Hacker News: tinyplanets

New comment by tinyplanets in "Making peace with your unlived dreams (2023)"

tinyplanets — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:08:57 +0000

I really appreciate the article and responses here. This is a topic that resonates with me, and is something I often struggle with. My early dreams were to be an ecologist, wildlife biologist, or conservation scientist, along the lines of Jane Goodall, George Schaller, or E.O. Wilson. Life circumstances and choices I made early on diverted me from that (along with the fact that these are extremely difficult careers to break into), and I ended up in a relatively comfortable, tech-focused career. I have a loving family, live in a beautiful area, have great friends and my income is good...

And yet I still wrestle with "could-of" or "should-of" thoughts about my life. It's tiring, and often detracts from my well-being and happiness.

New comment by tinyplanets in "Mornings and nights no longer exist at 47C: A day in the hottest place in India"

tinyplanets — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 22:16:39 +0000

Welcome to the future! What a lovely world we've created for ourselves!

New comment by tinyplanets in "'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut"

tinyplanets — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 14:59:09 +0000

Severance was inspired by the backrooms (not the other way around). And why do people feel the need to yuck someone else's yum?

Backrooms for me was definitely a yum!

New comment by tinyplanets in "'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut"

tinyplanets — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 14:57:25 +0000

Amen to that!

New comment by tinyplanets in "Leaving the Physical World"

tinyplanets — Thu, 14 May 2026 15:04:11 +0000

Wholeheartedly agree. As an American, I get SO tired of the "rugged American individual" narrative...

New comment by tinyplanets in "Tesla is recalling its cheaper Cybertruck because the wheels might fall off"

tinyplanets — Fri, 08 May 2026 16:51:50 +0000

Also, feel free to plug into the vast ecosystem of right-wing media if you need an alternative view of reality.

New comment by tinyplanets in "Tesla is recalling its cheaper Cybertruck because the wheels might fall off"

tinyplanets — Fri, 08 May 2026 16:50:58 +0000

LOL, yeah, it's the all the liberals fault!

New comment by tinyplanets in "California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply"

tinyplanets — Thu, 07 May 2026 18:13:28 +0000

He's the best, the best at everything. Including tanking the world economy...

New comment by tinyplanets in "March heat in American west has left snowpack at record-low levels"

tinyplanets — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 17:30:23 +0000

This report was published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation, which according to Wikipedia "is a climate change denial lobby group registered as a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated aims are to challenge what it calls "extremely damaging and harmful policies" envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming. The GWPF, and some of its prominent members individually, practise and promote climate change denial."

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

So it sounds like they (and I assume you) definitely have an agenda you're trying to promote.

New comment by tinyplanets in "'Backrooms' and the Rise of the Institutional Gothic"

tinyplanets — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 15:31:01 +0000

I disagree. I too have worked in these environments. As mentioned in the article, and in numerous other references about the Backrooms - the creepiness stems partially from the "liminal" feeling of walking around large, man-made spaces that are totally empty. Think walking around a shopping mall after hours. I had several odd jobs before I was in college where I had to work overnight shifts, sweeping the floors of large department stores. That feeling of "empty watchfullness" was definitely a thing, and it's captured well by a lot of the Backrooms content.

The other aspect of "creepiness" stems from the idea that the Backrooms represent an endless, malevolent labyrinth. One of the scarier aspects of being trapped in the Backrooms (for me) is that you would just wander around until you died for lack of water and food, in a bland corporate office corridor with fluorescent lights buzzing overhead.

New comment by tinyplanets in "Jane Goodall has died"

tinyplanets — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 22:17:45 +0000

I typically feel pretty disconnected when a major public figure passes away, but this one really got to me. Dr. Goodall was one of my heroes... I read a couple of her books when I was much younger and had dreams of being a primatologist.

It was so gratifying to see her turn into a global leader in conservation, compassion, and peace. I had a former supervisor who got to meet her personally at a conference on wildlife conservation in Africa several years ago (I was quite jealous)... I was fortunate to see her speak publicly though.

RIP Jane Goodall!

New comment by tinyplanets in "The Demon-Haunted World"

tinyplanets — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 16:49:31 +0000

Wow, you've really got it out for Carl Sagan (of all people)! Why is it required that he be something other than a "mediocrity" in philosophy and theology? He was an astronomer and (more importantly in my opinion) an incredible science communicator. That doesn't necessitate also being an expert in the study of religion, faith, and philosophy.

New comment by tinyplanets in "The Demon-Haunted World"

tinyplanets — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 15:36:19 +0000

Good for you!

New comment by tinyplanets in "Sly Stone has died"

tinyplanets — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 17:04:14 +0000

Huge fan of Sly and the Family Stone, sorry to hear about this loss. "A Family Affair" is one of my all time favorite songs (and one of my go-to karaoke songs :)

New comment by tinyplanets in "Marines being mobilized in response to LA protests"

tinyplanets — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 14:20:12 +0000

You're right on the money here. One could argue that much of our current administrative "direction" is coming from either a combination of Project 2025 and whatever the current programming is on Fox News.

New comment by tinyplanets in "End of an Era: Landsat 7 Decommissioned After 25 Years of Earth Observation"

tinyplanets — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 16:37:36 +0000

Off topic to the thread, but that was a surprisingly good movie!

New comment by tinyplanets in "How to live on $432 a month in America"

tinyplanets — Fri, 23 May 2025 23:03:54 +0000

I think the author's main argument is interesting, and despite the good counter arguments already made in this thread (health care, car dependency, social isolation), it does make me think a bit about where I could possibly retire. I live in a smallish, highly-desirable city just north of Seattle that - while being pleasant to live in - is becoming extremely expensive.

For me, one of the biggest issues with living out in a small rural town like this is the culture. From my experience, the majority of rural areas in the United States are now extremely politically conservative. Going anywhere outside of the Puget Sound metroplex always reminds me of this reality... lots of MAGA and confederate flags, billboards promoting the latest ultra right wing candidate, etc.

New comment by tinyplanets in "Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte"

tinyplanets — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 16:24:52 +0000

But you also can't just cut taxes forever. The tax cuts being proposed by the current Republican budget are projected to add even more to the deficit.

New comment by tinyplanets in "US Administration announces 34% tariffs on China, 20% on EU"

tinyplanets — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 14:37:47 +0000

"The dystopic open-air homeless cities of the west coast"? Hyperbolic much?

New comment by tinyplanets in "Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood"

tinyplanets — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 18:40:26 +0000

I assume your being facetious?