Hacker News: sandmn

New comment by sandmn in "U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications"

sandmn — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 04:04:46 +0000

But isn't that how market supposed to work? Company offers to pay x for the job, can't find anyone for x, so it raises salary to x+y.

I would understand logic of bringing people from other countries when there is a shortage of workers but with current market it doesn't seem to be the case.

New comment by sandmn in "How credit card rewards became a $9.2B wealth transfer"

sandmn — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 19:58:51 +0000

The cost of accepting cash is not necessarily lower - you have take into account higher theft risk, miscounts and cost of delivering it to the bank. Also there is no incentive for businesses to pass saved fees to customers.

New comment by sandmn in "How credit card rewards became a $9.2B wealth transfer"

sandmn — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 19:23:26 +0000

I think it's true for most businesses with single transaction being big enough - car dealerships, child care, rent. On the other hand many of them are not happy with cash either because processing cash also incur fees that are not nesessarily less than credit card fees. Most businesses that prefer to take cash are smaller ones because most likely they won't report it.

New comment by sandmn in "How credit card rewards became a $9.2B wealth transfer"

sandmn — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 19:03:39 +0000

There are plenty of credit cards in US with 2% cashback on any transaction and no fees if you pay bills on time (usually 20-30 days after statement closes). Some of them even throw in small sign in bonus.

New comment by sandmn in "Dear people who work at the airport"

sandmn — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 10:22:59 +0000

They do confiscate plenty of guns though: https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/3816926-these-us-a...

New comment by sandmn in "Dear people who work at the airport"

sandmn — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 10:03:38 +0000

But then air companies will have to hire more workers to move luggage.

New comment by sandmn in "Dear people who work at the airport"

sandmn — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:45:13 +0000

At some point I grew tired of taking my belt off in airports so I bought one with plastic buckle. I still had to take it off in some European airport because their new advanced scanner scans volume instead of metal...

New comment by sandmn in "Passkeys were invented by engineers with zero understanding of consumer brain"

sandmn — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:19:21 +0000

It works fine until Google suddenly decides that your new device is not you and asks you to confirm login from previous device...

New comment by sandmn in "EU Parliamentary Research Service calls VPNs "a loophole that needs closing""

sandmn — Sat, 09 May 2026 17:49:00 +0000

It's cat and mouse game, VPN providers have to constantly update their protocol after being blocked by DPI.

New comment by sandmn in "Original GrapheneOS responses to WIRED fact checker"

sandmn — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 05:54:24 +0000

Unlikely the case, Telegram is the app that Russian government is most focused on blocking right now, it's almost impossible to use without proxy or VPN.

Not saying Durov is perfect but video you linked is about guy who has all his assets in Russia while Durov has none.

New comment by sandmn in "Dan Simmons, author of Hyperion, has died"

sandmn — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 20:28:47 +0000

Not sure about a film, but maybe TV series? I thought Game of Thrones was not adaptable but then HBO did it.

New comment by sandmn in "Unifi Travel Router"

sandmn — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 07:55:39 +0000

Does it require specific VPN apps or root? I tried connecting laptop to phone hotspot and even though phone was connected to VPN, laptop wasn't.

New comment by sandmn in "“No tax on tips” is an industry plant"

sandmn — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 08:45:39 +0000

I haven't thought of that, makes sense. That likely applies more to higher-end non-chain places and tourist spots with lots of first time visitors. Regular customers will often know what they want.

New comment by sandmn in "“No tax on tips” is an industry plant"

sandmn — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 15:10:56 +0000

Is the definition of a good server in this case one who can serve more tables than others in the same amount of time? In most places tips are mandatory and % does not depend much on anything unless someone messed up.

Commission on sales is very different from restaurant tips.

New comment by sandmn in "Zelensky leaves White House after angry meeting"

sandmn — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 07:38:14 +0000

Not exactly to get enrolled, but in Moscow websites officially advertize 2300000 rub to sign, which is about $25000. Then monthly payment is 190000 rub so for first year it'll be about $50000 which is 5 to 10 times more than average salary (depending on the region). Initial bonus for enrollment is city-dependent but as far as I understand anyone can just travel to Moscow and sign in there.

I heard that volonteer numbers right now are pretty high so army became more selective - people expect that war will end soon and hope to get sign in bonus without spending much time on the battlefield, if any.

New comment by sandmn in "Missiles are now the biggest killer of airline passengers"

sandmn — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 18:16:54 +0000

Prigozhin was a very different case, not that many people have their own paramilitary organization to defend them. Only other such person I can think of is someone like Kadyrov.

New comment by sandmn in "Missiles are now the biggest killer of airline passengers"

sandmn — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 18:06:52 +0000

This aircraft was trying to land so it likely had much lower altitude and speed than usual.

New comment by sandmn in "Syrian government falls in end to 50-year rule of Assad family"

sandmn — Sun, 08 Dec 2024 14:41:39 +0000

In the previous active phase of war in Syria Hezbollah was one of the main Assad supporters that provided manpower. They are extremely weakened right now, so in a way rebels can thank Israel for indirect help.

New comment by sandmn in "DOJ accuses Visa of monopoly that affects price of 'nearly everything’"

sandmn — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 23:40:50 +0000

Not sure if people who prefer to use cash will consider that an adequate substitute.

New comment by sandmn in "DOJ accuses Visa of monopoly that affects price of 'nearly everything’"

sandmn — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 23:36:19 +0000

That's true for online stores but not necessarily offline, where it's hard to compare prices and it's much more convenient to go to store nearby even if they charge 10% more unless you're buying something expensive.