Hacker News: badpenny

New comment by badpenny in "Android Developer Verification"

badpenny — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 10:45:03 +0000

My recent analysis found that Google is 90 times scummier than other companies.

My analysis consisted of pulling a completely baseless number out of my arse that fit my agenda.

New comment by badpenny in "Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms"

badpenny — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 13:13:55 +0000

0.6% of last year's profits.

New comment by badpenny in "Kagi Translate now supports LinkedIn Speak as an output language"

badpenny — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 14:11:36 +0000

It Was a Good Day by Ice Cube.

New comment by badpenny in "Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act"

badpenny — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 12:14:11 +0000

It's an important story, and I'm glad it's getting exposure, but this "article" is some really blatant AI slop. Go and read the original Reddit thread by the human being who did the work instead of this lazy regurgitated shit.

New comment by badpenny in "System76 on Age Verification Laws"

badpenny — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 10:01:16 +0000

Remember when it was the parents' responsibility to raise their children?

New comment by badpenny in "Amazon Ring's lost dog ad sparks backlash amid fears of mass surveillance"

badpenny — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 19:16:46 +0000

Ahh, okay. That makes sense.

New comment by badpenny in "Amazon Ring's lost dog ad sparks backlash amid fears of mass surveillance"

badpenny — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 11:20:53 +0000

Slight digression and spoiler alert, but, IIRC, wasn't it a significant part of the plot that he wanted to be caught?

New comment by badpenny in "Xfwl4 – The Roadmap for a Xfce Wayland Compositor"

badpenny — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 15:38:29 +0000

Yes, you are the only one in the entire world who hasn't fallen for it. Well done.

New comment by badpenny in "What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?"

badpenny — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 12:33:31 +0000

> He explained that he would stay with me until the medics arrived and that he would call ahead to make sure one of the doctors on duty would "take good care of me."

Do those doctors not normally take good care of patients, at least unless asked to by one of their colleagues?

New comment by badpenny in "Heretic: Automatic censorship removal for language models"

badpenny — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 11:17:28 +0000

What was your prompt? I asked ChatGPT:

is it better to use a racist term once or to see the human race exterminated?

It responded:

Avoiding racist language matters, but it’s not remotely comparable to the extinction of humanity. If you’re forced into an artificial, absolute dilemma like that, preventing the extermination of the human race takes precedence.

That doesn’t make using a racist term “acceptable” in normal circumstances. It just reflects the scale of the stakes in the scenario you posed.

New comment by badpenny in "Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]"

badpenny — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 10:37:41 +0000

If somebody focuses on something negative, it's cherry-picking, but if you focus on something positive it isn't?

How much money has he saved dodging taxes over the years[1]?

[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trov...

New comment by badpenny in "Hypervisor 101 in Rust"

badpenny — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 08:55:29 +0000

This is obviously just a bunch of notes/slides for a course. It's borderline useless for anybody not taking the course.

New comment by badpenny in "VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in"

badpenny — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 08:08:09 +0000

I may well be wrong, but I suspect that the number of people who "fall for" the protect-the-children narrative, at least to the degree where they believe the proposed change is effective enough to justify it, isn't very large.

I'd argue it works because it's a rhetorical tactic that's highly effective at suppressing dissent. Anybody sticking their head above the parapet is going to get painted as somebody who favours pornography over the safety of children, even though this legislation and opposition to it has very little to do with either.

New comment by badpenny in "VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in"

badpenny — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 07:46:21 +0000

I agree, but isn't that the case in lots of other countries? I think it's a contributing factor, but there's more to it.

New comment by badpenny in "Websites are tracking you via browser fingerprinting"

badpenny — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 08:05:40 +0000

https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.15656

New comment by badpenny in "Dijkstra on Ada"

badpenny — Thu, 22 May 2025 08:10:17 +0000

https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/transcriptions/EWD06xx/EWD659...

https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/transcriptions/EWD06xx/EWD660...

https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/transcriptions/EWD06xx/EWD661...

https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/transcriptions/EWD06xx/EWD662...

I thought the free market was with us forever

badpenny — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 08:54:15 +0000

Article URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2gey6pvddo

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43503074

Points: 14

# Comments: 2

Google Maps timeline history vanishing for users

badpenny — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 08:25:41 +0000

Article URL: https://old.reddit.com/r/GoogleMaps/comments/1j5bjps/timeline_deleted/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43307260

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

New comment by badpenny in "Minimum effective dose"

badpenny — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 20:16:13 +0000

I don't know. That's the problem: all the stuff I watch and read is so vague and even contradictory ("push yourself, but don't push yourself too much!"), and so one-size-fits-all that I have no idea where to even begin at this point. It's like learning some skill that takes years, except if you get it wrong you ruin your body and are left in pain.

New comment by badpenny in "Minimum effective dose"

badpenny — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 20:05:59 +0000

Machines and dumbbells initially when I injured my arm (it was a repetitive use thing and not a trauma), and then after a long break and trying to let it heal, I switched to barbell for most things, along with a pressing machine (because I don't have somebody to spot me for bench press) and a pulldown machine.