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Dan Luu's recent blog post [0] reminded me of Gas Town. Gas Town was all the hype when it debuted. Us, mere mortals, had a few days left in the business of software. Now, only the crickets remain in the Gas Town. Not even its creator is there [1].

[0] We should be more ambitious with the software we build. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50225695

[1] https://x.com/danluu/status/2099800154639581353

Re:Why is every rationalist blog post way too long? on Thursday October 15, 2026 @07:58AM (#50102420)
Scott Alexander's comment on Effectivealtruism.org's purchase of a £15M estate is an example. See [0] for the quote and my comment on it.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38035639

Re:Dots: Always-on agents on Tuesday September 29, 2026 @03:34PM (#49899141)
> commit sudoku

Hilarious.

Re:iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 on Monday September 14, 2026 @06:06PM (#49704848)
That drives me crazy. What's crazier happens when the suggested word is the one you are going to type. You hit the next letter in the word, recognize that it has already been suggested, yet right after you hit the letter, it decides to suggest another word.
Re:9th Circuit sides with states in Kalshi gambling fight on Saturday August 29, 2026 @03:47AM (#49487827)
Sam Bankman Fried wasn't jailed for running FTX. He was jailed for conducting fraud. Silk Road wasn't a registered company at all. It was downright criminal.
Re:How I Find Problems to Solve as a Staff Engineer on Monday August 24, 2026 @05:43AM (#49417385)
One should distinguish between high-stakes vs low-stakes firefighting duties. The former could fast-track one's career, but the latter is a guarantee for stagnation.
> Go check how much sugar is dissolved in soda

Your “counterargument” supports the argument that you quoted though. People can't eat spoonfuls of sugar, but they can drink it when dissolved in flavorful, acidic water.

The following quote is especially problematic IMHO:

> For a paper claiming to overturn decades of alcohol drinking recommendations, the statistical foundation is underdocumented and, to be mild, statistically strange.

Given that "decades of alcohol drinking recommendations" lacked any statistical basis to begin with, the scientific-rigor bar to clear is quite low IMHO.

I used to work for a company seeking SOC2 compliance. They told me that I had to install corporate malware because of the compliance. I didn't want to install it on my personal computer, which I had been using for work. They sent me a company computer. I installed the corporate malware on that one. I set the company computer aside and continued working on my personal computer. No SOC2 compliance was harmed in the process.
Requires login. Garbage.
Re:Incentives Are for Losers on Sunday August 09, 2026 @02:11AM (#49228865)
> This is actually a fairly recent concept.

Whether people think it's God dictated or it's self invented, sounds to me like people acquire purpose.

Piracy has its own costs. It's likely that given the trade-offs, piracy rates don't increase.

PS: I have no idea whether piracy rates are up or down.

> it doesn’t explain why piracy rates are much lower, despite having a lot of service problems.

Can you explain why you think piracy rates must be higher? Piracy isn't “free” after all.

Re:Apple targets OpenAI employees with legal letters on Friday July 17, 2026 @04:57PM (#48952232)
Chasing a thinner product at all costs?
Re:Kids (With Phones) Are Alright on Wednesday July 15, 2026 @08:03AM (#48919533)
> It isn't yet.

Would you care to elaborate how you don't think a phone is not “practically necessary”?

I have never personally met someone like you. I've never known someone who personally met someone like you either. Theoretically, nothing is a necessity. That's why I wrote “practically”. Practically nobody lives like you do.

Re:Kids (With Phones) Are Alright on Wednesday July 15, 2026 @02:19AM (#48916917)
I could have been clearer. A phone is practically a necessity of modern life. Sooner or later people have to use it, unlike alcohol. Whether social media is a necessity is a different question. I bet everyone gets their own dose of it, whether they like it or not.
Re:Kids (With Phones) Are Alright on Wednesday July 15, 2026 @12:53AM (#48916419)
I appreciate giving another perspective, but alcohol is not a good analogue of phone. There's no need to “learn” how to use alcohol --- one can do without it. Yet, practically speaking, a phone is a necessity.
Re:The war on terror primed America for autocracy on Wednesday June 24, 2026 @12:52AM (#48655301)
> which are the ones that drove plane hijackings to near-zero?

How many plane hijackings have occurred in other countries, which don't have the TSA?

Don't forget the fact that you'll be questioned to death when you criticize the current generation of models, but somehow, when the new models arrive you'll be questioned to death if you don't find them better than the old ones.
Re:Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books? on Tuesday June 16, 2026 @11:10PM (#48565238)
That's quite a reductionist view of Getting Things Done. There's nothing magic about the system, but someone had to put it together. It has been useful to me.
Re:Did Claude Increase Bugs in Rsync? on Saturday June 06, 2026 @06:43AM (#48423548)
Agreed. Just like one doesn't owe the society their voluntary work, the society doesn't owe one protection from criticism.
Re:The Last Technical Interview on Sunday May 31, 2026 @04:41PM (#48349528)
The case supports my argument though. Trying not to hire a bad candidate is not a resilient strategy. Someone might fall through the cracks. You still have to screen the candidate after the hire. Heck, even not hiring is not a good strategy, because someone inside may turn bad.
Re:The Last Technical Interview on Saturday May 30, 2026 @04:04PM (#48340105)
What if a bad apple is hired despite all the checks? The system should be able to detect and eliminate bad apples before they give “so much damage” regardless of when they are hired.

Of course the organization should do its best to avoid bad hires. It should do so because of the opportunity cost of not hiring the right person, not because of the damage that they might give to the organization.

Re:The Last Technical Interview on Saturday May 30, 2026 @02:33AM (#48333271)
> a bad hire could cause so much damage through incompetence let alone malice

The fact that an organization cannot deal with such a case is a bigger problem in the first place. Eliminating incompetence and malice is among the basic skills of an organization.

Re:EV Stupidity Checklist on Friday May 29, 2026 @06:58PM (#48330448)
What do presets have to do with the touchscreen? Tesla didn't invent presets. Many cars with physical buttons have had presets.
> he only designed the interiors not the car body

TopGear reports otherwise [0]:

> In a genius move, they hired design agency LoveFrom to handle the exterior and interior execution: that’s headed by former Apple chief design officer, Sir Jonathan Ive.

[0] https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/its-finally-here-m...

Re:Ferrari Luce – Designed with Jony Ive on Tuesday May 26, 2026 @11:41AM (#48281278)
I don't agree that difference equals boldness. Boldness of Cybertruck comes from its statement. There is no such statement behind Ferrari Luce. It's a cheap Ferrari-for-your-kid kind of design.
Re:Ferrari Luce – Designed with Jony Ive on Tuesday May 26, 2026 @11:31AM (#48281164)
> That's a pretty bold claim.

Behind every stupid design there are apologists, who claim that the critics don't get it.

Re:Ferrari Luce – Designed with Jony Ive on Tuesday May 26, 2026 @10:59AM (#48280750)
What is bold about this cheap design?

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