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riantogo

832 karma · joined October 28, 2017

Maker of https://discoflip.com

Twitter: @riantogo

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riantogo··on Pixel Watch 5
Your observation is spot on. I wear my Apple watch all day everyday. Put it on charge every night without fail. Some years back I used to use it as step counter and for payment. These days I don't count my steps and use the phone for tap payment. I guess the watch is just an ornament or habit or ritual. I'm not sure.
riantogo··on AI coding is gambling
Exactly this for me as well. When I was a SWE I thought what I loved was problem solving. So after many years of doing that I decided to move upsteam and took Product roles so that I can identify and address big business problems. It was only after I switched that I realized that I was not in love with problem solving. I was in love with art. Programming was art of me.

I kept at it on the side as a hobby. But stacks evolved and I was left behind. Now with AI it's back on.

riantogo··on Kotlin creator's new language: a formal way to talk to LLMs instead of English
When we understand that AI allows the spec to be in English (or any natural language), we might stop attempting to build "structured english" for spec.
riantogo··on AI agents are starting to eat SaaS
While most here are aligned with your perspective, and for good reasons, let me offer an alternate perspective. Today AI can take the goal and create a workflow for it. Something that orgs pay for in SaaS solutions.

AI does it imperfectly today, but if you have had to bet, would you bet that it gets better or worse? I would bet that it will improve, and as it is often with tech, at exponential rate. Then we would seen any workflow described in plain language and minutes see great software churned out. It might be a questions of when (not if) that happens. And are you prepared for that state of affairs?

riantogo··on Writing is thinking
Reading is thinking someone else's thoughts => That is true if you are strictly reading passively. Typically what happens is that reading opens many doors that leads to your own thinking. Of course depends on the type of material you are reading as well. But often reading broadens your thinking relative to just putting your own on paper.
riantogo··on AI overviews cause massive drop in search clicks
Or just append with -ai => "how to pick a running shoe -ai"
riantogo··on OpenAI says it has evidence DeepSeek used its model to train competitor
Why would it cast any doubt? If you can use o1 output to build a better R1. Then use R1 output to build a better X1... then a better X2.. XN, that just shows a method to create better systems for a fraction of the cost from where we stand. If it was that obvious OpenAI should have themselves done. But the disruptors did it. It hindsight it might sound obvious, but that is true for all innovations. It is all good stuff.
riantogo··on I Met Paul Graham Once
These days I just feel sad for some of the richest people. First their wealth seem to have pulled them away from their humanity. Now I just see them lead troubled existence and inflict pain on others, amplified by the said wealth. All the money in the world and no humanity or peace at heart.
riantogo··on Police are tagging fleeing cars with GPS darts to avoid dangerous pursuits
The other day I was driving through a school zone and it had that 25 mph radar screen. Most people did slow down, but it got me thinking. With modern cars being "smart", could govt offer a tax tax break for folks opting into the car sotware capping speeds dynamically?
riantogo··on Show HN: I made a tool to compare time zones
Maybe the cards could get background color based on time of the day (e.g. blue for mid-day, dark for night etc.)
riantogo··on 30-year fixed mortgage rate just hit 8% for the first time since 2000
Yesterday my friend bid on a house for $3.7M. There were double digit number of bidders. Lost to another buyer who got it for $3.8M all cash. Not saying it is the same everywhere, but where I live it is the norm. Nothing seems to bring down (or even slow) house prices.
riantogo··on Apple Vision Pro – Lesson in product positioning
Makes sense. Maybe by v5 when the battery is internal and it is light enough it could unlock more use cases. I feel they have added several features for situational awareness with video pass through, but might need more.
riantogo··on Apple Vision Pro – Lesson in product positioning
How about the potability of the screen? The screen is available anytime, anywhere. On a flight, doctor's waiting room, line at DMV etc.
riantogo··on This blog is hosted on my Android phone
When can we see it?
riantogo··on The FTC wants to ban tough-to-cancel subscriptions
I would like to propose an addition: “Business can’t charge the consumer’s card if the consumer has not been actively using the service for last 90 days. Active is defined as significant usage. Significant is defined as consumption equal-to or greater-than a median user in the same pricing tier.”
riantogo··on Ask HN: Those making $0/month or less on side projects – Show and tell
https://discoflip.com aspires to put community owners in charge (especially with monetization).
riantogo··on MuscleWiki: Find exercises that work specific muscles
How about bench press?
riantogo··on Ask HN: Why haven't bookmarks been re-invented?
My covid side project was attempting to find a solution in this space. I envisioned users publishing their bookmarks in related forums (not unlike subreddits). The differentiating factor was allowing forum owners to monetize (as opposed to the platform appropriating all revenue). After thing reopened I got busy readjusting, but I plan to revive the efforts starting Jan: https://discoflip.com
riantogo··on Ask HN: How can I come to peace with the years I wasted on pointless things?
To me your younger life sounds a lot more fun. But that is me. I'm sure for some kids writing hours of code or doing hours of math or hours of reading was more fun. I was much like you and did more than just fine in life (in terms of material wealth). Like someone pointed out, ultimately everything is pointless. Just have fun in whatever you do.
riantogo··on Ask HN: Why do I struggle to follow corporate meetings?
I’m thankfully at a stage of my career where I’m not afraid to interrupt the meeting and ask questions. Earlier in my career the thought would terrify me. In hindsight if I were bold it would have actually helped half the room. I encourage you to do it. These days: Who is Robert? What does Communications dept do? What has changed since last review? What metrics did the strategy move? What is the outcome you want from this meeting? Next time can we do email?
riantogo··on US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis
What you think is the "quite part" is actually not. It is standard practice to announce the nature of the military attack, especially against a nuclear power. That is the reason why you see the exact weapons being sent to Ukraine. If you do these things unannounced, and later get caught, that is what gives Russia the carte blanche to retaliate.
riantogo··on Product shouldn’t be left to product managers
If you are looking for a template to start practicing Product Thinking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQQroSjxc74
riantogo··on Friendships form via shared context, not shared activities
Very much so. I stuggle with being blunt and direct. I feel I carry this from asian culture and doesn't translate well in the west.
riantogo··on Back to India
Don’t feel sorry for them. It is a choice they are able to make for themselves. Most of these expats visit home regularly and see the ground realities. They are in a better place to compare the lives between the two places. Most choose the county they immigrated to. Stop and think why it might be so.
riantogo··on Back to India
Shit on your own country? What does that even mean? The place you were born by chance? Now you have to “own” it as an identity? Do you have the same beliefs about government? religion? caste? race? I suggest you try freeing yourself of such burden.
riantogo··on Ask HN: What is your “I don't care if this succeeds” project?
My covid side project. A platform for anyone to quickly start a forum. I'm going to add subscription option so that forum owners can make loads of money. https://discoflip.com
riantogo··on Do things, tell people (2012)
Okay, here you go. I have an amazing day job. But I always wanted to build some software utility that others found value in. So I shipped a forum platform. Because I can’t bring myself to share this with my friends and professionals network, it has no users: https://discoflip.com/
riantogo··on App store bill sails out of Senate Judiciary Committee
That is a fair point.
riantogo··on App store bill sails out of Senate Judiciary Committee
"Apple’s App Store does a lot to protect me." You can still have that by only installing apps from the App store, no? While I can sideload app from any website I trust. And someone else can install a whole different store they trust. I don't see how it affects your protection in any way.
riantogo··on Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s Sudoku solver (2018)
It only appears incoherent because you might have conflated two issues in your response (wealth gap and plight of immigrants). Not saying you did it intentionally.

Regarding immigrants, you need to meet more of them to get a better idea. The situation in US is much worse than most western countries. I encourage you to read up on why it is such a massive political issue (Obama's attempted reforms and executive orders, Dreamers, Path to citizenship etc.). Here is one example: https://www.cato.org/blog/150-year-wait-indian-immigrants-ad...

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