I’ve never had a post hit me with nostalgia as hard as this one. Thanks to the author for capturing what it felt like to be a stupid little kid with a weird old computer so well.
Besides the technical constraints (the zip code can't always tell you the city, etc), the zip code is more of a checksum to make sure the address you typed makes sense. I think you could probably get around the imperfections by making the city / state / zip be things suggested to you, whether in an autocomplete or by making them first in a dropdown. The imperfection of a zip code in encoding a city name doesn't mean that the frustration of filling out addresses isn't a real one!
You have to deal with pissed people all day who don’t listen at all. And if you make the tiniest mistake you could be the person who failed to stop the next 9/11.
Doing the same three or four things screening people all day long has got to be mind numbingly boring. Unless you’re at an airport that isn’t constantly busy where instead you get to stand around doing nothing, which can be worse.
It honestly sounds like a terrible job to have. Aren’t they paid pretty bad too? I can see why a lot of people would want to move out of it, leaving only those who are stuck or like the power.
None of this is excuse what happened in the article.
Yep, just think of those people in front of you, that pass the same several large signs telling them to make sure that all their liquids are in a 1 litre ziplock bag and have that bag ready for inspection (this is in Europe) … and then doing a surprised Pikachu when the security personell asks them about why their perfume isn’t in said bag. Then starting to repack their hand luggage while the whole queue has to wait and watch.
And you only experience those few people in front of you. The security staff has them all day long.
There are people at airports all over the world doing very similar jobs to this. I have no experience with the TSA but noticed the attitude varies widely country to country and even airport to airport. I guess my point is it can be done with empathy and respect, even if the rules are strict.
I think they claim that if your computer has bad hardware, you're probably sending a lot of _additional_ crashes to their telemetry system. Your hardware might be working just fine, but the guy next to you might be sending 30% more crashes.
I have always had a ton of respect for the Dark Sky devs. I love the work that goes into designing interfaces that make sense of complex datasets intuitively, and I feel like Dark Sky was a textbook example. I’m genuinely really excited to try this out.
I agree, Dark Sky was really nicely done. That said, when I want to know the weather I just look out the window, so it's unlikely to be something I would buy.
I don’t think these ends justify the means. It sounds like the government failed early on in what seemed like a benign infraction, and now it is deciding to punish him for it. That’s like getting away with not returning a library book, and then being arrested and taken to prison for thousands in overdue fees when I try to return it later. That’s arbitrary and excessive, hopefully found to be a violation of due process, and should not be defended.
I came in here looking for this thread specifically (I can't imagine moving off of Ableton). Thanks for taking a sec to write this up! I might give it a try, just for the synth alone.
I hear you, and I think it's also fucked up (as someone who lives in the US) that our climate success is so easily reversed by the whims of whoever is in power today. If it makes you feel any less bad, new Zealand doing it acts as fantastic proof that a good chunk of New England could do it, or that the American South could do it. Plus, there isn't a lot of love for polluting policies; just tolerance from the government for polluters. Nobody here likes to see their kids have asthma, or to see their water contaminated. The size thing can make it feel hopeless, but what is the US if not a handful of New Zealand's?
reply