Hacker News: SuddsMcDuff

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

SuddsMcDuff — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 07:07:55 +0000

I'd be more worried if words from that era were fully aligned with present day notions of morality. Wouldn't that indicate a certain stagnation & lack of progress?

Let us hope, 100 years from now, there will be people who look back unkindly on us.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "EU pushes for 'right to disconnect' from work at home"

SuddsMcDuff — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 16:56:11 +0000

Heaven forbid you should have to compete with someone who's prepared to work harder than you!

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Show HN: Building a project based on universal income concept"

SuddsMcDuff — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 13:53:19 +0000

Mystery and intrigue can be a good way to build hype. On this occasion I felt less intrigued, and more bewildered.

To play the intrigue angle, you should be very concise with the text. Three or four bullet points, a relase date, and a mailing list form. Nothing more.

Your site has quite a lot of text, but all of it dances around the core point without directly addressing it. If anything it made me slightly angry. I invested time reading all of your site, and really I had nothing to show at the end of it.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "UK government’s plans to regulate the internet are a threat to free speech"

SuddsMcDuff — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 14:38:59 +0000

Saying that they're arguing for freedom from social consequences is a very black and white way of looking at things. They're not arguing for that at all. But they are pushing back, necessarily I would say, against those who seek to shut down and marginalize people who hold opinions they deem to be unworthy.

Without any resistance whatsoever from groups like the FSU, the social consequences you mention will tend to spiral into something quite ugly.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "UK government’s plans to regulate the internet are a threat to free speech"

SuddsMcDuff — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 16:07:04 +0000

They're picking the side of those who are no-platformed. That's the point.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Pulsar – an open-source distributed pub-sub messaging platform"

SuddsMcDuff — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 12:15:50 +0000

See also: competing consumers pattern https://www.enterpriseintegrationpatterns.com/patterns/messa...

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?"

SuddsMcDuff — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 22:01:54 +0000

I think panic, chaos and social disruption are a more imminent threat than the virus itself at this point. As such I've stocked up on basic household food and supplies so that I don't have to go out into that chaos if it hits. The last thing I want is to be stuck in a huge queue at a petrol (gas) station, or getting punched out over the last turnip at the supermarket. Being prepared means I am one less person contributing to that chaos, one less person driving like a maniac on the roads desperately looking for toilet paper.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?"

SuddsMcDuff — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 21:50:16 +0000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_bias

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?"

SuddsMcDuff — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 21:49:28 +0000

On the other hand, if you delay contracting the virus for as long as possible, you leave more time for more effective treatments to be made available.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Intro To Pattern Matching – Covers C# 9"

SuddsMcDuff — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 16:48:33 +0000

C# can only go so far down the road towards F# without introducing currying and partial application. I can't see those ever being introduced into C#.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming"

SuddsMcDuff — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 17:47:48 +0000

Do you remember what the factory default was? I expect most people who aren't au fait with pickup patterns will either leave it on the factory default or put it in stereo (which looks very similar to omni).

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming"

SuddsMcDuff — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 12:42:41 +0000

I think the section on mics could be enhanced by explaining a little about the different pickup patterns available. A cardioid pickup is a lot more appropriate for these uses than an omni pickup would be. The author mentions the Yeti mic picking up a lot of background noise - I'd bet that that mic has an omni pick up pattern. Some mics even have a small switch which allows you to cycle between different pickup patterns.

EDIT: While I've always known them as pickup patterns, I've just noticed that Wikipedia refers to them as polar patterns. I assume this is a more universal term.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?"

SuddsMcDuff — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 18:10:36 +0000

This is why I have a cold shower every morning.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "BMW Connected Apps Protocol"

SuddsMcDuff — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 10:38:59 +0000

It's not just German manufacturers. I drive a Lexus and I can relate to a lot of the things being said here. The car is wonderful but the software feels like an afterthought.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Finland's Prime Minister Suggests a Four-Day Workweek and Six-Hour Days"

SuddsMcDuff — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 00:44:04 +0000

It's true there are innumerable variables at play here. The nature of the work is a huge factor as well. It's probably futile to try and come up with a general rule of thumb. It could be that people already have too much spare time on their hands which is not being filled with meaningful endeavour. It's also undoubtedly the case that many peoples working hours are not filled with meaningful endeavour either.

Thank you for telling me the purpose of life in a very matter-of-fact way. I think you would find a lot of people who would find your assertion extremely debatable. To be frank, I pity anyone who thinks the purpose of their life is to have fun.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Finland's Prime Minister Suggests a Four-Day Workweek and Six-Hour Days"

SuddsMcDuff — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 00:31:39 +0000

That's true of course, and I'm not saying that more work is necessarily more desirable any more than I'm saying that less work is necessarily desirable. My point is that the premise of the article assumes that spending less time at work is automatically better, and I would challenge that premise.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Finland's Prime Minister Suggests a Four-Day Workweek and Six-Hour Days"

SuddsMcDuff — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 00:27:04 +0000

It's not a religious argument by any means. It's a common idiom which means that "if people don't have anything to do with their time, they are more likely to get involved in trouble and criminality." (see https://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/devil+finds+wo...).

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Finland's Prime Minister Suggests a Four-Day Workweek and Six-Hour Days"

SuddsMcDuff — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 23:09:36 +0000

I don't think it should be assumed that less time at work is necessarily preferable. What will people do with all their additional spare time? Sure, they might spend their days learning art, history, philosophy. They might take up writing poetry, painting or learning the piano. Or, they might vegetate in front of the TV, take up drinking as a hobby, argue with strangers online and slowly decay into existential nihilism.

The devil will make work for idle hands.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Audio Processing for Dummies"

SuddsMcDuff — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 01:13:16 +0000

I always thought the primary reason for that was that stereo low frequencies, when recorded onto vinyl records, hugely increase the risk of the needle 'jumping' out of the groove and skipping into another one.

New comment by SuddsMcDuff in "Go Turns 10"

SuddsMcDuff — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 22:31:00 +0000

True enough, one could name any year between 1979 and 1985 as the "invention" year of C++, and the claim would have some merit. http://www.cplusplus.com/info/history/