Hacker News: pmdulaney

New comment by pmdulaney in "Write the Documentation First"

pmdulaney — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:22:39 +0000

Totally agree. Not only does writing the documentation first lead to a better product, it also fosters a much more satisfying work experience. You get yourself into an ever-deepening "tail wagging the dog" situation when the implementation precedes the documentation -- especially if the documentation is being written by one party and implemented by another.

New comment by pmdulaney in "Bali bans Dutch expats whose run club allegedly excluded Indonesians"

pmdulaney — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:11:55 +0000

It is always difficult to balance discrimination concerns against freedom of association -- even in those countries that recognize a right to freedom of association.

New comment by pmdulaney in "Bali bans Dutch expats whose run club allegedly excluded Indonesians"

pmdulaney — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 13:47:16 +0000

Would the government have reacted the same way to a Korean hiking club or a yoga class restricted to only women? I suspect there is some selective enforcement going on here.

New comment by pmdulaney in "Ask HN: Favourite science history book of the 20th century?"

pmdulaney — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:03:29 +0000

I believe Weiner's first volume was Ex-Prodigy. I love his story of how his dad liked to pick wild mushrooms for dinner and how he (Norbert) was never sure if he was going to wake up in the morning!

New comment by pmdulaney in "Ask HN: Favourite science history book of the 20th century?"

pmdulaney — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 21:21:20 +0000

How creative to think of writing such a thing! But von Meumann is a big enough intellect and personality to sustain it.

New comment by pmdulaney in "Pseudpocalypse"

pmdulaney — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 00:51:30 +0000

Good point

New comment by pmdulaney in "Pseudpocalypse"

pmdulaney — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 00:18:29 +0000

And the ACLU famously defended the right of Nazis to parade through Skokie, Illinois.

New comment by pmdulaney in "A Mathematical Tribute to the Soccer Ball"

pmdulaney — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:19:47 +0000

If every black pentagon shares a face with 5 hexagons, and every white hexagon shares a face with 3 pentagons, can you determine the ratio of hexagons to pentagons?

(I haven't solved this problem, but I think it is doable.)

New comment by pmdulaney in "Classicist Emily Wilson: 'Odysseus is a different kind of conman'"

pmdulaney — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 17:09:45 +0000

Still no joy... maybe something on my end

New comment by pmdulaney in "Questions for the Center-Left"

pmdulaney — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 16:48:18 +0000

Or, less dramatically, that the law needs to accommodate capitalism in ways that it is not wont to do.

New comment by pmdulaney in "Pseudpocalypse"

pmdulaney — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 16:25:49 +0000

So anonymity of written speech is toast. We should, however, strive to preserve other forms of anonymity. For example, donations given to political causes should be kept confidential. Let protesters wear masks up to the point where they break the law.

New comment by pmdulaney in "Classicist Emily Wilson: 'Odysseus is a different kind of conman'"

pmdulaney — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 01:12:20 +0000

When I follow that link there's nothing there.

New comment by pmdulaney in "California universities stockpiling AR-15s, grenades and submachine guns"

pmdulaney — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 22:29:54 +0000

The inclusion of a captioned picture of the University of Southern California (USC) implies that it is a state school. It is not.

New comment by pmdulaney in "Court allows far-right leader Marine Le Pen to run for president"

pmdulaney — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 20:31:51 +0000

thanks

New comment by pmdulaney in "Rich Guy Quote Journalism"

pmdulaney — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 20:29:23 +0000

I remember being in a staff meeting at the aerospace firm that I am now retired from. I made a comment along the lines of, "Steve is a really good programmer (speaking of an engineer, not a software guy)" . One of the younger engineers piped up: "Well, we're all really good programmers."

Just to say that one way that a lack of humility expresses itself is with the notion that we are all of us equally gifted -- and it just ain't so. In the realm of technology, people like Musk and Andreessen and (include your favorite left-leaning mogul here) really do know more than the rest of us, and what they have to say on many things is newsworthy.

New comment by pmdulaney in "Court allows far-right leader Marine Le Pen to run for president"

pmdulaney — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:01:42 +0000

Has NBC News ever referred to anyone as a "far-left leader"?

New comment by pmdulaney in "ACM ByteCast Episode 2 Donald Knuth"

pmdulaney — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:58:01 +0000

From June 2, 2020.

New comment by pmdulaney in "Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii"

pmdulaney — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 03:04:54 +0000

Even the lefty Guardian knows that the adjective is "female" not "woman".

New comment by pmdulaney in "Ask HN: What do you do with the user guide of the universe?"

pmdulaney — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:35:31 +0000

Upvote for kindly attempting to de-escalate. But the olive branch was rebuffed.

New comment by pmdulaney in "Why AI Will Never Achieve Consciousness"

pmdulaney — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:48:17 +0000

Not only that, but the only reason I have to think another human possesses consciousness is that he or she is so much like me in other respects.