HNHacker News
TopNewBestAskShowJobs

stuff4ben

3,284 karma · joined April 1, 2009

Software developer, (former) manager, SRE, DevSecOps, and part-time entrepreneur in RTP NC.

I am an IBM employee and my views and postings do not represent those of my employer.

Email my username @gmail.

submissionscomments
stuff4ben··on Norepinephrine-mediated slow vasomotion drives glymphatic clearance during sleep
Your questions around why we need sleep make me wonder if we could develop a drug cocktail to do that work for us while we're awake. Similar to Iain M. Banks' "Culture" book series where humans can inject themselves with their "drug glands" to improve their capabilities.
stuff4ben··on Sonos CEO steps down after app update debacle
Outside of initially setting up my Sonos speakers, I never venture into their app. I happily stream via Airplay2 from my iPhone or iPad. Everything has been working just great on my stereo-paired Sonos Ones in my den, a separate Sonos One in the kitchen, and a Sonos Era 300 paired to a Sonos Sub mini in my living room. No complaints here and if anyone is thinking about throwing theirs away, I'll gladly take them off your hands for free.
stuff4ben··on Sonos CEO steps down after app update debacle
It's not like the salesy-CEO was writing the code, there was still a bunch of engineers who said "hey this sounds like a great idea". Personally I want my CEOs to be on the sales side, make more money for the company. That being said you best have a good CTO/CIO that aren't sales-oriented.
stuff4ben··on A middle schooler found a new compound in a piece of goose poop
I'm so glad companies and in this case a university are reaching out to youth to get them excited in these fields. Just wish it was more widespread. Can you imagine being credited on a scientific paper while you're in middle school? I know they probably didn't do a lot of the hard work, but when you're that age, working with adults and being encouraged like that, I'm sure it's an amazing feeling.
stuff4ben··on Perfctl: A Stealthy Malware Targeting Linux Servers
Thank you for that. I was wondering why a medium vuln was causing so much headache in a binary that wasn't even described by the article.
stuff4ben··on Bypassing airport security via SQL injection
Security Theatre 3000... keeping us entertained
stuff4ben··on Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch
This puts the Hacker back in Hacker News! Love sticking it to the corporate man!!
stuff4ben··on Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch
Until someone decides to sell their fix at a cheaper price. Then lawyers will get involved and everyone will end up unhappy.
stuff4ben··on Cautionary tale on using Chase bank for indie business
You run a business without a lawyer? Ballsy!
stuff4ben··on How one ED mobilized his department during a mass casualty incident (2017)
So I'm not the only one who thinks about and pre-plans solutions to disaster situations in their head to pass the time. Not coincidentally I like to peruse prepper-type forums/subreddits. It's for those "you never know" and "someday this might be useful" type of events. FWIW, I'm not a guns and ammo prepper either (not that they're not important, but it's way down the list).
stuff4ben··on Show HN: COBOL-REKT, a toolkit for analysing and reverse-engineering COBOL
Kinda surprised this isn't an IBM tool. I suspect they could make a killing consulting/watsonXing with this.
stuff4ben··on Go is my hammer, and everything is a nail
I don't program as a hobby or for fun anymore. It's my job and I do it, then I go home and do non-programming there. I use Go and Java and occasionally Python if I have to. I do agree with the OP though.
stuff4ben··on Go is my hammer, and everything is a nail
Damn, everything new really is old again. Everyone said the same thing about Java. Yet it still works and gets the job done. Go does as well. I'd rather poke my eyes out with a nail than use Python.
stuff4ben··on Go is my hammer, and everything is a nail
Java was my hammer back in the day. In a few more years, I'm banking on it being my post-retirement "daddy needs a new boat" solution.
stuff4ben··on No price Microsoft could pay Apple to use Bing: Google antitrust ruling excerpts
I've been happily off Google Search for several years now and have enjoyed Duck Duck Go (Bing) ever since. Recently, the lack of Reddit posts in search results is disappointing, but not the end of the world. Wish I could move off GMail, but it's a bigger task. I've also been on Firefox for over 10 years now and don't miss Chrome at all. Google does some good things, but they lost my trust a long time ago.
stuff4ben··on Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
FWIW, no I have not worked in a place with unlimited PTO. Heard a lot of negatives though and that's what scares me off it. The peer pressure to not take PTO would make it difficult for me to actually relax. Everyone is different though and I'm sure there are places where it works. But it's hard to determine that during the interview process. So I'd rather have the guarantee of x number of weeks of PTO where x>5.
stuff4ben··on Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
When I was younger, the salary definitely would have been the top deciding factor. These days I'd willingly give up $50K for an extra 4 weeks of PTO. And none of that "unlimited PTO" bullshit either.
stuff4ben··on Ask HN: Where do you keep your 401k investments?
My 401k is at Fidelity and split 80% into SP500 and 20% into the target retirement fund for my age. It was the other way around and like the OP I soon realized how much I was losing. I'll probably ease it back into the target fund as I get closer to retirement.
stuff4ben··on Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)
This was fascinating! If I could do it all over again, I'd have gone into the US Foreign Service. Maybe not to places like North Korea (which we don't have a presence in anyways), but I'd have loved to travel the world. Maybe in the next life...
stuff4ben··on Ariane 6 first flight (Official broadcast)[video]
Successful launch, booster and stage separation! Good job ESA and Arianespace!!!
stuff4ben··on First randomized trial of Ozempic for alcoholism shows big drops in drinking
I was lucky in that my doc has been very open to treatments for alcholism and obesity. She prescribed me Nal but it made me very nauseous, worse than Semaglutide. Tried to do the Sinclair Method but just couldn't do it. Then it was the actual diabetic A1C diagnosis that got her to prescribe the Rybelsus. And she was very supportive of me moving to Mounjaro (tirzepitide) when I plateaued in my weight loss.
stuff4ben··on First randomized trial of Ozempic for alcoholism shows big drops in drinking
I've been on Mounjaro now for 4 months. I'm still taking it because I still want to lose weight and manage my (pre)diabetes.
stuff4ben··on First randomized trial of Ozempic for alcoholism shows big drops in drinking
Just stopped having the cravings for whiskey (and I forgot beer too) at home. I still partake in an old fashioned or a pint of beer when I'm out for dinner and drinks. But for me at home the whiskey was a different "addiction" than wine. I really do wish I could drop the wine, but it just feels different than the whiskey and beer did.
stuff4ben··on First randomized trial of Ozempic for alcoholism shows big drops in drinking
Can confirm! Started Rybelsus (pill form of Ozempic/semaglutide) early last year. Within a month I quit cold turkey on whiskey and other hard liquors at home. Wish I could say the same for wine, but just cutting out the whiskey I was drinking was huge. I'm down ~50lbs since then.
stuff4ben··on Don't store your cucumbers in the fridge (2012)
Like all things, it depends. It's not necessarily a myth, but rather it depends on a number of factors. I'll be storing my tomatoes on the counter (upside down) as well as my cukes. Just unfortunate that I'm the only one in my household that likes tomatoes so I end up with a lot of waste sometimes.
stuff4ben··on IntelliJ GitHub Plugin leaking credentials
Good idea to rotate your tokens on a regular basis, but in this case, go ahead and do it now (if you use this tool and plugin)
stuff4ben··on Intel is trucking a 916k-pound 'Super Load' across Ohio to its new fab
why would you not build that stuff onsite?
stuff4ben··on Study shows N95 masks near-perfect at blocking escape of airborne Covid-19
FWIW, now that N95 masks aren't hard to get, I bought some a few months ago and holy crap they're so much better than the KN95s I had to use during COVID. I basically went maskless at times because the KN95 mask just leaked so much that I couldn't wear them. No matter how well I adjusted the metal nose bar, air leaked up when I breathed and it "tickled" my eyes so much I just stopped wearing them. I have since stockpiled a few hundred 3M N95s just in case.
stuff4ben··on Understanding the neuroscience behind burnout (2022)
Is it burnout or ADHD or depression? I feel like I have symptoms of all of them. Burned out at work because the project I'm on isn't selling and I don't care about it anymore but I have other busy work to do. Feels like ADHD because I can't stop myself from fidgeting on my phone looking at Reddit or FB or whatever. Feels like depression because I can't focus and I procrastinate like hell and don't feel like doing anything. Literally on the phone now trying to make an appointment with a behavioral health doc to see someone to get a diagnosis.
stuff4ben··on Ask HN: Was Sun Microsystems the last respectable tech company?
I have a few Java coffee cups that have the older Java logo and say "brewed by Sun Microsystems" on them that I use constantly. Feels like they give me some old school cred. I still dream of showing up on Antiques Roadshow with them and being told they're worth thousands...
← PreviousPage 3 of 32Next →