Hacker News: RichardHesketh

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s"

RichardHesketh — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:24:57 +0000

Dunno where you live, but according to this (https://www.epilepsy.com/stories/shedding-light-photosensiti...) from a US charity: About 3 to 5 percent of the 2.7 million Americans with epilepsy (approximately 100,000 individuals) are photosensitive. That's a lot, but the chances of one walking in to that bowling alley are likely negligible. Photosensitive epileptics are highly likely to be aware of their condition and avoid risky environments in any case.

New comment by RichardHesketh in "US Army gives chaplains 90 days to remove rank insignia"

RichardHesketh — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 23:32:46 +0000

As long as this isn’t about all ‘non-warfighters’, this might be a good thing. My Dad served for over 30 years in the Royal Air Force, retiring as an Air Vice Marshal (USAF 2* General equivalent). His badge of rank was only ever about having sufficient clout to fight a service member’s corner whatever his assignment was (a conventional RAF station, Allied Forces HQ in Europe etc.). He knew that, and he said it out loud to remind each and every service member (and their family members) that he was there for them, and that he had the clout to influence where influence was required. The proposed change is either good or bad depending on context. It was never necessary in the RAF because of the Chaplains approach to working with their colleagues - ‘pulling rank’ is anathema to an RAF officer and I’m certain that’s equally true of the other services in the UK. I’ll watch this with interest to see how it plays out. Not obvious HN fodder, but a subject that for sure tickles my interest…

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Show HN: Tool that hashes files into poems"

RichardHesketh — Tue, 26 May 2026 21:38:03 +0000

Marvellous. Puts one on mind of (https://www.hhgproject.org/entries/poetry.html) :) Next time I’m in London I must go and leave a biro on Douglas Adams grave…

New comment by RichardHesketh in "PoC: VPN over WebRTC to Bypass Whitelists"

RichardHesketh — Tue, 19 May 2026 19:54:22 +0000

This, I guess: https://github.com/kulikov0/whitelist-bypass

Sign o’ the times, but interesting…

New comment by RichardHesketh in "If Claude writes the code, what makes me still a developer?"

RichardHesketh — Sat, 02 May 2026 22:54:06 +0000

Architecting, specifying, verifying and validating are still important disciplines - those /can/ be in scope for a traditional ’developer’. You’re not irrelevant, but your role may be shifting a bit. Embrace the learning opportunities if they suit you, and if they don’t - well there’s likely something else you love to do that you could monetise…

New comment by RichardHesketh in "iOS 18.7.3-18.7.6 were withheld from most devices; iOS 18.7.7 is enabled for all"

RichardHesketh — Sat, 02 May 2026 21:51:13 +0000

Please grow up. As of iOS 26.1, the transparency effects can be substantially turned down; 26.4 builds upon that, making the issue all but moot. If you choose to self-sabotage by moving to another OS, forcing you to repurchase apps on a competing platform all over again, and learn the quirks and flaws of that platform, I wish you all the disposable income (and time) you may need to do that.

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Every plane you see in the sky – you can now follow it from the cockpit in 3D"

RichardHesketh — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 18:19:34 +0000

The FlightRadar24 app has had this feature for quite some time. I like your implementation though - it’s very easy on the eye.

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Apple App Store Is Flooded with AI Slop and Legitimate Developers Are Paying"

RichardHesketh — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 20:26:21 +0000

Hindsight’s 20:20. Why the snark? There’s a lot to like about the App Store experience from a user perspective (I am not a developer).

New comment by RichardHesketh in "I coded a game to turn the Epstein Files into Mad Libs. It's hilarious"

RichardHesketh — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 19:48:34 +0000

I think the clue’s in the username…

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Show HN: DocuDeeper – private document AI assistant,100% offline, GDPR-compliant"

RichardHesketh — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 20:24:19 +0000

Links don’t work for me and nor does searching GH for DocuDeeper. I’d love to try this - if I can get to it!

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Banning under-16s won't fix social media, by Jay Graber"

RichardHesketh — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 17:01:31 +0000

So what? If it helps my son to be a good human in his early teens, I’m in favour…

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Show HN: A Jazz Translations Album with Suno"

RichardHesketh — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 21:55:36 +0000

Nice. Will it land on Apple Music at some point?

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Parametric BBC TV Clock"

RichardHesketh — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 22:31:06 +0000

Gorgeous. Thank you, from an aging Brit who feels utterly at home looking at this. :)

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Songs Are Brain Medicine"

RichardHesketh — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 23:08:43 +0000

Question: if dopamine is the answer, what’s the second-order solution the brain is after?

New comment by RichardHesketh in "This is How I Grieve"

RichardHesketh — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 22:49:48 +0000

I have a new respect for Conan O’Brien seeing how he found humour in / dealt with his parents deaths so close together. Inspiring and deliciously, subversively funny! Thanks for sharing.

New comment by RichardHesketh in "[dead]"

RichardHesketh — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 07:38:34 +0000

Should probably link here: https://0xmm.in/posts/ntfy/

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Late-Night Killing of a Teenage Girl on a Bicycle Unnerves Amsterdam"

RichardHesketh — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 22:10:31 +0000

Congratulations - that is both glib and facile. Bad shit like this happens even between citizens of the same nation. This is not a borders and migration issue. Characterising it as such has deeply harmful consequences which we’ve been seeing on a global scale in recent years, with alarming echoes of the run up to WW1 and WW2. If we fail to learn the lessons of history…

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Places to Intervene in a System"

RichardHesketh — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 10:09:02 +0000

Yup. Search ‘case studies’ on that website. Donella Meadows was an environmental scientist and an eminent systems thinker long before the term became mainstream.

New comment by RichardHesketh in "He Laughed Along with Larry David and Borat. Until He Didn't"

RichardHesketh — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 19:27:00 +0000

https://archive.ph/hr5NN/share

New comment by RichardHesketh in "Show HN: Screenless SMS for Kids"

RichardHesketh — Sun, 25 May 2025 19:28:37 +0000

Awesome project, and a great idea to build a powerful capability using mostly off-the-shelf tools! Do you have a write-up somewhere, please? Even if only a few notes or code snippets, architecture outline, or what-have-you. My son is eight, but I’d love a way to keep him away from mobile devices but in touch with family members and friends.