Hacker News: UncleSlacky

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Wolfram Language and Mathematica version 15"

UncleSlacky — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 10:43:31 +0000

You can also emulate a Pi using QEMU to run Mathematica (slowly!) on other platforms, see e.g.

https://www.thelinuxvault.net/blog/how-to-run-the-raspberry-...

New comment by UncleSlacky in "A Nipkow Disk Mechanical TV Simulator"

UncleSlacky — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 10:38:24 +0000

Obligatory mention for tvdawn.com, which I've just discovered has gone, but has been archived:

https://web.archive.org/web/20260413085517/https://www.tvdaw...

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Entanglement Builds Space-Time. Now "Magic" Gives It Gravity"

UncleSlacky — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 20:10:29 +0000

Well, interesting things are expected to happen above the Schwinger limit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwinger_limit

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Testing the WWI concrete ships and WWII concrete barges"

UncleSlacky — Sat, 30 May 2026 17:18:57 +0000

Reminds me of "pykrete" which was also a potential construction material for ships (notably aircraft carriers) proposed during WWII:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pykrete

New comment by UncleSlacky in "I hated writing–until I learned there's a science to it(2024)"

UncleSlacky — Thu, 28 May 2026 21:25:00 +0000

Works for ChatGPT!

New comment by UncleSlacky in "I hated writing until I learned there’s a science to it (2024)"

UncleSlacky — Thu, 28 May 2026 21:24:22 +0000

Something like Feynman's algorithm:

1. Write down the problem.

2. Think very hard.

3. Write down the solution.

New comment by UncleSlacky in "I hated writing–until I learned there's a science to it(2024)"

UncleSlacky — Thu, 28 May 2026 21:20:41 +0000

It's essentially saying that you start with an outline, then progressively fill in the sections, iterating and providing more detail at each iteration. I do something similar, which is why I prefer to work in outline mode (e.g. in MS Word) as it is the most flexible and "minimalist" mode for structured writing.

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Mini Micro Fantasy Computer"

UncleSlacky — Thu, 28 May 2026 10:09:10 +0000

Sounds like Scratch:

https://scratch.mit.edu/

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Mini Micro Fantasy Computer"

UncleSlacky — Thu, 28 May 2026 10:06:53 +0000

You could just use RISC OS on the PI for BBC Basic.

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Ask HN: Why didn't the C64 come with Simons' BASIC in the box from 1983 onward?"

UncleSlacky — Sun, 24 May 2026 20:40:09 +0000

Wasn't it because Jack Tramiel was too cheap and just wanted to make use of his existing MS BASIC licence?

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Time to talk about my writerdeck"

UncleSlacky — Sun, 24 May 2026 15:35:36 +0000

Fonts are generally included in DOS applications, but the point of a "writerdeck" is to be distraction-free, hence no need for wifi.

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Time to talk about my writerdeck"

UncleSlacky — Sat, 23 May 2026 21:53:10 +0000

Why not just use DOS? e.g.:

https://github.com/lproven/usb-dos

At least the laptops that can still run DOS natively tend to have fairly good keyboards...

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Lost Images from the 1945 Trinity Nuclear Test Restored"

UncleSlacky — Thu, 21 May 2026 20:43:01 +0000

"MOISTURISE ME!"

New comment by UncleSlacky in "An Apple (II) for Teacher"

UncleSlacky — Tue, 19 May 2026 19:00:53 +0000

They might be thinking of the Bell+Howell clone:

https://www.oldcomputers.net/bellandhowell.html

https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-bell-and-howell-apple-ii/

New comment by UncleSlacky in "How to make your text look futuristic (2016)"

UncleSlacky — Wed, 13 May 2026 17:29:42 +0000

Not to forget the Orion Pictures logo:

https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Orion_Pictures

New comment by UncleSlacky in "David Attenborough's 100th Birthday"

UncleSlacky — Sat, 09 May 2026 13:56:44 +0000

You're not thinking fourth-dimensionally!

New comment by UncleSlacky in "We still don't have a more precise value for "Big G""

UncleSlacky — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:38:35 +0000

It's also a notoriously difficult experiment to perform. When I did it at university, the value of G I got was out by an order of magnitude - and that was considered a good result!

New comment by UncleSlacky in "I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it"

UncleSlacky — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 10:50:04 +0000

Maybe you could get together with the SpaceHey guy:

https://spacehey.com

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25245740

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in the same photo (2010)"

UncleSlacky — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:29:07 +0000

Here's the link mentioned in the article:

https://web.archive.org/web/20090107061334/http://www.americ...

Apparently she was 4 at the time and lived next door:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Roosevelt#Childhood

New comment by UncleSlacky in "Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in the same photo (2010)"

UncleSlacky — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:25:30 +0000

Presumably Cornelius Roosevelt.