Hacker News: rconti

New comment by rconti in "YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney"

rconti — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:40:38 +0000

Yeah, I still have to go to it, AND pass the recommended stuff at the top, and maybe shorts too (?), but at least I can see the stuff i want to see.

New comment by rconti in "YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney"

rconti — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:40:11 +0000

That makes sense -- yeah, that if you go to the Subscribed page, you still see all that content, but the algorithm is de-prioritizing subscribed channels in the recommended feed.

New comment by rconti in "YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney"

rconti — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:38:41 +0000

If you watch Shorts, maybe. If you watch normal videos, the comments are pretty much an afterthought.

But even shorts, assuming they're like reels/stories, the "social" aspect is very minimal compared with, say, Facebook posts back in the day, where your friends would see and comment and reply to each other.

The Algorithm doesn't really want that anymore; it wants to feed you content from arbitrary people to keep you passively engaged, not to foster conversation/active engagement.

New comment by rconti in "YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney"

rconti — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:37:04 +0000

Is it? I've heard YouTubers make snide comments about subscribing "as if that has any bearing on whether you see my videos", implying that it has minimal impact on the algo.

New comment by rconti in "Tax Wrapped 2025"

rconti — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:56:57 +0000

Another Riley Walz project? Awesome! :)

New comment by rconti in "Stanford report highlights growing disconnect between AI insiders and everyone"

rconti — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:48:03 +0000

It doesn't help that AI "thought leaders" can't articulate a vision by which our lives will improve rather than be made worse.

It looks like:

1. They take billions in investment

2. They spend trillions

3. They and their investors profit in the quadrillions from all the "labor saving"

4. ???

5. Everyone's needs are met.

New comment by rconti in "Stanford report highlights growing disconnect between AI insiders and everyone"

rconti — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:44:21 +0000

Shocking that people who are in data science/ML are excited about data science/ML, and people in jobs not interested in that area are not interested in it.

It's like a programmer being surprised that a worker in $random_job wants to keep doing their job, and not learn how to be a programmer instead.

New comment by rconti in "Most people can't juggle one ball"

rconti — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:26:19 +0000

Huh. I thought there was going to be something insightful about one ball juggling specifically, but I didn't see it in reading or searching.

I haven't tried just 1 ball, but I find 2 to be a lot harder than 3. (which, I suppose, is why I was expecting something insightful about why it would be difficult to juggle just one ball).

New comment by rconti in "Apple's accidental moat: How the "AI Loser" may end up winning"

rconti — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 06:02:24 +0000

I install a new app maybe once every 6 months. I agree that the app store is trash, littered with ads and casino games for kids.

I just don't find it hard to find the app I want, when I want something specific, and install, and then _get the hell out of that shithole_.

New comment by rconti in "DIY Soft Drinks"

rconti — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 05:49:14 +0000

wait, are those the only ingredients?

New comment by rconti in "DIY Soft Drinks"

rconti — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 05:47:01 +0000

I wonder if we'd have the same reaction if cola had never been darkened. We wouldn't, right?

New comment by rconti in "Robots eat cars"

rconti — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 18:10:01 +0000

I didn't say safer, I said easier.

https://ddl.stanford.edu/publications/thesis/steer-wire-impl...

https://www.reddit.com/r/MVIS/comments/1qnkxpz/reason_for_ad...

New comment by rconti in "Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?"

rconti — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 19:11:20 +0000

I'm guessing you picked a location you wanted (outside of OneDrive) and the location has stayed, as I mentioned? I don't trust that it won't be reverted some day, but it hasn't in the past few weeks.

New comment by rconti in "Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?"

rconti — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:31:59 +0000

Office in the Mac is AWFUL about this.

By default, it saves to a OneDrive you never asked for and can never find. You can't permanently change the location of your saved documents-- just change it once, and the setting stays "forever", maybe, until a software update fucks it up for you again.

Auto-save is disabled if you're not using OneDrive.

Nobody asked for OneDrive. It makes it a goddamned nightmare to find your files. I was trying to make it easy for my partner to save their files to the same location every time, make it easy to find in the Finder, make it easy for mailing attachments. No such luck.

New comment by rconti in "Robots eat cars"

rconti — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:29:30 +0000

steer-by-wire makes safety nannies way easier, eg, the ones that jerk the wheel out of your hands when they decide you're too close to a line on the road.

New comment by rconti in "EFF is leaving X"

rconti — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:28:46 +0000

Nobody who's not terminally online ever used Twitter.

New comment by rconti in "March heat in American west has left snowpack at record-low levels"

rconti — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 18:25:57 +0000

Utah and Colorado had an awful winter, full stop.

California did quite well in December. Then late February and early March came along, and a rain event at high altitude melted a lot of the snowpack, followed by a not-uncommon heatwave in mid-late March melted a lot of what was left.

New comment by rconti in "March heat in American west has left snowpack at record-low levels"

rconti — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 18:23:39 +0000

11" of snow in the Sierra on April 1, as well!

New comment by rconti in "Oracle slashes 30k jobs"

rconti — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:46:15 +0000

I'm getting so exhausted by these weird Reddit/social media posts where my brain says "wait, is 'corn' a typo? Why did they write 'k*ll'", and so on.

The algorithm did something explicit censorship never could.

New comment by rconti in "Rising Air-Conditioning Use Intensifies Global Warming"

rconti — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 19:08:12 +0000

Yeah; loss of utility heat in the wither has a much higher fatality risk, I'd think. The difference is, many homes have multiple heating methods available to them. If the natural gas is out, use an electric spaceheater, for example. Some homes use electric heat, others natural gas, others heating oil (which is a distributed solution.. or at least, involves a caching layer!)

Many homes have fireplaces or wood-burning stoves, again, for backup.