mirkules

But don’t all pilots have to lodge their flight plans? Surely hiding a plane in a hangar is not that easy since you would know which airport it is located in.

I think this works even to this day on Win 10. I'm not sure about Win 11 though.

This is awesome. May I please make one request which would make my life so easy - can you wrap the chords in square brackets? Tools like MySongbook will highlight the chords that way

I gave a very specific example of the inconsistency between different language versions of the same wiki page, which is prevalent in every wiki page where there is a potential for political influence. Based on what you said, I'm fairly certain you did not even read my comment.

I see so much being cited from Wikipedia, and that is not a reliable source.

One only has to look at an article in different languages, clearly authored by different sets of people. For example, if you look up "Kosovo", the English version states "Kosovo ... is a country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition" whereas the one in Serbian states (which I will translate):

"Република Косово је званични назив једнострано проглашене државе на територији Републике Србије, противно Уставу Србије.[5] Према Резолуцији 1244 Савета безбедности УН цела територија Косова и Метохије, правно гледано, налази се у саставу Србије док не буде постигнуто коначно решење"

translated as:

"Kosovo is a formal name for a one-sidedly declared country on the territory of Republic of Serbia, to the objection of Serbia. According to the resolution 1244 from the Security Council of the UN, the entire territory of Kosovo and Metohija, in terms of the law, belongs to Serbia until a final resolution is reached."

Wikipedia is essentially a he-said/she-said website on politically charged matters, and I really wish people would stop treating it as the source of truth.

If you are accusing me of being absurdist or reductionist, know this: floor mats were the official cause of "sudden acceleration", where they would slip off their pegs that were holding them to the floor (usually due to human error), and would jam the pedal to the floor. Or sometimes between the brake pedal and the floor preventing correct operation of the brake. In fact, Toyota and NHTSA issued an urgent recall in 2009 to remove all floor mats from vehicles due to this very issue: https://www.safetyresearch.net/toyota-and-nhtsa-issue-urgent...

So yes, the line was very obvious because these are events that happen in real life, risk that you say you wanted to eliminate by absolutely playing it safe: "_anything_, there is no such thing as excessive 'playing it safe'"

I can only assume that your original comment was reactionary and hyperbolic, but then got upset over where that kind of hyperbole lead in the past.

Now that I think back, I believe you are correct. The decision was based on making a previously-unavailable feature available, which meant people could potentially (be irresponsible and) leave pets/children in the vehicle while relying on an inaccurate sensor, which could open them up to lawsuits.

It's not just material cost, probably different interface to the sensor so factor in some R&D, approvals, etc. Any time anything, no matter how small or innocuous (bracket, cable, screw, some piece of plastic cover, etc), was changed on a vehicle, it meant a different part number, which meant 6-12 months delay. This is because it has to go through all the testing - usability, fatigue, safety, etc all over again. This is why they pick cheap parts - not because they're cheap, but because they are old and got cheaper over the years, because old = already approved, which makes the lead time a lot less.

Just further proves my point. You should probably then take out any floor mats, cup holders, temperature controls, radio, or anything else that could potentially impede, obstruct, or otherwise distract from driving safely.

This comment was meant for the normal folks who spend a lot of time in our vehicles and are willing to accept a level of risk that comes along with having some sense of comfort.

I've worked for a large OEM, dealing with a large Japanese megacorp that is not Mazda for about two years (actually Mazda was one of our customers too, but I didn't get to work with them directly). This does not amaze me anymore.

We spent months agonizing over an interior temperature sensor, which was only used to display the information to the user on a smartphone app. We built both the hardware and software, and it was offered as an add-on at the dealerships. After months of negotiations, after the hardware was already built and the packages assembles, they decided temperature sensors were too inaccurate (+/- 5 degrees F) to use, and that it could present a legal liability. Again, this was nothing else but displaying the information on the app - and the user could then make a decision whether to remote start the car to cool it or heat it (no automatic process took place either).

This was at the height of "unintended accelerator" issue in Toyotas, so everyone was walking on egg shells playing it ultra safe to not invite any more lawsuits.

What surprises me is that this culture of "playing it safe" remained to this day, some 10 years later (but maybe it shouldn't).

This is correct.

no kids yet

You will know no fury as when your kids intentionally mix up all the pieces for fun. We have hundreds of LEGO people, and my kids intentionally dismembered them into their individual pieces (including HANDS!). But how can you get angry at kids playing??? twitch

Is there a general assumption/consensus that Google doesn’t do stuff like this? My assumption is that any closed-source software can collect any data they want about their users.

“If they can, they will.” The past 20 years has been a steady march towards desensitizing users towards making users give up their privacy.

I love this idea, but at the same time I think it is not feasible. Back then, there were no economic or even political benefits of being able to join an online community. These days, economic and political reasons are major driving factors of either controlling or infiltrating communities, so there will always be a cat-and-mouse game between insincere actors and moderators. This would be especially true on non-technical communities, although I have seen some pop up over Signal through word of mouth.

On the technical side, it’s probably a lot easier to gatekeep, but even HN has degraded significantly since its early days. Lobster.rs is the only truly technical one that has kept that spirit (to this day I am still not a member, which kind of proves its gatekeeping abilities hah).

p.s. love the username!

I think my comment was misinterpreted, judging by both comments to it.

What I meant to say, wrist straps were not even on my radar of aesthetics, and I was shocked to learn it’s a $1B business (for Apple alone?). So clearly, I missed how much they mean to people.

Obviously, I (and pretty much everyone else) do buy things at least partially influenced by aesthetics (clothing, sunglasses, furniture, to name a few). Wrist straps were a huge surprise for me, though. Another one is paying a premium for different colored phones (and I admit I was first in line to pay a premium for a jet black RAZR phone back in the day)

It is mind-boggling to me that something so frivolous is a $1B industry. Watch straps to me are completely functional. Sure, I’ll pick a better-looking strap, but I would never pay extra - especially not the exorbitant amount Apple charges - for looking “pretty”.

Just goes to show that all my assumptions about what makes a product popular/profitable are wrong.

P.S. I do have the Apple watch anyway. My strap requirements are: breathable, can be removed easily, doesn’t pinch arm hair.

It’s funny, music was what solved my existential crisis. Software is always being replaced. When I die, chances are my kids and grandkids will never be able to point to a piece of software and say “my dad did this”. Even for my grandfather, who architected several buildings in my home town - his buildings are gradually being replaced and I can’t point them out to my kids anymore.

Music (and other arts), on the other hand, is yours forever and exists forever, and it’s a way for future generations to connect with their ancestors and even pass on a legacy.

The way I combat this is by asking questions about their current jobs, then diving deep into the technical problems they faced. It requires a lot more preparation for each candidate, but it ensures it’s not a trivia test but a discussion.

One of my favorite interviews (as an interviewer) was when a SDET candidate provided a link to their website. When I visited it there was an issue loading some page. So I asked him about it and how he would troubleshoot, then asked him to come back on Monday with a solution. On Monday, the site was fixed, and he explained to me what happened in AWS, how he figured it out, etc. So he was hired, going on 2 years now and doing very well.

I don’t need robots who can recite what a b-tree is (ChatGPT can do that). I need people who will work hard, can understand the big picture and how to approach problems, while being a good personality on the team.

Fair enough. I was looking at Photoshop which is claimed at $20.99 a month, but if you actually rent it monthly it's $31.99 a month.

Oh, and I wonder how long the $5/month pricing will be in effect - when they'll raise the prices.

It is usually not billed monthly. They SAY it’s $5/month, but your actual price is $60 right now, for a whole year. That’s a huge difference. You’re paying a good portion of full price, with the “benefit” of having it stop working after a year.

But you are not paying $5/month. That’s a gimmick. You are pre-paying a full year’s worth. It’s like paying (almost) full price but for only a year’s worth of use.

For Adobe, at least, the actual monthly rate is way higher.

You’re probably going to be pushed into it over time. Whether it’s because they will make it incompatible with newer plugins, or because they will make newer hardware incompatible with older Logic.

FWIW, I’m in your boat too. Logic is a PERFECT DAW for me the way it is. I would be so sad to have to switch to Reaper or something, and have to go hunt for plugins..

Logic is the only thing tying me to the Mac, so I guess that’s a plus.

I love this take. Doomed if you do, doomed if you don't.

That is true, but that happens on my terms. And there are also drawbacks on being on the very latest of everything.

Examples include: becoming a de-facto beta tester for new features, having UI elements change non-intuitively at a critical moment, software becoming incompatible with older input, etc. You also have to choose between paying for the software or discontinuing its use permanently.

With an old version, I can just go use whatever VM or machine I need to convert files, modify them, perform last-minute changes on my paper that’s due in the morning or whatever.

I’ll also point out most of the subscription plans are annual, lump sum plans, otherwise your monthly is even higher. So you get the worst of both worlds: having to pay a de-facto lump sum (which renews automatically annually), and not having the right to use it once you cancel it.

No, you’re right. I misspoke on that. I’ll edit my post.

If they can cut you off after having paid a lump sum, you never owned it to begin with.

When I used it, it was $300 IIRC. And I happily paid that price, knowing it would work for me for years to come.

In the same vain, I paid $200 for Logic Pro X three years ago and it still does what I paid for. I’m about to spend $300 on Final Cut Pro.

If Logic Pro went subscription only at, say, Photoshop prices at $20/mo, that would be the equivalent of $720 so far. Even though Logic is seriously awesome, I would not pay it and just go with something else.

Edit: the $20/mo is the price only if you pay for a whole year. Otherwise it’s actually $31.50 per month. So you are either paying a lump sum of $240 (committing to a full year) or $31.50/month.

What kind of infrastructure do you need to run Adobe Photoshop? Other than your own storage I can’t think of anything else. I used the same version of PS for years before they switched to a subscription model, forcing users to choose between staying on the old version forever or “upgrading” to their subscription model.

This is the real problem, Adobe made kick ass software that was so good it cut off their future revenue stream, so they decided to rent it out instead of letting people own it. Fine, that’s their decision, just like it is mine not to continue paying for something I use once a month as a photography hobbyist.

The goal of environmental initiatives is to try to ensure the environment stays habitable to humans for longer. The goal of companies is to be profitable.

The ultimate goal, then, is to find an intersection between those two concepts that makes sense for both the environment and profitability.

"Reduce, reuse, recycle" is the order in which this is achieved, from least to most expensive. Recycling has become incredibly expensive [1] and it's hardly making financial sense anymore. "Reducing" is the least expensive because it doesn't require any energy, but we (consumers) like to buy stuff, so once a product is in a person's hands, "reduce" is out of the equation. That leaves us with "reuse," which not only helps reduce new products from being made, but also has the potential to make money for companies. This is actually a win-win scenario, and should be encouraged rather than frowned on.

The issue is that "green marketing" has been in vogue since the mid 2000s, and companies (apparently shockingly!) lie in their messaging to sell their products. But Dow, in this case, is actually doing their part in being environmentally conscious. You can even call this a white lie or something like that. Nobody would buy new shoes or donate old ones if the marketing said "In order to reduce waste, we are going to resell your used shoes in Indonesian flea markets". (There is one "reduce" idea, ha!)

As for companies not caring, I point to the whole purpose of a company's existence - to make money. Everything else is irrelevant. If environmental impacts are an issue, and legislation is forcing their hand, then they must find a way to remain profitable or simply go out of business.

The linked Planet Money podcast highlights this predicament. It's important to remember that not everything is black and white as it's made to be in articles like this.

[1] https://www.npr.org/2019/07/12/741283641/episode-926-so-shou...

My thoughts exactly. As I was reading this dialogue - "You have been a bad user, I have been a good Bing" - it starkly reminded me of the line "I'm sorry, I can't do that Dave" from the movie. Hilarious and terrifying all at once.