AI coders are carrying half-open laptops through airports, offices, ice rinks(www.businessinsider.com)
17 pointsby taubek4 hours ago9 comments
  • jnakano893 hours ago
    Engineers solving "my agent stops when I close my lid" by physically holding the lid open is the funniest possible local optimum. Amphetamine app fixes the lid problem. Claude's /remote-control command also helps. The two together cost zero dollars and one minute of setup.
    • yumraj4 minutes ago
      one's a head of product, didn't read beyond that..
    • gofreddygoan hour ago
      The article explicitly says "AI coders". Not engineers. Not hackers. Not a mere accident I suppose.
  • teitoklien2 hours ago
    I literally have a custom built command

    lid-toggle on lid-toggle off lid-toggle toggle

    that allows me to switch the behaviour for laptop lid close , to behave the way i want it to,

    So i can close my laptop, keep it in my bag, with my headphones on and talk to claude code while its coding stuff , albeit it runs a bit warm inside my bag, but it works just fine.

    I run a custom setup on linux to make it all happen

    Why would someone risk breaking their laptop by keeping it half open like this , instead of just quickly building a toggle to change the suspend on lid close behaviour ?

    • deadfoxygrandpa2 hours ago
      dude you can stop using the computer sometimes. its gonna be ok. take a break.
  • peschu4 hours ago
    I guess these people are not coders at all. Maybe they should ask claude to temporarily change the „lid close action“ in the power settings? ;)
    • tdeck3 hours ago
      I immediately thought of SSH but you're right. That's far too complicated for the next crop of AI synergy experts.
      • xingped3 hours ago
        You joke, but even 8-9yrs ago, I had at least one new junior join my team who couldn't even tell or fathom the difference between whether they were on their own laptop or on the server when using the terminal. It was a constant problem where they were trying to run commands on the wrong computer.

        I don't have much hope anything has improved since then.

    • globular-toast3 hours ago
      You don't need to be a "coder", just a vaguely competent computer user. It's really sad you've got people who just don't feel in control of their computers at all and would resort to not closing the lid.
      • jaapzan hour ago
        Or they just dont want to spend time figuring out how to do that because they are busy with something else

        Naah, they are probably dumb as hell!

  • blitzaran hour ago
    > ice rinks

    Is there an advanced ice water facial method that I don't have the appropriate grindset to comprehend, and does anyone know an ice rink that opens at 3:30am?

  • SwellJoe3 hours ago
    I guess they never asked Claude to explain tmux to them.
    • Imustaskforhelp18 minutes ago
      Do you think that they might even know what tmux is? I bet a lot of them might not even know about it if they are carrying half open laptops through airports, smh
  • tdeck3 hours ago
    I'm confused, if AI told are making these people more efficient, why do they need to use them to do "work" every waking moment?
  • Imustaskforhelp19 minutes ago
    Just buy a cheap 7$/yr vps if they are so invested, or simply change it so that lid can be turned off without turning off the computer.

    I don't understand what they get with this chicanery of half open though :-/

  • ronsor3 hours ago
    Have they tried using remotely hosted servers instead?
    • lifestyleguru3 hours ago
      There is no cloud it's just someone else's computer. Some else will have to keep the lid open.
      • kevmo3142 hours ago
        You can keep my computer's lid open for the low price of $25/mo
        • lifestyleguruan hour ago
          I'll need access to your webcam. I don't really believe in "The Cloud".
          • vidarh34 minutes ago
            Hey, if there's a market for people watching me sit at my desk and stare at my screens for $25/month, you're welcome to. It will be very boring.
  • momo263 hours ago
    The next version of MacOS should have a choice to "keep alive while the screen is closed" lol
    • johng3 hours ago
      Aren't there a few utilities for that, like caffeinate, etc?
      • Crestwave18 minutes ago
        `caffeinate` is primarily designed to prevent sleeping due to inactivity. It doesn't prevent sleeping due to lid closure while on battery.

        `sudo pmset -b disablesleep 1` (0 to revert) works, although it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.