Hacker News: throwaway74628

New comment by throwaway74628 in "Statement on US government directive to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5"

throwaway74628 — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 03:55:16 +0000

“Too dangerous to release” has been exploited for marketing.

A sizeable plurality of the informed public know as much.

Regulatory capture is a thing.

New comment by throwaway74628 in "Why senior developers fail to communicate their expertise"

throwaway74628 — Wed, 13 May 2026 16:17:33 +0000

Any can can be kicked down the road in the name of pragmatism, sure, but IME the kind of tech debt you’re describing often comes about from lack of fear and respect for complexity and the damage it can do. Before you can reduce complexity, you must first manage it by breaking the problem into smaller parts through categories, boundaries, and contracts; so many software engineering best practices concern this aspect.

That is to say, the rolling up of sleeves usually involves first adding tests for existing behavior and then doing more-or-less what’s described. The tools involved are aside to this; “catch as catch can”

New comment by throwaway74628 in "Should QA exist?"

throwaway74628 — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 11:43:58 +0000

I’ve never encountered an initiative to “shift left” that wasn’t directly motivated by clunky, slow, unreliable and unmaintainable E2E tests. Failing earlier, especially pre-deployment, with targeted integration and contract testing is fabulous but it can’t replace rubber hitting road.

I’ve had quite a bit of success in helping my dev teams to own quality, devising and writing their own test cases, maintaining test pipelines, running bug hunts, etc. 90% of this can be attributed to treating developers as my customer, for whom I build software products which allow them to be more productive.

New comment by throwaway74628 in "Ireland rolls out basic income scheme for artists"

throwaway74628 — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:57:48 +0000

Artists picked at random will still be subject to existing conditions, those best able to maneuver within the social and political currents will inevitably outperform those who cannot. Those running the program are ill-equipped to define it’s success, being part of the same regime which routinely delivers bottom-of-the-barrel slop.

New comment by throwaway74628 in "Ireland rolls out basic income scheme for artists"

throwaway74628 — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:06:31 +0000

A novel treatment for the proverbial dying man. I understand that this program is currently assigned at random but it’s prudent to assume that they’ll shift to a “merit based” system before long i.e. sweetheart deals for members of the right clique, nepotism, and the occasional worthwhile project. For concrete examples, look no further than the content funded and produced by the national broadcaster, RTE. Aside from a few decent documentary shows, the dramas and comedies produced are extremely low quality, often with the same familiar faces who are well established in the clique. The occasional exception proves the rule.

New comment by throwaway74628 in "Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its tech in mass surveillance of Palestinians"

throwaway74628 — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 18:17:52 +0000

This comment sums up well how the spirit of the law is not being upheld, given that the biggest players in government, finance, and the corporate world are working together hand in glove.

>”Corporations cannot exist without government intervention”

>”Some privates companies and financiers are too big to fail/of strategic national importance”

>”1A does not apply to private entities (including the above)”

>”We have a free, competitive market”

I find it very difficult to resolve these seemingly contradictory statements.

New comment by throwaway74628 in "That Secret Service SIM farm story is bogus"

throwaway74628 — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 19:28:23 +0000

Judith Miller re: Saddam’s WMDs

New comment by throwaway74628 in "The health benefits of sunlight may outweigh the risk of skin cancer"

throwaway74628 — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 22:28:43 +0000

That’s my point.

New comment by throwaway74628 in "The health benefits of sunlight may outweigh the risk of skin cancer"

throwaway74628 — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:52:37 +0000

Slathering oneself in mud if you need to endure harsh sun exposure is the most common answer I’ve seen to this question. Otherwise, I agree with your comment, the “best practice” of avoiding sun exposure is as unintuitive as the grain-heavy food pyramid.