11 ms·
Well, sure, when there's no traffic against which to have to turn, the cost of making a left is negligible -- especially in American residential neighborhoods,
by aaronem 13y ago
Well, sure, when there's no traffic against which to have to turn, the cost of making a left is negligible -- especially in American residential neighborhoods, which are often laid out so as to prompt suspicion that they weren't intended to be navigable at all. (And this is not even entirely false! A city neighborhood with access from multiple traffic arteries, and with straight, minimal-distance routes between them, invites through traffic to employ those routes as shortcuts, which is tantamount to inviting rush hour into everyone's driveway.)
- protomyth 13y agoI'm just annoyed we have another article with an inaccurate title that doesn't actually have any examples in the article (like a map of different routes) that show the how and why. Its basically a UPS fluff piece with no substance. It really bugs me because this something to show folks the value of math and analysis. What types of problem solving go on that can really be improved by application of maps and big data. Heck, even the linked article doesn't have a map explaining why this is important.
- Avshalom 13y agoNot to defend the article too much but the title is accurate. It's imprecise but accurate. "UPS routing algorithms have an extremely strong weighting against left turns outside of residential non-through streets" is well within the errors bars of "UPS trucks don't turn left" when using a tool like conversational English. In fact the less data the article gives the more it should prefer "UPS trucks don't turn left" you shouldn't report falsely precise digits.
- protomyth 13y agoThe article has the phrase I quoted that says the title is inaccurate. This is HN, shouldn't we at least have some meat and an article that doesn't directly say the title is wrong?
- dang 13y agoSince the title was false, I changed it to "Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left".
- KC8ZKF 13y agoIt wasn't false. "Why UPS Trucks Don't Turn Left" is not "Why UPS Trucks Never Turn Left." If a truck does not turn left at an intersection, you can ask why it didn't turn left, even if it has and will turn left at other intersections. But really, who cares? What is the obsession with the titles?
- dang 13y agoWhat is the obsession with the titles? The front page consists of them, so they're pretty crucial to HN.
- KC8ZKF 13y agoOf course headlines are important, so is the principle of charity. It seems like there is a thread in too many stories where the headline is parsed in the most uncharitable manner.