Hacker News: netfortius

New comment by netfortius in "Linear algebra done right"

netfortius — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:41:18 +0000

Kindle format link == 404

New comment by netfortius in "How to Exist"

netfortius — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:48:14 +0000

Emil Cioran, in "A Short History of Decay", thinks that if humanity were deprived of work and sustained action for an indefinitely long "Sunday afternoon," boredom would become so unbearable that violence—crime in particular—would emerge as the principal means of escaping the oppressive emptiness of time.

"If Sunday afternoons were extended for months, where would humanity get to, liberated from sweat, from the weight of the first curse? The experiment would be worth the trouble. It is more than likely that crime would become the sole diversion, that debauchery would seem candor, shouting melody and jeers tenderness. The sensation of time's immensity would make each second into an intolerable torment, a sublime firing squad. In hearts imbued with poetry would appear a blasé cannibalism and a hyena's melancholy; butchers and executioners would die out—of lethargy; churches and brothels would split with sighs. The universe transformed into a Sunday afternoon... it is the very definition of ennui, and the end of the universe."

New comment by netfortius in "Show HN: Gander, an Android file viewer that asks for no permissions"

netfortius — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:41:51 +0000

Obtainium works just fine with the github source

New comment by netfortius in "Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera"

netfortius — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:03:18 +0000

This reminds me of the time I was (still working) in the US, for one of the big insurers, and we were researching ways to detect on which side of the car our client gets in, to assume (if from the right, in the US) that our app shall not trigger the "driver" mode, thus all the consequences if being assumed responsible. Fun times.

New comment by netfortius in "StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time"

netfortius — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:22:02 +0000

Some more info in an earlier thread [1]

[1] CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48808928

New comment by netfortius in "For first time, a cell built from scratch grows and divides"

netfortius — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 17:16:57 +0000

Reminded me of Maturana and his autopoiesis.

New comment by netfortius in "Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo"

netfortius — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 09:04:39 +0000

Putting the parts in the same box, in the US, may cost more than the tariff for the whole thing being built in China or India.

Ask HN: Who remembers Fry's Electronics – the "church" of IT people?

netfortius — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 11:28:09 +0000

For some reason I remembered today my first trip to San Jose, in the early 2000s, for a SANS Institute class, and discovering the Fry's Electronics store. The amazing content of what one could use to build own computers, or tools for use with such, was like nothing else I have ever seen, anywhere else in the world where I've been, up until that point.

Some of the best related memories, though, come from the time when - as Chicagoan - I learned we will be getting our own Fry's. The excitement in the geeks community was so great, at the time, that we were sharing pictures of the progress of the actual lot being worked on, then the building (walls by walls), in Downers Grove.

We used to call the place "the church of IT people", simply because we would go there over the weekend, and stay over for the "mass" (equivalent time) and then some.

O tempora!

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48685368

Points: 8

# Comments: 4

New comment by netfortius in "VPN ban update for UK households as government looks at 'age-gate'"

netfortius — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 15:28:44 +0000

There are few things more exciting, in relationship to attempting to restrict access to (data) communications, than a government which thinks geeks won't find ways around such. Now sit back, relax, and let's wait for the next generation of encrypted channels solution development.

New comment by netfortius in "Hacker News but for independent blogs"

netfortius — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 12:41:29 +0000

100% agree. I had to install a browser extension when I use HN with such (vs app on android, when it does it by default), just to force open links to new tabs.

New comment by netfortius in "GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17"

netfortius — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 08:24:38 +0000

Been toying with the idea for a long time, but I'm concerned about US financial institution apps and multiple countries specific apps (local transport, finance, medical and governmental), whose apks do no exist, as well as (crucial for me, as a heavy international traveler) google voice. For a lot such I now need to use a combo of Google playstore, for US account tied apps, and Aurora for non US apps.

New comment by netfortius in "Honeypot Design"

netfortius — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 06:03:49 +0000

Reminded me of the first honeynet I set up, during my second college degree (late 90s), in a lab where access to the internet was via individual machines direct connected public IPs (no firewalls at the time, just routers). I wasn't sure how many machines I could have available in the lab, unused, for each to run a honeypot of sorts (at the time I was interested in Usenet "spam"), so I took over the DHCP scope of the lab LAN, and hoped I could catch and use machines, as they were going for renewal, upon reboots / shutdown-power-up, especially as I did this on a Friday (you know the rule of Friday changes ;)). Got a call in the middle of the night, from a friend who had some work to do, letting me know that no machine in the lab was usable, and if I knew anything about. I obviously denied any knowledge, as I wanted my results from a 2.5 days run. Can't describe the joy of my professor, Monday morning, when the entire lab had to be "cleaned up", machine by machine, with each drive filled with spam over the weekend... O, tempora!

BTW - Lance Spitzner was one of my favorites at SANS, where I got a few certs in the (very) early 2000s.

New comment by netfortius in "U.S. Military Helping Move 7M Bpd Out of Persian Gulf, Wright Says"

netfortius — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 13:00:08 +0000

Which data should drive the markets now?

U.S. Military Helping Move 7M Bpd Out of Persian Gulf, Wright Says

netfortius — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 13:00:08 +0000

Article URL: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-Military-Helping-Move-7-Million-Bpd-Out-of-Persian-Gulf-Wright-Says.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48516871

Points: 4

# Comments: 2

New comment by netfortius in "A Call to Action: Stop the FCC's KYC Regime"

netfortius — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 16:26:37 +0000

And how exactly are they going/hoping to do that with GV?

New comment by netfortius in "Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]"

netfortius — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:25:18 +0000

In my 35+ years in IT, the "hero attitude" was the one in the top three I most hated traits in a person working with or for me. And talking about traits, I considered crucial to always have in my teams a "saboteur" engineer - the one who thoght, found, come up with all the way we could break a design, service, infra components, app, etc., when all the others were designing or operating for perfect or normal conditions.

Pentagon Says Alibaba, Baidu, BYD, and Unitree Support China's Military

netfortius — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:09:11 +0000

Article URL: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/08/pentagon-says-alibaba-baidu-byd-and-unitree-support-chinas-military/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48462149

Points: 4

# Comments: 4

New comment by netfortius in "Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot"

netfortius — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:42:51 +0000

To me untying laces, so I can take my shoes off ASAP, its far more important than the reliability of the knot. I just need to pull an end, and free my feet, without things tangled by mistake.

New comment by netfortius in "Ferrari Luce"

netfortius — Tue, 26 May 2026 05:18:37 +0000

A car you'll never be able to get four people in, in the same time, using all four doors. Oh, well, if it's Ferrari...

New comment by netfortius in "Magnifica Humanitas"

netfortius — Mon, 25 May 2026 13:26:33 +0000

Thank you for this. Is your python script in any way English language bound, or could it still be applied to other languages (e.g. the French version, with all of its diacritics), of course with the appropriate (sub/full)titles, path, etc. necessary minor modifications considered?