<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: purplejacket</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=purplejacket</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:44:57 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=purplejacket" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "The seven hour explosion nobody could explain"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The paper on which the article is based,<p><a href="https://watermark02.silverchair.com/stag328.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAA1YwggNSBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggNDMIIDPwIBADCCAzgGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQM5SK0P0H4LB8k3KnLAgEQgIIDCd-y15FimTxce-v_9jlrSyjAfdknm1QjI6DuOreaiG2EejhnhBzPzTjJTTn6Fb2gW-XDnk-LagSUCTWDYjN7e9wkGG-b_eAPAlicRCj-N0aNQy6gMeTlTF4nba_nB33WL8kNYFubur8lnxDRrjhOEgs3i6jGeMVUAhwSc0_b-j9kG8ogLubEpB1y3S7pUf9DKn0Te6cuGXjc_ZbLNtyReGpJzmD1IYzNa-vEk5xmb2_Drwo5CSuL9F0nryIrVLLTQL-v6CV7ng0qDwrhdc9oPgVXiolrBMlbiuFMpdvQ3g-oA2Ih6Ez8dR4VgRkq_d8O67l8RWVK_Mc4aSFNpWpBJmOymPUJyKWkxFmEJ6JS5MDg5qMVC4SpWiME_TtywWgBeXQ1UQ1UNvYQ0_--2KHmUECTV96xVVw5zHRWpICL7-LENuh67ai4ulI1r7QVP-mjqmQec3oti0ohuJybh5ebQOwMdh09TatNaJHclily_swgTh-UUq-_K2J3VDuRq-pahNfOvhYS_EO3Ok-E44Vbo1quWWY1brQ91mjA4nxHp3j3uTYUrxxkI_WzqloPqGdzXYeeDCWpTRsGxlzWTtTn1WA__AjH34J0PtKqFUbJ1xfV97TTvV1CDIK4PXW-L-JYQzDqYrAakoDrZZzzWeHeiv67YQWAY5i76Ifnn7LWNkyl1_aYObFxY0Lh0ZQrVlMNuDBu2hCpzUL6GRA0uguzGXDETjNX3wbEIMRqRYRdrOKB-NmEvnIjZ13iXdQLwQTJ57rstJiMcGb60YIGM-B0iBl4cGrlHWZSe7ZGtmxXrHna58MAXQdpQVKdmQmf00H04dVWuRIgd00GfMnPp4MXR-j_GAsuRXW_zPZkP11jOQwpuv2hIEY7azfbTvK2jiRM9NXABa1zAb5DwopvsFp5OSyZEwSa7log-y603bRIUZJ7IoW0pD5UXkMbo6da1QWKK0-IDZDecVpaww9WVwlyY1Co36Jb2qQi4bYtRSYZN8HgGjn_DJtVDCseTmte5JbtEuu2-soH_aRXiQ" rel="nofollow">https://watermark02.silverchair.com/stag328.pdf?token=AQECAH...</a><p>mentions 3 three alternative interpretations for GRB 250702B:<p>1. Ultralong Collapsars: These stellar-engine models can explain long durations but struggle to account for the specific timing of this event. Specifically, they cannot easily produce a 12-hour gradual rise in X-rays followed by a multi-hour peak, as the jet would have to fight through a massive progenitor star while its power is still very low.<p>2. White Dwarf (WD) Tidal Disruptions: While an Intermediate Mass Black Hole (IMBH) disrupting a White Dwarf could theoretically provide the necessary gravity, the numbers do not add up for this specific burst. The timing between flares is too long for a WD scenario, and the total energy required would demand an unrealistically narrow jet. When physical constraints like detonation are factored in, this model is considered highly unlikely.<p>3. Micro-TDEs (Main Sequence star by a stellar-mass BH/NS): This is considered a competitive alternative that can explain the burst's sub-second variability and long duration. However, it faces two main issues: current afterglow data suggests the surrounding gas density matches an IMBH environment better than a micro-TDE environment, and the burst’s extreme energy would require very high jet efficiency or a very narrow beam.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 20:02:35 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47470723</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47470723</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47470723</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Building a new Flash"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Sorry, but can someone explain to me why Flash failed? Was it because Apple killed it, or other reasons? Because not open source? Too heavy? I never really got the story, or only got bits and pieces. I know a lot of people liked Flash.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 01:29:32 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47256315</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47256315</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47256315</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Little Free Library"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I had my handyman build one of these in front of our house. Also, I make a hobby of biking around to circulate books between different little free libraries in my extended neighborhood.  I've found some amazing books over the years, things that were very different from my typical prior experience of books.  I like this aspect, that it can be eye opening.  Each little free library has it's own style of books.  Some are better at handling magazines.  Some see a lot of book movement, some much less. These factors influence how I move books around from one to another.<p>Suggestions on building a little free library:
1) By far the number one priority:  Waterproof.  If it's not waterproof, in my opinion you're actually doing a disservice to the community, rather than a service.  And have an angled roof for proper drainage.
2) Don't make it too deep.  Definitely not more than 18 inches.  Probably 15 inches is a good depth.
3) If you can, make two levels: One level for tall books, another level for short books.
4) Don't make it too tiny, because then it's hard to get books in and out of.
5) A good solid stand so it doesn't fall over.
6) A good latch that will resist wind. Magnetic is good. I also like to have a magnet plus a hook that can be used for backup. Also with time it's nice to have the second option in case the shape changes a little and the magnet doesn't work.
7) You might try making a mockup out of cardboard so you can see the physical size and get a sense of how many books will fit.
8) Not a building tip, but: Try to arrange the books to look nice. If you have few books you can face some of them to attract attention.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 04:07:33 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47213776</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47213776</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47213776</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Magnus Carlsen Wins the Freestyle (Chess960) World Championship"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Magnus is just so tenacious.  From a lost position he snatched a victory.  Take a look at the five hour mark (plus or minus) for the crucial moments of the key game:  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6ey5Up4S7w" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6ey5Up4S7w</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 16 Feb 2026 04:20:16 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47030850</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47030850</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47030850</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Show HN: Bubble sort on a Turing machine]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Bubble sort is pretty simple in most programming languages ... what about on a Turing Machine?  I used all three of Claude 4.6, GLM 5, and GPT 5.2 to get a result, so this exercise was not quite trivial, at least at this time. The resulting machine, bubble_sort_unary.yaml, will take this input:<p>111011011111110101111101111<p>and give this output:<p>101101110111101111101111111<p>I.e., it's sorting the array [3,2,7,1,5,4].  The machine has 31 states and requires 1424 steps before it comes to a halt.  It also introduces two extra symbols onto the tape, 'A' and 'B'. (You could argue that 0 is also an extra symbol because turinmachine.io uses blank, ' ', as well).<p>When I started writing the code the LLM (Claude) balked at using unary numbers and so we implemented bubble_sort.yaml which uses the tape symbols '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7'.  This machine has fewer states, 25, and requires only 63 steps to perform the sort. So it's easier to watch it work, though it's not as generalized as the other TM.<p>Some comments about how the 31 states of bubbles_sort_unary.yaml operate:<p><pre><code>  | Group | Count | Purpose |
  |---|---|---|
  | `seek_delim_{clean,dirty}` | 2 | Pass entry: scan right to the next `0` delimiter between adjacent numbers. |
  | `cmpR_*`, `cmpL_*`, `cmpL_ret_*`, `cmpL_fwd_*` | 8 | Comparison: alternately mark units in the right (`B`) and left (`A`) numbers to compare their sizes. |
  | `chk_excess_*`, `scan_excess_*`, `mark_all_X_*` | 6 | Excess check: right number exhausted — see if unmarked `1`s remain on the left (meaning L > R, swap needed). |
  | `swap_*` | 7 | Swap: bubble each `X`-marked excess unit rightward across the `0` delimiter. |
  | `restore_\*` | 6 | Restore: convert `A`, `B`, `X` marks back to `1`s, then advance to the next pair. |
  | `rewind` / `done` | 2 | Rewind to start after a dirty pass, or halt. |
</code></pre>
(The above is in the README.md if it doesn't render on HN.)<p>I'm curious if anyone can suggest refinements or further ideas.  And please send pull requests if you're so inclined.  My development path:  I started by writing a pretty simple INITIAL_IDEAS.md, which got updated somewhat, then the LLM created a SPECIFICATION.md.  For the bubble_sort_unary.yaml TM I had to get the LLMs to build a SPEC_UNARY.md because too much context was confusing them.  I made 21 commits throughout the project and worked for about 6 hours (I was able to multi-task, so it wasn't 6 hours of hard effort). I spent about $14 on tokens via Zed and asked some questions via t3.chat ($8/month plan).<p>A final question:  What open source license is good for these types of mini-projects?  I took the path of least resistance and used MIT, but I observe that turingmachine.io uses BSD 3-Clause.  I've heard of "MIT with Commons Clause;" what's the landscape surrounding these kind of license questions nowadays?</p>
<hr>
<p>Comments URL: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47008236">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47008236</a></p>
<p>Points: 12</p>
<p># Comments: 2</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 21:43:04 +0000</pubDate><link>https://github.com/purplejacket/bubble_sort_on_tm</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47008236</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47008236</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Does this mean that now I can watch Bugs Bunny on Netflix?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 05 Dec 2025 16:02:54 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46163101</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46163101</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46163101</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Determination of the fifth Busy Beaver value"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>This paper is delightfully readable.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 17:38:04 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45278916</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45278916</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45278916</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Polish CEO's company review bombed after stealing hat from child at tennis game"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Maybe Anonymous has some ideas on how to handle this one.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 31 Aug 2025 22:06:48 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45087543</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45087543</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45087543</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "A German ISP changed their DNS to block my website"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Cops don't become psychopaths
rather:
Psychopaths become cops.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 24 Aug 2025 20:40:23 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45007568</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45007568</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45007568</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Mozilla to shut down Pocket and Fakespot"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>A read-it-later app.  Pocket, you had one job.  Just one job.  And for a while that was my killer app on mobile.  But, as we see, the enshitification of the web continues.<p>"What began as a read-it-later app evolved into something much bigger. After Mozilla acquired Pocket in 2017, we invested in building our content curation and recommendation capabilities so people everywhere can discover and access high quality web content. While Pocket is shutting down, we will continue to invest in this promise—through the New Tab experience, our email newsletter, and more."</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 22 May 2025 19:23:40 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44065762</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44065762</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44065762</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Take this on-call rotation and shove it"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Here's an idea:  Compensate any on-call work received during off hours at 10X the normal hourly rate.  E.g., if my salary is $150K per year, then my hourly pay rate is about $75 per hour, so compensate my on call work at a rate of $750 per hour.  Thus if I get a call at 10pm, log in to my laptop and work for 30 minutes to resolve the issue to a satisfactory level, then I pocket $375.  That puts a financial incentive on companies to structure their on call protocols so that only the most important calls are handled.  And I can envision variations on this theme.  Different sorts of on-call disasters could offer bids for how much they're worth to fix based on some automated rubrick, and anyone on the ENG team could pick these up on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Or various combinations of the above for a guaranteed backup person.  But the companies should offer enough incentive to make it worthwhile.  And this is in the companies' own best interest.  To maintain a workforce that can think clearly during the normal work, to have a good reputation in the industry, to get good reviews on Glassdoor, etc.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 22:28:59 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43498945</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43498945</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43498945</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Boris Spassky: 1937–2025"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Here's a FEN of the famous position from the Spassky-Fischer world championship match where Fischer weirdly played Bxh2 on move 29 and Spassky went on to win the game:<p>5k2/pp4pp/4pp2/1P6/8/P2KP3/5PPb/2B5 w - - 0 30<p>Full PGN here:<p>[Event "Spassky - Fischer World Championship Match"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "1972.07.11"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Boris Spassky"]
[Black "Robert James Fischer"]
[ECO "E56"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "111"]<p>1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5
7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Ba5 9. Ne2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Bb6 11. dxc5 Qxd1
12. Rxd1 Bxc5 13. b4 Be7 14. Bb2 Bd7 15. Rac1 Rfd8 16. Ned4
Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Ba4 18. Bb3 Bxb3 19. Nxb3 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Rc8
21. Kf1 Kf8 22. Ke2 Ne4 23. Rc1 Rxc1 24. Bxc1 f6 25. Na5 Nd6
26. Kd3 Bd8 27. Nc4 Bc7 28. Nxd6 Bxd6 29. b5 Bxh2 30. g3 h5
31. Ke2 h4 32. Kf3 Ke7 33. Kg2 hxg3 34. fxg3 Bxg3 35. Kxg3 Kd6
36. a4 Kd5 37. Ba3 Ke4 38. Bc5 a6 39. b6 f5 40. Kh4 f4
41. exf4 Kxf4 42. Kh5 Kf5 43. Be3 Ke4 44. Bf2 Kf5 45. Bh4 e5
46. Bg5 e4 47. Be3 Kf6 48. Kg4 Ke5 49. Kg5 Kd5 50. Kf5 a5
51. Bf2 g5 52. Kxg5 Kc4 53. Kf5 Kb4 54. Kxe4 Kxa4 55. Kd5 Kb5
56. Kd6 1-0</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 28 Feb 2025 10:16:25 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43203935</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43203935</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43203935</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Linux running inside a PDF file via a RISC-V emulator"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>See?  This is _exactly_ why Facebook banned Linux.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 01 Feb 2025 02:55:53 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42895207</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42895207</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42895207</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Natural Number Game: build the basic theory of the natural numbers from scratch"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Umm ... the site stopped working?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 19 Dec 2024 08:15:02 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42459479</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42459479</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42459479</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Is Chrome the New IE? (2023)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Ummm ... 2024 - 2007 = 17</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 18 Nov 2024 18:37:37 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42175445</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42175445</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42175445</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "The letter ℘: name and origin? (2017)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>So this letter ℘ is distinct from another unicode symbol  (that I can't copy-paste here?), which we often use for "power set" in math; it's given by U+1D4AB.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 15 Nov 2024 18:07:02 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42149348</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42149348</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42149348</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "An adult fruit fly brain has been mapped"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Thanks</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Oct 2024 20:25:29 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41724675</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41724675</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41724675</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Californian fed up with stolen mail sends Apple AirTag to herself to catch thief"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Just do a search for "The Lock Picking Lawyer," you'll have loads of fun seeing what he can do, sometimes with the most minimal of tools (like a thin strip of metal cut from a soda can).</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 23 Aug 2024 17:45:06 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41331193</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41331193</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41331193</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Apple TV+'s Neuromancer Series Takes Another Step Forward"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Hm.  Does Apple dare produce something that is actually gritty, ala Bladerunner, a world in which technology is not seen by the author as being sexy the way Apple likes, rather the backdrop to a story that still reflects the human condition in all the venality of our current day and age?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jul 2024 03:25:18 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40853286</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40853286</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40853286</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by purplejacket in "Apple TV+'s Neuromancer Series Takes Another Step Forward"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Lol!  Nice one.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jul 2024 03:12:23 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40853223</link><dc:creator>purplejacket</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40853223</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40853223</guid></item></channel></rss>