Hacker News: cogogo

New comment by cogogo in "How Do You Take a Picture of a Black Hole?"

cogogo — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 12:01:23 +0000

I thought I was the only one. But there is a really good video linked at the bottom of the page that has the two images and a summary of the work to build them.

I also loved the analogies of reading the date of a coin in LA from NYC or seeing a tangerine on the moon. But they kept talking about how surprisingly small black holes are. I wanted that described in relative terms. Maybe I just did not read carefully enough but are they the size of a pinhead? The solar system? I know I can look this up.

New comment by cogogo in "No Need for Retirement When Utopia Is Around the Corner"

cogogo — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 13:51:05 +0000

Yes, it is terrible.

New comment by cogogo in "No Need for Retirement When Utopia Is Around the Corner"

cogogo — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 13:34:36 +0000

I am not so optimistic. 80 years is one life-span. It feels absurdly short and quite possibly attributable to luck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_close_calls

New comment by cogogo in "No Need for Retirement When Utopia Is Around the Corner"

cogogo — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 13:30:38 +0000

No retirement benefits. The next evolution of unlimited vacation. No really, it benefits the employee.

New comment by cogogo in "GitLab critical patch release"

cogogo — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 11:06:40 +0000

The downvoters must have missed Airplane!! For a second I thought about how to escape the ! to make it clear it’s part of the title… but I haven’t had any coffee.

New comment by cogogo in "GitLab critical patch release"

cogogo — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 22:53:05 +0000

I picked the wrong week to stop drinking coffee.

New comment by cogogo in "Whatever Happened to Fire Escapes"

cogogo — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:50:37 +0000

A huge portion of the US is covered by purely volunteer fire departments. Communities pay for equipment and training and that is it. Response times are slow but it is really the only viable option in rural areas.

New comment by cogogo in "The fire retardant in the seafood chain"

cogogo — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 20:28:58 +0000

Regularly happens to the same pile of mulch at a lot in Boston. No idea why they have been allowed to keep storing it.

https://www.universalhub.com/2026/mulch-fire-brings-all-jake...

New comment by cogogo in "The 8-mile hole in a Hawaii national park that no one can explain"

cogogo — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 18:27:20 +0000

You suggested the journalist use drone footage as part of their piece. They may have been aware of the restriction. Either way they would likely end up with at least a fine if and when the NPS caught wind of it.

“Who is going to stop you?” is such a great exercise in entitlement. One of the worst and most visible bits of American culture in my opinion (Who knows if you are American, I am. And the National Parks are a beloved and shared resource). Toxic individualism.

New comment by cogogo in "The 8-mile hole in a Hawaii national park that no one can explain"

cogogo — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 23:14:35 +0000

It is not permitted to fly drones on National Park land without permission - which to my knowledge they rarely give.

New comment by cogogo in "New Withings Users Must Pay $99/Year for Apple Health Syncing"

cogogo — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 21:50:26 +0000

If you do not have a garage and live in a cold weather climate they are fantastic. Heat up almost instantly when the engine might not warm up entirely to get the heat going for a good 15 min.

New comment by cogogo in "Apple HomeView"

cogogo — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:50:38 +0000

I am assuming but as far as I am aware that would be some separate app/service. You need a number that is locally registered so it routes to the correct dispatcher.

New comment by cogogo in "Apple HomeView"

cogogo — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:19:09 +0000

I kind of like the idea of this for a home phone replacement and a good way for our family to communicate as we get more comfortable with leaving the kids home alone. But it won’t be able to call 911 and I do not trust it.

Makes me even happier I just installed a red wall phone with an armored cable and signed up for ooma’s cheap plan. 911 access and we have no need for whitelisting. Always have outgoing and default to ringer off. Can turn it on (satisfying slider) if we are leaving the kids for a bit and they can have fun hanging up on any spam while we are out.

New comment by cogogo in "The art of defusing a second world war bomb"

cogogo — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:11:54 +0000

About 10 years ago somebody found an unexploded shell/cannon ball from the war of 1812 in Boston Harbor while poking around during an astronomically low tide. The bomb squad detonated it on the beach in my neighborhood (most likely a training exercise hard to know how dangerous it was). Still upset I missed it. At the time I lived in an apartment where I could see the detonation site.

New comment by cogogo in "Giving friends custom text buzzes based on Morse code"

cogogo — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 18:29:26 +0000

It’s a joke. Parent mentioned wife and girlfriend.

New comment by cogogo in "Giving friends custom text buzzes based on Morse code"

cogogo — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 16:57:18 +0000

My wife’s vibration pattern for a call is SOS in morse. No side-piece for me though. Very happily married, just know if she calls it is important.

New comment by cogogo in "The American Religion of Self-Storage Facilities"

cogogo — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:09:07 +0000

The other perk is they charge “mandatory” insurance fees. It is easy to opt out if you prove you have insurance but at least the facility I am using makes it seem like it is hard.

New comment by cogogo in "Artificial beaver dams saw juvenile coho salmon survival rates go from 8% to 60%"

cogogo — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 20:42:29 +0000

Busy beaver problem?

New comment by cogogo in "U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications"

cogogo — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 10:58:39 +0000

It is pretty much the same. You are legally required to have the card with you at all times. The practical issues you refer to are non-trivial. Inability to travel is a non-starter for many. Think ICE will be friendly? They repeatedly show they do not care about legal technicalities.

New comment by cogogo in "U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications"

cogogo — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 10:54:12 +0000

I am referring to renewals. Not initial applications.