Hacker News: stn8188

New comment by stn8188 in "Can a Computer Science Student Be Taught to Design Hardware?"

stn8188 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 17:43:16 +0000

The subheading to this article seems a little extreme: "To fill the talent gap, CS majors could be taught to design hardware, and the EE curriculum could be adapted or even shortened."

The article is more in the area of chip design and verification than PCB hardware, so I kinda understand where it's coming from.

Can a Computer Science Student Be Taught to Design Hardware?

stn8188 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 17:29:13 +0000

Article URL: https://semiengineering.com/can-a-computer-science-student-be-taught-to-design-hardware/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47050211

Points: 87

# Comments: 115

New comment by stn8188 in "Suicide Linux (2009)"

stn8188 — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 23:49:43 +0000

`sl` is my favorite first package to install in any distro to get see if the package manager works :)

New comment by stn8188 in "Is ChatGPT Your Friend or Enemy: You Decide"

stn8188 — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 23:27:51 +0000

I put together some of my thoughts on the latest generation of AI tools. Whether you love to use these tools, or actively avoid them, nearly everyone is most certainly intrigued by them. Personally, I'm super conflicted. I've seen some really awesome ways they have been a help, but I'm honestly a bit worried about the society-wide impacts they may have.

Is ChatGPT Your Friend or Enemy: You Decide

stn8188 — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 23:20:23 +0000

Article URL: https://shielddigitaldesign.com/posts/2026/ai/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46759689

Points: 3

# Comments: 1

New comment by stn8188 in "Ask HN: Share your personal website"

stn8188 — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 18:46:41 +0000

Cool idea! Here's mine

https://shielddigitaldesign.com/

Mostly just stuff I try to share about hardware design.

New comment by stn8188 in "Network of Scottish X accounts go dark amid Iran blackout"

stn8188 — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:06:25 +0000

It does sound a lot like the antagonist organization in The Space Trilogy novels...

New comment by stn8188 in "2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop"

stn8188 — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 02:13:18 +0000

Same here. I spent a good chunk of the evening just today messing around with Steam to see what I could get running on Linux. It's been a while since I tried in earnest, but I got all the games I wanted running (minus VR, but that felt like it was close). Even though I barely play any games anymore, it's the last reason I haven't wiped my Win10 drive.

New comment by stn8188 in "GNU Unifont"

stn8188 — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 21:51:31 +0000

Wow, the web version is neat in its simplicity! Thank you for the work on Solvespace. It's far and away my favorite MCAD program and always my first go-to when I need to crank out a quick fixture to test PCBs. It's really so pleasant and easy to work with as long as my geometry is relatively basic (which it almost always is given my limited scope of work with mechanical design). I'm sorry I don't have any comments on the relevant topic of the fonts, just was excited to see Solvespace mentioned.

The private space company building satellites–in an old San Francisco shipyard

stn8188 — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 16:13:28 +0000

Article URL: https://www.fastcompany.com/91456505/astranis-microgeo-satellites-john-gedmark

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46233218

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by stn8188 in "TSA's New $45 Fee at U.S. Airports Unfairly Punishes Families in the Fine Print"

stn8188 — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:47:35 +0000

No, you're not. The fact that people think the TSA is a joke (as noted within the body of the article) is what stuck out to me. The headline is lame.

New comment by stn8188 in "TSA's New $45 Fee at U.S. Airports Unfairly Punishes Families in the Fine Print"

stn8188 — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:46:43 +0000

You make a great point, but (as noted in the article) some of us feel that the TSA is a joke for various reasons; one of which may be that the TSA did not actually accept forms of ID which their website states are acceptable :)

New comment by stn8188 in "TSA's New $45 Fee at U.S. Airports Unfairly Punishes Families in the Fine Print"

stn8188 — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:44:26 +0000

The argument in the headline is sorta silly - I agree - but the quote I put in my other comment is the real reason I submitted this article.

New comment by stn8188 in "TSA's New $45 Fee at U.S. Airports Unfairly Punishes Families in the Fine Print"

stn8188 — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:41:34 +0000

I was surprised too, but since I have one I figured I'd use it (before I got the Real ID). It's listed as "Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)" on https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification

The VA recently gave out more recent ID cards that seem more detailed than the older ones.

New comment by stn8188 in "TSA's New $45 Fee at U.S. Airports Unfairly Punishes Families in the Fine Print"

stn8188 — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:36:19 +0000

I think this was already discussed recently, but I find this quote in the article very interesting:

"Passengers don't listen, a lot of them think the TSA is a joke. The fines are a way to enforce the rules for the REAL ID," the former TSA officer told TheTravel.

I've got one very concrete reason why I do think the TSA is a joke. They list a Veterans Affairs health ID card as valid ID even after this new Real ID rule. Despite that, I was forced to go thru "extra screening" in Austin because a bunch of agents were not aware of this (even though I had a print out of the website). Even in the TSA press release announcing this new fee still lists the VA ID as sufficient, but I'll forever just recall the complete lack of professionalism and knowledge of these agents.

TSA's New $45 Fee at U.S. Airports Unfairly Punishes Families in the Fine Print

stn8188 — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:30:25 +0000

Article URL: https://www.thetravel.com/new-tsa-45-usd-fee-for-americans-without-real-id-or-passport-penalizes-families-the-most/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46138101

Points: 15

# Comments: 46

New comment by stn8188 in "One-Third of US Families Earn over $150k"

stn8188 — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 19:43:26 +0000

As I looked at the chart my first thought was regarding how many women were working a few decades ago compared to now. It's nice to see that the comments below the chart pointed out the same thing. One of the saddest things about today's society is how many 2nd parents are forced to work even when they would prefer not to.

New comment by stn8188 in "Show HN: Cadence – A guitar theory app"

stn8188 — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 12:39:44 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing this! My kids all play instruments and I'm a bit jealous of their skill (I never played anything growing up). Over the last few weeks I've taken to borrowing my son's guitar at night and working through one of his books. I've been looking for more information on music theory, and this is so perfect. I'm excited to go through it. Thanks again!

New comment by stn8188 in "Ask HN: Abandoned/dead projects you think died before their time and why?"

stn8188 — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 19:24:01 +0000

I had a similar pleasant experience with Skype. Back in 2009, I was deployed to the Persian Gulf. This was before ubiquitous cell phones (at least, I left my cell phone back in the US). Phone cards worked to call home, but my cheap solution was to use Skype from my handheld PSP using Wi-Fi from a cafe. It worked out great for me at least, and I'll always appreciate that.

New comment by stn8188 in "Find Nearby Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR)"

stn8188 — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 12:24:44 +0000

Skimming the map, I see many listed are in parking lots for Home Depot and Lowe's. I assume that's because of high dollar items and common theft issues? I'm wondering if those cameras are specifically operated by this Flock company, or others as well.