<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Hacker News: bregma</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=bregma</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2026 18:19:19 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=bregma" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "California farmers are struggling to sell grapes as demand for wine drops"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>This is an incredibly disingenuous and specious argument.<p>The discussion is about US wine production and consumption. You present the aggregate total vale of all US exports in US dollars to 6 significant digits. Does the variance of the volume of wine exports in litres even show up in those 6 signifcant digits?<p>Consider: (1) is six significant digits of precision justified, or is it insignificant accurancy? (2) Do those aggregate numbers take into account inflation? (3) Do those aggregate numbers take into account the (not insignificant) devaluation of the US dollar? (4) Do those aggregate numbers include both goods and services?<p>No, if you were to make an honest argument by quoting US exports, you need to limit it to the volume of US wine exports in litres. Misdirection can be a great tool of propaganda but is not a useful contribution to interesting intellectual discourse.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:02:26 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49891165</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49891165</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49891165</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "What California is learning from solar panels built over irrigation canals"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Then you stack the courts with bent judges. I mean, what's the point of taking all that money if it doesn't get you what you want?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2026 11:06:44 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49814254</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49814254</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49814254</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Do you really think he'll bother running for a third term when all he needs to do is declare the election results invalid and stay in office?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 05 Sep 2026 11:22:44 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49575494</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49575494</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49575494</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "What 2000 Buried Underpants Revealed About Where Soil Is Most Alive"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>A bolt of broadcloth is far less titillating than the thought of touching someone's smalls.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 10:36:22 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49508055</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49508055</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49508055</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "“I just chose words carefully”"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>In other words you could say constraint is the progenitor of creativity.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 10:31:16 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49508016</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49508016</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49508016</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "RISC-V: They Should Have Known Better"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Is there a <i>named</i> meat option?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2026 12:19:09 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49319368</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49319368</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49319368</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Ultraviolet Bird Photography"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Sure, ultraviolet photoreceptors are cool. You know what would be cooler? What if birds, and their dinosaur ancestors, had evolved infrared phototransmitters that can lase? The world would be a different place. Imagine how upon hearing the distinctive call of the Red-Eyed Vireo animals and people would scramble for cover lest they become its next charred meal. On the other hand, self-roasting chickens would be a godsend for the industry.<p>Thank goodness birds are not real or this might have been a thing.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2026 10:54:16 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49309517</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49309517</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49309517</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Mushroom behind 'tiny people' hallucinations identified"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>So does social media. Keep scrolling man, just one more hit.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 10:27:56 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49283930</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49283930</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49283930</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Newfoundland has a hard bread shortage, but why do they eat it?"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Without fish and brewis Newfoundland is just... a big rock.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2026 10:49:54 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49270396</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49270396</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49270396</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Parsers don't have to be complicated"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I don't think it is difficult to accept that fundamentals should be taught.<p>We spend years learning basic arithmetic like the addition of integers. You could very well argue that there is no need for that either because everyone has a calculator app on their phone. This is how dark ages begin.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 10:29:37 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49208322</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49208322</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49208322</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "If coding has been solved, why does software keep getting worse?"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>They made programming so simple any idiot could do it. So they do.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:53:40 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49033722</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49033722</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49033722</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Spider venom kills varroa mites without harming honeybees"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>"Ohh, soo cute! Here little kitty! OMG... RUN!!!"</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 10:28:50 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48843642</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48843642</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48843642</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Spider venom kills varroa mites without harming honeybees"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The catch is that native North American pollinators are adapted to native North American flowers and have a great deal of difficulty pollinating introduced species that are native to Eurasia. Given the vast majority of commercial crops are not native plant species, the only way to mass pollinate them is to use non-native pollinators.<p>Also, few native North American bee species are eusocial. That's another quality one would need to be able to use them the same way as commercial honeybees are used today.<p>The there is the issue of honey production.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 10:26:03 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48843612</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48843612</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48843612</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Open Source Low Tech"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>You know what they say: ship a village 1000 bicycles and they ride for a day. Teach a village to make bicycles and they ride for the rest of their lives.<p>The counterargument is, of course, "but what's in it for me?"</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:14:43 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48730606</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48730606</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48730606</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "More evidence is consistent with possible ancient life on Mars (2025)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>It's because the more important question of "how can I personally profit from this?" usually takes precedence.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 10:37:05 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48717409</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48717409</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48717409</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>"Lymne" refers to an infection by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, a bacteria closely related to syphillis. There are plenty of other tick-borne diseases (including localized staph infections at bite sites that can lead to necrotizing fasciitis)<p>Just like with syphillis, there is a cheap and simple cure that is more effective than any known vaccine. If it's caught in time. Prevention is even cheaper.<p>The standard treatment for Lyme also just happens to be the standard treatment for many of the other tick-borne diseases, so you're still better-off taking a course of doxycycline after a tick byte than getting a vaccination against Lyme.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 11:22:46 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706387</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706387</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706387</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Ottawa summers are hot and very humid but the ticks disappear during that season.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 11:11:28 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706334</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706334</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706334</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The black-legged tick season in Ottawa is March through June and again September through November. Summer (deerfly season) is just too hot for them and they go to ground.<p>We do all the best camping in January and February. Why, you might ask, when it's usually colder than -20 C? No ticks. Also no mosquitos, blackflies, or deerflies but mostly no ticks.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 11:10:20 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706329</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706329</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706329</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>You want the wrinkles to be conspicuous. It lets everyone know you can afford linen.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 11:00:25 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706270</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706270</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706270</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by bregma in "Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Perhaps a nice relaxing week at my private Caribbean island will help cure you?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 10:56:31 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706245</link><dc:creator>bregma</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706245</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706245</guid></item></channel></rss>