Hacker News: joveian

New comment by joveian in "ReactOS (FOSS "Windows") achieves 3D-accelerated Half-Life on real hardware"

joveian — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 19:35:27 +0000

Eh, the real genius of Windows 11 that Linux lags behind is the seriously first rate emoji picker :).

New comment by joveian in "Arch Linux Now Believes Malware Incident Under Control: More Than 1,500 Packages"

joveian — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 19:11:08 +0000

That isn't what I ment, I should have said that the person who runs pkgsrc-wip helps submitters get the package correct (which can be more challenging than PKGBUILD since it is a more strict system and unless it is a Linux only package is more likely to need patches). Thinking about it more it isn't really the same as AUR since as I understand it packages without issues are likely to get into pkgsrc proper in most cases so it is mostly WIP as the name suggests (although not entirely as I recall, at least last time I used it). So you might be correct that there isn't really anything similar in the BSD world.

New comment by joveian in "Arch Linux Now Believes Malware Incident Under Control: More Than 1,500 Packages"

joveian — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 04:17:18 +0000

There is pkgsrc-wip which is similar but run by one person who does at least some checking up on new users. AUR is just gigantic in comparison; pkgsrc-wip has about as many total packages as AUR has updated in the past week.

https://www.pkgsrc.org/wip/

New comment by joveian in "Every Frame Perfect"

joveian — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 03:52:38 +0000

I agree that some things have a use and can do so without getting in the way, but I think as your example illustrates it is mostly to help new or infrequent users who aren't familiar with how the system works and often comes at the expense of regular users. Like mrob mentions (with a wonderful example), I usually want software to function like hand tools where I can just do a thing as quickly as I can do it and without unnecessary distractions. I've turned off cursor blink in my terminal and even though it isn't as bad in the browser I just turned it off in Firefox since you mentioned it (add a new preference ui.caretBlinkTime set to 0). Some of us do get more distracted by this kind of thing than others :/. Same with audio cues.

I do still like progress indicators when you might be waiting on a longer task (and when it actually indicates liveness, which too often it doesn't :( ).

Games I can sometimes appreciate the new user benefits and affecting the pace can sometimes have an artistic intent or relaxation effect that tools should not normally have. I have stopped playing games for excessive animations and will usually quickly (but not always immediately) disable anything that can be disabled. It is so common that I distinctly recall the free game Strange Adventures in Infinite Space intentially doing the opposite to great effect (it has been a bit but I think it was not only instant transitions but on mouse click instead of release).

https://rich.itch.io/strangeadventures

Lessons from brain-wide association studies

joveian — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 23:26:02 +0000

Article URL: https://www.thetransmitter.org/fmri/breaking-down-the-winners-curse-lessons-from-brain-wide-association-studies/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48497817

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Organized violence 1989–2025, and violent political protests

joveian — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 04:35:03 +0000

Article URL: https://academic.oup.com/jpr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopres/xjag046/8703754

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48471477

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

New comment by joveian in "Weird Al – It's All About the Pentiums (1999) [video]"

joveian — Fri, 29 May 2026 04:17:14 +0000

I remember this heavily commented post a few years ago:

Weird Al had 100 gigs of RAM

https://rubenerd.com/weird-al-had-100-gb-of-ram/

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32734840

After Cyberstalking Settlement, eBay Rewrites Board Oversight Rules

joveian — Fri, 29 May 2026 04:00:54 +0000

Article URL: https://www.valueaddedresource.net/ebay-rewrites-board-oversight-rules/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48318873

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by joveian in "Citing 'severe' math deficits, UC faculty demand a return to SAT tests for STEM"

joveian — Fri, 29 May 2026 01:48:23 +0000

It seems like the current situation means that processes need to change in a major way somewhere (maybe everywhere) but this report (and the letter) seem to be focused on doing as little as possible to get their part of the system back to the way it was. With this many students it seems like larger structural changes like a remedial year should be considered or else quickly redesign the system in other ways like reducing the focus on directly attending university after high school.

New comment by joveian in "Citing 'severe' math deficits, UC faculty demand a return to SAT tests for STEM"

joveian — Fri, 29 May 2026 00:21:32 +0000

Interesting article, although it does raise a few questions for me. I can see handwriting being uniquely important when learning to read but beyond that it would seem to just be suggesting that directly translating the same note taking to using a direct-mapped keyboard is a bad idea. But what about more complex input methods like for Chinese or a chording stenograph? Is there a distinct point where brain activity pops to wider activity? Do other computer based activities like correcting typos or non-computer activities like wiggling your finger to draw the shape of the first letter of each word engage more activity similar to handwriting? If needing a summary is the main difference, that seems like an easy thing to incorporate into digital note taking.

Learning to read I can see that handwriting directly relates but beyond that it seems like there must be more effective ways to engage with the material than just making the writing method more complex. I'd say the same about lectures; interacting with someone who understands the material can be quite valuable but spending a lot of time listening to the same thing that could be read can't be the most effective way to learn even if the complexity of the transmission does help some with memory. I hope this type of research goes beyond basic handwriting vs typing and looks into the effectiveness of additional ways of engaging with information.

For example, I like "don't guess" as a major principle of learning (per B.F. Skinner) to cultivate awareness of how reliable your memory is and avoid remembering incorrect answers as much as possible. The process of determining and looking up things that you aren't fairly certain about seems like something that could also engage wider brain activity and do so in a way that is more directly relevant to what you are learning.

New comment by joveian in "Magnifica Humanitas"

joveian — Tue, 26 May 2026 07:58:32 +0000

Vatican II started a major and ongoing reconciliation process leading to things like the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" (1999, quietly resolving the core issues of the reformation) and Pope Francis commemorating the 500th anniversary of the reformation at a Lutheran church in Sweden (2016):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Declaration_on_the_Doctr...

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/events/event.dir...

I think attitudes vary regionally and by congregation and an ecumenical focus doesn't necessarily translate to a positive perception of the pope but it can and not just all that recently.

New comment by joveian in "Exit IP VPN servers mitigation rollout"

joveian — Tue, 26 May 2026 04:08:08 +0000

Mullvad in particular has a page that lists the ISPs they use (in a few cases their own servers at a datacenter), although they don't list the datacenters (sometimes you can get this info from the ISPs).

https://mullvad.net/en/servers

They also have a document that lists some of their practices around the servers, such as not using shared servers:

https://mullvad.net/en/help/server-list

I noticed that the website of one of the two providers they use near me was over a decade out of date :/. DAITA is Mullvad's anti-traffic analysis framework, without it a single hop can likely be easily deanonymized by logging by a single party (it isn't clear if multihop uses fixed packet sizes between their servers).

New comment by joveian in "USB Cheat Sheet (2022)"

joveian — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 22:38:39 +0000

Also eGPU. I have a tiny NUC-size system with decent internal GPU and a (physically much larger) game system with a slower CPU that idles at only a bit under twice the maximum power of the NUC. It would be handy to be able to just plug in an eGPU when needed. The power and cooling requirements of fancy GPUs are so much higher than that of CPUs that large cases designed around the CPU don't make much sense. Even the pysical stability of a large GPU in an ATX style case is not ideal.

New comment by joveian in "Good sleep, good learning, good life (2012)"

joveian — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 04:18:41 +0000

I have multiple severe sleep disorders including non-24 and insomnia so it is hard to tell how my experiences match most people but hopefully this might help some. My sense is that when I sleep only a few hours then can't get back to sleep for at least three hours it means my body is interpreting the sleep as a siesta rather than night sleep (unless it is after sunrise). Non-delayed release melatonin makes this more likely for me. I don't think delayed release makes it less likely (at least not right away) but might at least not make it more likely and longer term it seems to help make it possible for me to sleep on a closer to fixed schedule. Magnesium is one of the few that helps me stay asleep though I suspect what might help you most is if you could take a nap earlier in the day. While most people these days already do this part I've found that caffeine in the morning makes it much less likely that I'll have this issue (I can't have caffeine in the afternoon or too much theobromine even in the morning multiple days in a row or I will have trouble sleeping; I imagine the helpful effect will be much less in people who are desensitized).

It sounds like you have a delayed circadian rhythm. The Circadian Sleep Disorders Network has some good info:

https://www.circadiansleepdisorders.org/

I don't agree with many of the suggestions in this article. Advancing your sleep schedule to try to shift your sleep earlier is particularly harmful and can trigger non-24. In my case, part of my body seems to be synchronized with light and part rotates around the clock leaving me rarely all that functional. It is a disabling condition. A somewhat delayed circadian rhythm seems to usually be much less disabling but may also cause similar trouble if severely delayed (many people don't have as much trouble with non-24 as I do, though I didn't have as much trouble for the first 15ish years either).

Waking up at the same time every day is another thing that can help stabilize the circadian rhythm (though I also think it is best to avoid alarm clocks most of the time). Going to sleep at the same time is less important; it is better to go to sleep early if you need more sleep than to sleep in.

I think it is best to avoid medication if possible. What I am using now seems to be working the best of anything I've tried but it has only been six months. At night I take 300mcg 6-hour delayed release melatonin, 250mg delayed release magnesium (though I think non-delayed may work just as well), 2.5mg baclofen (the small amount keeps it working with daily use and using it with magnesium works better than either alone), and 8-9mg diphenhydramine (not enough to help me get to sleep but just for the circadian effect, either 1/3 of a 25mg pill or 3.5mL of 12.5mg/5mL liquid). In the morning I usually drink some tea and take .5 tsp (2.5mL) D-ribose which seems to help quite a bit (I had previously tried it without noticing a positive effect but I think I may have only used it later in the day). In the US there seem to be many companies that package D-ribose but only one company that makes it.

New comment by joveian in "Google has a secret reference desk"

joveian — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 04:51:38 +0000

All of that and only as an aside mentioning the best search engine for quality information: Google Scholar. Academics publish stuff about just about everything which is often open access and the search seems to include some blogs these days, not just formal journals.

New comment by joveian in "Judge orders government to begin refunding more than $130B in tariffs"

joveian — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 05:47:16 +0000

Thanks, very interesting article! Also these two linked from that one:

National emergencies: Chadha wasn't the problem

https://prototypingpolitics.substack.com/p/national-emergenc...

Elizabeth Goiten (Brennan Center) testimony to a senate committee on May 22, 2024 (a nice summary of the general issue of executive use of emergencies)

[PDF] https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Testimony-Go...

New comment by joveian in "Why is the sky blue?"

joveian — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 05:38:54 +0000

I think it may also relate to chromatic adaptation. To be white it doesn't need to be any exact absolute color just the color our brain sets our white point to.

Not answering this question but I found an interesting short paper about how at sunset and sunrise the color gamut of shadows doesn't fully overlap with the direct illumination color gamut due to the differences in the paths the light takes:

Hubel. 2000. The Perception of Color at Dawn and Dusk.

https://library.imaging.org/admin/apis/public/api/ist/websit...

New comment by joveian in "Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants"

joveian — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 22:41:30 +0000

Here is a case study and discussion from a parathyroid surgeon:

https://www.devaboone.com/post/vitamin-d-part-2-shannon-s-st...

"There are people out there doing just fine on 5000 units of Vitamin D daily. I only see the ones who develop high calcium levels. But I see enough of them to know that this is not an exceptionally rare occurrence. I have been to lectures in which physicians have claimed that Vitamin D toxicity almost never occurs. In my experience, this is false. I have seen many cases of Vitamin D toxicity in people who were taking the recommended dose from an over-the-counter bottle.

Unfortunately, none of those patients were warned about the potential for Vitamin D to cause high calcium. They all believed that they were taking a supplement to improve health and that there was very little risk. Supplements don’t require prescriptions, and most do not have the warning labels that accompany medications. For Vitamin D, a steroid hormone, that may need to change."

Low Back Pain: A New Comprehensive Pathogenetic Model

joveian — Sun, 30 Mar 2025 10:36:45 +0000

Article URL: https://journals.eco-vector.com/2078-1962/article/view/626086

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43523042

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by joveian in "Books I Loved Reading in 2024"

joveian — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 22:38:34 +0000

Although I'm only interested in a few books on the list I find it a nicely done list: a good theme and a good amount of detail per book. I can't do as well but these are my favorites this year(ish):

* Fur Trade Nation by Carl Gawboy - a graphical history of the Ojibway nation between 1650 and 1850. Not a hard history with detailed discussion of evidence and possibilities but more of a grade school style overview of the history and really well done as that. I do better with text than most but I still think this style communication has a lot of advantages and should be used more.

* The Birchbark House series by Louise Erdrich (historical fiction, starting at the end of the period Fur Trade Nation covers) - I've read the first three books and while they are aimed at children they have complex characters and themes (and also some cute animals and a focus on the kids). I read her book Tracks a couple of decades ago and liked it well enough to remember her name when I saw a few years ago that she has a bookstore in Minneapolis called Birchbark Books. Their online store has a great selection of books by indigenous authors.

* The Gift is in the Making Anishinaabeg stories retold by Leanne Simpson - Traditional stories retold with a few recent references. This one has a few ojibway terms but is in english while I also read Plums or Nuts by Larry Amik Smallwood and Michael Migizi Sullivan Sr. which is fully in ojibway as well as english and the stories there are more personal by the first author. They are chosen primarily for language learning reasons but they are also nice "slice of life" stories and I recommend it even if you aren't trying to learn ojibway.

* Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot - The author has a breakdown and writes about it. A really rough read but well writen and has a lot of love for such a tramatic story.

* Bringing Joy: A Local Literary Welcome - I heard about Fur Trade Nation when it was first published and not widely available so I got it from the publisher at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and found this poetry collection and decided to try it even though I'm not usually into poetry. There were a couple that I will hopefully never forget and more that I enjoyed reading. I picked up What Book!? later thinking I'd try a bit more poetry but haven't enjoyed that one as much so far.

* A Space for the Unbound - Technically a game not a book but very story focused and in my opinion the best game story (by quite a bit) of any game I've played. Again some severe abuse depicted and also a lot of love.