: Ask HN: Interesting problems that should be solved but aren't being worked upon?
#4The government's lack of uniform application of the law and disregard for rule of law. I'm tired of the hypocrisy and corruption. Unionizing or creating a standardized contract for software developers across the industry. I'm tired of companies breaking their own policies, eroding benefits, and having unrealistic expectations. Political parties need to be refreshed and probably add more so there aren't just two mains…
>Unionizing or creating a standardized contract for software developers across the industry. I'm tired of companies breaking their own policies, eroding benefits, and having unrealistic expectations.
Why on earth would software developers unionize? There probably isn't a profession where the workers have more power. If you don't like the way a company is treating or compensating you, leave!
Standardized contracts would also not be positive. The problem with standardized anything is that is where things stay, they don't get better. Competition in the marketplace is how contracts will get better.
So if you are tired of companies breaking their own policies, eroding benefits, and having unrealistic expectations, leave when your company does those things. By staying, you are voting for those things to continue.
Re: Ask HN: Interesting problems that should be solved but aren't being worked upon?
#5The government's lack of uniform application of the law and disregard for rule of law. I'm tired of the hypocrisy and corruption. Unionizing or creating a standardized contract for software developers across the industry. I'm tired of companies breaking their own policies, eroding benefits, and having unrealistic expectations. Political parties need to be refreshed and probably add more so there aren't just two mains…
>Unionizing or creating a standardized contract for software developers across the industry. I'm tired of companies breaking their own policies, eroding benefits, and having unrealistic expectations. Why on earth would software developers unionize? There probably isn't a profession where the workers have more power. If you don't like the way a company is treating or compensating you, leave! Standardized contracts wou…
So you know of Filenet and Neoxam jobs I can get without relocating? Changing companies isn't so easy for everyone, especially with a family to support.
I agree that software devs have more power than other non-unionized workers. But we still get screwed on a industry level. How many times do you see someone get a 5% promotion with the expectation that they work 10-15% more hours. My buddy in construction has a union contract so he knows exactly what the expectations and duties are, not to mention he makes as much or more than I do with his overtime.
By standardized contract, I mean on a company by company basis. I'm tired of one pagers that say the company makes the rules and can change them anytime with or without notice. In case you were wondering why I took a FileNet or Neoxam job, it's because the company tricks new hires by advertising and hiring a person for a "Java Developer" position and then putting them into whatever tech they feel like.
Re: Ask HN: Interesting problems that should be solved but aren't being worked upon?
#6A "Wikipedia of Arguments", one can refer to in public discussions.
Relevant links: https://github.com/canonical-debate-lab/paper/blob/master/RE....
Re: Ask HN: Interesting problems that should be solved but aren't being worked upon?
#7News aggregatores, where the voting score actually correlates strongly with the quality of the content.
All aggregators I know are driven by feedback loops, which lead to false negatives (good content with bad score) and chaotic behavior of what actually bubbles to the top.
Re: Ask HN: Interesting problems that should be solved but aren't being worked upon?
#8A "Wikipedia of Arguments", one can refer to in public discussions. Relevant links: https://github.com/canonical-debate-lab/paper/blob/master/RE... . https://www.societylibrary.org/
I would very much like to see this. Was tempted to do one for religious debates specifically because it's something people try to figure out at some point in life but find frustrating and pointless after a few years on the internet. It's not an easy problem to solve though.
Re: Ask HN: Interesting problems that should be solved but aren't being worked upon?
#9Fusion! We know it's possible. We have some half working proof of concept projects. I was shocked when I learned that research spending on fusion energy worldwide is something like $1.5B. Thats basically a rounding error compared to the gains of solving it. Room temperature superconductors also come to mind but I think that venture is somewhat better funded than Fusion.
It seems like something really hard to do lol. Maybe one step is also improving education to funnel more people into it. Energy in general is the basis of economic health. Even if we got more people into fission, that's a huge step forward.
Re: Ask HN: Interesting problems that should be solved but aren't being worked upon?
#10The government's lack of uniform application of the law and disregard for rule of law. I'm tired of the hypocrisy and corruption. Unionizing or creating a standardized contract for software developers across the industry. I'm tired of companies breaking their own policies, eroding benefits, and having unrealistic expectations. Political parties need to be refreshed and probably add more so there aren't just two mains…
>Unionizing or creating a standardized contract for software developers across the industry. I'm tired of companies breaking their own policies, eroding benefits, and having unrealistic expectations. Why on earth would software developers unionize? There probably isn't a profession where the workers have more power. If you don't like the way a company is treating or compensating you, leave! Standardized contracts wou…
> If you don't like the way a company is treating or compensating you, leave!
There's usually a lot of things that you don't like about your job but isn't worth leaving for. The interview gauntlet is also one thing software jobs do wrong. My wife is an engineer, and they have nowhere near our broken interview practices.
We're basically saying we don't trust certificates, job experience, education, so here's a week of interviews on things that have little to do with your work and we'll need another two weeks to decide.