Hacker News: fhdkweig

New comment by fhdkweig in "Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]"

fhdkweig — Wed, 20 May 2026 14:38:38 +0000

I don't know much about cars, but I have to assume that fewer moving parts means less wear and repairs.

New comment by fhdkweig in "No way to parse integers in C (2022)"

fhdkweig — Wed, 20 May 2026 14:15:14 +0000

What if the number you want to return just happens to be the value of ERROR? You need an error flag that can't be represented as an int, but then C wouldn't let you return it from a function that only returns "int". It is why some languages throw exceptions and why databases have the special "null" value.

New comment by fhdkweig in "[dead]"

fhdkweig — Mon, 18 May 2026 12:56:05 +0000

This was discussed 23 hours ago with 215 comments. The short answer is that "international emergency" does not mean "global pandemic".

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48168708

New comment by fhdkweig in "Credit cards are vulnerable to brute force kind attacks"

fhdkweig — Fri, 01 May 2026 21:06:11 +0000

I heard a rumor that NSA suggested changes to DES encryption that strengthened it from differential cryptanalysis attacks that the public cryptologists weren't aware of yet.

New comment by fhdkweig in "Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline"

fhdkweig — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 20:30:26 +0000

You are engaging with a bot with -13 karma:

https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=mondomondo

New comment by fhdkweig in "EV sales soar in main European markets as drivers shun expensive petrol"

fhdkweig — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:50:50 +0000

> Given the lack of blackouts around here, I've not bothered to investigate if home PV systems can still charge batteries, or if the inverter dependence on the grid for phase-locking the AC prevents that.

The technology is called "islanding mode". It adds a little extra cost to the inverters, and you have to specifically request it, but the tech exists.

New comment by fhdkweig in "Bodega cats of New York"

fhdkweig — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:25:49 +0000

But hilarious to give a raccoon alcohol.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=raccoon+liquor+store

New comment by fhdkweig in "Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline"

fhdkweig — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:20:24 +0000

That account has a -10 karma. It is just a gibberish bot.

New comment by fhdkweig in "San Diego rents declined following surge in supply"

fhdkweig — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 01:35:58 +0000

That part is the obvious part. I want to know how they got all the entrenched landowners to let new builds in their neighborhoods and drive down values. The NIMBYs are usually the problem.

New comment by fhdkweig in "Scientists discover “cleaner ants” that groom giant ants in Arizona desert"

fhdkweig — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:39:04 +0000

I first learned about it through the Season 1, Episode 6 MacGyver episode Trumbo's World.

New comment by fhdkweig in "Scientists discover “cleaner ants” that groom giant ants in Arizona desert"

fhdkweig — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:25:06 +0000

Cats love the taste of earwax. They will give you a wet willy while you sleep.

New comment by fhdkweig in "Amazon won't release Fire Sticks that support sideloading anymore"

fhdkweig — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:49:43 +0000

You will have to be way more specific. Every time I see a post bringing up the topic of sideloading (like this one), it is a complaint that either another product is locked down or Google itself is trying to lock everything down.

New comment by fhdkweig in "Google broke its promise to me – now ICE has my data"

fhdkweig — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 21:48:13 +0000

Does it have a carrier service when it arrives? That is the part that matters. They don't care whether you have a piece of hardware that just sits idle. They don't want people placing phone calls that can't be traced back to an identity that can be physically located and arrested.

New comment by fhdkweig in "Europe has "maybe 6 weeks of jet fuel left""

fhdkweig — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:20:40 +0000

Thanks, I was so concerned about all the current wars, I had completely forgotten about the wars-to-be. But I had figured that Taiwan was safe after announcing the self-destructs in the chip fabs. Hope springs eternal.

New comment by fhdkweig in "NASA Force"

fhdkweig — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:48:04 +0000

They used to be called scabs.

New comment by fhdkweig in "Europe has "maybe 6 weeks of jet fuel left""

fhdkweig — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:31:37 +0000

Which minute of which day did he say that? Trump doesn't know what he is going to do in the next 5 minutes. What I find rather interesting is that China started building the world's largest strategic supply of petroleum at the beginning of 2016. China anticipated Trump's Iran war a decade before Trump did.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/20/china-oil-rese...

New comment by fhdkweig in "Europe has "maybe 6 weeks of jet fuel left""

fhdkweig — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:23:27 +0000

It fluctuates wildly based on the whims of who is in charge, but the last alterations of the rules indicates 90 days of US imports (doesn't specify usage).

"International obligations

As a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United States must stock an amount of petroleum equivalent to at least 90 days of U.S. imports. The SPR contained an equivalent to 141 days of imports as of September 2016. The United States is also obligated to contribute 43.9% of petroleum in any IEA-coordinated release."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Petroleum_Reserve_(U...

New comment by fhdkweig in "Google broke its promise to me – now ICE has my data"

fhdkweig — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:33:30 +0000

The laws closed that loophole a long time ago. You have to either present a photo ID to buy in a brick and mortar store or sign for the package when delivering to an address.

New comment by fhdkweig in "Google broke its promise to me – now ICE has my data"

fhdkweig — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:21:13 +0000

Even if the encryption is sound, some day in the future laws can be written that compel a citizen to relinquish their passwords. In 2000, the UK passed a law called RIPA that can be used that way. They say it is only used in emergencies, but who is to say what constitutes an emergency.

https://thblegal.com/news/can-i-be-prosecuted-for-failing-to...

New comment by fhdkweig in "New bill would let New Yorkers hang solar panels from windows"

fhdkweig — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 20:50:49 +0000

This is primarily for renters of apartments who aren't allowed to alter the roofs. In the US, labor is more than half the cost of a rooftop installation which is hampering their adoption. The balcony solar has no labor cost at all and if the tenant needs to move, they can take it with them to their next rental so they won't lose their investment.