billev2k (u/billev2k)

billev2k commented on Android's sideloading limits are its most anti-consumer move makeuseof.com/androids-si... · Posted by u/josephcsible

billev2k · 4 months ago

The Android Developer Blog called it "an ID check at the airport which confirms a traveler's identity but is separate from the security screening of their bags."

From the mouths of rubes, I guess. The ID check at the airport has zero to do with safety or security and everything to do with the airlines' business model (no secondary market for tickets), enforced by government.

billev2k commented on Retrocide Mono – A monospaced font with no decenders geonot.github.io/retrocid... · Posted by u/wildlogic

wildlogic · 4 months ago

Hey, this is my first font design, constructive criticism welcome! Thanks.

billev2k · 4 months ago

I'd prefer a greater difference between ( ) and { }, and between : and ;

But that's for using it as my daily driver, which doesn't seem to be the actual motivation.

billev2k commented on Show HN: ZeroFS, the Filesystem That Makes S3 Your Primary Storage github.com/Barre/ZeroFS... · Posted by u/Eikon

billev2k · 5 months ago

I had to laugh out loud: "In practice, you'll encounter other constraints well before these theoretical limits, such as S3 provider limits, performance considerations with billions of objects, or simply running out of money."

billev2k commented on Show HN: I made my own TRMNL e-ink device stavros.io/posts/making-a... · Posted by u/stavros

drcongo · 10 months ago

stavros is one of my favourite posters on HN, and the writing on his site is full of beautiful turns of phrase like that.

> The Timeframe is a beautiful, battery-powered, high-resolution e-ink device that sits on my desk and reminds me of the inexorable grind that saps my creativity and drains me of the will to live.

From https://www.stavros.io/posts/making-the-timeframe/

edit: Ever since I read the Timeframe article I've been itching to do the same thing myself, but I suck at these things so worry that I'm just going to end up with more piles of electronic parts in my cupboard of broken dreams.

billev2k · 10 months ago

Speaking of a beautiful turn of phrase: "...more piles of electronic parts in my cupboard of broken dreams."

billev2k commented on Tech terms I was pronouncing wrong wonger.dev/posts/pronunci... · Posted by u/twapi

kokanee · a year ago

I take issue with the options of "RAY-ghex" and "RAY-jeks." In my experience you can say either "REH-ghex" or "REH-jeks."

billev2k · a year ago

REJ-exs

billev2k commented on Doge Social Security Closures: Recipients Need to Visit Offices to Get Benefits gizmodo.com/u-s-says-soci... · Posted by u/rntn

acdha · a year ago

You might want to read past the first paragraph before incorrectly claiming it’s clickbait. The fourth paragraph covers why online verification excludes a lot of people - nearly half of older Americans - and the fifth covers the building closures which remove the option many people use to fill that gap.

One thing in particular to consider is how painful MFA is for many people, especially those with marginal connectivity or disabilities, and how commonly older people are phished or have malware on their generally older, often unpatched devices. If you haven’t supported a population like this, it’s way more of a barrier than you might think.

billev2k · a year ago

MFA is often painful for me, and I've been a dev since we were called "programmers".

billev2k commented on Time for a Change: The long, contentious history of time shifts worldhistory.substack.com... · Posted by u/crescit_eundo

Wistar · a year ago

Hmm. Well, I for one, my spouse for another, LOVE the time shifts—especially the one in the springtime. It is hard for me (us) to imagine not having the time change to DST every year. If the time change is discarded, I certainly hope it is for daylight and not standard time.

billev2k · a year ago

By all means, get up early if that fits your internal clock! But please, let's keep the clocks as close to the sun (ie, clock noon at solar noon) as practical.

billev2k commented on Apple's Software Quality Crisis eliseomartelli.it/blog/20... · Posted by u/ajdude

ryandvm · a year ago

A side effect of employing tens of thousands of full time people that do product development is that matter how good your product currently is, there is an entire organizational hierarchy that has to justify its existence. The result is that every great product keeps picking up parasitic features and functionality. Intended to add value, but paradoxically removing overall value.

There is a fine line between staying ahead of the competition and enshittification and most companies don't find it.

The most recent examples that come to mind are Spotify and Slack. Products that were, at one time, a pleasure to use, but have since been significantly degraded by a continual assault of minor features and re-working of UI.

billev2k · a year ago

That, and the effects of allowing "new feature demos" at WWDC. The various groups MUST come up with something that demos well. "See how easily I can...", and now the slightest breath does something dramatic, and usually wrong.

billev2k commented on The A.I. Monarchy substack.com/home/post/p-... · Posted by u/zuzuleinen

billev2k · a year ago

tl;dr: AI and capitalism are both cancers, existing for no reason other than to further propagate themselves; hegemonistic. And Thiel is a cancer-causing agent.

I agree re capitalism. And Thiel. AI is TBD, but not looking so great.

billev2k commented on The HP-35: Consumer Electronics, an Origin Story codex99.com/design/the-hp... · Posted by u/wyclif

billev2k · a year ago

I was a sophomore EE student when these came out. There were debates about whether to allow calculators in the classroom, somewhat irrelevant to me, since the price was out of reach anyway. Then the ME department made a deal to order in bulk, answering the debate, and making the marvelous machine somewhat affordable. I begged my father, and he fronted me the $271.40 (the HP-45 had just come out, so the 35 came down in price). Glorious days!

u/billev2k

KarmaCake day35September 7, 2024View Original