Hacker News: samman

New comment by samman in "Warranty Void If Regenerated"

samman — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 17:14:29 +0000

For the specific process that generated this story, I think a generous comparison could be made to something like photography. Yes, the machine is producing the resulting work, but under the guidance and curation of an artist that sets an appropriate parameters and context to the machine. I’d submit that this can result in varying levels of authorship, much like the difference between a snapshot (one-shot?) and a carefully controlled studio photograph, depending on the depth of preparation, iteration, and curation the photographer performs.

New comment by samman in "Review: Dating Men in the Bay Area"

samman — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 16:04:54 +0000

I don’t think it’s necessarily the case that women are incapable of formulating useful insights about men, or vice versa.

New comment by samman in "This 'College Protester' Isn't Real. It's an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops"

samman — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 18:05:54 +0000

For El Salvadorian citizens I think you make a good point. But for non-citizens (e.g. Venezuelans)that the US has sent to El Salvadoranean prisons presumably via diplomatic means, it seems reasonable that they could be returned via diplomatic means. [edit] Courts should be able to order a good faith effort to implement those means, but they certainly don’t have any way to guarantee a result.

New comment by samman in "The Sad Math of Ads: messages of inadequacy and salvation through consumption"

samman — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 14:19:29 +0000

There are other cultural vectors, and while they might lack the virtual ubiquity of ads many of them are more effective for it (if perhaps slower).

New comment by samman in "The New York Times attacks e-bikes while ignoring the real danger all around us"

samman — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 14:26:14 +0000

A lot of places have “multi-use” paths, open to pedestrians, bikes , skateboards, etc —-previously all human-powered modes of transit.

New comment by samman in "Loopholes in Google’s data safety labels"

samman — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 14:43:11 +0000

Perhaps: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/

New comment by samman in "A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage – also found in backup system"

samman — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 16:43:42 +0000

A corollary to this would be: “Backups are worthless. Restores are priceless.”

New comment by samman in "Rising rent, not poverty, is the real driver of homelessness"

samman — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 21:24:11 +0000

Another factor to consider is that there may also be significant infrastructure upgrades required to support the increase in population, and costs might increase dramatically when you consider increased water usage in an already drought stricken region.

New comment by samman in "Can a Tarot card reading be defamatory?"

samman — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 16:58:58 +0000

Could you summarize a theory or two about the mechanism by which the question asked could affect what cards are drawn?

New comment by samman in "‘Greenwashing’: Tree-Planting Schemes Are Just Creating Tree Cemeteries"

samman — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 14:56:25 +0000

The headline is overly pessimistic and implies tree planting schemes are all worthless and doomed to failure. There are fairly proven methods for planting forests, for instance: https://daily.jstor.org/the-miyawaki-method-a-better-way-to-...

New comment by samman in "In the beginning was the command line (1999) [pdf]"

samman — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 14:17:39 +0000

>I'm a little sad I never got to use the BeOS that the author so much likens to a batmobile (going from memory).

You may be interested in Haiku OS then... https://www.haiku-os.org/

New comment by samman in "Court: Breaking Your Employer's Computer Policy Isn't a Crime"

samman — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 22:28:35 +0000

Seems pretty clear when you put it that way.

New comment by samman in "Court: Breaking Your Employer's Computer Policy Isn't a Crime"

samman — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 22:10:46 +0000

>Note that the "right of the people to keep and bear arms" is a precondition, according to the 2A, for a "well-regulated militia"

Arms are indeed a precondition for a militia, but it seems to me the 2A only exists because the need for a militia was perceived at the time. I'm not so sure that's the case today. In any event, you make a very good point about the danger of 'creative' interpretations.

New comment by samman in "Court: Breaking Your Employer's Computer Policy Isn't a Crime"

samman — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 17:14:10 +0000

I see how that was critical to the nation at the time, but then how is that amendment relevant in the modern world? Standing armed forces protect our national integrity, and state/county/municipal agencies maintain local order. Aren't local militias effectively obsolete?

New comment by samman in "Court: Breaking Your Employer's Computer Policy Isn't a Crime"

samman — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 16:32:45 +0000

Fair point about the separate clauses-- but what's the intent of the "well-regulated" part, then?

New comment by samman in "Court: Breaking Your Employer's Computer Policy Isn't a Crime"

samman — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 16:11:19 +0000

2a. "...well-regulated..."

New comment by samman in "Ask HN: Interesting WebRTC projects to work on?"

samman — Sun, 31 May 2015 16:24:28 +0000

"Loop server allows firefox users to call each others via WebRTC. It is a rendezvous API built on top of an external service provider for NAT traversal and supplementary services."

https://docs.services.mozilla.com/loop/

New comment by samman in "A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults"

samman — Sun, 31 May 2015 16:20:47 +0000

Looking at the anecdotes being shared here, I see widely varying accounts of effects/efficacy. I wonder how many actually used 100% MDMA as opposed to one of its more 'designer' variants (blends, analogues, etc) generally available via illicit channels.

New comment by samman in "What happened to all the non-programmers?"

samman — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 19:18:46 +0000

I believe that's called a 'firm'.

New comment by samman in "Rms: Why you should not use Uber"

samman — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 18:54:12 +0000

>Unions, especially service unions revolving around local physical transportation, depend entirely on nationalism. Without a sympathetic federal entity that can supersede local definitions of what work is, you're just a ragtag pack of misfits.

I'm not so sure that's the case ultimately. If all of Uber's drivers banded together and simply decided not to drive until their terms were met, they'd likely have a good deal of leverage over Uber without any government intervention required. That is the basic concept of unions. Of course, companies have historically tried to circumvent or supress unionized labor in the past, to varying degrees of success.