HNHacker News
TopNewBestAskShowJobs

smattiso

488 karma · joined October 20, 2011

submissionscomments
smattiso··on I like 'em thick: an apology to my English teachers
I lived in DC for a couple of years and I felt exactly the same. I try and carry that same mentality to all museums now, paid or unpaid. No research, no expectations, wander around and let yourself be surprised, leave when you’re bored. It’s a lot of fun.

Although it is hard to do when you’ve paid 50 bucks for a ticket and you know there is “just one more” ultra-famous piece on the other side of the museum and when will I really be back in (Amsterdam, Paris, etc)?

smattiso··on Shipping 100 hardware units in under eight weeks
What was the company in taiwan you partnered with?
smattiso··on AlphaEvolve: A Gemini-powered coding agent for designing advanced algorithms
Are there platforms that make such training more streamlined? Say I have some definition of success for a given problem and it’s data how do I go about generating said RL model as fast and easily as possible?
smattiso··on Show HN: Airweave – Let agents search any app
This is a great idea. I have a question:

Typically speaking an LLM is the code driving the control flow and the MCP servers are kind of dumb API endpoints (find_flights, search_hotels, etc) say for a travel MCP.

With your product, how is the LLM made aware of the underlying data store in a more useful way than “func search(query)”?

It seems to be that if you could expose some precomputed API structure into the MCP for a given data store then the LLM could reason more effectively about the data rather than throwing search queries into the void and hoping for the best?

smattiso··on Ask HN: I got into MIT. Should I go?
You should go. I was all set to go to Caltech or the Ivies and turned them down for mostly, though not entirely, financial reasons and went to a state school instead. Worked out mostly fine but much harder to get foot in the door and the opportunities and experiences you get in a place like MIT last a lifetime.

If you don't go, many doors will become closed or so much harder to get into that it's basically equivalent. Want to join a think tank, become a quant on Wallstreet, easily raise VC money at 23? These are all much easier with the credibility a MIT degree brings.

"Normal" degreed people essentially live a life where everybody assumes you are stupid until proven otherwise. MIT people are assumed to be smart until proven otherwise. That is a tremendous advantage in almost all contexts.

Not to mention the quality of your peers and the education itself. Don't pass up the opportunity to really challenge yourself and see what you can do. Sure, it's just undergrad and you aren't really solving anything of note but just being surrounded by the leaders of your field is inspiring and will push you to be your best.

Sample size 1 over here but especially MIT I would go. MIT is big and diverse enough that you can go as technical as you want, or study business, or…?

Anyway my 2 cents from a 30 something that has been around the block.

Congrats and good luck!

smattiso··on Show HN: I built a sonar into my surfboard
Awesome idea man. As an avid water sports guy and an avid shark phobia guy, could you use sonar to detect large moving objects at distance?
smattiso··on Electric car that charges itself
I'd buy one and turn it into an RV. That use case makes a ton of sense. Fully integrated solar to power your electrical appliances while stationary.
smattiso··on Launch HN: Axiom (YC W21) – No-code browser automation a.k.a. RPA for everyone
They have cloud work flows as well. I wish you guys all the best though!
smattiso··on A deep-dive into the future of subscription gaming
Just wait until all software becomes a streamed H.265 video stream. That's certainly the future once latency allows for it. No piracy, infinite subscriptions, total control. But if you don't like it, don't buy it. That's life.
smattiso··on Launch HN: Axiom (YC W21) – No-code browser automation a.k.a. RPA for everyone
Seems like Microsoft Power Automate (Flow) is your biggest competitor? It's free for all Office 365 users (most people).
smattiso··on 'It's where the industry is heading': LibreOffice is working on WebAssembly port
Yeah I am as well, but we are all sick of paying rent and yet we do. It is what it is and there's no way around it.
smattiso··on GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage
I'm sure they will face the piper at some point, but you don't see people in Copenhagen living on the streets or in squalor. Probably because China makes all of their stuff and immigrants build all of their houses, but still.
smattiso··on GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage
Have you seen our housing stock, our housing supply, our infrastructure? There are plenty of jobs needing to be done. A virtually unlimited amount of progress is possible.

The problem inherently lies with the assumption that the free market will fix all and assuming that some entrepreneurial person is going to lead the charge and redevelop our country. What a joke.

The boom after the Great Depression that made the US into a superpower was driven entirely by government dollars.

My solution would be: * Raise minimum wage to $30 an hour. * Implement land value tax + higher capital gains taxes in order to stem inflation. * Hire 10x the amount of construction workers, civil engineers, etc and provide them with the funding for projects.

Get to work. It's laughable that someone working at Snapchat can make 1M a year while the jobs that literally build our country are paying dogshit.

We need wealth redistribution but not via UBI, via actual development. Let's raze the slums and rebuild with shiny skyscrapers. It's possible. We just have to get away from capitalists getting increasingly rich while the rest suffer.

Also as an aside, my bet is that "programming" reverts to the mean within 10 years as a career. 20 years ago programmers were paid peanuts. Most of the heavy lifting of building software has already been done, AI, low-code, etc. is going to make it increasingly easier. Be ready.

All of this is GOOD, why does it cost 5 million dollars to build a site so that I can reserve a place in line at the DMV (made up example). The tech industry has enjoyed a monopoly on transmitting data. Building an app or a website should be as easy as opening an excel spreadsheet or a word doc. That is coming and your UI coding skills are going to be essentially useless very soon.

smattiso··on 'It's where the industry is heading': LibreOffice is working on WebAssembly port
I think this is true. As Internet speeds get faster we will simply stream all of our heavyweight apps and games in H.265.

* No piracy. * Easier access.

If you are a software company selling desktop software this should have you salivating.

smattiso··on Launch HN: Jiga (YC W21) – Faster custom parts for hardware products
It's unfortunate that it is so much cheaper to order something on another continent and fly it over. Is there really no way to source custom parts made in the USA without it costing an arm and a leg?
smattiso··on Program teaches prisoners coding so they can land tech jobs once released
If all you are learning is how to build a React site you are going to have a bad time in a few years.
smattiso··on SpaceX SN9 Explodes on Landing
Is this a viable landing strategy in the long run? Both SN8 and SN9 landings have ended in total fatalities.

What happens if the landing happens to occur during a 50 mph wind gust, etc. If this maneuver isn't designed to be 100% fault tolerant maybe they need to be thinking about an emergency eject?

I like the simplicity of the Starship design. How much extra weight would a nosecone eject + parachute add?

smattiso··on u/DeepFuckingValue and the GameStop Reddit mania
If they do that it's instant bankruptcy for GameStop. Nobody will ever shop there again. Period. It's over.
smattiso··on Facebook shuts popular stock trading group amid GameStop frenzy
Honestly that's so perfect.
smattiso··on How to Become a Data Engineer in 2021
Are you working in this field? I am looking for a consultant to setup a modern data processing pipeline for a data driven hardware product I am building.
smattiso··on How to Become a Data Engineer in 2021
What is your product? I am looking for a consultant to help me setup a good process for a data driven product hardware product.
smattiso··on Israeli startup claims Covid-19 likely originated in a lab, willing to bet on it
interesting and compelling analysis. Their response was also swift. The complete isolation of Wuhan so early also makes me think they knew it was an accidental release.

To me, the most likely explanation is that one or more researchers became ill or died and WIV triggered the release protocol. This isn't the fault of PRC but this plus the treatment of Uigher, illegal fishing, IP theft etc. Can we just say F China as this point and bring our manufacturing back to the US and its allies? China has good people but their government shouldnt be allowed superpower status given their transgressions.

smattiso··on TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B transistor GPUs
Personally I really like Lex's interview style. He is clearly a very intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate person. He asks great questions, listens to the guest, and always has an upbeat personality. What more do you want? I personally am tired of interviewers that are way over the top like most comedians, pop scientists, etc. I hope he reads this keep it up dude.
smattiso··on Rebrickable – Build with Lego
Hey I saw you were part of a hardware startup. I am trying to do the same and I'm wondering if you have a few minutes to talk? my email is stephenmattison@gmail.com
smattiso··on Wyze $20 Smart Watch
I am trying to build something similar but I don't know how to get a non-functioning physical prototype built initially. What's the simplest way to get these type of aluminum cases, bands, etc?
smattiso··on Building replacement proprietary battery packs
Only 36V, each pack has a BMS. It's basically spot welded 96 wh packs @ 36V with individual BMS. Works OK I guess but lots of wasted space and weight.
smattiso··on Building replacement proprietary battery packs
YES! I have been toying around with this concept and there are no good solutions right now.

There are few providers doing something similar (Vruzend off the top of my head), but they all have huge downsides.

What I would love is: 1.) Integrated high quality BMS. 2.) Modular design so that I can add capacity or voltage simply without welding. 3.) High amp discharge capability. 4.) SAFETY! Can be used in electric mountain bikes, eFoils, electric paramotors, whatever. Vibration, drops, etc. do not disturb the cells or the pack.

If you could accomplish this then you would unlock so many cool features. 1.) Construct your own packs regardless of voltage or size requirements. 2.) Travel on airplanes with your batteries! Deconstruct the pack simply and store in <100Wh battery blocks or as 18650 cells and you can take theoretically an unlimited amount of lithium across oceans (likely limited somehow). 3.) No vendor lock in. 4.) When your BMS tells you that a certain subpack has failed just pop the cells out easily and replace the one that is busted. 5.) Because of #4 far better for the environment and cheaper.

Does anybody have any thoughts about how to bring this to fruition?

The Vruzend thing works but is clunky, has low amperage capacity because of the bus bars, and the BMS is not integrated.

If anybody has thoughts I would VERY much appreciate it.

smattiso··on Optical tracking and laser-induced mortality of insects during flight
You seem very knowledgeable about engineering these types of solutions. What is your background?

The reason I ask is because after seeing the OP video (which is remarkable) I am left thinking that in terms of getting a cheap MVP to the market maybe a ballistic system of some sort would be preferable.

Take the same approach of using a high speed camera but using a pneumatic launcher shoot a handful of grains of sand at high speed. There are obvious downsides to this approach but the risk to human health is lower. Thoughts?

smattiso··on Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
Namely something after yourself is tacky. But what should buildings be named after? Famous scientists? Planets?

Feeney seems like an awesome guy but sadly in 100 years nobody will know his name!

smattiso··on Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
This guy is my hero. I do hope he was able to enjoy spending some of his money on himself and his family though. I have no problem with billionaires who contribute a lot to society living well as long as they aren't hording resources (huge acreage estates, mega yachts, rental properties). "Contribute to society" is the sticking point for many of them though.

I hope I can live like Mr. Feeney, although I personally wouldn't be quite as ascetic as he given the circumstances (I would own a small but nice house in San Diego or Hawaii and a nice 0 emission solar/sail powered boat).

Good work Chuck!

Page 1 of 5Next →