Hacker News: Ballas

New comment by Ballas in "USB for Software Developers: An introduction to writing userspace USB drivers"

Ballas — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 05:14:38 +0000

Yes, in that case I completely agree. Using it everywhere is a mistake IMHO. I know there might be a stylistic reason for using it everywhere, but I believe less code is better, unless more code makes it easier to understand.

New comment by Ballas in "USB for Software Developers: An introduction to writing userspace USB drivers"

Ballas — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:12:51 +0000

Why would anybody think more words more better?

    int main() {

New comment by Ballas in "Wine 11.0"

Ballas — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 06:50:29 +0000

That gold rating was last tested with wine 5.0 in 2020. I have tried many times to install Office 2016 after that, and failed because Microsoft keeps changing their login/activation front-end. The last time the issue was with some Edge-dependency. For a while it was possible to get it working with Crossover, and then it broke again. Currently I'm using WinApps for the infrequent project that requires MS Office.

That said, I haven't tried Office on wine in the last 2 years, and there have a lot of development in that time...

New comment by Ballas in "Samsung makes ads on smart fridges official with upcoming software update"

Ballas — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 05:32:42 +0000

Even the unnecessary microcontrollers in modern devices irk me. A fridge does not need a microcontroller. (My issue is primarily repairability - discrete components can be sourced and replaced, microcontrollers with the correct programming usually cannot.)

New comment by Ballas in "Homeowner baffled after washing machine uses 3.6GB of internet data a day (2024)"

Ballas — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 06:55:18 +0000

The wifi devices are cheaper IME, so I created a IOT VLAN that does not have internet access, nor access to my normal network unless it was initiated from the trusted side.

New comment by Ballas in "Magic Lantern Is Back"

Ballas — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 08:51:46 +0000

> Can't understand why manufacturers make this hard as it sells hardware.

Because a lot of features that cost a lot of money are only software limitations. With many of the cheaper cameras the max shutter speed and video capabilities are limited by software to make the distinction with the more expensive cameras bigger. So they do sell hardware - but opening up the software will make their higher-end offerings less compelling.

New comment by Ballas in "AWS CEO says using AI to replace junior staff is 'Dumbest thing I've ever heard'"

Ballas — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 05:43:14 +0000

There is definitely a divide in users - those for which it works and those for which it doesn't. I suspect it comes down to what language and what tooling you use. People doing web-related or python work seem to be doing much better than people doing embedded C or C++. Similarly doing C++ in a popular framework like QT also yields better results. When the system design is not pre-defined or rigid like in QT, then you get completely unmaintainable code as a result.

If you are writing code that is/can be "heavily borrowed" - things that have complete examples on Github, then an LLM is perfect.

New comment by Ballas in "A study of lights at night suggests dictators lie about economic growth (2022)"

Ballas — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 09:01:43 +0000

Where I'm from moonlight on it's own will disrupt my sleep frequently enough that even if my neighbor did not forget his back light on, I would still sleep with my blockout curtains closed.

When it comes to driving, I would definitely prefer they keep the street lights on, for the increased visibility/safety.

New comment by Ballas in "A study of lights at night suggests dictators lie about economic growth (2022)"

Ballas — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 06:41:36 +0000

> Counter fact: In our city district, which is the richest and biggest district of our 600k developed city, we decided to turn off the street lights at night on purpose to help with sleeping better.

To me that seems like a really alien solution. What about closing the curtains?

New comment by Ballas in "C++26 Reflections adventures and compile-time UML"

Ballas — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 05:39:58 +0000

>The rest of us are dealing with old code that is a hodgepodge of older standards and toolchains, that has to run in multiple environments, mostly old ones. It's like yeah, this C++26 feature will come in handy for me someday, but if that day comes then it will be in 2036, and I might not be writing C++ by then.

Things seem to be catching up. I had the same view up until recently, but now I'm able to use most of the C++23 features in an embedded platform (granted, some are still missing (limited to GCC 11.2).

New comment by Ballas in "“No tax on tips” is an industry plant"

Ballas — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 07:16:15 +0000

In my experience they are often confused and sometimes insulted. Generally I found tipping to add friction to the transaction.

New comment by Ballas in "Denver rent is back to 2022 prices after 20k new units hit the market"

Ballas — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 06:08:45 +0000

> But, the convention in the US is that people see their houses as a form of savings.

And that is a big part of the problem. You cannot have it both ways, if housing is an investment, it will eventually lead to poorer outcomes for anybody that needs a house and does not inherit one.

New comment by Ballas in "Brave blocks Microsoft Recall by default"

Ballas — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 12:07:05 +0000

Well, you can have the same functionality with find if you want it:

find -type f -exec grep -Hn "_content_" {} \;

New comment by Ballas in "Ancient X11 scaling technology"

Ballas — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 05:51:58 +0000

Wow, when did that happen?

A couple of years ago I could not get anything OpenGL working over ssh, no matter how hard I tried. Ever since I just accepted that as fact. But I tested it now and it just works!

New comment by Ballas in "KiCad and Wayland Support"

Ballas — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 07:54:59 +0000

In xfce, setting DPI in Appearance works perfectly (in my experience). Just don't try to scale with display settings...

New comment by Ballas in "KiCad and Wayland Support"

Ballas — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 07:46:50 +0000

Eagle does not do cursor warping as far as I know.

New comment by Ballas in "KiCad and Wayland Support"

Ballas — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 07:45:58 +0000

That is the first thing I turn off in Kicad (earlier versions I had to fix the source and recompile).

I have never seen a good reason for cursor warping.

New comment by Ballas in "Canonicals Interview Process"

Ballas — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 05:48:45 +0000

He probably previously mentioned that he wanted to write an article to the friend and the friend asked about it, reminding him.

New comment by Ballas in "Canonicals Interview Process"

Ballas — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 07:13:52 +0000

The one you just read?

New comment by Ballas in "Modification of acetaminophen to reduce liver toxicity and enhance drug efficacy"

Ballas — Sat, 24 May 2025 11:06:34 +0000

> I hardly feel anything when I take it.

Would that not make it a very effective pain killer? /s

But seriously - you are not supposed to "feel" a drug. Opiates work on a much different mechanism, and you do "feel" them, but that is also the same mechanism that make them so addictive. What you want is a drug that helps you manage pain and not be addictive.