Hacker News: zh3

New comment by zh3 in "What AI did to stackoverflow in a graph"

zh3 — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:56:23 +0000

Indeed, decline appears to accelerate significantly in 2023 so seems likely that's AI helping things along.

New comment by zh3 in "European "age verification" "app" forcing everyone to use Android or iOS"

zh3 — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 19:21:29 +0000

We only do it for one-off age verification, not stuff that requires repeat authentication (those we simply don't use).

New comment by zh3 in "European "age verification" "app" forcing everyone to use Android or iOS"

zh3 — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:47:23 +0000

As a purely tactical measure, we use the same older person (me) for age verification for all family members - zero failures so far and it poisons the well.

New comment by zh3 in "How to hide from killer drones"

zh3 — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 20:39:36 +0000

Absolutely this will work, it's all over social media.

Remember, in WWII Carrots were the secret weapon used to defeat the night fighters.

[Todo: Add link to Poe's Law]

New comment by zh3 in "Ryanair passenger sucked toward broken window after midair engine failure"

zh3 — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:51:59 +0000

First place to look when this sort of thing happens is pprune.org - lots of pilots on there, often with specific knowledge of the aircraft type and/or of the incident itself.

In this case: https://www.pprune.org/accidents-close-calls/672872-ryanair-...

New comment by zh3 in "The bottleneck might be the air in the room"

zh3 — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:38:05 +0000

For the DIYers, it's simple to get an SCD4x sensor and hook it to a pi, arduino, ESP32 etc (then use CC to create a live web interface). I did this after trying an Inkbird CO2 monitor, which gets reasonable scores in reviews and wanting a live web report in the office.

Interestingly the Inkbird and the SCD4X quite often diverge by anything up to hundreds of PPMs; I kind of back the SCD4x (on a Pi in my case) for accuracy after lots of experimentation, reading the datasheet and ensuring the correct calibration procedurs are followed (basically expose the sensors to outside air once a week).

It's also interesting how much it varies day to day in my one-person office - possibly down to how windy it is outside, even with windows closed one day it never goes about 800ppm, other days it'll hit 1500ppm by lunchtime if I don't open a window.

N.B. Quite possible the Inkbird uses an SCD4x internally, seems reasonable kit so I have no explanation for the differences in readings.

New comment by zh3 in "Musk loses trillionaire status as global tech rout hits SpaceX"

zh3 — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 19:28:00 +0000

I get he's not popular. None the less it would be nice to see more nuanced comments.

In my experience IPO's often follow a short-period of upside (where those who already have shares gain some liquidity, i.e. actual cash) followed by a dip and then - depending on fundamentals - over time rise above the offer price. Mileage may vary.

Musk loses trillionaire status as global tech rout hits SpaceX

zh3 — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:37:18 +0000

Article URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8j2m2p8dgmo

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48663998

Points: 11

# Comments: 4

Canyon HUD helmet for road riding

zh3 — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 13:33:37 +0000

Article URL: https://media-centre.canyon.com/en-INT/266866-new-canyon-heads-up-display-helmet-could-be-a-safety-gamechanger-for-road-riding/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48609129

Points: 109

# Comments: 137

New comment by zh3 in "Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields"

zh3 — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:51:56 +0000

I came across this one by accident one day:-

* https://www.remotelondon.com/wisley-airfield-an-abandoned-ru...

Doing a long bike ride to visit a friend, the route I'd plotted suddenly found me in the middle of a big old runway, weird to see given it's alongside one of the major routes into London (one I've driven or motorbiked many times, but never cycled). Quite the shock to see, especially as it was a scramble to get through the bushes and cross the A3 to Wisley RHS.

New comment by zh3 in "NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers"

zh3 — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 05:47:17 +0000

Just save pixel values as wavelength rather than RGB?

New comment by zh3 in "MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security"

zh3 — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 06:39:42 +0000

Yes, when it makes the front page of the FT (2 days ago) you know there's some interesting stuff going on. The whole article is worth a read (I didn't known JD Vance's career was "largely bankrolled by Thiel").

>US tech billionaire and Maga donor Peter Thiel is starting a series of closed-door lectures about the antichrist in Rome on Sunday, putting him on a collision course with Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic Church’s first American pontiff....

* https://www.ft.com/content/fc1e7e9a-9d5d-4217-b9b2-38069eb11...

New comment by zh3 in "Which jobs are most vulnerable to AI?"

zh3 — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 15:15:37 +0000

With interactive chart searchable by occupation.

Which jobs are most vulnerable to AI?

zh3 — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 15:15:37 +0000

Article URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2026/jobs-most-affected-ai-automation/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47400130

Points: 20

# Comments: 27

New comment by zh3 in "Russia's economy has entered the death zone"

zh3 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:44:50 +0000

As a strong supporter of Ukraine, I would say ultimately wars are won or lost by economic forces (the side that can't afford it any more loses). That's how the USSR lost the Cold War, and all I can hope is that all of Europe really has your back in this one.

New comment by zh3 in "Is Show HN dead? No, but it's drowning"

zh3 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:36:28 +0000

Something based on the principles of 'New'? (not clear on the details of how Show HN works, does it automatically appear?). Just shove entries under 'New' and let the group decide what is "Show HN"-worthy.

New comment by zh3 in "LEDs Enter the Nanoscale, But efficiency hurdles challenge the smallest LEDs yet"

zh3 — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 08:31:28 +0000

Depends on the definition of slowly - thousands of photons per second upwards (and detectors are so sensitive these days that makes seeing easy). Lots of articles about on the subject, given the potential uses of this system.

https://www.cornishlabs.uk/tweezers

https://opg.optica.org/oe/fulltext.cfm?uri=oe-29-4-4858

New comment by zh3 in "LEDs Enter the Nanoscale, But efficiency hurdles challenge the smallest LEDs yet"

zh3 — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 20:42:22 +0000

The light is produced by electrons combining with holes, so the size of the material doesn't come into it (unlike an antenna). I've personally pushed* a single rubidium atom about in a quantum computer and watched it move by emitted light (rubidium atom: ~0.25nm, emitted light 420nm depending on excitation).

* Ok, actually pressed buttons that manipulated the electric field that was trapping the atom and watched the result on a display - lot of physics going on behind the scenes.

New comment by zh3 in "An AI agent published a hit piece on me"

zh3 — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 19:45:24 +0000

"Let there be light".

I encourage those who have never heard of it to at least look it up and know it was John Carpenter's first movie.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carpenter

New comment by zh3 in "The Day the Telnet Died"

zh3 — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 10:43:14 +0000

In the UK we have in fact discovered an alarming weakness in the concrete used to build schools, hospitals and other public building (in one case, the roof of a primary school collapsed without warning). The response was basically "Everybody out now".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_United_Kingdom_reinforced...

https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/raac-crisis...

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/aug/31/what-is-ra...