jmadsen

20 ms·

151.
Getting Stuck Inside This Tiny Ball Was Part of Each NASA Astronaut's Training(space.io9.com)
2 points by jmadsen 11y ago|0 comments
152.
by jmadsen 11y ago
exactly. I worked for years in the JP car export business (tech side of things)
153.
by jmadsen 11y ago
that's exactly right - factories in town use to lay off workers seasonally, then call them back in later. Can't put my finger on when exactly, but during one of our recessions they stopped getting called back, and then companies s
154.
by jmadsen 11y ago
It's more than common vernacular in English. "Fired" implies wrong-doing on their part. "Laid off" or "let them go" means the company couldn't afford to pay them, or didn't need them anymore. It
155.
Why are little kids in Japan so Independent?(citylab.com)
4 points by jmadsen 11y ago|0 comments
156.
by jmadsen 11y ago
I have my own theory over the root of polarization in US politics: Newt Gingrich & the "Contact with America" Gingrich & GOP party thinkers (not the politicians themselves) were tired of losing the congress for so many yea
157.
by jmadsen 11y ago
Honestly - When I see these attitudes from 16-24 year-olds, I simply think, "Uneducated about reality, as you would expect at that age" I don't necessarily "worry" about it as much as hold it up as proof that this s
158.
by jmadsen 11y ago
Magazines & newspapers shot themselves in the foot when they ran out to produce free content to "stay in the game" like everyone else. Their original product was never free, but they didn't think that through. They made m
159.
by jmadsen 11y ago
The biggest annoyance to the Japanese at the moment is the number of Chinese tourists overrunning everywhere. It's easy to read the newspapers about the govts of the world rattling their sabres at one another; what the people actually
160.
by jmadsen 11y ago
Interesting! Lived in Japan a long time, and always half-wondered why it was "salmon" for sushi & "sake" for everything else but never asked.
161.
Why we need data on what the poorest think(aeon.co)
40 points by jmadsen 11y ago|23 comments
162.
by jmadsen 11y ago
I'll allow myself a semi-related tangent, just for the heck of it. Another similar example of misunderstanding well-known lines from literature is Shakespeare's "Now is the winter of our discontent..", which everyone quo
163.
by jmadsen 11y ago
my own feeling is, "racism" here is more toward other Asians. Over-the-top xenophobia, or even "rationalized" xenophobia, is quite bad. Things tend to be Japanese and "Everybody else", and everybody else can&#x
164.
by jmadsen 11y ago
I don't "know" if any of this is a good idea, but I'm glad to see it at the top of HN & elsewhere, where people can start to consider different ways of dealing with a changing world economy. We need to allow ourselve
165.
by jmadsen 11y ago
It was a good point to bring up, and I'm glad you did, but would have been a better post to also say what the preferred term is, especially as "a Chinese" is confusing to people. I _believe_ "a Chinese man/woman&#x2
166.
by jmadsen 11y ago
My thought, exactly. This model obviously isn't suitable, but with a rapidly aging population here in Japan (and elsewhere), I'm glad to see new(-ish) innovation being made. Once the tech is there, the need will drive the eventual
167.
A World without Work(theatlantic.com)
3 points by jmadsen 11y ago|0 comments
168.
by jmadsen 11y ago
answer "I'm a lawyer" (nah, prolly better not)
169.
by jmadsen 11y ago
His entire site is like that, and full of fascinating articles - the more recent of which also have audio readings. Wasn't expecting this post to take off the way it did, but glad for him. He does a really nice job on these stories.
170.
by jmadsen 11y ago
Oh, it will happen. Already the programming in "normal" cars is occasionally defective, leading to deaths and injuries. Why would theirs be any different, and why would it be a reason not to use self-driving cars?
171.
The Last Great Steam Car (2006)(damninteresting.com)
150 points by jmadsen 11y ago|46 comments
172.
30% Jump in Solar Energy Forecasting Accuracy Gained by “Machine Learning”(cleantechnica.com)
1 points by jmadsen 11y ago|0 comments
173.
by jmadsen 11y ago
I can understand why people like my wife look at these pictures and say, "Meh. That's nice." The enormity of the distances and what humanity has done is, quite honestly, beyond what our minds are actually capable of fully com
174.
by jmadsen 11y ago
If you are the CEO/near the top, don't make the foolish mistake of telling people "but now we're all set & we won't need to do this again" You just might, and you'll lose all credibility with your empl
175.
by jmadsen 11y ago
oh, definitely! simply trying to remember back to what the gravel roads were like (been a while since I've lived there) I seem to recall they get pretty awful, and ones that are not proper county roads become impassable at normal drivi
176.
by jmadsen 11y ago
From northern Wisconsin here - I always had the impression growing up that gravel roads became gutted with potholes from the snow after a few winters if not maintained, and generally pretty horrible. Especially in WI, our small roads are &q
177.
by jmadsen 11y ago
There are a few podcasts that have discussed this. Typically it is done via support for existing OSS, offered to companies who need to be able to depend on full knowledge & stability of that code. A couple of examples: 1) Redhat 2) &quo
178.
by jmadsen 11y ago
Was actually just reading today that several states are being "sued" by private prisons because they have guaranteed minimum occupancy clauses that the states are not "meeting"
179.
by jmadsen 11y ago
"the lack of compatibility between regional power utility grids." For folks outside the country, the grids here are actually like 19th century European railroad gauges in different countries. Meaning, after the tsunami in the nort
180.
by jmadsen 11y ago
"bashing competitors"? c'mon, folks - WP runs 40% of the friggin' web, and it's a free OS project. It isn't anyone's "competitor". WP is what most Mom & Pop shows think of when they want to m

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