Hacker News: spingsprong

New comment by spingsprong in "Designing a URL structure for BBC programmes"

spingsprong — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 08:08:37 +0000

Have you ever had personal experience of working for some time at a commercial station?

New comment by spingsprong in "Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?"

spingsprong — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 16:44:22 +0000

Not specifically, but noScript + flashblock ends up blocking many adverts.

New comment by spingsprong in "Perceptions haven't caught up to decline in crime"

spingsprong — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 06:05:24 +0000

No, it really isn't. It's about getting viewers, selling newspapers, and getting clicks. And the best way to achieve that is by using strong emotion, usually negative. Fear, hatred, disgust, anger.

I'm not sure how a democracy is supposed to work, when the people voting are being given bad information on such a massive scale.

There are so many important areas when what people believe and what is true are miles apart.

New comment by spingsprong in "Volumetric Particle Flow"

spingsprong — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 03:41:33 +0000

It crashes my browser

New comment by spingsprong in "Watch what a 6-magnitude earthquake does in China vs. the US"

spingsprong — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 10:07:54 +0000

There's a lot more to an earthquake than its magnitude on the Richter scale.

Their destructiveness can be increased by many factors, such as the type of ground that buildings are on and the depth of the earthquake.

Mouse memories 'flipped' from fearful to cheerful

spingsprong — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 04:42:20 +0000

Article URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28950532

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8235908

Points: 6

# Comments: 0

New comment by spingsprong in "Inside the world of legalised prostitution in Germany"

spingsprong — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 06:44:38 +0000

With any new industry there's bound to be bugs in the system. Most other industries have laws regulating them going back decades or even over a century. You're not gonna get it perfect from day 1.

New comment by spingsprong in "Obama orders review of US police use of military hardware"

spingsprong — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 02:26:49 +0000

Politicians often don't have a clue about many subjects, but that's not necessarily too bad a thing.

Politicians should be generalists not specialists. What they should do is surround themselves with experts is specific fields, and consider the advice they give.

Unfortunately, in many nations the politicians more frequently listen to the distorted scare and panic the media has created that week and base their policies on that instead.

The Chairless Chair exoskeleton lets you sit down anywhere, anytime

spingsprong — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 06:48:27 +0000

Article URL: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188417-rejoice-commuters-and-workers-the-chairless-chair-exoskeleton-lets-you-sit-down-anywhere-anytime

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8215212

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by spingsprong in "WWII Atomic Bomb Project Had More Than 1,500 "Leaks""

spingsprong — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 03:20:24 +0000

And this is why we landed on the moon.

Seriously. The Manhattan project involved 130,000 people at its peak and lasted four years, and it leaked.

The Apollo program involved 400,000 people at its peak and lasted eleven years.

New comment by spingsprong in "Biologically extending human vision into the near-infrared: Initial success"

spingsprong — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 03:07:37 +0000

The Japanese by contrast never developed truly effective airborne radar during WW2, so actually did select the pilots with the best night vision to fly their night fighters.

New comment by spingsprong in "Solar energy that doesn't block the view"

spingsprong — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 04:23:05 +0000

That percentage will probably be even worse than that, since windows aren't at the best angle or position for solar panels.

New comment by spingsprong in "Metal Exoskeleton To Be Tested By US Navy"

spingsprong — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 12:15:10 +0000

I've often wondered how fail safe these things are. If you're lifting 200kg and the system fails, is that 200kg load suddenly being put onto your body?

New comment by spingsprong in "The Anti-Facebook"

spingsprong — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 06:56:40 +0000

What happens if somebody wants to join, but the Leads refuse?

If a small minority of Leads can prevent people they don't like from joining, it seems like it risks reinforcing bigotry and intolerance.

New comment by spingsprong in "Imgur, please don't be the next TinyPic or ImageShack"

spingsprong — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 18:22:17 +0000

I've been more annoyed by websites removing features than adding them.

Third person driving with a drone

spingsprong — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 06:30:05 +0000

Article URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNHhfykh5Qc

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8166769

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by spingsprong in "Questions about Nasa's space drive answered"

spingsprong — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 13:02:30 +0000

"They're claiming to see a force one thousandth as big as the Chinese - probably because they are doing the experiment one thousand times more accurately. And still, some people are excited about this. "

I think he's slipping from skepticism to cynicism here.

New comment by spingsprong in "Questions about Nasa's space drive answered"

spingsprong — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 12:06:53 +0000

Please be true, please be true!

How big is a two megawatt nuclear power source anyway? A quick search showed nuclear power plants are in the hundreds to low thousands of megawatt range, and RTGs are in the tens to hundreds of watt range. I have no idea what something that lies between those two would be.

New comment by spingsprong in "If all the ice melted"

spingsprong — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 08:05:25 +0000

One factor that makes Methane not quite as bad as it could be, is it has an atmospheric half-life around 10% of CO2's

So if a lot of Methane does get released into the atmosphere, in a couple of decades most of it will have broken down and disappeared.

New comment by spingsprong in "“Theater” vs. “Theatre”: The Great New York Times Language Swap"

spingsprong — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 07:57:24 +0000

Rumania vs Romania http://chronicle.nytlabs.com/?keyword=rumania.romania