skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
> The newer pans perform worse, and must be replaced on a shockingly regular basis.

No.

Like most things in this life, you get what you pay for.

If you cheap out on "newer pans" then sure, they won't last you because the manufacturer will use cheap manufacturing processes in order to achieve your stingy price point.

If you buy decent pans from reputable manufacturers, they will last you a lot longer.
>It's both/ Read the article I linked above "most people in the U.S. have PFAS in their bloodstream" so these chemicals are toxic in the finished product (which they then digest when using) and during manufacture.

The "product" in this case being "non-stick pans", or various other consumer products? The wikipedia article seems to suggest the latter.

>they are still produced internationally and are imported into the United States in consumer goods such as carpet, leather and apparel, textiles, paper and packaging, coatings, rubber and plastics

>In 2020, manufacturers and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an agreement to phase out some types of PFAS which are used in food packaging by 2024

>PFAS are also used by major companies of the cosmetics industry in a wide range of cosmetics, including lipstick, eye liner, mascara, foundation, concealer, lip balm, blush, nail polish and other such products

Based on that, I'm inclined to believe that there's a bunch of ways for PFAS to get into people's bloodstreams, but cookware isn't one of them (I did a quick search and they're not mentioned in the article, aside from a reference to a california legislation requiring them to be labeled). That's perfectly consistent with my prior claim that "finished non-stick pans are safe" and your claim that "most people in the U.S. have PFAS in their bloodstream".
> There are so many people from developing countries who desperately want to migrate to a developed country.

Wanting to migrate and actually being ready and willing to integrate in the target country / culture are two very different things.

In Japan, the latter is certainly not easy, and it's unclear how much would-be immigrants are ready and willing to meet that bar.
> I'd still live there in a heartbeat

Do you live there? Why not?
100% this, I miss it so much.

Everything having to be scheduled is so depressing and stressful to me. I wish we could go back, but we can't.
But you can, and I do. I cook everything in cast iron and nothing sticks.

That said, one thing I have come to realize over the past couple of decades of cooking with cast iron is that seasoning is less some mystical ritual that is performed one time, and more a result of proper use and care of the pan over time.

But yes, there is lots of ritualized BS (“Don’t wash it”, “Never use dish soap”, “Only season it using flax oil in the oven at 200 degrees for four hours”, etc etc etc).
Ask HN: How to Make Passive Income?
I live in Berlin, Germany. I'm struggling with my current income and I would like to make passive income, would you please suggest some realistic ideas?
I wouldn't bother with all that. I'd recommend finding an antique cast iron pan (local thrift store, flea markets, Etsy, or eBay) and restoring it (there are services for this or you can do it yourself fairly easy) and using that. The antique pans are just way better.

Or you can try carbon steel which is more forgiving than cast iron. Blanc Creatives makes a great carbon steel pan/skillet.
Unfortunately, Japan is highly racist in their sponsorship of immigrants. They will take white people over other races every time. I'm not happy to recall the treatment I saw Indian tourists receive during my time in Shinjuku.
I never suggested you'd have worse performance. But it's not declarative, it's tedious.

Read my comment again.
Indeed. Japan has amazing urban culture, people and food. Language is definitely a barrier. But the lack of options for long term settlement certainly pushes away all but the most hardcore immigrants.
The Japanese press writes on a regular basis about population decline, and about making it easier for immigrants to speak/learn Japanese or live in the country with limited Japanese, so I guess the language does play a part.

Based on my very limited Japanese (about n3 grammar , 1000 kanji, but this is anecdotal), it is indeed very difficult, and I'd clearly try an English speaking country/country where I can work in English first !
I love this!!! I was hoping one day to getting around and making a virtual bookshelf myself to outline ideas in books I liked.
As far as I'm aware Japanese immigration policy for skilled workers is relatively lenient, it's just not generally considered an attractive place to migrate to from places that generate a lot of migrants.
Which criteria of J3016 wouldn’t be marketable?

Few may know what “level 3” means, but they certainly know what “you don’t have to pay attention” means.
The formula for the gravitational pull is the same for black holes and regular objects. That means, you can orbit a black hole of the mass of the earth from 10 thousand km away just as easily as you can orbit earth itself 10 thousand km away from earth's center. Low earth orbit is in fact below that at only 7 thousand km.

The difference really starts to matter as you get inside a planet's radius. As you wander closer to earths center, the gravitational pull continues trending downward and gets replaced by pressure, aka having to support increasingly large portions of the planet. Eventually you'll be killed by that pressure, as no material is known to survive the pressure. Humanity hasn't made it further than a dozen km into the rocky part of earth's surface, the fraction of a fraction of earth's radius. Mostly, earth's insides are inaccessible to us.

For black holes, this is different. The gravitational pull just keeps getting stronger and stronger the closer you get to the event horizon. Eventually you'll be killed by tidal forces. But at the height of a circular orbit at the same height as earth's surface, those are the same as on earth, aka not really something to worry about for humans.

To give it in explicit numbers, a 2 meter tall object of 80 kg mass standing on the surface of earth gets about 0.5 milinewtons of tidal forces (while having to deal with 785 newtons due to normal gravity): https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=80kg+*+G+*+mass+of+eart...

Thus, you can get much closer to a black hole than you can get to earth's center.
All these claims about how FIDO prevents phishing seem very suspect to me. AFAICT the phishing protection is specific to U2F, which is only one of many interrelated (and IMO very poorly described) FIDO specs. Absent U2F, it seems like most forms of phishing are still entirely possible. Am I missing something? Is the operative definition of "phishing" much more limited than how a normal person would interpret it?
IMO this means the demographic problem is nonexistent for japan. If things became critical, all they need to do is loosen immigration policies and there is enough latent demand in the world for citizenship in a stable country that the population can be maintained through immigration.
I’m always curious who downvotes these opinions, who looks at a world with 8B people headed to 11B people by the end of the century and thinks depopulation is a problem.

Less people is good for a strained planet, and this sort of population decline is the least harmful option for realizing a more steady state world (versus unsustainable growth).
In that case, investing in India might be the next best thing [1].

[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/india/japan-pm-kishida-announc...
Another approach would be using the "inverse" of the formula and then trying to prove that you can build all natural numbers starting from 1.

This approach, like every other approaches, did not yield any significant result.

The funny thing is that it fits right in the P=NP problem: easy to verify, hard to solve :)
Related but opposite, a tool I made a couple of years ago.

https://github.com/ctsrc/Base256

> Encode and decode data in base 256

> […]

> You might expect data encoded in base 256 to be more space efficient than data encoded in base 16, but with this particular set of symbols, that is not the case! Likewise, you have to type more, not less, than you would if you use my base 256 instead of base 16. So why?

> The purpose […] is to make manual input of binary data onto a computer less error-prone compared to typing in the base 16 or base 64 encoding of said data. Whereas manually typing out base 64 is painful, and base 16 makes it easy to lose track of where you are while typing, [this program] attempts to remedy both of these problems by using 256 different words from the EFF autocomplete-friendly wordlist.

Disclaimer: I am not using this base 256 program myself, even though I authored it. It just serves as a fun little experiment.
There was this [1], posted a month ago on HN [2].

[1] https://blogsurf.io/

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30844149
I'm not having trouble finding one. All I said is that I'm currently shopping around, and my prediction for the future is that kind of TV will become scarce.
Even better.

OPT IN not OPT OUT

Ask the person to confirm they wish to proceed and get them to send a pre-arranged code that was given when requesting the port.
It’s really difficult to get Japanese citizenship. Rightfully so imo. They have a rich culture and want to preserve it.
I think even without the angle grinder it wouldn't take much work starting at 220 by hand. use vegetable or food safe mineral oil and wet/dry paper.
That doesn't help Italy though. People get the citizenship and move on.

You can't think of citizenship in the normal way. You have to think of it within the context of the Schengen. Those people even have an easier time moving on out of the Schengen to, say, Canada or the US.
> the best pdf viewer i could find for windows

I haven’t used Windows for at least half a decade, but I remember using Sumatra PDF, and thought that was the best pdf viewer for windows.

It's free, extremely light -weight and feature rich. And reads a lot formats- epub, mobi, cbr, you name it.

You should definitely try Sumatra PDF.
Just followed you on twitter, my initials are DK. follow back and I'll shoot you a DM.
When our work-horse Toshiba finally fails, we're going to replace it with either a large gaming monitor or a pro signage monitor from B&H/Adorama.
> Also, claiming that they "seem to be poisonous" without any qualifiers is a little misleading. To my knowledge they're only poisonous during manufacturing (ie. the precursor chemicals) and when they get too hot.

1. The manufacturing process results in those precursor chemicals entering urban water supplies where they are nearly impossible to filter out (only RO is effective and it's not even 100% effective), and once in the bloodstream of people are powerful endrocrine disruptors which circulate and are filtered slowly by the kidneys... and when peed out go right back into the water supply due to not being able to be removed during treatment. These "forever chemicals" are some of the most health damaging pollutants in the West.

2. Teflon is extremely hazardous when consumed and it flakes off of the pans over time (which is why they must be replaced often) or when incorrect utensils are used (common among unsophisticated users).

3. Teflon can overheat on a standard consumer stove using standard cooking techniques. You actually need different techniques to prevent overheating a Teflon pan.

4. Cast Iron is effectively non-stick after enough use, and you can absolutely fry an egg in it without sticking if you have a smooth-bottom pan (either a vintage cast iron, new vintage-style, or a new style that you've sanded down and seasoned yourself).
> I will disclose promptly in writing to Company all Innovations conceived

The Company could argue that if he publicizes an innovation the day after the clause expires, then it is overwhelmingly likely that he 'conceived' of it when the clause was still in effect. They could burden any startup, contractor, or hobby work with an expensive legal bill if they wanted to - and offer to make it go away in exchange for a stake in his new venture.

And if they didn't want to do this - then why include the clause? Not just include - add it after he has already been hired.
In what way is Japan less cutthroat?
Overall, I think the author is reaching a stage in their life where they recognize that things are "passing them by". They are proverbially "over the hill". Often this is chronologically after 40's or so, but can come sooner or later. It came about for me in my 50's. I raved and ranted for a few years how things are no longer available, changing, and changing for the worst. I now enjoy that I know the history why thing as they are, and whipper-snappers eat up my 'sage' story telling.

I do use a double edged safety razor, but I run into the same problem. Blades have to be ordered online. Disposable razors was a convenience, that become the norm.

> Cooking equipment

I buy it the commercial grade, ugly looking ones from bulk/wholesale stores. They are not pretty, but they are functional, very sturdy, very inexpensive, and work both on the stove top and in the oven. Fancy pots & pans is a luxury in my opinion, that become the norm.

> Tea bags replace loose leaf tea.

Bagged tea is less expensive (Irish breakfast) where I travel than loose leaf.

> Nespresso machines, and other coffee pod brands

Agreed, this is purely paying for convenience, at an extreme premium. This is a luxury in my opinion, not the norm.

> Well understood mechanical bike shifting transitions to electronic shifting

Electrified bikes and bikes with electric shifting is not the majority. This is a luxury in my opinion, not the norm.

> Televisions moving from being screens which accept input, to self contained 'smart' devices

Agreed, this is a nightmare as it binds two different vendors together, increasing the chances of stuck with an obsolete system. This is a luxury in my opinion, that was forced upon us to be the norm.

> In many inner city shops it is now hard to buy an individual piece of fruit.

Not the places I have been (Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, all of the Americas). Walk into grocery store, and start picking the individual fruit.

> Subscription services like Hello Fresh, where you can pay well over the odds to have some vegetables delivered to you.

This is a luxury in my opinion, not the norm, that is forced on us. The recent forced isolation make it a necessity for some.
You can also poach eggs just fine in a cast iron pan.

Fried eggs are just aldehyde cancer hell. There's so much out there you can cook without any oil and it's handy to know for sure. Try cooking stuff in sauces instead for example.
Agree with everything you said, and while Italy is one of the worst offender on theses topics, they are unfortunately not the only ones in the EU.
Easily solvable if everyone was fine with cultural homogeneity. Turns out there are still plenty of humans that despise the concept.
Technical side of things: Pick up an open source project that you like and start contributing. Get involved in competitions through the university if you can, there should be plenty. Learn to work as part of the team, try to affect the team in a positive way, learn to accept others. "Google summer of code" is something I would consider at this stage.

Most important: Focus on soft-skills. Working in CS will inevitably make you socially awkward, try to fight this trend early. Focus on creating a network, that will be your future safety net when searching career opportunities. Make a habit of meeting ppl and keeping in touch.

Avoid social media for the sake of _social media_. Try to train yourself to focus for long stretches of time to a single thing e.g. reading "big books" is become an arcane art these days.

Study social sciences, literature and art in your free time. Your background is giving you a head-start. Pick-up books, read magazines. Learn how connect, strike conversations, how to talk to ppl on the opposing political spectrum. That will make you able to read signals and view the world with empathy. Expressing your opinions without upsetting the other party. Learn the art of public-speaking.

Learn a music instrument. The guitar is the most obvious choice, but find something you like. There are many hobbies out there, but music and dancing, especially folklores, have the added value.

Writing code is a good skill to have, but communicating effectively, connecting with peers and non-peers and having a positive world-view are traits that are hard to find amongst engineers.

Finally, since you're starting your career now, try to diversify! We live in a day and age that is highly unlikely we'll have "one career", strictly speaking. From personal experience, a diversified profile makes you "look smart" and sets you apart from the crowd.
> Nothing in this piece suggests a replacement for the drive to work, or the virtues of working and earning. Nothing in it contemplates what a society without those virtues might look like or what meaningful thing would replace the continuity of work in peoples' lives.

Yeah and nothing acknowledges that this "dehumanising" exploitation also happens to be the source of all the nice things that we want and need, or admit that we will have to make sacrifices, and where and how these sacrifices should be made.

Always throwing out the bathwater and just pretending that there is no baby.

The hard thing about any political change is that change will always worsen things for some people, in some situations, there is no such thing as 100% positive change.

And getting those people on board to actually make the sacrifices is the actual challenge, and in this case the author could at least bother to suggest how he/she would be willing to sacrifice to make up for these productivity losses, and/or how society will cut back on the rewards.

I think we should keep the efficiency and use tech to its fullest potential, but just shorten the working hours, as a means to share the productivity gains.
Thanks, that is helpful! You’re right that terminology is confusing.
You should be allowed to negotiate a reasonable single price for a project with a known and fixed scope, regardless of how long it takes.
Are there modern double-sided bodies with floating mechanism? Quick googling got me only antiques.
I use Okular for all my readings on my daily driver Linux laptop- research papers, textbooks, novels- everything.
> But ultimately this is good news. Less pressure on the environment, more space, hopefully increased productivity and wealth per capital (by harnessing automation).

I agree with the sentiment of this comment regarding the end state, but I fear the transition will be a disaster. Demographic changes are of course happening at very different stages around the world. Many 1st world countries are seeing dramatically shrinking populations, but many third world countries are exploding - Nigeria is expected to nearly double their population to 400 million by 2050. The shift and resource wars thèse changes will cause will result in a lot of suffering.

> Japan specifically is overcrowded

Not really. A few of Japan's megacities are overcrowded, but tons of other areas have seen rapid depopulation and demographic collapse where there are hardly any young people.
I don't know if a "frontier mindset" comes from a hetereogenous population in general -- the very phrase "frontier" suggests to me it's more likely to come from our history where one kind of people had a "frontier" they were pushing out between them and people they were taking land from by force -- where one society of newcomers was entirely replacing/absorbing another pre-existing society, by force, not just hetereogenous people within a society. Obviously a pretty extreme conflict, that might result in lasting dynamics and mindsets, but the conflict wasn't really the inevitable effect of hetereogeniety alone -- and is of course a very different history than Japan's, and will remain so no matter their contemporary immigration policies.
So, instead of a victrola, the must have used a motor-ola?

(That's the actual origin of the company name.)
Oh I really like that. Thanks for sharing!
It's funny and a bit of a sore subject that you ask. I'm currently waiting on a final offer and COE (for a visa) from a startup founder in Nagano whose company might be imploding right now. I've learned the language, and I have the skills (product design) to live there, but it's very hard to break in unless you're already over there.

Many people will take a crap English teaching job to land there and then interview on that visa to land a job in their desired sector, but knowing the language is crucial. This kind of visa abuse is also highly frowned upon.

So, who knows. I might still end up where I want to work in time, but right now it's been crickets between emails with the founder.
Starting in my late thirties my facial hair became coarser and the cartridges just didn’t do as good a job.
Enthusiasm for HN while bemoaning other less addictive social platforms suggests the complaint is more about content or business model or something like that, than attention / engagement / addiction per se.
Lufthansa will do everything to be profitable, except selling cheaper tickets and taking more passengers. Strategically they are the opposite of Ryanair.
More record players in cars:

https://thevinylfactory.com/news/amazing-photos-of-a-time-wh...

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/automobiles/collectibles/...
Yes, a good Matfer or Solidteknics carbon steel / wrought iron / blue iron pan is fantastic for eggs, omelettes, and crepes. Matfer as a French brand even has specific crepe and omelette pans made this way.
tl;dr; Monitors require high pixel density - you generally sit closer. Checkout this graph:

https://www.displayninja.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/best...
Plenty of other places in the world are homogeneous but aren't exactly well run either. Having a homogeneous culture isn't the secret sauce.
I am 100% convinced you can have a choice of doctor and also cheaper healthcare. Things like price transparency in advance would already cheapen a lot. Also, I am not sure I would be able to argue that in Germany you have harder time to choose who to see.
I designed a vastly more simple and fair tax system years ago. As a personal hobby challenge. I dont expect it to ever be adopted by any major real world government, because it would disempower too many grifters, haha. But it always makes me amused when I read any horror stories online about tax problems.

The old William Gibson quote about "the future is here its just not evenly distributed yet."
Neil DeGrasse Tyson Reacts to Elon Musk Buying Twitter
> Part of the reason the USA is cutthroat and poorly run is because of how heterogeneous the population is and the frontier mindset that comes with that.

Is this a typo?
The well known tech bubble popped more than a decade ago. I was unaware people think we're in another one. There haven't been the hallmark rich-quick stock explosions we saw back then.
Japan is not a country open to immigration, your can spend 20 years there, speaking perfect Japanese and still be considered a complete stranger.
If wanting a Teflon coating, is there any benefit for doing cast iron? Or do you mean ceramic coating.

Isn’t a main reason people go to cast iron is to avoid Teflon and get the natural non-stick of seasoned iron? If that isn’t needed, what’s the draw? Seems other pans would be more suitable.
What are we blocking? Can you email details to me? (jgc@cloudflare.com)
Ah I see.

Yeah healthcare is great in Japan. Almost to the point where it’s not an active concern on trying to obtain it. It exists and you pay for it in the way the fire department exists and you pay for it (via taxes
Tried to use the app but the only thing I see is a Google form. So cannot give my opinion on it.

I went through the FAQ and could not find aanything about where this will be available available. Is it US only?
A round up of previous discussions on hn was posted recently. You might find it useful: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29855402