Hacker News: vlachen

New comment by vlachen in "Starfish by Peter Watts (1999)"

vlachen — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:23:26 +0000

These are the books I read when I feel like I'm too optimistic about world affairs. The dark themes that seem so close to being possible help boost my cynicism and level me out.

New comment by vlachen in "Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold"

vlachen — Tue, 05 May 2026 19:22:58 +0000

I saw IT Chapter II in a completely empty theater, late at night. It was delightfully creepy. However, if I had been an employee there, I think I would have do do something with a red helium balloon to anyone watching that movie alone.

New comment by vlachen in "The noise we make is hurting animals. Can we learn to shut up?"

vlachen — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:26:07 +0000

I firmly believe that William Gibson nailed it with the Jackpot in his recent books:

nothing you could really call a nuclear war. Just everything else, tangled in the changing climate: droughts, water shortages, crop failures, honeybees gone like they almost were now, collapse of other keystone species, every last alpha predator gone, antibiotics doing even less than they already did, diseases that were never quite the one big pandemic but big enough to be historic events in themselves.

New comment by vlachen in "Show HN: I built a social media management tool in 3 weeks with Claude and Codex"

vlachen — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:45:09 +0000

I'm taking the submission as: if you've got an idea, here's some methods to work build something.

I have a few ideas if my own, perhaps yours is something that could be created.

New comment by vlachen in "Music for Programming"

vlachen — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:37:02 +0000

Aim to Head's mix channel is a lot of what I listen to for my design work. 30 min to 1 hour of well mixed tracks. The Witch House tracks are partially helpful in focusing.

https://m.youtube.com/@aimtoheadmix1915/videos

New comment by vlachen in "Music for Programming"

vlachen — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:33:01 +0000

I find that the Secret Agent channel is great for my focus nowadays. I recall listening to Groove Salad back in my draftsman years, from 2000-2002. I am still amazed at how SomaFM has continued to exist.

New comment by vlachen in "Earthquake scientists reveal how overplowing weakens soil at experimental farm"

vlachen — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 11:54:55 +0000

Hard pass. Karst limestone is bad enough.

New comment by vlachen in "Earthquake scientists reveal how overplowing weakens soil at experimental farm"

vlachen — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 04:46:57 +0000

A friend of mine retired from the military and moved to my neck of the woods in the Ozarks. Having lived in Eastern North Carolina for most of his 20 years in, he had gotten used to sandy soil with nary a rock. Prior to that, he was in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, and I don't think he dug many holes there.

After closing on their new house he asked me for a shovel, for which to install a mailbox. Of course I'd help my friend out. "Sure, buddy!" I said. "Here's a shovel, post-hole digger, pickax and a rock-bar. That should get the job done." After I explained to him that yes, you need a 20 pound pointy chunk of steel to dig any sizable hole around here, he still didn't quite believe me. However, once he got the mailbox planted, he adjusted his beliefs accordingly.

On the rare occasion that I have to dig a hole somewhere with actual dirt, I always find myself amazed at how easy it is. Those times help me understand scenes in TV or movies that include someone digging a hole. Those scenes don't ever depict someone deciding to move whatever it is they're putting in the ground because they hit a massive stone at 8 inches into a 24 inch hole, and there ain't any getting through it. The scenes don't depict the Herculean effort required to just plant a tree. Those shows don't show the absolutely back-breaking labor it takes to be a landscaper around here. And before I had the chance to do the same kind of work in actual soil, those scenes just didn't make sense.

New comment by vlachen in "Shatner is making an album with 35 metal icons"

vlachen — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 06:24:35 +0000

I highly recommend watching his live show if he's ever in your area. Great experience. Henry is the epitome of intensity for 2 hours. He doesn't stop. He doesn't sit. He doesn't drink. I'm not even sure he breathes.

New comment by vlachen in "Dead Internet Theory"

vlachen — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 14:56:19 +0000

Having been out of university since before Discord was much of a thing, that's news to me. It also is eerily reminiscent of Facebook's beginning sign up requirements.

New comment by vlachen in "“Fluid gears” invention offers promise for improving mechanical devices"

vlachen — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 14:39:00 +0000

I'm not a fan of the bias towards "Gears are old tech, and that makes them bad" but I can see a lot of interesting possibilities with fluid coupling. The variables involved in power transmission for these things would be pretty wild to characterize, and the article video clearly shows inefficiencies in the system with the driven cylinder having counter rotational flow against it.

“Fluid gears” invention offers promise for improving mechanical devices

vlachen — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 14:39:00 +0000

Article URL: https://phys.org/news/2026-01-fluid-gears-rotate-teeth-mechanical.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46616541

Points: 33

# Comments: 54

New comment by vlachen in "Spherical Snake"

vlachen — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 21:41:40 +0000

Bozhe moy! [1]

[1] https://tomlehrersongs.com/lobachevsky/

Recreating an Ancient Pump with No Moving Parts [video]

vlachen — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 14:39:42 +0000

Article URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OHCOFFUamQ

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46512821

Points: 4

# Comments: 1

The Ridiculous Engineering of the Most Important Machine [video]

vlachen — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 16:40:08 +0000

Article URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiUHjLxm3V0

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46445696

Points: 10

# Comments: 2

New comment by vlachen in "Inside CECOT – 60 Minutes [video]"

vlachen — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:27:31 +0000

That's a fair point that I arrived at once I put half a second of thought into what I was actually asking.

New comment by vlachen in "Inside CECOT – 60 Minutes [video]"

vlachen — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 15:23:29 +0000

That brings me to the next thing: Taking VPN suggestions. What's the best? I like secure.

Edited to remove being a moron.

New comment by vlachen in "Inside CECOT – 60 Minutes [video]"

vlachen — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 14:09:41 +0000

I left the high seas many years ago, but I'm down to seed for a cause.

What's the best torrent client nowadays?

New comment by vlachen in "Texas is suing all of the big TV makers for spying on what you watch"

vlachen — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 22:28:47 +0000

Another technique for me is to avoid apps like Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. I run them all through mobile Firefox with uBlock origin and custom block scripts that block sponsored posts and shorts. This combines well with having Youtube's history turned off which prevents the algorithmic suggestions.

New comment by vlachen in "Texas is suing all of the big TV makers for spying on what you watch"

vlachen — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 21:30:47 +0000

I've taken to "Archiving" apps like this on my Android phone. When I need it, I can un-archive it to use it. Keeps the list of things trying to get my attention a little bit smaller.