Hacker News: brewdad

New comment by brewdad in "Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)"

brewdad — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:34:32 +0000

But a ritual sounds like something they practiced in the Middle Ages. Placebo sounds modern and scientific.

New comment by brewdad in "Show HN: Sigwire – a live TUI switchboard for every signal on your Linux box"

brewdad — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 23:47:33 +0000

True. But it is still more likely than not that this project has seen limited testing on only a handful of machines.

I won't begrudge anyone who feels like it's too big a risk to engage with just yet.

New comment by brewdad in "DOGE is done. What happened to its records?"

brewdad — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:25:12 +0000

The socialized segment of US healthcare is almost entirely the over 65 population and those too disabled to work any job. Obviously, the spending on those groups will be higher than the entire population as a whole.

That it is does nothing to prove inefficiency.

New comment by brewdad in "US Food and Drug Administration rejects petition to set PFAS limits in food"

brewdad — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:29:04 +0000

That article was written in 2000. You might as well be quoting the Articles of Confederation.

New comment by brewdad in "Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera"

brewdad — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:05:58 +0000

You really shouldn’t make speeding up to make the light a habit but, I get it, there are certainly times where that’s the safer option than slamming on the brakes.

Fun when your car makes you do both at once.

New comment by brewdad in "Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again"

brewdad — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 19:54:32 +0000

Most countries will grant PR without requiring a language proficiency. Assuming your immigration status is regular and you are a contributing member of society.

Citizenship? Absolutely, you must speak the language. Residency? Not nearly as common.

New comment by brewdad in "Mapping homes you can buy from the US government for <$100k"

brewdad — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 19:46:19 +0000

Then you watch Downton Abbey and learn that upkeep on a hundreds years old castle on that estate will bury you.

New comment by brewdad in "Mapping homes you can buy from the US government for <$100k"

brewdad — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 19:40:25 +0000

Neither of which tends to lend itself to an interesting place to live.

New comment by brewdad in "30-year sentence for transporting zines is a five-alarm fire for free speech"

brewdad — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:11:23 +0000

They still had zero involvement until after the fact. 30 years is excessive.

New comment by brewdad in "Hey, n00b, we didn't hire you to complete tasks"

brewdad — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 02:57:04 +0000

Government work tends to also have structured pay scales that rise based on time worked and less so or not at all on performance. If the end result of working your tail off or doing the bare minimum is the same x% cost of living “raise”, no rational employee would put in any effort.

It tends to be the reason so many Americans are anti-union. They do a lot of good for the average worker but they also carry along a lot of dead weight that can’t easily be shed.

New comment by brewdad in "Kirkland Roundabouts"

brewdad — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 23:52:10 +0000

Stopping at yield signs when there is no other traffic is the opposite of safe.

New comment by brewdad in "Kirkland Roundabouts"

brewdad — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 21:30:24 +0000

There is a roundabout near me that gets quite low traffic volume. I probably only have to even slow below 20mph about 10% of the time. The bigger risk is that the car in front of me is going to come to a complete stop at the yield sign despite the fact that you can see any potential conflicts at least 100 feet before the roundabout.

American drivers don’t know that a yield doesn’t require a stop and can’t think more than one or two seconds ahead of any possible conflict in traffic.

New comment by brewdad in "Want your images back? That'll be $5"

brewdad — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 21:09:15 +0000

“Up to” is doing a lot of work here. I’d imagine few companies ever pay anything close to the maximum possible fine.

Just like my state law says simple littering can be punished by up to a $6500 fine. Most people get a warning or maybe pay a fine of under $100.

New comment by brewdad in "Show HN: An 8-bit live gamecast for baseball"

brewdad — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 20:49:11 +0000

Perfect to have on while you are on a call or otherwise can’t have audio playing. If the audio isn’t a distraction, I’d rather put the radio on or a tv game with the audio lower than I’d have it if I were actively watching.

But I love this idea and it brings back memories of my first baseball video games. Someone else mentioned Earl Weaver. My friends and I spent an entire summer playing almost nothing else.

New comment by brewdad in "Vance: Iran can have access to $300B reconstruction fund"

brewdad — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 05:50:06 +0000

Congress will find a way to make sure this money is paid out in 2029. Then they will blame Democrats for the hole in the budget and our stupid electorate will believe them.

It’s been this way for almost my entire life and I’ll be collecting SS soon.

New comment by brewdad in "Swiss voters reject proposal to cap Population at 10M"

brewdad — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 21:37:27 +0000

Yes. Yes I can and do blame them.

New comment by brewdad in "A 'cold blob' in the Atlantic could be a sign of AMOC shutdown"

brewdad — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 20:24:08 +0000

That chart conveniently ends at the end of the Biden Administration.

New comment by brewdad in "Travel locally, where you are"

brewdad — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 01:48:47 +0000

I grew up in Michigan farm country and have lived in the desert SW and Pacific NW as an adult.

The outdoor attractions out west are world class compared to the attractions closer to where I grew up. Still, there are plenty of places I enjoy when I get back to Michigan to see family and friends. Even the Plains states have some great outdoorsy places, you might have to work a little harder to find them.

New comment by brewdad in "Travel locally, where you are"

brewdad — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 01:38:59 +0000

I randomly picked Jamestown ND as an overnight stop on a recent trip. The next morning we went into the downtown and were pleasantly surprised. Even found a Seattle themed coffee shop with gluten-free options for my travel companion.

Completely unexpected.

New comment by brewdad in "A jacket that harvests drinking water from the air"

brewdad — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 01:35:45 +0000

I do wonder about the tradeoff between excess perspiration due to wearing heavier materials versus the ability to collect water, especially on the days where replenishing fluids is most crucial.