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Why to Not Write a Book

Published: 2024-09-17 | Origin: Hacker News

The author discusses the reasons for not wanting to turn their website, Gwern.net, into a book, noting that for many writers, attempting to write a book can be detrimental. Although publishing a book is often seen as a significant achievement in Western culture, the author realizes that their desire is more about the idea of being a published author rather than the act of writing a book itself. They express a longing for the identity of an author without the commitment and effort that writing entails. This reflects a deeper

What are the best options for Amazon SDEs thinking about leaving over RTO policy

Published: 2024-09-17 | Origin: Hacker News

The conversation touches on various themes regarding corporate behavior and employee dynamics. One comment suggests that some executives may feel the need to justify headcount to validate their roles. Another compares companies like Amazon and Oracle to lawn mowers, implying they operate without moral considerations, focusing solely on their functions. There's an emphasis on recognizing that corporations are not people and the importance of understanding power dynamics in negotiations. A user shares a personal experience about being approached by Amazon for re-hiring, indicating that they weren't blacklisted despite

Indiana police are seizing FedEx packages containing cash

Published: 2024-09-17 | Origin: Hacker News

In April, police seized a box containing nearly $43,000 in cash at the Indianapolis FedEx distribution center, which has been in government custody for four months without any criminal charges filed. The intended recipient, Henry Minh Inc., a jewelry wholesale business operated by Henry and Minh Cheng, is now filing a class action lawsuit against the state of Indiana, alleging unlawful package seizures at the FedEx facility. The lawsuit cites that the Marion County prosecutor's office has indicated that cash shipments are often linked to criminal

Chain of Thought Empowers Transformers to Solve Inherently Serial Problems

Published: 2024-09-17 | Origin: Hacker News

The content discusses the arXiv Accessibility Forum and highlights arXivLabs, a platform for developing and sharing new features on the arXiv website. It emphasizes that both individuals and organizations involved with arXivLabs support the values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. The forum invites ideas for projects that could benefit the arXiv community. Additionally, users can receive notifications about the operational status of arXiv via email or Slack.

FreeBSD 13.4-Release Announcement

Published: 2024-09-17 | Origin: Hacker News

On September 17, 2024, the FreeBSD Release Engineering Team announced the release of FreeBSD 13.4-RELEASE, the fifth release of the stable/13 branch. This release focuses on maintenance, primarily consisting of bug fixes, driver updates, and new versions of externally-maintained software, with few new features due to its timing in the legacy stable branch. FreeBSD 13.4-RELEASE is available for multiple architectures, including amd64, i386, and

Nyxpsi – A Next-Gen Network Protocol for Extreme Packet Loss

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: Hacker News

The content focuses on a next-generation network protocol called nyx-ψ (nyxpsi), which is designed for reliable data transfer in conditions of high packet loss and unstable networks. It utilizes innovative networking strategies and error correction mechanisms, outperforming traditional protocols such as TCP and UDP in these challenging environments. The protocol is built for scalability and robustness, making it suitable for applications that require high reliability and performance. Benchmark tests comparing nyx-ψ with TCP and UDP show its effectiveness in transferring data under various

Twice as many devs won’t deliver twice as much code — on correlation vs causation

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/programming

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Skip Machine Learning: Start with Simple Heuristics

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/programming

The article emphasizes the importance of approaching problems without relying on machine learning (ML) as a first step. It highlights that successful implementation of ML requires data, a solid pipeline, and high-quality labels, making preliminary solutions often more effective without it. Key takeaways include: 1. **Rule #1**: Don't hesitate to launch a product without using ML. Initial solutions can often be derived from simpler heuristics rather than complex models. 2. **Expert Consensus**: Several machine learning practitioners agree that

Oracle, it’s time to free JavaScript.

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/programming

The author addresses Oracle regarding the JavaScript trademark, claiming that Oracle has abandoned it, leading to confusion in the developer community. JavaScript is now a widely used programming language that many do not realize is trademarked by Oracle. The author argues that this trademark fits the legal definition of abandonment, as it has not been actively used in any Oracle products. The history of the trademark dates back to 1995 when it was created by Netscape and later acquired by Oracle through its purchase of Sun Microsystems in

Over-engineering 5x Faster Set Intersections in SVE2, AVX-512, & NEON

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/programming

The content describes a blog post titled "Over-engineering 5x Faster Set Intersections in SVE2, AVX-512, & NEON," which discusses the complexities and significance of set intersections in databases and search engines. Set intersections are crucial for tasks like TF-IDF ranking, table joins in OLAP databases, and graph algorithms. The author highlights that while they can provide substantial performance improvements (up to 10x speedups) through SIMD instructions, they remain underutilized in

The Hidden Costs of Over-Collaboration

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/programming

The article discusses the pitfalls of excessive collaboration within Agile and Kanban methodologies. While collaboration is often praised for enhancing delivery speed, customer satisfaction, and team engagement, it is frequently applied in the wrong context. Many teams prioritize internal collaboration over effective communication with customers, leading to a culture that overlooks the reasons behind collaboration needs. This overemphasis on collaboration acts as a temporary fix for dependency-related issues without addressing deeper problems such as slow handoffs or inadequate approvals. As collaboration becomes the default approach for

Launch HN: Silurian (YC S24) – Simulate the Earth

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: Hacker News

Recent advancements in weather forecasting have seen significant improvements, particularly with the emergence of deep learning technology. Traditional forecasting accuracy has improved at a rate of one additional day of skill every decade; however, recent developments using GPUs and deep learning have accelerated this progress. Companies like NVIDIA, Google DeepMind, Huawei, and Microsoft have been researching deep learning models that predict weather using data rather than relying heavily on atmospheric physics, yielding better results than conventional methods. Notably, the ClimaX and Aurora projects at Microsoft

Mitosis in the Gray-Scott model : an introduction to writing shader-based chemical simulations

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/programming

The content discusses the Gray Scott Model of Reaction Diffusion, a simulation that demonstrates the emergence of complex patterns from simple chemical reactions and components. Users can interact with the simulation by clicking to add elements and resetting it as needed. It highlights the computational challenges of simulating such systems on CPUs due to the heavy processing required at each time step, suggesting that GPUs are more suitable for these parallel computations. The article serves as an introduction to writing these types of simulations using GLSL ES, specifically focusing on a

Bit Bang SPI with Ruby+YJIT

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/ruby

The author discusses their coding projects primarily involving Ruby and C, focusing on electronics and hardware. Following their previous testing of Ruby with YJIT against C for bit-banging I2C, they have decided to implement bit-bang SPI in Ruby, while considering how to compare it to a C implementation without writing one. They noted that SPI is similarly structured to I2C for benchmarking their OLED. An optimization was made to the I2C implementation, which involved saving the state of the SDA pin

Programmer’s Survival Guide for a Zombie Apocalypse: How to Reinvent Software and Technology from Scratch

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/programming

In the year 2035, Earth faces devastation from virus-infected zombies, resulting in the collapse of civilization and technology. Essential devices like cellphones and computers are non-functional. The protagonist has the antidote for the virus but needs a computer for simulations and dosage calculations. They find refuge in an abandoned museum and discover an old 16-bit IBM AT 80286 computer from 1984 with DOS, along with technical manuals and a 5.25" floppy disk. After unsuccessfully searching

iTerm2 features I find useful

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/programming

iTerm2 is a powerful terminal emulator for Mac, rich in features that may take considerable time to learn. The author suggests enabling the “Tip of the day” feature to discover useful functionalities. Notable features include: 1. **Timestamps:** iTerm2 can display timestamps for each console line, enhancing log readability. 2. **Shell Integration:** This allows notifications when long-running commands complete. Users can set alerts and track command progress efficiently. 3. **Prompt Navigation:** Users can jump between

Why Scrum is Stressing You Out

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/programming

Programming has become increasingly stressful, especially compared to the 90s and early 2000s. While previous pressures were tied to specific deadlines, today's environment feels constantly stressful, which affects both health and productivity. The author attributes this heightened stress to a shift from longer project timelines to working in sprints—shorter, repetitive deadlines that create continuous pressure. Unlike the Waterfall model, which had natural breaks between projects, sprints lack downtime and leave no opportunity to recover, leading to chronic stress for

Using Ubicloud with Kamal, deploy web-apps with a full open source tool-chain

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/ruby

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AI: Markets for Lemons, and the Great Logging Off

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: Hacker News

The content discusses the implications of interacting with potentially fake individuals online due to the rise of AI technology. The author, connected to an investment fund led by Sam Altman, notes that AI advancements are often underestimated, leading to transformative changes. They express a blend of optimism and caution towards AI, acknowledging its potential to benefit humanity while also warning of troubling consequences. The author introduces concepts like the "Market for Lemons," which illustrates how the quality of interactions may be compromised when users cannot ascertain the authenticity of

Write your private methods like they're public

Published: 2024-09-16 | Origin: /r/ruby

The author discusses the design principles of separating private and public behaviors in code but acknowledges the potential pitfalls of this binary perspective. They illustrate their point using a code example involving a `Rental` class that manages transactions between a lender and a borrower. The method `Rental#transactions` checks whether the instance variable `@transactions` is populated and either returns its content or computes the necessary transactions. The issue arises when considering the implications of exposing a private method, `Rental#debit_transactions`, to the