Hacker News Reader

bikamonkion What we know about CEO shooting suspect

I did it for you (using AWS compare faces)

Full face pic compared to taxi pic: 81.94% similar

Full face pic compared to hotel pic (not smiling): face matches not found

Full face pic compared to hotel pic (smiling): face matches not found

I am guessing the quality of the hotel pics I found online is too bad for a good test and/or biometrics work better comparing eyes than other face features.

bikamonkion Software developer arrested in connection with murder of healthcare executive

Easy: run both pics through a biometric check

bikamonkion Claude AI built me a React app to compare maps side by side

Could this be used to RPA my browser? Is it safe?

bikamonkion Trump wins presidency for second time

Very well put. I also live in a country where this kind of politics is everyday politics. Nothing really changes for good.

bikamonkion First images from Euclid are in

So many solar systems out there, life evolved in many planets for sure. No proof but no doubt.

bikamonkion Crokinole

In this information overload age, I surely feel like there is nothing new under the sun, and then I run into gems like this :)

bikamonkion Two never-before-seen tools, from same group, infect air-gapped devices

Did I get it wrong or the infection was through USB? I thought it was something related to a remote/wireless attack. Is such attack even possible on air-gapped systems?

bikamonkion Founder Mode

A friend bootstrapped his fastfood tiny chain to 5 locations and a couple of mill in revenue in two years. Low financial leverage, happy customers.

An expert told him to hire experts to keep growing it. Now he's down to two locations, high in debt and uncertainty.

Corpo bois are not founders, they know nothing of growing a startup. The have never produced value from thin air. They are just good at playing the corpo role. Job security is their main concern.

bikamonkion I pwned half of America's fast food chains simultaneously

You are a good human. Seems they had not tweaked the database rules correctly, maybe even left the default setup! That means you could have executed this:

Firebase.database().ref('/').set('All your data is gone').

Better yet, download the whole DB and then:

Firebase.database().ref('/').set('I have all your data, pay me to get it back').

bikamonkion Web apps are better than no apps

Aren't we facing a case of: everything seems like a nail for my hammer?

What problem are you trying to solve? Game app? Go native, maybe. Utility app? Native too, maybe. Business app? Web will do, unless marketing demands it be native b/c management wants the darn icon on every darn screen out there.

What if it's neither? Chat apps seem to be the next app platform.

bikamonkion Ask HN: How can I reach WhatsApp product managers?

I need to know if a video was captured or uploaded from gallery. A simple flag that is not provided through their messages API. Same thing for location: if location was selected from map or the user sent the current location.

bikamonkion Ask HN: How can I reach WhatsApp product managers?

Tried, no luck

bikamonkion The world’s oldest ultramarathon runner is racing against death

Useless. Evidence cannot change an addict's mind.

bikamonkion SQLite the only database you will ever need in most cases (2021)

I have similar arguments for "Firebase is the only database you will ever need in most cases" for web apps, be it that you need real-time capabilities or not.

I can also confidently say: a static HTML landing page is the only website you will ever need in most cases. I suffer every time I see a one-page site, hardly ever updated, built with Wordpress. Why hire an 18-wheeler to deliver a pizza?

bikamonkion What is ChatGPT doing and why does it work?

Secret sauce, no clue. Some folks are working on AGI precisely looking for that secret sauce. ChatGPT is just a tool, a very clever one. Just as a chainsaw cannot drill holes, ChatGPT cannot do many, many other intellectual tasks. We have other very clever AI tools. All can fool humans as well. But I imagine the first phones or TVs also fooled humans. Tools, just tools so far. I think even if we ever build an artificial brain and wire it correctly, it will still be just a tool. I think AGI is not a hardware problem but a software one. Given the necessary hardware, can we program AGI?

bikamonkion What is ChatGPT doing and why does it work?

Except ChatGPT "is not aware" that it understands.

bikamonkion No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

We've been drinking fermented drinks for millenia and yet here we are: 8 billion strong. Shut up WHO ;)

bikamonkion ‘Too much’ nitrite-cured meat brings clear risk of cancer, say scientists

How much is too much? 15% says the study, 15% of what?

bikamonkion Why modern software is slow

The beauty of irony: slow software rant published on Wordpress :)

bikamonkion Ask HN: How often do developers fail at their task?

I keep making the same silly mistakes from 20 years ago...

bikamonkion Religion as an Ego-modulator

I stopped reading when I read Stoics listed next to Christians.

bikamonkion Why do you waste so much time on the internet?

Don't say the Internet. There are tons of good information/tutorials/reads/etc on the Internet.

You have a social net addiction. You spend so much time on it b/c it is designed for that: catch your attention, sell ads.

I already see the parallels between social nets and tobacco. We are at the stage where we realize it is harmful. Eventually, it will be regulated.

But then again, you do not need to wait for it to be regulated. Quit now. Be disciplined. Find a hobbie that is offline. Become a maker.

bikamonkion Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

Yet...

bikamonkion Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

Can it be fixed though? The hate factory is the end-game of how the software was built (follows, retweets, etc) and how people use the software. What is the plan here? Re-program Twitter? Invent a new social network where the end-game is not a hate factory?

bikamonkion Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

I am not sure Elon can fix Twitter b/c I am not sure Social Networks can be fixed at all.

bikamonkion What software engineers can learn from the rapid collapse of Fast

. And yet, every small business needed custom engineering work to be done, making integration slow. Several engineers mentioned how they did not understand how spending lots of engineering effort for each small client resulting in little revenue would result in building a company that could be worth $12B one day.

In other words: fast was not itself a one-click checkout product.

Two of my products failed for the same reason. These are high-touch sales in terms of the custom work that needs be done for every new client. I have also seen a product fail due to the high cost of providing tech support vs account revenue.

What seems odd in this case is that Stripe knows very well how a low-touch saas should work and yet they invested in Fast. Maybe they assumed client customization will eventually be solved with a handful of options that would fit most needs?

bikamonkion Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

Routine. Hard to focus if you do not have your daily schedule under control.

bikamonkion Show HN: Appwrite – Open-Source and Self Hosted Firebase Alternative

Awesome, I look forward to try your managed service.

bikamonkion Show HN: Appwrite – Open-Source and Self Hosted Firebase Alternative

Strictly speaking, if I spin up a droplet on DO and install Appwrite on it, it won't be a BAAS anymore, correct?

Sorry but "self-host your own BAAS" is an oxymoron.

IMO, developers who chose Firebase do not want to manage servers.

bikamonkion Lapce – Fast open-source code editor

Do you use Lapce to edit Lapce's source code?