Hacker News: xordon

New comment by xordon in ""Code was never the hard part" is an insult to all programmers"

xordon — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:52:37 +0000

I agree with the author that coding is objectively "difficult" but this is something I am good at, while dealing with people, changing requirements, bureaucracy, and maintaining work relationships I find challenging. I always say coding is the easy part of the job (for me).

The author's main thesis, that coding is hard, conflates what an individual finds easy or hard, with what is easy or hard for an average person.

New comment by xordon in "Gemini 3"

xordon — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 19:41:50 +0000

I don't understand your logic, it seems like victim blaming. Using the internet and pointing out that targeted advertising has a negative effect on society is not "having it both ways".

Also, HN is by definition algorithmic content and social media, in your mind what do you think it is?

New comment by xordon in "OpenAI's "Study Mode" and the risks of flattery"

xordon — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 18:53:32 +0000

Rituals and beliefs are not the same as "worship with religious conviction".

I ritually shower every day and I have beliefs like, when water comes out of the faucet it will fall to the floor because of gravity. That is wildly different than worshipping the water or the shower.

I suspect you have a very strange definition of the word worship.

AI Powered Mock System Design Interviews

xordon — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 22:34:17 +0000

Article URL: https://interv-you.com/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44449558

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by xordon in "Subway crime plummets as ridership jumps significantly in congestion pricing era"

xordon — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 03:49:10 +0000

The article says that every train between 9pm and 5am has a uniformed police officer on board.

New comment by xordon in "I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA"

xordon — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 19:30:31 +0000

Does this also apply to Mexican's wanting to get a TN as well, I've heard the process is slightly different?

New comment by xordon in "Capital One to buy Discover Financial in $35B stock deal"

xordon — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 06:06:30 +0000

The fees are significantly lower in Europe, the rewards/kick backs given to card holders are also less.

New comment by xordon in "Ads team begging for worse search results so that ads team can hit their goals"

xordon — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:37:26 +0000

The front page test is a policy I've seen, ie: if this was on the front page of the newspaper (or hacker news) would it be positive or negative?

New comment by xordon in "Why Did a Drug Gang Kill 43 Students? Text Messages Hold Clues"

xordon — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 06:07:37 +0000

Mexico isn't the USA's largest trade partner, it isn't even the largest one in NAFTA.

New comment by xordon in "Learnings from employing ChatGPT as a ML Engineer for a day"

xordon — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 21:26:31 +0000

That is an obviously incorrect assumption, it is possible to de-anonomize most data sets about and there is reason to believe this one is no different. Health data by it's nature is very personal and specific.

New comment by xordon in "Ask HN: Son is major in CS, but doesn't code. Red flag?"

xordon — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 03:31:21 +0000

I'm confused by your reply. Did you reply to the wrong comment?

New comment by xordon in "US Government demands direct police access to European biometric data [pdf]"

xordon — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 23:41:37 +0000

Sanctioned persons are not the same as politically exposed persons. You are still allowed to do business with PEPs.

New comment by xordon in "IRS will look into setting up a free e-filing system"

xordon — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 21:15:47 +0000

> Are lobbyists in control of congress?

Effectively, Yes.

> Who passes bills?

Technically the elected officials, but the bills themselves are usually written by lobbyists.

Pressure from campaign donors, either directly or through lobbyists, or through "party" channels influence votes.

Stripe takes first step toward IPO

xordon — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 23:21:54 +0000

Article URL: https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-online-payments-firm-stripe-takes-first-step-toward-blockbuster-2021-07-08/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27778813

Points: 7

# Comments: 0

New comment by xordon in "Canada facing ‘brain drain’ as tech talent leaves for Silicon Valley"

xordon — Sat, 05 May 2018 02:29:23 +0000

As a Canadian who has lived in the US for 1 year (in SF) I have a totally different take away. I noticed that people here are very hard working, almost as they are desperate for success, like if they fail or lost their job they would just die, poor and homeless and healthcare-less.

I found that people in Canada were much more focused on happiness and were more willing to make sacrifices to improve their quality of live, though in Vancouver the housing crisis was a gut check for anyone who's goals include owning a home, or starting a family.

There is money to be made here in the valley, especially in tech, but it is not where I intend to be permanently. I want to retire one day, and I probably can't do that here. I definitely couldn't do that in Vancouver with a local salary.

New comment by xordon in "Ask HN: My company plans an ICO despite my opposition as CTO, any advice?"

xordon — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 02:24:43 +0000

> feels like watching Pinterest issue its own coin for people to spend on pinning some content.

I think this actually sounds interesting, if it cost a little to pin something but it also means that content creators get a little bit of $$ just for creating content that people pin. Of course nothing about this requires a blockchain or a new coin, but it could be fun!

New comment by xordon in "Verizon closes $4.5B acquisition of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer resigns"

xordon — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 21:52:16 +0000

All the talk prior to MM taking over Yahoo was that it was worth less than its stake in Alibaba. ie. Yahoo had a negative value.

I think it is probably more correct that she grew the value of Yahoo significantly, ~0 -> 4.5B

Accusing anyone who disagree's with you as being a sexist/anti-sexist or whatever isn't helpful.

New comment by xordon in "Canada's Tech Firms Capitalize On Immigration Anxiety"

xordon — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 00:41:18 +0000

I don't see how blaming refugees is helpful.

New comment by xordon in "New ways to foot the hefty bill for making old ships less polluting"

xordon — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 20:14:36 +0000

If you think that the US banks are/were more regulated than Canadian banks you would be incorrect.

New comment by xordon in "Grumpy: Go running Python"

xordon — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 22:40:50 +0000

C++ with more stuff isn't the same as "better C++".

C++ has more features than any one person could ever need and it seems like the design philosophy is: anything that is possible in any language; should be added to C++. In reality it is a huge problem for productivity.