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korditeon Car tires shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment

It's utterly insane, but there is no equivalent to the MOT in the US. There's an emissions test, but not a safety test. I don't know if mileage is recorded at the emissions test.

korditeon Car tires shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment

I think it's one problem at a time. Curbing driving is a separate goal. Reducing pollution from tires is potentially a smaller and direct goal. Either people drive less or use tires that don't shed. That's why I think the tax should be related to the composition of the tire. I agree that people may end up driving on bald tires, and we don't want that. I'm British but live in the US and I think it's utterly insane that vehicles aren't required to have annual or bi-annual safety checks. An emissions test is not a safety test. A safety test involves breaks, tires, and headlamp alignment. I really wish we had headlamp alignment tests in the US. I want the 'freedom' to drive knowing the other cars are safe or the other driver is going to be charged if they are caught or are involved in an accident.

korditeon Car tires shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment

I don't think it was arbitrary though. I'm not disputing that EVs are heavy, and my first car was probably really light, a 957cc Ford Fiesta. That thing taught you to anticipate the road because you had to apply in writing when you wanted to accelerate. Got 50MPG out of that on one trip though. My friend stated that my Leaf would be heavier than his car, and when we checked, we were surprised. I think it is relevant because we are of a similar age, and same profession. It's anecdotal but the people buying EVs, especially early (my Leaf is 2018 and we were still being asked stopped and asked about EVs then) would probably by buying cars that were of a similar weight anyhow. We do need to get the weight down. We do need better battery chemistry. I am disheartened that my tyres are polluting, but for this sample size of one, the tires are probably not more polluting than if I had an ICE.

korditeon Car tires shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment

No, I'm not. It's apples and oranges, without a doubt. But, when I look at what car fits my needs. It was an Outback before, and the major factor was reliability. The Leaf has performed admirably there, with only the equivalent ICE components needing servicing. I probably wouldn't buy a BMW, but my friend would and that's where we started - hey EV's are really heavy, I wonder how much heavier it is than my car? Huh, TIL.

korditeon Car tires shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment

A friend and I were talking about the weight of EVs and we assumed my EV would be heavier than his car, a BMW 3. The BMW was heavier. Maybe the average EV is heaver than the average ICE, but if you compare what the EV has replaced for that owner, it might be that the EVs aren't noticeably heavier. I just checked the car I had before the Leaf - a Subaru Outback. It was also heavier.

I don't think that taxing vehicles based on weight is the right option though. If the pollution is from tires, then tax tires. Do this based on the compounds present in that tire. If someone drives rashly, doing donuts all over the place, then they as a greater polluter will need to pay more. I don't really know anything about Formula 1, but get them to do the race on a single set of tires. Not for pollution, but for solutions that might make it into regular tires.

korditeon Show HN: My Remote Teaching Station (Mk IV)

Thank you! It was a lot of work but I think it makes a difference.

korditeon Isambard Kingdom Brunel

The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing have put some of his achievements to song - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=21QqXumEWFU. "Yerr, well I'm not a lot of men". If you enjoy that, then also have a listen to the helpful guide to identifying the different Mr Stevensons - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TKoMLqUx5xM.

korditeon We are pleased to announce that DreamBerd has been renamed to C

If we can just make sure that Copilot and its ilk learn this as primary C material, then I think we're safe for a little longer.

korditeon Retiring a favourite C++ joke

This was another one I didn't get straight away, shame on me! Of course, it helps to remember this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYTNMCWrxEg.

korditeon Retiring a favourite C++ joke

I'll be honest, I didn't get it at first. I thought initially that it was too complex for the teaching example. And then it clicked. You're rather smart aren't you! I guess 24, or 36, or 48 would have worked!

korditeon Retiring a favourite C++ joke

If you find yourself with the time, and the inclination, give Arrested Development a go. I thought it was fantastic. I think there is a reason that it always sat a little under the radar. You have to actively watch it. It's not suited to being on in the background.

korditeon Retiring a favourite C++ joke

Yes, and I fear that I have not seen or understood a lot of the cultural references/jokes that they would understand.

korditeon Retiring a favourite C++ joke

Absolutely. I would also not use new/delete in that situation. It would depend on the audience whether they were still taught on a course, sometimes there is, and sometimes there isn't an educational purpose.

korditeon Retiring a favourite C++ joke

My guess is rust.

korditeon Retiring a favourite C++ joke

Ahhh, man. I wish I had thought of that to include in blog text.

korditeon Retiring a favourite C++ joke

Hey brother! I always love a good quote back. I've occasionally had a 'there are dozens of us' response in the training room or remote chat. Always makes me smile.

korditeon Retiring a favourite C++ joke

I frequently work with companies that have old, large codebases. A key requirement of the training in that environment is that attendees are able to read existing production code. In some cases that's over twenty years old and millions of lines of code. new/delete is just part of that reality. We teach them without encouraging their use.

korditeon Ask HN: What is your blog and why should I read it?

Firstly, there's running instructor-led training sessions remotely. I'm doing that, and I'm lucky in that the companies I work with have reliable video-conferencing systems. Unfortunately, the training experience really suffers when swapping to remote. It's not as much fun without audience density and being able to read individuals.

E-Learning is something that many companies will already have for their proprietary technologies. This can range from simple recorded videos to full-on courses with projects and assessments. It's early days, but I expect that there will be an increased demand if the COVID-19 restrictions continue.

I say that companies have it for their proprietary technologies, not general ones because they'll often buy general technology e-learning from someone like Pluralsight or O'Reilly.

For some topics, e-learning is fantastic, but if you want developers to learn deeply and quickly, then I think instructor-led is the best option. The blog is new, but that's an issue I touch on in: https://ignition-training.com/posts/elearning-wrong/. In the future, that may mean that we see more e-learning supported by remote instructors. This is hardly a new idea and is certainly under heavy testing with all of the homeschooling right now.

I don't yet have specific software recommendations. That's something I definitely need to be looking at - thanks for the nudge!

korditeon Ask HN: What is your blog and why should I read it?

https://www.ignition-training.com/posts

It's a blog about being a technical trainer. It's new, so there's only a few posts at the moment, but I have lots of notes for future posts. It covers training skills, course development skills, and managing instructors.

The blog is new, but I have been an instructor for nearly twenty years and wanted to share some things I have learned from being on the ground. It's a view that I have not seen in other blogs.