analog31 · HackerTrans

há 37 minutosdiscuss

Sure, and today, it's like if you can buy a house at all.

Probably what makes the house less cluttered is that the elite class can afford to throw things away.

analog31

há 2 horasdiscuss

Indeed, I'm a musician and the acoustics of most modern commercial environments suck.

analog31

há 3 horasdiscuss

Here's the story that made sense to me: In the pre industrial age, visible ornamentation was symbolic of a craftsman's skill and attention to detail, when you couldn't inspect the invisible aspects of a product. For instance a violin has an ornately carved scroll, and features such as the "bees sting," whereas you can't take it apart to see if the neck mortise is precisely fitted. It is one of the few pre-industrial-age products whose aesthetics have not changed much.

Today, those features are no longer necessary, and we look for other measures of quality in products -- for better or worse.

I grew up in a "midcentury modern" house, and my family lives in one today. I find the modern decor to be comforting because in my case it reminds me of home. My mom claimed that the sparse decor was easier to maintain, for instance: "There are no knick-knacks to dust around." Truth be told, the house also happened to be available during a very frothy market, and my spouse would have chosen something more traditional.

It's also claimed that the simpler decor works in smaller houses.

We were not rich. The MCM houses in my 'hood, including ours, are certainly not clutter free, yet still feel pleasant and comfortable.

analog31

há 23 horasdiscuss

Maybe that's why Trump wants to take Greenland, and Canada, and looks up to Russia.

Imagine foreign policy being distorted by the Mercator projection.

analog31

há 23 horasdiscuss

Maybe that's why Trump wants to take Greenland, and looks up to Russia.

analog31

há 23 horasdiscuss

It missed the Toledo War:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_War

But to be fair, this is really cool.

analog31

anteontemdiscuss

Maybe there should be a saying for national economies: Amateurs talk about finance and IT, and professionals talk about resources and manufacturing.

analog31

há 5 diasdiscuss

In the US, professional licensure is left to the states, and most states have some form of licensing for engineers along with reciprocity for transferring a license from one state to another. Commonly, engineers have an "industrial exemption" if they work for a company that makes a product rather than offering engineering services directly to the public (such as a civil or structural engineer might do).

I've held an "engineer" title at my day job from time to time, though I'm not an engineer and have no engineering degree. Only a couple of engineers at my work site have licenses. On the other hand, my brother in law was a nuclear engineer, and all of the engineers at the power plant were licensed.

One thing you'll notice is that small companies that do contract or consulting work will call themselves "research" or "technology" rather than using the E word on their web page.

analog31

há 8 diasdiscuss

What I've noticed is that the crimes of motorists, cyclists, and even pedestrians, are crimes of opportunity and convenience. In each case it's a matter of what's possible, offset by the chance of enforcement.

Motorists exceed the speed limit, roll through stop signs, and are looking at their phones while driving.

Cyclists blow through stop signs, and take advantage of shortcuts.

Pedestrians "jaywalk." There's not much else they can do.

analog31

há 8 diasdiscuss

Indeed, and in defense of Costco, you don't go there by bus or bike anyway because you'll be coming home with 200 pounds of stuff. Target is different for me. I hop in there for one or two odd things that I need, likewise the nearby grocery store. A side effect is that I don't waste money or space on stuff that I don't need, because I can always hop over there in a jiffy if I do need it.

In lieu of Costco, my family buys all of the big and non-perishable stuff at a giant discount supermarket that's closer to the edge of town, or at least it was until other stuff got built up around it. But we try to minimize the number of trips.

analog31

há 8 diasdiscuss

Put the entire building over 'em. And solar panels over the building. The Target near my house is built on top of its parking lot. I don't have to cross an entire parking lot, dodging traffic, when I go there by bike or on foot. And it's on a bus line. What's not to like?

analog31

há 8 diasdiscuss

The statistics still point towards being more concerned about cars.

analog31

há 8 diasdiscuss

I'm a cyclist, and I sympathize with you. Also, my mom is stone deaf, and I've observed her experiences on paths that are shared with cyclists.

My town is one of the few places where cyclists are allowed on the sidewalks, but I don't do it except for very good reasons such as along dangerous roads. Those places also tend to have no pedestrians. And I give wide berth to people on foot, typically slowing down to walking pace or even getting off my bike and walking.

Also, the bell is for "announcing" not "enforcing." It's gentler than startling someone as you pass them, or making their dog freak out. And it doesn't preclude slowing down.

analog31

há 8 diasdiscuss

>>> CAD systems did not replace engineers.

It did replace draftsmen and designers, and changed the work that the engineers do. It's now more efficient to let engineers be their own draftsmen and designers. And design work has changed -- a lot less "hard" quantitative engineering, and a lot more "bureaucracy in three dimensions" as things have gotten more complex.

analog31

há 10 diasdiscuss

Not a bad idea, just a cog track that the robot grabs onto. I'd install one.

analog31

há 12 diasdiscuss

While on the topic of weird theories of water, there's always Polywater:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polywater

analog31

há 12 diasdiscuss

Consumer electronics can be designed to extremely tight budgets for cost and power consumption. Designers will choose a chip based on a chip having precisely the features needed, zero current wasted on features they don't need, and seemingly tiny price differences.

analog31

há 13 diasdiscuss

Indeed, and it also gives students a way to budget their time between the demands of multiple classes. I studied enough for each course to put me in good enough stead for the exams, then moved on to the next course. I got it right most of the time.

analog31

há 13 diasdiscuss

Yeah, many of my physics exams were take-home open-book. One that I particularly remember: "Here's your exam. There's one problem. It's due when you come back from spring break."

analog31

há 14 diasdiscuss

I've heard 'possums too.

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