Hacker News: wat10000

New comment by wat10000 in "NYC's "Click to Cancel" rule is now in effect"

wat10000 — Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:18:49 +0000

It’s an easy rule to comply with and nothing stops you from complying with it everywhere.

We will see a patchwork regime, where companies make it easy to cancel if you’re in NYC or another jurisdiction with similar rules, but difficult otherwise. When you see this, you must remember that the easiest thing would have been to make it easy for everyone to cancel regardless of location. That would be perfectly legal and it would be the cheapest option to build. If a company didn’t do that it’s because they made a deliberate choice to spend more money just so they could continue screwing some people over.

New comment by wat10000 in "NYC's "Click to Cancel" rule is now in effect"

wat10000 — Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:16:26 +0000

I don’t think anyone will have trouble figuring out a good way to comply with this. It’s not clear exactly where the line is, so just don’t go near it. Make it easy to cancel, job done. If a company wants to push the boundaries by making it as difficult to cancel as the rule allows, they’re running the risk of being on the wrong side of the line and suffering the consequences, and that’s their choice.

The only reason any company would have trouble complying with this rule is if they want to abuse customers to keep them from canceling when they want to cancel. The amount of sympathy I have towards such companies requires advanced scientific notation to quantify.

New comment by wat10000 in "I would like the value of my home to rise, while my property taxes fall"

wat10000 — Sun, 11 Oct 2026 01:47:51 +0000

That’s how it typically works in the US. Local government sets a revenue target, properties are assessed, and then a tax rate is computed from that to hit the revenue target.

New comment by wat10000 in "I would like the value of my home to rise, while my property taxes fall"

wat10000 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 21:55:40 +0000

Should we expect that people who become disabled continue to live by the same means they had before?

If yes, then that means replacing their entire income once they’re no longer able to work.

If no, then something must diminish. That may include needing to relocate to a less expensive living situation. If we accept that disability means reduced means, then I don’t see why housing should be exempt from that as long as they’re not on the streets.

New comment by wat10000 in "I would like the value of my home to rise, while my property taxes fall"

wat10000 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 21:51:33 +0000

The typical way property taxes are done in the US is that the local government first sets a revenue amount, then a tax rate is determined which produces that much revenue. You don’t have a situation where property values double and the local government automatically ends up with double the tax revenue.

New comment by wat10000 in "Telegram Desktop vulnerability allowed any user's file to be stolen"

wat10000 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:50:59 +0000

It depends on how the automatic updates are handled.

App updates can be cryptographically signed with a key that’s kept offline and only held by a few people. Your trust in the app can be equal to your trust in those people, multiplied by your trust in the technology that keeps those offline keys safe from compromise.

Your trust in a web app will be equal to your trust in the people running the server multiplied by your trust that the server isn’t compromised. Since the server is necessarily always online, that trust will be much lower.

New comment by wat10000 in "Lobbying is corruption"

wat10000 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:42:32 +0000

In other words, you, too can put together a well-funded lobbying organization and lobby. And if you can’t catch the attention of high-level politicians, don’t worry your pretty little head, local policy is all you should care about. National policy is for big important people, not nobodies like you.

New comment by wat10000 in "Lobbying is corruption"

wat10000 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:03:34 +0000

Theoretically possible. Is it practically possible? Because if these groups are meeting with my members of Congress and I practically can’t, then that’s not the same.

New comment by wat10000 in "Lobbying is corruption"

wat10000 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 14:26:20 +0000

“All interest groups should have the ability to talk to lawmakers and present their viewpoints.”

Why can’t they pick up the phone or write a letter like the rest of us?

New comment by wat10000 in "Chernobyl particles reveal unexpectedly stable nuclear fuel after 40 years"

wat10000 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 14:23:38 +0000

190 tons of nuclear fuel, vs 64 kilograms.

New comment by wat10000 in "YouTuber Says Cops Visited Him After He Built a Flock-Style Camera to Track Cops"

wat10000 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:25:38 +0000

Most of those caveats are about spaces that aren't actually public, or recording audio. When it comes to pure surveillance-style video recording in actual public spaces, there's not much in the way of restrictions, and nothing where police have special privileges.

New comment by wat10000 in "YouTuber Says Cops Visited Him After He Built a Flock-Style Camera to Track Cops"

wat10000 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:22:12 +0000

A big chunk of that risk also comes from the fact that a lot of cops spend a lot of their time driving, and driving is relatively dangerous.

New comment by wat10000 in "YouTuber Says Cops Visited Him After He Built a Flock-Style Camera to Track Cops"

wat10000 — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 22:59:45 +0000

But using cameras in public spaces is something the general public is allowed to do.

New comment by wat10000 in "YouTuber Says Cops Visited Him After He Built a Flock-Style Camera to Track Cops"

wat10000 — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 22:57:14 +0000

So the cops showed up to intimidate a law-abiding citizen for doing something they don’t like, but were not feeling bold enough to rough him up or cart him off to jail on some made-up charge. Yay.

Cops are (supposed to be) public servants. Risk is part of the job. If they don’t like it, they are free to pursue a different career.

New comment by wat10000 in "Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 to Navanethem Pillay"

wat10000 — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 20:47:07 +0000

I can’t comment on the others, but this perspective doesn’t really make Kissinger’s case any better. Even his co-winner thought it was ridiculous and refused the prize.

New comment by wat10000 in "Platforms' Violent Content Rules Are About to Meet The Pentagon's Firing Squad"

wat10000 — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 19:17:20 +0000

If we have capital punishment, then executions should be public so that the public understands the weight of what's being done in their name. Unfortunately, that is very far from the reason this is being done here.

Edit: OK, apparently I can’t make a prescriptive statement without getting piled on with people saying that’s not how it actually is. Noted.

New comment by wat10000 in "Court throws out killer's sentence after judge said he loved AI video of victim"

wat10000 — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 15:54:51 +0000

The video came before the sentencing. The person I replied to is saying the video couldn’t have resulted in a worse sentence than would have been given without the video.

New comment by wat10000 in "Court throws out killer's sentence after judge said he loved AI video of victim"

wat10000 — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 15:13:16 +0000

What part of this process would you expect to be logical? Everything except the last one is pretty clearly an emotional reaction.

New comment by wat10000 in "Court throws out killer's sentence after judge said he loved AI video of victim"

wat10000 — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 15:10:57 +0000

Why can't the sentence increase? Maybe the judge was so touched by this video that he gave more weight to the family's request for a harsh sentence. Maybe it just enraged him to see the grieving family affected like this. You're applying frictionless-sphere physics to complicated human thoughts.

New comment by wat10000 in "Trump administration is suspending Microsoft from a green card program"

wat10000 — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 14:43:57 +0000

It reads like a sense of entitlement. They've put in work to determine a "fair" wage to offer. Despite this, they have a hard time filling job openings. How could this be? They've done what they're supposed to do and they're not getting what they deserve in return! Are they too selective, or are they offering too little? No, it's the children who are wrong.