Hacker News: theoreticalmal

New comment by theoreticalmal in "Dutch 'idealist' bank ASN blocks non-Google Android, including GrapheneOS"

theoreticalmal — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:18:09 +0000

What gives you the right to determine how others should use their computing devices? Or should want to use their devices?

New comment by theoreticalmal in "North Korean fake job interview led to $6.3B Binance heist"

theoreticalmal — Thu, 05 Nov 2026 04:16:37 +0000

Aren’t “small transfers very quickly” kind of the whole point of what Binance does?

New comment by theoreticalmal in "North Korean fake job interview led to $6.3B Binance heist"

theoreticalmal — Thu, 05 Nov 2026 04:16:08 +0000

Where’s Milton when you need him??

New comment by theoreticalmal in "Bidirectional charging during grid outages"

theoreticalmal — Sun, 01 Nov 2026 16:46:37 +0000

I really wonder if part of the reason this isn’t more widespread is that utilities with variable rate electricity pricing would get burnt on it. Imagine charging during cheap time then dumping 5-20kWh back onto the grid during expensive time. You could have a positive ROI on a vehicle you regularly drive (timing permitting)

New comment by theoreticalmal in "Police chief unplugs cameras after Flock ignores contract cancellation"

theoreticalmal — Sun, 01 Nov 2026 16:37:32 +0000

Isn’t Bill Gates’ daughter in a tight legal spot for things she did? And didn’t that medical upstart lady get put in prison for several years?

New comment by theoreticalmal in "‘You Are Done’: The letter sent to King by the F.B.I (2014)"

theoreticalmal — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 14:52:59 +0000

Are you talking about Title VII in Universities?

New comment by theoreticalmal in "Solar power is becoming bigger than nuclear"

theoreticalmal — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 15:57:39 +0000

I am desperate to find a battery inverter that can be used to supplement my existing grid-tied home solar setup. I only need about 5kW and 10kWh of batteries, but everything I can find is geared towards whole-home power at like 12kW. Way way more than I need. I understand I’m in the minority and there’s probably not a market, but I’d love to find something

New comment by theoreticalmal in "AI use leads UC Berkeley math professor to see 'no point' in grading homework"

theoreticalmal — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 17:03:39 +0000

Maybe AI will be yet another disincentivized for higher education. When I was considering law school a decade ago, the overwhelming advices from existing attorneys was “unless you’re in the top 10% of the top 10% of universities, you’re wasting your time getting a law degree”. Seems very similar to university today (at least in the USA)

New comment by theoreticalmal in "Apple Security Research Device"

theoreticalmal — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 12:09:48 +0000

What’s the difference between bribery and a simple agreement? Secrecy?

New comment by theoreticalmal in "What I self-host"

theoreticalmal — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 02:41:54 +0000

Pfsense and maybe openwrt allow split horizon DNS that allows Wireguard tunnels to work seamlessly whether you’re on or off your home network. Took me years to figure out but it’s what I use now

New comment by theoreticalmal in "U.S. Treasury Announces Record Enforcement Actions Against Bank of America"

theoreticalmal — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 14:46:45 +0000

The only positive outcome I’ve ever heard from a DEI program is being a good hedge against groupthink, and bringing different perspectives that can solve problems more efficiently. But most DEI programs don’t seem to set that as their goal. They typically use a physical characteristic as a proxy for finding “different thought process”, with mixed results.

New comment by theoreticalmal in "DOJ arrests 2, seizes 187 devices in North Korean laptop farm crackdown in Texas"

theoreticalmal — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 03:22:38 +0000

Is the real motivation for these folks to “work and earn money for the North Korean Government”? It says the proceeds were $3M over 5 years…what’s the value of that at a national scale?

New comment by theoreticalmal in "Apple HomeView"

theoreticalmal — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 02:49:31 +0000

“Additional apps. HomeView supports compatible third-party audio and video apps from your iPhone for a familiar experience across devices.9”

New comment by theoreticalmal in "Nearly 200 people under observation after Irkutsk lab worker dies from plague"

theoreticalmal — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 15:58:16 +0000

I am intensely curious as to what you think the US FBI does. You don’t think “covert espionage to determine the origin of a potential foreign bioweapon” isn’t within the FBI’s core competencies?

New comment by theoreticalmal in "AI firm HUMXN offers free plumbing and HVAC service in Minnesota to train robots"

theoreticalmal — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 15:54:56 +0000

Maybe swage is not the right word. I spent several weeks attempting a flare fitting connection and couldn’t get it right. I had another HVAC tech out to attempt a flare fitting and he couldn’t do it. The second tech I called did…whatever the other kind is. Expand one side of the copper tube, insert the other side, use heat and flux and solder to join them. By this point I didn’t want to invest more time into the project (again, I did every other part of the install, including multiple other flare connections). I vacuum pumped the line sets and am pleased to report they work great now.

New comment by theoreticalmal in "Solar panels that plug into your wall"

theoreticalmal — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 15:32:27 +0000

I hope the next step for this is plug-in battery storage. All the on-grid battery hybrid inverters I can find in the USA are either single leg 120V or 12kW for $5k. I just want like 3kW dual-leg with support for a dozen kWh of batteries

New comment by theoreticalmal in ""Robot" Is a Social Construct: Why Your Dishwasher Is Not a Robot"

theoreticalmal — Sun, 11 Oct 2026 15:47:21 +0000

My washing machine detects when the wet laundry inside is imbalanced and will do a slow half rotation to evenly spaced the wet laundry before a spin cycle

New comment by theoreticalmal in "What driving across Europe costs in tolls, vignettes, bridges and fuel"

theoreticalmal — Sun, 11 Oct 2026 15:39:21 +0000

If you never plan on visiting Austria again, is this something you could simply ignore? Is there an appeals process? Very interesting situation! In USA, many tolls are basically commercial debts that can be ignored with moderate success

New comment by theoreticalmal in "US man given prison sentence for bot-farming music streams"

theoreticalmal — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 02:47:32 +0000

Nancy Pelosi isn’t in the White House?

New comment by theoreticalmal in "AI firm HUMXN offers free plumbing and HVAC service in Minnesota to train robots"

theoreticalmal — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 15:55:43 +0000

An HVAC tech charged me $750 to perform one swage connection on a mini-split install I was working on. $750 for $0.10 of combustibles and 45 minutes of time. Service workers are willingly pushing their customer base into these robotic solutions and I am thrilled at the idea of a robot coming out to do some work for 1/3 of the cost