I've never understood this argument. When performing scientific studies, there is a sample size of n = x hundred/thousand, and we then generalise the result across the entire population. Having 48% of the population participate in this "study" is likely to be very indicative of the likely voting choice for the remainder of the population, right? You really think that the proportion of votes for each party for those people that haven't voted would be any significant difference from those that did?
> Having 48% of the population participate in this "study" is likely to be very indicative of the likely voting choice for the remainder of the population, right?
That isn't how statistics work. Sample size reduces your error relative to the population you are randomly sampling from.
When you don't have a random sampling, then you sampling method is what determines how generalizable your findings are. A good sample size with a bad sampling method tells us little to nothing about the general population and only informs us about the specific sub population for which the sample can be considered a random selection from.
With significant differences in voting rates across many different demographics, votes are absolutely not a representative sample of the overall population.
Wow - I was recently in Lisbon for the second time in two years, and I insisted my other half and I ordered these at a restaurant, as I had tried them on my first visit and they were delicious!
I described them to her as 'tempura fried green beans', assuming naively that the influence came in the other direction!
Oh wow, this is akin to spotting a celebrity out on the street!
I happened to already be half-way through the extended "war stories" interview on the making of Crash you had done and it is superb; you are a joy to listen to! I remember reading these blog articles of yours many years ago but will definitely be revisiting!
As an aspiring hobbiest game developer, I often feel I have missed out on this golden age of game development - where you really had to think outside the box and hack your way around the architecture to achieve your design and performance goals.
I'm from Scunthorpe! Never thought i'd see the day it made it to Hacker News...
To add something relevant to this post - I'm too young to remember this "problem" regarding the AOL filter, and my parent's first ISP was NTL which is now Virgin Media. Of course the use of the town name with emphasis on the aforementioned profanity was common amongst the youth.
A boy in my class at school was from Scunthorpe. There were a couple of times the IT teacher came to investigate what he was doing, which would usually include the "hometown" on a forum profile.
I moved to Sheffield for University and then stayed for a couple years after for work. Have actually ended up in Leicester recently to live with my girlfriend. My job is quite forgiving in terms of location as I'm on the road quite often, or can work from home!
I'm not the person you were replying to, but I went to university in Manchester, worked there, then Oxford, Cambridge and then to the US. Currently in Seattle.
(I did do a stint in the IT department at North Lindsey College, which was... different.)
I find the closing remarks around the banning of single-use plastic bags troubling - surely there are much more beneficial areas to target to reduce our overall use of plastic? Within each of these plastic bags full of supermarket groceries is likely anywhere from 5-20 other items caked in plastic packaging. How much of an impact is banning single use plastic bags, even globally, going to make really? Not saying that I'm against the banning of them, but shouldn't bans be extending much further across other products. The single-use plastic bag seems like such a low-hanging fruit, easy-win, that in my mind will make a negligible difference
Actually everything I’ve read indicates you’re right. Plastic bags are literally the least of our trash problem. They are arguably the least resource consuming way to carry groceries, and contribute the most minuscule amount to global garbage accumulation.
This is one of those situations where something that seems intuitively bad “look at all those plastics bags!” is in no way the real problem.
> The total number used fell from over seven billion a year to less than half a billion in the first six months of the policy, saving 40,801 tons of plastic, which is the equivalent weight of roughly 300 blue whales.
There probably are beneficial areas to reduce grocery plastic, but some of that plastic packaging is how/why food stays fresh on shelves longer. Cutting that back means increasing preservatives, throwing stuff out more often, shopping more often, etc.
Getting rid of plastic bags and other low hanging fruit (like straws) might not make a huge difference. On the other hand part of the battle is changing human behavior so starting with low hanging fruit is a good way to get people used to looking for plastic alternatives.
They could always start with the non food related products. Why does every piece of tech seem to come in a ton of plastic packaging anyway? Not so much the computers, but mice, printers, cartridges, etc...
Reduce or ban plastic from being used to package tech products, toys, media and random non food consumables and you'd probably cut down on a lot of plastic usage now.
Yeah, I know that logic. But I think the same still applies; the environmental impact matters more than a company's bottom line does, and I feel governments should start taking that into account.
I don't recall the exact figure it was significant, but the majority of human garbage is single use plastic (e.g., water bottles, plastic forks, etc.).
The problem isn't plastic. It's human nature. We're lazy and default to convenience over respect for Mother Nature.
Your post made me recall an old acquaintance of mine. Being environmentally conscious, he'd bring utensils with him everywhere so that if he ever ate out, he could use those instead of using plastic utensils.
Ha! Thanks!! That's on my TODO list. I'm hoping there's some sort of compact camping set I get buy and leave in the car, my back pocket, or strapped to my calf.
Heck! Even a reusable coffee stirrer would be a plus.
I think the change in the publics’ perception on the harm of plastic will happen in stages. This will just be a first step. In the U.S. I don’t think people are ready for major changes due to the politicization of environmental issues.
And plastic grocery bags are commonly reused. To replace plastic bags, we are talking about shipping around much more expensive reusable bags, and having people buy more bags for trash, pet waste, etc.
Glad to see someone posted this! I was a student at Sheffield and did ride this one a couple of times. I was always skeptical about the safety but have never heard of any accidents happening.
What I found most amusing is that you pass through a floor with full view of the people waiting, and so there's plenty of opportunity for awkward eye contact.
https://hundertwasser.com/en/architecture/arch122_mop_maishi...
If you're ever in Vienna, there is a museum of his design that is worth visiting - it's quite unlike anything I've visited before/since
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundertwasserhaus