Hacker News Reader

mikestewon Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy

I didn't pay $2000 to view that web page. A new iPhone, OTOH...

(But, yeah, I'm reminded that I need to set up a Pi-Hole on the Starlink in the camper. I'm paying by the byte for those TechRadar ads.)

mikestewon Turn off and restrict access to Apple Intelligence features on Mac

Just today: “give me directions to the ferry terminal”. I’m on an island with one terminal, I shouldn’t have to be specific.

“Here’s a list of three ferry terminals that are on different islands, none of which are the island you’re on.”

“Give directions to the Orcas Island ferry terminal.”

“Here’s directions to the Port of Orcas Island, which is on the side of the island opposite the ferry terminal.”

If I weren’t driving a camper van on narrow roads, I would have taken her up on the “other island” option. “How do you propose we get there, Siri? Maybe start by driving to the g-ddamned ferry terminal?!”

mikestewon Let's make quality the norm again

Ran into that with an Oxo coffee grinder recently. Old one died, bought the exact same one again. And that motor sounds just a little more tinny than the old one, and the whole thing seems just a little more...rattly than the old one. I am not exactly sure where they cut the corners, but corners were indeed cut. Oh, and the new one was $10 more, so the savings were most definitely not passed onto me.

mikestewon How my e-reader lost its stripes

The reader functionality was not the point of TFA. If you want a product review, there are plenty, including the prior HN discussion linked in this thread.

That said, I read enough in the HN thread to get the sense of not bothering with “out of the box” and just flash Crosspoint Reader on it. I played with stock for a few minutes, it was functional, but not notable. Crosspoint took ten minutes to flash, and is head-and-shoulders above the stock FW. Better reader functionality, better font rendering.

mikestewon Things That Annoy Me About Cars

Add automatic high beams to the list.

You mean to say "automatic high beams on Teslas". The ones on our Hyundai Ioniq work just fine, and have never blinded anyone. But in Redmond, WA, Teslas are everywhere and 90% if you're getting beamed, it's a Tesla. Their headlights are, in many cases, improperly aimed out of the factory and their shit auto high beams only make it worse.

mikestewon Things That Annoy Me About Cars

It increases range by relying entirely on the regenerative braking and relegating the disc brakes to an "emergency" role.

I'm not sure about the Bolt, but most EVs work that way, one-pedal or not. Even a hybrid Prius doesn't seem to use the friction brakes unless it has to (emergency, coming to a low speed stop).

I don't like one-pedal on the Hyundai Ioniq if for no other reason than it uses both front/rear motors regardless. In contrast to Eco/Normal mode that uses the front motor only if it feels the need for moar power!!

mikestewon Things That Annoy Me About Cars

For trucks, having a glass roof is almost essential for seeing if you will fit into a parking garage.

If your truck is that tall, I suggest measuring it and recording the height. After that, you'll find that just about every low-hanging garage, drive-up, bridge, etc. has a height listed. Over 9.5'? Don't try and drive through the Arboretum, as the signs will tell you.

Opening the roof...

That's a sunroof, not a panoramic glass roof being discussed.

mikestewon Things That Annoy Me About Cars

We've got one-pedal on the Ioniq. I've tried it, meh, I don't see the appeal. It's not horrible, but I'll probably never use it again for many of the same reasons you list.

My dream set up would be the accelerator pedal is, well, an accelerator, and the brake is a decelerator, and if you're not pressing either the car maintains the current velocity.

Sounds like cruise control, which many cars have.

mikestewon How my e-reader lost its stripes

Related to the Xteink X3 reader mentioned in TFA:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49596629

mikestewon Microsoft patches Windows and Excel – breaks audio, remote access, and paste

it feels like the remote access and pasting issues should have been discovered in QA.

You're thinking of 20-years-ago Microsoft. Microsoft famously got rid of their software test teams like ten years ago. As one who worked there 20-some years ago on their test teams, I'd say the quality of their software is really starting to show the negative effects of such a move.

(FWIW, we got rid of our last Windows machine in the house when my spouse retired from MSFT. I'm not running that crap in my house if I don't have to, no matter how much MSFT contributed to our financial security.)

mikestewon Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

At the same time, Nike put out banners in Boston before the Boston Marathon that said "Runners welcome, walkers tolerated" and caught a rash of shit for it. Keeping in mind that runners have to qualify to run Boston (we'll ignore charity runners for the time being), and those qualifying standards are not easy. You're not going to walk your way to a Boston-qualifying time. (I'd guess 85-90% of actual runners can't qualify in their age group.)

My point being, times have changed, too, and what Nike used to get lauded for (I loved their ads on the back of Runner's World in the 70s/80s) now gets called out as "not inclusive".

mikestewon Volkswagen Just Built an EV That Can Go Nearly 900 Miles on a Charge

I’ve not looked it up, but I’d venture to guess that a ‘73 Fleetwood was one of the longest cars made. And, as you alluded to, absolutely bonkers length from wheel center to each bumper.

Our Hyundai has the opposite problem. Because the flat battery pack allows the wheels to be shoved to the corners, it looks smallish but has a longer wheelbase than Hyundai’s large Palisade SUV. Which makes it a pig to park.

mikestewon Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I lightly read half-way, but it didn’t catch me like it apparently did you. That aside, what you’ve said (and, AFAICT, what TFA was trying to say) matches the scatterbrained marketing and product vision I’ve witnessed recently, at least from the perspective of a competitive runner who has used their shoes since the ‘70s.

From my POV, shopping Nike is schizophrenic in that I don’t know which piece of gear is the fashion brand and which is for athletes. Which fits what you’re saying: who are they even trying to sell to anymore? And thus, as a person who was their core (Phil Knight start Nike selling running shoes out of the trunk of his car), I mostly run in other brands these days.

mikestewon Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

I’m not reading that disjointed wall of text to the end. If you have a point to make, spit out, don’t proxy it to someone else. Links are to support your argument, not make it for you.

mikestewon Most People Don't Think About Culverts. Their Failure Can Be Deadly

https://archive.is/nX0zx

mikestewon Volkswagen Just Built an EV That Can Go Nearly 900 Miles on a Charge

Same thing you did sixty years ago when your Cadillac got a flat: take the cover off the wheel well.

https://photos.classiccars.com/cc-temp/listing/165/1814/3484...

mikestewon Mullenweg has returned as CEO after attempted board ouster

Karma threshold for the downvote button used to be 500, IIRC. Only 449 upvotes to go!

mikestewon Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

Now you have me wondering if our OG Leaf didn’t work that way, as I have this vague memory that maybe it did.

EDIT: nope, that is definitely an electric motor on the top of that 2011 Leaf steering rack:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254589825844

mikestewon Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

It’s hydraulic fluid, which is oil.

Nope, glycol-based and synthetic. Not the best article, but best I could find at the moment:

https://engineerfix.com/what-is-brake-fluid-made-of/

mikestewon Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

Brake fluid isn’t oil (generally speaking). EVs have electrical motor-driven power steering, not hydraulic. You scored correctly on the reduction box, which will need changing well after most people sell the car (>100K miles).

mikestewon Global Shortage Has Led to Motor Oil Rationing at Costco

plenty of things inside the EV require all kinds of oils

I can come up with one. What's your list?

mikestewon Why is Google still serving dodgy ads?

Oh, it's been proven to work, even in a limited number of production vehicles. Just not with what you buy out of the back of a magazine. :-)

mikestewon Flock cameras used to arrest a child for playing on a swing?

Three questions:

1. Why is the city creeping on children with surveillance cameras? I'd be tempted to run for city council and beat that drum until the head broke (but then I'd have to serve on the city council).

2. How did they identify the children enough to come to their home? Might have read the license plate, but reporting is unclear.

3. Why is our municipality buying such crappy equipment that it fails when kids do what kids have done with swings for 100 years or more?

mikestewon Why is Google still serving dodgy ads?

The water-injection system for your carburetor that the oil companies don't want you to know about! -- paraphrase of an actual Popular Mechanics ad circa 1978

mikestewon Apple iPod Engraver (2019)

Would seem kind of silly to look at photos on a B&W display.

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ipod/specs/ipod_photo_30g...

mikestewon Forgotten Woodlands

My favorite is "Florida Hill Country" of Dade County. I raced a bicycle road race in Dade County once. It did, indeed, have a few hills, but the toughest climb of the whole race was literally an interstate overpass.

mikestewon IKEA made a mod for Skyrim [video]

Sue for using “cola” in the product name? Citation most definitely needed.

mikestewon IKEA made a mod for Skyrim [video]

They’ll probably want to go after Jones Soda first. :eyeroll:

https://www.amazon.com/Jones-Soda-Fallout-Nuka-Cola-Flavored...

mikestewon The EPA is planning to scrap public review rules for data center pollution

Republicans have been a buttplug in the political process for going on twenty years, and yet who has the majority in congress?