Hacker News: theiz

New comment by theiz in "Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers"

theiz — Sat, 23 May 2026 09:57:59 +0000

There are Android e-Readers, like Boox, but that does not imply it is easy to do fun stuff. Seems pretty locked down. I have a PocketBook myself, no complaints there and you can install software (at least I can on the one I have but it is a few years old now) and thus never had the need to hack the thing.

New comment by theiz in "Minnesota becomes first state to ban prediction markets"

theiz — Wed, 20 May 2026 14:16:34 +0000

One of the biggest commodity trading companies is in Minnesota (Cargill), where I would think that commodities are a prediction market too: They predict the harvest and relate that to a future price. Also there are quite some real estate investors in Minnesota, also due to tax arrangements. Wonder how that will pan out.

New comment by theiz in "Job Postings for Software Engineers Are Rapidly Rising"

theiz — Sat, 02 May 2026 06:58:44 +0000

What I see use an immense amount of bugs and security issues that can be found much easier now then even before, because of AI. Also I see less trust in using AI in direct coding, because there are many examples of code additions that breach the safety of software in enterprises. Now to solve this, it requires for actual humans to do coding. And with that, it is probably true that more use of AI in coding leads to more SE's required to oversee ensure security. I personally see the big benefit of AI tooling to be in testing, security checking, documenting, etc. rather then coding itself.

New comment by theiz in "The Napoleon Technique: Postponing things to increase productivity"

theiz — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 09:36:32 +0000

It can be combined with rules as a pre-condition. For example: I have a CC box where mail is moved to where I am in CC. As I am mentioned in CC, I do not expect immediate action is required, and I will postpone the activity of reading or other action for that mail and 999 out of 1000 times it will resolve itself. Now this is a very easy and clear example of a rule, but there are many like this to manage the workload to manageable levels. It allows me to work part-time for multiple customers, while often being more productive then full time employees.

New comment by theiz in "Microsoft has a problem: lack of demand for its AI products"

theiz — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 17:41:19 +0000

Or do things that actually work. Why, for example, can I not translate a PowerPoint using Copilot in Powerpoint? Why do I need to save it, then upload it into ChatGPT, translate it, then download it again, and open it in PowerPoint for further editing. But at the same time get all kind off nonsense I don't want pushed at me in Windows, like that MSN news clickbait crap.

New comment by theiz in "It’s been a very hard year"

theiz — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 16:25:40 +0000

I think what he does is thinking in possibilities, just what an entrepreneur should do.

New comment by theiz in "It’s been a very hard year"

theiz — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 08:59:37 +0000

I had a discussion yesterday with someone that owns a company creating PowerPoints for customers. As you might understand, that is also a business that is to be hit hard by AI. What he does is offer an AI entry level option, where basically the questions he asks the customer (via a Form) will lead to a script for running AI. With that he is able to combine his expertise with the AI demand from the market, and gain a profit from that.

New comment by theiz in "Marble: A Multimodal World Model"

theiz — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 09:13:47 +0000

Nice tech! Would be great if this can also work on factual data, like design drawings. With that it could be used for BIM and regulatory use. For example to showcase to residents how a new residential area will look that is planned. Or to test the layout of a planned airport.

New comment by theiz in "LinkedIn is now using everyone's content to train their AI tool"

theiz — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 22:24:03 +0000

Because there is a huge market for resume builders and career guidance where AI can play a role. Using LinkedIn you can measure success and network performance and correlate that to the resume and posted content.

New comment by theiz in "Flying Aircraft Carriers (2019)"

theiz — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:44:12 +0000

Of all this amazing stuff, I learned today they were considering using solar panels on a zeppelin in 1936. I really though solar panels were from the 1980’s onwards.

New comment by theiz in "Telling the Bees"

theiz — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 21:19:15 +0000

This does need the context that you would communicate much more with your hive then just death and weddings. You need to build a relation with them. Ask permission to enter the hive, take good care of them, all that. And yes, there are people (like me) that still do it that way. And yes, I do think our bees / colonies recognise me and my wife as their keepers.

New comment by theiz in "Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”"

theiz — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 09:20:10 +0000

If you ever went 4x4 driving, you use driver / passenger to indicate the direction someone has to go to. This is because the navigation often is done from someone standing outside the car, where using left/right can be rather confusing.

New comment by theiz in "Apple gets a cut of search revenue from Chrome as part of secret Google deal"

theiz — Sat, 18 Feb 2023 23:10:17 +0000

The assumption following this revaluation is that this is an incentive for Apple to keep this secondary market as small as possible. A google search in ios safari means a revenue for Apple. Another browser does not. With this, there is a double vendor lock-in.

New comment by theiz in "Certified 100% AI-free organic content"

theiz — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 17:53:05 +0000

Although I like most of the posting, some thoughts: First of all, we think with all inventions we have excluded human beings from being required. In the end we get more efficient, but we still need workers. The trend though is to go to core business and standard following the industrialisation, I see ai as an opportunity to have more custom and service driven business on an industrial scale though, that is the real promise. This can start with service desk providing service rather then unusable rubbish ad they do now. For the art and text: this industry is relatively new, and came with internet and PowerPoint decks. And yes, probably this will be impacted by ai, but do we really have to be sorry for that? We will have the same page filling nonsense created by ai, that is now created by cheap labour. Look at recipe sites, all kind of crap to make recipes into content so the copyright is somewhat addressed, but nobody reads that anyway. As for all other changes we have had before: there will be some impact on business and life as we know it, but not as much as anyone expected upfront.

New comment by theiz in "Grain farming goes indoors"

theiz — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 00:11:27 +0000

And don’t forget the energy and materials you need to build something where you can actually grow things indoors. Total waste of so many things here. We know that we can grow stuff in greenhouses. We know wheat is a cheap commodity too, where it is hard to gain a profit on. What are they trying to accomplish here?

New comment by theiz in "Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?"

theiz — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 19:23:00 +0000

Depends on your role. I (ea for quite a big company) use the time to discuss strategy and roadblocks. Additionally I address personal development if required. For myself I want to also check if I am doing the right things (by now I do know I do things right) and ensure my manager does delegate tasks that can be moved down. If your on a junior level it should be mostly about you: what can you start doing, how can you develop. Mid career it is a mix of checking the value you bring and if you can learn and develop more. Another thing to bring as checkpoint is stress and workload: your manager is the only person that can help you if needed, raise the topic early. Overload kills you and makes you deliver poor work, hence no benefit for employee nor employer. Oh, and look at Daniel pink - drive, might be beneficial.

New comment by theiz in "Ask HN: Main things to consider when building an app for business/enterprise?"

theiz — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 00:27:07 +0000

On a scale where 1 is important and 12 is not so important: 1 to 10: sales, marketing and profitability 11; scalability (tech and org) 12: future roadmap

Then the other stuff, but that is not so important.

New comment by theiz in "Ask HN: Elevator Pitch for a Polymath?"

theiz — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 00:02:48 +0000

I do not agree with the CTO comparison looking at your examples. It seems you are a very broad tactical specialist. For CTO roles you however also need to be able to set a strategy, I do not see that. Frankly if you would be able to do that, you would have made a 5 year plan for your career and did not raise this question. Sure, you can solve all problems thrown at you. But can you make a plan that prevent these problems even exist? So: where do you want to be 5 years from now? What position or role do you want to be then? How do you get there? Answer these questions, and I think you will have a general idea of your current elevator pitch.

New comment by theiz in "I am done. I give up"

theiz — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:48:23 +0000

This is quite common in Europe, not sure on other areas now. These are people that have worked as account manager and decided to start their own business. I know one that has worked for Accenture, one ex Microsoft. They work for a percentage normally and with that it is in their benefit to sell as much of your product as possible. They have their network and knowledge, I liked working that way a lot.

New comment by theiz in "I am done. I give up"

theiz — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 10:31:26 +0000

Starting any business is very very very hard work. Creating a new product from nothing, is very very hard work. Combining the 2 means you have an insane amount of work to do. That leaves you to be CEO and R&D and manufacturing. How do you think marketing and sales fits into that? And finance and strategy? Those are the pitfalls and a reason to better not do startup alone. There are freelance sales people that will sell your product for a fee, with the advantages of using their network and their feedback in an early stage of development (if they say they can’t sell it, stop your work).

For now: you have a ton of experience and are invaluable for any employer. See this as an investment and see you get a return.