Hacker News: jbrun

New comment by jbrun in "Magnifica Humanitas"

jbrun — Mon, 25 May 2026 15:45:57 +0000

Interestingly, the invention of the printing press, a clear analogous technology to AI, was directly linked to the schism and creation of the protestant and reformation movement and bloody religious wars. So the Catholic church knows what it is talking about here!

New comment by jbrun in "Having Kids (2019)"

jbrun — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 17:48:15 +0000

Absolutely. Also, kids end up helping you focus on the travel, experiences and things that are truly worthwhile. You drop a lot of activities and TV and other activities that was frankly a waste of time anyways.

New comment by jbrun in "Ask HN: Does anybody still use bookmarking services?"

jbrun — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 13:29:02 +0000

I use Instapaper for articles, videos and more. Does not work for dynamic web apps obviously.

New comment by jbrun in "Sex is going out of fashion?"

jbrun — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 01:42:48 +0000

The projections you are referring to are out of date. We are already well below replacement rates globally.

New comment by jbrun in "Sex is going out of fashion?"

jbrun — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 12:37:26 +0000

Population implosion is going to be the biggest problem of our lives. It is one of those issues that creeps up progressively (like Global Warming), but will have cataclysmic impacts. Sex is a precursor to relationships and kids, if people don't have sex...

Imagine 80% of the population is elderly and retired (or want to be retired) - that is where the world is heading by the end of the century.

From 2018: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/the-sex...

From 2022: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/the-sex...

Empty Planet: https://www.amazon.ca/Empty-Planet-Global-Population-Decline...

New comment by jbrun in "What workers want: raises that beat inflation"

jbrun — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 14:01:41 +0000

lol

New comment by jbrun in "What workers want: raises that beat inflation"

jbrun — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 14:01:28 +0000

Good luck

New comment by jbrun in "The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness"

jbrun — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:24:57 +0000

The comments below echo what I think. We are social animals, deal with it.

New comment by jbrun in "The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness"

jbrun — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 14:47:45 +0000

It's a bit paradoxical. I have a tech company and most staff want to come to the office 1 day a week. Getting them to come is very tough. Many of my staff and friends don't want to have kids, make no effort to find a partner and find all sorts of excuses. Netflix, the internet and these things are part of the problem, but I have no clue what the solution is. There is only one way to not be lonely - be with people who care about you. That requires an investment of time and of your emotions - something many people seem unable or unwilling to do. You have to get out into the world and invest in others.

New comment by jbrun in "Ask HN: Solo-preneurs, how do you DevOps to save time?"

jbrun — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 13:39:19 +0000

We use an external firm. Works great.

New comment by jbrun in "We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments"

jbrun — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 17:59:29 +0000

Breather tried to do that out of Montreal and went bankrupt this year, not sure how much overlap there is with your system.

New comment by jbrun in "America’s Obsession with Self-Help"

jbrun — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 23:57:25 +0000

Definitely agree.

New comment by jbrun in "America’s Obsession with Self-Help"

jbrun — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 20:59:47 +0000

America is built mostly on immigrant work ethic, vast amount of arable land, no bordering enemies and the collapse of the european powers. Not sure america is that special, just lucky - right place, right time.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-under-pressu...

New comment by jbrun in "America’s Obsession with Self-Help"

jbrun — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 20:57:44 +0000

Yeah, probably true. My background is Jewish European and there is an obvious streak of self-improvement in that culture (or at least, there used to be....)

New comment by jbrun in "America’s Obsession with Self-Help"

jbrun — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 18:12:36 +0000

As a Canadian and a French citizen, America definitely has this puritan streak of trying to be the best person you can be - or the purest you can be. Work harder, drink less, exercise more, etc.

My French grandparents lived until they were 100, were perfectly content, had 8 kids, ate great food during long meals and drank lots of wine. I don't think they jogged a day in their lives.

New comment by jbrun in "The rise of E Ink Tablets and Note Takers: reMarkable 2 vs Onyx Boox Note Air"

jbrun — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 12:12:20 +0000

I have had my remarkable 2 for a month and really love it. It replaces paper and annotating paper PDFs. It is simple and easy to use. If you currently take notes or write paper PDFs, it is for you (this is enough for many people).

New comment by jbrun in "How Silicon Valley destroyed Parler"

jbrun — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 19:50:39 +0000

America is so blinded by their love of free speech they fail to see that most countries operate quite well with modest limits on speech. If American style free speech were so great the country would not be tearing itself apart as we speak.

New comment by jbrun in "Amazon reportedly has Pinkerton agents surveil workers who try to form unions"

jbrun — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 18:32:08 +0000

What a surprise!

New comment by jbrun in "China delists all remaining poverty-stricken counties"

jbrun — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 17:33:29 +0000

Clarification: I meant rule of law broadly speaking as a human invention (like science and medicine), not specific to China. Sorry for the confusion.

New comment by jbrun in "China delists all remaining poverty-stricken counties"

jbrun — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 17:31:29 +0000

I meant rule of law broadly speaking as a human invention, not specific to China. Sorry for the confusion.

Pssst.... See Irak, invasion.