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imran3740

469 karma · joined March 5, 2017

[ my public key: https://keybase.io/i077; my proof: https://keybase.io/i077/sigs/lYSIMCSbGowDcOsIJWEcfIKgk5ezvh3RPQkvs3TXsME ]
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imran3740··on Sensible macOS Defaults
The $10/mo is for a subscription to Setapp, which bundles a bunch of apps into one subscription service.
imran3740··on Why Should You Learn Vim in 2020
I'd also recommend Neovim[0], a community-led fork of Vim. One of the focuses of Neovim is exposing an API that lets other apps embed a headless instance in their UIs. This lets you use your Neovim editor along with all its configuration and plugins inside other apps! I've never been satisfied with any of the available vim emulator plugins out there for VSCode, IntelliJ, etc. (there's always something missing!), so this feature has been really valuable to me if I need a better debugging experience but want to use nvim as much as possible.

Someone's already made plugins that embed a Neovim instance right inside VSCode[1] and Sublime Text[2]. There's no emulation here, just straight up neovim running behind those buffers. I've tried VSCode with that plugin (though personally I like to stick to just neovim when I can), and I can say that despite some minor bugs it's been a pretty smooth experience. Even stuff like `gt` to change editor tabs is supported.

[0]: https://neovim.io/

[1]: https://github.com/asvetliakov/vscode-neovim

[2]: https://github.com/lunixbochs/actualvim

imran3740··on MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy
I feel like the keyboard issue is the prime example of why companies shouldn't have monopolies on who runs their OS. Sure on the one hand, they control everything and when things work, they Just Work (TM). On the other hand, they control everything and will inevitably screw something up. Your option? Deal with it, or change laptops. Oh, and change OSes too, since that was your only option for macOS.
imran3740··on Ask HN: Password manager with best experience on Linux?
It's essentially encrypted text, which Git handles just fine.
imran3740··on Ask HN: Password manager with best experience on Linux?
I actually do this with the subkeys I put on my Yubikey, and thanks to the NFC capability, I can use it on Android.

I've been wanting to switch to a Yubikey with USB-C, since both my laptop and phone have that port and I don't have to rely on NFC, but this has been working fine so I can't really justify the cost.

imran3740··on Ask HN: Password manager with best experience on Linux?
I use pass[0], which is essentially just a wrapper on top of Git and GPG. All your secrets are stored in text files that are then encrypted by your GPG key, which is then tracked in a Git repo that you can store anywhere. I use the PassFF extension[1] for Firefox, and Password Store for Android[2]. There are plenty of pass-compatible clients for all platforms and extensions for pass on the first site.

If I need to get my password for eg. GitHub outside of Firefox, I just type `$ pass -c dev/github`, decrypt, and it's in my clipboard for 45 seconds.

[0]: https://www.passwordstore.org/

[1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/passff/

[2]: https://github.com/zeapo/Android-Password-Store

imran3740··on Privacy-friendly alternatives to Google
Same with Notion. If you read their privacy policy, data is not stored encrypted at rest, so I wouldn't view them as privacy-friendly.
imran3740··on Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles
> Press a button and the screen would push back and/or buzz

What do you mean by "press"?

"Pressing" a button (ie. pressing down on it) requires a bit more force than just touching it, so this seems like bad UX to me.

Even if you only were to have the device buzz as you touch any interactive control, I feel like that would start to feel real gimmicky real fast. There's probably a reason that technology didn't make it past CES.

imran3740··on It's time to switch to a four-day working week, say two experts
Zvi Mowshowitz put the concept of "slack" well: https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2017/09/30/slack/
imran3740··on Generate new repositories with repository templates
No, this does not preserve the history of the repo, just gives a single commit with the existing files. You might also think of this as cloning, then squashing down the entire history (well, everything in master anyways) to a single (root) commit.
imran3740··on Apple App Store Principles and Practices
I find it funny that Apple themselves mentions that for "Reader" apps users can make purchases outside of the iOS environment, but developers are expressly forbidden from even mentioning this in their app.
imran3740··on Apple's T2 chip will prevent hackers from eavesdropping on your microphone
What about a physical killswitch goes against Apple's design? The iPhone has always had a ringer/vibrate switch on its side since it was introduced. Obviously it doesn't do anything hardware-wise, but it's still a switch that disables some functionality.
imran3740··on Apple is removing Alex Jones and InfoWars’ podcasts from iTunes
Relevant article from the socialist Current Affairs magazine: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/01/everyones-a-leftist-o...
imran3740··on Windows Calculator invalid input with 10^x function
Just checked, calc fails at 11^0.41703 (curiously not at 41703, but 41704, maybe a floating point thing). Maybe it changes base to e and uses the Taylor series for e^x, but fails if x is too precise for what it expects?
imran3740··on USB Type-C is still a mess
I mean, USB-C seems to be the direction we're going anyways, plus it offers a lot more flexibility for audio eg. allows for active components like a higher-end DAC or amp on the headphones.

Most people probably wouldn't really care for this, and the ones who do probably have portable media players already, so I would prefer to keep the headphone jack. The reality is, though, that USB-C appears to be the future.

imran3740··on The Repeal of Net Neutrality Is Official
Right, which is why you could argue that downtick was orchestrated. In that article you linked Pai cited research claiming investments went down, but Free Press found otherwise.
imran3740··on The Repeal of Net Neutrality Is Official
I'm really not sure, that's Pai's argument. It seems to be a mixed bag [1][2]. Some ISPs don't mind the regulatory burden, and some don't really notice it. Bigger ISPs (like Verizon) also claim that this regulation hurts innovation, and corroborate that with a downtick in broadband investments in 2015 when the rules passed, but for all we know that could have been orchestrated.

[1]: https://www.engadget.com/2017/12/13/net-neutrality-small-isp...

[2]: https://www.fastcompany.com/40499904/small-isp-disputes-fcc-...

imran3740··on USB Type-C is still a mess
> Port shortages

Would it hurt anyone to put two USB-C ports on a smartphone? Thank goodness my phone still has a 3.5mm jack, but some people would like to charge their phone and listen to (wired) audio without having to buy an adapter. And it's not like this is an uncommon use case either, anecdotally some of my friends with iPhones face this issue.

imran3740··on The Repeal of Net Neutrality Is Official
By virtue of this state being regulated, smaller businesses have to spend a non-trivial percentage of their money ensuring compliance with regulation.
imran3740··on The Repeal of Net Neutrality Is Official
See my comment below.[1] Regulation tends to impose higher barriers to entry for smaller businesses. (See 'regulatory capture' for what happens to larger businesses.)

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17284559

imran3740··on The Repeal of Net Neutrality Is Official
I'd really like to see what he has to say in response to these events, if he has at all. This seems to be the weakest part of his overall argument. Anticompetitive violations _have_ happened in the past in the absence of Title II regulation despite his saying otherwise. That being said, (rural) ISP firms have apparently written to say they are pleased with lifting this regulation:

"VTel wrote to say that 'regulating broadband like legacy telephone service would not create any incentives for VTel to invest in its network. In fact, it would have precisely the opposite effect.' The company went on to say that it's now 'quite optimistic about the future, and the current FCC is a significant reason for our optimism.' Indeed, VTel just announced that it has committed $4 million to upgrade its 4G LTE service and to begin rolling out faster mobile broadband that will start its transition to 5G, the next generation of wireless connectivity." [1]

[1]: https://www.cnet.com/news/fcc-chairman-our-job-is-to-protect...

edit: Okay, I'm not sure why this is being downvoted. I'm legitimately curious to hear what Pai has to say about past violations. (Seriously, if anyone has a link, please feel free.)

imran3740··on The Repeal of Net Neutrality Is Official
I mean, that is what Pai claims to be doing here: reducing regulatory burden on smaller ISPs so that more can compete.

"Monday, we are ending this flawed approach and allowing smaller internet service providers to focus their efforts on deploying more broadband, connecting more Americans with digital opportunity, and offering more competition in the marketplace." [1]

[1]: https://www.cnet.com/news/fcc-chairman-our-job-is-to-protect...

imran3740··on The Repeal of Net Neutrality Is Official
The argument goes that ex-ante regulation imposes unnecessary costs in the form of regulatory compliance for smaller businesses, erecting a higher barrier for entry into the ISP market. Or something like that.
imran3740··on Apple HomePod
Or just, you know, February 9.
imran3740··on Facebook users in Romania see content related to street protests reviewed
Here's one: Mastodon [0]. It's decentralized, you can deploy your own instance, and doesn't (necessarily) rely on advertising.

[0]: https://joinmastodon.org/

imran3740··on Extensions in Firefox 58
You can disable Pocket. In about:config, toggle 'extensions.pocket.enabled' to false.
imran3740··on Social Media Endangers Knowledge
When it comes to articles like this, part of me agrees with the whole "attention economy" problem. Companies want to suck away our time, etc etc.

But another part of me also realizes that this problem is going to be very, very hard to get rid of. As long as social media keeps feeding our brains with "things you might like" and endless junk notifications, it's going to be near impossible to stop.

imran3740··on Show HN: Momentum – create lists to structure your thoughts and projects
Another one that connects to your Google account and has a calendar pane for dated events: Moo.do.

https://moo.do

imran3740··on Windows Subsystem for Linux is out of beta
Yes, because Windows doesn't play nice with Linux's permissions.
imran3740··on How Four Native Developers Wrote an Electron App
The problem with Electron apps is that they're all running their own little Chromium-like instance, hogging up hundreds of MB of RAM, clogging up the process table with all its helper processes, using up CPU when idling. I get the easy cross-platform solution part, but this is just horrible UX.

I'm reminded of this article [0], about just how bad Electron is compared to native apps.

[0]: https://josephg.com/blog/electron-is-flash-for-the-desktop/

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