Hacker News Reader

smnrchrdson 1Password delisting forum posts critical of their new Electron based 1Password 8

It's a bold business decision, as a password manager company, to take actions that decrease people's trust in you.

smnrchrdson Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features

In the software world, we have seen things that used to cost a one-time payment of 60$ turn into a 100$ PER YEAR subscription [0]. I'm sure no manufacturer will make a subscription system that will make them less money. It will, in all likelihood, end up being an order of magnitude more remunerative for them compared to the one-time payment.

[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20150316090012/https://purchase.... https://www.youneedabudget.com/pricing/

smnrchrdson Lenovo sends cease-and-desist to Framework over a stylized letter “O”

Don't give Lenovo any ideas.

smnrchrdson Tell HN: Unpaid home assignments are not ok

> I don’t know of any other industry who hires senior people the way we do outside of performing arts.

As a mechanical engineer with sufficient years of experience that would be considered senior in the software world but intermediate in the mechanical world, I have had interviews where we only talked, interviews where I was given a task and put in front of a computer with one hour to complete it, and interviews where I was sent a problem to work on at home. These interview techniques, while perhaps more prevalent, are by no means limited to the software world.

smnrchrdson GM makes $1,500 subscription mandatory on GMC, Buick, Cadillac Models

Because the optics of a car company disabling a feature that was included with the car after three years unless you start paying for it and continue paying for it indefinitely are even worse.

smnrchrdson GM makes $1,500 subscription mandatory on GMC, Buick, Cadillac Models

How much longer until buying a new non-subscription car becomes like buying a new non-smart TV?

smnrchrdson Official Firefox add-on bringing offline translation support to Firefox

I'll add a fourth reason:

4- Because the site has a better and more descriptive title than the original source, and HN does not allow editorializing titles.

The choice was perhaps not made between the add-on page and alternativeto. It was made between submitting an article titled "Firefox Translations by Mozilla Firefox" and "Official Firefox add-on bringing offline translation support to Firefox" which is a lot more descriptive.

smnrchrdson ‘Things are going to break’: Texas power plants are running nonstop

I am not sure which one we will get first: Fully autonomous Teslas, ETH PoS, or Half Life 3.

smnrchrdson Saskatchewan, Ontario to roll out mini-nuclear reactors

> northern provinces

You mean territories?

smnrchrdson SpaceX said to fire employees involved in letter rebuking Elon Musk

> Freedom of speech does not mean being free of consequences.

Wasn't that an old Soviet or similar joke? "In {country_name}, we have freedom of speech. What we don't have is freedom after speech".

smnrchrdson Estonia clocks fastest inflation in the Eurozone at 20.1 percent

It used to have currency controls. It still does, but it used to too.

smnrchrdson Estonia clocks fastest inflation in the Eurozone at 20.1 percent

If everyone sells their currency to but dollars, the currency loses even more value faster compared to dollars, so currency controls are put in place, like Argentina did for a while:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_currency_controls_(2...

smnrchrdson Uber loses appeal as top Swiss court rules company is an employer

Californians are?

smnrchrdson Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

20% down means the prices go back to approximately last year's. The only people who lose money would be those who bought in the past year.

smnrchrdson Ask HN: Are companies preparing to end Remote?

> What's the kind of work Tesla does?

I am having trouble thinking of a job that requires a minimum of 40 hours in the office plus untold many hours that can be done either remotely or in the office.

smnrchrdson Estoppel

It's hard for the plaintiff to prove, but it's also hard to for the defendant to disprove without committing perjury. Keep in mind that in a civil lawsuit, the case is decided on balance of probabilities and there is no assumption in favour of either side. Also, there is no right to silence.

smnrchrdson Andrew Ng updates his Machine Learning course

What are the others? Any recommendations?

smnrchrdson SEC charges Nvidia with inadequate disclosures about impact of cryptomining

10% to 30%.

https://www.sec.gov/whistleblower

smnrchrdson My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

> Most people in ESTA countries qualify

Correction: most citizens of ESTA countries qualify. For example, approximately three million Canadian residents are not citizens of Canada (they have work permit, study permit, or permanent residence permit instead). Wait times for a visa appointment from Canada are about 1 to 1.5 years now.

Fun fact: permanent residents of the US can visit Canada without needing a visa, but this is not reciprocated. Permanent residents of Canada need a visa to visit the US, unless their country of citizenship is one of the ESTA countries.

smnrchrdson Chart: Lithium prices are through the roof this year

Bananas, hence the term "banana republic".

smnrchrdson Japan's population falls by record 644,000 to 125.5M in 2021

Absolutely. 30% is not small at all. It's just small when compared with the 500% to 2000% claimed in the parent comment.

Also note that the difference between the US and Germany is also about 30%. Again, nothing to scoff at, but at the same time not remotely high enough to depopulate Germany.

smnrchrdson Japan's population falls by record 644,000 to 125.5M in 2021

> Young professionals see 10x-20x salaries in the US or 5x salaries in Germany, Switzerland, Norway. And they make one obvious choice.

If you talk about tech, maybe. But I don't think the salary situation in Italy is that bleak if we look at the whole economy and account for purchasing power parity. Using OECD's number for 2019, household disposable income incl. social transfers in kind, in US dollars/capita at current prices and PPPs for the countries you mentioned are:

Italy: 31.7k

Norway: 40.1k

Germany: 41.0k

Switzerland: 41.1k

United States: 54.9k

https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-disposable-income.htm?co...

smnrchrdson Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

I was under the impression that commercial displays optimize for longevity instead of picture quality. Is that not the case?

smnrchrdson Nelson testifies cost-plus contracts have been a “plague” on NASA

I don't know what would happen initially, but eventually, the contractors wise up and start baking the risk of delays into their quotes.

smnrchrdson Pop culture has become an oligopoly

Matt Damon agrees and gives some good insights about why the industry is moving in that direction. Short answer: because streaming replaced DVDs.

https://youtu.be/yaXma6K9mzo?t=837

smnrchrdson Disney's writer wage theft, a year on

Has the writer posted the text of the contract somewhere? Is the text of the contract under NDA? I am asking because media companies (film, music, anything really) screwing over artists in contracts is fairly commonplace. Them ignoring contracts altogether and just doing whatever is not something I had heard of before. In the absence of other information, I lean towards believing they had snuck a term into the artist's contract allowing them to do what they have done here, because that's their MO. If you think that makes me an idiot, so be it.

smnrchrdson Disney's writer wage theft, a year on

That's a good question. What has Disney publicly said about this case? I don't know where to look for their official public communications.

smnrchrdson Disney's writer wage theft, a year on

Usually contracts have clauses about what happens in case of a merger or acquisition [0]. If you are powerful, say a wealthy star or a big corporation, you can push for terms that are favourable to you. If you are not, you have to sign whatever they put in front of you or walk out. I guess in this case, there was a clause in the contract that was most favourable to the company and least to the contributor.

[0] For examples, look at any SaaS company's privacy policy. Here is Figma's:

If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing due diligence, reorganization, bankruptcy, receivership, purchase or sale of assets, or transition of service to another provider, then your information may be sold or transferred as part of such a transaction, as permitted by law and/or contract.

https://www.figma.com/privacy/

smnrchrdson Disney's writer wage theft, a year on

This doesn't happen between corporations because they are powerful and savvy. All the terms of a contract are reviewed in detail by the lawyers. Objectionable terms are negotiated and changed. The same is true for wealthy directors and actors.

But how much power does an individual have when signing a contract with a media giant? The contracts are probably "take it or leave it". You may not be able to afford a lawyer to review the contract in detail and if you do and they flag something, you cannot make Disney change the term.