Hacker News: junar

New comment by junar in "US special forces soldier arrested after allegedly winning $400k on Maduro raid"

junar — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 23:17:56 +0000

From the indictment, he's being charged with the following:

* Unlawful Use of Confidential Government Information for Personal Gain

* Theft of Nonpublic Government Information

* Commodities Fraud

* Wire Fraud

* Engaging in a Monetary Transaction in Property Derived from Specified Unlawful Activity

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/media/1437781/dl

New comment by junar in "Fredrick Brennan, founder of 8chan, has died"

junar — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 20:44:12 +0000

Also: https://brainwormsusa.substack.com/p/saying-goodbye-to-copyp...

New comment by junar in "The bachelor tax – what it costs in taxes to be single"

junar — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:34:56 +0000

List of caveats I can think of:

* Covers regular federal income tax only. Does not cover any of the taxes on Schedule 2, nor any state/local taxes.

* Assumes both individuals take the federal standard deduction as Single (not Head of Household).

* Assumes no other credits or deductions.

As a result, this can potentially understate marriage penalties for dual-income couples with kids.

https://taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-are-marriage-...

New comment by junar in "Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years"

junar — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 22:13:25 +0000

Using the example from the top-level comment, you would install an IME, switch to hiragana mode, start typing "kouen" and convert to kanji when you see the right suggestion.

It might sound complicated at first, but you can do it pretty fast once you get used to it.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/input/japane...

New comment by junar in "Most Americans say 'Arabic numerals' should not be taught in school (2019)"

junar — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 00:24:21 +0000

(2019)

New comment by junar in "Google Safe Browsing incident"

junar — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 20:53:30 +0000

I was curious how other browsers handle this. Apparently Safari and Firefox delegate to Google.

https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/safari/

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-does-phishing-and-m...

Microsoft seems to do its own thing for Edge, though.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-...

New comment by junar in "The fight between doctors and insurance companies over 'downcoding'"

junar — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 02:39:53 +0000

There are a few caveats with the medical expense deduction.

* It's only a deduction for income tax. FSAs let you save on FICA as well.

* It's an itemized deduction. You only benefit after your total itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction. Fewer people are itemizing nowadays because the federal standard deduction is large.

* There's a 7.5% of AGI floor: you can only count medical expenses that exceed this fraction of your income.

New comment by junar in "Slack has raised our charges by $195k per year"

junar — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 02:37:59 +0000

What I'm trying to say is that a story with more details is more interesting to me than a story with fewer ones.

They spent multiple paragraphs complaining about Slack, and gave Mattermost a brief mention in a single sentence. I'd enjoy hearing praise about Mattermost if they're willing to provide it as well.

New comment by junar in "Slack has raised our charges by $195k per year"

junar — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 02:13:29 +0000

I really wish this post had more details.

How was the price computed? If Slack charging per user, how did this organization have so many users? Why is their new provider more favorable in pricing?

If Slack was previously offering a nonprofit discount, what happened to it? Did they decide that this organization was ineligible, or are they shutting it down in general?

New comment by junar in "“No Tax on Tips” Includes Digital Creators, Too"

junar — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 22:41:29 +0000

I think one aspect that is understated: "No Tax on Tips" is only a deduction for the purposes of federal income tax. W-2 workers still owe FICA and other payroll taxes on such income, and similarly self-employed workers would still owe self-employment tax.

To me, a more appropriate name is "Some taxes on tips".

New comment by junar in "U.S. added 911k fewer jobs in year through March than reported earlier"

junar — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 01:28:52 +0000

Yes, and to add, it would count anyone who had any wages in that quarter, not necessarily those who are still employed.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f941.pdf

New comment by junar in "China is eating the world"

junar — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 21:15:31 +0000

I agree, that part seems like a weak argument.

Perhaps a more apt comparison is that China-based Luckin Coffee has far more locations in the country compared to Starbucks.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/12/china-us-br...

New comment by junar in "The Secret Stanford Program No One's Heard About"

junar — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 20:21:16 +0000

Pretty sure any Stanford student would have heard about it. For students graduating in 2023-2024 year, Management Science and Engineering was the 9th most popular bachelor's degree and 7th most popular master's degree.

https://irds.stanford.edu/data-findings/degrees-conferred

New comment by junar in "I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA"

junar — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 02:06:21 +0000

Your EAD allows you to work at any job. You're in a much better place compared to anyone who needs sponsorship.

There's no particular difference between a person having G-4 status and any other person in nonimmigrant status when it comes to green card sponsorship. It's just as easy, and just as difficult.

New comment by junar in "H-1B program grew 81 percent from 2011 to 2022"

junar — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 18:25:36 +0000

A cap-exempt H-1B doesn't let you work for a "company".

Only universities, university-affiliated nonprofits, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations can sponsor one. Furthermore, even after you obtain a cap-exempt H-1B, you would be required to go through the lottery like anyone else if you want to work at an employer subject to the H-1B cap.

New comment by junar in "IRS Direct File on GitHub"

junar — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 02:39:24 +0000

No, I think you have it mixed up. It's quite clear that the authority came from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which was was well known to have passed without a single Republican vote. It's also quite clear that in the context of the top-level comment, "this program" mentioned means the Direct File as it operates, not the release of source code.

> The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law in August 2022.1 Section 10301(1)(B) of the IRS provided the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with $15 million to establish a task force to design an IRS-run, free direct electronic filing (e-file) system commonly referred to as “Direct File” ...

https://www.tigta.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2025-03/20...

You're bringing up an unrelated law that didn't even exist at the time of the launch of Direct File in early 2024.

New comment by junar in "How to live on $432 a month in America"

junar — Fri, 23 May 2025 22:13:51 +0000

I'd expect 5G home internet to be cheaper than satellite, though probably still more expensive than an ultra-low-cost cellular plan.

New comment by junar in "I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA"

junar — Fri, 16 May 2025 20:32:46 +0000

Well, if you read through your link, you'll understand what parent comment is talking about.

> Requirements for Canadian Citizens

> A visa is not required for a Canadian citizen entering the United States as a USMCA Professional, although a visa can be issued to a qualified Canadian TN visa applicant upon application at a U.S. embassy or consulate.

> A Canadian citizen can apply for TN nonimmigrant status at a U.S. port-of-entry. Learn about these requirements on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) websites. More information about receiving TN status without applying for a visa is also available on the U.S. Embassy Ottawa website.

New comment by junar in "Future of OSU Open Source Lab in Jeopardy"

junar — Thu, 01 May 2025 02:19:24 +0000

"Below are groups who supported the Open Source Lab through annual contributions of $25,000 or more during fiscal years 2019 and 2020."

It seems that all of them have contributed financially (though of course, it's unclear which ones do so at present).

New comment by junar in "US tax return filings drop by nearly 1M, extension requests rise"

junar — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 21:29:12 +0000

It's about 13% annualized right now. You need to add up both the failure to pay penalty at 0.5% per month and the interest at 7% per year. With good credit, you can likely get a cheaper loan.