>And the free version is really, really good too, and then a premium version is $20/year which is very reasonably priced.
I've been paying a flat $10 since 2022. Today, I got an email saying my renewal price goes up to $20 plus tax, which totals $25. The loyal member 25% discount just eliminates the tax for me.
Given that all I've used it for is password and login storage and TOTP all these years, I don't find a 200% price increase to be reasonable. I've cancelled the premium, I can run my TOTP somewhere else.
The main problem with why mobile apps aren't very convenient is that even on Octal, in heated debates on HN it becomes extremely difficult to read nested comment threads. Personally, I lack focus when a parent comment generates a comment tree with deep nesting on the web, let alone on mobile clients.
What's really missing is a userscript like on imageboards where under each comment there's a link showing who replied to it, with auto expansion preview of in depth reply hierarchy. But honestly, it's not that hard to do now. Just give the task to Codex or Claude Code.
For those seeking ways to track replies to their messages, HNRSS[0] exists.
I don't even visit HN, I just pull the filtered RSS feed, and engage where I feel I'm interested or can provide value.
For macOS, there is native SwiftUI Voxa[0]. By the looks of it, it has been unmaintained since the last time I tried it.
Honestly, after the story with Reddit and Apollo, building a third party client is a risk. TOS can change any moment, and if it is not the TOS, the API access can get metered or monetized.
What I like about Brave Search is the quality of its AI answers compared to rivals. For quick fact-checks, it's pretty decent when I only need to extract 1-2 sentences.
Best thing of Brave search was to adopt the bang[0] syntax. It really helps to quickly redirect to YouTube, DDG, IMDB and Google when needed.
Regarding Gmail, I've read so many Google account suspension horror stories out here, that I'm legitimately scared to loose access if I do anything out of the ordinary. So I shifted from Gmail as my primary email service.
I paid for Proton mail for about a year, but the most basic paid account is very limited for my needs. Ended up purchasing Migadu Micro and a domain. The ability to own a domain and an email service is very underrated.
Catch-all is an absolutely must have for any decent mail service, yet, impossible with dedicated mail services such as Gmail or Proton. And there’s no better way to combat spam and unsolicited emails than server-side bouncing.
I'd add that companies write off their equipment investment over a 3-5 year depreciation period. After that, when the laptops reach EOL, employees can often buy them through the company's EPP (employee purchase program) usually for just the fair market value, which might be a couple hundred € or sometimes even less.
So, eventually they recoup the equipment costs, wouldn't get surprised if they even make a profit out of it sometimes.
First thing they do, they write off VAT (20-23% of laptop price). Then at the EOL, they just set the EPP price to the higher market value. And return the cost.
VAT doesn't exist in the US (and sales tax, which we do have, is more like 5-10% of sale cost), so are you talking about something specific to tech companies in Germany or the UK or something?
Not that everything has to be about the US, but it's weird to make a claim about the tech market as a whole that doesn't apply to its biggest single region.
Yep, I've used the € sign for a reason, to make sure people won't get confused.
The article goes into considerable detail about the EU tech industry. My comment relates to that context.
I also want to note, that EPP isn't the correct term here. For US, EPP would mean Manufacturer Employee Purchase Programs for New Products with a discount. Like, if you work for HP, you can purchase a product it manufactures at a discount price for your personal use.
The EU practice that I was mentioning is called IT Asset Disposition through employer to employee disposal program[0]. I don't believe big companies in the US get involved in employer to employee ITAD for lots of reasons. But in EU, it's a thing, much to my surprise.
>Yep, I've used the € sign for a reason, to make sure people won't get confused.
>The article goes into considerable detail about the EU tech industry. My comment relates to that context.
You know what, that's entirely fair. And I'll also note that American companies can claim depreciation to offset corporate income taxes, so there's some parity there, it's just s different mechanism.
Is that common? I've never worked at a corporation that had an EPP for EoL computer equipment. It always all went to a specialist recycling/refurbishing business.
I don't know about "common", but at one place, when they were retiring my machine, I asked if I could buy it, and they agreed. (Of course, for that to work, you have to be there long enough that they replace your machine...)
>>Microsoft did brain teasers like "How many ping pong balls fit on a bus?" questions. Then Google copied that to start. Google later realized that performance on these questions didn't predict performance on the job and developed a more data-driven approach that you see today (leetcode style) that other companies copy today.
I'm curious how did they realize that ping pong bus questions didn't predict performance.
Was that just based on negative candidate feedback or they pulled the spreadsheets to realize they are below the hiring quotas.
I've been paying a flat $10 since 2022. Today, I got an email saying my renewal price goes up to $20 plus tax, which totals $25. The loyal member 25% discount just eliminates the tax for me.
Given that all I've used it for is password and login storage and TOTP all these years, I don't find a 200% price increase to be reasonable. I've cancelled the premium, I can run my TOTP somewhere else.