Hacker News: ktallett

New comment by ktallett in "'Buy less' campaigns don't work"

ktallett — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 08:30:40 +0000

I think they do but only when combined with other acts such as less constant advertising of products. This would be the equivalent of saying AA meetings don't work, whilst permanently waving a bottle of alcohol in someone's face.

I would also say buy less, buy only what you need to replace and can't be repaired, and buy more sustainable and long lasting, are three different tactics, that can all work together but can target different people individually. There will be different socioeconomic factors that perhaps affect which theory certain groups of people go for.

New comment by ktallett in "Race Against Time to Save Brixton Market from Private Equity"

ktallett — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 17:10:14 +0000

All these markets have been ruined. They used to be multi ethnic hotspots for the local communities. Say Tooting market for example, had Jamaican music store, a butchers, a pet store, and a English style cafe in a small area. Now it's just gentrified with coffee shops.

New comment by ktallett in "New (Old) 3D Golf: Porting PC-9801 and Virtual Boy to Mega Drive"

ktallett — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 17:08:20 +0000

Classic golf games oddly in some ways give me a more realistic feeling of being out on the course than the complexity and beautiful graphics of today. It's likely partially due to the simplicity of the inputs that better represent how little control I feel I have over the ball

New comment by ktallett in "Hospitals and universities repurposing drugs at lower cost"

ktallett — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:59:00 +0000

This isn't completely true at least in the UK. It is simply that the manufacturer is no longer responsible legally. The GMC allow prescibing of unlicensed meds. However the change needs to be made to the pathway. So many issues in the NHS has been due to pathway problems.

New comment by ktallett in "Consciousness likely not unique to earthlings, paper says"

ktallett — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:03:00 +0000

Philosophy is often a key stepping stone to science. Wondering what could be, is taking someone to the next step. If we ever want to do something that isn't just small increments on the past this is needed.

New comment by ktallett in "Leaving Mozilla"

ktallett — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:23:55 +0000

Do Mozilla really still need volunteers in this day and age? Tbh even in 2015. They are established enough to not need to exploit goodwill.

New comment by ktallett in "The Cypherpunk Library"

ktallett — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:49:46 +0000

Is anyone going to the neocypherpunk event in Berlin this weekend?

New comment by ktallett in "Surveillance is not safety: A statement on the UK's latest threat to privacy [pdf]"

ktallett — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:40:58 +0000

Won't somebody think of the children appears to be the world's most effective method of bringing in restrictive and privacy destroying laws, yet they just don't work.

New comment by ktallett in "Surveillance Is Not Safety: A statement on the UK's latest threat to privacy [pdf]"

ktallett — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:40:02 +0000

The average person doesn't have any knowledge on this system.

New comment by ktallett in "Unix in East Germany (GDR) (1990)"

ktallett — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 07:02:22 +0000

I think you are spot on. Due to the inability to buy parts from the world over, you had to repair any personal machines you had whether it be computers to cars, therefore access and knowledge was essential. A replica of that ethos today would be MNT Research.

New comment by ktallett in "Naphtha shortages in Japan"

ktallett — Sat, 30 May 2026 07:14:17 +0000

Japan need to use far less of it. Their levels of waste in plastic and so on, is still ridiculously high in comparison with many places.

New comment by ktallett in "The Internet Has Become Too American to Trust"

ktallett — Fri, 29 May 2026 21:10:39 +0000

This is a very valid heading.

New comment by ktallett in "Why German trains are never on time anymore"

ktallett — Fri, 29 May 2026 21:09:49 +0000

Any more? You mean for the past decade or so at least.

New comment by ktallett in "Unix in East Germany (GDR) (1990)"

ktallett — Fri, 29 May 2026 19:47:52 +0000

Flea markets in East Germany even now are fascinating for classic tech, classic tech books, and many other things. Even as simple as going to one at Mauerpark or the Karlshorst race track, you will see working examples of classic DDR tech that you can buy and explore. Just like people explore classic macs, it's as interesting to see.

New comment by ktallett in "EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products"

ktallett — Thu, 28 May 2026 21:28:54 +0000

This assumes that we can't pass items on in life which we can or even repurpose, such as the USB key.

New comment by ktallett in "EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products"

ktallett — Thu, 28 May 2026 15:51:52 +0000

There is some validity to a marketplace selling items from a larger range of retailers, however the quality is so poor for many items that it simply is no good for society in any way.

New comment by ktallett in "A Eureka machine that thinks like nature and explores what AI cannot"

ktallett — Thu, 28 May 2026 08:40:03 +0000

They have replicated a neuromorphic algorithm (brain like) on a FPGA, but this implementation at this scale is doubtful to have any improvement over a brute force effort. Quite a few companies feel this is the way forward, although the end goal would be potentially better using photonic chips than qubits and obviously better than an fpga.

The title is especially buzzword based with minimal meaning for the actual paper.

New comment by ktallett in "A Eureka machine that thinks like nature and explores what AI cannot"

ktallett — Thu, 28 May 2026 08:36:59 +0000

This is not especially related to quantum computing. Neuromorphic computing uses an algorithm that tries to replicate how the brain works and then in this case implements it and runs it on an FPGA. There are quite a range of papers on this concept and multiple companies are doing just this to show their work. It is often used as it should theoretically avoid such a brute force approach.

New comment by ktallett in "MIT president: Why so many optimistic scientists are losing heart"

ktallett — Thu, 28 May 2026 06:13:24 +0000

Working in academic research, I can say clearly that it can be hard to self motivate at times. Especially whereby everything is focused on IP and hence a profit. We have gone beyond the stage of science to widen our knowledge and we are moving closer to industry. On the whole we avoid letting each other get too far ahead by sharing enough to show off and get more funding but not enough that others can replicate it.

In my view, you need to have two projects going on; one that satisfies funders and pays the bills, possibly the latest buzzword. Then alongside that a more theoretical project in an area that you are passionate about. Plod along in the background with the latter to make the former easier.

Satisfying the task masters who are often very stuck in their ways and risk adverse is the hard part. Pushing the boundaries to give out a little more than they would like is essential.

New comment by ktallett in "What Gets Kept"

ktallett — Wed, 27 May 2026 20:37:17 +0000

I've read all his works and I was a big fan. But I do still believe it does attract a specific age. Orwell had some excellent work, and I didn't insult him. However I am wary of romanticising a way of life. His early works were based on his real experiences but I can't promote essays or books based on a brief entrance into that life for research as it's not quite the same. I believe all forms of media are best when they are based on your real lived experience and not roleplayed. Especially music and literature. Oasis are a particularly great example of this; you can't really write songs about a life of poverty and hope when you no longer live that.