Hacker News: paxiongmap

New comment by paxiongmap in "AI Doesn't Have ROI"

paxiongmap — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:14:46 +0000

I'd probably characterise it as more as "AI doesn't have the massively transformational ROI that all the AI salespeople said it would and now I have to pay for my tokens and the humans I though I could replace at the same time". The idea AI would be running whole companies below some weird godlike CEO who won because they were clever just pushed an attractive narrative for the investor class.

I am very bullish on AI as a tool, but not as a way to completely restructure the economy overnight. Doing things is hard, and better tools don't make fundamental problems about change go away.

I read this today which really resonated and is relevant: https://deadsimpletech.com/blog/attack-on-competence

New comment by paxiongmap in "If AI replaces workers, should it also pay taxes?"

paxiongmap — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 10:32:51 +0000

In a capitalist system, capital makes the rules for everyone. This is why capital earns more than labour. System working as intended.

New comment by paxiongmap in "Google denies 'misleading' reports of Gmail using your emails to train AI"

paxiongmap — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 09:15:10 +0000

I've been on Fastmail with my own domains for 4 years now, having been fully Gmail since 2004. The transition was seemless, the apps are solid and I can't imagine ever going back. The only option I'd consider would be full self-hosting, but I really can't justify the effort to maintain the one service where I need very high uptime.

New comment by paxiongmap in "Where do the children play?"

paxiongmap — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 09:54:04 +0000

I highly recommend Peter Gray's writing: https://petergray.substack.com/

Relevant to the discussion about online spaces and autonomy in childhood, I'd jump into this discussion about teen suicide rates: https://petergray.substack.com/p/d3-why-did-teen-suicides-es...

We have robbed our children of autonomy and freedom and then wonder why anxiety and depression are rampant.

New comment by paxiongmap in "Where do the children play?"

paxiongmap — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 09:50:09 +0000

I have just done the opposite - left London for the countryside and am currently very much enjoying it. As our toddler gets older it will interesting to see how we deal with the challenges of letting them find their own space.

New comment by paxiongmap in "4Chan Lawyer publishes Ofcom correspondence"

paxiongmap — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 09:14:11 +0000

"The least bad thing that Ofcom and the Government could do is to quietly let the matter drop whilst focusing on education."

This generalises very well for all Government. Shame we're a couple of generations into education being about producing pliant workers over independent, thinking human beings.

New comment by paxiongmap in "Palma 2"

paxiongmap — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 16:03:44 +0000

I came to a similar conclusion when I was very very close to pushing the 'Buy' button on the original Palma. My main hope is for this to be successful enough to encourage some competitors who do the software / service side in a way I can get on board with.

New comment by paxiongmap in "Why is homeschooling becoming fashionable?"

paxiongmap — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 19:15:01 +0000

XKCD is universal... https://xkcd.com/1216/

New comment by paxiongmap in "Why is homeschooling becoming fashionable?"

paxiongmap — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 19:13:20 +0000

As another product of the British 'education' system, this is all very familiar.

If you're interested in some content that really helped me understand why I hated school so completely, I recommend "Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling" by John Taylor Gatto, and "Free to Learn" by Peter Gray. Peter Gray also has a very nice blog called "Play Makes Us Human" at https://petergray.substack.com/

As a parent of a toddler, deciding on schooling options is one of the most serious decisions I'll have to make with my partner over the coming years and it terrifies me. Home schooling is a very attractive option from my perspective, but only due to lack of alternatives that offer the sort of nurturing and positive environment that I want my child to have.

New comment by paxiongmap in "Ex Post Office CEO hands back award after IT failures lead to false convictions"

paxiongmap — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 21:18:00 +0000

> The remaining organisation was anything but a competent customer for IT implementations.

This is very much the standard in UK public procurement and has been for a large number of years. It's got a lot worse since Brexit when most civil servants with any skills or capability to deliver have moved on because they didn't want to deliver the 'will of the people' to have their cake and eat it.