Hacker News: fractallyte

New comment by fractallyte in "The Defeat of Nuclear Deterrence"

fractallyte — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 17:38:48 +0000

If Ukraine stops defending, it will cease to exist. russia can stop its invasion any time it wants to.

Big difference.

New comment by fractallyte in "The Defeat of Nuclear Deterrence"

fractallyte — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 15:32:16 +0000

In the early stages of the invasion, the russians had plans for an amphibious assault on Odesa[1]. These were scrapped when they realized they'd be obliterated before even touching shore. Nevertheless, the orcs still talk frequently of "returning" "Odessa" to mother russia.

[1] https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260610-has-russia-given...

New comment by fractallyte in "The Defeat of Nuclear Deterrence"

fractallyte — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 15:06:43 +0000

Since when has Ukraine's defense against the russian invasion been a "proxy war"? Your very first sentence destroyed any credibility the rest of your comment had (not that there was much worth reading anyway).

New comment by fractallyte in "The Defeat of Nuclear Deterrence"

fractallyte — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 14:56:17 +0000

Correction: russia was stopped.

Odesa is still on the cards: one of the most important ports on the Black Sea, and a long-time cultural and historic prize.

And Putin wants control of the entire Black Sea coast, and Moldova. Furthermore there are clear signs of aggression toward the Baltics, which may be interpreted as preparation for a similar invasion.

New comment by fractallyte in "How to Earn a Billion Dollars"

fractallyte — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 14:33:24 +0000

You don't have to advertise that you're a billionaire. You can live quite normally while quietly changing the world as a "side job".

New comment by fractallyte in "How to Earn a Billion Dollars"

fractallyte — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 14:13:28 +0000

Only up to a certain threshold – after which you can afford "creative" accounting which reduces the tax burden and restores the compounding effect ;-)

New comment by fractallyte in "Trophic memory, deer, and a unique scientific object (2024)"

fractallyte — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 11:51:20 +0000

I'm surprised this hasn't received more attention. Pattern memory, morphogenesis, collective intelligence of cells? This is HUGE!

This could be biology's "quantum physics" moment... Direct physical evidence that supports Rupert Sheldrake's "morphic resonance".

New comment by fractallyte in "Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher"

fractallyte — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 07:59:50 +0000

I always use a screenshot – reliable, no internet connection needed. Never had a problem so far...

New comment by fractallyte in "Slightly reducing the sloppiness of AI generated front end"

fractallyte — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 22:52:31 +0000

llmzengarden?

New comment by fractallyte in "Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows"

fractallyte — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:27:17 +0000

Projectors and electronic whiteboards elevated lessons for me. Ever see a science teacher try to draw a galaxy or nebula on a blackboard, and try to describe the awesomeness of it using just words?

Math concepts, especially visualizations, become so much more accessible.

One math teacher in my school used an analog overhead projector as part of his workflow: he would write math on a long transparency roll, sitting at his desk, facing the class, so every student could see exactly how their work should be reasoned-about and laid out properly. He could rewind (literally) to any previous point in the lesson.

As always, it comes down to one's ability to use the tools effectively.

New comment by fractallyte in "Switzerland wil have a referendum to cap population at 10M"

fractallyte — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 07:51:18 +0000

And precisely how is that relevant to soil science?

You're ridiculing subjects you clearly don't understand.

New comment by fractallyte in "Switzerland wil have a referendum to cap population at 10M"

fractallyte — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 20:51:59 +0000

You're basically reluctant to accept the fact that such a calculation is possible. That says more about you than the competence of mathematicians and ecologists...

New comment by fractallyte in "Switzerland wil have a referendum to cap population at 10M"

fractallyte — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 07:54:27 +0000

This is covered in the linked article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrying_capacity#Mathematics

Other variables to factor in would include cultural/esthetic ones: how much would a population tolerate a reduction in the idyllic/scenic nature of their landscape, merely to accommodate crops for a rising population?

(This is what I referred to as "quality of life" in another post.)

New comment by fractallyte in "Switzerland wil have a referendum to cap population at 10M"

fractallyte — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 07:47:13 +0000

I counter you with soil degradation, which is gradual (over decades, even centuries), and extremely difficult to reverse (millennia).

We may yet discover that Malthus was right.

Then what??

https://eu.boell.org/en/SoilAtlas-soil-degradation

https://earth.org/95-of-the-earths-soil-on-course-to-be-degr...

https://www.fao.org/about/meetings/soil-erosion-symposium/ke...

New comment by fractallyte in "Switzerland wil have a referendum to cap population at 10M"

fractallyte — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:35:31 +0000

Why would you assume the population cap is arbitrary? There's a calculable limit to the population an area of land can sustain. (Yes, some agricultural practices can mitigate that, but that should also be weighed against culture and history, and how much change is acceptable.)

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

New comment by fractallyte in "Switzerland wil have a referendum to cap population at 10M"

fractallyte — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:28:50 +0000

It's being proposed in order to maintain quality of life. No one wants to be overcrowded. This is a sane solution: collectively agree on the maximum tolerable population. Then it's down to individual responsibility to obey the norms of one's society.

Edit: unless you're Swiss, your opinion is irrelevant. Swiss voters have a right to decide how they want to live. They're not beholden to EU laws; they can make their own sovereign decisions, and everyone must respect that.

New comment by fractallyte in "Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design"

fractallyte — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:20:17 +0000

You're not bad at writing. You have your own style. Keep it up! This was an interesting article.

New comment by fractallyte in "Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design"

fractallyte — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:19:27 +0000

I strongly disagree. I found the whole article interesting and enlightening – I certainly wasn't aware of the topic before, and I'm glad it was posted on HN.

Furthermore, it didn't feel LLM-generated to me. Quirky, yes; nothing wrong with that.

New comment by fractallyte in "Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design"

fractallyte — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:16:54 +0000

I am a native English speaker, and I find accusations of LLM-writing exceedingly annoying – to the point where I sometimes intentionally write in that style, just so I can hit back with a profanity.

New comment by fractallyte in "Formal Verification Gates for AI Coding Loops"

fractallyte — Sun, 24 May 2026 14:39:02 +0000

Because it's exactly relevant, and adds more to the discussion.