Hacker News: mbirth

New comment by mbirth in "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything"

mbirth — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 01:12:51 +0000

You should try Windows 7, then. Boots in no time at all, feels EXTREMELY snappy, and nowadays, there are UEFI loaders and a thing called VxKex-NEXT which adds the few new API calls Windows 10 introduced and thus makes W7 run many W10-only apps.

New comment by mbirth in "New Referendum Would Flip Brexit Result 10 Years On, Poll Finds"

mbirth — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 23:09:12 +0000

Most of the people that want to rejoin the EU never realised that Brexit happened at the same time as COVID and they believe that all the bad things that happened since were due to Brexit and Brexit only. All the while ignoring that most EU countries are not that much better off. Just look at the GDP growth.

New comment by mbirth in "Ask HN: What was your "oh shit" moment with GenAI?"

mbirth — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 01:26:57 +0000

Running ComfyUI and some ImageGenAI and realising how you can use it to generate anything from any aspect of pr0n and various fetishes to making up fake news about basically anything. And real enough to convince the masses.

New comment by mbirth in "Omarchy Is Not A Distro"

mbirth — Mon, 25 May 2026 00:21:05 +0000

Wait, it even needs an extension for Safari?

I'm using Strongbox (uses a KeePass-compatible database) which integrates into Apple's AutoFill API and appears automatically in all input fields - just like Keychain. No extension needed.

New comment by mbirth in "Omarchy Is Not A Distro"

mbirth — Sun, 24 May 2026 16:28:59 +0000

It was better when it was still a native app and not this Electron nonsense.

New comment by mbirth in "Tell HN: I'm tired of AI-generated answers"

mbirth — Fri, 22 May 2026 01:45:45 +0000

> You're absolutely right! I'm here to help. Tell me more about .

Or, for the more grey haired among us:

Hello, my name is Dr. Sbaitso. I am here to help you. […] So, tell me about your problems.

New comment by mbirth in "Classic 7 is a Windows 10 LTSC mod to look 1:1 to Windows 7"

mbirth — Sat, 16 May 2026 01:56:37 +0000

There’s also VxKex-NEXT[0] which adds the very few API calls W10 introduced to a Windows 7 to make it mostly compatible with W10 apps.

[0]: https://github.com/YuZhouRen86/VxKex-NEXT

New comment by mbirth in "The locals don't know"

mbirth — Thu, 14 May 2026 21:20:56 +0000

What’s even better is that thing with memberships here in the UK. While the single admission price for these “touristy” sites might appear quite steep, usually for not much more (and sometimes even without paying extra) you can become a “member” for a year and return as many times as you wish. This removes the pressure of “making the entrance fee worth it” and made several attractions much more enjoyable for us. Often, it even allows free entry into partner venues.

New comment by mbirth in "McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)"

mbirth — Sat, 09 May 2026 01:59:14 +0000

I’ve actually switched from Just Eat to slightly more expensive Deliveroo because the latter one makes it extremely easy (at least in the UK) to report wrong deliveries and you get your money back in a matter of minutes. Also make sure to do the McD survey via the link on the receipt - that usually improves things for a while.

New comment by mbirth in "iOS 27 is adding a 'Create a Pass' button to Apple Wallet"

mbirth — Tue, 05 May 2026 13:25:37 +0000

I'm using MakePass for ages now. Got it when it was still a single purchase and got grandfathered into their new license model. It allows you to use almost all features of the PassKit API. Very happy with it - let's see how the native feature compares.

New comment by mbirth in "I Do Not Recommend Bitwarden"

mbirth — Sat, 02 May 2026 21:58:16 +0000

This! I’m using Strongbox on macOS and iOS and it’s just sooo good. It integrates with Apple’s AutoFill API and feels native - just like Apple’s Passwords app. But all the entries are in a KeePass database which I can sync via SyncThing, iCloud, Dropbox, whatever. And if the application should fail, I can use any other KeePass-compatible app or KeePass itself to get to my secrets.

New comment by mbirth in "Moving from WordPress to Jekyll (and static site generators in general)"

mbirth — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:25:33 +0000

A buddy found Cusdis - a self-hostable Disqus alternative: https://cusdis.com . But this only does comments, no pingbacks - and via a separate product that you need to integrate using JavaScript.

And running this opens you up to security issues you were trying to avoid by going the SSG route. In a way you could just keep WP, then.

(Also, WP has this beautiful ActivityPub plugin that makes your blog a fediverse account that people can subscribe to and even comment on your posts from Mastodon/Pleroma/etc.)

New comment by mbirth in "A brief history of instant coffee"

mbirth — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 03:58:47 +0000

Or boil a larger quantity and fill it into a thermos. Perfectly fine for instant coffee throughout the day. (And without the coffee stains in the thermos.)

New comment by mbirth in "A brief history of instant coffee"

mbirth — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 03:55:19 +0000

Yep, all the instant coffee jars I’ve seen have a note to use hot but NOT boiling water. And I’ve noticed that using too hot water can even spoil the taste a bit.

I usually turn off the kettle when the noise starts noticeably changing. This usually is something between 70-80℃.

New comment by mbirth in "Yggdrasil Network"

mbirth — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 20:14:17 +0000

Or the yggdrasil daemon from Red Hat:

https://github.com/RedHatInsights/yggdrasil

New comment by mbirth in "Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths"

mbirth — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 18:13:12 +0000

You could technically just transmit data via RDS, too. Change a letter here and there and nobody would know whether that’s a decoding error or actual ciphertext. (Would need some kind of checksum or so, of course.)

@windytan did a fascinating audio clip highlighting the RDS data stream in a radio recording some while ago:

https://soundcloud.com/windytan-1/rds-mixdown

New comment by mbirth in "Apple Just Lost Me"

mbirth — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 10:49:14 +0000

> As of now, my only way to verify it is by literally ordering a credit card from my UK bank when I'm pretty happy with my debit cards already.

This is not true. On the screen where it wants you to scan a credit card, tap “Enter details manually”. Scroll down. Tap “Try other methods”. And there, you’ll be offered to scan an ID or your driver’s license.

New comment by mbirth in "HopTab – Open source macOS app switcher and tiler that replaces Cmd+Tab"

mbirth — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 09:54:28 +0000

macOS 26, of course.

New comment by mbirth in "HopTab – Open source macOS app switcher and tiler that replaces Cmd+Tab"

mbirth — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 03:32:36 +0000

Native clipboard history was introduced in iOS 26’s new Spotlight.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchl40d5b86b/...

New comment by mbirth in "Android developer verification: Balancing openness and choice with safety"

mbirth — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 20:15:28 +0000

“They only want your firstborn. You can make more kids."