Hacker News: billfor

New comment by billfor in "Is The Economist Always Wrong?"

billfor — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 05:26:01 +0000

We do read the Economist in the US, and Lexington in particular in the US section. I use the US definition of right wing because I'm in the US and didn't want to confuse Europeans that have a different definition of what "right" is when I use it in a sentence. All I was doing is correcting (and providing evidence for) the reference that they are "quite centric". They are not anywhere near the center of issues consistently. If you want more evidence, Allsides also rate it left of center, https://www.allsides.com/news-source/economist-media-bias

I notice it because I've been reading it for 20+ years. In the last 10 years it has taken a notable turn to the left. Whatever your viewpoint, the "tone" and "lean" of the magazine has shifted in the last decade. It's still a good source of information and I do read it every week.

New comment by billfor in "Is The Economist Always Wrong?"

billfor — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 03:11:13 +0000

They are not "quite centric" politically, unless you are a liberal. Contrast the number of times the phrase "far-right" appears with the equivalent (far-left, progressive, radical left, etc..). They go out of their way to use negative adjectives describing right-wing (US definition) people or concepts, but not so much the left. The "Lexington" column is completely devoted to liberal (not classical liberal) ideas, and I would challenge anyone to note a right of center view (US definition) in that column over the last ten years. I've subscribed to the Economist on and off for twenty years and definitely noticed a change in bias when Zany took over.

New comment by billfor in "Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July"

billfor — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 17:54:30 +0000

Just as you don't need to be a vet to know the difference between a dog and a cat.

I own a dog and it's common sense that a dog is a reflection of the owner, and when you have a dog you know every other owner and dog in the neighborhood (and the ones that use fireworks have dogs that don't mind fireworks). If you don't enjoy fireworks then you tend not to introduce the dog to fireworks at a young age, and the dog will tend to be afraid of them. Look up "optimal age to train a dog".

New comment by billfor in "Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July"

billfor — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 05:21:08 +0000

Good thing we didn’t have too many of those people during the revolution or we would still be part of Great Britain.

New comment by billfor in "Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July"

billfor — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 05:13:46 +0000

Most dogs in my neighborhood are ok with them. My own dog loves them. I try to keep him inside only because I think it might be bad for his hearing if he gets too close. Beyond basic temperament I wonder if owner training is implicated, as more people become annoyed by fireworks they don’t expose the dog to them at a young age.

New comment by billfor in "Long Island's decommissioned nuclear power plant"

billfor — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 03:14:14 +0000

They should still build that bridge; it's funny to drive on 135 and just see the highway come to an end, but I'm not sure it would have survived even with the Long Island Sound link.

New comment by billfor in "Long Island's decommissioned nuclear power plant"

billfor — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 03:03:47 +0000

If you want to see the inside of another nuclear plant that New York decided to turn off, Radioactive Drew has a good tour of Indian Point https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJSH1_GH1HQ

New comment by billfor in "The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting"

billfor — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:04:38 +0000

Sad day when this is number one and highly upvoted. I don't know why they can't use AI to identify posters that leave more than 90% of political postings here, and nicely suggest that at least some of the content be technical. The political postings would be better if they contained at least some technical information, or just go ahead and change the name of the forum to something other than "hackers".

New comment by billfor in "Flock cameras track more than your license plate, and they're spreading fast"

billfor — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 01:07:55 +0000

I didn’t read his comment as saying it was a crime. Parent was commenting about feeling unsafe. People walking around stoned and trying to drink a soda bottle upside down does make some people feel unsafe because you don’t know what their next move is. Incidents like this have become more common in the last 10 years.

New comment by billfor in "Flock cameras track more than your license plate, and they're spreading fast"

billfor — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 15:31:33 +0000

I live in NYC and I don't think it is safe, so there's one person that disagrees with you. Part of the problem in NYC is when you commit a low-level crime the social-justice warriors let the person back out on the street without charging them. This is why when somebody kills somebody in NYC you often hear that the person had been arrested for various things twelve times earlier. Just covering up the "un-safeness" by saying "it's safe" or citing crime stats doesn't change what people can see with their own eyes.

New comment by billfor in "Underarm bowling incident of 1981"

billfor — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 16:24:54 +0000

I don't think there's a rule against rolling the ball to a batter; it would be called a ball. It would be similar to a wild pitch or an intentional walk (when you had to actually throw the 4 balls).

I Bought the Trump Phone [video]

billfor — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 03:01:37 +0000

Article URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1ytw85Npt8

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48639680

Points: 6

# Comments: 0

New comment by billfor in "CSSQuake"

billfor — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 01:37:37 +0000

We haven't had a toaster that makes better toast since 1997 (Sunbeam radiant control).

New comment by billfor in "15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test"

billfor — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 01:18:30 +0000

I always keep doxycyline around take a couple whenever I find a deer tick on me.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545493/table/rc1121.ap...

New comment by billfor in "How many of the 170k English words do you know?"

billfor — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 20:35:22 +0000

Yeah it is confusing me because in all cases the camera was hidden. I just think the definitions they give should be clearcut. There may be a case for saying that the way that word functions "in real life" is a bit different than the textbook definition, in some cases.

New comment by billfor in "How many of the 170k English words do you know?"

billfor — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 20:32:02 +0000

It marked this definition for “Candid” as incorrect. “Secretive and very guarded”

But Candid can certainly mean secretive, as in “Candid camera”.

New comment by billfor in "H.R. 6028 would fundamentally change the U.S. Copyright Office"

billfor — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 01:01:14 +0000

This is a one-sided article which does not discuss the opposing view, or the reason why they thought congress should appoint. Ironically, if this became law then it might have prevented Trump from removing the librarian as he attempted in 2025 (still pending in the supreme court). It also includes a term limit of 10 years.

https://www.stoneslaw.net/legislative-branch-agencies-clarif...

New comment by billfor in "Albania Is Not for Sale: Kushner's $4B Resort Triggers'Flamingo Revolution'"

billfor — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:32:21 +0000

The article says: "If it was not Jared, they would not give a shit about what is happening in Albania," Rama said."

New comment by billfor in "A 10 year old Xeon is all you need"

billfor — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 19:58:07 +0000

It might just shift who is buying memory, from large corporations to billions of individuals.

New comment by billfor in "What we lost when we stopped letting kids leave the front yard"

billfor — Mon, 25 May 2026 15:14:21 +0000

History Channel has a good series about what gen X and baby boomers grew up with: https://www.history.com/shows/hazardous-history-with-henry-w...

In general there is excessive alarmism, and the internet makes it possible.