Hacker News: seanmcdirmid

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "Seven countries now generate 100% of their electricity from renewable energy"

seanmcdirmid — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 15:59:01 +0000

A lot of hydroelectric depends on snow pack and glacier runoff that is being adversely affected by global warming. Solar and wind are the only robust hedges against a warm up that might ultimately severely curtail river flow.

We have a lot of uranium and nuclear is fairly renewable at least in the span of a few centuries. The waste issue is a problem.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire"

seanmcdirmid — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 06:58:28 +0000

> Consider that China has now recognized this as a point of weakness and will be finding ways to reduce or eliminate their exposure.

China has always seen its need to import oil as a weakness and has been working on solutions to that, solutions it is now very happy to export to other countries that now recognize the threat as well. This war is a huge boon to China which probably helped it avert a recession that was otherwise going to happen this year or next.

The only real shocker is that the USA (well, the MAGA crowd) refuse to see this as a weakness. We have a way to literally make the Middle East irrelevant, and yet we’ve decided to pull back on our anemic (in comparison to China) efforts in moving in that direction.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire"

seanmcdirmid — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 06:54:19 +0000

A lot of Iran’s victory simply revolves around Trump being so incompetent. But then again any president with half a brain wouldn’t touch a war with Iran given our negative experience in the region fighting much weaker countries.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire"

seanmcdirmid — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 06:51:06 +0000

Ya, look at what happened in Nepal, poor access to oil via India, who imports it themselves, but lots of hydro potential. China being next door with an actual rail and truck connection, and cheap EVs.

The developing world has the potential to achieve developed living standards for a much cheaper price, while the west rots away catering to vested interests.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "In Japan, the robot isn't coming for your job; it's filling the one nobody wants"

seanmcdirmid — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:16:36 +0000

They might have one person ready, but the amount of volume they do means that the kiosks aren’t really that optional, most people are using them or they would be waiting awhile for human help (and most people use them so the manned check is pretty clear most of the time for those that need it).

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "In Japan, the robot isn't coming for your job; it's filling the one nobody wants"

seanmcdirmid — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 04:53:24 +0000

I saw Indian workers in convenience stores when I was there. I thought that was kind of cool.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "In Japan, the robot isn't coming for your job; it's filling the one nobody wants"

seanmcdirmid — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 04:52:19 +0000

You mean the hot food in the display case? They still have a person for that, but they aren’t taking money.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "In Japan, the robot isn't coming for your job; it's filling the one nobody wants"

seanmcdirmid — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 04:51:01 +0000

Huh, in Tokyo and Osaka I didn’t encounter a 7-11 without self checkout as an option. The smaller convenience stores sure, but not 7-11. China is much more aggressive in this regard though.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "In Japan, the robot isn't coming for your job; it's filling the one nobody wants"

seanmcdirmid — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 23:40:28 +0000

Different from the USA, 7-11 in Japan and China are mainly self checkout at least, so they can technically run a store with less people since they don’t have to man cash registers to get people checked out.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "Microsoft hasn't had a coherent GUI strategy since Petzold"

seanmcdirmid — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 20:50:14 +0000

He still visits Microsoft occasionally. A friend showed me a picture of him visiting Microsoft in Beijing a few months ago (he was excited about BillG visiting). So my guess is that he still has an interest in Microsoft products.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "Microsoft: Copilot is for entertainment purposes only"

seanmcdirmid — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 16:17:23 +0000

Having different contracts for different countries with different rules is a normal thing.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "F-15E jet shot down over Iran"

seanmcdirmid — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 01:52:56 +0000

Isn’t this just weapons of mass destruction again circa Iraq 25 years ago? We had evidence back then also, it turned out to be fabricated. Are you sure Netanyahu didn't just need a big distraction to prevent from being impeached and sent to jail? And Trump didn't need a huge distraction from the whole Epstein thing? Because this war come out of nowhere and was way too convenient for them.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "U.S. is burning through Tomahawk cruise missile stockpile"

seanmcdirmid — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 01:29:31 +0000

Xi is much younger than Trump.

China still has lots of problems, they are just doing a few key things right in terms of tech tree development, while the USA is basically swimming backwards.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "[dead]"

seanmcdirmid — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 15:53:38 +0000

F-15s are appropriate for many missions. I think you are thinking of the chapter less capable F-16s instead?

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "U.S. is burning through Tomahawk cruise missile stockpile"

seanmcdirmid — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 06:15:15 +0000

Ya, China will win by default, why do something stupid like Trump would? Make friends with the world, provide working affordable solutions to the high price of oil. Uhm, it’s like Trump is doing everything for China’s benefit.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz"

seanmcdirmid — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 15:59:18 +0000

That’s MAD. It’s much more likely that we just blockade and invade Cuba than we nuke it. Even Trump isn’t crazy enough to start a nuclear war (I hope).

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "IBM Announces Strategic Collaboration with Arm"

seanmcdirmid — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 15:13:36 +0000

IBM is known as a toxic tech along with Palantir and Oracle. We talk about IBM on HN, but mostly in negative contexts.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "Iran says it will target US tech companies in Middle East"

seanmcdirmid — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 04:42:28 +0000

I took a Chinese course in Beijing with the son of an Iranian diplomat as a classmate and we did not gel, but frankly thats my only experience. The funny thing was that the guy was a huge womanizer/drinker, which I also hear is normal for Iran. Iranians actually seem quite liberal by Muslim standards (if it wasn't for the whole revolutionary guard/cleric leadership, again by my limited maybe outdated experience), which is weird when our side has the KSA, one of the most conservative countries on earth.

It is a pity really, Iran is on my bucket list for food, culture, and natural beauty. More so than any other country in that area, its too bad about the whole "death to America" thing.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "Iran says it will target US tech companies in Middle East"

seanmcdirmid — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 01:32:24 +0000

That is useful, thanks! Iran always seems like they have more enemies than friends, but I guess I overplayed the Shia/Sunni divide.

New comment by seanmcdirmid in "Iran says it will target US tech companies in Middle East"

seanmcdirmid — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:27:52 +0000

Did Iran really have allies in Arab Sunni ruled countries though? Pretty much all of them already see non-Arab Shia Iran as an enemy, and have for a long time. The only real mystery is how the region hasn't imploded already with all the historical tension between these countries.