<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Hacker News: nickff</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=nickff</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:59:22 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=nickff" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "We have a 99% email reputation, but Gmail disagrees"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I think Gmail doesn’t want you to use their service for sending email; they want you to have to advertise ‘with’ them.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 07:23:52 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47748824</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47748824</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47748824</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "The Seasons Are Wrong"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I have been thinking about this issue for a similar length of time as the article author, but for the reasons you describe think the seasons should be slightly offset from the solstices (as opposed to centered on them). My current thinking is that summer should run from one month before the summer solstice to two months after, and so forth.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 11 Apr 2026 06:23:44 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47727988</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47727988</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47727988</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Helium is hard to replace"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Your post is frustrating to read because of the incorrect spelling and grammar; these errors make it hard to take you seriously.<p>>"<i>"The war in Iran" should be called for what it is:</i><p>>"<i>Its "trumps war", nothing else. Hes the solely to blaim. Israel would never had started it on their own.</i><p>>"<i>The kicker? MAGA voted for "the no wars president", and so far hes started FIVE.</i>"<p>Could be:<p><i>"The war in Iran" should be called what it is:<p>It's 'Trump's War', and nothing else. He's solely to blame. Israel would not have started it on their own.<p>The kicker is that MAGA voted for the 'no-war' president, and so far, he's started </i>five<i>.</i><p>Note that in addition to spelling and grammar, I switched "FIVE" to lower-case italics (which are reverted to regular because the block is italicized), as capitalizing for emphasis is against the HN guidelines.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:51:51 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47720811</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47720811</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47720811</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "How NASA built Artemis II’s fault-tolerant computer"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>“Agile” doesn’t mean that you release the first iteration, it’s just a methodology that emphasizes short iteration loops. You can definitely develop reliable real-time systems with Agile.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 04:09:47 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47713531</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47713531</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47713531</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Robots eat cars"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The motorized hood ornaments on Rolls Royce vehicles were a solution to the problem of people being injured by, or stealing the (Spirit of Ecstasy) ornaments.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_Ecstasy" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_Ecstasy</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 01:00:51 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47712288</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47712288</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47712288</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Meta removes ads for social media addiction litigation"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>"[G]lobal" is doing a lot of work in this sentence if I'm reading it as intended; this seems to exclude international conflict and intra-national strife (which are very big issues).</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:55:57 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47708084</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47708084</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47708084</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Iran demands Bitcoin fees for ships passing Hormuz during ceasefire"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Iran is already quite dependent on the PRoC as a trading partner; using RMB as their primary currency for these payments would further increase their 'counter-party risk'. That said, RMB exchange-rate manipulation may also be a significant factor in their decision.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:14:57 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47693219</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47693219</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47693219</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Iran demands Bitcoin fees for ships passing Hormuz during ceasefire"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>To define victory, you'd need to know their political objectives, which neither side has declared or otherwise made clear. On the one hand, the USA was unable to completely restrain Iran's ability to wreak local havoc, but on the other, Iran had many of its assets damaged, and now seems completely unable to prevent foreign actors from using its airspace almost at-will. It seems like the situation has shifted, and the result is inconclusive.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:04:35 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47693045</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47693045</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47693045</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Cambodia unveils statue to honour famous landmine-sniffing rat"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>It's nice that so many countries are signatories, but the countries which are currently involved in significant conflicts, have been, or are likely to be, are all non-signatories, have withdrawn, or are not abiding by their commitment. I'm not sure how much it matters that many non-warring countries are signatories to the convention, unless you think the Ottawa Treaty has actually prevented one or more conflicts (which I doubt).<p>I find some of the signatories laughable, as both sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have used them (with Ukraine being a signatory), while countries like Palestine and Eritrea have committed egregious human rights violations (since assenting), so I don't trust any commitment of theirs.<p>With respect to chemical and biological weapons, I think the reason they're not widely used is that they're relatively ineffective, and inconvenient, so I don't think they're a force-multiplier at all. Russia & Syria's (likely) uses of chemical weapons seem like more of a (mostly ineffective) desperate gamble than a brilliant move, though they demonstrate the non-existent consequences to such violations of treaty obligations.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:05:30 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47682943</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47682943</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47682943</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Cambodia unveils statue to honour famous landmine-sniffing rat"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Would you expect other countries to come to Finland’s aid if the country had declined to employ all the ‘force-multipliers’ that were available to it?<p>I would not expect other countries to come to Finland’s aid if Finland had made such decisions.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 21:18:52 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47681490</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47681490</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47681490</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Depends on the specific product, the mold maker, and the plastic injection facility. In general, it seems like North America is able to produce the regulated products (i.e. medical & military) at a high quality level, but with some limits as to the specific media (plastic types), colors, and tool designs, and at a high cost. PRoC has a wide spread of providers, and quality is not well-correlated with price, so it really depends on who you know, but you can get very good parts of all types at very appealing prices, but communication is terrible, delays are common, and quality can drop sharply from one run to another.<p>Overall, I've mostly given up on North American producers because I do pro-sumer products, and they're too expensive and inflexible for me, but we're also fairly low-volume, so it may just be that I don't haven't had access to the right providers.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 19:06:10 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47605104</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47605104</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47605104</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I’ve had them made and run in Canada (as well as the PRoC), and I’m speaking from experience. Getting molds made is not really something you'd do as an exercise, unless you've got a lot of time and money sitting around. A small mold might cost $20-30k in North America, or $5-10k in PRoC, and you need to run at least a few hundred parts (additional cost) to get any idea of the issues it might have.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:36:19 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47603174</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47603174</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47603174</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Only extremely specialized fasteners are CnC-milled or machined. Here is a video of how one American company makes screws: <a href="https://youtu.be/Z8siZfGmnjQ?si=24aAFhk87RRKdPt4" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/Z8siZfGmnjQ?si=24aAFhk87RRKdPt4</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:20:55 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47595233</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47595233</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47595233</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>You can still get molds made in the USA, but they are indeed much more expensive than an equivalent one made in PRoC, and options/expertise are often more limited or specialized (depending on how you look at it). It is very difficult, but not impossible to make consumer products in the USA.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 22:35:06 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47594365</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47594365</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47594365</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Iran does not 'control the waters', it is denying access; this is an importance difference. Lacking control means that Iran cannot make use of many of its naval assets, which they have invested in.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 22:26:39 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47594297</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47594297</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47594297</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "New Washington state law bans noncompete agreements"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>From what I understand, the contracting firms don't like (reasonably-priced) buyouts because it allows clients to cherry-pick the best 'talent', and basically use the contractor as a 'farm team'.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:53:36 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47581531</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47581531</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47581531</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>We could achieve "peace for our time"... <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_for_our_time" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_for_our_time</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 23:22:58 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47549678</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47549678</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47549678</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "The 'paperwork flood': How I drowned a bureaucrat before dinner"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I've heard this justification many times, but it's highly questionable. Imagine someone works for an organization, and 'the rules and constraints' require them to murder (without legal consequence) innocent people on a regular basis; is this morally justifiable? What if their 'job description' does not include 'murder', but they do indeed have to murder an innocent person each month because of the 'rules and constraints'? What if instead of occasional murder, they just have to subject many innocent people to suffering because of 'the rules and constraints'?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 16:53:43 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47545187</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47545187</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47545187</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "Olympic Committee bars transgender athletes from women’s events"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The problem with your proposed 'fuzzy divisions' is that they're not compatible with the zeitgeist of 'seeing the best compete', and 'drug-free' sports, as there's no reason to disallow performance-enhancing-drugs if we're already splitting into divisions.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:41:53 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47533422</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47533422</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47533422</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by nickff in "No Terms. No Conditions"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>This is probably a meek attempt at demonstrating compliance with Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) laws and regulations. Lawyers will often suggest this sort of thing, because the only cost is a slight inconvenience to the client, and it might suggest 'good faith' in the case of a prosecution or enforcement action.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2026 18:38:57 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47507218</link><dc:creator>nickff</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47507218</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47507218</guid></item></channel></rss>