Hacker News Reader

DHPersonalon Apple introduces iPad Air with powerful M3 chip and new Magic Keyboard

My biggest use case was as a recipe manager: I used the app Mela and placed the iPad in the kitchen, giving me a touchscreen with water resistance that would give me step-by-step instructions on cooking the family meal.

DHPersonalon Apple introduces iPad Air with powerful M3 chip and new Magic Keyboard

It feels funny having to connect a keyboard and mouse to the iPhone or run the iPhone through the Mirroring Tool on a MacBook to properly write in the Journal app.

DHPersonalon We Tried to Warn You

> It's not particularly interesting or informative that the author made a rhetorical mistake.

I disagree. The article scolds academics based on pitting themselves against half the country. I showed that statement was not true. Taking something in good faith does not mean criticism is unacceptable.

DHPersonalon We Tried to Warn You

The statement misrepresents the data and introduces confusion; it relies on hyperbole and vague terms to push forward a point that lacks evidence.

The U.S. population was about 340 million people in November 2024.[1] Most people shouldn't think the term "half the country" originates from that number, because then they will presume that 170 million people voted for Trump, greater than the total amount that voted in 2024. Not everyone in that count is permitted to vote, so it's not an accurate number to use as a reference. However, when claiming "half the country voted for Trump" it is calling upon this number in people's minds to give weight to an inaccurate statement.

If one then uses the more accurate term "Half the voting population voted for Trump," we cull that total census number down to about 244 million people eligible to vote.[2] The total voter count in 2024 was about 156 million.[3] The total number of voters who voted for Trump was about 77 million.[3] Even with this more precise statement we can see that half the possible number did not vote for Trump. If we're trying to be fair to the writer and use the definition "half the eligible voters voted for Trump" we can see that this claim is false.

All we can end with is the very obvious "A little over half the votes went to Trump" which lacks the significance of the hyperbolic statement used in the article, perhaps even to the level of insignificance to not be included in the article. So then why was it included?

1. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2... 2. https://election.lab.ufl.edu/2024-general-election-turnout/ 3. https://www.cfr.org/article/2024-election-numbers

DHPersonalon We Tried to Warn You

> Half the country voted for Trump. Half. And many academics think they are racists and fascists.

That is an inaccurate statement: half of the people who voted did so for Trump. Only about 64% of the people who were eligible to vote showed up to the polls.[1] That is not half the country.

1. https://www.cfr.org/article/2024-election-numbers

DHPersonalon Starlink and T-Mobile open satellite texting test to all – not just customers

T-Mobile has horrible data security, too.

DHPersonalon Show HN: I convert videos to printed flipbooks for living

Oh, I think you’re right; I remember it back then and I think it did die. :(

DHPersonalon Show HN: I convert videos to printed flipbooks for living

There's also lenticular cards: https://gifpop.io/

DHPersonalon That Giant Sucking Sound? It's Climate Change Devouring Your Home's Value

https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-homes-insu...

DHPersonalon Should we use AI and LLMs for Christian apologetics? (2024)

No, it blocks that by default, but the program offers additional filtering options, too.

DHPersonalon Should we use AI and LLMs for Christian apologetics? (2024)

Bart is a scholar, Lee is an apologist. The two aren't even attempting to make the same case nor are they necessarily speaking to the same type of audience.

DHPersonalon Should we use AI and LLMs for Christian apologetics? (2024)

It is specifically written in and prohibited for one book, the Book of Revelation in the Christian New Testament. The Bible is not univocal and claims made in one book in its collection might not apply to the other books included within its bindings; sometimes the claims even contradict.

DHPersonalon Should we use AI and LLMs for Christian apologetics? (2024)

The same ones who run spyware on their child's device to see if they visited any number of other websites. https://www.covenanteyes.com

DHPersonalon We need to protect the protocol that runs Bluesky

It makes a lot of sense. If you came to my house and started talking nonsense, I would ask you to leave the house, not stand with my eyes closed and ears plugged in my own house while you continued to rant to my guests.

DHPersonalon We need to protect the protocol that runs Bluesky

I appreciate that post-Twitter there has been a push on Bluesky (and maybe Mastodon) to block, block, block. Don't feed the trolls, as they used to say but we seem to have forgotten. Just block them and move on. It is definitely a mental health benefit.

DHPersonalon So Long, Net Neutrality, and Good Riddance

https://archive.is/RTDKh

I wouldn't necessarily say that this person's opinion is worth your time, but at least with the archive.is link you'll be able to read the entirety of the article.

DHPersonalon Making an intersection unsafe for pedestrians to save seconds for drivers

Pedestrian "annoyed" by driver, funeral details to follow

DHPersonalon Making an intersection unsafe for pedestrians to save seconds for drivers

I think it depends on what one uses as the definition of intersection. Is it the actual point where the two roads collide, or is it at the stop line?

DHPersonalon Making an Intersection Unsafe for Pedestrians to Save Seconds for Drivers

I find it's better for me to just miss the turn while I wait behind the line. I've seen too many instances where that doesn't work out the way it's intended to want to make it a habit for me anymore.

DHPersonalon Making an intersection unsafe for pedestrians to save seconds for drivers

I remember my father telling me that was how it was supposed to be done, as the yellow light for oncoming traffic would convince them to stop and give you the time to complete the left turn. It only worked when they weren't also running the yellow light! These days I prefer waiting to turn so that I'm not stuck out in the middle of the intersection when the traffic light changes.

DHPersonalon Making an Intersection Unsafe for Pedestrians to Save Seconds for Drivers

I disagree. The first car doesn't even cross their side of the pedestrian crossing before the red light blinks on, so they have had ample time to prepare to stop and are running a red light. The second car is more debatable but also had enough time to stop, as the light turns red while they are still in the middle of the intersection.

DHPersonalon Defederation from Threads

This move is being seen as reducing harm, so it seems in line with your goals.

DHPersonalon TikTok Is Harming Children at an Industrial Scale

Consider the source: Jonathan Haidt has been accused by a credible source of cherry-picking data to support his moral panic. https://www.techdirt.com/2024/10/11/jonathan-haidts-claims-o...

DHPersonalon I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your microphone

There’s a breadth of possibilities between coincidence and the phone actively listening to everything via a microphone.

DHPersonalon Say Goodbye to Outdated Footer Years, Forever

The manual footer years are helpful; I see them as an indicator of when they were last updated.

DHPersonalon Does Listening to a Book Count as Reading It?

The article is paywalled, but my opinions are not. Whether listening to a book counts as "reading" is up to one's definition of the word "read." Listening to a book to obtain its information definitely works in a way very similar to reading the words on the page, so if one believes "reading" to mean "learning" then the two forms of gathering information from a book are synonymous. However, if one looks toward using the word "read" to mean "tracking over letters and words to process information" then there is no way that listening correlates. Personally, I think we should drop the shame toward "listening" to a book instead of redefining the word "reading" to ease the potential embarrassment of the listeners.

DHPersonalon Nordstrom Family to Take Company Private in $6.25B Deal

Yes, but the nearby stores that stock them might only carry the popular sizes and models. New Balance does offer some locations with complete shoe fittings and unique size ordering, but their closest location may be hours away. Sometimes a trip to the website is the only option, but it's tough to fit a shoe on a foot in a virtual setting. :)

DHPersonalon Xerox to acquire Lexmark

I have a Fazoli's and a Xerox facility within 20 minutes of where I sit. I'm unsure I should see that as sign of a healthy economic situation for my neighborhood.

DHPersonalon Health Insurance is a Racket. What value do these companies add, really?

I somewhat understand the reasoning for #2, though. Hospitals are charging insane prices. Perhaps prices are high because hospitals aim to keep the price profitable when it's negotiated lower with the insurance agency, but I fear that it's more because they feel they can do it because people's lives are at stake. Having the insurance agency step in and prevent hospitals from fleecing customers may actually be a benefit, though perhaps agencies have become corrupted and just as profit-seeking as the hospitals. I'm just not convinced that removing insurance agencies would suddenly lower prices.

Covid-19 pandemic supply chain issues caused prices to surge to meet the new costs, but when those issues were resolved, prices remained high because people absorbed the costs and the companies saw no reason to lower them after realizing incredible profit growth. I wonder if we would see the same problem if we removed insurance agencies without regulating the hospitals: with the powerful middle management of insurance agencies gone, hospitals would wield incredible billing power over individuals, who might end up seeing higher bills from their hospital visits.

I don't mean to advocate for things to stay the same; I definitely think things need to be changed. I just don't see the insurance agencies as the problem in the system, in that their removal would repair the majority of our billing issues. I instead see them as potentially a target of a lot of our grievances without actually potentially being the cause of every one of them.

A different person on the internet had some thoughts that seem compelling: Noahpinion — Insurance companies aren't the main villain of the U.S. health system — https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/insurance-companies-arent-the-...

DHPersonalon Always go to the funeral (2005)

I feel much the same. I hope that when I die, the people around me will remember the many times that I have asked to have my body disposed of as quietly and cheaply as possible, and to not perform a funeral for me, and if they wish to use my death as an excuse to gather, to make the event as joyful as possible and as little about me as they can.