Hacker News Reader

woobaron Airlines will make $118B in extra fees

This is a great example. When you reserve a table at the restaurant they might offer you several seating options when they are not busy. But if they are full they will get you seated and not ask you for extra money. But you may end up next to the toilet.

Try reserving a specific table at the restaurant. An hour before the dinner.

woobaron Airlines will make $118B in extra fees

> airline telling me that 1 seat is available on one screen and then telling me that there are no seats available unless I pay more on the next screen?

This is a misunderstanding. Airline does not tell that you need to pay more. You can click on Continue button and complete the purchase. Even the popup you have shared tells you exactly this.

woobaron Airlines will make $118B in extra fees

There is no ambiguity there. You will get an economy seat or better. If non-premium seats available you will have an option to select one for free. If not, they will assign a premium economy or a comfort+ seat at the time of check-in. If the flight is overbooked having a preselected seat does not guarantee you won't be bumped.

This is something I've observed with different airlines. Google's line "Free seat selection" doesn't guarantee availability of seats to choose from, just that you won't be charged for selecting one if available for your fare.

woobaron She lived in a New York hotel for more than 40 years, but her life was a mystery

Is your mortgage rate fixed rate or the rate is updated often?

woobaron She lived in a New York hotel for more than 40 years, but her life was a mystery

What are you comparing to? Even chain extended stay hotels have affordable suites that are similar to a typical apartment outside of the USA. From a studio [1] to a 2bdr [2]. If you have money you can go for something flashier, like MGM Signature in LV [3]

[1] https://www.extendedstayamerica.com/hotels/il/chicago/westmo...

[2] https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/mspeihw-homewood-suites-edi...

[3] https://signaturemgmgrand.mgmresorts.com/en/hotel/one-bedroo...

woobaron 48-nation bloc to crack down on using crypto assets to avoid tax

It peaked at US$ 75,000/BTC in Spring 2021, dropped to $40,000/BTC in Summer 2021, went up to $80,000 in Autumn 2021, did a continuous slide down to the $30,000 range in late 2022 and stayed there (dipping all the way to $22,000), it's now been in the $35,000 range for the last few months of 2023, and has jumped to $45,000 range recently.

* https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BTC-USD/

I am not sure why did you pick random numbers that are not supported by your own chart to illustrate your point. BTC did not reach $75K or $80K, it dipped below $22K, and it is not at $45K now.

woobaron Casino-like apps have drained people of millions

What is the reason for playing any computer game? To get a dopamine fix by reaching some virtual goal. People pay small (at least at first) amounts of money for access to the game or in case of free-to-play games for a better chance of getting to the next goal. If someone gets a bit of excitement every time they win a virtual jackpot, they might think a $1 is an acceptable price to pay for it. And then it just spirals out of control.

woobaron Who's behind the SWAT USA reshipping service?

Same thought. And Barcelona is often lauded for its urban planning.

Pics for reference:

Barcelona: https://toposmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/logan-a...

Magnitogorsk: https://www.shutterstock.com/shutterstock/photos/751528006/d...

woobaron Why doctors in America earn so much

A lot of cheap countries provide good healthcare for a fraction of american costs. Also, not sure why one need a safety net when they already have a stable income which is multiple of what any such net can provide.

woobaron My rude-ass car

There are tools for BMWs (and Minis) that allow to override some settings and enable some features that are not offered on a specific market. You will need a ~$20 OBD cable and an app to code your changes. For instance, BimmerCode [1] has samples of what could be changed on their website.

[1] https://bimmercode.app/

woobaron My rude-ass car

> I'm guessing bmw's hands are tied on that one

I don't think there is a regulatory requirement to keep it enabled. I have a fresh one ('23) and it remembers my last selection. The previous one I had to code to force it remember my preference. If it is that annoying consider coding - it got ridiculously easy to do.

woobaron Why doctors in America earn so much

I do not agree. If someone said "bringing regular salary in tech" I'd agree that median should be used. "Competitive" means we are talking about higher percentile within the field.

> Healthcare complicates early retirement

You don't have to stay in the US when retired. With 4% SWR one will be getting $80K/year. Which is more than median household income in the US and majority of the other countries. I am not advocating retiring at 45 with $2M, I am just saying it is not that crazy.

woobaron Why doctors in America earn so much

First, Computer Programmer is a strange occupation. According to BLS there are just 147K positions in the US.

Instead I'd suggest looking at Software Developers (1.5M positions) with median income at $127K.

Second, by definition median is not a competitive salary. I'd think top 25% of devs are getting competitive salary. Which is $161K [1]

20 years of savings at 30% of income will get you $2M. Which is not a fat retirement, but still doable.

[1] https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151252.htm#nat

woobaron Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

I can't find any pricing information on your website. Even FAQ tab labeled "Pricing" has zero info. Do I have to signup to find out?

[1] https://www.boldvoice.com/frequently-asked-questions

woobaron Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

But you will insert even more vowels if you pronounce it as "My Ess Kyoo El". Same with HHMMV/Humvee.

woobaron Tell HN: Automatic fraud detection is making my life hell

Very strange. How about regular SMS? Are they dropped too? I had zero issues with TMo, and I don't even need roaming for this.

woobaron Tell HN: Automatic fraud detection is making my life hell

> sending an OTP to my US number (and US number alone) for any transaction, making it impossible for me to move money when abroad

Strictly speaking it doesn't make it impossible. You have made a choice not to pay roaming fees while using your USA number while abroad.

woobaron U.S. GDP grew at a 4.9% annual pace in the third quarter, better than expected

I wanted to understand the reasoning behind a comment like this. There are great wiggle words (most, significant amount, etc) that let one pretend they are objective. But the GP went for a very precise number without substantiating it in any way.

woobaron U.S. GDP grew at a 4.9% annual pace in the third quarter, better than expected

How did you get 80%?

woobaron U.S. GDP grew at a 4.9% annual pace in the third quarter, better than expected

I think you are focusing on less important things.

Europe faces three big issues: demographic crisis, energy/resources dependency, and security vulnerability. US on the other hand will have good demographic outlook for most of this century, it is energy (including renewables) and resources rich, and separated by oceans from anyone who can threaten it.

High speed rail? Non-factor in a bigger picture.

woobaron Log is the "Pro" in iPhone 15 Pro

I might be doing something wrong, but when I tried to set BlackMagic Camera to ProRes Log 4K60 it had no problem recording it. I was even able to apply different free LUT files and export it to photos. It is 1.6Gb for 8 seconds, but did not require an external disk. [1]

[1] https://imgur.com/a/9vUdPcg

Edit: iPhone 15 Pro 128G

woobaron Americans’ Growing Reluctance to Quit Their Jobs, in Five Charts

https://archive.ph/hjSt1

woobaron Americans Saved $1.1T Less Than Previously Thought from 2017-2022

Thanks for the link. Interesting that in the same report they have this snippet on the next page:

...the 2022 SHED included a new question asking what is the largest emergency expense people could handle using only savings. Sixty-eight percent of adults said they could pay an expense of at least $500 using only their current savings (table 12). This is a somewhat larger share than the 63 percent of adults who said they would pay an unexpected $400 expense with cash or the equivalent, suggesting that some people do choose to pay with other methods, even if they have cash savings available to them.

woobaron Epic Games is laying off 16% of its staff

> how do these companies determine which are the unproductive devs?

The senior management delegates. At every moment your direct manager knows whom they are willing to part ways with if asked. Even if everyone on the team is great there is always some criteria (costs, impact on important project, institutional knowledge) that sets some people apart.

woobaron Vegas casinos are still reeling from a cyberattack

I think there is a misunderstanding here. My point is that gambling is less important part of casino's revenue. Hence few whales don't make or break Vegas.

I.e even if we take the top of your guess (<$1000), it is still much less than other expenses (lodging, dining, entertainment, etc).

woobaron Vegas casinos are still reeling from a cyberattack

First, a trip to Vegas for most of Americans will cost much more than a $1K per weekend. Second, my link said exactly this - most of the revenue comes from slots. People using them are by definition is not a small minority. Minority gambles away hundreds of thousands per trip.

woobaron Vegas casinos are still reeling from a cyberattack

Bulk of their revenue comes from non-gambling. 69.8% of casinos revenue is non-gambling. [1] For gambling revenue, slots are responsible for 67%. [2] I doubt that it is a small minority that is gambling away at thousands and thousands of the slot machines.

[1] https://igamingbusiness.com/casino/more-bullishness-for-las-...

[2]https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2023/02/01/nevada-...

woobaron iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus

Are apple prices insanely higher compared to other brands offering exactly same product? Not sure about East Africa, but quick check for South Africa shows that Toyota RAV4 (+30%)[1] or PS5 (+23%)[2] prices are adjusted up from the US counterparts.

[1]https://www.cars.co.za/newcars/Toyota/RAV4/

[2]https://cacellular.co.za/product/playstation-5-disc-version-...

woobaron WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

He was a crook and resigned because he's got caught. But not because of the laundry list of sins that GP has presented. Seeing "the Viet Nam war" on that list is also funny. Nixon ordered troops withdrawal 30 days after his inauguration. And kept withdrawing more and more through his presidency.

woobaron WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

> He was so bad, even Republicans of the day were grossed out.

Nixon was so bad that he won 1972 re-election with 520 out of 528 electoral votes. Or 60.7% of popular vote.