Hacker News: flaptrap

New comment by flaptrap in "Ask HN: What Would You Do If You Had 10 Years Left to Live?"

flaptrap — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 18:31:19 +0000

A friend did pass on last year, well past average for death, and every year before that I told him that the bad news was the incurable diagnosis and no prognosis, and the good news was it was done by a VA doctor.

New comment by flaptrap in "Google Ends Support for Lynx Browser"

flaptrap — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 09:38:00 +0000

The most efficient way to search is to read the text. Waiting for images to download and then admire them cannot improve that. It looks like Google has lost relevance and is telling us, again.

New comment by flaptrap in "Anthropic cut up millions of used books, and downloaded 7M pirated ones – judge"

flaptrap — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 14:04:19 +0000

The fallacy in the 'fair use' logic is that a person acquires a book and learns from it, but a machine incorporates the text. Copyright does not allow one to create a derivative work without permission. Only when the result of the transformation resembles the original work could it be said that it is subject to copyright. Do not regard either of those legal issues are set in concrete yet.

New comment by flaptrap in "Twilio account suspended minutes after making a $20 payment"

flaptrap — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 11:21:07 +0000

After a quick look at the website, see "start for free" and then OP makes a payment. Perhaps the 100 email messages per day, but anyway, now that Twilio has set its hook in, it's dragging this chum and getting personal information out to see if the sharks are interested.

This already does not sound like fair business practices.

New comment by flaptrap in "U.S. plans to rescind rule blocking logging on national forest lands"

flaptrap — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 06:40:32 +0000

Old-growth forests are not susceptible to fires - or being chopped down - because either will destroy the forest. My grandfather made a career of "proper forest management" - including preserving some untouched tracts.

"Selective logging" in our times means cut-clear logging, leaving nothing in its wake. Anyone who takes a hike can see the effects, including the absence of wildlife.

New comment by flaptrap in "Google.com search now refusing to search for FF esr 128 without JavaScript"

flaptrap — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 02:38:38 +0000

Other browsers, just an ad to use one of five other browsers, and incidentally use Javascript. Always use noscript to reduce the attack surface.

For the dyed-in-the-wool, lynx https://www.google.com, tab and type in test, tab and enter, Now how can I get lynx to remove the ad?

Startpage search on "Google requires Javascript" replies "Allow JavaScript in your browser - Google AdSense Help" - now isn't that special?

New comment by flaptrap in "ScyllaDB no longer open source"

flaptrap — Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:08:14 +0000

[from the FAQs] Where can I find the source code?

The source code will be available at https://github.com/scylladb/scylladb. Commit notes and comments will also be available in the same repo.

New comment by flaptrap in "Microsoft just locked my brand new Microsoft account"

flaptrap — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 18:23:10 +0000

So install Linux and tell Microsoft to refund the Microsoft tax (aka license on Windows).

New comment by flaptrap in "I wasted 4 years learning Java"

flaptrap — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 15:31:58 +0000

Decades ago, a manager told me (in an interview) that it takes 5 years before Java developers are productive. I still disagree. It might take time to become a wizard but the priority in this business is to complete projects.

New comment by flaptrap in "Litigator, Past Programmer, Looking to Come Back to Tech"

flaptrap — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 17:46:10 +0000

Do not try to go back, even though developing software is enjoyable. Perhaps a horizontal move into management is possible; I have seen that. Found a startup if you have time and can afford it. It looks like you have all the growth opportunity you need right now.

I agree about litigation. Never trust other attorneys and especially never trust a client. It is not enough to do today's work, you need to market yourself for new projects in the future. Be prepared to work in an office in order to improve your income.

New comment by flaptrap in "Drinking 3 cups of coffee linked to preventing multiple diseases"

flaptrap — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 14:20:54 +0000

>reduce the risk of developing cardiometabolic multimorbidity in individuals without any cardiometabolic disease,

Get funding for a study, run multiple regression against a large set of interviewees, find an outcome which satisfies the proponent, spin the results: people who drink coffee and do not have heart disease or diabetes get fewer heart disease or diabetes later, ergo, caffeine reduces the risk. People, this is not a double-blind study. It was biased from the start.

New comment by flaptrap in "Tell HN: GitHub removed Classic projects and wiped my ideas without warnings"

flaptrap — Sat, 07 Sep 2024 16:36:07 +0000

Aside from convincing Microsoft that there is a good business practice to recover these lost data (did you ask a chat bot to disgorge its annals?), get busy about recreating those projects. The earlier you try it, the better the results.

New comment by flaptrap in "Ask HN: Would competitive chess be better with one allowed take-back per turn?"

flaptrap — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 18:01:00 +0000

Not at all, but refer to the Polgar-Kasparov where Garry Kasparov swore he did not take his hand off the piece, and the next day after Judit Polgar had looked at the film, she blistered his ears. There are enough cheating without adding more ways.

New comment by flaptrap in "How close are the planet's climate tipping points?"

flaptrap — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 23:02:04 +0000

Also see https://scitechdaily.com/how-close-are-we-to-the-climates-po..., also with a Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research byline and referring to Nature Communications entry at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49863-0

Both of these are dated August 1, 2024.

New comment by flaptrap in "Failing starter motor – why does whacking it help?"

flaptrap — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 05:38:38 +0000

The brushes wear down. The springs atop them can need a little help: tap! Or, the solenoid can stick as its lubrication fails.

New comment by flaptrap in "The real story about the Nord Stream pipeline explosion"

flaptrap — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 05:25:09 +0000

Why was Russia flaring off natural gas in the period before the explosion, if Russia was not involved? Wikipedia: gas deliveries were suspended from August 31, 2021 and Germany "suspended" certification of Nord Stream 2. Ukraine had nothing to gain by this sabotage. Instead, there was a spitting fight between Russia and Germany. One of the Nord Stream 2 pipelines was left untouched, if Germany would only swallow its collective pride and accept gas through Nord Stream 2 - and allow the Russian entities get paid for their investments.

The argument and conclusion that Ukraine would divert its resources and act against its allies while it was desperately defending against Russia and Belarus are preposterous. Ukraine was not acting outside its own borders at the time, while Russia is well-known to having no respect for other sovereigns.

New comment by flaptrap in "Ask HN: I need a Unix-like laptop that works as a laptop. Am I stuck with Mac?"

flaptrap — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 17:58:54 +0000

I've been using Linux on laptops since at least 2007. This one has extra M.2 and SATA bays, so, after a SSD failed suddenly in the prior laptop, I can have a mirror in place. I installed 2X4TB (with the unused Windows boot device in place).

Sleep/Hibernation is supported if you are using systemd (at least) although Debian does not seem to know it. That is to say, sometimes you have to find the right settings, but everything is documented.

New comment by flaptrap in "GitHub Copilot is not infringing your copyright (2021)"

flaptrap — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 09:39:05 +0000

Who are they trying to fool? Wholesale expropriation after stripping the license and authorship, while those in the open source community observe both of them very carefully.

Give credit where credit is due, including paying the creators when the licensing is violated.

New comment by flaptrap in "[dead]"

flaptrap — Tue, 14 May 2024 20:41:47 +0000

One should avoid type-casting people. It is tantamount to being a slur all by itself. As far as discussing Elon Musk's whims, let's not feed the troll.

New comment by flaptrap in "You Don't Want to Use CSV Files"

flaptrap — Sun, 05 May 2024 06:25:53 +0000

Someone is trying to sell something. Fool me twice, shame on me. CSV is a convenient format but omits schema/subschema. CSV data are what you make it. With so many implementations so might as well be in twisty tunnels each a little different.