frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Made with ♥ by @iamnishanth

Open Source @Github

Open in hackernews

Mustard Watches (1990)

https://girard.perso.math.cnrs.fr/mustard/article.html
91•fscaramuzza•1d ago

Comments

VOIPThrowaway•1d ago
Love mine. I can discreetly squirt mustard onto boring hors d’oeuvres.
layer8•1d ago
French version, as a proper PDF: https://girard.perso.math.cnrs.fr/moutarde.pdf
comrade1234•1d ago
Is there a garmin siracha device?
layer8•1d ago
There should be a suitable structure-preserving morphism.
rhplus•1d ago
An ideal sriracha timepiece would include an element of time-travel, allowing the operator to summon quantities of the Huy Fong product from before the lawsuit with their chili pepper supplier.
failrate•21h ago
I have one full of thyme.
CobrastanJorji•1d ago
Theorems 1 and 2 are a little weak. For theorem 1, once a mustard watch reaches a sufficiently enormous size, material weaknesses become relevant problems to overcome, and it is not clearly shown that adding a few more grains will in fact allow the watch to still operate. And theorem 2 doesn't discuss how much time is needed to measure the current time. I'm not entirely sure this has been peer reviewed. No notes on theorem 4, though.
dosinga•1d ago
material weaknesses would be more of a problem for ketchup watches. dijon mustard is strong enough so you don't require that much for it to become an issue
SyzygyRhythm•19h ago
You can prove it easily by induction. If Wm(n) is a mustard watch containing n micrograms of mustard, then it suffices to show that Wm(0) exists, and that if Wm(n) exists then Wm(n+1) must exist. Obviously a single additional microgram of mustard could not overload the structure of a watch. Therefore, Wm(10^100) or any other size must exist.
yo_yo_yo-yo•1d ago
What precisely is the complaint the actual author is making wrt temporal logic? Surely it is more than the assertion that there is no such canonical one?

I can’t decode French elitism.

layer8•1d ago
I think it’s the lack of mustard. From the first paragraph: “what is the point of knowing time if you cannot get mustard?”
xorbax•1d ago
Actually a LOL line. A long with his very skilled and meaningful schematic.
aredox•16h ago
>I can’t decode French elitism.

It is a clear case of "langue-dans-la-joue"

(or is it "langue-dans-la-fesse"?).

samzub•12h ago
It would not be "langue-dans-la-fesse" for sure, even if this expression is very humoristic itself! Tongue in cheek can be said "pince-sans-rire" : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pince-sans-rire
Unearned5161•1d ago
highly entertaining read for a mustard fan, but what is this demonic presentation of a pdf
thesuitonym•11h ago
Given the date of publication and the hand drawn figure, it's likely there never was a PDF.
aurizon•1d ago
I would find more use from a mustard-cat treat watch
gwern•1d ago
See also hunting lions using math: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29106064
nradov•1d ago
In the classic 2002 feature film "Undercover Brother" the titular character had a hot sauce watch which enabled him to eat white people food. James Bond was surely jealous.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279493/

CalRobert•20h ago
After moving somewhere with criminal amounts of unexpected mayonnaise I have referred to that scene often. Great movie.
brantmv•1d ago
I'm always surprised how many other mathematicians don't know what I'm talking about when I reference this paper. It should be in the canon of math essays.
pash•23h ago
I’m not sure what the author had in mind when he wrote the paper, but its light-hearted content reveals well how to structure a math paper: (1) state the problem and why the reader should care about it, (2) state how the paper builds on prior work, (3) summarize the main results, and then (4) develop them in theorem-proof style.

An economics paper in the same spirit (though of course economics addresses more practical problems than mathematics, in this case whether one should leave the toilet seat up or down) shows quite well how to present and develop an economic model [0].

0. https://jaypilchoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Economic-I... [PDF]

ahazred8ta•21h ago
Economics humor is a bit droll: https://www.ft.com/lol-404
gorgoiler•22h ago
Mixing powdered mustard at the point of delivery would optimize for freshness. Something akin to large construction site concrete, which is mixed from raw materials on demand, but built into a pocket watch.

Just in time mustard if you will.

mbasho•20h ago
I often wonder if the mustard watch is a microcosm of all of our inventions so far.
Pinus•18h ago
I’m not sufficiently familiar with French culture or maths culture (and barely at all with their intersection!) to tell whether this is satire/parody, or just bonkers in general. Which is it?
ookdatnog•17h ago
As I understand it (also neither a mathematician nor French), it's a parody on a certain type of math paper, I'm guessing in abstract algebra, where the author does nothing but present a theory that is a "generalization" of some other theories, with no concern whether this generalization is helpful in any context.

So you get a "mustard watch", a thing which behaves simultaneously as a watch and as a mustard container, and finding a situation where that would be useful is an exercise for the reader.

perthmad•15h ago
It's a satire of a typical kind of paper from logic, in particular modal logic. Jean-Yves Girard has been very vocal against these academic papermills where the authors consider ad-hoc meaningless logical systems. For a more in-depth critique of semantics, you can also read the broccoli logic paper: https://girard.perso.math.cnrs.fr/meaning1.pdf
technothrasher•14h ago
This reminds me that I was going to write up a paper on my breakthrough encabulator escapement watch.
mickey475778•12h ago
The real engineering challenge here was surely preventing accidental 'dips' into condiments. I'm imagining a picnic nightmare. But seriously, this is hilariously delightful. A true testament to the creative, albeit sometimes bizarre, spirit of 90s product design.

Pension Fund investors demand Musk put in a 40 HR week at Tesla

https://www.ft.com/content/6b528d41-7b0b-43d5-8eac-8bba4c9dcb96
2•FireBeyond•6m ago•0 comments

Penguin poop may help preserve Antarctic climate

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22052025/penguin-poop-could-preserve-antarctic-climate/
1•gmays•7m ago•0 comments

A Disillusioned Musk, Distanced From Trump, Says He’s Exiting Washington

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-doge.html
3•jbegley•12m ago•0 comments

Sorry, I Still Think Mr Is Wrong About Usaid

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/sorry-i-still-think-mr-is-wrong-about
1•feross•12m ago•0 comments

The problem isn't phones. It's apps

https://world.hey.com/horses/the-problem-isn-t-phones-it-s-apps-c978ca26
1•freediver•13m ago•1 comments

I Lived Through Collapse. America Is Already There

https://indi.ca/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there/
4•UncleOxidant•20m ago•2 comments

The Design Change That Took 114 Lives [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXaBxX4ieFY
1•gmays•20m ago•0 comments

Unsong Book

https://unsongbook.com/
2•mooreds•22m ago•1 comments

Introducing: Webbed Sites [video]

https://briefs.video/videos/introducing-webbed-sites/
1•pentagrama•22m ago•0 comments

Randomness Requirements for Security

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4086
2•mooreds•23m ago•0 comments

Show HN: We built an AI scheduling assistant with zero code written by a human

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/alphie/aldoldihjcbhgidbpdjokmhelganhfgg
1•Riphyak•24m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Remote Dev Jobs Aggregator Sorted by Parental Leave/PTO

https://tangerinefeed.net/remote/software-engineer-jobs?sort=parental&page=1
1•nikhizzle•29m ago•0 comments

We Tested Google Veo and Runway to Create This AI Film. It Was Wild [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US2gO7UYEfY
3•bicepjai•30m ago•0 comments

US Trade Court blocks Trump tariffs

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2025/05/us-trade-court-blocks-trump-tariffs-siding-with-oregon-attorney-general.html
1•UncleOxidant•34m ago•1 comments

Functional Programming and Theorem Proving in Lean 4

https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs99/
1•rck•36m ago•0 comments

Show HN: PostcardLove – Send Real Postcards from Your Phone

https://postcardlove.com
1•popupeyecare•38m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Handover.ai – Knowledge transfer made easy

https://www.handover.ai/
3•phlcastro•47m ago•0 comments

Sky, Natural Computing for the Macintosh

https://sky.app/
2•alwillis•54m ago•0 comments

Chinese paraglider cheats death after flying to 28,000ft

https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3312139/chinese-paraglider-cheats-death-after-flying-28000ft-handed-6-month-ban
1•gscott•54m ago•1 comments

Trapped Priors as a Basic Problem of Rationality

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/trapped-priors-as-a-basic-problem
1•bilsbie•1h ago•0 comments

Lia Radiological Accident

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lia_radiological_accident
2•valar_m•1h ago•0 comments

Show HN: I "vibed" a interactive classes tht teaches seniors 2 detect AI content

https://truthortech.com/
1•yknld•1h ago•4 comments

I automated my dev workflow with GitHub, Dagger, and AI Agents (video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8ODrvXuPac
2•gk1•1h ago•0 comments

Show HN: Tapflow – Built for devs/designers with way too many docs

https://www.tapflow.ai/
1•hewmax•1h ago•0 comments

Weaponized AI chatbot floods Canadian city councils with climate misinformation

https://www.desmog.com/2025/05/28/a-weaponized-ai-chatbot-is-flooding-canadian-city-councils-with-climate-misinformation/
4•anigbrowl•1h ago•0 comments

US trade court rules Trump overstepped his authority with global tariffs

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8xgdj9kyero
7•healsdata•1h ago•1 comments

Remembering the ISP That David Bowie Ran for Eight Years

https://hackaday.com/2025/05/19/remembering-the-isp-that-david-bowie-ran-for-eight-years/
2•Stratoscope•1h ago•1 comments

The Web is the Next Platform (1995)

https://benslivka.com/2017/08/15/the-web-is-the-next-platform-5271995/
3•mooreds•1h ago•0 comments

Nvidia beats on earnings and revenue as data center sales jump 73%

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/28/nvidia-nvda-earnings-report-q1-2026.html
2•ivape•1h ago•0 comments

Court says Trump doesn't have the authority to set tariffs

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/28/trump-tariffs-trade-court-ruling
10•rguiscard•1h ago•1 comments