Hacker News: sf_rob

New comment by sf_rob in "DOGE puts $1 spending limit on government employee credit cards"

sf_rob — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 22:43:38 +0000

USA government spending as a percent of GDP is on the lower side of developed nations (high 30s depending on the source). Our peers are Luxembourg and Norway, and we’re well below France and Germany. Granted that we are one of the few developed nations that don’t provide universal healthcare which biases us lower.

While I’d share your concerns about fiscal sustainability, we’re an outlier on tax receipts not spending.

New comment by sf_rob in "I had to take down my course-swapping site or be expelled"

sf_rob — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 02:13:13 +0000

An interesting outsider perspective is this clip of Steven Fry going to an Auburn game: https://youtu.be/FuPeGPwGKe8

Regarding the latter, it’s weird and certainly was exploitative when college athletes weren’t allowed to monetize through sponsorships and frankly still is exploitative.

New comment by sf_rob in "I had to take down my course-swapping site or be expelled"

sf_rob — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 02:06:26 +0000

Nationally there’s FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, who (despite a recent name change) are focused on campus free speech rights.

New comment by sf_rob in "Moments in Chromecast's history"

sf_rob — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 18:19:11 +0000

Yes, I prefer YouTube and use it for background audio when I'm not listening to podcasts. YouTube Music is a product trying to kludge way too much into a single app to be good at any one thing. It's an okay music player, decent podcast tool, and back YouTube secondary/audio only augmentation.

New comment by sf_rob in "Moments in Chromecast's history"

sf_rob — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 16:50:47 +0000

While I'm not all-in on the ecosystem, I'm pretty far. It's still terrible.

I still can't "cast" YouTube audio to my Google Home Mini unless I use the Home Mini in Bluetooth mode (I have more reliable Bluetooth speakers for that) even as a YouTube Premium user.

My Nest devices are stuck in limbo between the Google Home and Nest apps; it's been like this for years.

Integrating new Google devices into Google Home tends to fail without helpful troubleshooting a few times before they succeed.

I refuse to upgrade my Nest Thermostat 1, even though it doesn't support needed features like the temperature sensors. I've also had to turn off all the learning because it decides I'm not home, and doesn't infer that I am home from my Google Wifi hubs.

New comment by sf_rob in "Moments in Chromecast's history"

sf_rob — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 14:57:09 +0000

Whenever I submit Google Home/Chromecast bugs/feature requests I include some snark in my sign-off like "I know you don't care about this product and it will be killed soon, but if I'm wrong please consider the suggestions above."

New comment by sf_rob in "Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for official acts"

sf_rob — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 18:56:16 +0000

And every war since Vietnam has been a police action or military operation.

New comment by sf_rob in "Ask HN: Could AI be a dot com sized bubble?"

sf_rob — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:07:52 +0000

Yes, it’s interesting but mostly a shift of concentration of earnings. Market weighted PE multiples are slightly elevated historically but not insane; forward PE even less so (taken with a grain of salt of course).

New comment by sf_rob in "Hertz Charging a Tesla Renter for Gas Was Not an Isolated Incident"

sf_rob — Mon, 20 May 2024 02:53:57 +0000

The only EV I’ve rented from Turo was the opposite experience. They gave me the car at 75%, they capped charging at 90% in settings, then they charged me for bringing it back at 70% (which was just past their threshold but considering I could only charge it to 90% that should be the baseline).

New comment by sf_rob in "How to escape Honda's privacy hell"

sf_rob — Mon, 06 May 2024 18:15:04 +0000

Can you provide citation for a US federal requirement? I'm skeptical and not finding anything in a search.

New comment by sf_rob in "Meta Reports First Quarter 2024 Results"

sf_rob — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 20:52:23 +0000

Conjecture, but did the prior report have a one time tax hit? That's fairly common.

New comment by sf_rob in "An open source initiative to share and compare heat pump performance data"

sf_rob — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 16:44:42 +0000

That's not uncommon and is even beneficial in warmer climates. It will be parasitic in winter (even if externally vented) and symbiotic in summer.

New comment by sf_rob in "Find My Device on Android"

sf_rob — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 18:28:58 +0000

Tangent, but my experience with this was when I needed to upgrade my mobile plan for international service... but I had 2FA via text message enabled for the account.

New comment by sf_rob in "Anatomy of a credit card rewards program"

sf_rob — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 17:34:42 +0000

Claiming that merchant fees result in higher prices is different from claiming that reducing merchant fees would directly, immediately, or measurably lower prices. Isn't a plausible explanation that companies are hesitant to lower prices for any reason?

Let's consider the opposite scenario, if Visa raises their fees do merchants keep prices where they are? I suspect not.

New comment by sf_rob in "How Hertz’s bet on Teslas went sideways"

sf_rob — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 16:23:24 +0000

Are you factoring in the federal tax credit with your math? I suspect not when I look at their website where lightly used EUVs are ~$20k. Of course, you may not be eligible for the federal tax credit, but $8500 doesn't strike me as much of a deal.

New comment by sf_rob in "Tesla releases Q1 2024 deliveries: disastrous results"

sf_rob — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 17:54:26 +0000

Only the performance Model 3 is currently eligible for the Federal tax credit[1]. They may be referring to some generous state EV credits.

[1] https://insideevs.com/news/700533/tesla-model-3-rwd-long-ran...

New comment by sf_rob in "Tesla releases Q1 2024 deliveries: disastrous results"

sf_rob — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 16:33:21 +0000

Until Tesla changes their Model 3 sourcing to be eligible for the $7500 tax credit, I don’t understand who would buy one over the Model Y even with the “highland” improvements.

New comment by sf_rob in "Tesla releases Q1 2024 deliveries: disastrous results"

sf_rob — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 16:24:41 +0000

While Musk’s attention was certainly a key asset in Tesla’s early years, I’m not sure that his attention is still a net positive.

New comment by sf_rob in "Florida's DeSantis signs law restricting social media for people under 16"

sf_rob — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 14:30:26 +0000

I think structuring the law as a penalty is "smart" in that the government does not have to explicitly ask providers to require ID, but I can't imagine them not being at significant financial risk without doing so. This will make the providers look like the "bad guy" to an end-user.

New comment by sf_rob in "Baltimore's Key Bridge struck by cargo ship, collapses"

sf_rob — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 13:04:32 +0000

The 2007 Cosco Busan incident appears to be a glancing blow. I can't find any information suggesting an analogous impact at any point.