Hacker News: abullinan

New comment by abullinan in "Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android"

abullinan — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 03:28:52 +0000

That’s exactly my point. You want it done the way you want it, and complain you want more. Seriously, the entitlement. It’s like this because you chose this path. DOn’t use the phone and they’ll change course. But you whine and whine and use it anyway. It’s your fault.

New comment by abullinan in "Hundreds lose water source in Colorado's poorest county with no notice"

abullinan — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 16:01:07 +0000

If you want to LARP as a pioneer maybe do some research about their mortality rates.

But cynicism aside, this is just the beginning. This will scale to a lot of the US. Even folks in the burbs.

New comment by abullinan in "Is 4chan the perfect Pirate Bay poster child to justify wider UK site-blocking?"

abullinan — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 04:37:24 +0000

Ah yes, online petitions: doing absolutely nothing for 30 years.

New comment by abullinan in "U.S. government takes 10% stake in Intel"

abullinan — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 15:04:19 +0000

It is not socialism. Socialism is when the workers control the means of production. Not a fat windbag mobster president and his thugs.

New comment by abullinan in "The ROI of Exercise"

abullinan — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 14:56:55 +0000

Some people just like to complain? Or at least make it clear they are working out to everyone around them? Or they are working out too hard for their fitness level? Lots of reasons.

New comment by abullinan in "The warning signs the AI bubble is about to burst"

abullinan — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 17:00:01 +0000

The stock market has been a bubble since the 90’s but the bursts have been minimal because the elite class uses the stock market to extract wealth from normal people. Once they find something new (enshittification) they will suck all the value out of the market and leave its husk to peasants and their meager 401ks (if they even have that). I say this because there are so many millionaires in the US, and we can’t have too many people with extra wealth or it ruins things for the elite. The 0.01% must extract every penny from the 10%, too. It used to be every millionaire felt entitled to be a billionaire, but now centibillionaires feel entitled to be trillionaires and who do you think that money is stolen from?

New comment by abullinan in "Epson MX-80 Fonts"

abullinan — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 05:50:28 +0000

I had a line of freshman out my dorm room door in college because I was one of three kids with a PC in my dorm and the only one with a printer. My good ol epson mx80. I charged each procrastinator a beer for last minute print jobs because the computer center was a 20 minute walk from the dorms. I drank a lot that year. But the funny part is the vast majority of engineering and compsci students didn’t have a personal computer. Let that sink in.

New comment by abullinan in "AWS CEO says using AI to replace junior staff is 'Dumbest thing I've ever heard'"

abullinan — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 05:43:24 +0000

Junior engineers see better results than senior engineers for obvious reasons.

New comment by abullinan in "How does the US use water?"

abullinan — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 21:59:23 +0000

I live in the northwest US. My water bill is 110%-120% of my electric bill.

New comment by abullinan in "AWS in 2025: Stuff you think you know that's now wrong"

abullinan — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 01:54:35 +0000

This article was a relief. I’m always a tiny bit worried Amazon will change some thing drastically and I’ll have to migrate. I’ve had an ec2 instance running since 2013. It requires effectively zero maintenance. So I am glad there were no surprises in this article. Thanks OP.

New comment by abullinan in "Vibe coding creates a bus factor of zero"

abullinan — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 01:51:03 +0000

I think it is negative: it actually drains knowledge. It is an anti knowledge field because experts won’t be hired if they can be vibed. This sucks all the brains out of the room. Hence less than zero.

New comment by abullinan in "LinkedIn is the fakest platform of them all"

abullinan — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 13:38:29 +0000

Agreed. I can see how people who approach it like social media find it adversarial. But I think that is on them. If you don’t look at the feed, it’s a great Rolodex like you said. If you do look at the feed, then you’re just hooked on social media which isn’t the platforms problem.

I just no longer like my personal info being online anymore.

New comment by abullinan in "UK drops demand for backdoor into Apple encryption"

abullinan — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 13:30:56 +0000

Some people always assume everything is about their country.

New comment by abullinan in "AI is predominantly replacing outsourced, offshore workers"

abullinan — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 16:04:01 +0000

I have hired “outsourced, offshore workers”. Anyone who has similar experience knows the challenges of finding quality talent. Generally, you don’t know what you’re going to get until you’ve already written the first check. Sometimes it is good quality, but lots of the time it is “acceptable” quality or poor quality that needs cleaning (or re-hiring), and 5% of the time it is absolute garbage. Since the costs are typically 1/10th to 1/20th that of US engineer, you can afford to make a few mistakes. However, I can see a future where I can hire local (US) and outsource to AI with oversight within the same budget.

New comment by abullinan in "IQ tests results for AI"

abullinan — Sun, 17 Aug 2025 19:07:24 +0000

Mensa really needs to be left out of these discussions. It’s not scientific, it is just a money grab for people who need intellectual validation. You can be admitted with a top 10% SAT score and no in-person testing at all. The in-person testing is in three parts, one part is a memory test, the second part is a Mensa test, the third part is the Weschler test. Source: I joined in 1995 because I needed intellectual validation. :)

New comment by abullinan in "White House loyalty rating for companies"

abullinan — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:20:41 +0000

It was literally less than 48 hours where the president went from fully negative to fully positive on the intel ceo. I don’t think the ring is all the ceo kissed. That’s the president’s plan for every ceo.

New comment by abullinan in "Brian Eno: The feeling that things are inevitably going to get worse (2009)"

abullinan — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:14:34 +0000

We are clearly seeing this happen in real time. The fear started in right wing circles as civil rights expanded and now they are in control and acting like a “lifeboat in hostile waters” yet their policies aim to hurt everyone not just the minorities people like Steven Miller openly and hatefully despise.

New comment by abullinan in "Open hardware desktop 3D printing is dead?"

abullinan — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 13:57:10 +0000

Yes

New comment by abullinan in "A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)"

abullinan — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 04:43:34 +0000

Warren Buffet is a very carefully crafted “aww shucks” persona. He’s spent megabucks inventing it and keeping it safe. And I lose the argument because I cannot find the article from a decade ago that really dug into it. Either SEO has vanished it or he has it removed.

New comment by abullinan in "A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)"

abullinan — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 03:26:49 +0000

I disagree. Point to a centibillion+ company that isn’t fronted by a toxic asshole.