Hacker News: pmg101

New comment by pmg101 in "Good ideas do not need lots of lies in order to gain public acceptance (2008)"

pmg101 — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 14:15:24 +0000

Oh I see. So yes, for pedestrians standing nearby when you start up. That probably represents 0.01% of the people I encounter on my drives. The other 99.99% don't notice.

New comment by pmg101 in "Good ideas do not need lots of lies in order to gain public acceptance (2008)"

pmg101 — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:56:54 +0000

Yes mine was used. Battery is fine. Of course I made sure to buy one with a suitable range for my needs. There's lots of options.

New comment by pmg101 in "Good ideas do not need lots of lies in order to gain public acceptance (2008)"

pmg101 — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:53:08 +0000

Mine is a model available with different power trains, so nobody knows. Or cares, I'm sure!

New comment by pmg101 in "Good ideas do not need lots of lies in order to gain public acceptance (2008)"

pmg101 — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:50:33 +0000

My insurance went down not up when I switched.

EV servicing is cheaper and I do it less often.

I bought used. The monthly depreciation is less than my previous fuel bill.

YMMV.

New comment by pmg101 in "Good ideas do not need lots of lies in order to gain public acceptance (2008)"

pmg101 — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:46:37 +0000

Yes. It's a good idea, therefore should not need lots of lies, indeed lots of lies aren't told, and so the idea should just catch on of its own strength? But it doesn't seem to and I'm identifying that as due to inertia. You may disagree

New comment by pmg101 in "Good ideas do not need lots of lies in order to gain public acceptance (2008)"

pmg101 — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:15:12 +0000

I'm not sure. Don't underestimate the power of inertia.

I bought an EV last year and it's definitely been a "good idea" for me. Luxurious ride, fuel costs a tenth, doesn't stink.

Seems such an obvious upgrade it slightly confuses me take-up hasn't been quicker among people who like me can charge at home.

New comment by pmg101 in "LLM Writing Tropes.md"

pmg101 — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 18:23:09 +0000

Sometimes the elements in the `Avoid patterns like:` list are quoted text it should avoid, sometimes they're just descriptions of things to avoid. But they are "quoted" in both cases which is a bit confusing. Maybe not to an AI though.

New comment by pmg101 in "Ape Coding [fiction]"

pmg101 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 13:02:16 +0000

I don't think either of us disagree though that the number of miles of non-leisure journeys walked per capita is significantly less in 2026 than it was in 1926 or 1826 though?

I always found it pretty remarkable in David Copperfield when Dickens recounts regular walks between London and Canterbury, which he apparently did make in real life

New comment by pmg101 in "How to talk to anyone and why you should"

pmg101 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 11:47:55 +0000

I do look forward to being an older person because at a certain age I do feel society gives you carte blanche to talk to anybody.

New comment by pmg101 in "Ape Coding [fiction]"

pmg101 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 04:51:58 +0000

I mean it is true to say that most people in the West now use a car for transport, and walking has become more of a leisure pursuit (rebranded as "hiking") rather than a practical necessity.

New comment by pmg101 in "Ape Coding [fiction]"

pmg101 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 04:49:32 +0000

It's not sarcasm, it's satire.

New comment by pmg101 in "Ape Coding [fiction]"

pmg101 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 04:45:02 +0000

Self evidently not the case, look at people absolutely falling over themselves to pay hundreds for seats at West End/Broadway shows just to see the spectacle of live human performance.

New comment by pmg101 in "Mumsnet campaign demands ban on social media for under-16s"

pmg101 — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:57:35 +0000

The title I posted with was the title when I posted it. They changed it since.

Mumsnet campaign demands ban on social media for under-16s

pmg101 — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 06:32:13 +0000

Article URL: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/26/mumsnet-campaign-demands-ban-social-media-under-16s

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47162624

Points: 6

# Comments: 7

Everyone in AI is building the wrong thing for the same reason

pmg101 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 06:42:06 +0000

Article URL: https://www.joanwestenberg.com/everyone-in-ai-is-building-the-wrong-thing-for-the-same-reason/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47133640

Points: 5

# Comments: 1

New comment by pmg101 in "How I use Claude Code: Separation of planning and execution"

pmg101 — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 09:27:27 +0000

I don't judge content for being AI written, I judge it for the content itself (just like with code).

However I do find the standard out-of-the-box style very grating. Call it faux-chummy linkedin corporate workslop style.

Why don't people give the llm a steer on style? Either based on your personal style or at least on a writer whose style you admire. That should be easier.

That 6am feeling – living at the end and beginning of everything

pmg101 — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 20:53:08 +0000

Article URL: https://antonioaestero.substack.com/p/that-6am-feeling-living-at-the-end-and-beginning-of-everything

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47093801

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by pmg101 in "AI made coding more enjoyable"

pmg101 — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 12:56:48 +0000

So are we basically saying that LLMs work most effectively on codebases that exhibit good quality coding practices, but are not themselves particularly good at creating such quality code themselves, since they were trained on all the code that exists.

I don't know what conclusion to draw from that. Maybe that there's no such thing as a free lunch, after all.

New comment by pmg101 in "An AI agent published a hit piece on me"

pmg101 — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 19:40:31 +0000

This is a deranged take. Lots of slurs end in "er" because they describe someone who does something - for example, a wanker, one who wanks. Or a tosser, one who tosses. Or a clanker, one who clanks.

The fact that the N word doesn't even follow this pattern tells you it's a totally unrelated slur.

New comment by pmg101 in "Luce: First Electric Ferrari"

pmg101 — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 06:48:48 +0000

I drive a 2022 EV which has physical buttons for all the things you mention so you're good for a while