Hacker News Reader

mackeyon 16-Inch MacBook Pro Said to Launch in September

For what its worth, I just picked up the latest gen and the keyboard seems like a real improvement in both feel and noise. The Touch Bar still sucks, but I am happy with the keyboard.

mackeyon What’s New in Apple Filesystems [pdf]

From the video, you can only enable read/write if you disable SIP in the first place. They didn't answer say anything about the second question.

mackeyon Amtrak's next-gen Acela train: “Wi-Fi, craft beers and reliable schedules”

I have taken probably 15 Acela rounds trips in the last 3 years between Boston and NYC for work and I personally find it more convenient than flight travel.

In my case, it's easier for me to get to South Station in Boston than to get to Logan Airport. The seats and accommodations are much better on a train, much less stressful and easier boarding process (and I have precheck). I have never had an issue finding overheard space. Once in NYC, it's also easier to get to the part of Manhattan that I need to than any NYC airport. Flying is still a little faster, but my employer encourages we travel during work hours, so I don't mind the extra time for the better experience.

Obviously if I was going all the way to DC from Boston, it would't make as much sense, but since NYC is close enough, speed is basically a wash.

mackeyon Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

Didn't they announce the flex gate repair program today?

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/05/21/apple-backlight-service...

mackeyon Apple Cancels AirPower Product

I saw a report on twitter with serial numbers showing build dates of September and November, along with old copyright dates on the boxes on the new AirPods. Combine that with the "Hey Siri" being shown in "Gather Round" video in September, I bet they were hoping to ship the AirPods before the holidays, but were holding out hope that Airpower would work.

https://twitter.com/rouven81/status/1110980080170340352 https://www.macrumors.com/2018/09/12/apple-hey-siri-support-...

mackeyon AT&T’s “5G E” is slower than Verizon and T-Mobile 4G, study finds

About 16 KM outside Boston, I get 150/25 w/ a 40 ms ping on and iPhone X with intel modem on ATT LTE.

mackeyon Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

There are some sketchy chicken dishes, like the subway chicken, who have claimed to be about half soy, although subway disputes it. But at least in terms of beef, I couldn't find a company in the top 5-6 fast food burgers that don't claim 100% beef.

mackeyon Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

National:

McDonalds: "Yes, every patty is 100% real beef with no fillers, additives or preservatives." Burger King: "Our beef patties are made with 100% beef with no fillers, no preservatives, no additives, no nonsense." Wendy's: "100% pure beef across the menu"

Regional:

Carls Jr: "100% Pure Ground Beef." Sonic: "100% pure beef patty" Jack in the Box: "100 percent beef"

mackeyon Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin

In regard to who sold the land...

https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2018/07/17/fox...

mackeyon PayPal has permanently banned The Hacker News and hold funds for 180 days

I can understand not wanting a CC if you don't trust yourself to be responsible, but if you are responsible its effectively the same as debit card + better perks. I have never paid any interest in the 14 years of using CCs and use them for everything.

Now I understand that being responsible is easier said than done, given various circumstance. I grew up without a lot money and my parents were pretty religious about budgeting cash weekly into envelopes, but even they eventually switched to using CCs and only spending what they had cash for. Too hard to pass up cash back on gas, groceries, bills, etc. Every little bit helps.

mackeyon Apple Airplay on Raspberry Pi in 7 Easy Steps

I feel like you editorialized kevin_b_er. Obviously they were talking about Apple preventing this software with working with the new airplay system. Where were they saying it's impossible to come up open source streaming protocol?

mackeyon Ten years ago today, I had the idea for an app I thought was interesting

I don't think its that easy in this day and age, at least in the US. I graduated from college with almost no student debt because my parents (teacher dad, mom didn't work, three kids) were super frugal and helped me a lot. 10 years later I still feel like I had such an unfair advantage, with friends STILL paying back their loans. Toss in healthcare costs, I don't think its as simple as "skipping vacations and living in a cheap apartment". A lot of it seems to boil down to the financial support around you from friends/family/partner both past and present.

And I don't disagree with the statement "You can achieve a lot with just a few people and a little money.", but I think it's missing an asterisk. (always exceptions though)

mackeyon Multiple gas explosions and fires in Massachusetts

I don't think its related.

mackeyon Benzodiazepines: Our Other Prescription Drug Problem

I see my doctor every 6 months and until recently was seeing the same doctor for about 10 years. I have been refilling a 10 pill .5mg prescription of Ativan for about 6 of those years.

I took them infrequently at the beginning, like you now, 1 or 2 a month max and the past few years, I haven't taken any. I didn't even realize the connection to "Benzos" until ~6 month ago when a construction worker friend said all his coworkers were on it and I connected the dots.

Just having access to the pills for me is enough to keep my anxiety in check, hopefully something I can stop relying on some day. My doctor is moving, so I need to find another one who will be just my 3rd doctor in my 32 years of life. I hadn't thought about it until just now, but I am hope my new doctor will be as facilitating.

mackeyon Boston-area startups are on pace to overtake NYC venture totals

Pillpack moved out of Davis last year, into a new office also in somerville.

https://www.americaninno.com/boston/office-envy/office-envy-...

mackeyon Grindr Shares Personal Information With Third-Parties

So it looks like the requests go to profile.localytics.com which is the API used for https://www.localytics.com/profiles/.

So not used for performance, but instead "A people-centered and personalized approach to app marketing and analytics". I am not sure if this is better or worse.

mackeyon Ask HN: Why is PayPal's password length limit still a thing?

I almost didn't believe you because their own password page says to use mix case, but I just tried it... and flipping case totally works. Crazy!

mackeyon Amazon's policies promote counterfeiting

No. Despite it being a defense, sometimes its not worth shining a light on yourself or maybe they just don't feel comfortable speaking out.

mackeyon AppStore Preferences can be unlocked by a local admin with any bogus password

It's fine, although its amazing how long it took to get native async testing (iOS 8?).

mackeyon AppStore Preferences can be unlocked by a local admin with any bogus password

I am talking specifically about unit testing, ui testing, integration testing and then supporting those tools in some type of ci system.

And to be clear, they provide these things in the form of XCTest, XCUITest, and Xcode bots, but they aren't good enough. Tons of resources have been spent by the community and major corporations trying to fill in the gaps and offer useful alternatives, but the closed nature of Xcode and its build environment make this difficult.

mackeyon AppStore Preferences can be unlocked by a local admin with any bogus password

I think it has more to do with the complete lack of testing infrastructure and tooling that Apple has produced over the years, despite the explosion of APIs and developers on their platforms.

Even on iOS, which rumors have being more of a focus compared to macOS, still has a long way to go to catch up to other platforms. If they required these tools internally, no way would they be this far behind.

mackeyon Wi-Fi startup Eero lays off 30 employees

my bad, I was specifically talking about wireless performance. I misread your post.

mackeyon Wi-Fi startup Eero lays off 30 employees

You can read stuff like

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/33...

And also just read their forums.

mackeyon Wi-Fi startup Eero lays off 30 employees

Ubiquiti does NOT outperform consumer oriented routers in the market. It doesn't even perform as well as some of its commercial competitors.

Ubiquitis work great and have a lot of great features, but range and throughput are not where they shine.

mackeyon Wi-Fi startup Eero lays off 30 employees

For what its worth, most benchmarks and tests back up the OP was saying, that Ubiquiti stuff just doesn't have the range and speed of mid to high end consumer routers.

edit: And I am not trying to say they are bad, just that they were designed for other priorities than throughput and range.

mackeyon Mistakes to avoid when asking for a raise

Totally, even within the same company it can vary. I worked some place where engineering was really good about encouraging people to take time off and lots of upper management set a good example with unlimited PTO. However, I had heard that sales and consulting weren't as encouraged.

mackeyon macOS High Sierra: Anyone can login as “root” with empty password

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208315

Fixed.

mackeyon Turns out Verizon’s $70 gigabit internet costs way more than $70

I could be wrong, but I think you only need the Verizon modem if you also get TV from them. If you don't, you have to have them activate the ethernet port on the ONT and you can use whatever router you want.

mackeyon Milk that lasts for months

I do the same thing, but still end up with extra at the end of the weekend. When traveling in Europe I noticed a lot of places have small tablespoon servings of UHT milk in little cartons. I wish we had something like that here, but all I can I find are stuff like "mini moos" which are too heavy.

mackeyon MacOS Sierra

This has gotten better since they started public betas. It seems like people that work on developer tools are more prepared.