Hacker News: clivestaples

New comment by clivestaples in "US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February"

clivestaples — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 15:52:47 +0000

I was surrounded by Canadians in Arizona (BC, Calgary) and Florida (Ontario) this winter. I could not tell a difference in the RV world (2021-present) which I thought was odd given all the boycotts I read about online.

New comment by clivestaples in "Thousands of U.S. farmers have Parkinson's. They blame a deadly pesticide"

clivestaples — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 15:43:16 +0000

I got shingles-ish rash after sitting in an outdoor jacuzzi in Salinas, California. Visited the urgent care and the Standard-trained doctor of immigrant farm laborers said it was related to the pesticides. Said he lost both parents in their 40s and suspects it was the indiscriminate spraying from the air in the 70/80/90s. Eye-opening and thought-provoking.

New comment by clivestaples in "Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes"

clivestaples — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 19:22:49 +0000

Likely I'm very naive. But here goes... It seems that taxpayers fund a lot of research. This research is very valuable and lucrative. It finds its way into the hands of those who know how to profit from it. The taxpayer is again screwed paying exorbitant prices for said breakthroughs. Insulin is one area of interest to me and it very much seems to be the case in the diabetes world.

This was how NAFTA was sold. Move car manufacturing to Mexico and they will enjoy better living wages while we get more affordable cars. Except that I don't recall cars produced in Mexico ever getting more affordable. I'm sure corporate profits were great. Should probably look into this someday and see if my perception is correct.

New comment by clivestaples in "Macron to open debate on extending French nuclear protection to European allies"

clivestaples — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 01:04:14 +0000

Realistically, does Ukraine have the manpower to sustain this tempo for years? If not, what countries should put boots on the ground?

New comment by clivestaples in "Macron to open debate on extending French nuclear protection to European allies"

clivestaples — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:59:04 +0000

War of attrition. I thought we'd be further along after three years of sanctions and weapons but I wonder if Ukraine has the manpower to keep it up. From what I understand, Ukraine is drafting men ages 25-60 which may signal they need boots on the ground soon.

New comment by clivestaples in "Macron to open debate on extending French nuclear protection to European allies"

clivestaples — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:34:16 +0000

Yeah, agree that's what is happening. My original question wasn't rhetorical in nature. I would really like to know what would secure victory without escalating it to involve American troops on the ground and/or potentially a nuclear exchange.

New comment by clivestaples in "Macron to open debate on extending French nuclear protection to European allies"

clivestaples — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:31:54 +0000

So by continuing to send more cash and weapons, it will eventually force Russia to retreat? I'm trying to understand what would secure victory.

New comment by clivestaples in "Macron to open debate on extending French nuclear protection to European allies"

clivestaples — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:29:56 +0000

That's exactly what I'm asking: what tools? The only thing I see is endless supply of money and ammo which means attrition. Russia will win in manpower but maybe not economically. I'm kindly asking to be educated with more than talking points we've all heard from politicians.

New comment by clivestaples in "Macron to open debate on extending French nuclear protection to European allies"

clivestaples — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:26:52 +0000

I don't need a lecture on Russia's character. What I was curious to learn from you, or anyone, what could be done differently to defeat them? How would Russia respond if we send more advanced weaponry? Does Ukraine have the men to fight?

I'm getting downvoted but honestly looking for answers.

New comment by clivestaples in "Macron to open debate on extending French nuclear protection to European allies"

clivestaples — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:22:23 +0000

We've been doing that. What more do you suggest we do?

New comment by clivestaples in "Macron to open debate on extending French nuclear protection to European allies"

clivestaples — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 20:55:55 +0000

The war has been going on for three years with no end in sight. What's the next move? What are your ideas to defeat Russia and take back the areas they've gained since 2014?

New comment by clivestaples in "Web apps built with Ruby on Rails"

clivestaples — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 06:28:25 +0000

Honest question: Where do you deploy? What do you use for queues? Database? It's impossible to beat React for component libraries but, lemme tell you, I've struggled to be productive with Next when compared to Rails.

New comment by clivestaples in "Web apps built with Ruby on Rails"

clivestaples — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 20:07:08 +0000

It's nonsense and worse: hype. I recently went through a bunch of Vercel apps and compared them to some of my favorite Rails/Django apps. The best performing Vercel apps were on par at best.

New comment by clivestaples in "Web apps built with Ruby on Rails"

clivestaples — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 18:35:43 +0000

Can you point us to your Vercel apps and what kind of traffic you're dealing with?

New comment by clivestaples in "React 19"

clivestaples — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 20:10:14 +0000

This is the sticking point for me. I get so many gains in Rails but I quickly sink into time-consuming component research/building. My eyes are always open for HTML/JS component libraries along the lines of react-aria.

New comment by clivestaples in "Wait Until 8th"

clivestaples — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 23:24:55 +0000

My wife and I adopted two severely abused and neglected children and held out until they were 14. But the thing that we quickly realized is that our children's online life was only as secure as their friends most permissive parent. It still boggles my mind how many elementary-aged children had unfettered access to the internet. I suspect a lot of them unwittingly traumatized themselves.

New comment by clivestaples in "What sank the Bayesian superyacht in Italy?"

clivestaples — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 23:16:29 +0000

I'm a full-time RVer and see this all the time with diesel trucks. The trucks get "deleted" and modded for more power and to disable the DEF system. Almost everyone I've known throughout the years begins having transmission trouble within months, especially after heavy load. A few swear by it. I've got a very expensive Cummins and I'm hellbent to leave it stock (and under warranty).

New comment by clivestaples in "Ruby on Rails continues to thrive"

clivestaples — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 16:24:15 +0000

Let me tell you how much time I spent with Claude and ChatGPT trying to get Next.js and Lucia with Postgres playing nicely. Never got it to work. Then I hit `rails new -d postgresql -j esbuild -c tailwind` and tried authentication-zero. Up and running in ~10 minutes.

It got me to thinking. Rails consistency and conventions are one of the biggest advantages for AI. While far from perfect, it seems the less code needed (Ruby/Rails) is a multiplier for AI.

New comment by clivestaples in "Merging Remix and React Router"

clivestaples — Thu, 16 May 2024 15:05:00 +0000

My guess is that Remix is not getting the traction they expect and want to leverage React Router's installed base. I often see Next.js in job opportunities but rarely see Remix. Ryan's announcement demo was good.

New comment by clivestaples in "HP Tries Desperately to Make 'Printer as a Subscription' a Thing"

clivestaples — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 17:24:12 +0000

They've been trying for a long time. I worked on Instant Ink back in 2013-14.