Hacker News: joshuaheard

New comment by joshuaheard in "UAE to leave OPEC in blow to oil cartel"

joshuaheard — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:04:44 +0000

OPEC

New comment by joshuaheard in "UAE to leave OPEC"

joshuaheard — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:46:24 +0000

OPEC is a cartel of Arab oil-producing countries, including UAE. They limit production in order to keep the world oil price artificially high. UAE is pulling out of the cartel, presumably so it can bypass the restrictions and cash in on the high prices caused by the Iranian conflict. AFAIK this is the first time a country has pulled out of OPEC, and hopefully, it will lead to its demise.

New comment by joshuaheard in "Isopods of the world"

joshuaheard — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 16:15:45 +0000

TIL people keep isopods as pets. What a great find!

New comment by joshuaheard in "Consider the Greenland Shark (2020)"

joshuaheard — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:52:48 +0000

That's too bad. I thought he was on to something.

New comment by joshuaheard in "Consider the Greenland Shark (2020)"

joshuaheard — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 14:27:50 +0000

Jeremy Wade, host of the TV show "River Monsters", has an episode where he investigates the Loch Ness Monster and concludes it's likely a Greenland Shark that swam up an underground river from the North Atlantic to the lake. He likens the shark's horse-like face and the distribution of the low fins on the shark's back to descriptions of the monster. A solitary long-living fish could explain the occasional sightings, and the scientists' findings that there is not enough food in the lake for a breeding population of large carnivores.

New comment by joshuaheard in "US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February"

joshuaheard — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 17:48:22 +0000

I read that temporary striking workers were considered a lost job and accounted for 30,000 of the jobs. Plus another 27,000 in health care from the loss of business due to the strike. And the federal government shed 10,000 jobs. That accounts for nearly half the job losses.

New comment by joshuaheard in "I am directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic a supply-chain risk"

joshuaheard — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:38:52 +0000

Should military contractors put conditions on the use of their weapons? Here's our tank, but you can't invade Iran with it? We think your invasion of Venezuela is illegal, we're activating the kill switch on your jets. That's a real dangerous proposition.

New comment by joshuaheard in "Global Intelligence Crisis"

joshuaheard — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:52:07 +0000

Every time I read one of these doom and gloom pieces on AI/robotics, I think they are only describing the transition. After that, I think society will align with Musk's vision of AI/robotics freeing humans from work and scarcity. Then, humans will be able to focus on exploring the universe, scientific discovery, and artistic expression.

New comment by joshuaheard in "Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)"

joshuaheard — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 06:20:04 +0000

Loved it! It was an effective blend of different tech origin stories. Lee Pace was also excellent in "Foundation".

New comment by joshuaheard in "Skip the Tips: A game to select "No Tip" but dark patterns try to stop you"

joshuaheard — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 06:47:04 +0000

I had food delivered the other day and the suggested tip included tax and the delivery fee in it's calculation.

New comment by joshuaheard in "NIMBYs aren't just shutting down housing"

joshuaheard — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 21:05:17 +0000

Which is likely why they are doing it. The City of Huntington Beach had a similar problem: there was simply no room to build additional housing. They sued the state and lost. The law is overreaching, but it's the law.

New comment by joshuaheard in "NIMBYs aren't just shutting down housing"

joshuaheard — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 21:03:33 +0000

A community of 5-acre equestrian lots is pastoral. Dumping a 650 housing project in the middle of that would destroy its character.

New comment by joshuaheard in "NIMBYs aren't just shutting down housing"

joshuaheard — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:12:43 +0000

Rancho Palos Verdes is a small established hillside community with equestrian 1 - 5 acre lots. The absurdity of adding 650 homes to this area is astounding. Right next door is Hawthorne which has plenty of space for such housing. Activists like this person, lobbying a city they have no relation to, to enforce an overreaching state law, are part of what is making people and companies leave California.

New comment by joshuaheard in "221 Cannon is Not For Sale"

joshuaheard — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 16:08:14 +0000

On Zillow, you can claim ownership of a property. I'm not sure what notices they give, but I would definitely do that.

New comment by joshuaheard in "X offices raided in France as UK opens fresh investigation into Grok"

joshuaheard — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 22:43:53 +0000

Yes, Paris is an international capital and centrally located for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Many tech companies have sales offices there.

New comment by joshuaheard in "America could have $4 lunch bowls like Japan but for zoning laws"

joshuaheard — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 15:40:46 +0000

America is going in the opposite direction with instant food delivery. Your $11 meal is delivered to your house within 30 minutes. But, there's a service fee of $5, a delivery fee of $6, and a 20% gratuity.

New comment by joshuaheard in "Kitchen optimizations"

joshuaheard — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:43:03 +0000

Kohler makes a touchless faucet. You wave your hand under the faucet and it turns on and off. I've had one for years, and it's great in the kitchen. Most commercial lavatories have the same technology.

New comment by joshuaheard in "Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri"

joshuaheard — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 02:31:47 +0000

Most federal courts require documents filed there to be in Times New Roman font.

New comment by joshuaheard in "How the Disappearance of Flight 19 Fueled the Legend of the Bermuda Triangle"

joshuaheard — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 21:54:50 +0000

I sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. When we were in the Bermuda triangle, our ship's compass starting veering to one side, then made complete 360 degree turns, then started spinning. We were passing a magnetic anomaly marked on the chart. Fortunately, over time, the compass corrected itself. If we had been in an aircraft with limited time and fuel, I don't know if the compass correction would have occurred in time for the aircraft to resume course and land.

New comment by joshuaheard in "Iceland declares ocean-current instability a national security risk"

joshuaheard — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 16:50:10 +0000

The IPCC rates a collapse before 2100 as “unlikely but not impossible.”