Hacker News: alkyon

New comment by alkyon in "Ask HN: Shouldn't we increase flagging threshold?"

alkyon — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:36:11 +0000

Very good point. As an added benefit, new accounts would be gathering karma slower by creating valuable comments as opposed to some more or less random submissions.

Ask HN: Shouldn't we increase flagging threshold?

alkyon — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:55:03 +0000

For some reason there is a huge discrepancy between karma you need to downvote comments (over 500) and flag submissions (31 according to https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/blob/master/README.md#flaggingvouching).

As flagging often creates a lot of controversy, shouldn't we make it more difficult for relatively new accounts to flag submissions by increasing the threshold to let say 100 or even 200?

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47750258

Points: 2

# Comments: 2

The Fall of the Shah

alkyon — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:03:00 +0000

Article URL: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v07/n12/malise-ruthven/the-fall-of-the-shah

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47579064

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by alkyon in "Woman who never stopped updating her lost dog's chip reunites with him after 11y"

alkyon — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 12:14:16 +0000

Reminds me of this superb part of the Odyssey where Odysseus is reunited with his dog, Argos, after 20 years of absence. Odysseus was in disguise, but it's only him that could pass the test and recognize the returning king, after which he died.

https://scaife.perseus.org/reader/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.t...

New comment by alkyon in "Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans."

alkyon — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:40:26 +0000

Still preferable to just pasting it without revealing the source. LLMs have become a brain prosthesis for some people which is incredibly sad.

New comment by alkyon in "Algebraic topology: knots links and braids"

alkyon — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:29:07 +0000

Horned sphere is a recursive beauty. Nice thing to refresh my memory on path-connected vs simply connected propety.

New comment by alkyon in "Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed"

alkyon — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 15:16:46 +0000

We don't know what happened with the bulk of Epstein's private island videos. Who knows, they may well have resurfaced in Tel Aviv or Moscow. Both countries have a lot to gain from this disastrous campaign.

New comment by alkyon in "US economy sheds 92,000 jobs in February in sharp slide"

alkyon — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 01:42:02 +0000

You're recursively funny :]

New comment by alkyon in "Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans"

alkyon — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 01:36:05 +0000

Pizza like its predecessor Focaccia (panis focacius in Roman times) was initially tomato-less. Even today many pizzerias offer pizza bianca in their menus

New comment by alkyon in "The influence of anxiety: Harold Bloom and literary inheritance"

alkyon — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 01:20:46 +0000

Bloom was a rare exception to Lem's law: nobody reads anything and even if they read they don't understand, and even if they understand they immediately forget

New comment by alkyon in "US economy sheds 92,000 jobs in February in sharp slide"

alkyon — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 13:06:47 +0000

Already discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47275035

New comment by alkyon in "U.S. Capabilities Are Showing Signs of Rot"

alkyon — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 15:48:53 +0000

I was able to read it whole without gift link but with reader mode turned on

Google faces lawsuit after Gemini allegedly instructed man to kill himself

alkyon — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 16:33:36 +0000

Article URL: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/04/gemini-chatbot-google-jonathan-gavalas

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47249971

Points: 8

# Comments: 1

New comment by alkyon in "Iran war wreaking havoc on shipping and air cargo, could create global delays"

alkyon — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:24:40 +0000

The only thing Trump achieved so far was replacing Khamenei with Khamenei. Otherwise, it's a total disaster from the strategic point of view. Making the US that much weaker in the long run is somewhat ironic for a guy wearing a MAGA hat.

Los Alamos Primer

alkyon — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 12:41:04 +0000

Article URL: https://blog.szczepan.org/blog/los-alamos-primer/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46923393

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by alkyon in "Dark Alley Mathematics"

alkyon — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 12:37:32 +0000

I also enjoyed: https://blog.szczepan.org/blog/los-alamos-primer/

Although there is small error regarding the neutron number calculation. I assume 3/4 of the neutrons are lost and then the author can multiply by 1/4 to get the result that the naturally occurring uranium is safe (as its neutron number is less then 1)

New comment by alkyon in "Child prodigies rarely become elite performers"

alkyon — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:05:27 +0000

For the super-prodigy category, someone like Mozart or Chopin, who could compose symphonies or polonaises at the age of 8, it's almost certain to maintain their elite status in adulthood (as opposed to someone who just plays the piano well or skipped a class or two in elementary school).

New comment by alkyon in "The longest Greek word"

alkyon — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 18:57:50 +0000

Probably it's Middle Liddel, I haven't decided to buy the unabriged version due to its unwieldy size, high prize and because it is 80 years old. Apart from this, it's fully available online.

Just started relearning Ancient Greek after twenty years and I highly recommend Cambridge Greek Lexicon.

New comment by alkyon in "Show HN: Jmail – Google Suite for Epstein files"

alkyon — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 10:57:50 +0000

Not surprisingly Lolita was one of them:

https://www.jmail.world/search?q=lolita

New comment by alkyon in "Size of Life"

alkyon — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 17:28:51 +0000

They do have genes and are subject to natural selection so to say the least they are a clear borderline case.