Hacker News Reader

smugmaon Waymo One is now open to all in Los Angeles

This is certainly true, but doesn't mean that they aren't hugely popular [1]. We (me with young children) used to call out "Driverless Car" whenever we'd see one, but it is less interesting when you may see 15 over the course of a 2.5 mile, 15 minute drive.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/1gi8cyf/wa...

smugmaon Ask HN: Where to put a static page that would last forever

I (wrongly?!) assumed that Google had shut down Blogger years ago and that this was sarcasm, using Google’s history of killing services to highlight the folly of relying on a commercial service to still be around years or decades later.

Poe’s law at its best.

smugmaon Stop Ignoring Your High Performers

Many of my friends used to code, and either moved up the engineering ladder chain or moved to other more business-y roles.

Only one went back to coding. Most of us are quite happy with our work (not sure how we look).

smugmaon How long til we're all on Ozempic?

Many in the thread have asked “why get off the drug?”

Regeneron is pursuing its own version of a magic weight loss drug and is arguing that the current batch of GLP1 drugs reduce muscle mass, which is one of the most important things to maintain as one passes middle age (comorbidity etc.)

https://www.ft.com/content/094cbf1f-c5a8-4bb3-a43c-988bd8e2d...

The co-founder of Regeneron has warned that blockbuster weight-loss drugs could cause “more harm than good” unless the rapid muscle loss associated with the treatments is solved...

Clinical studies suggest that patients treated with the new class of weight- loss drugs, known as GLP-1s, lose muscle at far faster rates than people losing weight from diet or exercise, exposing them to health problems, said George Yancopoulos, who also serves as Regeneron’s chief scientific officer.

smugmaon Cognizant found guilty of discriminating against non-Indian employees

They aren’t “under-represented” minorities. They, at least in California, provide the breakdowns.

smugmaon So thieves broke into your storage unit again

I was driving in the burbs yesterday and saw a giant skeleton… like 13’ tall and the skull being 2’ wide. I said to my friend “where do they store that stuff? I’m guessing their Christmas lawn stuff is just as extreme.”

a lot of people love their holiday decor. Not how much resale you can get on a giant skeleton, but it’s not an easy lift. Seems like a good use case for storage… a few thousand a year to make you happy thinking you’re bringing holiday cheer to neighbors and kids.

smugmaon Waymo and Hyundai enter multi-year, strategic partnership

Where do you live that you can take 20 car rides in a day? Dense suburb?

I have a hard time (for myself, not doubting you) imagining that many things to do.

smugmaon Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

Most of the tech employees I know in SF could have shorter commutes with larger houses but choose to have smaller houses and longer commutes to live in the city rather than the suburbs. Why? Access to people in parks, cafes, bars, restaurants, events, “culture”, single people.

smugmaon Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

The irony is the vast groups of tech employees that choose to live in San Francisco and commute to the suburbs.

smugmaon FDA approves a novel drug for schizophrenia

My read on the one reference to homelessness in the article was that a life-changing medication that can help with a disease like schizophrenia can prevent homelessness in the first place.

I have a close family member that had a psychotic episode during the pandemic. They were hospitalized but were eventually able to get effective treatment and medication and now live a mostly normal life.

Had they not had the support to get proper medication, I have a hard time seeing how they wouldn’t end up homeless.

smugmaon How the iPhone 16's electrically-released adhesive works

“mostly a good offering with a few omissions… a display assembly that’s too pricey to be an attractive repair option for most people.”

smugmaon Uber charges more if you have credits in your account

Anecdotally, I find if I go to Lyft, then go to Uber, and back to Lyft 30s later, I often get an updated decreased price.

smugmaon Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support

I have a friend who got his first daughter a hearing test. The audiologist delayed the test twice until he finally gave up.

His daughter was able to hear instructions like “go get your socks” but since she was two and not talking, they leapt to the conclusion that it was probably hearing related.

Three years later, I still make fun of him for it but at the time I tried to keep a straight face.

Ironically, he’s a medical doctor himself.

smugmaon Apple's App Store Head to Leave in Reorganization Amid Global Scrutiny

https://archive.ph/XKetr

smugmaon Google loses antitrust suit over search deals on phones

https://archive.ph/3iNOe

smugmaon Hacked Tesla FSD computers disclose alarming raw data on deadly accidents

It’s also quite possible that worse than average drivers prefer to drive and better than average drivers prefer to use FSD, which might decrease overall safety.

This could be due to Dunning-Kruger, age based trust of new things, socioeconomics, etc.

smugmaon Apple Maps on the web launches in beta

It doesn't support iOS Safari.

smugmaon Patagonia gave its staff 3 days to decide to relocate or quit

1% has existed for 40 years. More recently, they restructured as a nonprofit, somewhat similar to what Bose did (Bose profits go to MIT, Patagonia to environmental causes).

smugmaon The case for not sanitising fairy tales

Decent article but a shame there was no mention of the excellent (and oftentimes gruesome) children’s podcast Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grimm-grimmer-grimmest...

https://pinna.fm/library/kids-shows/pinna-podcasts/grimm-gri...

smugmaon Waymo One is now open to everyone in San Francisco

I’ve seen a Waymo stop and pick up a rider at Octavia and Linden. If you look at a map, you can see that it’s totally blocking all traffic.

Double parking is legal (in some cases) in California, but this wouldn’t be allowed under any reasonable interpretation.

I’ve also seen Waymos double parked on both sides of the street, which blocks other cars from going around them.

smugmaon NOFX to retire after final tour without ever having had a job

The article talks about how Smelly got his name because of the drugs but has been clean and sober for a long time.

It also mentions how instead of drugs, they do yoga and get massages.

No mention of their current sex life.

smugmaon Supreme Court:U.S. Citizens Don't Have Right to Bring Noncitizen Spouses to U.S.

Italy and Germany (and France) are also neighboring countries with a common language (IT less so than DE and FR).

smugmaon Amazon fined $5.9M for breaking labor law in California

Because those companies are all bankrupt, insolvent, and liquidated?

smugmaon Amazon fined $5.9M for breaking labor law in California

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Amendment_to_the_Unit...

Waters-Pierce Oil Co. v. Texas, 212 U.S. 86 (1909)

smugmaon Amazon fined $5.9M for breaking labor law in California

In case anyone doesn’t want to look up said amendment, here is its text in full:

“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.“

smugmaon KidPix

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kid_Pix

smugmaon The Costco of Housing is Costco? The retailer's plan to use CA housing laws

The article had a great headline but I didn’t really understand it. Your Twitter post filled in the missing details.

Thank you!

smugmaon Japan enacts law to promote competition in smartphone app stores

Re: movie makers owning cinemas, Sony just acquired Alamo Drafthouse yesterday (until 2020, this wasn’t allowed):

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/sony-pic...

smugmaon Sid Meier's Civilization VII – Official Teaser Trailer

It mentioned a gameplay trailer is coming in August.

smugmaon Show HN: I built an interactive cloth solver for Apple Vision Pro

I read the second paragraph as a euphemism for having sex. I was confused because consensual sex is generally considered a healthy activity.