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baumandm

362 karma · joined October 30, 2015

Midwest-based software engineer.

Contact: dave @ davebauman.io

[ my public key: https://keybase.io/baumandm; my proof: https://keybase.io/baumandm/sigs/Mu6scUcJaI3_MbtLykVQj2q7UgYWPduVAAYxqf-ZYTo ]

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baumandm··on The Coming Robot Home Invasion
They might not be for long: https://www.theverge.com/news/757434/irobot-earnings-show-ro...
baumandm··on DRM-free e-books are a big deal (2019)
+1 for Audiobookshelf, truly one of the most functional and polished apps I self-host, despite being relatively niche.
baumandm··on So where are we all supposed to go now?
I'd appreciate an invite if you have any left, my email is on my HN profile.
baumandm··on Apollo is dead. Long live Apollo
Me too please and thank you.
baumandm··on KeePass is the free, open source, light-weight and easy-to-use password manager
Yes, but only to use the official Bitwarden server. The Vaultwarden project is an alternate server implementation that does not require a license key.
baumandm··on Tower 9 for Mac is here
No, a personal license comes with 3 years of updates, after which it continues to be usable without updates.

> Individual licenses are valid for 3 years of updates, but do not expire after 3 years. Only if you wish to use newer versions will an upgrade fee be required.

baumandm··on Tower 9 for Mac is here
+1 for Sublime Merge, I use it every day and love it. Also seems to be one of the few git clients with Linux support, surprisingly.
baumandm··on Toyota RAV4 Prime hybrid SUV now selling for 48% over MSRP
You aren't required to use a real estate agent though (at least in my jurisdiction).
baumandm··on GitHub Copilot is generally available
Are there actually any licenses which do not permit training an AI model on the code?
baumandm··on Butyrylcholinesterase is a potential biomarker for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Postpartum depression is a real thing and very common. I believe it's more of a hormonal response and less about a lack of attention, though
baumandm··on Ivermectin Didn’t Reduce Covid-19 Hospitalizations in Largest Trial to Date
Sure it's click-bait, but people were actually taking livestock versions of Ivermectin, in paste form.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/08/23/covid-...

baumandm··on Ask HN: Thing that used to be easy, but are now hard
Nitpick: the Geocities era peaked well before jQuery was created in 2006. By that point Geocities was already in decline and would be shutdown only 3 years later.
baumandm··on Last call to voluntarily migrate Java accounts
My family just got into Minecraft so we started with Microsoft accounts. They worked fine in the Java launcher, on Linux, Windows, and Mac Os.

We've since moved to MultiMC as others have mentioned.

baumandm··on Millionaires group calls for wealth tax at virtual Davos
You can also borrow money using your stock as collateral, avoiding selling it and paying tax.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2021/11/11/how-americ...

baumandm··on More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years
If you complete your degree and declare bankruptcy, you still get to keep your education. So what's to keep every student from going to college, getting a diploma, discharging their debt, then getting a job?

I'm not pro-student debt, but I don't see how this is sustainable for colleges either.

baumandm··on More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years
It's just a combination of being in the right place at the right time, knowing the right people, and making a good impression. There are a lot of people in the world, some of them are going to fall upwards.

The real question is whether or not this path is scalable for an entire generation to successfully replicate. I suspect it's not.

baumandm··on Game “While true: learn()” for free in Epic Store
But it only runs on Windows, unfortunately.
baumandm··on The Problem of Marital Loneliness
IMHO the issue is that society tells couples that 1 is the ideal outcome, creating plenty of 2s who believe they will eventually become 1s if they just keep trying. Some of those couples might be happier as 3s.

I believe both 1 and 3 are preferable to 2 or 4, so I don't find this trope particularly helpful. It doesn't really matter if 1 is best or not, since it's not going to be possible for everyone.

baumandm··on The Secular Therapy Project
> If they do not push spirituality onto their customers, and ministries still recommend them, would those ministries stop recommending them

Yes, this would definitely happen in many parts of the US.

baumandm··on FDA panel recommends Pfizer's Covid booster doses for people 65 and older
Even if you believe the FDA's decision making has been clouded with all the factors in the parent comment, the idea that the average individual could do a better job determining a vaccine schedule is unrealistic.

The vast majority of people are completely unqualified to evaluate the data, even if they had access to all of it. And they too have to correct for all the same biases that might be affecting the FDA.

baumandm··on Steam Top 50 Games: Over 70% now work on Linux
Perhaps for now, but if Proton raises the Linux gaming market share, companies in the future may be more likely to invest resources into native clients.
baumandm··on Amazon Installs Lockers on a Chicago Park’s Sidewalk
Sure, but only because it highlights how little support society gives to the homeless.
baumandm··on Texas Instruments new TI-84 Plus CE Python graphing calculator
I think it's just the inevitable direction of a few trends. Technology is increasingly being adopted in schools, e.g. Chromebooks in classrooms, online and hybrid learning, submitting homework via the web, etc.

At the same time, kids are getting cell phones at earlier ages, and "cell" phones have already evolved into general purpose computing devices which are becoming essentially required for modern life.

Eventually, I think it's going to be hard to justify requiring students to purchase specialized calculator hardware when everyone already has a cell phone.

As to whether or not it's a good thing, who knows.. But the hypervigilance against student cheating only exists because of the outsized focus on exams. College Board clearly wants to prevent cheating on the SAT so they can retain their position as the gatekeeper of college admissions. But perhaps final exams and standardized tests aren't the best approach to evaluating students, in the same way that whiteboard interviews might not be the best way to conduct interviews.

baumandm··on Texas Instruments new TI-84 Plus CE Python graphing calculator
I'm guessing they view releasing an official calculator app as a move towards eventually replacing the hardware calculator. It could help legitimize a cell phone calculator to schools and exam boards.

I'm also guessing their product margins are better on hardware than they would be on software, since there are so many other calculator apps available. The market of people who want a TI-branded calculator app on Android or iOS is a lot smaller than the captive student market.

IMHO eventually the tides will shift and school districts and exams will start allowing cell phones, and I imagine just before that happens they will suddenly discover they have a nice Android/iOS app ready to launch.

baumandm··on Toyota is quietly pushing Congress to slow the shift to electric vehicles
Swappable batteries aren't viable without a new business model. If you buy an EV today, it comes with a battery with a ~10 year warranty, and replacing that battery after the warranty ends is a pretty expensive affair.

Nobody with a new battery is going to want to swap it out for a old, potentially degraded battery. But everyone with an old battery would be happy to try to swap their way into a new battery.

Instead, I think you'd need a model where the battery isn't included in the price of the car, and you have a monthly subscription to rent a battery from either the dealer or a third-party. That way you aren't attached to the specific battery you're using, and the subscription fees go towards replacing old batteries as needed. The subscription would either be a base fee + price per replacement, or a base fee for rental + unlimited replacements.

baumandm··on Large cars kill US pedestrians, don't make drivers safer
Basically it comes down to the seat position relative to the road. Many people like having a higher position and midsize SUVs/crossovers provide that. Whether or not it's actually safer or provides more visibility, some people prefer it to a sedan experience.
baumandm··on Austin cyclists split on sharing bike lanes with pizza delivery robots
As a cyclist, I'd actually be more concerned about sharing the bike lane with a person on a scooter. Presumably an autonomous pizza delivery vehicle would act more predictably.
baumandm··on Audi will halt new gas and diesel cars by 2026
The average price of a new car in the US is now over $40,000[1].

My theory is that the rise of EVs will coincide with a rise in pricing for all vehicles. Instead of EVs getting cheaper, ICE cars will get more expensive.

[1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-now-the-average-pr...

baumandm··on GitHub Desktop 2.9 includes squashing, reordering, amending, and more
Another +1 for Sublime Merge. I use it every day and it's incredibly well-designed and built.
baumandm··on What the Rich Don’t Want to Admit About the Poor
You don't have to actually allocate a house for it to be a universal benefit. All you need is a process for one to apply for a flat in the municipality in which they want to live, and the government provides one.
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