16 ms·

Hopefully people will, you know, stop dying and we hackers can go back to do real relevant things like instagram clones and settle once and for all which one is

by rabino 13y ago

Hopefully people will, you know, stop dying and we hackers can go back to do real relevant things like instagram clones and settle once and for all which one is the better Lisp.

0X1A 13y ago
Cmon, you can't really expect an audience base that is probably mostly introverted and cynical to actually find joy in reading about a positive find in a third world country could you? In all seriousness though, I think this can be well developed if it isn't exploited by privatization. Since, ya know, most things that would be greatly beneficial to developing countries usually are.
- tankbot 13y ago
  It's true. My first thought when reading "if it is managed properly" was "yeah, right." We humans tend to fuck things up. You see? Cynical.
- vacri 13y ago
  Aren't startups all about finding a need and filling it? Isn't that what has happened here?
- Dylan16807 13y ago
  There's a difference between caring about something and thinking it's intellectually stimulating. There's no need to insult people because they think HN is a bad place to post good news that has no takeaway value. (I feel dirty for using the word 'takeaway' but I can't think of anything that fits better to mean an overly-broad version of 'learning'.)
- nikatwork 13y ago
  > I think this can be well developed if it isn't exploited by privatization. Careful, you'll wake the Randroids.
biot 13y ago
Some other suggestions along the same lines as you suggest: Interrupt a court case so that the courtroom can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to quibbling over legal wording. Speak at a conference for accountants so that they can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to fiddling with spreadsheets. Share this in sexual abuse groups so that they can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to discussing their own troubles. Visit schools and interrupt classrooms so that they can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to learning about math, English, or history. --- Or... how about we keep human interest stories that would otherwise be covered by major media off of HN unless there is a component of the story which is particularly hackerish and gratifies one's intellectual curiosity? As it stands, this story is little more than "large underground aquifers exist" which is unlikely to gratify anyone's intellectual curiosity any more than "large deposits of coal exist". If finding this aquifer was accomplished via innovative new technology, let's see the story on that. How about a discussion on Alain Gachet's WATEX publications which I understand to be the technological basis that enabled this find: http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/alain-gachet/0/71a/93b#profile-publications http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/alain-gachet/0/71a/93b#profile-pu...
- rabino 13y ago
  Here's a novel idea: Post that WATEX publication and let's see how many upvotes it gets vs. this one here. Let's allow democracy to do its thing.
  - biot 13y ago
    I think there's a very good reason why pg and the editors actively curate HN (eg: blocking certain sites from submission) and don't let democracy do its thing: it doesn't stand a chance against Eternal September. (Besides which: those publications, like this story, aren't all that interesting from an intellectually gratifying perspective.)
- crusso 13y ago
  Ultimately, he's a hypocrite for being here to dole out sarcasm rather than actually working on resolving the plight of dying African children that he implies outweighs others' petty concerns.

by rabino 13y ago

Hopefully people will, you know, stop dying and we hackers can go back to do real relevant things like instagram clones and settle once and for all which one is the better Lisp.

0X1A 13y ago

Cmon, you can't really expect an audience base that is probably mostly introverted and cynical to actually find joy in reading about a positive find in a third world country could you? In all seriousness though, I think this can be well developed if it isn't exploited by privatization. Since, ya know, most things that would be greatly beneficial to developing countries usually are.

tankbot 13y ago
It's true. My first thought when reading "if it is managed properly" was "yeah, right." We humans tend to fuck things up. You see? Cynical.
vacri 13y ago
Aren't startups all about finding a need and filling it? Isn't that what has happened here?
Dylan16807 13y ago
There's a difference between caring about something and thinking it's intellectually stimulating. There's no need to insult people because they think HN is a bad place to post good news that has no takeaway value. (I feel dirty for using the word 'takeaway' but I can't think of anything that fits better to mean an overly-broad version of 'learning'.)
nikatwork 13y ago
> I think this can be well developed if it isn't exploited by privatization. Careful, you'll wake the Randroids.

biot 13y ago

Some other suggestions along the same lines as you suggest: Interrupt a court case so that the courtroom can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to quibbling over legal wording. Speak at a conference for accountants so that they can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to fiddling with spreadsheets. Share this in sexual abuse groups so that they can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to discussing their own troubles. Visit schools and interrupt classrooms so that they can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to learning about math, English, or history. --- Or... how about we keep human interest stories that would otherwise be covered by major media off of HN unless there is a component of the story which is particularly hackerish and gratifies one's intellectual curiosity? As it stands, this story is little more than "large underground aquifers exist" which is unlikely to gratify anyone's intellectual curiosity any more than "large deposits of coal exist". If finding this aquifer was accomplished via innovative new technology, let's see the story on that. How about a discussion on Alain Gachet's WATEX publications which I understand to be the technological basis that enabled this find: http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/alain-gachet/0/71a/93b#profile-publications http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/alain-gachet/0/71a/93b#profile-pu...

rabino 13y ago
Here's a novel idea: Post that WATEX publication and let's see how many upvotes it gets vs. this one here. Let's allow democracy to do its thing.
- biot 13y ago
  I think there's a very good reason why pg and the editors actively curate HN (eg: blocking certain sites from submission) and don't let democracy do its thing: it doesn't stand a chance against Eternal September. (Besides which: those publications, like this story, aren't all that interesting from an intellectually gratifying perspective.)
crusso 13y ago
Ultimately, he's a hypocrite for being here to dole out sarcasm rather than actually working on resolving the plight of dying African children that he implies outweighs others' petty concerns.