Hacker News Reader

Comment by Jugurtha | Hacker News Reader

This is a delight, but there is some truth to it. Walking in Paris is different than walking in Algiers. I need to watch my steps in Algiers more than in Paris. There are yellow tiles in the sidewalk that are slippery and I must not walk on them when it trains (us, ud friction stuff).

There also are loose tiles in Algiers that are similar to traps in the first Prince of Persia. You step on them, and they rotate to let your foot into the water.

Master Foo would do well in Algiers. This is not an instance where the master points to the moon and me looking at the tiles.

View on HN

I like expanding a good metaphor, but I think the idea is that I wouldn't discourage a prospective tourist from travelling to Odessa, Ukraine* because of the belgian block streets or to Anytown USA because their road infrastructure isn't pedestrian oriented.

*disambiguation added

Given that you mentioned the U.S., I assume that by Odessa you don't mean the capital of Ukraine, but the town in Texas?

I would very much consider Odessa, Texas as “Anytown USA”. Not to mention I would question if the small town had Belgian blocks. I read the post as referring to Odessa, UK.

Not to take this into the realm of pedantry but unless you're referring the the United Kingdom, I should point out the country acronym for Ukraine is 'UA'.

Isn't pedantry why we come to HN to read comments of precise people educating us and learn a bunch! Thank you for this.

Because this made me curious, apparently "San Jose" [0] is the most popular worldwide place name.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_popular_place_names

By the number of "San", it either questions the sailor expression "a woman in every port" as either saints getting around a lot, or that the Spanish got around a lot.

I do mean Odessa, Ukraine. As far as I am aware Odessa, Texas was not built in the 18th-19th centuries so there would be no belgian block streets to be found.

> I assume that by Odessa you don't mean the capital of Ukraine

Odessa is not and was never the capital of Ukraine.

I had a fleeting brain fart. Thanks/sorry for catching it. I know Ukraine's capital, but what's done is done.

Odessa was the 2nd or 3rd largest city in the Russian Empire and currently holds a similar status in Ukraine, afaik. This is largely due to it being a warm water port.

Tbh your comment is an exemplar g what OP said: most people who know how to walk have probably have fallen on slippery surfaces and slopes, so they can easily figure out what to do when though the rules are different ("yellow tiles are bad when it rains").

Yes. The example was a beautiful parable and I tried to write one, albeit more 'concrete' (pun intended on both concrete in construction and sidewalks, and programming with reference to concrete classes).

One learns to walk differently in San Francisco, to avoid stepping in **it.**

And of course if you walk without rhythm, it won't attract the worm.

If you come from anywhere rural, watching your step in San Francisco is nothing. At least in SF you won't run into a cowpie that was barely submerged below the desert sand.

In SF it's not a cowpie.

Sure, but is the peace of mind that it didn't come out of human worth stepping in something large enough that it gets around and into your shoes?

I’ve never been to Algiers but having done a lot of walking in Bangkok, I like this metaphor.

The fact that I love to walk in Bangkok proves that I am into Walking in a way more regular, more fit, longer-distance, better equipped walkers generally are not.

Dunno what the programming equivalent would be… maybe if you’re into coding Windows apps in Brainfuck?

Well, if you come to Algiers, hit me up. It's very cheap to live here. 1700 sqft ~ 170 square metres for 500 euros per month (this: https://mobile.twitter.com/jugurthahadjar/status/14513681938...). Hotel rooms downtown overseeing the sea for 15 euros per night.

I'll hook you up with painters here as well.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com