2. Something like a [Lisp machine] that is optimized for functional-style programming with immutable data.
[Ternary computers]: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Ternary_computer
[Lisp machine]: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Lisp_machine
Heap trees were probably optimized for binary, since that's what we use. Perhaps there would be a ternary version of heap trees? Or a totally different ternary data structure that serves the same purpose?
[1]: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/446664/what-is-the-...
(Parent comment happened to start as one of these "* * *" comments.)
I've seen these ephemeral "* * *" comments before, and even another comment asking about them.
And I've seen it in 100% of your replies to me, when I've never seen it for other replies. So I wonder if it's related to how you use HN
Edit: I truly did not believe you, but it appears to maybe be the “delay” feature [0]. Users with a delay set might show the asterisks until the delay passes.
My apologies.