Hacker News: bittercynic

New comment by bittercynic in "Got kicked out of uni and had the cops called for a social media website I made"

bittercynic — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 21:57:38 +0000

I don't think "this is how facebook started" is much of a defense.

New comment by bittercynic in "US private credit defaults hit record 9.2% in 2025, Fitch says"

bittercynic — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 13:31:54 +0000

You may not be able to properly let dollar cost averaging do its thing if you rely on your job to invest, since there's a high correlation between periods where people are out of work and periods where asset prices are lower.

New comment by bittercynic in "Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans"

bittercynic — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:03:36 +0000

I like to read human comments because I'd like to know what my fellow humans think. I'd prefer not to read low-effort, throw away comments, but other than that I want to know what people think about different topics.

New comment by bittercynic in "Tony Hoare has died"

bittercynic — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 04:26:25 +0000

Why not the both?

Some seem to think that math is somehow above plumbing, but modern society couldn't exist without both, and I'd argue that modern plumbing is more critical to our health and well being than modern math.

New comment by bittercynic in "Payphone Go"

bittercynic — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:58:36 +0000

I'm absolutely going hunting for some nearby payphones this weekend!

In the recording on this one [1] the caller states that the payphone is on the caltrain station platform, but on the map it's about 1000 feet from there. Searching the address on google maps correctly shows it at the station, though.

eta: found it on street view! [2]

[1] https://walzr.com/payphone-go/?phone=398

[2] https://maps.app.goo.gl/4pzjemwUqHYgnLHs8

New comment by bittercynic in "Chrome extensions spying on users' browsing data"

bittercynic — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 15:14:58 +0000

It is, but the particular ways Google will harm you are very different from how small/medium criminals will harm you.

New comment by bittercynic in "The US is flirting with its first-ever population decline"

bittercynic — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:23:19 +0000

Don't be sorry, I got what I wanted, and am content with my life. We have to miss out one one thing to enjoy something else.

New comment by bittercynic in "The US is flirting with its first-ever population decline"

bittercynic — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:36:50 +0000

As a man who's never wanted kids, and is now getting to an age where it probably wouldn't be a good idea, those weren't really the big factors for me.

Having a kid is just an unfathomably large commitment. If you bring a kid into the world, I believe you're responsible for creating the conditions where that kid can grow into a healthy, well adjusted adult, and that's seemed like an increasingly impossible commitment for the past few decades.

New comment by bittercynic in "Murder-suicide case shows OpenAI selectively hides data after users die"

bittercynic — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 22:12:15 +0000

This has to be one of the major goals. Think how effective it could be for political advertising for people who treat it like a friend.

New comment by bittercynic in "How getting richer made teenagers less free"

bittercynic — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 14:17:31 +0000

The 30 year fixed mortgage is an insanely good deal, and I say this as a guy who has one. The monthly cost can only stay the same (and decline due to inflation) or decline if interest rates fall and you refinance or adjust the loan. If interest rates go up, you're completely protected.

A mortgage may be more than rent for a similar place now, but I suspect it won't be that many years before the lines cross.

New comment by bittercynic in "Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices"

bittercynic — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 21:33:36 +0000

The shoppers at costco vary drastically by location. If you have more than one warehouse reasonably close by, it may be worth your while to try them all.

New comment by bittercynic in "Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices"

bittercynic — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 05:05:23 +0000

Dollar General and their ilk are behemoths compared to the shops that might have served these areas before they rolled in. It's possible they're the only game in town because they engaged in dumping or other dirty/illegal tactics to drive out established businesses.

I'm not an expert on the topic, but I don't think it's a reach to think that they might have engineered this situation.

New comment by bittercynic in "All praise to the lunch ladies"

bittercynic — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 23:21:51 +0000

Absolutely. I work at a school where the food is OK, but just, and the school across the street has very good food. One of our students used to sneak into the other school in the mornings for breakfast. He made the mistake of bringing the food back to our school where people asked questions, and pretty soon the other school knew he wasn't their student and banned him.

Something seems really off to me about different kids within a couple hundred feet of each other getting drastically different quality of food.

New comment by bittercynic in "Life After Work"

bittercynic — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 16:16:22 +0000

There are some extra weird things going on, though. Many people are simultaneously getting poorer by economic/financial stability, and have less access to medical care and safe housing, but at the same time enjoying more luxurious vehicles than ever and ordering door dash multiple times per week.

I'm not criticizing people in that situation. Many people close to me wouldn't have a chance no matter how thrifty they were.

This is not some "revealed preferences" situation either. Something very harmful is happening, and it's not easy to see exactly what it is or why it's happening, though I suspect increasing wealth inequality plays a big part.

New comment by bittercynic in "Boring is what we wanted"

bittercynic — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 22:27:32 +0000

I have an old card printer that I only use occasionally, and firing up a windows 7 virtual machine is (was?) the most convenient way to do it. I think it's not so uncommon to have old devices around that don't work with newer versions of windows.

New comment by bittercynic in "Boring is what we wanted"

bittercynic — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 22:12:13 +0000

They say no downside, but if you need to run windows 7 in virtualbox, you still need an intel mac (or other non-arm computer).

New comment by bittercynic in "Life next to 199 data centres"

bittercynic — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 20:14:42 +0000

The direction of wind and shape of terrain has a huge effect on noise, too. If a noise source is down wind of you the gradient in wind speed wrt elevation effectively makes the noise curve upwards, and even very loud things can sometimes be inaudible at ground level.

New comment by bittercynic in "Amazon strategised about keeping water use secret"

bittercynic — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:28:25 +0000

I appreciate that my view isn't the only consideration for that kind of decision, but when a new building goes up much larger than anything else in the area, and affects the skyline for thousands of people, I think that should be one of the considerations.

New comment by bittercynic in "Amazon strategised about keeping water use secret"

bittercynic — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 16:47:26 +0000

One went in 1/4 mile from my home a couple years ago. I ignored the notices of development because I thought it was far enough that it wouldn't affect me, but it blocks the view of the mountains that I used to enjoy, and sometimes I can hear noise from its cooling system (I assume).

I wish I'd known what was coming, and gone to the meetings to oppose it.

New comment by bittercynic in "Replacement.ai"

bittercynic — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 17:23:18 +0000

>The "government" is just the set of people who hold power over others.

Often, yes, but in a more functional society it would be the mechanism we collectively use to prevent a few people from amassing excessive wealth and power.