Hacker News: FromHoiPolloi

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "Fairphone is now officially available in the United States"

FromHoiPolloi — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 11:45:07 +0000

It should be doable with cooperation between the two, right?

If we add that FSF aims to provide free alternatives to some vendor blobs the landscape begins to look promising.[0]

One party to provide needed specs for hardware, one party to free the hardware from vendor blobs and another party to merge this into a working product.

[0] https://www.fsf.org/campaigns/librephone

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "Pessimist's Guide to the Next 10 Years (2010)"

FromHoiPolloi — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:13:00 +0000

Previous submissions:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1776994

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4935064

Pessimist's Guide to the Next 10 Years (2010)

FromHoiPolloi — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:13:00 +0000

Article URL: https://nextnature.org/en/magazine/story/2010/douglas-coupland-a-radical-pessimists-guide-to-the-next-10-years

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49255800

Points: 1

# Comments: 1

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "How Americans view capitalism, socialism and free enterprise"

FromHoiPolloi — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 19:14:15 +0000

Oh, I'm not familiar with his works unfortunately.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”"

FromHoiPolloi — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 16:51:54 +0000

or 'Fake London'

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "Iceberg Collapses and Flips over in Ilulissat, Greenland (July 25, 2026) [video]"

FromHoiPolloi — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 16:30:36 +0000

Yes. My point was that it's easier(?) to get below freezing point above water than below. So while the cold air keeps the upper part of the iceberg (relatively) intact - it will slowly melt below the sea until the center of gravity changes enough to flip over.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "Iceberg Collapses and Flips over in Ilulissat, Greenland (July 25, 2026) [video]"

FromHoiPolloi — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 16:14:07 +0000

My take would be that underwater temps cannot get below freezing. So the surrounding temperatures above water can be lower than under water.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "Waymo in Dallas"

FromHoiPolloi — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:53:30 +0000

Oh I fully agree. One thing that (I think) is being overlooked is that when some people switch from cars to public transit, the congestion eases. One doesn't have to make everyone switch to buses/light rails. Just enough for everyone to benefit.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "How Americans View Capitalism, Socialism and Free Enterprise"

FromHoiPolloi — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:09:43 +0000

Not quite. Communism is when the gov controls the means of production. The end result is indeed shitty stuff due to lack of competition. But you can achieve similar enshittification by failing to break monopolies etc.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "How Americans view capitalism, socialism and free enterprise"

FromHoiPolloi — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:03:23 +0000

All governments do stuff. Usually it's passing and enforcing laws. What set of principals stands (or lurks) behind these laws - that's where the meat of the matter is.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "Waymo in Dallas"

FromHoiPolloi — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 11:55:21 +0000

They still have to park somewhere... And the service (Waymo or a future competitor) that has it's cars closer will win more customers or can charge higher fees for faster service. The parking infrastructure might move a bit. But it won't disappear. I'd wager it'll even increase.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "Waymo in Dallas"

FromHoiPolloi — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 11:47:21 +0000

I know in some places taxis are considered public transport. But I do not agree with that. It's still a car with one or two passengers. The only similarity with public transport is that you can use it while under influence.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "Waymo in Dallas"

FromHoiPolloi — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 11:39:38 +0000

You don't have to nuke anything. Every street is fixed/rebuild from time to time (30-40 years). The steps to follow are: 1) Allow mixed use zones. 2) Update the specs how the roads/streets are supposed to look like.

After that, grab a pint and watch how your neighborhood transforms.

Connected cars from China and the EU's cybersecurity [pdf]

FromHoiPolloi — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 11:35:00 +0000

Article URL: https://www.osw.waw.pl/sites/default/files/OSW%20REPORT%20-%20Smartphones%20on%20wheels.pdf

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49195284

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "Waymo in Dallas"

FromHoiPolloi — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:41:47 +0000

ok... Why the majority of people don't want to endure the hassle of riding the bus?

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "Waymo in Dallas"

FromHoiPolloi — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:37:43 +0000

No, it's not. It's a car for hire. Problems created by car-dependency will not be solved by adding more/cheaper cars.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "What's Behind the Sharp Drop in Labor Force Participation?"

FromHoiPolloi — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:13:42 +0000

Inflation is a killer unless the paycheck is adjusted accordingly.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "What's Behind the Sharp Drop in Labor Force Participation?"

FromHoiPolloi — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:12:41 +0000

This, plus decent public transport.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "What's Behind the Sharp Drop in Labor Force Participation?"

FromHoiPolloi — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:09:33 +0000

What other tools are there available? I believe increasing minimum wage, punishing (through tax) rent seeking would also be viable.

New comment by FromHoiPolloi in "What's Behind the Sharp Drop in Labor Force Participation?"

FromHoiPolloi — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:00:08 +0000

That's not 100% true. At the beginning of industrial revolution workers have been working insane hours - often 12-16 hour shifts 6 days a week.

See the 1833 [1] bill that limits work-shift for children aged 9-13 to 8 hours a day. The fact that (most) developed countries settled for 40 hour work week was a huge progress. The fact that we did not shortened the workweek in the last 100 years is sad to say the least. The gains in productivity were shared with the employees right up until 1971 [2].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_Acts#Ashley's_Bill_(18... [2] https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/