It looks like this has been hijacked by some edgy online communities.
Is there some sort of overlap between HN and cesspits like 4chan? Or did this get posted elsewhere?
Readit Newssw030695 commented on Show HN: Draw a fish and watch it swim with the others drawafish.com... · Posted by u/hallak
sw030695 commented on What's happening to reading? newyorker.com/culture/ope... · Posted by u/Kaibeezy
sw030695 commented on What's happening to reading? newyorker.com/culture/ope... · Posted by u/Kaibeezy
"There’s something both diffuse and concentrated about reading now; it involves a lot of random words flowing across a screen, while the lurking presence of YouTube, Fortnite, Netflix, and the like insures that, once we’ve begun to read, we must continually choose not to stop."
Ironically straight after reading this was an inline video advertisement, and this page crashes constantly (2.6 GB memory usage for an article?)
Nice story, thanks for sharing.
My parents used to take me for our "exotic foreign holiday" in Blackpool each year (I was from Scotland).
I actually have many happy memories from the time. There was the Doctor Who Exhibition we went to once - nothing even remotely like that anywhere near my home town. Then there was the Blackpool Tower. My parents used to complain about how expensive it was to get in, and I think we only went there once, but on that one trip me and my dad went to see a laser light show set to music (so futuristic!) and also went to a stall that used a video camera hooked up to one of those new fangled computer things that could print out an ASCII art picture of your face (such mind bogglingly advanced technology!) Also the arcades. Again they cost money so it was rare we'd go in, but there was once I was given money to try a grabbing claw machine, and won a pack of sweets. My parents thought I was good at them, and so gave me money to try and win something for my sister, which was a huge boost to my confidence (finally something I was better than my sister at!) Unfortunately I didn't manage to win anything for my sister. It was only decades later that I found out that those machines aren't skill based - there's a dial inside where the operator can control the "payout rate", i.e. the percentage of times the claw goes limp vs stays rigid. (Another childhood illusion shattered.)
Anyway, maybe that was before it got too grim, or maybe I didn't notice because I was so young, or maybe I just thought that was what England was like:-)
One awful thing I remember though was just how filthy the beaches were. The coast was lined with sewerage outlets, so where-ever you swam there would be all sorts of things floating by. Once I picked up what I thought was a funny shaped balloon and started filling it with water and playing with it. I went to show my mum how I could make the balloon bigger by squeezing it, but she just looked horrified and bashed it out of my hand. I had no idea why, but didn't ask, and just kept quiet. I did however wonder what it could have been that was so bad, but the best my innocent young mind could think of was that perhaps it was some form of artificial breast for breast feeding, given it was skin coloured and had a teat at the end. It wasn't until many years later that I realised what it almost certainly was.
I loved the Doctor Who exhibition in Blackpool. Unfortunately it's no longer there!
sw030695 commented on Get Running with Couch to 5K nhs.uk/live-well/exercise... · Posted by u/MonkeyClub
I have a question that this is probably not the best forum for:
I don't run, but know plenty of people who do. Everyone is running what I would call marathon-style, by which I mean their goals are measured in how far they can reliably run/ how fast they can do a relatively long distance, 5K being the lower bound.
To me, running shorter distances very fast seems just cooler and more exciting, say 500 meters. 100 meters seems a bit much as it's over very fast.
Why isn't this kind of running nearly as popular? And how would one get into that, rather than long distance running?
5km is considered a short distance run. Within a few weeks, it's something that should be achievable in sub-20/25 minutes.
In the UK, there's a volunteer led organisation called parkrun which hosts 5km runs/races in over 1000 parks around the country every Saturday. It's quite popular. My local race consistently get 300+ entrants each week. Worth checking out: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/
5km, 10km, half marathon and marathon are the main running distances. Less than 5km is generally stuff run on athletics tracks, which falls under athletics.
sw030695 commented on Get Running with Couch to 5K nhs.uk/live-well/exercise... · Posted by u/MonkeyClub
I have a theory that people who want to get in shape but don't know where to start will gravitate towards running, because it's what we all remember doing in grade school gym class.
Running is great, I'm not knocking it at all. But I would also try other activities to see what sticks (hiking, weightlifting, rock climbing, social sports leagues, etc.)
There's also lots of free beginner-friendly workouts on YouTube (where you follow-along with an instructor).
I think running is attractive because it's one of the most effective sports at burning energy, and it's entry level. Shoes, and some loose clothes.
In the past I've lost weight from a bunch of different sports and running worked the best. It's just the most intense pure sport, without mechanical assistance.
It absolutely is not. It's very concrete and is a real problem.
In the UK, for example, there's a well documented trend of pubs and clubs shutting as business declines.
And this has real world impacts or causes, the number of people who are single is rising substantially: https://archive.is/kyk2L
This isn't rationalizing personal loneliness as a societal ill. It's noticing a societal ill based on real world effects.
If I was an investing man I'd stick all of my money into Garmin, running shoe companies, gyms and the like.