Hacker News: jammcq

New comment by jammcq in "Ask HN: Should I buy mac studio M4 max or macbook M5 pro?"

jammcq — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 17:25:55 +0000

I like the Studio but currently, Apple is limiting the ram to 64GB. The Macbook Pro with M5 you can get 128GB of ram. I've got an M1 studio and i'm looking to upgrade when the M5 studio comes out. Hopefully they'll offer it with at least 128GB of ram. Also, it's my understanding that when the MBP is under heavy load and the CPU is heating up, the system will throttle down the performance so it doesn't overheat, whereas the Studio has a bigger heatsink and fan to let it run full throttle.

New comment by jammcq in "Knoppix"

jammcq — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 16:49:18 +0000

I started using Linux with Redhat but when they stopped doing the free version (sometime in the late 90's) I wanted to switch to Debian so I used Knoppix as a stepping stone to get there. Really made it easy. Then, somewhere around 2006 or 2007, I met Klaus Knopper and his wife at one of the Ubuntu developer summits. I think it was the one in Paris. Really nice guy and with the help of his wife, they did a lot of work to help people with vision impairment use Linux.

New comment by jammcq in "Understanding the Linux Kernel: The Linux Kernel Startup"

jammcq — Thu, 14 May 2026 20:33:18 +0000

I'm really enjoying this article. Many years ago when I created LTSP I had to dive in and understand how the whole bzImage and initrd worked so we could fetch a kernel with tftp and mount a root filesystem via NFS. It's been years since I've played with this stuff but it's still very interesting to me. Thank you!

New comment by jammcq in "Containers – What's in the Box?"

jammcq — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 02:31:48 +0000

Containers are built on some really cool features of the Linux kernel: cgroups, namespaces and bind mounts. Once you understand that, then it's clear that the differences in Docker, Podman, Apple Containers and several others are mostly the same thing.

New comment by jammcq in "Containers – What's in the Box?"

jammcq — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 18:14:25 +0000

Containers have become the standard way for deploying applications on servers and the web and sometimes even on the desktop.

In this RuntimeArguments episode we dive into what containers are, how they work, how to build them and what you can do with them.

Whether you are using containers in your development environment, deploying on servers in your data center or as a cloud service, containers save time, handle dependencies, increase security and just make things easier and better in so many ways.

New comment by jammcq in "Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags"

jammcq — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 20:17:37 +0000

Damn paywalls! Sorry, I shouldn't be so negative. I'd just like to be able to read the article.

New comment by jammcq in "Debugging random slow writes with GIN indexes in PostgreSQL"

jammcq — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 22:02:57 +0000

I love it when I learn something new. It's even better when I learn multiple things. I've been using Postgres for over 20 years and I didn't know about auto_explain and fastupdate on GIN indexes. One of my favorite things to do is tune queries to respond faster. Nothing like taking a query that takes 15 seconds and getting it down to 15 milliseconds. We use GIN indexes a bit but we don't have a high volume of writes so we haven't run into the slowness that you talk about. If we do see any write performance issues, I definitely know where to start looking. Thanks for your article!

New comment by jammcq in "Buying the Kinesis Advantage 360 keyboard was a mistake"

jammcq — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 23:24:35 +0000

Thank you for this article about the Kinesis. A good friend of mine loves his and every once in a while I consider trying it but I've worried about all that muscle memory. Your review was very thorough and I really appreciate it. I think I'll let my friend enjoy his, but I won't be moving to one anytime soon.

New comment by jammcq in "Upcoming changes to Let's Encrypt and how they affect XMPP server operators"

jammcq — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:21:35 +0000

I like how the article describes how certificates work for both client and server. I know a little bit about it but what I read helps to reinforce what I already know and it taught me something new. I appreciate it when someone takes the time to explain things like this.

New comment by jammcq in "I miss thinking hard"

jammcq — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 19:35:28 +0000

I've loved programming my whole life. Something happens inside my brain when I'm solving a problem. I think it's a release of endorphins or something that has a calming effect. When I was younger, it came easier. I used to be able to get "into the zone" and stay there for hours. Almost a constant stream of endorphins, almost a euphoria. Other things give me a similar feeling. Anything with numbers. I used to really love playing blackjack. Something about figuring out how to get to 21 just really did it for me. Or playing dominoes or other games that require me to solve something. I'm almost 65 now and it's just much more difficult to get there. I think I've been slow to adopt AI partly because I'm afraid it's going to take me further away from what I've loved. Friends tell me it's just a new tool to add to my toolbox. I'm giving it a try but I'm still skeptical.

New comment by jammcq in "NCR Tower 1632 – Computer Ads from the Past"

jammcq — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 19:36:41 +0000

I remember those things. One of the first computers I programmed on starting my career in 1984. We had a variation of the Tower, I think it was called the 'iTower'. It didn't run Unix. instead it ran an OS called rmCOS from the Ryan McFarland company. Same people who made RMCobol. The OS was kind of similar to Texas Instruments DX10 operating system. I believe RM was involved in that too. I remember having to divvy up the ram per user. I think the max a user could get was 64k. You could get an expansion cabinet with additional hard drives. The expansion was the same size as the Tower computer. The big thing they were touting was that it used SCSI for connecting disk and tape drives. Later, I learned UNIX and we ported our software and ran it on the 1632. The article also mentions the 9300 which I also had the opportunity to program. Those were good days!

New comment by jammcq in "How to choose colors for your CLI applications (2023)"

jammcq — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:58:23 +0000

I'm a bit color blind and it might be quite common to show errors in red but when the background is black, I can't see it at all.

New comment by jammcq in "Git protects you [audio]"

jammcq — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:18:50 +0000

I've been using Git for 9 years and I learn new stuff all the time. This podcast episode dives into all of the questions I've had over the years and touches on some new things that I didn't know about.

Git protects you [audio]

jammcq — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 13:54:42 +0000

Article URL: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2469780/episodes/18555806-20-git-protects-you

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46810219

Points: 8

# Comments: 1

New comment by jammcq in "[dead]"

jammcq — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 17:34:28 +0000

Git is an amazing tool for managing your source code. Lots of people use it every day but most people barely scratch the surface of what git can do.

In this episode, we dive in and explain lots of features from the simple to the complex.

New comment by jammcq in "Data centers – Don't we have enough already?"

jammcq — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 15:08:59 +0000

Data centers are sprouting up every where. Do we really need more of them? In this episode, Jim and Wolf talk about what data centers are, how prevalent they are and what it takes to build them. We talk about the sizes and energy uses and all sorts of other things related to data centers. It was a fun episode to research and very eye-opening.

Data centers – Don't we have enough already?

jammcq — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 15:08:59 +0000

Article URL: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2469780/episodes/18477666-19-data-centers-don-t-we-have-enough-already

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46576353

Points: 7

# Comments: 2

New comment by jammcq in "Does my key fob have more computing power than the Lunar lander?"

jammcq — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 21:41:28 +0000

Does my key fob have more computing power than the Lunar Lander? In this episode of Runtime Arguments that just dropped today, Wolf and I dive into that question and we reveal some information that might surprise you. We had a lot of fun doing the research and we hope you enjoy it. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. And, if you enjoy it, please tell all of your friends. We'd really appreciate it.

Does my key fob have more computing power than the Lunar lander?

jammcq — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 21:41:28 +0000

Article URL: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2469780/episodes/18340142-17-does-my-key-fob-have-more-computing-power-than-the-lunar-lander

Hacker News: jammcq

New comment by jammcq in "Ask HN: Should I buy mac studio M4 max or macbook M5 pro?"

New comment by jammcq in "Knoppix"

New comment by jammcq in "Understanding the Linux Kernel: The Linux Kernel Startup"

New comment by jammcq in "Containers – What's in the Box?"

New comment by jammcq in "Containers – What's in the Box?"

New comment by jammcq in "Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags"

New comment by jammcq in "Debugging random slow writes with GIN indexes in PostgreSQL"

New comment by jammcq in "Buying the Kinesis Advantage 360 keyboard was a mistake"

New comment by jammcq in "Upcoming changes to Let's Encrypt and how they affect XMPP server operators"

New comment by jammcq in "I miss thinking hard"

New comment by jammcq in "NCR Tower 1632 – Computer Ads from the Past"

New comment by jammcq in "How to choose colors for your CLI applications (2023)"

New comment by jammcq in "Git protects you [audio]"

Git protects you [audio]

New comment by jammcq in "[dead]"

New comment by jammcq in "Data centers – Don't we have enough already?"

Data centers – Don't we have enough already?

New comment by jammcq in "Does my key fob have more computing power than the Lunar lander?"

Does my key fob have more computing power than the Lunar lander?

IPv6 – Size does matter – RuntimeArguments Podcast