Hacker News: f6v

New comment by f6v in "Big data on the cheapest MacBook"

f6v — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:27:51 +0000

I never met someone using Apple laptops professionally who thought it was a status symbol. I only keep hearing this from non-Apple users.

New comment by f6v in "Big Data on the Cheapest MacBook"

f6v — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:25:39 +0000

Yeah, but then MacBook is going to run smoother and faster than the Windows one (and I don’t want to spend even one extra minute on dealing with drivers on Linux). There’re just objective benchmarks for that.

And MacBooks also have a better display and build quality. Like, touchpad is still hit or miss on any non-Apple device.

New comment by f6v in "Global warming has accelerated significantly"

f6v — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 10:55:53 +0000

Ok so the wiki graph shows that annual emissions from the rest of the world are growing and US and EU contribute less and less while others contribute more? What’s the argument you’re making here?

New comment by f6v in "Global warming has accelerated significantly"

f6v — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 10:52:48 +0000

How exactly?

New comment by f6v in "Living human brain cells play DOOM on a CL1 [video]"

f6v — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 10:51:53 +0000

That’s why you shouldn’t take it at face value. Ethically speaking, the experiment must have been approved by the institutional review board. If there’re ethical concerns, these can be raised with them.

But I don’t think anyone “feeling uneasy” should be an argument once the ethical concerns have been considered and experiment has been approved.

New comment by f6v in "Global warming has accelerated significantly"

f6v — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 15:14:05 +0000

The problem is, no amount of climate policies in the West is going to offset burning fuel in the developing counties. It’s a global phenomenon and addressing it locally is futile. That, and you don’t have the luxury of green solutions when energy prices were going through the roof.

New comment by f6v in "Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn"

f6v — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 12:41:38 +0000

OP mentions "six minutes" as a DB metric. But the thing is that DB doesn't care about trains being late. It's absolutely normal to have an hour delay in Germany. You can be considered lucky if it's under an hour. What will usually happen is that you spend half a day in some village waiting for your connection and travel the rest of the way standing in the doorway with your bags.

New comment by f6v in "Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn"

f6v — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 12:38:56 +0000

There're certain kinds of rewards to encourage traveling by rail in Europe. For example, a training course I attended refunded part of your travel expenses if you took a long-distance train. And there're people who believe in not flying for the sake of the planet.

But at this point, I'm convinced you should avoid any train in and around Germany. This includes Denmark as well. Just take a plane, but don't have a layover in Germany. The same could probably be said about France. My first train from Paris to Nancy stopped for about 2hrs in the middle of nowhere. As the machinist said: "The train is tired."

Other countries like Italy or Spain seem to actually have well-functioning rail though.

New comment by f6v in "Ultrasound Cancer Treatment: Sound Waves Fight Tumors"

f6v — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 09:40:18 +0000

I have a relative with the same disease. They went to a an eye doctor because of visual artifacts. Turns out the tumor was so big it caused retinal detachment. Basically, most people get diagnosed at a very late stage because it's mostly asymptomatic.

New comment by f6v in "Ultrasound Cancer Treatment: Sound Waves Fight Tumors"

f6v — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 09:37:09 +0000

First issue is that tumors don't necessarily have to be highly immunogenic, e.g. there're tumors that don't present many neoantigens on the surface. This means immune cells can't easily recognize them. Second issue is that tumor microenvironment evolves to be immunosuppressive. There're many different signals that regulate immune cells activation and simply having antigen-specific cells isn't enough. But as someone said in a sister thread, what you're describing is a basis for multiple clinical trials that combine antigen release with immune activation.

New comment by f6v in "Ultrasound Cancer Treatment: Sound Waves Fight Tumors"

f6v — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 09:33:25 +0000

Yes, we were doing a clinical trial where the primary tumor was irradiated which causes antigen release. The patients were given immune checkpoint inhibitors at the same time to activate immune cells. It's promising but tricky.

New comment by f6v in "Ultrasound Cancer Treatment: Sound Waves Fight Tumors"

f6v — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 09:31:12 +0000

> Releasing a bunch of loose cancer into the body is a clear causal mechanism

I'm not in cancer field, but I'm not sure it is. AFAIK the cells that metastasize need to undergo EMT. Simply releasing them from the tumor doesn't mean the cells can attach and survive in the distal site.

New comment by f6v in "Italian Competition Authority Fines Apple $115M for Abusing Dominant Position"

f6v — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 14:30:26 +0000

I don't download any apps anymore, so not very informed on the state of alternative app stores in EU. I decided to Google where I can find those. One of the first links is leading to MacPaw's website. It's a company with questionable ethics and business practices that tries to sell you "antivirus" and "decluttering" app. So I'll pass.

But are there any real 3rd-party AppStores for iOS now? Something that's used by more than just a couple of people? Or is EU just trying to milk rich USA tech giants (I think I know the answer).

New comment by f6v in "Gut bacteria from amphibians and reptiles achieve tumor elimination in mice"

f6v — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 13:22:46 +0000

> fixing the enzyme that fixes the wrong copy paste mechanism

The DNA fidelity issues contribute to only some cancers. Many are caused by mutations due to environmental damage and some are caused by viruses. The point is, there's a huge variety of reasons for developing cancer. So you cover more cases by developing treatments that are more "universal".

New comment by f6v in "Coursera to combine with Udemy"

f6v — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:08:42 +0000

It's not a question whether they are or not worth something. It's just that it's a much more meaningful differentiator when there's an overabundance of talent. CVs are going to be filtered based on something. And people with no degree are going to have a much more difficult time getting through the automated screening. That will come as a surprise to people who were promised they'll get a job by paying $1000 for a "nano-degree".

New comment by f6v in "Coursera to combine with Udemy"

f6v — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:04:23 +0000

Well, I work at a university too. At least in biomedicine, every MOOC is extremely shallow. The most advanced MOOC is an introductory-level when compared to the university courses.

New comment by f6v in "Coursera to combine with Udemy"

f6v — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 13:23:12 +0000

Turns out that an online certificate isn't worth anything when layoffs happen and the market is oversaturated with people who have real degrees. MOOCs have their place, but it's a very narrow set of disciplines.

New comment by f6v in "An off-grid, flat-packable washing machine"

f6v — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 13:16:12 +0000

You guys are delusional. Try serving even a small family with this, it's a nightmare. I can clearly see people romanticizing dull hard labour.

New comment by f6v in "Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down"

f6v — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 14:08:39 +0000

> we can all agree that rape and incest games are disgusting and have no place in an entertainment web site visited by kids

We can then also agree that a game where you beat someone into a bloody pulp with a bat is equally disgusting. Why do we treat rape and murder differently?

New comment by f6v in "Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down"

f6v — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 13:59:41 +0000

Well, you can buy Steam gift cards for cash in underdeveloped markets like Germany. Can’t imagine how else would it work.