Hacker News Reader

ryanwaggoneron TikTok ban bill in US faces changes after ByteDance spent $100M on lobbying

I’m open to the idea that we should ban TikTok, but I’d like to see a source that they spent $100mm on lobbying, beyond an off-hand comment by a senator: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/03/31/tiktok-bytedance-spent-m...

ryanwaggoneron June Inflation Drops to 3%

Yes, I think most people who are paying any attention to either inflation rates or the economy know that an inflation rate of 2% does not imply deflation.

And there is no finish line, this is an infinite game, not a finite one.

Lastly, wages are also up over the last three years (that’s a huge driver of inflation!). Obviouslyy not evenly distributed, but I don’t think you can make the case that real wages are sharply decreasing (especially once you remove the weird outlier spike that 2020 gave us): https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q

ryanwaggoneron June Inflation Drops to 3%

This number was 50% back in 2013, so I’m not sure it’s the canary in the coalmine that you’re making it out to be.

ryanwaggoneron Amateurs obsess over tools, pros over mastery

What's wrong with being an amateur?

ryanwaggoneron San Francisco Airbnb bookings plunge as city battles bad press

You can add me to that list. I lived in SF from 2006-2011, when I left for NYC. I went back in 2022 for the first time in a decade, fearful that the city I loved had been ruined. I spent twelve hours one day walking the city, and I was pleased to see that she’s still there, and it’s not as bad as the internet said. I did the edge of the tenderloin, but didn’t venture in, and I can see that there are some real problems that need to be addressed, but it’s not a hellscape just yet.

ryanwaggoneron Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting Instagram account, Meta says

Nah, Twitter sucks now. It probably won’t ever die completely, but it’s increasingly irrelevant.

Threads is going to do well.

ryanwaggoneron Threads has 10M sign ups in seven hours

How many other people's "for you" tabs do you regularly look at?

ryanwaggoneron Delta flight lands in Charlotte without front landing gear

Eh, the chances of ever having this impact you are incredibly remote. And yes, the “cost” of following this guideline is low, until you consider that you could have similar rules for hundreds of other incredibly rare situations, none of which will ever happen to you. Seems exhausting for no benefit. I’ll just continue to keep my stuff in my backpack under the seat, and I can grab it if needed. Or not, and I’m sure that’ll be fine too.

Also, there’s no indication that anyone who left the plane without their ID or passport is just being left in the terminal for days, making this guideline even less valuable.

ryanwaggoneron Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables

Sure, because we only need the internet on sunny days.

ryanwaggoneron The world’s empty office buildings have become a debt time bomb

No, you can deduct actual expenses, or uncollectible rent. This does not include theoretical rents that you would have received had the property been rented. No part of your deductible expenses is contingent on the market rent, or the last rent you charged.

ryanwaggoneron The world’s empty office buildings have become a debt time bomb

This isn’t true, you can’t deduct lost rent as an expense.

ryanwaggoneron Ignoring boys' emotional needs fuels public health risks

Lots of people talk about this. They’ve been talking about it for decades. Three or four decades ago, when I was a kid, we even had a name for it: latchkey kid.

ryanwaggoneron Ignoring boys' emotional needs fuels public health risks

Yes, very much worth it. As someone who divorced after two decades, living your life behind a mask isn’t worth it for any romantic relationship. Which will lack true intimacy, since you will not be known for who you are. You will never feel chosen just for being you, because she won’t know who that is.

I get open and vulnerable and emotional with my partner, and I have since the beginning. Hasn’t hurt things yet. Maybe that’s still coming, but again, I’d rather be single.

ryanwaggoneron Ignoring boys' emotional needs fuels public health risks

I agree with much of this, but not the takeaway. After my divorce, I decided that I’d rather be single than have to spend any more timing hiding myself. So I’m pretty open and vulnerable with women. If they can’t handle it, I’m not gonna spend my life hiding real shit, that’s insane. And the woman I’ve been seeing for almost two years doesn’t seem phased by it, so they’re out there.

ryanwaggoneron Now Reddit are coming for the individual personal subreddits

Revenue in 2017 was $50mm. So in the last six years, their headcount has grown 10x, and their revenue has grown 10x. Hmm…

ryanwaggoneron Predicting hit songs with 97% accuracy

Ah, the final nail in the coffin of art.

ryanwaggoneron Loneliness is stronger when not alone

”I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone.”

- Robin Williams

ryanwaggoneron When dying patients want unproven drugs

I assume they meant that clinical trials are already free for the patient, as suggested by the comment they were responding to.

ryanwaggoneron Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

Haven’t we been hearing about the horrors of civil asset forfeiture for more than a decade? Why is this still happening? Is there any sizeable constituency for this? Does anyone think this is a good idea, other than the corrupt law enforcement officers who are benefiting?

ryanwaggoneron Reddit is removing moderators that protest by taking their communities private

Will it? Who will be using the API at all going forward?

ryanwaggoneron Reddit App – Suspicious high number of recent 5 star, one word reviews

The last guy like that got elected President, so…

ryanwaggoneron Testosterone therapy and the heart: New research finds no increased risk

You have a remarkably dogmatic position here based on some forum posts.

ryanwaggoneron Testosterone therapy and the heart: New research finds no increased risk

I’m 40, was on TRT for a year, quit for a year because of hair loss and fertility, then have been back on for the last six months. The initial high doesn’t last past a couple months, but I’ve always felt much better on TRT than off. The baseline is steady, not declining.

ryanwaggoneron Testosterone therapy and the heart: New research finds no increased risk

I’m 40, was on for a year, then went off for a year. Levels of both natural testosterone and sperm count recovered in less than six months (could have been much less, didn’t test again until then), but those first few weeks really sucked.

ryanwaggoneron Vision Pro headset is a hobby. Why won’t Tim Cook say that?

Why do people continue to link to this guy who is so consistently wrong about everything? He's like the Jim Cramer of tech.

ryanwaggoneron Apple TV+ 'Monsterverse' Show Filming in 3D for Vision Pro Viewing

How is what you're doing with this comment any different?

ryanwaggoneron Dating, education, and sex ratios

I love this, but there's one thing I'd point out. With few exceptions, there's little defection from secular society into fundamentalist religious communities. Almost everyone in those communities was born there.

ryanwaggoneron Dating, education, and sex ratios

I think fundamentalism is too brittle to persist like that over the long term.

Yes, the most conservative religions usually have a lot of kids, but over the generations, many of those kids will leave the religion, or at least join a less fundamentalist strain and have fewer kids. Unless the culture is kept strictly separate (increasingly impossible), the quality of life that the surrounding secular culture offers is too alluring. So standards are relaxed, women get educated and start working, have fewer kids. And it ripples down the generations. It hasn't happened yet in some of the less developed parts of the world, but as they get richer, it will. It always does.

ryanwaggoneron Dating, education, and sex ratios

I'm skeptical that the studies cover income that far above the median actually.

ryanwaggoneron Dating, education, and sex ratios

I'm sometimes the one firing off the "inflammatory response", and it's usually in a group of men where someone says something blatantly misogynistic, not just stereotypical.