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paulvorobyev

58 karma · joined March 2, 2014

Child of the internet.

p [AT] ul [DOT] cool

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paulvorobyev··on Ask HN: Do you subscribe to print magazines anymore?
On and off, but yes. I do this namely because I: enjoy collecting them, prefer reading them physically, and like to appreciate the design elements found in a good magazine layout. IMO the "reading experience delta" for physical vs digital is significantly greater for magazines than books.

Though, the only one I actively subscribe to right now is a famous Russian magazine[1] that's analogous to NatGeo

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vokrug_sveta

paulvorobyev··on Ask HN: What small software do you wish existed?
Doesn't Google Forms roughly do this? It outputs responses to a spreadsheet
paulvorobyev··on Ask HN: Why do I have this weird feeling that noone working at FB posts on HN?
I commented this on an HN post about FB 2 years ago in response to a comment much like yours. Pasting it here:

I don't understand accusations of whataboutism. They oftentimes seem hypocritical: accusing someone of whataboutism is as relevant (and therefore, by its own logic, as rhetorically valid) as the thing it seeks to criticize.

Why is exposing double standards and hypocrisies via a relevant example not a valid form of argumentation?

paulvorobyev··on Under the skin of OnlyFans
>It's much better not to do dumb things than to do dumb things and then try to fix it. Yes, it's good to fix one's mistakes, but that doesn't mean we should be celebrating those mistakes.

But nobody was celebrating the mistake. The comment was literally commending someone's resolution of that mistake.

The assertion you're making/supporting is incredibly arrogant because it implies that living a life without mistakes is possible. As cliche as it sounds, nobody is perfect. It is not possible to live life without error.

In other words "Just don't make mistakes" is not advice: it is ego-tripping.

paulvorobyev··on Legalese – Computational Law
Adding to this list:

* https://catala-lang.org/ -- DSL for translating/annotating legal texts

* https://arxiv.org/pdf/2011.07966.pdf -- A Modern Compiler for the French Tax Code

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EshxZVMURt4 -- Formal Methods and the Law

paulvorobyev··on How Uber Deals with Large iOS App Size
>Do you have some examples? Genuinely curious. To my knowledge, most of the major FAANG apps are single-binary.

Worked on iOS app size at a FAANG for a couple of years -- this is untrue. At the very least there are different binaries for watch vs iPhone architectures.

paulvorobyev··on How to overcome Phone Addiction
After grappling with phone addiction for quite some time I found that reducing my phone time just shifted my procrastination habits to my computer. These procrastination habits are then worsened by the fact that I am, like many HN users, more efficient at using my computer than I am at using my phone.

I've learned to be okay with dicking around on my phone, but with some caveats:

* All notifications are turned off. No exceptions.

* Phone is only turned on when I'm home alone and not working or doing some focused activity. - Exception to this rule is that I can use my phone for its actual utility outside the house (e.g., phone calls, maps).

Rather than banning distraction altogether, I accept that it's inevitable and dedicate my phone to it. I find that this strikes a balance where I can spend quality time alone while still allowing for the occasional indulgence.

paulvorobyev··on A Modern Compiler for the French Tax Code
Do you plan on open-sourcing it, or do you have any recommendations for similar projects/research? Very excited about the computational law space.
paulvorobyev··on Social Cooling (2017)
>IMO, there's a multibillion dollar company waiting to be founded to provide authenticity verification services for humans online.

The US government does authentication in real life via social security numbers. Of course, they are not very secure: a government-operated SSO or auth API for third-party applications would be a logical next step.

It would guarantee uniqueness and authenticity of users. Even better, if this were an inter-governmental program, it would deter government meddling: a state issuing too many tokens for fake accounts would arouse suspicion.

paulvorobyev··on That coworker who never stops refactoring
>I am a Linux guy and I hate it when co-workers are too stupid for utf8 encoding.

You sound like a jerk. Team-mates not understand something is not an excuse to call them stupid. If you truly love something then usually you'd want to share that love with the uninitiated.

paulvorobyev··on Every year I fill out this survey from Apple, for Apple developers
>Apple’s biggest competition right now is the web. More and more “apps” are just thin, non-native veneers on top of web sites (cf Zoom, Slack, Steam, etc). The issue for Apple is, why would anyone choose Apple devices if the exact same apps are available on all devices? Apple should be doing everything it can to support good third-party developers that make the real Apple apps that make Apple devices unique, and provide cool Apple-only experiences. But, again, all the developers I know who do this are dying off, because of the App Store’s policies. Even Omni Group had layoffs a couple months ago.

NO! Stop giving Apple more reasons to ruin the web. The browser lock-in on iOS, poor support for modern browser features, and lack of any native interfacing is beyond unforgivable. For Apple, the web is a second-class citizen and it's bordering on lunacy to suggest otherwise.

paulvorobyev··on US schools lay off hundreds of thousands
It's almost as if pedagogy is a deep and rich field and you can't as easily absorb information without the guidance of a knowledgeable mentor. Who would have thought?
paulvorobyev··on Ask HN: Who is hiring right now?
Can a US citizen apply to work in Amsterdam?
paulvorobyev··on Taika Waititi Slams Apple's MacBook Keyboards After Winning Oscar
>orthogonal

ergonomic?

paulvorobyev··on The Two Kinds of Moderate
>Ah yes, the old "No one thinks for themselves except people like me" argument.

This is almost everything that PG writes.

paulvorobyev··on Ask HN: What's a promising area to work on?
There are tons of applications! The thesis behind AR is that your phone (or some other device) can be a passport to accessing a digital world around you. Some ideas, in no particular order:

* Tourism of any kind (think AR museum or city tours)

* Location and event discovery -- as of late there have been quite a few startups trying to capitalize on giving people things to do, but none successful. This is definitely on Snap's radar with their acquisition of Vurb[1] and Placed[2]

* Interactive public art -- Paris has something like this[3] and I really want to see these types of ARGs spread to other cities

* E-commerce -- superimposing clothing or furniture[4] onto the real world

Also, why are fun and games not valid applications? Epic Games, for example, is worth 4.5bn. Interactive media is finally being recognized by the mainstream, and it's just getting started :)

[1] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/vurb [2] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/placed [3] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashinvaders/id895180919 [4] https://www.amazon.com/adlp/arview

paulvorobyev··on Mark Zuckerberg misunderstands the threat of TikTok
Vine is a video app -- those tend to work pretty poorly without sound
paulvorobyev··on Mark Zuckerberg misunderstands the threat of TikTok
Gen Z Social Network -> Creation does not imply that Creation -> Gen Z Social Network
paulvorobyev··on Jane Manchun Wong: App researcher who unlocks new features before they launch
What are you lexing?
paulvorobyev··on On Learning Rust and Go: Migrating Away from Python
>And no, running a separate type checking tool is not the answer. Especially since no such tool exists that's production grade and in sync with the language.

What does "production grade" mean w/r/t such a tool?

paulvorobyev··on Germany Restricts Facebook’s Data Gathering
I don't understand accusations of whataboutism. They oftentimes seem hypocritical: accusing someone of whataboutism is as relevant (and therefore, by its own logic, as rhetorically valid) as the thing it seeks to criticize.

Why is exposing double standards and hypocrisies via a relevant example not a valid form of argumentation?

paulvorobyev··on Structure of recent philosophy (2017)
>The clusters look strange to me as well - I don’t see any expected names aside from Plato and Aristotle for classics.

What names did you expect? A lot of them look part for the course.

paulvorobyev··on Ask HN: What are your “brain hacks” that help you manage everyday situations?
I don't necessarily agree with your expectations bullet point.

I feel that human beings are inherently focused on results/value. Instead of not caring about the result, I consider what the result is (or what it could be).

In a less roundabout way -- I am always thinking about what I am getting out of the current moment. Be it measurable impact or some sort of insight/learning. That way, even the most abject failures have value to me.

paulvorobyev··on Magic Leap is real and it’s a janky marvel
I think you misunderstood what he was saying. Magic Leap, as of now, has received $2.3B in the comments[1]. This is mentioned in the article's subtitle.

[1]: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/magic-leap

paulvorobyev··on Facebook is rating the trustworthiness of its users on a scale from zero to one
The thing is that pretty much all reporting has bias. Interpretation is inextricable from observation. Bias in and of itself is not a bad thing -- it provides a framework for meaningful discourse. IMO the real issue is being unaware of these biases. Introspection and constant self-evaluation is key.