Hacker News: michael1999

New comment by michael1999 in "Italy blocks US use of Sicily air base for Middle East war"

michael1999 — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:27:23 +0000

That is a misleading headline. Italy refused landing to flights outside normal operations without a prior request. We don't know how the Italian government would respond to a request if the US took the time to make one.

New comment by michael1999 in "Is it a pint?"

michael1999 — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 21:27:40 +0000

I have a buddy who used to call Weights and Measures on bars that passed off US customary pints as "pints". It is illegal, but enforced largely by complaint.

New comment by michael1999 in "Just Put It on a Map"

michael1999 — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 22:57:34 +0000

The road network expansions and maintenance required to support the suburbs does. Ottawa has this exact problem. They are widening inner-suburb roads to satisfy demand created by outer-suburb development. A double-whammy.

New comment by michael1999 in "Europe sleepwalked into yet another energy crisis"

michael1999 — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 23:16:57 +0000

Spain didn't.

https://www.ft.com/content/19f2ee15-dc86-4964-b23f-d644b18a7...

New comment by michael1999 in "The modern formatting addiction in writing"

michael1999 — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:55:10 +0000

I wind up using this kind of formatting while writing in Google Docs. It's easier to jump around with the nav bar if the structure is legible to the app. But it does make the document less readable.

New comment by michael1999 in "Why is the sky blue?"

michael1999 — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 17:52:20 +0000

It can be - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_flash

New comment by michael1999 in "Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability"

michael1999 — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 18:12:00 +0000

The ugreen one is rechargable - https://www.ugreen.com/en-ca/products/ca-45298

New comment by michael1999 in "Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability"

michael1999 — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 18:11:24 +0000

My need was finding my black wallet in the house when I forget where I put it. My wife has been very happy that she no longer has to field "Hey sweetie, have you seen my wallet?". I walk around asking it to sing to me, and I find it without bother.

As for theft - you might be overthinking it. It's a black piece of plastic that could easily be a door key. Gutter thieves will rifle the wallet and pull out cash, and credit cards, and drop the rest in the trash anyway. Any regular thief knows they don't want to be caught holding someone else's id.

New comment by michael1999 in "Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability"

michael1999 — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 03:55:53 +0000

I have the ugreen card, and it works fine. https://www.ugreen.com/en-ca/products/ca-45298

New comment by michael1999 in "Netflix Migrates to Amazon Aurora: 75% Performance Boost and 28% Cost Reduction"

michael1999 — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 15:33:16 +0000

This matches my testing. Aurora is fast enough that we actual started to contend on the heap locks, and had to tune our batch orders. Too bad network-attached i/o is so slow.

New comment by michael1999 in "Oral microbiome sequencing after taking probiotics"

michael1999 — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 15:29:34 +0000

Yeasts and fungi produce durable spores. But most gut bacteria do not form spores. When they dry out, they die.

New comment by michael1999 in "Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study"

michael1999 — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 22:30:36 +0000

Planning, good sense, and caution go a long way to compensate for physical impairment. Weed is different from booze in that booze increases risk taking, which makes driving such a danger. But that doesn’t mean weed doesn’t impair in some material way compared to baseline.

New comment by michael1999 in "Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?"

michael1999 — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 14:40:22 +0000

Betteridge’s law wins again. The answer is obviously “no”.

Apple does not dispute they locked this man’s entire digital life without recourse because he suffered a fraud, and he only recovered because famous people intervened. You’d be insane to risk that.

New comment by michael1999 in "In New York City, congestion pricing leads to marked drop in pollution"

michael1999 — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 17:58:23 +0000

Both NY and SF were regional hubs before cars disfigured them. No commercial vehicle is going to be discouraged by a $10 dollar charge, and trade is so much easier when the roads aren't clogged by single people demanding 1000 sq-ft of ground space to move around.

New comment by michael1999 in "In New York City, congestion pricing leads to marked drop in pollution"

michael1999 — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 17:54:31 +0000

Because success would encourage it in other cities facing terrible traffic.

People say they hate socialism, but drivers love car-socialism.

New comment by michael1999 in "Kidney Recipient Dies After Transplant from Organ Donor Who Had Rabies"

michael1999 — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 22:35:15 +0000

There are financial incentives to find/make organ donors.

New comment by michael1999 in "Two minutes on a porch, a misunderstanding and a gunshot killed a house cleaner"

michael1999 — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 19:32:30 +0000

Oh god - Indiana's castle-law provides civil immunity too. That's awful! That poor man has to raise four orphans without any financial help.

New comment by michael1999 in "CBP is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with suspicious travel patterns"

michael1999 — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 15:03:45 +0000

This whole discussion feels very cute when Kavanaugh-stops are going on right now. Like we're discussing the fine points of white-tie dress while sitting around in sweatpants. ICE is snatching citizens off the streets. The constitution is not self-enforcing.

New comment by michael1999 in "The Banished Bottom of the Housing Market"

michael1999 — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 17:13:22 +0000

Let churches run them. That's the C in YMCA. It was founded as a mission to guide the development of young men in health directions.

New comment by michael1999 in "Autonomous driving in five new cities"

michael1999 — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 20:02:05 +0000

I see the reverse.

Self-driving jitneys will be able to extend public transit into the cul-de-sac subdivisions that are impervious to useful bus service. Let little 8 seat shuttles bring people out to the main line for trains or full-size busses to carry away. It is terribly inefficient to run a 50 person bus with 3 people in it, one of whom is a paid driver. See https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/autonomous-driverless...

Same for small towns - they just don't have the population or the density to run large busses with drivers on fixed routes at a reasonable frequency. I've seen smaller city busses with routes that only run every 90 minutes. But smaller self-driving vehicles can collect a few people and run them around. See https://www.chandleraz.gov/residents/transportation/transit/... or https://ridewithvia.com/news/waymo-and-via-announce-strategi...

Or try this - Waymo giving a discount for pickups at station. I used to use the Toronto subway this way - take the subway as close as I could get, and then take a taxi the last couple of kilometres. https://waymo.com/blog/2024/10/clean-rides-clear-benefits-wa...