Hacker News: martin_a

New comment by martin_a in "Why is Google still serving dodgy ads?"

martin_a — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 18:42:10 +0000

> so they would rather have people report them

I have reported so many of those dodgy, scammy, sexualized ads on YouTube, that YouTube/Google has removed the option to report advertisements from my account.

They don't care as long as they're getting paid and there's no immediate liability for them.

New comment by martin_a in "Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit"

martin_a — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:15:41 +0000

You don't. You file a claim with the airline for any losses, take them to civil court or whatever is needed to get your money back.

The airline itself should insure against such events, or rather what follows from them.

New comment by martin_a in "MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID"

martin_a — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 13:34:09 +0000

I still don't see how this is supposed to work for text content that I copy and paste somewhere else. And with models getting better and better to "human language", wouldn't the false positives also rise as "real text" is flagged to be AI generated?

New comment by martin_a in "How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs"

martin_a — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 20:03:35 +0000

Newly established laws are always like a pendulum.

It swings to one side, overreaching and overcomplicating things, and then back to the other side where restrictions are loosened or removed.

Anybody remembers the EU platform for dispute resolution? It's gone after 10 years because nobody used it.

PPWR in 10 years will probably be something like: Sign up for a recycling system in your country and pay for the packaging you've brought into the market. Also have icons on the packaging so people know how to recycle them. (Except in France, they'll surely require some crazy stuff as always.)

New comment by martin_a in "Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit"

martin_a — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 16:45:45 +0000

I think that's exactly the case you would insure yourself against as an airline, so when shit hits the fan, you will not collapse.

New comment by martin_a in "Fastmail offers EU data region"

martin_a — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 20:57:35 +0000

> AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle

What? Those are US companies, they will have to give out your data under the Cloud Act. Only Schwarz and SAP are free from that by being German companies.

New comment by martin_a in "Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time"

martin_a — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 17:29:58 +0000

If you look at Volvo or smart, we are probably already on that route.

Had great hopes for the ID.Polo but from what I've seen it's just another vehicle that gets really expensive for not that much of a car...

New comment by martin_a in "Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in Germany for the first time"

martin_a — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 19:09:08 +0000

More often that not I think this is a cheap excuse. When you look at struggling companies (take the car industry for example), I think the issue is more about missing innovation and building things that people don't want or can't afford anymore in Germany.

New comment by martin_a in "Pebble Mega Update – July 2026"

martin_a — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 22:27:13 +0000

Just looked at mine and wondered whether I should 3D print a cover for the contacts from TPU. Thanks for the idea!

edit: Done. :-D Better safe than sorry.

New comment by martin_a in "Amazon without the knockoffs"

martin_a — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 20:19:31 +0000

Thank you for your work! Just installed the plugin, hope it will ease the pain of finding things on Amazon. :-D

edit: lol. tried searching for USB C flex cables. WHOLE search result page is gone. Love it! :-D

New comment by martin_a in "Microsoft Needs Windows Lite"

martin_a — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 16:53:00 +0000

Do these versions get regular updates or are they expected to run on air-gapped machines so nobody really has to take care of them?

New comment by martin_a in "Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users"

martin_a — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 21:22:27 +0000

No problem!

Former colleague had an EQB and I nearly hit another car on the Autobahn because cruise control was not breaking when I got closer. That was really unexpected as that was a standard feature in my Hyundai...

New comment by martin_a in "Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users"

martin_a — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:57:04 +0000

Each km/h over the speed limit can decide between coming to a stop at the right moment or killing somebody. Don't try to put it into the wrong perspective. The beeping is fine.

New comment by martin_a in "Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users"

martin_a — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 23:38:40 +0000

Well, just don't drive fast than the speed limit and nothing will beep at you. Simple as that.

Positive side effect: No expensive photos will be taken, too.

New comment by martin_a in "Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users"

martin_a — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 23:34:17 +0000

Mercedes is terrible for EVs. Adaptive Cruise Control for example is a paid feature with a recurring subscription. Don't encourage "Car as a Service" concepts.

New comment by martin_a in "Japan is gripped by mass allergies. A 1950s project is to blame"

martin_a — Wed, 20 May 2026 09:14:20 +0000

> There's no way it can cause local wood to become less competitive with imported wood.

But isn't that what we're seeing around the world? Be it cheaper labor, political control or whatever else, imported goods can be cheaper than locally produced goods.

New comment by martin_a in "Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer"

martin_a — Tue, 12 May 2026 23:06:32 +0000

Yeah, I always thought that, especially after seeing that the producer is a beauty company... :-D

New comment by martin_a in "Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer"

martin_a — Sun, 10 May 2026 21:36:23 +0000

Can you get 3DLAC in Japan? That's what I'm using with great success. Otherwise maybe try some hair sprays, that worked in 2011, too... :-D

New comment by martin_a in "Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?"

martin_a — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 22:12:16 +0000

Lol, same thing for Android, too. It has full access to my contact list, but if I tell it to "Call Stephan Beier" I see the transcript for "Beyer" and then it fails. That sounds the same in German, now what shall I do. Stupid thing.

New comment by martin_a in "Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?"

martin_a — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 22:09:23 +0000

> will re-enable itself every time you turn on the car

I think that's only for the speed limit alarms. Wouldn't have that if people would stick to limits, I guess...