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NickInSF

39 karma · joined July 31, 2019

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NickInSF··on Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (June 2026)
Location: San Francisco

Remote: Open to remote, hybrid, or on-site (SF Bay Area).

Willing to relocate: No

Technologies: Full stack (Node/.NET/Go/Next.JS), Gen AI/ML (PyTorch/ONNX), distributed infra (e.g. AWS/GCP/Azure/On-prem) Resume/CV: https://1drv.ms/b/c/aae0b153e80e54d2/IQB2LREvdOgWQYanTlHOhHl...

Email: nick@night.ms

13 years of engineering leadership in FAANG; 20+ years of software engineering industry experience. Looking for Sr. EM / Director roles. Check out my open-source projects at https://www.github.com/nickna

NickInSF··on Why Did CrowdStrike Update Only Hit Windows? Blame the EU, Microsoft Says
Microsoft loosened the kernel driver requirements to allow anyone to register as a boot driver as long as a CA digitally signs them. Microsoft asserts that this was done at the EU's behest. They could tighten the driver requirement for the RoW, but that would lock Crowdstrike out and likely trigger antitrust concerns again.

If Microsoft had their way, I imagine they would require verification through their driver lab that does this for a living (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/i...)

NickInSF··on The Sphere
I'm surprised people aren't bringing up the "original" Sphere. Vegas had an Omnimax dome 45 years ago! I have fond memories of it as a kid. The entire theater was comprised of speakers on which spherical movies were projected. It's a shame it never got more traction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAX#Dome_and_Omnimax

NickInSF··on Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest
American social media is already banned in China. TikTok is also banned in China in favor of the state-controlled Douyin.
NickInSF··on Tell HN: Ever think of applying to YC? Do it this weekend for S24
I had the same question.

Most YC founders seem to be new college graduates instead of seasoned FAANG folks. I'm in the latter camp and believe I'm better off leveraging my connections because I've aged out of YC.

NickInSF··on WeWork Goes Bankrupt
WeWork pushed incumbents like Regus to simplify the onboarding process.

In the olden days, getting a Regus desk required an office tour appointment, followed by paperwork. Now they have an app, and nobody needs to send or receive a PDF.

NickInSF··on Windows Repair Toolbox
Is there anything to indicate this is a trustworthy application? This is a closed-source binary, which has carte blanche access once you click "Yes" on the UAC prompt.
NickInSF··on Aptos, our modern successor to Calibri
You weren't kidding about Microsoft having trouble with naming.

The original name for .NET was Next Generation Windows Service (NGWS), and before that it was Project 42.

And then the first .NET tutorial site we built was called GotDotNet.com. Engineers didn't get a say in the name.

Source: I was a SWE (SDE) in the .NET Framework team in 2000.

NickInSF··on Group accused in $225K 'dice sliding' cheating scheme at Las Vegas casino
The gaming machines are all networked Windows PCs with payout odds that are controlled by group, which can be defined into sections as small as twelve machines. (The exact number may have changed in the past decade.)

NGCB (Nev. Gaming Control Board) does regular on-site audits of the machines and the central configurations to ensure that they are compliant.

NickInSF··on Ask HN: Why is building Windows apps so complicated?
Exactly. Your post answers OP's question.

The root cause of the SDK fragmentation is because Microsoft sees diminishing returns for Windows.

After Silverlight failed to gain adoption, they started losing interest in the desktop. When Windows Phone was killed, there was even less interest in UWP.

It's a shame because .NET is quite nice.

NickInSF··on Most internet service providers are gone – Sonic has survived and thrived
Completely agree. Sonic is a customer service provider that happens to be an ISP.

I've had their gigabit fiber service in SF for the past two years. The few times I've had to call and inquire about a service issue, I was able to speak to someone within a minute of calling. And if you check their forums, you'll find their CEO responding to questions.