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blang

764 karma · joined May 2, 2008

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blang··on Swimmable Cities
Seattle is swimmable. Lake Washington, Green Lake (both fresh water), and the Puget Sound (salt water) are swimmable in city limits. I swim in lake Washington 3 times a week May - October.

As in another comment here about Copenhagen, you cannot swim after hard rain because of how the sewer systems were designed. Seattle is famous for rain, but not the type of rain that will cause a spill over event often.

The county government also tests the water for bacteria and algae and reports the findings on their website and closures are signed at access points.

https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dnrp/nature-recreation/parks-...

Also while there is a lot of private ownership of water access, there are 9 city beaches and something called street ends, which are public right of ways if a street ends at water, I swim from these all the time.

https://www.streetends.org/about

blang··on Inspired by Alabama’s union battle, Amazon workers elsewhere consider organizing
The NBA
blang··on Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate
King county Washington[1].

[1] https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/violence-injury-prev...!

blang··on Show HN: Memory Pill
There was a company called pillsy[1] that used to make something similar, though it appears that they pivoted to do other connected medical devices[2].

[1] https://www.pillsy.com/ [2] https://www.optimize.health/

blang··on Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?
Have you tried iron supplements? The evidence I have on it is purely anecdotal, but it really helped my son with his restless leg.
blang··on RFC: Let's Disrupt Dating Apps
I think that's what dating ring tried to do.

https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/13/the-dating-ring-sf/

They were featured on a season of the startup podcast https://gimletmedia.com/shows/startup/kwhxma

They shut their doors in 2018

blang··on How the Nike Vaporfly War Was Lost
one of the reasons that swimming records have continued to fall is they changed other rules to make swim faster while enacting stricter rules on suites. There is now a wedge on swimming blocks that allow for faster starts (a little like track starting blocks) They have also changed the breaststroke turn rule to allow for a dolphin kick.
blang··on Bosch Smart glasses: A tiny laser array paints images directly onto your retina
There is a company that makes swim goggles for $200 that does pace and heart rate, though that's only one of the disciplines.

https://www.formswim.com/

(I am in no way affiliated with this company)

blang··on My fridge has an RFID chip in the water filter, so a generic filter doesn't work
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/hack-rwpfe-water-filters-ge...
blang··on Seattle-area voters to vote by smartphone in district election
Speed
blang··on Outdoor Preschools
I think it's this:

https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=110-300&full=tr...

>(6) Licensed outdoor play areas must be enclosed with a fence or barrier that is intended to prevent children from exiting and discourages climbing. If the outdoor play area is enclosed by a barrier that is not a fence, the barrier may be a wall constructed with brick, stone, or a similar material.

For some background a co-worker's wife works at one of the outdoor preschools and said that in order to be full time you have to have a fence in play space next to the indoor school.

blang··on Outdoor Preschools
We have outdoor preschools in Seattle, but because of how licensing works, my family can't use them. Outdoor preschools can only run for 4 hours usually 9:30-1:30, instead of full day, which is really what you need if you have two working parents.
blang··on Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911
It looks like it also sent a text to his son.
blang··on “China's Tesla” NIO slashes thousands of jobs as losses mount
Is it profitable?
blang··on The Long Road to the Student Debt Crisis
I think the answer to both tends to be "administration costs"
blang··on Netflix acquires the global streaming rights to 'Seinfeld'
I am a little surprised consumers are not buying: Seinfeld, Parks & Rec, and Friends. They can be had on DVD or digitally for less than a year of a streaming service, and it would free you from worrying about when the show will leave your particular streaming service of choice.
blang··on WeWork considers IPO valuation of as low as $10B
I think that's why the parent put "tech" in quotes.
blang··on Michael Bloomberg launches $160M initiative to ban flavored e-cigarettes
I believe a bulk of that tax on the federal level goes to funding health insurance for children: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_taxes_in_the_United_...

State level taxes of course depend on the state.

blang··on Tax Policy Gave Us White Claw
Taxes give us a lot of things, like the Snuggie: https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/16/14638104/snuggie-is-offic...
blang··on Beyond Meat and KFC partner to test fried plant-based ‘chicken’
Looks like 9 menu items: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/full-menu/chicken-and-san...
blang··on 'Matrix 4' officially a go with Keanu Reeves
Is this a trolling comment? Because if it is, bravo, it sounded very sincere.
blang··on Katy Perry's Dark Horse Lawsuit Makes Waves in Music Industry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ
blang··on Supercentenarians are concentrated into regions with no birth certificates
previously discussed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20625547
blang··on Payroll startup Gusto raises $200M
Care to elaborate? Not being snarky, I've also been at companies using both and have had no preference.
blang··on Drivers followed a Google Maps detour and ended up stuck in an empty field
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOW_kPzY_JY
blang··on YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
Or we can change bail laws as they exist now:

https://whyy.org/articles/n-j-officials-have-finally-release...

>Yet new data shows only modest increases in two of the main measurements of success since 2017.

In that year, 26.9 percent of defendants released from jail before their trials were charged with a new crime — either an indictable offense or a disorderly persons charge. That number increased from 24.2 percent in 2014.

Some 89.4 percent of defendants appeared for their court dates in 2017, down from 92.7 who showed up in 2014. Analysts cautioned that “small changes in outcome measures should be interpreted with caution and likely do not represent meaningful differences.”

blang··on YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
I honestly don't know what Gusto does that is different from companies like ADP (established 1949), especially in being framed as Government 2.0.
blang··on Lithium-ion batteries from Amazon are exploding
I'm guessing affiliate links.
blang··on Teen Suicide Spiked After Debut Of Netflix's '13 Reasons Why,' Study Says
> Researchers warn that their study could not prove causation. Some unknown third factor might have been responsible for the increase, they said. Still, citing the strong correlation, they cautioned against exposing children and adolescents to the series.
blang··on Calling a real estate robocaller back
I've heard the opposite can happen, if you respond and stay on for a while, you are marked as a real and active number and will get more calls.
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