Hacker News: lsllc

Bill Gates proposes major limits on AI development

lsllc — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 20:19:46 +0000

Article URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/26/business/bill-gates-wants-limits-on-ai

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455280

Points: 6

# Comments: 1

New comment by lsllc in "My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”"

lsllc — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 01:54:08 +0000

I got an Apple Watch just before the pandemic. In the winter I love to XC Ski, but it wasn't in there as an activity -- I guess not much snow in Cupertino.

After a year or two of daily charging I went back to my trusty Garmin 935 that lasts ~2 weeks on a charge (used to be more like a month, but you know what I can install a replacement battery!) -- the Garmin does have an XC Ski activity.

New comment by lsllc in "Advertise in ChatGPT"

lsllc — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 19:09:44 +0000

Of course not, just like when you pay for Netflix or Prime Video there are no ads ... right? ... right?

New comment by lsllc in "GPT-5.6"

lsllc — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 21:38:30 +0000

Interesting that Sol (low) did better than Sol (medium) in your benchmark (and is barely more expensive than Terra). I too have been using 5.3 codex as a cheap-but-good model and are switching to Terra (xhigh).

New comment by lsllc in "Swift Package Index joins Apple"

lsllc — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 20:23:32 +0000

Yes, congrats to Dave on two successes!

New comment by lsllc in "Show HN: Forty.News – Daily news, but on a 40-year delay"

lsllc — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 00:23:24 +0000

It says "Weather: Partly cloudy, 72°F". Normally, I'd ask "where" (not here in New England!) ... but in this case, "when"? Is this the weather from 40 years ago also? (and if so ... I guess "where").

New comment by lsllc in "Spatial intelligence is AI’s next frontier"

lsllc — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:24:00 +0000

> taking actions that reduce the difference between predictions and reality, effectively minimizing prediction errors

Since you can't change reality itself, and you can only take actions to reduce variational free energy, doesn't this make everything into a self-fulfilling prophecy?

I guess there must be some base level of instinct that overrides this; in the case of "I think that sabertooth tiger is going to eat me" you want to make sure the "don't get eaten" instinct counters "minimizing prediction errors".

Object That Damaged 737 MAX Windscreen Could Have Been a Weather Balloon

lsllc — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 00:11:29 +0000

Article URL: https://airlinegeeks.com/2025/10/21/object-that-damaged-737-max-windscreen-could-have-been-a-weather-balloon-company-says/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45700354

Points: 2

# Comments: 2

New comment by lsllc in "AWS multiple services outage in us-east-1"

lsllc — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 08:33:27 +0000

The Ring (Doorbell) App isn't working, nor is any the MBTA (Transit) Status pages/apps.

New comment by lsllc in "Did Space Debris Hit A United Flight Over The Rockies Thursday?"

lsllc — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 12:50:38 +0000

When TWA Flight 800 went down over Long Island in 1996, there were at the time multiple witness statements of a "streak of light" which had been reported (and later discounted by the investigation) as a possible missile.

Although the odds are incredibly slim, I wondered around the time if it could have actually been a meteorite striking the aircraft, passing through the fuel tank and causing the explosion. Presumably it would have been moving very quickly, might have looked like a missile to an observer, and wouldn't have left any shrapnel debris/marks in the wreckage.

I would imagine that the space debris mentioned in the article would be a lot less dense and moving much more slowly (relatively speaking) than a meteorite at the impact with the aircraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800

New comment by lsllc in "Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth"

lsllc — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 20:06:20 +0000

So "heads I win, tails you lose!"

New comment by lsllc in "Neil Armstrong's customs form for moon rocks (2016)"

lsllc — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 17:52:51 +0000

I think Customs is on to that -- that was how Saddam Hussein got the precision parts of his "supergun" out of Europe into Iraq, the parts were all labeled as oil industry related.

New comment by lsllc in "Qwen3-Coder: Agentic coding in the world"

lsllc — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 09:06:05 +0000

I think in 2-3 years, it'll be the same story except it'll be bigger/better/faster.

As Heraclitus said "The only constant in life is change"

(and maybe Emacs)

New comment by lsllc in "OpenAI’s Windsurf deal is off, and Windsurf’s CEO is going to Google"

lsllc — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 15:22:10 +0000

Presumably the founder(s) is/are getting a better deal by walking away in this case. If they've been through a few round of funding, they may have been diluted to the point when this sort of exit is better (for them).

New comment by lsllc in "OpenAI’s Windsurf deal is off, and Windsurf’s CEO is going to Google"

lsllc — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 23:14:26 +0000

Isn't there not some contractual agreement between the VCs and the founders? (I understand that a non-compete might not apply [in CA], but taking VC money is a little different that simply getting hired).

Were I a Windsurf investor, I'd be pissed right now and calling my lawyer.

New comment by lsllc in "Seine reopens to Paris swimmers after century-long ban"

lsllc — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 03:05:49 +0000

In London the Thames Tideway Tunnel is designed to intercept and divert sewage overflows from the River Thames, particularly during heavy rainfall:

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68464798

I think there's a B1M episode on Youtube that has a good overview.

New comment by lsllc in "OBBB signed: Reinstates immediate expensing for U.S.-based R&D"

lsllc — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 02:35:39 +0000

Might even ameliorate some of the corporate RTO efforts and now s/w devs will have more employment choice and a presumably more vibrant job market.

New comment by lsllc in "OBBB signed: Reinstates immediate expensing for U.S.-based R&D"

lsllc — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 01:21:35 +0000

Looks like prior years can be caught up with:

> Companies with capitalized domestic R&D expenses from 2022–2024 can elect a catch-up deduction, which could significantly improve cash flow for firms engaged in innovation.

The curious case of the British F35B jet stuck in India

lsllc — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 23:29:17 +0000

Article URL: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8gj2nlnywo

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44459974

Points: 5

# Comments: 0

New comment by lsllc in "That XOR Trick (2020)"

lsllc — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 20:09:32 +0000

Yes! in the old MS-DOS days (circa 286?), it was quicker in terms of cycles to do:

  xor ax, ax

Than:

  mov ax, 0h