Hacker News: FatherOfCurses

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "One million passports leaked online"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 19:18:46 +0000

Are you seriously comparing an analog phonebook to machine-searchable structured data made available in a data breach?

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "The labor share of income in the US is at its lowest post-war level"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 19:07:28 +0000

This is like an abusive parent saying "Stop crying or I'll give you something to really cry about."

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "The labor share of income in the US is at its lowest post-war level"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 19:02:52 +0000

Assuming you don't retire during one of the periodic market bust cycles. I think a lot of workers would rather see more return on that increase in capital now.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs"

FatherOfCurses — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 15:26:04 +0000

What's ridiculous is the assumption that the only to comfortably transport a family is via a massive truck.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Flock-Powered Police Chiefs Stalking Women Shows Why Warrants Are Needed"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 14:27:15 +0000

The key statement here is "I don't live in the US"

I grew up outside of the US and immigrated here in 1995. US police are on a completely different level.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Job application asked for my SAT scores"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 14:19:12 +0000

It's not a claim, there is psychological data supporting the negative impact stress can have on recall and that for some students a test is not the best way to identify their retained knowledge.

Your single example identifies a situation where we would want someone resilient to stress to pass the testing process.

However if you are evaluating someone's ability to identify characters in Shakespeare who are most closely representative of the Bard himself, a proctored exam may not be the only environment where that could be demonstrated.

Anyone in software knows as well that for a test to be effective it has to be written properly. In the history of academic and standardized testing however there has been little rigor in the construction of tests, and those who pass are ones who give the "right" answers regardless of whether those answers are true proofs of knowledge.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Pentagon boasts of using AI to write reports mandated by Congress (1.5mil users)"

FatherOfCurses — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:17:26 +0000

You're assuming the AI will not be given any instructions to produce the report with a certain data bias.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 18:57:51 +0000

"A few weeks later, the project is finished. Watterson probably takes a moment to stand in the middle of the room and look up, contemplating the months of work, the tins of paint he went through, the things he learned about technique, about the joy of a job done for its own sake, about himself. Then he opens a tin of whitewash, climbs up the bed-chairs-table one last time, and paints over his work. He leaves the ceiling white, empty, fresh."

Is it Zen where they do this with mandalas? The monks spend forever building intricate sand paintings and then wipe/blow them away in an instant. Love it.

I wish I could explain why, but this is the C+H comic I think of the most: https://i0.wp.com/www.thedockchurch.org/blog/wp-content/uplo...

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 18:44:26 +0000

But without any training in experimental methodologies, molecular biology, protein mechanics, pharmacology, or any of the other specialized fields that make up the world of Alzheimer's research, how do you view yourself as qualified to make that conclusion? What body of knowledge are you drawing on to conclude that the experts' reasoning is sound, they are properly controlling their experiments, they are drawing the correct conclusions based on the underlying mechanics? AFAIK even people who do meta-analyses are qualified in the field they are doing the analysis for.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:51:17 +0000

Oh FFS what does any knowledge matter any more if we can now say that someone who has no medical training has the ability to turn the entire field of Alzheimers on its head?

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Humanity isn't ready for the coming intelligence explosion"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:42:12 +0000

The happiest years of my life were when I didn't own a car and didn't need to because I had access to good public transit and walkable neighborhoods.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Never talk to the police"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:37:37 +0000

In the United States at least, 99% of the time when you are approached by the police, you are suspected of a crime. They are given wide latitude in using their feelings rather than facts to evaluate whether you should be taken into custody, physically harmed, or even killed. They are protected from consequences of poor decisions by strong unions and the concept of qualified immunity. There is vast evidence out there about why on average they cannot be trusted to deal with you fairly.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Job: Head of Stonehenge"

FatherOfCurses — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:21:45 +0000

Music with rocks in

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Stolen Lego, Mormons and corrupt Cops – a recap of all the major facts"

FatherOfCurses — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:17:20 +0000

I don't care if the previous franchise owners pooped in Lego boxes and sold them as solid gold. As soon as BAM corporate revoked their franchise, the property and liabilities of the franchise reverted to BAM and BAM needs to honor them. All BAM needed to do was professionally handle the transfer of the franchise and they would have avoided all of this. If they discovered there was a consignment agreement in place that was allegedly in violation of policies, the correct next step would have been to contact the consignee and say "We can't sell your Legos, come and pick them up."

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "An Ohio Valley 100k-watt FM signal is severed in broad daylight"

FatherOfCurses — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:52:23 +0000

It's a mystery to me why the scrap metal industry doesn't have more scrutiny given how much copper is stolen.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "The destruction of 3D printing: Bloomberg is behind it [video]"

FatherOfCurses — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:19:41 +0000

Rossman is only controversial if you don't think people are entitled to privacy and consumers aren't entitled to the entirety of the products they purchase.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Boston and Bermuda"

FatherOfCurses — Fri, 29 May 2026 13:28:08 +0000

I grew up in Toronto and the family of my university girlfriend owned a small cottage in the northeastern part of the province that didn't have road access. You had to take a boat across a lake to get to it. It had a tiny camp kitchen, a table for everyone to eat at, and a bunch of single and bunk beds and that was it. No power or running water. The whole point was spending a weekend living simply, not just living your regular life in a different location.

I miss it dearly and there is nothing like it any more.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (2006)"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 26 May 2026 14:59:42 +0000

Someone mixed up their oboe and didgeridoo instructions

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "A reality check on the AI jobs hysteria"

FatherOfCurses — Tue, 26 May 2026 14:50:26 +0000

Anyone downplaying the impact of AI is looking at things from a practical perspective rather than getting inside the heads of decision makers.

It doesn't matter whether AI is ready to do peoples' jobs. All that matters is whether leaders who make budgets *think* it is. If they all get around a table and decide "We can cut 500 heads this year, AI will cover the productivity loss" or "We can keep the workforce flat, AI will help our workers be more productive" then that will be the reality.

New comment by FatherOfCurses in "Throwing AI-generated walls of text into conversations"

FatherOfCurses — Fri, 22 May 2026 19:47:52 +0000

Your co-workers must love staring at the "SwiftyBug is typing..." prompt for 15 minutes