Hacker News: BostonFern

New comment by BostonFern in "I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok"

BostonFern — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:18:36 +0000

Tougher adblocking is the best argument I’ve heard.

New comment by BostonFern in "Sweden goes back to basics, swapping screens for books in the classroom"

BostonFern — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 18:46:34 +0000

Are we talking about laptops in grades advanced enough for students to waste time on Reddit, or smartphones in the hands of young children?

My contention is that it's feasible to use laptops in classrooms productively, especially considering the value in applications like word processors. Of course it's necessary to balance the educational value with the potential for distraction. A way to minimize the latter is to extend classroom management to address device use, e.g., instilling discipline. I've personally seen it done well and done poorly (often not attempted at all), and given an otherwise healthy classroom setting, it comes down to discipline and ethics that address device use. That comes after tailoring the specific device format (e.g., tablets lending themselves more to entertainment, socially and habitually) to the appropriate grade level (maturity, responsibility, and technical potential increasing with age).

Some classrooms are too disruptive for device use, but that's not inherently a tech problem, even if you blame disruptive classrooms on broader cultural problems stemming from tech's role in society. Other classrooms exist in cultures that reject the necessary classroom management strategies.

It's not my contention that any device format should be used at any grade level and that distractions can be managed by simply saying "don't" and expecting success.

To address your other point above, yes, reading a book is different, often better, than reading on a screen, even for adults, so I'm also not arguing that devices should replace books.

New comment by BostonFern in "Sweden goes back to basics, swapping screens for books in the classroom"

BostonFern — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:14:05 +0000

That anecdote sounds like a problem with discipline and ethics, not with technology.

Push to close data broker "loophole" in upcoming FISA 702 reauth. bill

BostonFern — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:21:57 +0000

Article URL: https://text.npr.org/nx-s1-5752369

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47515467

Points: 4

# Comments: 0

New comment by BostonFern in "The Future of AI"

BostonFern — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 22:40:02 +0000

That’s a fair objection. Having ruminated on it some more, I’ll admit it might be tenable.

As for achieving an effective ban, occupational collapse might be the stronger motivator once workplace adoption broadens and accelerates, but risk of epistemic collapse might register sooner among the general public, already broadly suffering slop.

Like Bill Gates, I wonder why it’s not yet become a theme in mainstream politics.

New comment by BostonFern in "The Future of AI"

BostonFern — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 19:10:26 +0000

Get this point across to those leading the charge, if not every person everywhere.

New comment by BostonFern in "The Future of AI"

BostonFern — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 19:04:54 +0000

The challenge is that enforcing a ban would presumably require strict incursions into personal freedoms organized at a scale where AI-based solutions would be particularly effective and thus tempting, paradoxically.

On the other hand, assuming the dangers are real, you lose by default if you do nothing.

New comment by BostonFern in "OpenAI fires an employee for prediction market insider trading"

BostonFern — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 16:20:35 +0000

That's interpreting a failure to fight to preserve ethics as an internal rejection when it could be explained by a lack of fighting spirit, either because the fight seems impossible or the given hill not worth dying on. Another interpretation would be a comfort-oriented, avoidant, and possibly cynical culture facing a power imbalance.

Large study finds link between cannabis use in teens and psychosis later

BostonFern — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 16:51:03 +0000

Article URL: https://text.npr.org/nx-s1-5719338

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47124877

Points: 91

# Comments: 116

NASA chief classifies Boeing Starliner failure as Class A Mishap

BostonFern — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 11:39:50 +0000

Article URL: https://text.npr.org/nx-s1-5719870

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47086743

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

SpaceX Delays Mars Plans to Focus on Moon

BostonFern — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 13:34:15 +0000

Article URL: https://www.wsj.com/science/space-astronomy/spacex-delays-mars-plans-to-focus-on-moon-66d5c542

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46923732

Points: 4

# Comments: 0

To keep AI out of her classroom, this high school English teacher went analog

BostonFern — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 11:54:25 +0000

Article URL: https://text.npr.org/nx-s1-5631779

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46808988

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

40 years after Challenger: Lingering guilt and lessons learned

BostonFern — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:43:43 +0000

Article URL: https://text.npr.org/g-s1-106940

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46764492

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

A look inside prediction markets

BostonFern — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 10:12:32 +0000

Article URL: https://text.npr.org/nx-s1-5672615

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46666483

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by BostonFern in "Polymarket refuses to pay bets that US would 'invade' Venezuela"

BostonFern — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 21:45:15 +0000

Contra proferentem or caveat aleator? That is the question.

Names of 5M holocaust victims now compiled in single database

BostonFern — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 20:17:10 +0000

Article URL: https://www.timesofisrael.com/yad-vashem-says-it-has-compiled-5-million-names-of-jews-murdered-in-holocaust/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45803865

Points: 17

# Comments: 5

New comment by BostonFern in "Show HN: Write It Down – Personal finance tracker"

BostonFern — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 12:51:27 +0000

The testimonials on the landing page, where are they sourced from?

Severed and softening core columns, not failing floors, triggered WTC collapse

BostonFern — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 00:55:06 +0000

Article URL: https://www.metabunk.org/threads/kostack-studios-wtc2-south-tower-collapse-simulation.14468/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45400804

Points: 3

# Comments: 1

New comment by BostonFern in "Denmark shuts multiple airports, more unidentified drones spotted"

BostonFern — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 10:46:19 +0000

Officials have made announcements that tie the alleged drone sightings to “capable” (e.g., foreign state) actors. How would stricter laws address that?

It’s also already illegal to fly drones above airports.

New comment by BostonFern in "America's Largest Homebuilders Shift the Cost of Shoddy Construction to Buyers"

BostonFern — Sat, 13 Sep 2025 21:19:48 +0000

If this comment is an indication of how you approached the conversation, maybe you failed to convince your colleague due to a lack of specific arguments and an abundance of scornful conceit.