Hacker News: johndunne

Physics experiment hints at the existence of 'anyon' particles

johndunne — Sun, 10 May 2026 00:56:00 +0000

Article URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260508003131.htm

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48079916

Points: 3

# Comments: 1

New comment by johndunne in "How Big Tech wrote secrecy into EU law to hide data centres' environmental toll"

johndunne — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:04:54 +0000

I find this facet of Capitalism the most concerning; fiduciary responsibility to the shareholder. It breaks the link between people and matters that concern society (like the environment, in the case of this article). In the drive to increase profit, individual legislators can be convinced to tweak a law or two for 'greater economic growth' somewhere. Over the decades, the effect is a shift in political power away from the people and into industry and ultimately into the hands of a few. I've come to think that this is what we're witnessing in the US. While we're not looking, the landscape is changing behind the scenes. Bram Vranken's quote from the article is poignant: 'Who does the Commission really represent: Big Tech or the public interest?' I often wonder what can be done by us (i.e. all people) to push back and it mostly requires a lot of effort from everyone; participation in Democracy.

New comment by johndunne in "Stone Age settlement found under the sea in Denmark"

johndunne — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 12:11:34 +0000

I’m not sure the people who own property next to ‘at risk’ coastlines will agree. As a whole, society may continue but there’s a lot of people at risk of losing their property as a result of rising sea levels. Probably decades from now.

New comment by johndunne in "F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash"

johndunne — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 15:47:35 +0000

The forces involved would only pop your shoulders and not provide any support for your back via your underarm. And the speed the bars would need to come out at, might end up inside your chest cavity. The ejection seats are a last ditch save from certain death. I’d take the loss of an inch or two to my height than the alternative.

Co-Op pulled its own plug to prevent further network breach

johndunne — Thu, 15 May 2025 08:52:16 +0000

Article URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy382w9eglo

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43993107

Points: 3

# Comments: 1

New comment by johndunne in "Asahi Linux lead developer Hector Martin resigns from Linux kernel"

johndunne — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 12:38:16 +0000

It needs to be a little more specific to be correct; a cross language codebase would be the cancer.

New comment by johndunne in "Asahi Linux lead developer Hector Martin resigns from Linux kernel"

johndunne — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 23:31:24 +0000

I beleive he clarified in the same sentence that he was not calling the language Rust cancer... to quote "where this cancer explicitly is a cross-language codebase and not Rust itself, just to escape the flameware brigade"

New comment by johndunne in "Trump wins presidency for second time"

johndunne — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 09:37:56 +0000

I'm in the UK and I was just listening to Andrew Neil, a political commentator over here, and he mentioned something interesting. There was apparently a 3 to 2 ratio of Hispanic/Black voters voting FOR Trump. A possible explanation is that the border policies have had an impact on minimum wage workers, of which Hispanic and Black voters are disproportionately a category of. The Democratic Party will have to do a post mortem, but there's likely to be many issues found where the Democrats failed their voters.

New comment by johndunne in "Can SpaceX land a rocket with 1/2 cm accuracy?"

johndunne — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 20:27:09 +0000

I think the 60’s showed how much humans can achieve in terms of innovating with very little (in terms of tech). Now, we’re seeing how much can be achieved with a whole lot more. And, I agree, the space age really does feel like it’s only just heating up. Very exciting time!

New comment by johndunne in "Biden and Harris Call for Middle East Peace on Anniversary of Hamas Attacks"

johndunne — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 22:45:06 +0000

I think the vast majority of people just don’t understand the Middle East. It’s a powder keg. Oil has been a blessing and a curse on the region. I think there’ll be peace one day but not while there’s a power struggle in the region.

New comment by johndunne in "I'm a 44 y.o. bored back end dev – does it make sense to switch to DApp?"

johndunne — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 22:42:32 +0000

I’m a year older, btw. Why not learn a new programming language? Maybe try creating a golang implemented gRPC backend, for a flutter mobile app. Something simple like a custom bingo card for friends and family to mess around with. Or rust… the cool kids are doing rust these days! :-)

New comment by johndunne in "EU: Definition of "potential terrorists" opens door to broad information-sharing"

johndunne — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 12:10:51 +0000

I think politicians are skirting democratic accountability because they can, and not enough people are protesting the lack of this accountability. The most concerning thing about this proposed legislation is the fact that it can be used to further skirt accountability, by labeling protesters under the broad terms the bill covers.

New comment by johndunne in "EU: Definition of "potential terrorists" opens door to broad information-sharing"

johndunne — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 11:49:45 +0000

I think this is a common problem in the UK during peaceful protests. I've witnessed masked young men clearly getting messages on their phones to go somewhere. They'll suddenly hustle off together. I figure they're there just to cause trouble. If the EU is serious about democracy then they ought to make it clear that this kind of thing goes on during peaceful protests instead of justifying dubious legislative changes in the name of 'protecting people'.

New comment by johndunne in "EU: Definition of "potential terrorists" opens door to broad information-sharing"

johndunne — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 11:09:55 +0000

From the article "Climate activism is on the rise, together with an increased willingness to use violence, marking a shift from environmental activism to environmental extremism"

As far as I can tell, climate activists have been making a nuisance of themselves much more than a 'willingness to use violence.' I find this justification concerning, to say the least.

New comment by johndunne in "FDA approves a novel drug for schizophrenia"

johndunne — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 16:31:23 +0000

I couldn't agree more with you. I've got a brother who's been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He's in denial and it's a constant worry that he will stop taking his meds again. It's a brutal, life-destroying illness if it's not managed. His lows are truly soul-destroying to witness.

New comment by johndunne in "New research on anesthesia and microtubules gives new clues about consciousness"

johndunne — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 14:38:15 +0000

It’s a very interesting hypothesis. And I guess research is difficult given the size of these structures and lack of tools available to monitor them with a high level of granularity.

New comment by johndunne in "New research on anesthesia and microtubules gives new clues about consciousness"

johndunne — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 13:10:14 +0000

Can anyone recommend a good book on the subject of microtubules and consciousness?

New comment by johndunne in "Show HN: Meet.hn – Meet the Hacker News community in your city"

johndunne — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 14:20:23 +0000

Perhaps a notification when new signups occur in the same area? Or when people near you with shared interests.

New comment by johndunne in "Show HN: Meet.hn – Meet the Hacker News community in your city"

johndunne — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 14:18:25 +0000

I think it depends on how you use HN. I try to contribute positively in the comments and enjoy the learning aspect of the HN community. Shit posters might not want to join the train.

New comment by johndunne in "Show HN: Meet.hn – Meet the Hacker News community in your city"

johndunne — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 14:17:00 +0000

Very cool! I think many will be reticent to divulge social information on here! Looking forward to seeing this grow.