Hacker News: fractallyte

New comment by fractallyte in "The mystery animal on an ancient god's head"

fractallyte — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 08:26:10 +0000

I don't understand why this should be such a mystery.

Show it to a biologist or naturalist (and without the horrendous dark blue background behind the black head – didn't anyone look at the article before it was published?!), and the first response would probably be: "aardvark!" (or possibly "anteater!").

The aardvark's range covers much of the African continent; conceivably, it could have extended to Egypt, several thousand years ago.

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

New comment by fractallyte in "We shall dwell amidst wonder and glory for ever: On weird fiction"

fractallyte — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:38:29 +0000

Also: the classic essay by H P Lovecraft: https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/shil.aspx

(The last line is especially memorable!)

New comment by fractallyte in "ReFrame – The EPaper Camera"

fractallyte — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 05:37:16 +0000

This dithering could also be an interesting variation: https://dead.garden/blog/how-my-images-are-dithered.html

(Featured few days ago on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49006096)

New comment by fractallyte in "Hunter-gatherers introduced fish to a mountain lake 7000 years ago"

fractallyte — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 05:58:19 +0000

An alternative vector: "cloud seeding" (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/sep/09/science.rese...)

Charles Fort collected numerous data for his famous "The Book of the Damned" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Damned

New comment by fractallyte in "Third Drone Shot Down in Three Days in Romanian Territory"

fractallyte — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:56:08 +0000

On the contrary, the video gives an excellent analysis of Putin's options, and it's definitely worth watching.

You're right that Putin believes he's infallible, and the Nielsen makes the point that Putin often picks the most stupid option. But it also emphasizes that Europe needs to be ready to act if Putin decides to escalate, and if the US chooses to abandon NATO.

New comment by fractallyte in "Third Drone Shot Down in Three Days in Romanian Territory"

fractallyte — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:11:16 +0000

russia's invasion of Ukraine is absolutely solvable. It's just a disgrace that Ukraine is left to do it alone, with huge casualties (civilian as well as military), and inconceivable destruction.

New comment by fractallyte in "Alien World Chemistry Found Inside Meteorite That Struck New Jersey Home"

fractallyte — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:10:06 +0000

Color Out of Space (2019) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5073642/)

Evolution (2001) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251075/)

Both fun movies, in completely different ways!

New comment by fractallyte in "Alien World Chemistry Found Inside Meteorite That Struck New Jersey Home"

fractallyte — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:06:32 +0000

"Our cameras in Northford, Connecticut, and Douglassville, Pennsylvania, as well as a doorbell camera in Wayne, New Jersey, captured the meteor, and from that we measured its trajectory... The path traced back to low in the asteroid belt."

I don't doubt it, but that's an astounding trajectory estimation...

New comment by fractallyte in "Atomic Physics in Pure Anglo-Saxon"

fractallyte — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:27:23 +0000

And here's the original, in the mid-Dec 1989 issue of Analog Science Fact & Fiction magazine (at the bottom of the page) on the unparalleled Luminist Archives website:

https://readitfree.org/SF/AN_2.htm

(Luminist is one of the jewels of the internet, right up there with Archive and Wikipedia. Support them!)

New comment by fractallyte in "The bottleneck might be the air in the room"

fractallyte — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 09:17:49 +0000

Aranet detectors are superb, and – best of all! – made in Latvia.

Support European!

https://aranet.com/en/home

New comment by fractallyte in "Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition"

fractallyte — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 16:32:50 +0000

Precedent: A 1944 science fiction story accurately described an atomic bomb – so much so that it prompted a visit from the FBI to the NY office of Astounding Science Fiction. Definitely a point of pride for editor John W Campbell.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadline_(science_fiction_stor...

New comment by fractallyte in "Underwater suit-wearing cyborg insect capable of diving and terra-aqua travel"

fractallyte — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 15:43:13 +0000

This is a studied and documented propaganda tactic: flood the information space with conflicting accounts, in order to muddy the issue.

This statement summarizes it nicely:

"The purpose of propaganda is not to make you believe something. It is to make you believe nothing.

Then you will do nothing."

https://x.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1909932857948004738

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...