Punk, or why I don't stream anymore • Hacker News Board

Re: Punk, or why I don't stream anymore

#201

Post by ButlerianJihad » Sat, Jul 11, 2026, 3:01 AM UTC

eightysixfour wrote: post #112

everdrive wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, sorry, I wasn't familiar with him. Looks like he was born in 1989, and so is not so young. I'm a bit baffled to hear that he doesn't think he can escape his smartphone given that he was resourceful enough to jailbreak an iPhone 4 back in the day. I understand he's speaking poetically and emotionally. Maybe he just means he has the knowledge but not the means.

I am a similar age to Geohot and I have tried to escape smartphones to a dumb phone. It didn’t work. So many things that used to work without a smartphone don’t anymore and people don’t realize it. • Surface parking in my city is all by QR code. Where there are machines, they are broken because no one cares. • Social groups are on iMessage or RCS. RCS is not nearly as backwards compatible with MMS as it seems and you…

For a long time, but not anymore, Consumer Cellular had this fantastic “Lyft Concierge” service, where you could call a human who could 100% arrange a Lyft ride for you, even with a feature phone.

Of course it was designed for the elderly and disabled, but I loved it. There may still be third parties offering this type of service.

Re: Punk, or why I don't stream anymore

#202

Post by ofjcihen » Sat, Jul 11, 2026, 3:42 AM UTC

This makes me glad that I got into tech later in life after being in the trades.

I don’t know how to explain it quite yet but I feel like Geo is experiencing something I’ve seen with a lot of my counterparts who were computer nerds from their childhood into adult life. It’s like they haven’t considered much outside of that realm and can’t figure out how to.

Don’t get me wrong, I find my field fascinating and work on it all the time. But it’s still just a field and I can’t apply myself just as well to anything else.

Re: Punk, or why I don't stream anymore

#203

Post by tough » Sat, Jul 11, 2026, 3:50 AM UTC

georgehotz wrote: post #185

red-iron-pine wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

51% of the internet is now bots. entirely possible it's not a person. but we're talking about geohot here, entirely possible he built an agent to handle all criticism

My legend precedes me. I love when one of my blog posts reaches HN and I get to read a nice critique of my personality. I will make sure to incorporate all of your feedback so I can be the best person I can be!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us

Re: Punk, or why I don't stream anymore

#204

Post by tayo42 » Sat, Jul 11, 2026, 3:54 AM UTC

stavros wrote: post #101

justjash wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I miss all the old forums that have died out. Still some gems out there, but not nearly as active anymore as far as my hobbies and interest go.

I really don't like hearing people complain that they miss communities that have died out. You can't expect someone else to create a community, because what you're going to get is a corporation creating one in exchange for money. If you miss a community, go be a part of one, that'll help everyone! I'm a part of a maker community and it's fantastic, the only thing that's missing is more makers talking about the weird…

I wouldn't be surprised no one knows how to make a community like they old ones.i just knew they were there.usually forums attached to some content. How would you create one today?

Re: Punk, or why I don't stream anymore

#205

Post by sureglymop » Sat, Jul 11, 2026, 4:00 AM UTC

consumer451 wrote: post #11

> Oh god people actually go on a hinge date to axe throwing and think it’s the real world. Hinge dates and axe throwing are not my world. I also didn't go to pop band concerts and meat market bars in the olden times. I don't judge the people who did, at least now I don't.

I didn't fully understand the author there. Was their point that the activity of "axe throwing" is silly or that it is silly to do that on a first date?

Personally I've never done axe throwing but I think it probably doesn't matter at all what activity is being done on a first date, as long as it helps break the ice. Also... it is the real world. Those people are probably subjectively speaking much closer to experiencing the real world than George Hotz, it's just not a world he necessarily wants to accept.

Re: Punk, or why I don't stream anymore

#206

Post by bluefirebrand » Sat, Jul 11, 2026, 4:09 AM UTC

BoingBoomTschak wrote: post #166

Havoc wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you find the non walled garden places?

From other such places. phpBB forums, imageboards, private trackers, webrings are good gateways.

How do you find those? I haven't been able to find an invite to a private tracker since my IRC days 20 years ago. PhpBB forums, are there any still around?

Idk. I believe you and I think you're right, but I don't even really know where to start even so

Re: Punk, or why I don't stream anymore

#207

Post by bluefirebrand » Sat, Jul 11, 2026, 4:13 AM UTC

everdrive wrote: post #87

NetMageSCW wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This has been a solved problem for a long time: you look up the movie times and such prior to departing for the movies. No smartphone needed. Strangely, not everyone is at home when they decide to go to the movies.

Well, I guess our only choice is to own an expensive corporate surveillance device. There's no other option. The ancient polynesians managed to learn to navigate huge, open seas by memorizing the stars. The ancient Greeks managed to measure the size of the sun with trigonometry and grit alone. We've mapped the genome and soon we may even cure inherited illnesses, or bring extinct species back to live. But I hear you.…

> What if I wanted to know what movies were playing, but I was already at a restaurant? What could I possibly do?

Do you actually have a solution here or what?

Call the theater? Do you have their phone number memorized? Phone Books and Pay Phones basically don't exist anymore, remember.

Do you just drive to the theater after the meal and check in person? Who is going to agree to that anymore? People will just say "nah maybe next time" and go home

Like it or not, society has changed. Social expectations have changed.

Re: Punk, or why I don't stream anymore

#208

Post by bluefirebrand » Sat, Jul 11, 2026, 4:14 AM UTC

throwaway173738 wrote: post #196

bena wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man, the past was fucking wild, because you would do this. You'd just show up to the theater and look at what was playing. Or, if you were close to a store, you'd go and buy a newspaper that had the movie listings for your local theaters.

Or just call the theater. You can still call stores and ask them if they have something, rather than looking it up on Amazon.

Ok, assume you don't have a cell phone. Call the theater with what? Pay phones don't exist anymore

Re: Punk, or why I don't stream anymore

#209

Post by solid_fuel » Sat, Jul 11, 2026, 4:15 AM UTC

tangenter wrote: post #27

firasd wrote: post #23

This lament about the superficiality of publicly oriented endeavors is interesting cause this guy's life is inseparable from meta commentary. "George Francis Hotz (born October 2, 1989), known online by geohot, is an American security hacker, entrepreneur,[1] and software engineer. He is known for developing iOS jailbreaks,[2][3] reverse engineering the PlayStation 3, and for the subsequent lawsuit brought against hi…

[flagged]

Hero worship is just so… tacky. Gross, maybe. It certainly has no place in 2026.

Re: Punk, or why I don't stream anymore

#210

Post by solid_fuel » Sat, Jul 11, 2026, 4:30 AM UTC

rustybolt wrote: post #64

skizm wrote: post #38

The only thing I will now remember this guy for is when he volunteered to work for Twitter/X after Elon took over. He failed to get twitter code building locally for about 4 weeks when attempting to change some placeholder text in the twitter search bar. He ultimately couldn't figure it out and then immediately quit lol. He even ran a poll on his twitter asking if he should quit, most people voted "NO" then he quit a…

If you ever saw this guy program you know he's very competent so IMHO that reflects badly on twitter, tbh.

It’s just an example of the fact that programming is far more than code. It is also managing dependencies, build systems, making architectural decisions, developer support, etc.

It is very possible to be good at slinging code and bad at everything that is required to support deployed code.

Based on geohotz history, I wouldn’t be surprised if he falls in that bucket - hacking and algorithm skills are great but don’t lend themselves at all to building twitter. That’s why it is foolish to pretend like one guy is great or even good at everything.