<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Hacker News: 51Cards</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=51Cards</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Sat, 04 Apr 2026 09:10:24 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=51Cards" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Defeating a 40-year-old copy protection dongle"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I was hired in the early 90's by a collection of franchises for a home care company.  The privately owned head office self-developed and distributed required monthly updates to the only software franchises were permitted to run their business.  The monthly updates (floppies) reset the license for another month at each location.  After years of problems, poor support, and in a couple cases offices getting shut down because head office just "didn't like them anymore", they banded together to sue the owners (one of which developed the software).  I did IT work for a couple of the offices and was already familiar with maintaining the software / systems.  They hired me to bypass the licensing code which was a lot of fun to figure out.  In the end I wrote a DOS based license generator each office had that could update their software by just getting a code over the phone for the upcoming month (or any date for 365 days).  A few years later once the lawsuit settled and the company broke apart we issued a patch for the software to remove the license check completely.  I should fire up DOSBox sometime so I can play with that old software again.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 01:52:19 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46851491</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46851491</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46851491</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "US Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Let it be a choice, with the mandate that if you opt out and later contract it there will be no state funded assistance down the road. Your choice shouldn't be a burden on the system.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 2026 19:22:21 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46746656</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46746656</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46746656</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Scott Adams has died"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I loved Dilbert and I really believe that you often have to separate art from artist if you want to enjoy many things.  He put a very unique perspective on corporate and tech environments that made me laugh.  Sad to see a human pass but also sadder that later he expressed some disappointing opinions that diminished his contributions.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:57:44 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46603728</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46603728</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46603728</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Everyone hates OneDrive, Microsofts cloud app that steals and deletes files"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>First thing I do on any Windows machine is uninstall OneDrive anywhere possible.  It's caused me enough grief that I just avoid it entirely at this point.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 15:18:31 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46527365</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46527365</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46527365</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Show HN: AutoLISP interpreter in Rust/WASM – a CAD workflow invented 33 yrs ago"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>We were on the same page.  I also built something similar for a Conveyor company here in Canada in the early 90's.  We parameterized all their tech drawings (or at least the initial versions) from their component libraries.  Was a great project.  Not sure how long they used it, they eventually acquired the resources to support it internally (I was an independent AutoLISP contractor).   Good times back then.  I haven't done AutoLISP in years now but great to see it's still around.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 17:36:15 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46394214</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46394214</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46394214</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I have a folder in my server where I archive the last several versions (usually 3-5) of all software I install.  It would have helped in this situation but the main reason I started doing it >25 years ago is in case companies disappeared.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 27 Nov 2025 22:49:29 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46073857</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46073857</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46073857</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Bring bathroom doors back to hotels"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Perhaps I say at all the wrong (right?) hotels but... I stay in close to two dozen North American hotels a year and I haven't noticed this trend?  Many have pocket doors but I can't think of a hotel in recent memory that was missing it completely.  I usually partially close them so it's not as cold getting out of a shower so I hope I would have taken note if it wasn't there.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 27 Nov 2025 02:25:56 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46064850</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46064850</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46064850</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I rode in one of these in Phoenix in June, loved the experience!  Had to go to a pharmacy so purposely picked one a half hour across the city so I could just watch the car perform.  Felt like the future (though it did glitch once).  Made a sudden turn off the road into a parking lot, did a lap of the outside of the parking lot, and exited back onto the same road to continue on.  Must have thought something was blocking the road and made a detour around it?  Other than that it seemed pretty flawless.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 22 Nov 2025 01:18:43 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46011154</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46011154</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46011154</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Please make AI disappear altogether until I want it.  No pop-ups, no floating "Help me..." in fields, no spinning flashing icons on toolbars.  I submit feedback on all products that do this that I would like a way to turn it all off.  AI is useful when I want it, otherwise it's just annoying and gets in my way.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 14 Nov 2025 17:43:10 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929353</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929353</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929353</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Why I code as a CTO"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>This sounds like myself as well.  We are a small dev team of 6 (in a company of 30), however I also have a partial ownership stake in the company.  Even though I spend a significant part of my time on "CTO" style work (client meetings, market assessments, product overviews, roadmap planning, third party collaboration, etc.) there also isn't near enough of that to fill my time or justify my salary. I code and review like my team does, but I also oversee technical direction for our whole portfolio and the responsibility for that technical  success or failure rests on me.  As we grow the coding will decrease I'm sure, but I see a lot of people here criticizing from a perspective of larger companies where a CTO would be a full time responsibility.  In our situation the title (as much as I often dislike it) represents my level of responsibility, if not directly the full scope of my role.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 26 Oct 2025 22:49:11 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45715797</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45715797</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45715797</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "The QNX Operating System"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>What a great summary.  I was reminded of QNX through the Blackberry acquisition but I had forgotten it's history went back so far.  (I should have remembered, I was around in those early PC days)  With so many things these days having an operating system running them (including the mentioned cars, rockets and robots) QNX seems to have a bright future ahead doing what it does best, being the solid core to build upon.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 05 Oct 2025 19:07:57 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45484269</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45484269</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45484269</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "I spent the day teaching seniors how to use an iPhone"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I taught my now 83 year old mother to use an Android phone 10+ years ago and now I use Nova Launcher to do my best to emulate the experience she's used to every time there is an OS update. She does pretty well, but recently Google changed the default Phone app and she hates it.  It's tricky keeping the experience stable once they have learned it.  There are also several "senior" launchers meant to simply the UI but all of them have been a little too restrictive.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 03 Oct 2025 02:17:21 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45458150</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45458150</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45458150</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Pixel 10 Phones"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Replying to my own comment as I can no longer edit.  To clarify, I have a spare Pixel 5 sitting on the shelf.  Was inexpensive to purchase a backup a few years ago off of a local classifieds site, still new in box.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:56:52 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44972194</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44972194</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44972194</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Pixel 10 Phones"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Sorry, my wording was misleading there.  A spare Pixel 5 on the shelf so if something happens to this one I have an immediate replacement.  I pop it onto a charger every couple months to prevent the battery from going too low.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:55:12 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44972170</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44972170</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44972170</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Pixel 10 Phones"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I still carry my Pixel 5 for this reason.  2 replacement batteries in now and I have a spare sitting on a shelf.  That said the Pixel 9A is tempting as it's not much larger than my Pixel 5.  I hate that the finger print readers have moved to the front though.  The sensor on the back of my 5 is perfectly postioned and also acts like a little track-pad for opening the notification tray.  It was a perfect design IMO.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 20 Aug 2025 17:44:05 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44964185</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44964185</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44964185</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>It doesn't really need to surface. This is PebbleOS, so all the faces developed for all of the previous models will also work here.  There is already a huge library of faces and I see people still making new ones.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 13 Aug 2025 20:37:05 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44893547</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44893547</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44893547</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>You may also find interesting that in this release update he mentiones that the backlight LED is now RGB and they are toying with ideas like making the backlight blue light aware at nights, etc.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 13 Aug 2025 20:35:03 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44893531</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44893531</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44893531</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Material 3 Expressive"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I'm not understanding this comment.  I'm running this site on my Pixel 5 and on Firefox on a Thinkpad W530 (12+ years old) and it's flying on both.  What part is laggy?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 16 May 2025 21:20:52 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44009897</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44009897</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44009897</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "Are ChatGPT and co harming human intelligence?"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I'm going to re-post something that I commented in another thread awhile ago:<p>I tend to think it will. Tools replaced our ancestor's ability to make things by hand. Transportation / elevators reduced the average fitness level to walk long distances or climb stairs. Pocket calculators made the general population less able to do complex math. Spelling/grammar checks have reduced knowing how to spell or form complete proper sentences. Keyboards and email are making handwriting a passing skill. Video is reducing our need / desire to read or absorb long form content.<p>The highest percentage of humans will take the easiest path provided. And while most of the above we just consider improvements to daily life, efficiencies, it has also fundamentally changed on average what we are capable of and what skills we learn (especially during formative years). If I dropped most of us here into a pre-technology wilderness we'd be dead in short order.<p>However, most of the above, it can be argued, are just tools that don't impact our actual thought processes; thinking remained our skill. Now the tools are starting to "think", or at least appear like they do on a level indistinguishable to the average person. If the box in my hand can tell me what 4367 x 2231 is and the capital of Guam, why then wouldn't I rely on it when it starts writing up full content for me? Because the average human adapts to the lowest required skill set I do worry that providing a device in our hands that "thinks" is going to reduce our learned ability to rationally process and check what it puts out, just like I've lost the ability to check if my calculator is lying to me. And not to get all dystopian here... but what if then, what that tool is telling me is true, is, for whatever reason, not.<p>(and yes, I ran this through a spell checker because I'm a part of the problem above... and it found words I thought I could still spell, and I'm 55)</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 21 Apr 2025 12:43:50 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43751364</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43751364</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43751364</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by 51Cards in "I maintain a 17 year old ThinkPad"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>My W530 is 13-ish years old and it's still my daily driver.  It doesn't travel anymore (now wired into my desk) but still works great running Win 10.  I code on this thing all day and so far have only had to replace a fan and give it an SSD upgrade.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 03 Apr 2025 03:18:10 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43564311</link><dc:creator>51Cards</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43564311</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43564311</guid></item></channel></rss>