Hacker News: wcerfgba

New comment by wcerfgba in "Slow social media"

wcerfgba — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 21:28:16 +0000

Media was always already social. If I email my friend a link to a YouTube video, is the Internet a social network? I think what we think of when we think of 'social media' or a 'social network' is an integrated platform that lubricates particular potentials, like being able to create and share content with friends and fans. But there are other ways to realise those potentials, including ones that require the interfacing of different platforms (or media, in the McLuhanian sense), or what might be perceived as different platforms at one scale, and the same platform at another scale, as per my Internet example. And, the multiplicity of platforms, and the interfacing between them, might confer additional advantages and open up yet more potentials.

Pace Layering: How Complex Systems Learn and Keep Learning

wcerfgba — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 16:51:03 +0000

Article URL: https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/issue3-brand/release/2

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45278299

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

.expub – Exploring Expanded Publishing

wcerfgba — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:44:53 +0000

Article URL: https://expandedpublishing.net/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44580074

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by wcerfgba in "Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row"

wcerfgba — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 02:19:52 +0000

States are not inherently good, they are just large organisations with a monopoly on certain social functions. All large organisations have the capacity to inflict terrible harm.

New comment by wcerfgba in "Show HN: I built an active community of trans people online"

wcerfgba — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 08:41:45 +0000

This is exactly why it's important to find each other, so we can keep each other safe. There is strength in numbers. If you put up your posters on community notice board and use a non-personal email (I just made a new Gmail account for it) then nobody can be identified, the worst case is someone pulls the poster down.

New comment by wcerfgba in "Show HN: I built an active community of trans people online"

wcerfgba — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 09:18:47 +0000

Last year I managed to connect with 10 other trans people in my Lancashire home town. This is a place with zero 'alternative' spaces, let alone dedicated queer spaces. I made a poster using the trans pride flag as the background, and wrote a bit of blurb on it and put an email address on. Then I stuck it up on community notice boards in supermarkets and in a pub window. My idea was that if you put these things in high footfall areas, someone is bound to walk past and get in touch. And they did! Plus, more pride flags being visible, especially if they are coming from the grassroots and not a giant company, shows that we are here and not alone, and makes us feel safer. So if you want to connect with people near you, maybe go analog and put up some posters ^__^

New comment by wcerfgba in "Collatz’s Ant"

wcerfgba — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:48:14 +0000

Exactly, so I'm wondering if it's possible to detect those smaller patterns in the bigger ones?

New comment by wcerfgba in "Collatz’s Ant"

wcerfgba — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:27:03 +0000

I'd like to see this for smaller n, to see if there are motifs or patterns, which can be used to implement memoisation like Hashlife (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashlife), or to reveal new formulas for exploring Collatz sequences with.

Music by Belisha Beacons

wcerfgba — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 19:58:42 +0000

Article URL: https://music-by-belisha-beacons.co.uk/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42239594

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by wcerfgba in "The hunt for the most efficient heat pump in the world"

wcerfgba — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 14:06:09 +0000

Wet bulb temperatures account for evaporation, but I don't know if weather stations report wet bulb or dry bulb.

New comment by wcerfgba in "Making the Kinopio source code public"

wcerfgba — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 18:51:39 +0000

I don't use Kinopio for everything, but when I need to arrange ideas in a 2D way and think about webs of relationships, it's been an amazing addition to my set of "tools for thought". Thank you for all of your work on it <3

New comment by wcerfgba in "Chat Control: Incompatible with Fundamental Rights (2022)"

wcerfgba — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:11:36 +0000

This is why anarchism is an important philosophy and practice. It asks, how can we build societies which operate without coercion and hierarchies?

New comment by wcerfgba in "POV-Ray – The Persistence of Vision Raytracer (2021)"

wcerfgba — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 20:35:51 +0000

> We still haven't found a better resource allocation model than pricing.

There are many different models. Look at Elinor Ostrom's work, or projects using participatory budgeting.

New comment by wcerfgba in "POV-Ray – The Persistence of Vision Raytracer (2021)"

wcerfgba — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 12:10:08 +0000

Value and price are not the same thing. Money is a form of access control which limits the availability of scarce resources to those people and organisations which have enough funds. It also collapses the value of all things to a single dimension. There are other ways to decide how much of something is produced and how it is distributed, for example participatory economics.

New comment by wcerfgba in "POV-Ray – The Persistence of Vision Raytracer (2021)"

wcerfgba — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 11:54:10 +0000

Or we could move away from pricing everything and the neoliberal obsession to turn everything into a market, and restructure our economy to provide everyone with their basic material needs, regardless of how much income they have.

New comment by wcerfgba in "Show HN: Lightsaber Battle – May the Fourth Be with You"

wcerfgba — Fri, 03 May 2024 22:04:11 +0000

The AI explanations for these tracks is quite amusing/disturbing:

> Based on the information provided, it appears that the user is a resident of the United States, likely living in the Onalaska area of Washington state. They are using a Windows 10 computer and the Firefox web browser, which suggests they are comfortable with technology and keep their software up-to-date.

> The user's browsing activity indicates that they have an interest in lightsaber-related content, which could be a hobby or a professional interest. Their use of the Broadstripe internet service provider, a regional provider in the Pacific Northwest, further reinforces the assumption that they are a local resident.

> While the user's specific age or occupation is not known, their choice of browser and operating system implies that they are likely an adult who is familiar with modern computing technology. They may work in a field that requires internet access, or they could simply be an enthusiastic internet user with a diverse range of interests.

> The fact that the user is accessing the internet through a residential broadband connection suggests that they have a stable living situation and the means to afford reliable internet service. This, combined with their apparent technological proficiency, paints a picture of a relatively well-off and engaged individual.

> Overall, the available information suggests that the user is a tech-savvy adult residing in the Onalaska area of Washington state, with a particular interest in lightsaber-related content. While their specific background and occupation remain unknown, they appear to be a relatively well-established and engaged member of their local community.

New comment by wcerfgba in "Show HN: Lightsaber Battle – May the Fourth Be with You"

wcerfgba — Fri, 03 May 2024 21:59:37 +0000

Somehow I ended up here: https://grabify.link/track/K0U70F

New comment by wcerfgba in "EU launches action against 20 airlines for greenwashing"

wcerfgba — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 17:29:28 +0000

Does anyone know anything about 'sustainable aviation fuel' (SAF)? The last time I flew, I was given an option to pay for this, but I don't know what it actually is, how it's made, if it's carbon neutral, or if and in what ways it is 'sustainable'.

New comment by wcerfgba in "Yagi–Uda Antenna"

wcerfgba — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 15:34:03 +0000

And here's an old Instructable on building your own yagi for wifi: https://www.instructables.com/Easy-to-Build-WIFI-24GHz-Yagi-...

New comment by wcerfgba in "Everyone is John: A competitive roleplaying game for three or more people (2002)"

wcerfgba — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:41:46 +0000

It made me uncomfortable too, and it is ableist to talk about someone as if they are "totally insane", and to trivialise serious mental health issues.

Fortunately, it is easy to reframe EiJ as an android controlled by a bunch of aliens. That's much more lighthearted, and means you can extend John with useful or amusing augmentations! :)