<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Hacker News: lotu</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lotu</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 08:38:08 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=lotu" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I'd say it was bad legislation because this was a foreseeable outcome.  I actually worked on cookie banners, and we did user testing, a full 80% of people closed it before reading single word and thought it was an ad.<p>This type of ambush agree to XYZ or you can't come in that we see with EULA's and privacy polices is unfair, just like if some scammer demanded people sign a fifty page contract before they enter the supermarket.  This is something people understand intuitively.<p>It was foreseeable, and the end result is very little has changed as far as consumer privacy.  Most people just agree to get the box to go away, if you actually want privacy your best bet is still a private browsing session and a VPN.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:57:14 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47838951</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47838951</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47838951</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Ban the sale of precise geolocation"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>My job was building cookie walls in response to GDPR.  It might not have been the “intent” but it certainly was the consequence of that law.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:21:31 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806909</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806909</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806909</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "New York could prohibit chatbot medical, legal, engineering advice"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Just because you aren't charging money doesn't give you the ability to act as an attorney, doctor, or civil engineer.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2026 19:37:56 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47252691</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47252691</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47252691</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Blue light filters don't work – controlling total luminance is a better bet"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I remember when I found Flux (third party predecessor to night shift) sometime in 2013.  It worked in a week, I'd been staying up until 3am for most of the year and a started going to bed at midnight.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 23:42:04 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47095659</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47095659</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47095659</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Oneplus phone update introduces hardware anti-rollback"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Yes thieves do, research on which phones to steal.  Just not online more in personal talking with their network of lawbreakers.  In short a thief is going to have a fence, and that person is going to know all about what phones can and cannot be resold.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2026 22:35:26 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46759260</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46759260</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46759260</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "The Unix Pipe Card Game"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Sounds very profitable for whoever is selling solutions, I wonder if perhaps they also provide wisdom as a loss leader.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 21 Jan 2026 04:28:16 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46701125</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46701125</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46701125</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "The recurring dream of replacing developers"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Yes very much so, if they could make their product do the things they claim they would be focused on doing that, not telling people to stop being naysayers.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 17 Jan 2026 19:33:43 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46661261</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46661261</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46661261</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "The recurring dream of replacing developers"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Yes there totally are web development, shovel ware app development, are two that I can think of off the top of my head.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 17 Jan 2026 19:30:58 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46661229</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46661229</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46661229</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "The recurring dream of replacing developers"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>You say that like someone that has been coding for so long you have forgotten what it's like to not know how to code.  The customer will have little idea what is even possible and will ask for a product that doesn't solve their actual problem.  AI is amazing at producing answers you previously would have looked up on stack overflow, which is very useful.  It often can type faster that than I can which is also useful.  However, if we are going to see the exponential improvements towards AGI AI boosters talk about we would have already seen the start of it.<p>When LLMs first showed up publicly it was a huge leap forward, and people assumed it would continue improving at the rate they had seen but it hasn't.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 17 Jan 2026 19:28:48 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46661211</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46661211</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46661211</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Don't fall into the anti-AI hype"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Yes this is exactly what I feel.  I disconnect enough that if it’s really taking its time I will pull up Reddit and now that single prompt cost me half an hour.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2026 02:53:26 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46583432</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46583432</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46583432</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "The Other Linux Logo"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I disagree while, there is an Linux icon that would fit in here.  This is not it.  It might be a starting point, I don't think the design works. despite how simple the windows and apple logos they represent thousands of hours of work by the best graphic artists.<p>I'm not one of the best graphic artists but I'll give it a shot.  First the default version feels vaguely ominous.  To me it feels like someone robbing a bank or the logo on stormtroopers murdering civilians,  this is obviously horrible.  I think this is due to the sharp angles and the eyes without an attached mouth.<p>The other options improve the scary problem but add complexity that moves it away from the simple universal recognizable logo we are trying to make.  On that note the default version is still too complex.  Maybe you could move to more of a silhouette, though I think that would fail in recognizably.<p>Perhaps part of the problem is a penguin is just not so omnipresent in our lives as windows and apples are.  Redhat does achieve this with a very simple instantly recognizable logo, I think that could work.  Ubuntu also does well with it's logo thought it has gone full abstract, it's distinct and works well.<p>If you want to see more google image search for "logos"</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 27 Sep 2025 14:49:18 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45396179</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45396179</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45396179</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Thank fuck for saying this</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 27 May 2025 00:43:04 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44102949</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44102949</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44102949</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Those higher level questions are likely outside the scope of the class.  Like write a novel or something like that.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 27 May 2025 00:40:46 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44102940</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44102940</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44102940</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Because it is necessary, think about toilet training a toddler.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 27 May 2025 00:38:54 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44102928</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44102928</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44102928</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Traffic Fatalities Are a Choice"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Marking the road at its engineered speed is ineffective.  People overwhelmingly do not use speed limits to decide how fast they drive.  They look at how wide and straight the road is and how many things they see.  The problem is we built a lot of streets that are engineered to be 50mph roads in residential neighborhoods.  People then ignore the 25mph sign and drive 50mph and hit little children playing outside their home.  Rebuilding and rerouting the road is impractical, so how do we fix the problem?  Empirical evidence shows that by adding "distracting things" people drive slower, and this results in few fatalities.<p>You are thinking of them as "distractions" but counter intuitively it might better to think of them "focus holders".  Imagine your job is to sit in an empty room with a single button and at random times, a light turns on and you need to push the button within half a second.  If this happens every several seconds or so, this is pretty easy, but if it only happens after an hour or so your mind will be wandering and your reaction time will be shit.  Now imagine instead you are given a platforming video game like Mario or Hollow Knight, and every time a certain character appears on screen need to push the Y button.  This sounds like something that is easy to do for hours, even if the specific character appears infrequently, it would even be enjoyable.  Adding those elements like trees, turns and bumps are the same idea, it ensures the drivers focus is always on the road where it needs to be.<p>Also some people just don't care and race down wide straight roads as fast as they can.  The only way to slow these people down is to make it impossible to go extremely fast.  I can think of this play ground near my house which is across the street from a school.  In orders to stop people speeding down this straight street, the placed large rocks in the middle of the road, so you have to dive this zig zag pattern.  I sure this can be somewhat frustrating for drivers but it's now impossible to navigate this road at more than ~20 mph which is what we want.<p>As for moving interactions I think the idea of not having pedestrian crossings at intersections is infeasible.  Though it might work if you were building a new city from scratch.  When you are walking in a city you are going to cross multiple blocks.  Walking ten+ blocks to get somewhere is so normal it’s not something you even think about.  Crossing in the middle of the block would at least double and could triple or quadruple the length of the of a walk and city dwellers would simply not do it and cross at intersections.  They already universally ignore traffic lights, and aren't going to walk out of their way dozens of times a day.<p>I could imagine a city that was designed around walking and all the shops and homes were on car free streets, with streets behind the houses, like alleyways or underground. That I could see working, but the problems with implementation are obvious.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 12 May 2025 18:10:50 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43965924</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43965924</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43965924</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>>  An algorithm can screw up too of course, but it's a lot harder to show intent, which can affect the damages awarded I think.<p>I personally think an algorithm would be easier to show intent, or a least willful negligence, it would also magnify the harm.  A employee might only make mistakes on occasion, but an algorithm will make it every single time.  The benefit of an algorithm is it does not need to be reminded do or not to do something, and it's actions are easier to interrogate than a humans.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 12 May 2025 12:38:10 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43962263</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43962263</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43962263</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Presumably there are laws that give teachers some rights to act in the place of parents and control students.  However those laws did not include the ability to confiscate property preemptively.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 30 Apr 2025 15:30:05 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43846633</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43846633</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43846633</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>> > Could they collect every phone before school and hand them out after? Sure.. but that's a nightmare.<p>Yes they could for years NYC schools banned cellphones in schools which ment kids could not bring them in the building at all.  Kids left their phones with nearby bodegas or in a van parked outside the school for a small fee.  Basically a coat check for phones.  This worked perfectly well and required zero effort on the part of the administration.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 30 Apr 2025 15:26:56 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43846588</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43846588</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43846588</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "It would take three years to install a speed bump. So I bought my own"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>On residential streets where you want slow traffic yes.  When you have a wide straight road people go fast on it.   To prevent that you narrow the road, install curves and bumps.  These require to the driver to slow down and be careful, which means they also notice when there are children nearby playing and don't run them over.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 07 Apr 2025 21:26:21 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43616133</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43616133</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43616133</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by lotu in "How to lose a fortune with one bad click"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>It’s great for laundering money.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 20 Dec 2024 21:29:57 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42475239</link><dc:creator>lotu</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42475239</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42475239</guid></item></channel></rss>