Hacker News: SkyeCA

New comment by SkyeCA in "How I use LLMs to learn complex topics"

SkyeCA — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 20:07:45 +0000

> I still learn new stuff, but I’m afraid it won’t have any value in a year or so.

I have stuff to do now, the value of the knowledge in a year or two isn't important if it solves the issues I have today.

New comment by SkyeCA in "There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]"

SkyeCA — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:18:01 +0000

Perhaps not, but there's no functional difference to the millions (hundreds of millions even) of victims if you start hitting major population centres.

New comment by SkyeCA in "How to Spot AI Writing"

SkyeCA — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 14:46:06 +0000

Most people don't know how to use them and of those who do many choose not to use them, at least not casually. The em dash is a lost battle, it's one of the first red flags for AI writing online.

New comment by SkyeCA in "Half-Life ported to Mac OS 9"

SkyeCA — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:13:42 +0000

I'm hopeful it will. Just the other day I got an old webcam I own working on Windows 11 despite there being zero compatible drivers for it on any modern version of Windows.

I might be a developer, but I'm not one who knows how to develop drivers, so I gave Claude the spec sheets for several of the chips inside the camera, stated what my goal was, and after doing some debugging guided by the AI it just worked. So tada, an obsolete piece of hardware is now usable again.

Things like that are what have changed my mind on AI assisted development.

New comment by SkyeCA in "When A.I. is a member of the family"

SkyeCA — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:01:59 +0000

The multi billion dollar company selling ads is of far less concern to me than the gossiping of people in my community

New comment by SkyeCA in "UK set to announce social media ban for under-16s"

SkyeCA — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 15:31:40 +0000

Over time it's become harder and harder to deny how bad some aspects of the internet are for people, especially for young people. Whether it's right or wrong it's not shocking that people are more willing than ever to entertain the idea of internet restrictions.

New comment by SkyeCA in "Petition to Withdraw Canada's Bill C-22"

SkyeCA — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 05:11:25 +0000

As required by law.

New comment by SkyeCA in "I am against GenAI and everything it stands for"

SkyeCA — Sun, 31 May 2026 00:17:17 +0000

I generally try not to be outright dismissive of articles/blogposts, but I don't see a ton of value in reading about someone being against opening Pandora's Box after the box has been opened. It can never be shut and we are going to have to figure out how to live with the consequences of it.

I gave the article a chance regardless and it's nothing I've not read before.

New comment by SkyeCA in "A nicer voltmeter clock"

SkyeCA — Sun, 17 May 2026 06:17:11 +0000

I built one of these recent after Princess Auto had an amazing deal on surplus meters like these. They were under just over 1$ each and I bought a lot of them.

The one I built isn't as nice, but it's a really nice way to display the time and people are mildly fascinated by it when they see it.

New comment by SkyeCA in "Chevrolet Performance eCrate package (400v/200hp)"

SkyeCA — Thu, 07 May 2026 14:12:44 +0000

>This level of conversion isn't exactly trivial but it also isn't rocket surgery for the kind of person who pulls an engine out for rebuild on a classic car project.

If you saw the "quality" of electrical work otherwise very smart car enthusiasts do you might think otherwise.

New comment by SkyeCA in "Ted Turner has died"

SkyeCA — Wed, 06 May 2026 16:19:03 +0000

And most of the "bad going on" is completely out of your control. People could do with consuming a lot less national/international news.

New comment by SkyeCA in "Telus Uses AI to Alter Call-Agent Accents"

SkyeCA — Wed, 06 May 2026 12:18:55 +0000

Telus is completely out of touch. The issue hasn't been the accents of most agents, at least not for years at this point, it's the horrendous quality microphones the agents are given and the noisy conditions they're forced to work in.

It's hard to decipher anyone when you can hear 30 other people in the background and the audio is choppy.

New comment by SkyeCA in "Telus Uses AI to Alter Call-Agent Accents"

SkyeCA — Wed, 06 May 2026 12:13:37 +0000

I am from a Canadian maritime province. I have had Americans (particularly from the south) who at least claimed they couldn't easily understand me, despite me understanding them just fine.

New comment by SkyeCA in "GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay"

SkyeCA — Mon, 04 May 2026 13:17:28 +0000

> Now, dropping off items you're selling?

A place that you could take items and have them packed and shipped for you would remove an enormous hurdle for new eBay sellers. It's easily the most annoying part of the entire process.

Hell, maybe they could even list items for people? Like a massive digital pawn shop.

I could see this really working out for them if they do it right.

New comment by SkyeCA in "Maladaptive Frugality"

SkyeCA — Sat, 02 May 2026 14:33:35 +0000

Retiring early is the only hope I have for the future, it's my singular goal. I'm not forgetting it because without it I will spiral in a bad way.

I hate working. The sooner I don't have to anymore the better.

New comment by SkyeCA in "The More Young People Use AI, the More They Hate It"

SkyeCA — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:22:03 +0000

You can make AI/LLMs illegal, but other countries won't. There's a real risk as a country you fall behind economically if you ban what turns out to be the next big tech revolution.

New comment by SkyeCA in "Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930"

SkyeCA — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 05:38:08 +0000

I noticed this as well when reading the replies other people have gotten from it. The English it produces is extremely easy to read, has a good pacing, and has a really nice tone.

New comment by SkyeCA in "How to be anti-social – a guide to incoherent and isolating social experiences"

SkyeCA — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 16:38:42 +0000

These cliches are just annoying to read at this point, everyone has heard this stuff a million times and yet...millions still suffer. If I'm being honest it just comes across as yet another form of bullying when socially well adjusted people say stuff like this to people worse off than them.

New comment by SkyeCA in "How to be anti-social – a guide to incoherent and isolating social experiences"

SkyeCA — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:04:46 +0000

> and the tragedy is that every mistake they make compounds this

This is correct and I'm convinced there comes a point where there's no way out. The vast majority of social experiences in my life have been negative and it gets worse every time I have another, making it less likely the next will be positive.

Rather than continue to get hurt I have nearly 100% socially isolated myself, save for the internet. I work remote in a rural area and I only leave the house for essentials. There's no place for me socially and I've accepted that.

New comment by SkyeCA in "Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen"

SkyeCA — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:02:51 +0000

> Does ibuprofen work better?

In my experience it works far better at managing headaches/migraines.