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ultim8k

131 karma · joined October 23, 2012

Full stack software engineer, open standards and open source advocate, looking up to the stars and dreaming.

https://kostas.rocks

[ my public key: https://keybase.io/ultim8k; my proof: https://keybase.io/ultim8k/sigs/FxtqICT22IJUASEHCEERvWAX1l8Q7eSlvqNepoZVLh8 ]

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ultim8k··on Prefer duplication over the wrong abstraction (2016)
Nobody wants to listen. Nobody. In 90% of the companies there are some so called senior devs that get ecstatic when they create a new abstraction.

Overengineering, abstractions and premature optimisation are the 3 worst plagues of engineering.

At the same time I’m happy they exist because it means we’ll always have a job.

ultim8k··on Used La Marzocco machines are coveted by cafe owners and collectors
I bought a Sage (Breville) Barista Pro a month before the first lockdown. It was pricey but was one of the best purchases I've ever done.

Still works exactly the same and it's what makes me want to get up from the bed even on Mondays.

ultim8k··on EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
This is really great news!

We also need a paneuropean banking & tax system and ideally some paneuropean telephony (plus voip) and internet providers.

ultim8k··on A spider web unlike any seen before
Run
ultim8k··on Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes
EU is just headless chicken. They will just blindly agree to whatever Trump says
ultim8k··on ICC ditches Microsoft 365 for openDesk
Agreed
ultim8k··on ICC ditches Microsoft 365 for openDesk
Agreed. And I think European countries really need to start eating our own dog food and stop being 100% reliant on US software and hardware. It's not (only) about opposing certain political behaviours, but (also) about supporting our financial independence and wellbeing.
ultim8k··on Using AI to negotiate a $195k hospital bill down to $33k
Are there still first world countries without public healthcare?
ultim8k··on Deloitte to refund the Australian government after using AI in $440k report
Most of the time gov, orgs and companies don't listen to their in-house engineers but will pay $$$ to some consulting firm, only to confirm the same thing or just to show that "they are taking actions towards the solution".

In some cases there is distrust from management on in-house employees or in some other cases they want to show quick results without distracting their teams from their planned tasks.

Of course there are the cases that managers have personal motives, either to add an extra (useless) achievement on their list or even worse to get referral fee or presents from the external consultancy.

ultim8k··on South Korea's President says US investment demands would spark financial crisis
They should effectively immediately freeze and potentially cancel any Korean investment in US and investigate all US companies based in their country. US behaving rogue should not go unpunished.
ultim8k··on Ask HN: The government of my country blocked VPN access. What should I use?
Why? Can someone block the sky? (I have 0 satellite knowledge)
ultim8k··on Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March
I'm waiting to see the effects of the brain drain
ultim8k··on JavaScript Temporal is coming
It’s been 84 years… Jokes aside, congrats to the team! This is huge news for JS.
ultim8k··on Ask HN: Freelancer's Dilemma – Client Won't Pay Despite Clear Agreement
It all depends on the country you live in and if you have a legal contract. In UK for example you can use a debt collection agency. Those guys will probably give you 50% of the amount and then it's their problem.
ultim8k··on Denmark recalls Korean ramen for being too spicy
Take my money!
ultim8k··on Stop Doing Cloud
Yeah, agreed cloud is bad. I have one question though. Who is going to keep updating bloody ubuntu or any other linux distro along with all the packages that may break? Who is going to enable automatic database backups or do backups with 1 click? I've done these things countless times and they are still time consuming and involve guesswork every single time.
ultim8k··on The EU Wants Its Own DNS Resolver That Can Block 'Unlawful' Traffic,TorrentFreak
The only way this could work would be to force OS vendors to have "trusted" DNS servers and ban the use of any custom setting.

Then again that would be a nightmare for large corporates that have customised internal DNSs, so I don't see it coming anytime soon.

ultim8k··on Can’t send email more than 500 miles (2002)
Only if the sender is The Proclaimers :P
ultim8k··on Beetle grows ‘termite’ on back to steal food
Oh those little mofos!
ultim8k··on Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself?
Nothing special from me. Just a small app (https://how-you-spell.in/) that translates a word to the phonetic alphabet. My full name is quite long and I’m always struggling to spell my details over the phone.
ultim8k··on Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
That’s BS if I may. How would I know I have higher cholesterol if I didn’t do blood tests?
ultim8k··on Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
If you count all the deliveroo electric bikes as bikes.
ultim8k··on TypeScript cannot emit valid ES modules due to file extension issue (2020)
It works but every single time I see it, I start swearing.
ultim8k··on Signal would 'walk' from UK if Online Safety Bill undermined encryption
They should allow accounts without phone number or with an nft number, the way telegram does.
ultim8k··on Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (February 2023)
Location: London, UK

Remote: Yes (Hybrid works too)

Willing to relocate: No

Technologies: JavaScript/TypeScript, React/ReactNative/NextJS, Redux, Node/Express, GraphQL/REST, AWS

Résumé/CV: https://cv.oranger.me

Email: i@oranger.me

Role type: Preferably contracts outside of IR35 but open to inside or permanent.

ultim8k··on Ask HN: Reject/ghost on all job applications with 8 YoE, what am I doing wrong?
The market is horrible at the moment. All the big tech corps are laying off thousands of people who have bigger potential at landing in a job as they have those big names in their CV.

I'm in similar shoes at the moment although I'm not only applying to fully remote jobs, but almost any job I see.

ultim8k··on Using ChatGPT as a Co-Founder
I'm not sure if that says a lot about ChatGPT or about founders.
ultim8k··on Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
Same when I play videogames.
ultim8k··on EU Voice
How does this even work? Do I need to sign up for every different server?
ultim8k··on Ask HN: Leaving Germany – where to find quality of life as experienced engineer?
Sounds very interesting. Especially 5% for dividends tax sounds like heaven compared to the different tax bands in UK. I'll double check with my accountant there. It may have a potential.

I'm just a bit scared of Greek gov. Traditionally it has been proved completelly volatile and untrustworthy. I don't want to get personal liability or fight with the bureaucracy.

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