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It's tricky, because _sometimes_ they do. And the system doesn't give you guidance on whether you're talking to someone who (officially or not) can change the process. So, based mostly on our personality, we all push a different amount before giving up.

Relatable example: I needed to schedule a Pediatric appointment, her assigned Dr was on vacation, and the first receptionist stonewalled on switching Drs within the practice. The second one did it in 2m on her side and guided me to updating insurance in 2m on my side.


Another similar example: Since it's tax time, I had to call a us gov office with a question. The first rep claimed "their system was down" and couldn't help me. I hung up and called back. The second rep was just nasty and stonewalled me by inundating me with security questions and refusing to "verify" my identity, so I eventually hung up and called back a third time. The third rep answered my question within a few minutes, and was a thorough pleasure to deal with.

I mean, I get that these guys might not be getting paid, with the government shutdown tomfoolery, but come on!


Isn't it just DHS that's shut down? Presumably the people you were talking to are at the IRS, and they're still getting paid.

Acknowledging, I am not a expert in this stuff, here is an idea: getting momentum for these sorts of things is so important, what is the journal that would be easiest to make a big example of, so that everyone understands that it is possible? Just completely mercilessly drive them out of business, and then hound their executives when they try to get other jobs. It appeals to peoples base instincts, but the last 10 years have shown those are pretty powerful. Then the movement which has formed around that can take down progressively bigger journals. Probably want a different organization building the alternative; the people with the personality to fight at the Vanguard of the revolution don’t tend to be great at building in the long-term.


If the author is available for consulting I have this bag of rice I need cooked. Should be around 30,000 grains, each needs about 1mL of water and 2m on the stove. Will pay $10 (2025 dollars)


Aha, you forgot to specify the country of those "dollars"! For $10 (2025 [Cayman Islands] dollars)! Which is higher than USD10


Zimbabwe: 0.027 USD


> You can’t fake care. People feel it.

My company went through executive changes, layoffs, etc. I thought it was VERY clear that our senior manager handled the situation extremely poorly. At least a few people agreed with me, so imagine my shock when several others not only defended him but joined his next company.

I am reminded of that when people assume "interpersonal dynamics are obvious to all involved", which is often.


What's funny is you totally can fake that you care. They just don't want/need to


Your point is 100% correct, but for the sake of our discourse please strive to be more polite!


I'd prefer you focus your attention elsewhere


What is the closest analogy for kids these days? https://scratch.mit.edu ?


Neopets wasn't really ABOUT programming. It was just a game for kids. It so happened that there were a lot of dull, repetitive tasks, or tasks that were best done at exact times, the sorts of things that programming could really help with. And there were places to stick some custom HTML for your profiles and such. It was a programming-shaped problem, and so a certain kind of child was happy to embrace programming because they had a problem to solve.

Scratch is ABOUT programming. It tells you "here is programming, you can make games and stuff," and that's neat, but it's a little different.


Roblox, maybe? They do have scripting, but I have no clue if it's something kids do or not https://create.roblox.com/docs/tutorials/use-case-tutorials/...


Neopets itself. Codepen and Khan Academy also let you share your HTML/CSS creations, and they add support for JS, but they don't have the game/pets elements that make coding petpages fun.


Neopets is still around! TIL they’re independent again as of 2023.


Discord music player bots and automod scripts.


He literally writes:

“Regulation obviously has a critical role in protecting people and the environment”

and then quantifies “a mindblowing $40m/year in healthcare costs” and a total of “about $400M” in societal cost from one delay, mostly borne by the public.

In that context, the line you are reacting to is just one item in a long list:

“We’ve also spent untold millions on regulatory affairs at all levels of government, not to mention the missed acceleration in sales”

He even says,

“What pains me most is the 5 years of lost carbon removal and pollutant reduction”

So the piece is not “regulations bad, profits good.” It is: regulations are essential, but the current process is generating huge public harms by slowing down tech whose whole purpose is to reduce pollution.

Maybe he’s wrong on any given point, but he’s clearly trying to describe the utilitarian trade-offs in good faith


> regulations are essential, but the current process is generating huge public harms by slowing down tech whose whole purpose is to reduce pollution.

I hear this with a call to action of "we need to deregulate to help reduce pollution". And not the real call to action in that "these regulations need an overhaul". The title of "over-regulations" and the general tone seems to place the issue as an obstacle to be eliminated, not a system to be corrected.

That's my big problem with the article.


Hobbyists hacking around and sharing their art, best part of the Internet!


I’ll second this, and we had enough resumes to only interview those with a relevant Master’s degree. I was shocked and I still don’t have a full explanation. I don’t doubt that it’s also hard out there, but on the hiring side we also did far more interviews than we wanted. (And yes the salary is >>100k, full remote, benefits etc)


The author mentions they’re just about to have a baby, and it’s notable that they don’t talk about the quality of the schools. Even if they homeschooled, I imagine they want their kids to have some friends, and they didn’t talk about how that would work without a car. Once they get a car, they might get a little bit unlucky and live an hour away from their kid’s closest peer. I hope they get along!


I checked and the quality of schools there are fine! 75% of students in high school at grade level in math and reading. Pretty normal.


> Even if they homeschooled, I imagine they want their kids to have some friends, and they didn’t talk about how that would work without a car.

Why do you assume that they are no kids in the neighborhood?

I suppose another option is that they don't actually care if their kids have friends. Perhaps parents are enough, in their view.


Where are they going to go if the birth is complicated? Just bleed out on the floor of their hut?


«My wife took down and died upon the cabin floor / And I ain't got no home in this world anymore»

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUgzXJACXzs


Even more recently: https://genius.com/Phil-collins-the-roof-is-leaking-lyrics

"My wife's expecting, but I hope she can wait. 'Cause this winter looks like it's gonna be another bad one"

"The roof is leaking and the wind is howling, Kids are crying 'cause the sheets are so cold. Woke this morning, found my hands were frozen, I've tried to fix the fire, but you know, the damn thing's too old."


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