News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by echelon on Friday August 05, 2016 @10:42PM (#12236786)
I will never live where it snows. Ever. You couldn't pay me enough.

I grew up with 90 degree summers, and frankly, I find the heat to be amazing. Anything under 50 is downright unpleasant. I curse every moment of being outside when it's near or below freezing.

I realize this is only a personal anecdote, but I bet there are people out there just like me (and on all parts of the spectrum).

Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by brianwawok on Friday August 05, 2016 @10:49PM (#12236800)
If it's cold I put on more clothes. Once it gets past like 80 I'm naked so how do I make more clothes off?

Plus I can run way faster when it is 20 out vs 100. Snow running rocks. Sun running is awful.

Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by shiven on Friday August 05, 2016 @11:59PM (#12236962)
Part of the problem with winter is the availability of sunlight. "Seasonal Affective Disorder" is real and some people feel it more than others.

For me, living in the Northeast US, this is a sore point. Even more important than the cold temps or snow on the ground.

There are some alleviating actions one can take, like full spectrum lights, vitamins D etc., but they can never come close to the real deal. If sunnier places with dry, comfortable year around weather were a real and practical option, I'd move overnight, but am unable to move just yet due to family + affordability reasons.

Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by dhimes on Saturday August 06, 2016 @08:04AM (#12237832)
I'm with you here. However, the summers are fantastic! Summer in the Boston area is as good as it gets anywhere I've been. It's just awfully short, and then it gets dark, and then I get dark.... :(
Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by echelon on Saturday August 06, 2016 @01:02AM (#12237096)
My argument is that we first evolved to sweat, not wear the skins of dead animals. I'll always be more comfortable dripping in a humid summer heat (moisture feels so natural on the skin) than in shivering for warmth. Watching the cold, dry air of winter suck the energy out of my breath is a reminder that I'm out of equilibrium with my surroundings (more so than normal, anyway), and that the universe seeks to rectify this. Cold is bitter and like death.

I enjoy running in the baking heat, soaking in the sun. My lungs don't get seared from the biting cold, and I can breathe. The feeling of evaporating sweat is glorious and invigorating; the shirt is optional.

I appreciate your personal opinion and experience, though. :)

Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by Reason077 on Saturday August 06, 2016 @01:51AM (#12237220)
My argument is that we first evolved to sweat, not wear the skins of dead animals

We may have come from Africa, but it was during the ice age that we really got going as a species. Rapid climate change forced us to develop improved tools and technology to survive. This eventually led to farming, agriculture, cities and modern civilization.

Without the cold, we'd probably have been quite happy staying in the trees.

Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by lunchTime42 on Saturday August 06, 2016 @04:47AM (#12237538)
Eh, no, alcoholism lead to farming.

If you need the booze, you need the bees, if you need the bees, you need to stay for the summer. If you want a year round supply you need storage, if you have storage that is not transportable, you have settled.

If you cultivate plants, you can up the numbers and found city states- but for that you allready have to be half way settled. Else that nomadic sheep guy from across the fence will drive his cattle through your fields.

Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by gruturo on Saturday August 06, 2016 @12:03AM (#12236970)
Different strokes, I guess. I absolutely hate every minute the sky isn't a clear blue with that lovely unshielded fusion reactor in the sky bathing us in its mostly benign radiation :-) I accept other people like it different - anything not resembling California (or central Italy) summer plain sucks in my view, while others would like 9 months of rain and winter.
Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by simplemath on Saturday August 06, 2016 @12:33AM (#12237025)
I grew up in upstate NY with long, long winters.

Have lived in Phoenix since 2003.

I curse at the Daystar about half the year

Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by quotemstr on Friday August 05, 2016 @11:52PM (#12236944)
> I will never live where it snows. Ever. You couldn't pay me enough.

I wish there were more tech in places where it got cold in the winter, where you see fireflies and thundersnow* and deciduous trees. I like seasons. I like cold. I really miss the northeast.

* Yes, Buffalo has that

Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by drchickensalad on Saturday August 06, 2016 @06:16AM (#12237648)
Cleveland's doing pretty well, but I'm biased.
Re:Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboti... by bpyne on Saturday August 06, 2016 @12:51PM (#12238769)
I'm not arguing with your feeling. It's very valid. But, I've lived in the Northeast my whole life. If you live here long enough, you learn to discern between different types of cold. 20F with moisture in the air is awful, especially if there's a wind pushing it. The chill gets through the layers no matter how you dress. I think people from outside the region associate this type of cold with the whole Winter. It's not that way all the time.

20F with dry air and no wind is GORGEOUS. You can easily spend the day outside and, if you keep moving, wear only a long sleeve tee-shirt and long pants. (People who live here know enough to keep a sweatshirt or coat nearby for sundown.) Some of my most memorable outdoor experiences come in this type of weather where we'll be active by day and sit by a backyard fire at night.

The larger issues in the Northeast are the lack of sunlight and municipalities often don't handle the clean up of snow and ice well. My experience is that northern New England knows how to handle clean up, but southern New England is a deathtrap for walking and driving due to untreated ice and snow piled to the sides of already narrow roads.

A few years ago I travelled to Anaheim for a conference in Winter/early Spring. For the heck of it I took a short vacation in LA after the conference. For 3 days I walked around Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and Echo Park. My energy levels soared. I can understand why people like living in that climate. I'd love to experience living in it sometime.