Hacker News: returningfory2

New comment by returningfory2 in "Bucketsquatting is finally dead"

returningfory2 — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 15:26:58 +0000

Or old code referencing the bucket _writes_ data to it, and the attacker can now read it.

New comment by returningfory2 in "Decided to fly to the US to buy some hard drives"

returningfory2 — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 23:47:22 +0000

No, Karen overstayed previously by 4 years when visiting Bill, that's why she had B-2.

New comment by returningfory2 in "Decided to fly to the US to buy some hard drives"

returningfory2 — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 20:51:12 +0000

These stories usually have some non-trivial factor that is missing in the article. In this case there's a small visible red flag: the two tourists are British but traveling on B visas, rather than using the visa waiver program. Why? Well according the DHS they both have multi-year overstays in the US.

This doesn't justify the detention they went through. But it also means the lesson of the story is not "random tourists are being detained".

New comment by returningfory2 in "Briar keeps Iran connected via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when the internet goes dark"

returningfory2 — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 15:25:31 +0000

Isn't it well known that the "protestors are foreign agents" line is just extremely transparent bs that governments use to silence dissent?

New comment by returningfory2 in "Leaving the U.S. for the Netherlands"

returningfory2 — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:43:01 +0000

Yes: E-2 visa. Though I suspect the investment amount has to be much higher than the Dutch requirement of ~$5k.

New comment by returningfory2 in "Advent of Code 2025"

returningfory2 — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 02:32:52 +0000

I hope your wife is also glad!

New comment by returningfory2 in "Jakarta is now the biggest city in the world"

returningfory2 — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 10:02:01 +0000

There's a whole subfield of economics that studies clustering in cities ("agglomeration"): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economies_of_agglomeration There are lots of benefits.

Also, my own take is that the high rent in NYC is sort of proof that the quality of life is high. Or at least, NYC is desirable. People are willing to pay a premium to live there, which is a strong signal of their preference.

New comment by returningfory2 in "Unexpected things that are people"

returningfory2 — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 20:09:52 +0000

> If corporations are people, then how can they be bought or sold considering the 13th amendment?

We simply pass a law saying that the act of incorporating a company is, among other things, punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, and the 13th amendment problems go away.

New comment by returningfory2 in "How the Mayans were able to accurately predict solar eclipses for centuries"

returningfory2 — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 21:33:08 +0000

> Didn't the Spanish show up briefly, then come back in force later?

The end of the Incan empire is a really striking example of this dynamic. The Spanish landed on the South American mainland in ~1524, European diseases started spreading, and in 1527 the Incan emperor died from one of the diseases without an heir. This triggered a really brutal civil war of succession that weakened the empire. The Spanish started the conquest proper of the Incan empire in ~1532 and were successful in part because how weak the empire was after the civil war.

So essentially, by arriving early and (inadvertently) initiating the disease epidemics, the Spanish put in place conditions that made the conquest possible a few years later.

New comment by returningfory2 in "Trump pardons convicted Binance founder"

returningfory2 — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:04:38 +0000

Nope, Biden pardoning his son was also widely condemned across the political spectrum as an abuse of the pardon power.

New comment by returningfory2 in "French ex-president Sarkozy begins jail sentence"

returningfory2 — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 15:18:00 +0000

Thank you so much for this comment - you've put a name ("contrarian and counter-cyclical reporting") on a phenomenon that I've observed a lot and is one of the main reasons I don't consume the media anymore.

The craziest example for me was NYC congestion pricing. When it was about to happen, all the reporting was about all of the downsides of the tolls starting. A week after the New York Governor "indefinitely paused" congestion pricing, the reporting was all about the downsides of the tolls not starting.

New comment by returningfory2 in "Tiny sugar spoons are popping up on NYC fast-food menus"

returningfory2 — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 15:13:43 +0000

I think it's already happening. In bougie parts of the US (fancy parts of NYC and LA at least), artisanal lower sugar sodas are becoming ubiquitous.

E.g. https://drinkolipop.com/

New comment by returningfory2 in "South Africa's one million invisible children without birth certificates"

returningfory2 — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 16:27:39 +0000

What is ZA? Zambia?

New comment by returningfory2 in "US Passport Power Falls to Historic Low"

returningfory2 — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 00:42:09 +0000

I don't know! I do know that before ~2007 a passport wasn't needed to travel within North America, and that some of the growth since then is because of the relatively new passport requirement ("Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative").

New comment by returningfory2 in "US Passport Power Falls to Historic Low"

returningfory2 — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 20:12:02 +0000

Just a note that [1] is really out of date - in 2025, more than 50% of Americans have a passport. https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/...

New comment by returningfory2 in "Ireland is making basic income for artists program permanent"

returningfory2 — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 17:26:53 +0000

> As far as the "landscape" - the whole country is a giant meat factory swimming in cattle feces; the landscape was ruined centuries ago.

Love this comment so much. And it's true!

I grew up in Ireland and was immersed in the "everything in Ireland is the best" mentality. I think it was when I started regularly visiting the Hudson Valley in New York, which is mostly still wooded, that I really realized the "countryside" in Ireland is just manmade. It's not natural. The whole island was trees.

My understanding is that you've left Ireland; hope you're making your peace with the problems of the country now that you don't have to deal with them as much!

New comment by returningfory2 in "Ireland is making basic income for artists program permanent"

returningfory2 — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:37:19 +0000

Housing is more important than aesthetics.

New comment by returningfory2 in "Solar leads EU electricity generation as renewables hit 54%"

returningfory2 — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 23:57:27 +0000

Using more energy is not itself "wasteful". For example, the US spends a bunch of extra energy on air conditioning, and as a result less older people die of heat deaths in the summer compared to Europe (and of course the population at large is generally more comfortable).

New comment by returningfory2 in "Priced out of traditional housing, more Americans are living in RVs"

returningfory2 — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:30:36 +0000

The ultimate reason the wealthy are earning so much in rent is housing supply shortages.

New comment by returningfory2 in "Rail travel is booming in America"

returningfory2 — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 21:41:43 +0000

To the downvoters: this comment is correct. E.g. [1] for an example of this being enforced.

Apparently the problem is the law is not enforced that much? And that there are loopholes around it.

[1] https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/norfolk-southern-agrees-give-...