impendia (u/impendia)

impendia commented on Florida lawmaker floats ban on HOAs amid growing backlash tampabay28.com/news/state... · Posted by u/bilsbie

ocdtrekkie · 2 days ago

The irony here is I've never found my neighborhood HOA problematic. They plan the block party and take care of the landscaping of the neighborhood signage.

My condo HOA experience was so bad I would never again recommend someone buy a condo. They refused to look at a structural issue until I got a lawyer and then refused to let the residents see the engineering report for the building we legally own. (Note: If you ever experience this, get out. There is no louder signal of an unsafe structure than "the engineering report is privileged".)

impendia · 2 days ago

Is that legal?!

I would have thought your lawyer would be salivating at the prospect of raking your HOA over the coals. Or at least of mailing a nastygram with all sorts of colorful threats. I suppose not?

impendia commented on Overtourism in Japan, and how it hurts small businesses craigmod.com/ridgeline/21... · Posted by u/speckx

timr · a month ago

Yes, I agree that it's a better way to travel if you can do it, but most people can't [1].

That said, even for short-term tourists, Japan used to be kind of a miracle in terms of the quality and service you would get for the money. I know it sounds like hipster whining, but that time is in the past.

[1] My snobby hot-take is that if you can't travel this way you shouldn't do recreational international travel at all, unless it's to go to a luxury hotel and sit on a beach or something packaged like that. But I realize that this will not be a popular opinion.

impendia · a month ago

I used to live in Japan in 1999-2001, and I was just there again for a month this summer.

Anyway, I disagree with you: Japan is still a miracle in terms of the quality and service you get for the money. I saw this many times over.

Perhaps not in Kyoto, or in the most touristed areas of Tokyo. Or in whatever random place got featured in some anime, or whatnot.

The article mentions Yamaguchi, Toyama, Morioka, etc., and I definitely agree -- there are tons of places off the tourist beaten-track, and any of them is worth a visit.

On my recent trip I was in Kobe, which unlike Yamaguchi etc. I expect the average HN reader has heard of. But even there, there was little trace of overtourism.

Alex Kerr lamented all the way back in 1993 (in his book Lost Japan) that Kyoto had essentially lost its soul. And if you go to the areas most commonly seen on Instagram and TikTok, that's probably partially true. But even in Kyoto, go off the beaten path a little, and you will find much to delight you!

impendia commented on I built an ADHD app with interactive coping tools, noise mixer and self-test adhdhelp.app/en... · Posted by u/digitalions

mh- · 2 months ago

As someone in their 40s with ADHD, I'll offer a counterpoint.

I'm happy for people to try to make a business of this if the tools are helpful.

I've had a successful career, so I obviously had to develop my own strategies for managing it. But I'd be very happy if my kids didn't have to spend 20 years figuring it out for themselves. Monetize away.

impendia · 2 months ago

Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle. I'd be happy to pay a modest bit of money to buy a simple app, and see if it helps -- but I'm very reluctant to sign up for a subscription.

Perhaps ironically, the less the app claims to do, the more likely I am to be interested.

I've only signed up for a paid mental health app subscription once -- and that was an app designed by a well-known psychologist with both an M.D. and a Ph.D., and even then only after reading his book.

impendia commented on Jupiter was formerly twice its current size, had a much stronger magnetic field phys.org/news/2025-05-jup... · Posted by u/pseudolus

fasteddie31003 · 3 months ago

I am deeply skeptical of any "research" that concludes something in the past. The scientific method relies on observation, experimentation, and replication, but these aren't possible with past events, so we can't directly test or falsify historical claims. Instead, researchers infer conclusions based on indirect evidence like documents, artifacts, or statistical patterns—often without being able to isolate variables or rule out alternatives.

If something is not falsifiable, it is not science in my book. Research that is falsifiable uncovers deep truths of nature that will benefit humanity's progress, which this kind of research will not.

Sorry to be a downer. I haven't had my morning coffee yet.

impendia · 3 months ago

If we're to take your claims at face value, can we make any conclusions about the past at all?

For example, suppose that I were to claim that the universe is exactly one hundred years old. George Washington, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar, dinosaurs, etc. are all figments of our collective imagination.

If you deny the validity of research that makes conclusions about the past, on the grounds that such claims can't be tested or falsified -- then have you left yourself any means of making a counterargument?

impendia commented on Why is it so hard to find founders to bounce off ideas in city you are visiting? · Posted by u/nickevante

impendia · 3 months ago

Take this with a grain of salt, because I'm an academic, not an entrepreneur.

That said: when I was younger, being a nerd was uncool. To out yourself as one was to take a social risk, and it makes sense that tight-knit communities formed.

These days, entrepreneurship and the tech industry have acquired something of a social cachet -- perhaps because there's boatloads of money in it now. I've read that "geek nights" have attracted a bunch of hangers-on, who like to talk big but haven't necessarily invested their time into learning anything difficult.

Whether fairly or not, you're probably being taken for such a person.

I've been in an analogous situation, and it sucked. I feel for you. That said, to echo what others have said -- if you're going to try to make cold contacts like this, you probably need to either lead with a specific request, or else approach in such a way that makes it clear that you're bringing something interesting to the table.

impendia commented on VVVVVV Source Code github.com/TerryCavanagh/... · Posted by u/radeeyate

phatfish · 4 months ago

Playing retro games seems like a good way to get ideas. The VVVVVV gravity mechanic is pretty much Gravity Man from Megaman 5 (I guess Megaman is not the first time it was used either).

Mining retro game mechanics was probably easier at the time VVVVVV was developed as the explosion of indy games has probably reused the best forgotten ones of the 80s/90s. It's getting close the time mechanics from 00s games can be reused though...

impendia · 4 months ago

I don't see why you can't reuse whatever mechanics you like.

Return of the Obra Dinn was a 2018 mystery puzzle game, where you have to figure out how everyone died in an ill-fated voyage at sea. Amazing game.

I searched Reddit for "games like Obra Dinn", and this led me to Case of the Golden Idol, a 2022 game with similar mechanics. The developers were quite open about being inspired and influenced by Obra Dinn -- and they ended up creating something in the same genre, but very much their own creation, with their own flavor. And also very enjoyable.

Originality is nice, but I'm not at all convinced it's a prerequisite for quality.

impendia commented on WeightWatchers files bankruptcy wsj.com/articles/weightwa... · Posted by u/bookofjoe

mschuster91 · 4 months ago

> Plenty of people have lost weight sustainably with diet and exercising. It just doesn't seem to work with everyone.

The problem is, staying healthy is a matter of privilege.

You need to be able to afford to eat healthy (ultra-processed industrial food that's loaded with sugar is often much cheaper than quality produce), even if you have money, a decent chunk of Americans live in areas that are classified as "food deserts" [1], even if you are not in a food desert you still need to be able and have time to get to a store selling quality food, and you need someone with time available to cook healthy meals out of that. It used to be easier back in the time where one income was enough to feed a whole family and the women stayed as housewifes to actually do that, but these times are (thankfully) long gone.

Exercising suffers from similar "problems of privilege". Either you got the money and time to spare to go to a gym, or you got the money and space in your home to install your own gym... or you need actually safe roads where you can walk, jog or bike, and most of the US is so utterly car-dependent that it is outright unsafe to walk.

And on top of that you got the whole "living while Black" issue, with egregious instances like a pregnant Black woman arrested for walking her dog [2] - it's no surprise that the Black and Indigenous population has noticeably higher rates of diabetes [3] or oral health issues [4].

And on top of that, you got the whole issue with educating children about healthy foods, their parents being too poor to afford healthy foods, and that setting up these children for childhood obesity which perpetuates into adulthood. A lot of that is closely correlated with ethnicity and wealth as well.

It's a systemic issue, an insanely complex one at that, with no easy solution to be found - and certainly not a failure of any individual to stay healthy.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_deserts_in_the_United_Sta...

[2] https://ca.news.yahoo.com/pregnant-black-woman-ticketed-walk...

[3] https://healthequitytracker.org/exploredata?mls=1.diabetes-3...

[4] https://doh.wa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/Documents/Pubs...

impendia · 4 months ago

Strongly agreed.

Recently, I found a gym with group training classes which I absolutely love. They have a great sense of community, and now that I've found them I find it easy to motivate myself to show up and work out.

I have the good fortune that I can afford the $150/month fees. Not everyone can.

impendia commented on Mathematician solves algebra's oldest problem using intriguing number sequences phys.org/news/2025-05-mat... · Posted by u/amichail

impendia · 4 months ago

I'm a mathematics professor, specializing in number theory.

As others have noted (the author apparently "doesn't believe in irrational numbers"), this press release is laughable and utterly absurd. Wildberger did not "solve algebra's oldest problem", or anything remotely close to that.

I checked out phys.org -- I assumed this would be the webpage of some prominent national society or something -- but it turns out to be some randos that have a publishing outfit.

I did, however, look up the original paper. Unfortunately it seems to be paywalled, although I have access through my university.

The actual paper seems to for the most part be sober, legitimate, and potentially interesting (albeit on the same scale that many many other published math papers are interesting). Except for a bit of hyperbole in the introduction, it doesn't traffic in exaggerated claims. Seems to be a legitimate effort, somewhat off the beaten track.

impendia commented on Visiting Us epic.com/visiting/... · Posted by u/tobr

weitendorf · 4 months ago

I did an internship at Epic and didn't fully appreciate it at the time, but I think their CEO Judy might be one of the best tech/general leaders ever.

Epic has a reputation of hiring lots of new college grads. For software engineers that's not exactly uncommon, but Epic actually has a lot of employees working under titles like technical solutions/implementation solutions (or something like that): the people directly supporting the hospitals using Epic. Because these are pretty specialized roles, Epic has a very formal and fleshed out training program for their new hires with classes and courses and such, and it can take months to complete. They not only have their giant campus in Verona, they have an entire training center there, a huge auditorium for allhands, and a very streamlined recruitment process (for a ~21 year old it feels over the top luxurious). Although Epic does hire from more selective schools it seemed the majority of their new employees are from state schools in the Midwest.

They also are private despite their size, just basically don't do M&A and are, relatively speaking compared to other big corporates/tech companies, in the middle of nowhere.

In corporate America this is a highly unusual way to operate. I think it's underrated how big of a "risk" all these heterodox corporate strategies are for an executive and it speaks to amazing ideation and execution on Judy's part. Also, even though Epic does have a decent amount of turnover, she has taken a chance on tens if not hundreds of thousands of young people who didn't have the skills she needed them to have already, by giving them months of training and a really solid start to their careers.

impendia · 4 months ago

> it seemed the majority of their new employees are from state schools in the Midwest.

I went to the University of Wisconsin for grad school, and I knew lots of people there who went to work for Epic.

I confess that, before I applied, I imagined that Wisconsin was nothing but cow pastures and football. I imagine this sentiment is shared my many young job-seekers outside the Midwest. Now, having lived there for four years, I have to say that UW is an amazing university, and Madison is my favorite city in the US.

impendia commented on Visiting Us epic.com/visiting/... · Posted by u/tobr

quantumwoke · 4 months ago

My wife is a doctor and has a lot of negative things to say about Epic. I think they have succeeded due to vendor capture and lock-in in spite of their shoddy software that doesn't actually meet the needs of the users. Every doctor I've met through my wife would ditch it in a heartbeat if they could.

impendia · 4 months ago

This fascinating article by Atul Gawande explains both sides of the issue:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/12/why-doctors-ha...

It seems to be the classic curse of enterprise software: it's the bosses you need to keep happy, not the users.

I work as a university professor and educational software also tends to suck, for what I assume is the same reason.