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fiftyacorn

806 karma · joined January 26, 2016

https://www.javabullets.com
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fiftyacorn··on I downloaded the german 8 pm news every day since 2014: Ask me anything
How has the bias or reporting style changed during that time?
fiftyacorn··on Lost $300 due to an API key leak from "vibe coding" – Learn from my mistake
I always wish you could kill switch a billing alert on any cloud service - so if it goes above my prescribed limit just take it offline
fiftyacorn··on How Britain built some of the world’s safest roads
I think this type of road combined with satnavs makes them more dangerous - number of times ill enter a destination on my satnav and its trying to send me on some lane

I notice it when cycling too - there is more traffic on these lane - and the drivers think they can drive along like some A-road

fiftyacorn··on Chinese astronauts make rocket fuel and oxygen in space
Sounds like Day of the Triffids
fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: Are there software engineering areas that are safe from LLMs invasion?
Legacy systems - there are legacy systems that are like house of cards and you have to move forward very carefully. These areas might have code/languages that are older and the LLM wont have as big a model to learn from

Businesses often rely on these systems - and they rely on the processes to protect them so are reluctant to adopt AI

fiftyacorn··on Online Safety Act – shutdowns and site blocks
I like it - request that greek statues cover up in case children see
fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: With all the AI hype, how are software engineers feeling?
I was on reddit/math and someone was talking about how they were trying to get AI to create there final year thesis from uni. They tried 4-5 different AI solutions and reckoned they got 40-60% of the work from AI but it couldnt conclude the project. A few others on the thread had said the same

Doesnt mean it wont get there - just that it isnt there yet

fiftyacorn··on Vanishing home field advantage in English football
Stoke city too - had the narrowest field and used tall forwards combined with ex-Javelin thrower Rory Delap
fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
As Joe Dirt says "You've just got to keep on keeping on"
fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: Casual Math Book Suggestions
Not a book but I like watching the numberphile youtube channel. I got into it after they done some videos making an enigma machine in python
fiftyacorn··on Dull Men’s Club
I think its an age thing - you spend your youth thinking its important to fit in - but then reach a point where you realise you are who you are and just accept it
fiftyacorn··on The Sixties Come Back to Life in "Everything Is Now"
Barry Miles book "London Calling" about the evolution of london counter culture post-war also cites this with all the artists living in squats
fiftyacorn··on They used Xenon to climb Everest in days – is it the future of mountaineering?
More recently it was CO use to simulate altitude training
fiftyacorn··on New drones are sneaking past jammers on Ukraine's front lines
There have been a few articles on fibre optic drones in past weeks and they are all reporting these are very effective drones, and changing how drones are used on the battlefield?
fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: Parents of young kids: how do you teach that hitting is not acceptable?
Kids will hit and you just keep reaffirming that its not acceptable. If they dont stop and dont have a neurodivergent diagnosis(ADHD, autism, PDA, ...) - then eventually they will hit the wrong person and learn the hard way
fiftyacorn··on The Ghosts of Gaelic
They are different languages - i mean same roots but still different
fiftyacorn··on Bicycle riders' knowledge and experience of structural weakness in bicycles
I think the source of the bikes is important - you see a lot of unbranded stuff like carbon frames, wheels or bars bought from temu or similar. I wouldnt assume this stuff has been tested to the same level as known brands, and wouldnt trust them

I also think the age of the bike is important too - especially carbon where the lifespan is expected 5-8 years

fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: Should I learn COBOL at 14yo in 2025?
Its not the learning of COBOL thats the issue - its the custom nature of a lot of older systems and understanding the associated business logic.

I remember getting taken thru the core interconnectivity of the mainframe at a bank and being shown a diagram of the key flows which didnt look to bad. They then overlayed all the flows and the screen was like a bowl of spagetti - and understanding that is where the real skill and expertise is

Thats probably true of most legacy systems

fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: Best book/course/resource for personal finance or financial literacy?
the moneysavingexpert website created an open university course -

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/mses-academy-m...

Worth a look as some topics are universal

fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: Best book/course/resource for personal finance or financial literacy?
i think bogleheads applies everywhere - just substitute the investment types for your countries equivalents
fiftyacorn··on Joby will launch UK air taxi service with Virgin Atlantic
I don't think they've thought the name thru for the uk market and especially scotland
fiftyacorn··on I am building an app to fight propaganda online. Need your help
I was thinking about this and how we need a new generation of spam filters or content firewall to read the content and decide whether I would want to read it. Some sort of browser plugin

I also think we need policies around botfarms. I see all this free speech absolutism at the moment and think ok that's fine, but free speech shouldn't apply to bots or ai. At least at the moment

fiftyacorn··on Reintroductions of beavers into the wild in several parts of England
I imagine there is an impact on downstream water so needs to be considered before granting a licence
fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: Are forums dead?
I miss forums - everything has moved to facebook which makes it harder if you want to come off facebook
fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: What are you working on? (February 2025)
I was at a games exhibition a few months ago - and there was a game designed to help people deal with grief which i found interesting. I cant remember the name
fiftyacorn··on Ask HN: What are you working on? (February 2025)
i think part of the problem is 30mph/48kmph doesnt feel fast - and to get people to drive slower manufacturers need to design cars so 20mph/32kmph feels faster
fiftyacorn··on US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago
It's the tech bro way
fiftyacorn··on Self hosted FLOSS fitness/workout tracker
Depends which sport - but golden cheetah lets you link a range of apps to your PC and store locally
fiftyacorn··on UK copyright law consultation 'fixed' in favour of AI firms, peer says
I'm confused so am I allowed to torrent to feed my AI framework but not view it myself?

I'm on the side of the content creators, and you know the legislation is bad when paul mccartney is talking about it on the bbc

fiftyacorn··on To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell
likewise a counter tariff from another country will not affect tesla as global stocks are prob from china
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