Hacker News: jimcollinswort1

New comment by jimcollinswort1 in "Intuit to lay off over 3k employees to refocus on AI"

jimcollinswort1 — Thu, 21 May 2026 04:28:52 +0000

This was the last year for me and my wife to use Turbo Tax, it's been ok for 15 years but I know AI will do it all for us next year, for free. Gemini was very helpful with questions and some skills building this year, I should have tried more.

N ext year I'll basically feed in my W2, 1099s, fidelity forms, insurance, maybe 20-30 documents, and ask for my completed 1040 and related forms. The LLMs already have the data extraction capability, vast tax knowlege, large enough context for personal taxes. We don't need another year to make tax software obsolete.

Actually I'll try a test first, easymgiven I have my 2025 input docs and TurboTax outputs, see howma few models do.

New comment by jimcollinswort1 in "The main thing about P2P meth is that there's so much of it (2021)"

jimcollinswort1 — Sun, 17 May 2026 22:25:30 +0000

Very enjoyable and informative site, kudos to the author on many good posts. A nice discovery

New comment by jimcollinswort1 in "Ask HN: How do you deal with people who trust LLMs?"

jimcollinswort1 — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 11:56:22 +0000

I would question the person that asks the question, as they are not understanding some basic principles here. There are two types of internet/LLM users;

Sadly one type asks a question (search, prompt) using Google or an LLM and takes the first response as truth.

The other asks follow ups based on the responses and their critical thinking skills. They often even go read the linked article and make sure it's still applicable.

Pretty much the same when you're talking to a real person, critical thinking (much more than just knowing reputable sources) is key.

So very similar issues, luckily LLMs can do so much more than a simple search, and help with your critical thinking tasks. Ask the LLM to provide opposing viewpoints, historical analysis, identify sources.

New comment by jimcollinswort1 in "Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'"

jimcollinswort1 — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 14:53:18 +0000

Why are we just looking up at the sky and wondering what they are? Send up a few AI assisted hunter drones to go find them and see. Then track, photograph, disable as needed.

New comment by jimcollinswort1 in "Eliza in SNOBOL4"

jimcollinswort1 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 11:31:40 +0000

Nice to see some SNOBOL again. I used it in college at Indiana University late 70s, and again a few years later for work at Arthur Anderson.

New comment by jimcollinswort1 in "Ask HN: How have you integrated LLMs in your development workflow?"

jimcollinswort1 — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 15:44:55 +0000

I've been using the cursor editor (vs code clone with LLM) for 6 months and it definitely improves productivity. Biggest gains are for writing/refactoring just a few lines at a time, where I can understand and test the new code easily.

Working with multiple products, Python and many different libraries and frameworks I have to constantly look up commands and usage. With the LLM I select a line or two, and ask 'sort by region, exclude pre 2023' and it writes (or adds) the necessary Pandas calls to the dataframe. The LLM has my code, tools documentation and more as context, so I don't have to say much to get the right code, but the questions are important, have to converse with a programmer mindset still.

It has almost completely replaced using Google for helping with code. Often I waste too much time in Slashdot looking at a dozen possible similar situations, but not what I need. The LLM immediately gives me something right in my own code. Usually have to give it some followup commands to tweak the code or take a different approach.

New comment by jimcollinswort1 in "Ask HN: Struggling with poor memory and executive function. What to do?"

jimcollinswort1 — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 18:11:15 +0000

I can relate, 67yrs of dealing with the same. Have always tried to ensure I have external guidance and pressure, keep me on track and focused. Control your environment to set up for success, good managers and plans, remove distractions. We need others to help focus our power!

But the real suggestion is pick a passion - paint, write, run, write, act.... anything that can motivate you to focus, develop new physical and mental skills, generate lots of dopamine. Mine has always been music, but working on art now. Give your mind and body a different place to go for that part of the day, your brain is learning constantly. Your executive system will thank you.