matt_the_bass

Joined 9 years ago

Karma
1,034
Submissions
1,192
Member since
Aug 12
Day job: I run engineering at an interesting company.

Side project: finewordclocks.etsy.com

My ShowHN for finewordclocks: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18950130

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Recent submissions

Comment · 3 years ago
I moved to MRPeasy about 18 months ago from QB desktop enterprise mfg edition. Overall it’s a big improvement and I recommend it. Their support is very responsive and provides answers within 1 business day generally.
Comment · 3 years ago
Their approach was really new to me. I’m pressed this is a passive device.

Note, I have no relation to this company but do like boats.

Comment · 3 years ago
Free charts from NOAA are only US waters. Few other countries provide their charts for free.

Previously one had to pay for paper charts, now one pays for digital charts.

Comment · 4 years ago
I’ve done the same. But my point is the “specs” are not well documented and a novice may not have considered this factor.
Comment · 4 years ago
I strongly disagree that one should always dive with a buddy. But I’ll also say that one shouldn’t dive alone. Exit and entry are usually the most dangerous part of the dive.

Diving in low vis, spear fishing, or confined spaces don’t match with having a dive buddy. But they do match with redundant air supplies and other safety measures I mention in another comment.

Also unless your buddy is literally within arms reach at all times, they are not a redundant air source.

Comment · 4 years ago
I have a huge problem with how people gauge risks from scuba diving. This stems from the fact that IMHO must divers are horribly under trained and under practiced for what they are doing and usually are not following best safety practices. For those that are, I think diver is significantly less dangerous than other accepted activities (in fact, I’d be willing to bet that my drive to the dive is far higher risk than my dive).

Some examples of best practices that are not widely followed:

1. never rely on a dive buddy for air redundancy. If you are diving deeper (or longer) than you can perform a free emergency ascent safely, then you should have a redundant air source. “Two is one and one is none”. You might think that you can rely on your buddy, but unless they are literally within arms reach at all times, they are not a reliable redundancy source.

2. Skills must be practiced. When was the last time you shot a lift bag, did a valve drill, unplugged your inflator hose, manually inflated your BCD/wing, doffed your mask and donned your back up mask?

3. Do you know how to reliably navigate? How do you get back to the boat? Do you know how to safely run a reel without getting tangled up and while minimizing risk to the reel line? How about in 0 vis?

4. I love my computers but I plan out every dive manually and have a rough idea of what to do if both my computers fail. You do have redundant computers right? And you know how to use them right? I did almost 100 dives before I got my first computer. I think this is a good path since I have a solid understanding of what to expect from my computers.

5. Entry level training generally skips a lot of these safety tools and skills. I once dove at a Padi resort and brought a pony bottle with me. They dive operator didn’t even know what a pony bottle was. Do you think they are actually teaching about redundant air supply?

I’m certain that having all the right tools in your toolbox, practicing how to operate them and being mindful about how to use them significantly reduces risk.

I think diving is very dangerous for un(der)trained divers and I think the dive industry does a disservice by not portraying these risks and the need for more training/skills practice.

Frustratingly, my insurance says I’m more of a liability because I dive to 53m regularly (at least before kids) than the yahoo who only dives once or twice on vacation every few years to 20m. I dive to 53m with focused planning, training, and the right equipment explicitly so that I reduce risks. And I apply those same techniques to my shallower dives.

Comment · 4 years ago
It’s very important to note that pressure plays a role in how quickly the body processes out the medicine. A dose might last 6 hours on land may last much less under pressure. One significant danger to this is a decongestant wearing off unexpectedly early while underwater, resulting in congestion a depth and preventing equalization upon ascent. This could result in a barotrauma often called “reverse squeeze”.
Comment · 4 years ago
I think thermal insulation plays a FAR bigger role in how tired one feels. I wear 7mm wetsuit even in tropical waters. All the “tough guys” make fun of me for it, but I’ll do five 1-hour dives a day on a live aboard trip while they get in two or three 1/2-hour dives. Even in 85 degree water, your body gets cold fast.
Comment · 4 years ago
I presume you mean vesting options? If so, then this means they need to still pay (albeit a discounted price) to get shares. And your employee sop, should have a limited time for them to exercise those options. If you’re early stage then do you truely think they will spend cash to buy shares with no liquidity (and possibly never of liquid value)?

Maybe this is a non-issue.

Comment · 4 years ago
Most legit scientists agree that loud, low frequency sonar have negative impact. But this is not that. It’s high frequency and low power.
Comment · 4 years ago
I have 2 nice leather ones I got from a friend that worked in the leather industry (they gave them out at tradeshows). I keep them and reuse them at all the shows/conferences I go to. I skip even taking the lanyards given out with the badge.
Comment · 4 years ago
I came across this topic when I read about a proposed MSR powered ship. I’ve yet to see a solution for powering ships via renewables. Ships also require a relatively small reactor (since they are only powering the ship) compared to a land based reactor which will power a region. So this could be the use case needed to bring such tech to fruition.
Comment · 4 years ago
Yeah they’d buy magic wands if they solved their problem. They don’t care about your solution. They care about their solution.

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