Hacker News: not_the_fda

New comment by not_the_fda in "C++26: Trivial infinite loops are no longer undefined behaviour"

not_the_fda — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 15:48:14 +0000

Interrupt driven super loops are very common on bare metal systems.

New comment by not_the_fda in "Dwarf Fortress' creator says the industry's in shambles over AI"

not_the_fda — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 17:51:09 +0000

Companies haven't been well run in decades, if ever, especially American ones. I've worked for about a dozen companies in my 30+ year career. None have been well run, most are out of business. I do design services now, and have worked with dozens of companies through that, and the pattern continues.

We don't have leaders, or people that can make hard decisions, or think for themselves. They all follow the same book of the day business trends. If you do think outside the box you aren't a team player and are rocking the boat.

New comment by not_the_fda in "Coding expertise is going to collapse from AI reliance"

not_the_fda — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 16:45:01 +0000

Writing code was never the job. It was a small part of the job that can now be delegated to AI.

Eliciting the right requirements and user needs. Creating a sound architecture and design. Validating final product meets the requirements. Ensuring there is good test coverage. You know `Engineering`. Mechanical and Electrical engineers didn't go away because of CAD.

New comment by not_the_fda in "If this is true, the hyperscalers are toast"

not_the_fda — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 11:28:43 +0000

While that's true, the open / local models are getting good enough. Given time and the technology trend people may prefer a private local model for most use cases. Nobody is arguing that a Ferrari isn't a faster car, but the Honda is the more practical choice.

New comment by not_the_fda in "Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?"

not_the_fda — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 17:16:02 +0000

> The latest battery chemistries perform incredibly well in cold and hot climates.

Depends on your definition of cold. California cold sure. Wisconsin cold you are looking at losing 40%-60% range.

New comment by not_the_fda in "The first watch featuring computer functions"

not_the_fda — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 17:10:23 +0000

Seiko had a whole line microprocessors. I remember working with the S1C33 with a broken C compiler. We ended up using C macros and assembly. Never want to do that again.

New comment by not_the_fda in "Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?"

not_the_fda — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:40:31 +0000

No it can't. To combust it needs ~ 500F. If you left it out uncovered in the open and allowed the it to vaporize with a spark nearby, it might explode, but thats not spontaneous combustion. Gasoline sitting in a sealed container wont spontaneously combust.

New comment by not_the_fda in "Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?"

not_the_fda — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:37:17 +0000

Gasoline isn't that explosive. You can shoot up a gas tank and it will just burn. What you see on TV is movie magic. Gasoline vapor can explode, but you need the right air to fuel ratio and a spark.

New comment by not_the_fda in "Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?"

not_the_fda — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:34:39 +0000

Its a huge issue in cold climates.

New comment by not_the_fda in "Building a Fast Lock-Free Queue in Modern C++ from Scratch"

not_the_fda — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 18:18:30 +0000

If your doing firmware you probably shouldn't be doing much memory allocation at runtime anyway to prevent memory fragmentation.

New comment by not_the_fda in "The death and rebirth of my home server"

not_the_fda — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 15:44:57 +0000

The RPi Compute Module is mush better with on board flash. Completely removes the SD Flash Achilles heel of the RPi.

New comment by not_the_fda in "AI can't be listed as inventor on patent applications, Japan's top court rules"

not_the_fda — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:34:18 +0000

Patents actually hurt innovation. Patents are the tools of lawfare and are used to limit competition, keep lawyers employed, not improve innovation.

I've seen too many companies use the patent system to prevent progress because the innovation would cut into their profits.

New comment by not_the_fda in "CarPlay Is Additive"

not_the_fda — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 22:25:15 +0000

It might be new cars. I could see new car buyers having an iphone bias vs android.

New comment by not_the_fda in "The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs"

not_the_fda — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 21:12:13 +0000

It doesn't help the truck size is usually inversely proportional to driver height.

New comment by not_the_fda in "The early hiring funnel is now breaking on both ends"

not_the_fda — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 20:17:26 +0000

Tech hiring has been broken for decades. AI just makes it so obvious how broken it is.

New comment by not_the_fda in "Pre-2022 Books"

not_the_fda — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 03:23:30 +0000

I use time as a filter. There is more good stuff to read than time to read it. I have no need for slop.

New comment by not_the_fda in "Setting Up a New Windows Laptop in 2026"

not_the_fda — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 16:42:46 +0000

If you are going to put Linux on a Laptop you must make sure its supported. Lenovo sells laptops with Ubuntu pre-installed. Its a breeze with the right hardware.

New comment by not_the_fda in "CrankGPT"

not_the_fda — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:40:57 +0000

We have a gym at work. We can have half the team generate tokens and half the team use the tokens.

Put up a leader board in the gym on tokens generated.

New comment by not_the_fda in "CrankGPT"

not_the_fda — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:34:46 +0000

The efficient mode of transportation is a human on a bicycle.

New comment by not_the_fda in "Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min"

not_the_fda — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 23:59:47 +0000

Surprisingly, I managed to pay off a house early, retire early, and put kids through college, all without working for Meta. And I manged to build cool stuff that saves lives, instead of building an advertising engine that has made us more lonely, more isolated, and more divided.