The radical plan to pay off US debt (and the AI mistake costing you time)
Here is this week's digest:
Ask HN: Can a Capital-Flipping Tax System Pay Off the U.S. Debt
A proposed 'capital-flipping' tax plan aims to replace traditional U.S. taxes, pay off national debt, and incentivize productivity by having the Federal Reserve 'flip' weekly payroll contributions (e.g., $600 to $5,400).
Key critiques raised include:
- Inflation Risk: The mechanism is widely seen as creating massive inflation and debt, not new capital, by misunderstanding fractional reserve banking principles.
- Regressivity: Eliminating income/corporate taxes while proposing a flat contribution could disproportionately benefit the wealthy and burden workers.
- Feasibility: Concerns about high lending ratios, the structure being a pyramid scheme, and the practical challenges of managing a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) without political capture or fraud.
The plan's author is actively taking feedback to address issues like excessive leverage and ensuring fairness for the working class.
Ask HN: Am I the only one not using AI?
Many developers find AI tools disruptive, leading to 'AI slop' that requires significant debugging, often negating perceived time savings. While social media amplifies AI adoption, real integration into daily workflows is estimated to be lower. Effective strategies include using AI for small code snippets, scaffolding tests, or planning code before writing. Mastering prompt engineering and managing context are key to avoiding frustrating outputs and leveraging AI as a 'better search' tool rather than a replacement for core problem-solving.
Ask HN: Advice for creating a USB device linking 2 computers
To connect two computers via USB for keyboard input without a network, consider these approaches:
- Microcontrollers as HID Devices: Use two microcontrollers (e.g., Raspberry Pi Picos, RP2040, ESP32-S3, Teensy) programmed to act as USB HID (keyboard) devices. Connect them via a serial (UART) or SPI link, requiring custom firmware development.
- USB-to-Serial Adapters: Employ two USB-to-serial dongles linked by a null modem cable. This is a simpler hardware setup but requires software on both ends to translate serial data into keystrokes. Be aware of potential ground loop issues, possibly necessitating optical isolation, and security implications (a compromised target could send malicious keystrokes).
- USB Gadget Mode: If your laptop's USB port supports "device" (gadget) mode, a software-only solution might be possible directly on the laptop, allowing it to emulate a keyboard for the target computer.
Ask HN: Is AWS down again?
When cloud providers report no issues, real-world performance can tell a different story. Tools like Updog.ai (from Datadog), which infer API health by analyzing aggregated and anonymized telemetry from their customer base, offer a crucial independent perspective. Recent observations highlighted performance failures in AWS us-east-1, specifically with EC2 instances getting stuck in pending and CloudFront slowdowns, while official health pages remained clear. This underscores the value of relying on independent monitoring that captures actual customer impact for early detection of service disruptions.
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