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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • I’m always frustrated when a game or service says to check out their Discord for information. Discord is a confusing mess of chat channels, and while it can certainly be useful in (near-)realtime interactions, I can’t imagine trying to look up longer-lived information, like what they’re trying to use it for. Make a forum, or a blog, or use a subreddit, but not Discord.

    I think the most recent case of this was the game Terra Invicta, where I saw a tangential reference somewhere to some coming updates to the game, and a game rep said to check their Discord for more details. No thanks.


  • Adding more light rail wherever it makes sense is definitely a good plan (and should happen), but improving bus networks gives a lot more bang for the buck than focusing only on light rail. Features like off-board fare collection (paying at the bus stop, not on the vehicle), bus signal priority (extending greens and shortening reds as buses approach traffic lights), and dedicated bus lanes all improve the overall speed of buses and therefore the overall rider experience. Expanding the prevalence of these features should be a priority everywhere, particularly on higher-ridership routes.


  • Unfortunately the software industry (at least in the US) has applied the term “engineer” basically across the board to software developers instead of only for properly trained and licensed engineers as in other fields (civil engineering, mechanical engineering, etc). Part of this is due to a lack of a formal software engineering licensing system, but the desire for fancy titles is certainly something that played a role in this.

    My understanding is that other countries, like Canada, do have strict requirements for the use of the term “engineer”, but unfortunately that ship appears to have sailed in the US due to inertia and the intransigence of Silicon Valley-type companies.