Hacker News: gainda

New comment by gainda in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

gainda — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 13:28:07 +0000

I'm partway through Dead Man's Walk and it's held up well so far. Streets of Laredo was tough at first but by the end I found it enjoyable overall. Still, I'm not sure how much of it was McMurtry being willfully antagonistic to readers with the decisions he made for the plot based on how well received Lonesome Dove was.

New comment by gainda in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

gainda — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 13:19:31 +0000

Did you come across the 99% invisible book club for The Power Broker? I tried keeping up but fell a bit behind by the end of the year and finished the following January. it's a great complement to the book. Caro is an incredible writer - I'm on the first LBJ book now. It was never a book I thought I could finish just from the intimidating size and seemingly dry nature but Caro's storytelling moves it along so well.

New comment by gainda in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

gainda — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 13:16:47 +0000

what are your thoughts on the Book of the New Sun? I read Shadow and while I really enjoyed the vibe, I was often confused

New comment by gainda in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

gainda — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 13:12:54 +0000

i read it last year. its a bit slow in the beginning but by the halfway point i was reading it voraciously. I think I finished the final third in one sitting. Followed it up with the sequel and now on the first in the series.

New comment by gainda in "The One Meaningless Word That We All Say Too Much (2016)"

gainda — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 16:21:52 +0000

if i reflect on my own speech i'm definitely guilty of this. it's a good reminder to be more conscious about what we say.

in a similar but more minor way i try to be mindful of how much i say 'just' since i have a feeling that it weakens a sentence or an ask - 'just wanted to ask' vs 'wanted to ask', but that might just be personal taste.

i also like to gently rib my coworkers when they say 'to be honest.' you would lie to me but be frank now about committing to honesty? i know its not their intention but its funny how we use it.

New comment by gainda in "The Melancholy of Slaying Monsters"

gainda — Wed, 27 May 2026 16:44:47 +0000

Long time gamer here too and this also really got me. I'm not sure exactly what it was; perhaps a turn to a darker tone where I wasn't expecting it. For all the interpersonal disagreements the game is generally 'whimsical.' It was the desperation of the elephant that really got me ... the bargaining, the confusion.

I find that as I get older I respond more to media like this. I'm not sure if it's emotional intelligence, being more present, or something else.

New comment by gainda in "The Melancholy of Slaying Monsters"

gainda — Wed, 27 May 2026 16:30:55 +0000

From what I recall there is a relationship in the game of how much blood you take from an outer being like her & how crazy (drunk?) the user then becomes, before becoming a crazed beast.

There is one key item in the game called “Eyes of a blood-drunk hunter”

New comment by gainda in "Self hosting my media library with Jellyfin and Wireguard on Hetzner"

gainda — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 21:06:25 +0000

i use bandcamp whenever possible

New comment by gainda in "Orion 1.0"

gainda — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 19:36:48 +0000

I will give this another chance but the last time I used this on my 14 Pro Max it would get hot to the edge of discomfort

New comment by gainda in "Windows GUI – Good, Bad and Pretty Ugly (2023)"

gainda — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 15:47:02 +0000

not an expert, but i vaguely recall that certain colors can make plastics weaker - maybe it was the case here for a while until technology improved

New comment by gainda in "The history of Casio watches"

gainda — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 16:43:34 +0000

I have an Apple Watch that I get into from time to time but generally it collects dust despite how many cool functions it has. Mostly because of the battery life & lack of customization. Most of the things it tracks or does I can see or do on my phone so it feels redundant & what can't don't need to monitored continuously in my life.

I daily a black LF20W-1A and I also use the A168W-1 and AE1200WHD. The faces and design are way more interesting to me and they are more affordable.

I wish I never got the Apple Watch ...

New comment by gainda in "Bank of England flags risk of 'sudden correction' in tech stocks inflated by AI"

gainda — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:33:56 +0000

https://archive.ph/BNUzu

New comment by gainda in "Sora 2"

gainda — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 19:00:50 +0000

impressive engineering that's hard to see as a net good for humanity.

it doesn't spark optimism or joy about the future of engaging with the internet & content which was already at a low point.

old is gold, even more so

New comment by gainda in "Epistemic Collapse at the WSJ"

gainda — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 18:19:58 +0000

Allegedly, Charlie Kirk's killer, Tyler Robinson, may have been a groyper.

New comment by gainda in "Private equity snaps up disability services, challenging regulators"

gainda — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 16:04:51 +0000

Were you invoking Deus Ex when you said consolidation ? Because that's what I immediately thought of.

New comment by gainda in "Molluscs of the Multiverse: molluscan diversity in Magic: The Gathering"

gainda — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 13:05:38 +0000

the definitely reprint cards; or release cards with slight differences in rules text but you'd be surprised how much creativity has come out of rules/play design since that time.

New comment by gainda in "Omarchy Is Out"

gainda — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 20:35:34 +0000

This might help: https://learn.omacom.io/2/the-omarchy-manual/78/keyboard-mou...

New comment by gainda in "Passing the Torch"

gainda — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 19:41:20 +0000

going public feels synonymous with a decline in user experience & i can't see this being any different

New comment by gainda in "The Wisconsin cartographer who mapped Tolkien's fantasy world"

gainda — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 19:36:40 +0000

One of my biggest takeaways from the first time I saw her work was that Beleriand was actually situated to the west of Middle Earth prior to sinking. I had seen far too many erroneous maps placing it north of Middle Earth (https://static0.gamerantimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uplo...)

New comment by gainda in "Tesla Hate Is Making Insurance More Expensive for Owners"

gainda — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 22:39:37 +0000

He didn't even use that phrase in the typical context which makes it look like a flimsy cover to muddy what this really is. You say that to express sympathy or sorrow. Maybe he was pre-apologizing for the sheer madness we are in now.