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aednichols

92 karma · joined January 20, 2020

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aednichols··on Volvo Centum is Dalton Maag's new typeface for Volvo
No button necessary for voice: “Hey Google, set my seat heater to medium.”

I would still like to have a button-only option, of course.

aednichols··on Are touchscreens in cars dangerous?
Mileage varies a lot on this one. I have an Android Automotive car (not to be confused with Android Auto) and “Hey Google” is basically flawless for changing car settings while driving.
aednichols··on Docker Model Runner
Docker Engine uses a feature of the Linux kernel called namespaces. Alternate OSes require a Linux VM. As another commenter mentioned, apps like Orbstack, Podman Desktop, and Docker Desktop provide a facility to create such a VM.
aednichols··on United Airlines to launch Starlink wi-fi in spring 2025
Mobile data sucks even in the densely populated northeast parts of the Amtrak system. Cell network congestion and dead spots where the railroad takes a path away from population centers and highways.
aednichols··on Passkey technology is elegant, but it's most definitely not usable security
Same. It is annoying to dodge the prompts that guide me to save in Chrome or iCloud instead of 1Password, but with patience I have always succeeded. Of course, I know what I want and when to ignore what the machine suggests, which I wouldn’t expect of non-enthusiasts.
aednichols··on US weighs Google break-up in landmark antitrust case
Google has acquired a lot of ad competitors, but I can't remember any general-purpose search engines. It seemed more like they died out naturally over a long period. I welcome new information if that's not right.
aednichols··on Google loses antitrust suit over search deals on phones
The DOJ is concerned with moving the needle on one specific issue (search monopoly a.k.a. seatbelts) and is not concerned about the side effects on related entities (Firefox a.k.a. undertakers).
aednichols··on California approves final high-speed rail link connecting San Francisco to LA
Amtrak reaches 110 mph in a few places in diesel territory (outside of the NEC). The Empire Service and Lincoln Service, for example.
aednichols··on Passkeys: A shattered dream
My passkeys are in 1Password and work on every new device I set up.
aednichols··on Commission opens non-compliance investigations against Alphabet, Apple and Meta
CTF is waived for nonprofits, which is how a lot of FOSS projects are structured.
aednichols··on Real-time map of every Starlink satellite in orbit
Having them as low as possible improves latency, which is a big selling point of Starlink over incumbent geostationary services like Hughesnet.
aednichols··on U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
I hope the UX changes are limited to that extent, yes. I’m concerned about another cookie banner unintended consequences situation.
aednichols··on U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
I’m sure RCS messages would stay green though, so it’s less than clear that your proposal addresses the alleged social lock-in.
aednichols··on U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
It seems like DOJ might force Apple to make separate "SMS" and "iMessage" apps, and perhaps forbid preinstalling iMessage so users have to download it from the App Store when they get a new phone (giving it equal footing with its competitors). This would diffuse the claim that iOS is downgrading Android users within the same app.
aednichols··on U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
Are you sure the password manager is using all the APIs available to it? I use 1Password and it feels extremely well integrated.
aednichols··on Dear Paul Graham, there is no cookie banner law
Yep. In other words, things that almost every website in the past 10 years does, making consent banners ubiquitous.
aednichols··on Dear Paul Graham, there is no cookie banner law
I am amused that your official EU link, which contains only static documentation, asks me to choose between “all cookies” and “essential cookies”.
aednichols··on I'm an idiot. I just gave money to kinda-scammers, not the US government
A family member got tricked by a similar scam. They asked for a refund and ultimately got one after lightly threatening a credit card chargeback. High chargebacks cause card issuers to close merchant accounts, so they are a genuine threat.
aednichols··on When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)
Excuse my ignorance, but at that point what does the ISP actually do other than send bills to customers and pay invoices for fiber plant and upstream bandwidth?
aednichols··on PSA: Intel Graphics Drivers Now Collect Telemetry by Default
Check out immutable distros like Fedora Silverblue & Kinoite.
aednichols··on AWS to begin charging for public IPv4 addresses
NAT is pretty computationally intensive, this is why e.g. ISPs & mobile carriers are pushing IPv6 over CGNAT.
aednichols··on “1.1.1.1 is now handling more than 1.3T requests per day”
8.8.8.8 has documented rate limiting [0], but it may be higher than you're hitting.

[0] https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/isp

aednichols··on “1.1.1.1 is now handling more than 1.3T requests per day”
Commoditize your complement.

Users need working DNS to use Cloudflare’s paid services. That used to be a business in and of itself, where OpenDNS made money showing people ads. But now the market price has been driven to zero.

aednichols··on “1.1.1.1 is now handling more than 1.3T requests per day”
OpenDNS used to hijack DNS to show ads, which is one of the reasons Google launched the non-hijacking 8.8.8.8 in 2009. OpenDNS quickly followed suit. No one would attempt it today, seeing as it would instantly make you the worst DNS resolver on the Internet and switching away is trivial.
aednichols··on US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone
iPads transitioned to USB C in 2018 so I think this has been in the cards for a while. We'll have to see about the cables, I don't hate the idea of of an "actually works right" certification in the chaotic USB C universe.
aednichols··on US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone
People forget, but Apple faced a massive backlash in 2012 when it replaced the 30 pin connector with Lightning. People called it a ploy to make money on cables. Tons of e-waste.

USB C devices started shipping in 2015, so one can see why they didn't want to put themselves through that again.

Adopting USB C in fall 2023 iPhones is smart, because by now everyone has USB C cables already to charge their iPads, Macs, and Apple TV remotes (yes, even that recently switched from Lightning to USB C).

aednichols··on List of APIs that require declared reasons
Oh snap, sincere thanks for this tip! I guess I’m an older family member now…
aednichols··on List of APIs that require declared reasons
I agree, I wish there was an “always allow” option for pasteboard. Like yes, I frequently paste URLs into my browser, please stop asking.
aednichols··on Chicago’s Railroad Problem
Railroads sell passage at market rates. I don’t know how reasonable they are, but seemingly good enough that it is a common practice. Therefore one often sees engines from the western railroads all the way in the northeast, e.g. BNSF and UP.
aednichols··on Ask HN: Why does Firefox have such a low market share anyways?
I did eventually switch back to Firefox in ~2018 after they jettisoned their legacy cruft and got fast again (I don't know the technical specifics).
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