<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: istultus</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=istultus</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2026 08:30:18 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=istultus" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Ireland's Inability to Defend Itself"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Ireland is such a useful tax haven that it's within all of our interests to protect it </kidding not kidding></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 06 Dec 2025 21:42:36 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176833</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176833</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176833</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Ireland's Inability to Defend Itself"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>That assumes that their mission is to stop anything. UNRWA's sole mission (like most large-scale nonprofits - not suggesting they're unique) is to continue to procure money for its 30,000 or so salaried posts.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 06 Dec 2025 21:40:11 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176815</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176815</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176815</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Booking.com cancels $4K hotel reservation, offers same rooms again for $17K"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>There's nothing morally wrong with not knowing when you want to take a holiday in advance and acting accordingly to cover your bases. What an interesting sentiment...
The only thing wrong with what she did was not to read the fine print and realize that paying for free cancellation meant paying Booking.com to pay on her behalf rather than directly paying the hotel.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:36:24 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46035222</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46035222</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46035222</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Booking.com cancels $4K hotel reservation, offers same rooms again for $17K"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>True! Thankfully under Socialism there wouldn't be a Grand Prix in the first place, and the Hotel would be government-run and only house Party members during special events anyway.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:31:47 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46035166</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46035166</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46035166</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Britain's railway privatization was an abject failure"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Bias - an inclination of temperament or outlook [1]<p>Politically colored = an inclination of outlook<p>[1] <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bias" rel="nofollow">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bias</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2025 14:33:53 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45915344</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45915344</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45915344</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Type 1 diabetes reversed by new cell transplantation technique"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The important thing is that these things get funded. It doesn't matter what institute funds them. If an institute becomes stultified and corrupt, there's no reason to champion it over creating another.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 28 Feb 2025 12:47:14 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43205025</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43205025</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43205025</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "It's not a crime if we do it with an app"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>It really does suck that US companies have belatedly figured out that demand is elastic and jacked up the prices. Where I live that happened long ago.<p>The thing is that he doesn't present any alternative. I know he's some variant of a communist, so does he suggest government control for everything? As if that solved anything? I guess what you find on empty market shelves is cheaper.<p>Truly a question - what's your solution? What's a solution? People have been arguing that everything is getting worse since forever. I've yet to see people organize and stop buying Pepsi or Coke. Should the government do it for them? Do you propose AI will solve the Socialist Calculation Problem? You're probably against AI as well...</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 26 Jan 2025 15:59:48 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42830935</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42830935</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42830935</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "A marriage proposal spoken in office jargon"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Well, "win" as a noun is a word from Old English attested before 1150 [1].
And as a word firmly in the language it has its own specific uses in comparison to "victory". It would be silly or pompous to call a win in a sports game a "victory," for example. It would similarly be out of place to call a victory in a battle a win.
"Congrats *on the big win" doesn't sound out of place.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.oed.com/dictionary/win_n1?tab=factsheet#14538168" rel="nofollow">https://www.oed.com/dictionary/win_n1?tab=factsheet#14538168</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jan 2025 16:17:24 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42727296</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42727296</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42727296</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "What were the best books you read this year?"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Also read it this year - very good.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 28 Nov 2024 21:43:57 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42268715</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42268715</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42268715</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Chemists Create World's Thinnest Spaghetti"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I would use "elucidate"  first and foremost, but "decipher"  or "unravel"  also work.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 25 Nov 2024 22:58:10 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42240974</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42240974</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42240974</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "How gophers brought Mount St. Helens back to life in one day"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The only reason this Ancient Greek definition holds is because it is a dead language. Prescriptivism cannot stop natural language change. Any "X should only mean Y" statement is a dead-end conservative approach.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 11 Nov 2024 20:26:24 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42110186</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42110186</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42110186</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>How have they improved quality of life? Asthma?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 07 Nov 2024 20:32:29 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42080622</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42080622</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42080622</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Alexander the Great's tunic identified in royal tomb at Vergina?"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>As usual, "Conjecture Presented as Fact in Headline"<p>They found a fabric in a royal tomb in Greece that fits the description of Alexander's famous sarapis.
What is more likely - that this is Alexander's sarapis itself or that a very rich guy had one made just like it?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 01 Nov 2024 13:38:26 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42016809</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42016809</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42016809</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Israel’s Secret Stealth Drone"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>What's the logic of the first sentence? I can't parse it - is that it should be illegal for intelligence agents to be heads of state? Or is it that states with powerful armies shouldn't have former intelligence agents as heads of state? Or what?<p>As for the second question - why is every generation of the left charmed by a different set of psychopathic terrorist groups?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 23 Oct 2024 15:33:32 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41926092</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41926092</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41926092</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Christopher Columbus may have been Spanish and Jewish, documentary says"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Makes sense. Now that the Graun's chief enemy is Israel and Colonialism, why not combine two favored targets into one hateful guy? I'm also pretty sure he was cis-gendered.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 14 Oct 2024 13:22:33 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41837312</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41837312</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41837312</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "The mystery of why left-handers are so much rarer (2016)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>This has to take the cake for "most spurious correlation."
The most coherent reading is "places which report more homocide data are correlated with reporting more left-handedness"</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 09 Oct 2024 21:25:14 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41792821</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41792821</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41792821</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Pediatricians Created the Peanut Allergy Epidemic"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Ugh, we're going through the cycle of the author of the book going around spreading his little tidbits in all the main sites/podcasts (I heard him on Econtalk).<p>For us rest-of-the-worlders - note that Peanut allergy is not an invention - there is a small minority of people with peanut allergies, even after exposure to peanuts as infants. However, there is a larger subset of people who developed peanut allergy in the US through full avoidance of peanuts, so that when later in life they came into contact with them, it started an IgE-mediated cascade (according to the model, on the second exposure to peanuts) that could've been avoided had their body been habituated to peanuts earlier in life.<p>The real thing to learn here is how suggestions become dogma in human society. "We don't know what's causing allergy, maybe just avoid it?" becomes "We [some formal group of pediatric allergologists] suggest to avoid peanuts" becomes "Our guideline is to avoid peanuts".<p>The point of Evidence-Based Medicine is exactly to avoid this, but note that this is the standard affairs in anything else in life. Iterative improvement is built on doing something until it stops working/starts harming and then doing something else. It's just magnified where human life is concerned - Military, Aviation, Medicine, etc.<p>Just like in Aviation - the best solution is process - to admit mistakes and force changes and improvements without knee-jerk opprobrium and litigation (here it's obvious that no medical association should suggest something extreme if there's no evidence for it one way or the other, duh) - but creating sensationalist headlines demonizing a group just makes sure that future mistakes will continue to be covered up.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 19 Sep 2024 16:49:47 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41593810</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41593810</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41593810</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "The Continued Trajectory of Idiocy in the Tech Industry"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>This is a commonplace corollary to Gell-Man Amnesia/Knoll's Law[1] - in truth every single field/category in the universe has varying degrees of stupidity, it's just that you only reacts emotionally to the stupidity in the fields you have a personal attachment to.<p>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#Gell-Mann_amnesia_effect" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#Gell-Mann_amn...</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 18 Sep 2024 12:57:06 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41579149</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41579149</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41579149</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Mushroom learns to crawl after being given robot body"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>As with any "New York Times Journal of Medicine"-type article, the author of the article didn't understand/chose to inflate the actual research - what they did was create a system that captures the fungus's electrical activity and used those pulses to arbitrarily assign movement rules to the robot. There's no suggesting of the fungus controlling the robot - merely a showcase that we have a system to capture the electrical activity of a mushroom. For all intents and purposes we have a robot with a motor instead of any other indicator - could've been a monitor showing a graph.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 07 Sep 2024 23:31:38 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41477096</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41477096</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41477096</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by istultus in "Linear Algebra Done Right [pdf]"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I think the book's name confuses true neophytes who've never even heard of vector space and assume that this book will teach them applied linear algebra. I always thought that this book is for people like me who have already played around with matrices and remember most of the theorems (the intuitive ones), but are left with a creeping sensation of "I know the magic works, but ~why~ does it work?". Needless to say this is a go to reference for me whenever I see a need to refresh something of the basics.<p>Or in short - the Yin and Yang of mathematics - sometimes you need the excellent dry theory and sometimes you need the more concrete but messy application, and in truth you will always vacillate between the two - this is the former.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 01 Sep 2024 15:07:28 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41417564</link><dc:creator>istultus</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41417564</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41417564</guid></item></channel></rss>