Hacker News: 49531

New comment by 49531 in "Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account"

49531 — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 01:23:54 +0000

Yeah it really comes down to online gameplay. The _only_ thing keeping me in microsoft's orbit is online gaming.

New comment by 49531 in "Resurrecting flip phone typing as a Linux driver"

49531 — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 20:45:12 +0000

Exactly this, and occasionally you'd have multiple words come up for the same number combo, but in a consistent manner where the user could learn how many times you needed to hit the 'next' button to get the word you wanted.

New comment by 49531 in "I'd rather read the prompt"

49531 — Mon, 05 May 2025 15:44:40 +0000

I don't think using dependencies or frameworks is any different than using a word processor for writing. They're tools that get you to the real work of writing original code.

New comment by 49531 in "The pro-Israel information war"

49531 — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 21:35:54 +0000

The US House of Representatives passed a measure on Tuesday which "clearly and firmly states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism"[1]; so at least 311 congress members are saying it.

1. https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/hres894/BILLS-118hres894i...

New comment by 49531 in "A 1990 experiment to test whether we could discern life on Earth remotely"

49531 — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 15:30:17 +0000

I thought it was just light? Light bounces off of different molecules differently?

New comment by 49531 in "I don’t buy “duplication is cheaper than the wrong abstraction” (2021)"

49531 — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 18:19:21 +0000

I think mislabeling something as a duplication is where most of these issues stem from.

Humans love to pattern match, we find patterns in things that often have no real pattern. It is not uncommon in my experience to see patterns in code, label the code as not DRY, and attempt to DRY it up. If the "duplication" detected was, in fact, not a duplication but rather code that just happens to be similar, the abstraction will often go awry.

My rule-of-thumb is to prioritize maintenance over authorship. Am I writing this code in a way that makes it easier for future me or another programmer to change it, or am I optimizing for a sleek diff in my code review? I think our code can look like breadboards instead of a bespoke printed circuit board, we have compilers for that.

New comment by 49531 in "US Supreme Court rules website designer can refuse to serve same-sex couples"

49531 — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 20:16:11 +0000

Because producing an image of Muhammad is an explicit prohibition in Islam. Providing services to same-sex couples is not a prohibition in Christianity.

New comment by 49531 in "US Supreme Court rules website designer can refuse to serve same-sex couples"

49531 — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 20:08:32 +0000

Building a wedding website for same-sex couples is not a prohibition in Christianity. In fact, it's closer to a tenet of the faith than a prohibition.

Perhaps if she was asked to make a website called www.thebibleisfake.com you might have a case for infringement of speech.

New comment by 49531 in "US Supreme Court rules website designer can refuse to serve same-sex couples"

49531 — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 20:01:36 +0000

> This would also protect a Muslim artist from being forced to produce a drawing of Muhammad if requested by a client.

I think there is a difference here. It is not a prohibition in Christianity to create a website for a same sex couple, whereas producing an image of Muhammad is a prohibition in Islam.

I'd also argue that a wedding website for same-sex couples is not something that "contradicts biblical truth"; there is plenty of homosexuality in the bible.

New comment by 49531 in "How my children (n=2) acquired absolute pitch"

49531 — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 19:23:01 +0000

I'd argue interval training is more valuable than absolute pitch in improvisation. It's rare you find yourself in a scenario where key is unknown and unknowable, especially playing with other musicians. Being able to hear and distinguish a minor 3rd from major 3rd is much more valuable.

New comment by 49531 in "Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics"

49531 — Thu, 04 May 2023 14:33:23 +0000

My whole team woke up removed from Slack so...

New comment by 49531 in "Children aged 2-6 successfully trained to acquire absolute pitch (2012)"

49531 — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 18:01:42 +0000

Nah you're right, intervals ear training will always give you more bang for your buck than absolute pitch, and even though absolute pitch is trainable, I don't know any serious musicians who have put effort into it. This is why I think folks think absolute pitch is innate (it isn't): some folks just have a knack for it, and those who don't quickly learn that the effort to build the skill isn't worth the payoff.

New comment by 49531 in "Children aged 2-6 successfully trained to acquire absolute pitch (2012)"

49531 — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 17:56:13 +0000

Yea, absolute pitch is not very valuable for musicians. Interval training is much more common, where you train on the differences between notes (maj 3rd, minor 6th etc.). Good interval skills make improvisation and composition much easier. If you know the key you're in having absolute pitch doesn't really add anything, and if you're lacking in understanding intervals it won't make up for it.

New comment by 49531 in "Children aged 2-6 successfully trained to acquire absolute pitch (2012)"

49531 — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 17:50:17 +0000

There are tools you can use that will play a note like C and then another note, and you listen and guess what the 2nd note is. It just takes a bit of consistent trial and error learning, after a bit you get the hang of it and kind of create a mapping of what notes sound like in your head. I use a app called Tenuto for it, but I am sure there are others out there.

New comment by 49531 in "Remote work brings hidden penalty for young professionals, study says"

49531 — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 17:04:37 +0000

Sure, there can be cultural hurdles there, but those exist in the office as well. "Jane has headphones on, she's heads down and will be upset if I bother her now" "I want to ask Steve for help, but he rolls his eyes any time I approach him" "Sam said they'd give me a hand this afternoon, but I can't seem to find them anywhere in the building"

New comment by 49531 in "Remote work brings hidden penalty for young professionals, study says"

49531 — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 16:17:06 +0000

> Most mid-level and senior people have not learned the skills to mentor while working remotely.

I cannot think of a scenario where if I needed help with something I couldn't have a 5-minute conversation with someone.

Slack conversations I have several times a week: "Hey do you have a sec to help me? I can't seem to reproduce X bug" "Yea, wanna huddle?" "Sure!"

I don't know what new skills someone would have to learn in order to do that.

New comment by 49531 in "Coding Jobs and GPT-4"

49531 — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 20:03:03 +0000

Going a bit against the grain here I think but: I think tools like GPT-4 and beyond will increase the value of software engineers for companies as time goes on.

Folks building software can be more ambitious with the things they create, and it can become easier to plug in another software engineer to your team if tooling can make them more predictable in their output.

I see people here saying that increased efficiency is going to reduce their team's headcount which makes zero sense to me. I've never been on a team where there wasn't enough work to be done, it's usually a problem of too much work and needing to choose which is most important.

That being said, as someone who's been heavily using GPT-4 in their work and personal projects I feel like the gains are minimal. It's really great when I'm exploring an API I was unfamiliar with before, but for stuff I've been doing daily for years it's really not much help at all. Even places where ChatGPT shines, it takes some discernment to sift through the bullshit.

New comment by 49531 in "The 'Insanely Broad' Restrict Act Could Ban Much More Than Just TikTok"

49531 — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 13:57:48 +0000

Sure, but in my experience US lawmakers act much more hostile towards me as a US citizen than China ever has or will.

New comment by 49531 in "Post-GPT Computing"

49531 — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 16:09:52 +0000

I've seen it use non existent APIs a lot. Working on a project that uses a dialect of python it told me it knew (Starlark) was like pulling teeth. It would tell me to use a python feature Starlark didn't have, I'd ask it to rewrite it without using that specific feature and it would with another feature Starlark didn't have access to, so I'd ask it to write the solution using neither and it would just give me the first solution again.

New comment by 49531 in "Airbnb nightly rates shot up 36% in 3 years"

49531 — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 17:28:05 +0000

Anecdotally, I am traveling to a beach town in the off season (east coast US) next week to see family. A lot of Airbnb's were showing rates competitive with local hotels, ~$120/night. Staying 3 nights, I expected to checkout seeing ~$400, but upon checkout I see a bill for $800! Needless to say, I am staying at a hotel for $400. At least I won't be given a list of chores to complete upon checkout ¯\_(ツ)_/¯