

Experiment HN: Idea day - kyro

The world is full of problems that need solving. They're all around us. I'd say we run into at least 5 frustrations every day, whether those are frustrations we experience first hand or ones we overhear others complaining about, but we probably don't think much of them. So let's train our eyes/ears to recognize them!<p>So how about for the next day, November 12th, we try and pick up on 3 potential problems/complaints/frustrations we see ourselves and/or others facing. At 8PM Pacific time, I'll post another thread where we can all share our findings and possible solutions.<p>I figured it'd be a good way to get into the habit of recognizing problems, because really, no problem is too small.<p>What do you think?<p>EDIT: Some are saying that there are problems that just can't be solved ( a terribly attitude! ) like traffic lights, etc. Maybe then keep your problems to ones that can be solved within reason, like with a capable team.
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lliiffee
Finding doctors is a huge problem. When you move to a new city, you are given
a list of 2000 PCPs and told to pick one (after calling around to see if they
are accepting new patients). When you need to see a specialist, you are given
a referral. People in the health care industry know that many of the
specialists are untalented losers who push patients in and out as quickly as
possible, and would never let someone close to them see them. The general
public has little idea.

~~~
timf
Angie's list includes doctor opinions. I have never used it for that
personally so I cannot exactly recommend it but I find them useful for other
service providers.

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yosho
a lot of problems can't really be fixed with software...

\- corporate meetings that accomplish nothing

\- nagging girlfriend

\- traffic congestion (well maybe some software here might help)

\- stupid shitty and cold weather

\- an IT department that's incompetent

\- annoying neighbors

\- etc...

If only software solved everything.

~~~
dpcan
Well...

PROBLEM: corporate meetings that accomplish nothing

SOFTWARE: Collaboration software. If everyone is informed, meetings don't have
to happen.

PROBLEM: nagging girlfriend

SOFTWARE: Tweet often and have them sent to her phone. All she really wants is
a leash, this should do the trick.

PROBLEM: traffic congestion

SOFTWARE: I already check my city's online webcams of traffic before I have to
go somewhere congested so I know what route to take.

PROBLEM: stupid shitty and cold weather

SOFTWARE: See Superman 3. It'll happen, don't worry.

PROBLEM: an IT department that's incompetent

SOFTWARE: yosho must work for the man... are you sure the problem isn't
between the keyboard and the chair? ;)

PROBLEM: annoying neighbors

SOFTWARE: Damn. I got nothing. After all that, you win.

~~~
nuba
>PROBLEM: corporate meetings that accomplish nothing

Well, I work from home, meetings happen on IRC or conference calls. Now, this
being news.ycombinator.com, remember that when you launch your own startup,
being "the boss" gives you the power to summon and dispel meetings at will! :)

>PROBLEM: nagging girlfriend

High-maintenance relationships aren't a fact of life, they're choices. It's
only a problem if you want it to be.

> PROBLEM: traffic congestion > PROBLEM: stupid shitty and cold weather

Telecommuting make these seem a lot less threatening :)

> PROBLEM: an IT department that's incompetent > PROBLEM: annoying neighbors

Well, I don't really have a solution for these. Sometimes you just gotta work
with less-qualified-than-we'd-hoped-for people, and you also gotta live
somewhere.

I take those as facts of life, and then you have to decide what mindset you'll
take on when dealing with those "problems".

Realizing you too can be annoying and also incompetent in a number of things
can surely add some perspective do it.

------
PostOnce
How about a global effort to achieve post-scarcity? (The quicker the better.)

Before I go on with the steps, let me remind you all how far we've come in the
past fifty years: We have the internet. All electronically-reproducible data
is now virtually post-scarcity.

We are also on the cusp of everyone owning a high-performance personal-
fabrication machine. Twenty years from now, You will be printing (or pirating)
all manner of toys, tools, and electronic devices. The Reprap (and even laser
printers) can print circuits right now. Printing an iPod isn't too far off.
How much longer until we're printing meat and vegetables? Welcome to the
future, everyone.

Step One: Make the populace care. Without a culture that encourages learning,
diligence, and scholastic achievement, Step Two is irrelevant.

Step Two: Educate the populace. Better public schools and libraries, and more
time spent studying at home.

Step Three: Divert investment and time from more frivolous pursuits.

It's 3:30 in the morning, so I might not have said all that with optimal
clarity, but you get the gist of it. Everything will be free soon; let's make
it happen faster.

We need cheaper means of producing and reusing raw materials, we need really
fantastic nanotech, and ... tons of other crap. I'm going to bed now before I
make an ass of myself :)

~~~
petervandijck
Step 1 cannot be done. Step 2 is very, very hard. Step 3 cannot be done.

Good luck :)

~~~
PostOnce
Yeah, I guess I need to offset those steps by one, and insert Step One: Become
Dictator.

------
nuba
How surprising that no reply mentions a child-like approach to the world:
curious, inquisitive, playful, fun-seeking.

I believe the simple and sad reason most people won't recognize problems or
unaddressed issues around them is because they've been trained not to.

It's called "education", and is a double-edged sword. It'll take you places,
but then it'll take places away from you, too, if you're not aware. The very
places you need to "think out of the box".

The brain will stick with "what works" and "what's often used", but great
insights and breakthroughs don't come from the masses, but rather from
individuals exploring the less-traveled paths.

As Pablo Picasso says, "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a
lifetime to paint like a child".

Funny things, a child asks "why? why? what if?" and most people won't pay
attention. Then a bearded grownup asks "why? why? what if?" and gets to be
called a visionary!

Have fun!

------
awt
One thing I've been doing is keeping an annoyance diary. Haven't come up with
any great ideas yet though.

~~~
staticshock
Is it online?

~~~
awt
It is not, though I've tweeted at least one annoyance.

------
jacquesm
That's an excellent observation, frustration really is key to sensing where
the world can be improved.

The problem is that one mans frustration is another mans income, so it would
probably be easier to limit this frustration guide to those areas where you
are not going to be facing opposition right away.

On the other hand that might cut off fruitful avenues and maybe we shouldn't
be that timid about this.

Thanks for the idea, looking forward to that other thread and I'll do my best
to think about your challenge while going through the day.

------
bemmu
1) Wanted to quickly test something with a Japanese IE6, after a few hours
still haven't done it. Had to evaluate VMWare, Parallels etc. and also hunt
for suitable image. Too much work and too costly for just a simple check.

2) If I want to play some new game at 30+ fps, what kind of machine do I need
to buy?

From a friend:

1) Printer didn't work. They never do.

2) Too cold to be outside.

3) Takes too long to know if your recombinant bacteria genetic modification
failed or not.

------
bemmu
Another thing I've been thinking about is how can we learn more about problems
in other domains. For this idea day, my frustrations would probably be dev-
related, but what about the problems people have in professions other than
coding?

~~~
kyro
That's actually what I meant. It's not supposed to be developer specific. I
was thinking about problems you may experience as you get ready to head to
work, hear others complain about on the train ride over, or from those eating
in the booth next to you at lunch, etc etc etc.

------
Zarathu
Good idea.

~~~
freakwit
Bad idea: tossing your cousin Penny into a fountain to make a wish.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8PhzrmBgMI>

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addenine
Traffic lights are totally fixable, there's just a huge amount of legacy hard
and software systems. Ten years, better tracking systems, and some fuzzy
logic. Problem solved.

~~~
abossy
Don't forget the political/social implications of convincing the world's
population that these need to be changed.

------
bayareaguy
Unknown or expired link.

This should be fixed.

~~~
sp332
There's "Resurrect Pages" for Firefox, which has buttons for Google cache (for
recently dead pages) and archive.org (for longer-dead pages).
<https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2570>

~~~
bemmu
I think he means the situation where if you are browsing HN, then take a trip
to Mars and after you continue clicking, the links no longer work.

------
jodrellblank
I think I spend all damn day whinging (mostly in my head) about problems that
nobody else will fix for me. Anything and everything from the lack of software
I want to the poor design of my headphones to the stupidity of traffic lights.
90% of everything is rubbish and nothing is perfect. Problems problems
problems, they're endemic, and OK.

I think that if you cultivate this habit without also driving yourself to fix
problems, it will just make you miserable and grouchy. Avoid if possible.

~~~
Mongoose
It'll drive you miserable and grouchy if you think of them as petty
annoyances. Thinking of them as opportunities for improvement is more healthy.

~~~
mahmud
People here don't know who you are, Mongoose. Why don't you put a link to
"Rules for my unborn son" in your profile? Amazing site.

<http://rulesformyunbornson.tumblr.com/>

~~~
Mongoose
What? I'm not affiliated with 1001 rules for my unborn son.

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raptrex
this sounds like a potential startup, unless anyone knows of a site like this

~~~
Mongoose
<http://idea-ne.ws/>

~~~
fnid
I've been there many times and the ideas just aren't good. Seriously, a "jump
to conclusions mat?" It was funny the first time i heard it, but to be the
number one item on the site this long makes it look like a farce.

~~~
kyro
Jump to Conclusions Mat is a reference to the movie Office Space. It's a great
movie you should check out some time.

~~~
fnid
Ugh. I know. But it's a joke and the fact that everyone there takes it
seriously means _they_ aren't serious. It's a waste of time. If the site is
trying to be a funny place to go talk about stupid ideas, then it succeeds,
but if it's trying to be a serious place to talk about real ideas, then it
fails.

That's all I'm saying.

~~~
SapphireSun
I think the real problem with a site like that is that many people like to
guard the tractable problems they think of. It's one thing to talk about your
ideas and get critiqued with close friends, it's quite another to post it on
the public internet!

Edit: Changed "this" to "that" so it doesn't sound like it's referring to HN

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c00p3r
Idea for this site: up/down voting decrements ones karma points. It is not
related with the concept of the karma, but we do not have live-span values
here.

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bioweek
Good thinking, I'll try to do it.

------
rooshdi
I'm still waiting for my flying car....

~~~
Eliezer
<http://www.threepanelsoul.com/comics/103.png>

