<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Hacker News: jballer</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=jballer</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:05:42 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=jballer" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Internal Combustion Engine (2021)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I was going to point to Koenigsegg’s Freevalve system and, in the process of looking for a link, learned that it was cancelled.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2026 23:33:19 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48754514</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48754514</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48754514</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "WH proposes rules giving political appointees final approval on research grants"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>This cuts both ways: grants are more valuable as political favors when they are immune to cancellation, and grants with objectively-established value are harder to terminate without political blowback.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2026 17:45:02 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48338837</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48338837</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48338837</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Virgin and Qantas to ban use of portable power banks after string of fires"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>You have to look up the maximum wattage for the given cabin configuration. I’ve found 30W to be about as high as I can go without it cutting out. Use a phone charger for your laptop.<p>This is where it’s helpful to have a multi-port charger where they’re not all high-draw.<p>IMO more important to go with something flat or light that won’t fall out under its own weight.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 03:13:07 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46000821</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46000821</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46000821</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "America Underestimates the Difficulty of Bringing Manufacturing Back"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>To the contrary, they think of manual and “low-skill” labor as an essential undertaking that no person or society is above.<p>You are the one who thinks of the work as below you, that it should be moved out of sight so we can stop caring and make it someone else’s problem.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 15 Apr 2025 14:25:26 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43693218</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43693218</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43693218</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Moving on from 18F"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Right. I think the real risk here is that even a “positive” outcome at 18F would have still been negative in every other context that matters to him. Why stick around and risk a neutral-to-positive experience that could result in labels like “scab,” “collaborator,” and “traitor” by no other fault of your own?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 19 Feb 2025 04:11:33 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43098469</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43098469</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43098469</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Moving on from 18F"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I went to a USDS recruiting event in the Bay Area a decade ago. The whole pitch was that they were Obama’s elite squad of private-sector tech workers, on brief tours of duty, taking orders directly from the White House about what to work on.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 18 Feb 2025 22:07:13 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43095739</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43095739</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43095739</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Moving on from 18F"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>To recap: OP resigned because he feared what <i>might</i> happen in a meeting with USDS. It might have required him to kill someone, or explain his work to a contractor. Somehow these are presented as equally-odious propositions.<p>He openly refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of USDS, referring to it as "a so-called 'department'", and neglects even a cursory investigation into whether it may in fact be a legitimate executive agency established by Obama, staffed by government employees with requisite clearances and authority.<p>It's wild to me that so many smart people think the White House should be boxed out of the day-to-day operations of GSA and OMB, whether by law or tradition, despite being undeniably responsible for their actions.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:58:48 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43095037</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43095037</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43095037</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>It's a "Gold Top", callsign PAT25<p><a href="https://helicoptersofdc.com/helicopters/5-us-army-12th-aviation-battalion/" rel="nofollow">https://helicoptersofdc.com/helicopters/5-us-army-12th-aviat...</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jan 2025 04:33:26 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42874886</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42874886</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42874886</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Show HN: I made an open-source laptop from scratch"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Incredible work</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 23 Jan 2025 04:46:09 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42800787</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42800787</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42800787</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Trying to Recreate iOS on the Web"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Does anyone else remember the online User’s Manual for early iPhones? It was web-based, but had a full JavaScript reimplementation of UINavigationController, UIScrollView, and UITableView.<p>I always suspected it was part of some bigger project that never panned out (maybe just prototyping?).</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 18 Dec 2024 18:33:47 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42453375</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42453375</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42453375</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "New FCC chair wants to revoke broadcast licenses; First Amendment might stop him"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Setting aside the question of how we should evaluate content for being “in the public interest” and assuming the programming is <i>as valuable as it could possibly be</i><p>How many people still tune in via OTA antennae? How does the value of broadcast TV compare to other possible uses of that RF spectrum?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 17 Dec 2024 17:31:19 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42443284</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42443284</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42443284</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Protecting undersea internet cables is a tech nightmare"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Probably challenging to sufficiently harden the links and ground equipment, and to guarantee QoS for military applications</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 07 Dec 2024 18:19:52 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42351623</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42351623</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42351623</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "NASA reconnected with Voyager 1 after a brief pause"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>They’re optimizing for different priorities. Obviously you need to be conservative when launches cost so much you can only afford ~one shot.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 30 Oct 2024 13:00:25 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41994335</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41994335</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41994335</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "What causes migraines? Study of 'brain blackout' offers clues"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Thanks for sharing. I have the same “bright lights” hypothesis. If I see something bright I close my eyes until it feels like it’s passed.  Seems to work, but who knows until I get my next one.<p>I’m also realizing in my late-30s that I have at least some form  of dyslexia - I used to think Ambien made me hallucinate letters dancing on the page, but it’s my eye muscles and happens most when I’m tired.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 07 Jul 2024 04:46:23 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40895332</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40895332</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40895332</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Watch SpaceX Starship FLIGHT 4 launch and reenter LIVE [video]"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The better question is why the other 32 did</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Jun 2024 15:33:54 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40598696</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40598696</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40598696</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "Change the default temp file prefix to be "SQLite" spelled backwards"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Should’ve changed it to mcaffee_</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2024 15:18:10 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40455787</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40455787</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40455787</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "MIT abandons requirement of DEI statements for hiring and promotions"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>How about the replies to my other comment here, accusing me of being white, and white people of being the problem?<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40269870">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40269870</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2024 16:44:44 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40276590</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40276590</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40276590</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "MIT abandons requirement of DEI statements for hiring and promotions"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>You are a parody of your own point and you don’t even see it. Truly remarkable.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2024 16:39:04 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40276530</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40276530</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40276530</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "MIT abandons requirement of DEI statements for hiring and promotions"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>“Taking a turn” means I think I understand where you’re going, but then you take your point someplace else.<p>I agree with most of what you’re saying. The casual racial stereotyping is where you lose me.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2024 00:56:26 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40270103</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40270103</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40270103</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jballer in "MIT abandons requirement of DEI statements for hiring and promotions"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>> Only a white person could come up with that.<p>lol</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2024 00:52:10 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40270081</link><dc:creator>jballer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40270081</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40270081</guid></item></channel></rss>