HN user

jbeard4

653 karma
Posts5
Comments61
View on HN

For context, the Bench bookkeeping SaaS suddenly collapsed and was subsequently acquired by employer.com:

* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42549343

* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42523061

Bench has failed to deliver on their commitments to allow users to download their data, so it's interesting that some of Bench's competitors are now starting to provide their own solution to facilitate data export.

For context, the Bench bookkeeping SaaS suddenly collapsed and was subsequently acquired by employer.com:

* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42549343

* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42523061

When users now go to login to Bench, it asks if you want to consent to share your data with employer.com; OR request a download link be emailed to you. However, the download links never came, and Bench now says they will arrive by January 15th. Additionally, Bench now reportedly says that you must consent to share your data with employer.com in order for them to prepare a download link.

Has anyone figured out how to download your data from Bench? In the original email they sent out that announced they were shutting down, they said data would be available to download from http://data.bench.co. But right now, this domain appears to be inactive. When I logged back in, they gave me the option to: give employer.com permission to access my data, or download my data. I selected the former option so that I could access the dashboard, but I'd still like to download my data in case it turns out I would like to migrate to a competing service.

Current (I guess now former) bench customer here. Concerned about this comment in their FAQ:

On this website, by December 30th, you’ll be able to enter your Bench login credentials to download your current and prior year-end financials, as well as any documents you’ve uploaded such as receipts and bank statements.

This makes it sound like they are only making the year-end financials available - not the individual transactions/ledger entries. I’m concerned about this - aren’t the individual transactions required if one were to be audited? Would this create a lot of liability for their former customers?

I’m still on my 2012 W520 as daily driver. Runs Ubuntu 22.04. It’s a tank - it just won’t die. And if something does wear it, it’s easy to repair or replace.

I’m actually thinking of purchasing a X220 or X220T as a smaller, more portable model of the same era. To me, this era of thinkpad is the pinnacle of laptop design. Unsurpassed. Robust and practical.

SEEKING WORK | Senior Technology Consultant | Full-stack | Python, TypeScript, React, Java, Spring | Boulder, Colorado / Remote

Full-stack web developer and software engineer, working at all layers of the tech stack, including front-end, back-end, databases, and cloud infrastructure. Extremely versatile, with a broad range of skills.

Now seeking new short/medium-term contracts. Available starting Dec 19th.

Location: Boulder, CO

Remote: Yes, or on-site in Boulder, or hybrid on-site in NYC

Languages:

* Python

* Typescript/JavaScript

* Java

Frameworks / Tech:

* Spring

* React

* GraphQL

* Pandas

* Jupyter

* Postgres

* Elasticsearch

* AWS

* State machines/StateCharts/SCXML

More info:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-beard/

* CV: https://minnow.io/Jacob_Beard_CV.pdf

* Website: https://minnow.io/

* Email: jake@minnow.io

I'm planning to send it in to them this week for some repairs (USB-C port stopped working, replace the rubber feet, and replace the battery). I have to pay for the battery replacement (~$100 I think). Hopefully it improves the battery life. IIRC, I was getting 4-5 hours when I first got the machine. Never got anywhere close to 11. Maybe it's how I'm using it.

Agree, battery life is atrocious. I get typically get 1.5-2 hours on a charge, after 2.5 years of ownership. I always have anxiety about plugging it in. It's the biggest problem with this machine.

Other than that, I have been very happy with it. Keyboard, trackpad, screen - all adequate for me. In every way other than the battery, it pretty much gets out of the way and gets the job done.

Hi, I saw your comment about Bluetooth issues with your AirPods, and I wanted to let you know that I have been having great success using my AirPods after I swapped out Pulseaudio for Pipewire on my System76 lemur pro laptop running PopOS. I think Ubuntu is planning to migrate from Pulseaudio to Pipewire as the default sound server, but maybe they haven’t done it yet. Anyway, this might be something you want to try. I use them for zoom meetings 1-2 hours every day, and they are extremely reliable.

I have had this specific system for about a year, and I get about 4-5 hours battery life for my main use case, which is web development, zoom calls and remote computing with Remmina (RDP). One of the best things about it is the native support for Docker. Overall, I have been pretty happy with it, and will probably purchase from System76 again when it's time to upgrade.

Happy to answer any questions anyone has about it.

SEEKING FREELANCER | Metabolize | Full-Stack JavaScript | Remote (United States)

Metabolize seeks a full-stack JavaScript/TypeScript/React/GraphQL/Postgres developer to create web applications for internal R&D and for a new customer-facing product. Python + geometric computing experience would be a plus. react-three-fiber + three.js experience is also a plus.

We are a distributed team, based in the US (MT, ET), and remote is OK.

An ideal candidate would be seeking a long-term, part-time freelance contract.

Please send your CV to paul@m6ize.com for more details.

I recently upgraded from a 10 year old Lenovo W520 to a System76 Lemur Pro, and have been extremely pleased with the purchase. It is lightweight (~2 lbs); software is fast, responsive, and free of bloat; chassis feels robust; specs are above average for the ultra book category (40GB RAM and 2 NVMe drives); good battery life (around 6 hours real world use); and good online documentation. Overall, I would highly recommend, and I am excited to see what direction they continue to go in as a company.

Regarding the "formal semantics", you are correct that different implementations of Statecharts have had different formal semantics, however some effort has been put toward standardization, the main one probably being the W3C SCXML standard, which specifies a pseudocode algorithm for execution of Statecharts:

https://www.w3.org/TR/scxml/#AlgorithmforSCXMLInterpretation

It also provides a test suite that implementations can use to check compliance:

https://www.w3.org/Voice/2013/scxml-irp/

There are a number of conforming implementations in various programming languages.