Hacker News: sizzzzlerz

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "The iPhone explains 33–52% of fertility decline among women aged 15–44"

sizzzzlerz — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:53:14 +0000

Well, with them constantly taking selfies of themselves they have no time for normal human activities

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Astronauts told to return to ISS after sheltering over air leak repairs"

sizzzzlerz — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:20:48 +0000

I'm not sure distance matters. They're still stranded with virtually no possibility of rescue from the ground. Apollo 13 was extremely lucky that the hull wasn't breached, the spacecraft could still be controlled, that some very smart guys on the ground were able to devise the fix using bits of stuff known to be on board, the filter could actually be made, and, most of all, that it worked.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Astronauts told to return to ISS after sheltering over air leak repairs"

sizzzzlerz — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:49:57 +0000

Sort of like what happened on the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. Engineers on the ground were able to devise a makeshift fix to adapt the control module airscrubber filters to fit the lunar module so the astronauts could shelter in the LM for several days before getting back into the CM and coming home.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Sagrada Família Lego set"

sizzzzlerz — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:49:27 +0000

Of course. I do jigsaw puzzles all the time but they aren't meant to be permanent nor is it difficult to take them apart and redo them. I even did the Saturn 5 Lego kit 8 or so years ago. It's why I asked the question. While the rocket was much smaller in scope (and price), it took maybe 5 evenings to complete. It was, and continues to be, very fragile. I have it sitting on a table on its stand but I honestly get no real pleasure nor satisfaction in seeing it. It, and the table, require occasional dusting so moving it is a challenge to not cause pieces to fall off or to replace such pieces that do fall off back where they belong without causing further damage. If something happens that does cause major damage, it's pretty much toast as trying to recreate the initial assembly is nearly impossible. I was just asking to see what others do with such things. To me, they're like visiting a museum that has a very steep entrance fee that hasn't changed an exhibits since it opened. Why go back?

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Sagrada Família Lego set"

sizzzzlerz — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:01:40 +0000

I wonder when they'll release the Spanish Inquisition set. Nobody will expect that.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Sagrada Família Lego set"

sizzzzlerz — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:57:48 +0000

Once built, what does one do with this? Generally, these are fragile in the sense that moving them can cause parts of it to become disconnected or fall apart so you don't want to be moving it around to much. It's going to take up a whole lot of space. Your kids can't actually play with it. And if you intend to show it off, you aren't really showing any real skills except for the ability to follow pages and pages of instructions. I don't even want to think about what would be involved in disassembling it such that it could be rebuilt per the instructions.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "The Pack That Killed the Pack Mule"

sizzzzlerz — Fri, 29 May 2026 02:52:45 +0000

I still have the Kelty I got in the 70's and used on 15 trips into the Sierra Nevada over about 10 years. It's stained, smells like smoke, and has a number of patched rips including a hole chewed into the bottom by some rodent. Its only fault was it's capacity was too small for longer hikes. One of the best outdoor products I've ever had.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Trump Mobile exposed customers' personal data"

sizzzzlerz — Fri, 22 May 2026 17:37:54 +0000

Oh, no! What an unexpected tragedy. In other news...

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "A nicer voltmeter clock"

sizzzzlerz — Sun, 17 May 2026 21:28:08 +0000

Very nice. Would it be possible to publish the schematic?

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Utah senator smacks ABC reporters phone out of hand amid Data Center controversy"

sizzzzlerz — Thu, 07 May 2026 21:58:02 +0000

You know there has to be money being passed under the table to the council members, state legislature, and governor's office by the billionaire's wanting to build these things. There is absolutely no benefit to the local's to have this in their backyard. The construction money will go to out-of-the-area contractor's to build it, they'll staff it (minimal as it will be) with H1B visa holders from India, and money that won't see light of day in the community. All they'll have is higher property taxes, water, and electricity bills. Of course, being republican, they'll continue to vote these same people back into office.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975"

sizzzzlerz — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:32:50 +0000

There were, and still are, a number of magazines in the electronics industry, EDN, for example, that were available for free to engineers that were 75% ads with a few articles. The publishers and advertisers expected the articles to draw the engineers who would be the ones to spec components for their current designs.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975"

sizzzzlerz — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:27:25 +0000

Presenting ads to a target audience IS the purpose for the magazine just as they are for TV, cable, radio, and every other media source. The articles, shows, or music are inducements to get you to read, watch, or listen which, in turn, motivates companys to pay to get their ads presented.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Dennis Ritchie's PhD Dissertation [pdf]"

sizzzzlerz — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 21:14:48 +0000

Typing an equation-heavy PhD dissertation in the days before word processors or tools like LaTeX were available must have been only slightly less involved than the research being written up.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to"

sizzzzlerz — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:24:52 +0000

The NPS has large signs posted at the Bright Angel and Kaibab trailheads on the south rim warning visitors about the dangers of the trail, the heat, the steepness, the lack of shade. It is made abundantly clear that even a modest hike requires conditioning, water, appropriate shoes, and protection from the sun. They even have rangers patrolling the trails assessing hikers they pass and questioning those they believe are going to have trouble. Unfortunately, they can only recommend, not enforce. With all that, people run into difficultly and have to be hauled out. Sometimes, they die. As Ron White has said, you can't fix stupid.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to"

sizzzzlerz — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:11:57 +0000

GCNP is my absolute favorite park but it is definitely hard to get to know. Much of its charm is below the rims. I've done 4 multiday hikes from different trailheads on each rim as well as a 15 day dory trip on the Colorado. There a number of truly magical places you encounter than cannot be seen from the rim. In the midsts of some of the harshest terrain, there are grottos in sidecanyons filled with ferns, trees, and a stream. Waterfalls gushing from caves high up on the canyon wall. Deer, bighorn sheep, and birds of all types. Geologic features that go back as much as 1.2 billion years. Fossils that come from some of the earliest examples of life on this planet. Artifacts of people who lived there a thousand years ago. None of this comes cheap but if you put in the effort, you experience something that will change your view of the world.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "The Physics of GPS"

sizzzzlerz — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:23:51 +0000

even though the concepts are straightforward, the implementation requires great care in order to maintain and extract the required precision. Throw that tech into space takes everything to an even higher level requiring radiation hardening, weight management, and long term reliability. You can't send repair crews to fix them if they break. As an engineer, I am in awe of those who design and build these things.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "The APL programming language source code (2012)"

sizzzzlerz — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 21:17:41 +0000

At my very first professional EE position, in 1978, there was an older staff member, PhD, kind of a professor type, who was programming in APL. Naturally curious, I asked him about it and what the strange symbols on the keyboard meant. His explanation mostly flew right over my head but I asked a few questions, thanked him, and went away. In 43 years, he's the only person I ever saw using it.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "OpenAI backs Illinois bill that would limit when AI labs can be held liable"

sizzzzlerz — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:01:30 +0000

That has been the methodology of businesses since the mid 20th century. And you know what? It works! Really well!

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "OpenAI backs Illinois bill that would limit when AI labs can be held liable"

sizzzzlerz — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:56:27 +0000

I think you could apply this to most, if not all, billionaires in the world today.

New comment by sizzzzlerz in "Trump fires Pam Bondi as attorney general"

sizzzzlerz — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 18:06:39 +0000

Chapter 3 - United States of America

b. July 4, 1776, d. January 20, 2024. It was good while it lasted.