Hacker News: james_david

New comment by james_david in "Zuckerberg's Meta Takes Down No Kings Instagram During Protest Day"

james_david — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 02:29:57 +0000

What evidence do you have that it was an autoban?

New comment by james_david in "Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle"

james_david — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 12:16:27 +0000

This is a fun game, nicely put together! I wished for a button to clear the board while I was playing. I love the menu UI. I think it cleverly parallels the game.

New comment by james_david in "Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone"

james_david — Sat, 30 Nov 2024 17:22:43 +0000

One Sec is a good balance of running interference while not making the device unusable. I installed it at your suggestion and appreciate the brief pause before opening Firefox now. I have to respect the developer's privacy commitment, too. I hesitate to give prying eyes access to my app usage and was glad to see One Sec wasn't going to sell my data to someone who will further seek to command my attention.

New comment by james_david in "Boulder's explicit traffic safety signs are the latest fakes on CO roads"

james_david — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 22:41:13 +0000

Most of the time, the US drivers passing on the right in my region are speeding and driving erratically. I agree that slow drivers in the fast lane are dangerous. Driving in the slow lane like it's the fast lane isn't the solution.

New comment by james_david in "Mushroom Color Atlas"

james_david — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 03:31:47 +0000

What a beautiful idea!

New comment by james_david in "Show HN: Voggle, a unique word game with handcrafted puzzles and hidden themes"

james_david — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 10:53:17 +0000

Nicely done! Simply from a game play perspective, I'd suggest making the theme part of the initial round, so that players can focus on revealing words from the start. Also, I'm on Firefox for Android and the boxes that fall away after a correct guess sometimes get stuck at the bottom of the box, making it hard to see what I've cleared.

New comment by james_david in "A test for life versus non-life?"

james_david — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 01:13:40 +0000

Sara Walker had a great piece in Noema that I just went back to recently and so have at the ready to recommend, called AI is Life: https://www.noemamag.com/ai-is-life/

New comment by james_david in "Multisatellite data depicts a record-breaking methane leak from a well blowout"

james_david — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 00:28:14 +0000

In Massachusetts, Lost and Unaccounted for Gas (LAUG) is estimated per mile of pipe, rather than evaluated by regulators or even industry. It is a simple multiplication problem with little bearing on reality. Consumers bear the cost of LAUG while the utilities are guaranteed a 10% profit on their infrastructure expenses. This, along with subsidies for leak prone pipe replacement, leads to needless investment in outmoded fossil fuel infrastructure (i.e., pipe replacement) being prioritized over leak repair.

New comment by james_david in "There is still the need for a better Goodreads alternative"

james_david — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 19:14:39 +0000

Yup, author overlooked this one that I give five stars. Switched long ago and never looked back.

New comment by james_david in "Volcanoes can affect climate"

james_david — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 12:15:26 +0000

The dinosaurs also knew this to be true.

New comment by james_david in "Ask HN: Treadmill under your desk – gimmick or worth it?"

james_david — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 00:17:19 +0000

I've just put one in my office and it cost just $150 USD. I plan on using my fitness reimbursement from my insurer to cover the expense. I've used it selectively but recently reorganized my office to make it more accessible. I spent about an hour on it today, alternating between standing and sitting. I find it much easier to stay standing while moving my body. Otherwise, I neglect to focus on my comportment while standing and start to cramp up, similar to sitting with poor posture. Exercise and step count aside, it's worth it to me for that reason. Also, being at a keyboard, my hands are occupied and my watch doesn't always register the additional steps. YMMV, literally.

New comment by james_david in "The Waning Reign of the Muskrat"

james_david — Thu, 09 May 2024 00:28:41 +0000

Thank you. They must have updated the site as a result of the spike in traffic.

New comment by james_david in "The Waning Reign of the Muskrat"

james_david — Wed, 08 May 2024 16:38:32 +0000

The author, Brandon Keim, is a favorite of mine. If you like this piece, his book Eye of the Sandpiper is worth checking out.

https://brandonkeim.net/sandpiper

New comment by james_david in "Lawmakers unveil sprawling plan to expand online privacy protections"

james_david — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:49:26 +0000

http://archive.today/vWDWX

New comment by james_david in "The largest deep lake water cooling project just got bigger"

james_david — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 22:35:58 +0000

For the uninitiated, this is in many ways similar to networked geothermal: https://www.gastogeo.wiki/wiki/Main_Page

When I lived in Toronto, I toured Steam Whistle brewery and they featured this system prominently in their setup.

New comment by james_david in "What are your favorite YouTube channels about mastering a craft or skill?"

james_david — Sat, 30 Mar 2024 21:41:18 +0000

https://youtube.com/@FoldableFlight

Paper airplanes! Very low effort, high reward, especially if there are kids in your life.

New comment by james_david in "Fans quitting Spotify to save their love of music (2022)"

james_david — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 12:47:33 +0000

The most dramatic influence on my listening habits has been online communities like rateyourmusic.com, algorithms be damned.

Also, count me among the many HN readers I expect will weigh in about self-hosting Navidrome. Rediscovering my old favorites (and the albums I had long forgotten) has been such a delight. I ditched Spotify as a result, but for new music I signed up for Deezer because of their fair(er) pay arrangement with artists.

New comment by james_david in "A.I. Is Making the Sexual Exploitation of Girls Even Worse"

james_david — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 14:12:33 +0000

I think the use of AI to control women's appearance in either direction is the root of the problem.

New comment by james_david in "Show HN: I made Wordulo, a simple word game"

james_david — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 02:18:00 +0000

Fun! Thanks for the thought exercise. I ran into trouble with Firefox on Android. It wouldn't let me type more than a letter before my keyboard closed. I don't know if that's a bug in the game or my keyboard misunderstanding what I'm doing, but thought I'd share.

New comment by james_david in "Scientists Resort to Once-Unthinkable Solutions to Cool the Planet"

james_david — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 20:04:00 +0000

The fact of our unintentional alteration of the climate does not give us permission to do so further. Imagine this logic in other scenarios, e.g., "he has killed six people, what's another two more?"