Hacker News: abruzzi

New comment by abruzzi in "Wired headphone sales are exploding"

abruzzi — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 13:33:56 +0000

I just hate the move to wireless for things that don't need to be wireless and having to constantly keep things charged. I got so frustrated with my $100 magic mouse at work a few weeks ago that its now in a drawer and I'm using a $10 POS Dell mouse. My wireless mac keyboard just has the wire permanantly plugged in. And wireless headphones? I've never gone down that road, and never will. I bought a handfull of the $10 Apple 3.5mm to lightning adapter because I lose them frequently, and when I'm eventually forced to upgrade to a phone with USB-C, I'll buy a handfull of the 3.5mm to USB-C adapters.

New comment by abruzzi in "The MacBook Neo"

abruzzi — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:19:15 +0000

I think the real point is a) change is difficult, and b) we all have different needs.

If you asked me to use a Windows machine I would be frustrated from day one and would want my Mac back, but everyone else where I work (except one) uses Windoes every day, and I don't know how they do it.

As far as needs, I haven't been a serious dev for a long time (ask my employees who won't let me near any code), so containerization is a non issue I could care less about for myself, but (for personal use) there are apps on Mac that work for me that don't run on Windows, and definitely don't run on Linux.

There are probably reasonably "objective" measures that can be used to rank OS's agains each other, like security or bugs, but even some measures that sound objective may be based on data but their value is subjective. The OS wars are old, and maybe I'm old too, but they're getting tired (unless we want to discuss how the AmigaOS was better than any other OS at the time but with one fatal flaw.)

New comment by abruzzi in "Judge orders government to begin refunding more than $130B in tariffs"

abruzzi — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:05:40 +0000

Thanks for that reference. I can only hope. Unfortunately, I just paid a UPS bill for the new tariffs.

New comment by abruzzi in "Judge orders government to begin refunding more than $130B in tariffs"

abruzzi — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 03:01:55 +0000

I'd curious specifically about FedEx (and other parcel shippers like UPS if they filed suit as well.) They operated as a broker--they collected many of those fees from individuals who bought something overseas and when it was shipped in, FedEx paid the tariff then then billed the receiver. If FedEx wins a refund will I get paid back for the fee I paid them? I don't expect I'll see the "brokerage fee" because the labor was expended whether the tariff was legal or not and is not part of the refund they'd get, but I'd appreciate if I see the $79 I paid them to cover the tariffs for some Arca Swiss camera parts. I honestly haven't heard anything specific on that matter.

New comment by abruzzi in "A Lament for Aperture"

abruzzi — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 05:54:23 +0000

I still keep all my digital photos and film scans, except those photos that originate from a Leaf or Phase One digital back, in Aperture. (the raw format of those digital backs pretty much requires Capture One.) The machine does not visit the internet because it needs 10.14 to run and there haven't been security updates in a while.

New comment by abruzzi in "You have reached the end of the internet (2006)"

abruzzi — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 05:25:20 +0000

The high point was the original useless pages (especially the uselessness of pi.) Its been downhill since then.

New comment by abruzzi in "Wreck of Shackleton's Endurance Tied to Culprit Other Than Ice"

abruzzi — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 13:50:54 +0000

https://archive.is/zVnTe

Wreck of Shackleton's Endurance Tied to Culprit Other Than Ice

abruzzi — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 13:50:20 +0000

Article URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/science/shackleton-endurance-antarctica.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45491440

Points: 2

# Comments: 1

New comment by abruzzi in "I only use Google Sheets"

abruzzi — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 15:22:51 +0000

> I see these complaints on HN a lot, and maybe it’s anecdotal, but I just don’t see this in the real world these days.

It happens all the time where I work. I don't want to be specific, but we have lots of examples here. In some cases people don't like the core software, so they work around it by tracking things on a spreadsheet. And sometimes that spreadsheet disappears (in one case, it was being kept on an XLSX on a USB thumb drive, but the thumb drive got corrupted and we lost some very important data.)

New comment by abruzzi in "I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers"

abruzzi — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 14:39:01 +0000

Its kind of funny--my GPS's LCD screen gets /more/ readable in sunlight.

New comment by abruzzi in "I kissed comment culture goodbye"

abruzzi — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 21:45:06 +0000

I participate in a number of 'old school' forums, never anything like reddit or discord. On those forums, while I have posted on some a fair amount, I actually find that most of the time I spend 15 minutes writing up a post, then delete it. There are a number of reasons I don't hit the submit button. Sometimes its because I see that a lot of other posters will disagree with it, and I don't think they will argue rationally and in good faith; but the most valuable posts I don't submit are when I get to a point in my argument when I realize that I'm wrong or that my opinion or point of view is badly supported or any numer of other things that force me to re-evaluate position. I've probably held that position for a while thinking I'm right, but actually formulating the argument forces me to confront my biases or mistakes.

New comment by abruzzi in "I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)"

abruzzi — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 04:26:03 +0000

i have a 13 mini. Its beat up, battery life is getting worse (even though I rarely use it) and both cameras are smashed (in my pocket during a motorcycle accident), but I look at all the options now and figure I'll just keep using this one. I'd rather be using an iPhone 4, but I need some stuff that that one didn't have to work with a glucose monitor.

New comment by abruzzi in "GLP-1s are breaking life insurance"

abruzzi — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 02:21:39 +0000

Mounjaro uses a single use fully autometed injector--clean your skin, remove the cap, press the injector against your skin, then press a button. A springloaded needle penetrates you skin and a spring loaded plunger injects the medicine. You have no way to pull backthe plunger to see if you are in a vein/artery.

I've never used Ozempic, but my understanding was it used a device similar to insulin pens--dial you dosage, attach needle, insert needle, press at the base of the pen to inject the selected amount. Also no way to pull back to see if you hit a vein/artery.

New comment by abruzzi in "Radium Music Editor"

abruzzi — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 18:59:35 +0000

never tried Radium, but in Apple's Logic Pro you can write Javascript to do stuff to the MIDI as it comes in or goes out. I've found it quite useful. I once wrote a small script (at the request of another Logic user) that turned a monosynth that only supported "low note priority" into "last note priority." I'd be interested to see what Radium can do.

New comment by abruzzi in "When flat rate movers won't answer your calls"

abruzzi — Sun, 04 May 2025 02:27:49 +0000

Just still be cautious and carry some insurance on your stuff. My brother broke up with his girlfriend, she moved back east. She packed all her stuff up in a PODS and shipped it home, and the pod dissappeared. PODS completely lost it.

New comment by abruzzi in "Pope Francis has died"

abruzzi — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 14:31:51 +0000

I was always taught that knowledge was "justified true belief."

New comment by abruzzi in "This 'College Protester' Isn't Real. It's an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops"

abruzzi — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 14:28:37 +0000

no they dont. At least not in the US.

New comment by abruzzi in "I bought a Mac"

abruzzi — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 03:45:39 +0000

I still have a MDD, but to be honest I don't use it that often. Korg made a PCI card called OasysPCI that was a synthesizer, DSP, and sound card. They never supported the Windows 2000 driver model or the move the OS X, so I needed the fastest desktop with PCI and OS 9.

New comment by abruzzi in "Volkswagen reintroducing physical controls for vital functions"

abruzzi — Sat, 08 Mar 2025 22:50:49 +0000

I don't know if they still do it, but I loved my old Saab 99 with the ignition switch in the console between the front seats. Intead of locking the steering, it locked the gearshift in reverse. It didn't make anything work better, but it made the end user experience feel different/special.

New comment by abruzzi in "The internet is killing old PC hardware [video]"

abruzzi — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 15:57:39 +0000

on Mac its super simple–option + (minus)–so I use it all the time.