Hacker News: frm88

New comment by frm88 in "Elon Musk Just Gave Europe a Reason to Replace American Technology"

frm88 — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 03:46:11 +0000

Iceye and Nokia are building a European replacement, going live in 2028. https://www.reuters.com/business/nokia-iceye-make-satellite-...

New comment by frm88 in "The 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement is no longer viable"

frm88 — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:19:47 +0000

The US Military: Bigger Polluter Than Most Countries

If the US Defense Department were a country, it would have ranked 59th worldwide in emissions in 2024

https://thebulletin.org/2026/08/mission-impossible-quantifyi...

I recommend any doubters to watch Abby Martin's documentary Earth Greatest Enemy.

New comment by frm88 in "AfD Leak: What 421,179 Hacked Emails Show about the German Far Right"

frm88 — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 06:43:23 +0000

Der Anteil nichtdeutscher Tatverdächtiger liegt bei Vergewaltigung/sexueller Nötigung bei 38,5 Prozent (konstant gegenüber dem Vorjahr)

So, 61.5% of all suspected rapists/sexual assaulters were German.

New comment by frm88 in "The gap in shared understanding of LLM capability is widening"

frm88 — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 06:06:46 +0000

It honestly escapes me why you would judge the juxtaposition between everyday life of everyday people and a very specialised minority as snarky or curmudgeonly. Was there too much emotional impact?

There are so many comments on HN that would justify your attention with regard to this specific rule. This is not one of them.

New comment by frm88 in "US imposes sanctions on ICC hours after former judge wins Nobel Peace Prize"

frm88 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:11:56 +0000

I'm on the outside, looking in. To me this reads bigotry, whatever the originl point was.

New comment by frm88 in "US imposes sanctions on ICC hours after former judge wins Nobel Peace Prize"

frm88 — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 05:56:05 +0000

Trump strikes deal with Putin to supply Russian diesel to U.S. and global markets

Didn't he previously announce 100% tariffs on India and China if they buy Russian petrol?

The legislation signed by Trump authorises tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil or natural gas, subject to specified exceptions.

I looked it up. He did. https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/donald-trump-r...

New comment by frm88 in "Why should I have to pay more for buses if I don't use a smartphone?"

frm88 — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 08:25:49 +0000

German bus services are not publicly owned anymore and as private companies or conglomerates of companies they are free to implement whatever payment methods they see fit. I personally cannot speak to Nordrhein Westphalia or this particular bus company serving the airport but I had a similar experience in another state. The fare is significantly cheaper via smartphone (which refuses to install on Graphene) and the busdriver in question had no means to handle cash.

Ticket machines are still available, but only in highly populated areas or on locations like central (railway) stations. All others have been eliminated.

New comment by frm88 in "ICC judge on what U.S. sanctions mean for her and global courts"

frm88 — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 11:10:58 +0000

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2022-04/news/biden-policy-al...

New comment by frm88 in "On social reality in China"

frm88 — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 09:29:15 +0000

It's someone who isn't culturally Chinese commenting on Chinese culture to a non-Chinese audience with the framing of solving the problem of proselytizing "Rationalism" to Chinese culture.

This.

A person raised in the US since age 4 and citing internet sites like the Chinese equivalent to RoyalRoad and Twitter as generalised examples of Chinese culture, nationalism and rejection of empathy should not in any way be taken seriously. Proselytising only enhances the disqualification, as does his endorsement of a complete misinterpretation of the Three Body Problem. There was a lot of xenophobia going on in that book and the positive characters were all Chinese.

New comment by frm88 in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

frm88 — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 20:10:05 +0000

I'm sold. Thank you so much.

New comment by frm88 in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

frm88 — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:22:23 +0000

here you go: https://www.waterstones.com/author/ignacio-fern-ndez-moreno/...

New comment by frm88 in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

frm88 — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:16:37 +0000

Can you elaborate a little, please? I've read all Mieville and before I venture into this monster, I'd like to read your thoughts. How does it compare to his other works?

New comment by frm88 in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

frm88 — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 05:58:21 +0000

Koenig used to have a tumblr, which is where he first published his sorrows, very intriguing. I follow him, but he has long gone silent.

New comment by frm88 in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

frm88 — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 05:55:36 +0000

Hiron Ennes is brilliant. Deep without fluff or lenghty exposition. If you liked The Works of Vermin - her other book, Leech is also brilliant. Another very good gothic fantasy novel is Tower of Mud and Straw by Yaroslav Barsukov.

New comment by frm88 in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

frm88 — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 05:46:28 +0000

I just finished The Tainted Cup and moved on to the next. I've read every Bennet there is, his writing is compelling. One of my auto-buy authors, same as Claire North. I paticularly enjoyed her Gameshouse series.

New comment by frm88 in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

frm88 — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 05:37:55 +0000

It's not really similar,since qntm writes more in the vein of SCPs - paranormal occurences while The Memory Police is more sinister in an an ethical and political way, a bit like state mandated Alzheimer.

New comment by frm88 in "Ask HN: What are you reading?"

frm88 — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 05:19:55 +0000

It's brilliant and it touches on so many topics worth thinking about; I'm still of two minds re. the ancilliaries, slaves or avatars?

If you like scifi that touches on ethical questions, Iain Banks Culture series is very good in that regard, particularly Player of Games and Use of Weapons. I buddy-reread the last one with an internet friend this year and via our discussions got so much more out of it.

New comment by frm88 in "EU Floats Canada Becoming the Bloc's First 'Associate Member'"

frm88 — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:36:50 +0000

Not exactly misfired, the title is somewhat clickbaity, 5 diplomats pointed to several aspects of difficulties with Ceta - nobody really "rebuffed" anything. The article is also somewhat hostile to the EU in general, is that a common notion on the FT?

Anyways here's an archived link https://archive.is/RtfFb

New comment by frm88 in "Iranian banks' SSL certificates are being revoked due to OFAC sanctions"

frm88 — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:29:51 +0000

Because Iran is a member of BRICS and BRICS establishes its own payment system as an alternative to SWIFT: https://observerdiplomat.com/brics-officially-announces-fina... on top of which they have digital payment systems with globally the most users - all of that bypassing US banks, so that the US no longer has a means to control/sanction trade and payments.

TL;DR the world is leaving the premises where the US unilaterally decides which population should starve.

New comment by frm88 in "David Sacks: OpenAI and Anthropic Don't Need Regulations to Pace Frontier Models"

frm88 — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 06:52:11 +0000

The Chinese government does not concern itself with American AI, they have just reached an agreement with the BRICS members:

the BRICS countries have been developing initiatives focused on the ethical governance of this technology, joint industrial development, and the formation of independent technological alliances.

https://bricspolicycenter.org/en/publications/cooperation-in...

The attached .pdf gives more details.