Well-Typed's blog post introduces Falsify, a new property-based testing tool for Haskell. Falsify shrinks failing test cases by intelligently navigating the type space, aiming for minimal, reproducible examples. Unlike traditional shrinking approaches that operate on the serialized form of a value, Falsify leverages type information to generate simpler values directly within Haskell, often resulting in dramatically smaller and more understandable counterexamples. This type-directed approach allows Falsify to effectively handle complex data structures and custom types, significantly improving the debugging experience for Haskell developers. Furthermore, Falsify's design promotes composability and integration with existing Haskell testing libraries.
The blog post details the integration of a limited, pre-C89 compliant TCP/IP stack into the PRO/VENIX operating system using Slirp-CK, a small footprint networking library. This allows PRO/VENIX, a vintage Unix-like system, to connect to modern networks for tasks like downloading files. The implementation focuses on simplicity and compatibility with the system's older C compiler, intentionally avoiding more complex and modern networking features. While functional, the author acknowledges its limitations and describes it as "barely adequate," prioritizing the demonstration of networking capability over robust performance or complete standards compliance.
Hacker News users discuss the blog post about porting a TCP/IP stack (Slirp-CK) to the PRO/VENIX operating system. Several commenters express excitement and nostalgia for PRO/VENIX, sharing personal anecdotes about using it in the past. Some question the practical use cases, while others suggest potential applications like retro gaming or historical preservation. The technical details of the porting process are discussed, including the challenges of working with older hardware and software limitations. There's a general appreciation for the effort involved in preserving and expanding the capabilities of vintage systems. A few users mention interest in contributing to the project or exploring similar endeavors with other older operating systems.
The blog post "Hacker News Hug of Death" describes the author's experience with their website crashing due to a surge in traffic after being mentioned on Hacker News. They explain that while initially thrilled with the attention, the sudden influx of visitors overwhelmed their server, making the site inaccessible. The author details their troubleshooting process, which involved identifying the performance bottleneck as database queries related to comment counts. They ultimately resolved the issue by caching the comment counts, thus reducing the load on the database and restoring site functionality. The experience highlighted the importance of robust infrastructure and proactive performance optimization for handling unexpected traffic spikes.
The Hacker News comments discuss the "bell" notification feature and how it contributes to a feeling of obligation and anxiety among users. Several commenters agree with the original post's sentiment, describing the notification as a "Pavlovian response" and expressing a desire for more granular notification controls, especially for less important interactions like upvotes. Some suggested alternatives to the current system, such as email digests or a less prominent notification style. A few countered that the bell is helpful for tracking engagement and that users always have the option to disable it entirely. The idea of a community-driven approach to notification management was also raised. Overall, the comments highlight a tension between staying informed and managing the potential stress induced by real-time notifications.
Dioxygen difluoride (FOOF) is an incredibly dangerous and reactive chemical. It reacts explosively with nearly everything, including ice, sand, cloth, and even materials previously thought inert at cryogenic temperatures. Its synthesis is complex and hazardous, and the resulting product is difficult to contain due to its extreme reactivity. Even asbestos, typically used for high-temperature applications, ignites on contact with FOOF. There are virtually no practical applications for this substance, and its existence serves primarily as a testament to the extremes of chemical reactivity. The original researchers studying FOOF documented numerous chilling incidents illustrating its destructive power, making it a substance best avoided.
Hacker News users react to the "Things I Won't Work With: Dioxygen Difluoride" blog post with a mix of fascination and horror. Many commenters express disbelief at the sheer reactivity and destructive power of FOOF, echoing the author's sentiments about its dangerous nature. Several share anecdotes or further information about other extremely hazardous chemicals, extending the discussion of frightening substances beyond just dioxygen difluoride. A few commenters highlight the blog's humorous tone, appreciating the author's darkly comedic approach to describing such a dangerous chemical. Some discuss the practical (or lack thereof) applications of such a substance, with speculation about its potential uses in rocketry countered by its impracticality and danger. The overall sentiment is a morbid curiosity about the chemical's extreme properties.
Dbushell's blog post "Et Tu, Grammarly?" criticizes Grammarly's tone detector for flagging neutral phrasing as overly negative or uncertain. He provides examples where simple, straightforward sentences are deemed problematic, arguing that the tool pushes users towards an excessively positive and verbose style, ultimately hindering clear communication. This, he suggests, reflects a broader trend of AI writing tools prioritizing a specific, and potentially undesirable, writing style over actual clarity and conciseness. He worries this reinforces corporate jargon and ultimately diminishes the quality of writing.
HN commenters largely agree with the author's criticism of Grammarly's aggressive upselling and intrusive UI. Several users share similar experiences of frustration with the constant prompts to upgrade, even after dismissing them. Some suggest alternative grammar checkers like LanguageTool and ProWritingAid, praising their less intrusive nature and comparable functionality. A few commenters point out that Grammarly's business model necessitates these tactics, while others discuss the potential negative impact on user experience and writing flow. One commenter mentions the irony of Grammarly's own grammatical errors in their marketing materials, further fueling the sentiment against the company's practices. The overall consensus is that Grammarly's usefulness is overshadowed by its annoying and disruptive upselling strategy.
Microsoft's older USB mice often included a small USB-to-PS/2 adapter. This adapter wasn't just a passive wiring converter; it contained active circuitry that translated USB signals into PS/2 signals. This allowed the mouse to function on computers with only PS/2 ports, and importantly, enabled support for the "Wake-on-Mouse" feature in some systems, which required a PS/2 connection. The adapter effectively made the USB mouse appear as a PS/2 device to the computer's BIOS, enabling this functionality even on motherboards lacking USB wake support. Therefore, discarding the seemingly insignificant adapter meant losing the potential for wake-on-mouse capabilities.
Hacker News users discuss the intricacies of the Microsoft USB-to-PS/2 adapter, focusing on its active conversion of USB signals to PS/2 rather than simple pin mapping. Several commenters praise the adapter's sophistication, highlighting its ability to handle higher polling rates than standard PS/2 and even emulate multiple PS/2 devices from a single USB port. Some express surprise at learning this detail, having previously assumed passive conversion. Others reminisce about similar PS/2 to serial port adapters, while some debate the technical challenges and cleverness of the implementation. The discussion touches on the historical context of transitioning between these technologies, the complexities of bidirectional communication, and the surprising amount of intelligence packed into this seemingly simple adapter.
This blog post explores the geometric relationship between the observer, the sun, and the horizon during sunset. It explains how the perceived "flattening" of the sun near the horizon is an optical illusion, and that the sun maintains its circular shape throughout its descent. The post utilizes basic geometry and trigonometry to demonstrate that the sun's lower edge touches the horizon before its upper edge, creating the illusion of a faster setting speed for the bottom half. This effect is independent of atmospheric refraction and is solely due to the relative positions of the observer, sun, and the tangential horizon line.
HN users discuss the geometric explanation of why sunsets appear elliptical. Several commenters express appreciation for the clear and intuitive explanation provided by the article, with some sharing personal anecdotes about observing this phenomenon. A few question the assumption of a perfectly spherical sun, noting that atmospheric refraction and the sun's actual shape could influence the observed ellipticity. Others delve into the mathematical details, discussing projections, conic sections, and the role of perspective. The practicality of using this knowledge for estimating the sun's distance or diameter is also debated, with some suggesting alternative methods like timing sunset duration.
This blog post details further investigations into tracking down the source of persistent radio frequency interference (RFI) plaguing the author's software defined radio (SDR) setup. Having previously eliminated numerous potential culprits, the author focuses on isolating the signal to his house and pinpointing the frequency range using an RTL-SDR dongle and various software tools. Through meticulous testing and analysis, he narrows down the likely source to a neighbor's solar panel system, specifically the micro-inverters responsible for converting DC to AC power. The post highlights the challenges of RFI identification and the effectiveness of using readily available SDR technology for such investigations.
The Hacker News comments discuss the challenges and intricacies of tracking down RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). Several users share their own experiences with RFI, including frustrating hunts for intermittent interference and the difficulties of distinguishing between true RFI and other issues like faulty hardware. One compelling comment highlights the detective work involved, describing the use of directional antennas and spectrum analyzers to pinpoint the source. Another emphasizes the surprising prevalence of RFI and its ability to manifest in unexpected ways. Several commenters appreciate the author's detailed approach and methodical documentation of the process, while others offer additional tools and techniques for RFI hunting. The overall sentiment reflects a shared understanding of the often-frustrating, but sometimes rewarding, nature of tracking down these elusive signals.
Terry Tao's blog post discusses the recent proof of the three-dimensional Kakeya conjecture by Hong Wang and Joshua Zahl. The conjecture states that any subset of three-dimensional space containing a unit line segment in every direction must have Hausdorff dimension three. While previous work, including Tao's own, established lower bounds approaching three, Wang and Zahl definitively settled the conjecture. Their proof utilizes a refined multiscale analysis of the Kakeya set and leverages polynomial partitioning techniques, building upon earlier advances in incidence geometry. The post highlights the key ideas of the proof, emphasizing the clever combination of existing tools and innovative new arguments, while also acknowledging the remaining open questions in higher dimensions.
HN commenters discuss the implications of the recent proof of the three-dimensional Kakeya conjecture, praising its elegance and accessibility even to non-experts. Several highlight the significance of "polynomial partitioning," the technique central to the proof, and its potential applications in other areas of mathematics. Some express excitement about the possibility of tackling higher dimensions, while others acknowledge the significant jump in complexity this would entail. The clear exposition of the proof by Tao is also commended, making the complex subject matter understandable to a broader audience. The connection to the original Kakeya needle problem and its surprising implications for analysis are also noted.
The blog post argues that ChatGPT's autocomplete feature, while technically impressive, hinders user experience by preemptively finishing sentences and limiting user control. This creates several problems: it interrupts thought processes, discourages exploration of alternative phrasing, and can lead to inaccurate or unintended outputs. The author contends that true user control requires the ability to deliberately choose when and how suggestions are provided, rather than having them constantly injected. Ultimately, the post suggests that while autocomplete may be suitable for certain tasks like coding, its current implementation in conversational AI detracts from a natural and productive user experience.
HN users largely agree with the author's criticism of ChatGPT's autocomplete. Many find the aggressive and premature nature of the suggestions disruptive to their thought process and writing flow. Several commenters compare it unfavorably to more passive autocomplete systems, particularly those found in code editors, which offer suggestions without forcing them upon the user. Some propose solutions, such as a toggle to disable the feature, adjustable aggressiveness settings, or a delay before suggestions appear. Others note the potential usefulness in specific contexts like collaborative writing or brainstorming, but generally agree it needs refinement. A few users suggest the aggressiveness might be a deliberate design choice to showcase ChatGPT's capabilities, even if detrimental to the user experience.
Murat Buffalo reflects on his fulfilling five years at MIT CSAIL, expressing gratitude for the exceptional research environment and collaborations. He highlights the freedom to explore diverse research areas, from theoretical foundations to real-world applications in areas like climate change and healthcare. Buffalo acknowledges the supportive community, emphasizing the valuable mentorship he received and the inspiring colleagues he worked alongside. Though bittersweet to leave, he's excited for the next chapter and carries the positive impact of his MIT experience forward.
Hacker News users discussing Murat Buffalo's blog post about his time at MIT generally express sympathy and understanding of his experiences. Several commenters share similar stories of feeling overwhelmed, isolated, and struggling with mental health in demanding academic environments. Some question the value of relentlessly pursuing prestige, highlighting the importance of finding a balance between ambition and well-being. Others offer practical advice, suggesting that seeking help and focusing on intrinsic motivation rather than external validation can lead to a more fulfilling experience. A few commenters criticize the blog post for being overly negative and potentially discouraging to prospective students, while others defend Buffalo's right to share his personal perspective. The overall sentiment leans towards acknowledging the pressures of elite institutions and advocating for a more supportive and humane approach to education.
The author argues for the continued relevance and effectiveness of the softmax function, particularly in large language models. They highlight its numerical stability, arising from the exponential normalization which prevents issues with extremely small or large values, and its smooth, differentiable nature crucial for effective optimization. While acknowledging alternatives like sparsemax and its variants, the post emphasizes that softmax's computational cost is negligible in the context of modern models, where other operations dominate. Ultimately, softmax's robust performance and theoretical grounding make it a compelling choice despite recent explorations of other activation functions for output layers.
HN users generally agree with the author's points about the efficacy and simplicity of softmax. Several commenters highlight its differentiability as a key advantage, enabling gradient-based optimization. Some discuss alternative loss functions like contrastive loss and their limitations compared to softmax's direct probability estimation. A few users mention practical contexts where softmax excels, such as language modeling. One commenter questions the article's claim that softmax perfectly separates classes, suggesting it's more about finding the best linear separation. Another proposes a nuanced perspective, arguing softmax isn't intrinsically superior but rather benefits from a well-established ecosystem of tools and techniques.
Sam Altman reflects on three key observations. Firstly, the pace of technological progress is astonishingly fast, exceeding even his own optimistic predictions, particularly in AI. This rapid advancement necessitates continuous adaptation and learning. Secondly, while many predicted gloom and doom, the world has generally improved, highlighting the importance of optimism and a focus on building a better future. Lastly, despite rapid change, human nature remains remarkably constant, underscoring the enduring relevance of fundamental human needs and desires like community and purpose. These observations collectively suggest a need for balanced perspective: acknowledging the accelerating pace of change while remaining grounded in human values and optimistic about the future.
HN commenters largely agree with Altman's observations, particularly regarding the accelerating pace of technological change. Several highlight the importance of AI safety and the potential for misuse, echoing Altman's concerns. Some debate the feasibility and implications of his third point about societal adaptation, with some skeptical of our ability to manage such rapid advancements. Others discuss the potential economic and political ramifications, including the need for new regulatory frameworks and the potential for increased inequality. A few commenters express cynicism about Altman's motives, suggesting the post is primarily self-serving, aimed at shaping public perception and influencing policy decisions favorable to his companies.
This blog post details the author's implementation of Fortune's algorithm to generate Voronoi diagrams, written in the Odin programming language. It explains the core concepts of the algorithm, including the beach line, sweep line, and parabolic arc representation of site influence. The post walks through the key steps, like handling site and circle events, and provides code snippets illustrating the implementation in Odin. It also covers the process of converting the resulting parabolic arcs into line segments forming the final Voronoi edges and offers optimizations for improving performance. Finally, the author showcases the generated diagrams and discusses potential future improvements to the code.
Commenters on Hacker News largely praised the clear and concise explanation of Fortune's algorithm, particularly appreciating the interactive visualizations and the author's choice of Odin as the implementation language. Several users highlighted the educational value of the post, with one pointing out its effectiveness in demystifying a complex algorithm. Some discussion revolved around the performance characteristics of Odin and comparisons to other languages like C and D. A few commenters also shared related resources and alternative approaches to Voronoi diagram generation, including a GPU-based method. The choice of Odin sparked some interest, with users inquiring about its features and suitability for various tasks.
Robin Hanson describes his experience with various "status circles," groups where he feels varying degrees of status and comfort. He outlines how status within a group influences his behavior, causing him to act differently in circles where he's central and respected compared to those where he's peripheral or unknown. This affects his willingness to speak up, share personal information, and even how much fun he has. Hanson ultimately argues that having many diverse status circles, including some where one holds high status, is key to a rich and fulfilling life. He emphasizes that pursuing only high status in all circles can lead to anxiety and missed opportunities to learn and grow from less prestigious groups.
HN users generally agree with the author's premise of having multiple status circles and seeking different kinds of status within them. Some commenters pointed out the inherent human drive for social comparison and the inevitable hierarchies that form, regardless of intention. Others discussed the trade-offs between broad vs. niche circles, and how the internet has facilitated the pursuit of niche status. A few questioned the negativity associated with "status seeking" and suggested reframing it as a natural desire for belonging and recognition. One compelling comment highlighted the difference between status seeking and status earning, arguing that genuine contribution, rather than manipulation, leads to more fulfilling status. Another interesting observation was the cyclical nature of status, with people often moving between different circles as their priorities and values change.
This blog post advocates for a "no-panic" approach to Rust systems programming, aiming to eliminate all panics in production code. The author argues that while panic! is useful during development, it's unsuitable for production systems where predictable failure handling is crucial. They propose using the ? operator extensively for error propagation and leveraging types like Result and Option to explicitly handle potential failures. This forces developers to consider and address all possible error scenarios, leading to more robust and reliable systems. The post also touches upon strategies for handling truly unrecoverable errors, suggesting techniques like logging the error and then halting the system gracefully, rather than relying on the unpredictable behavior of a panic.
HN commenters largely agree with the author's premise that the no_panic crate offers a useful approach for systems programming in Rust. Several highlight the benefit of forcing explicit error handling at compile time, preventing unexpected panics in production. Some discuss the trade-offs of increased verbosity and potential performance overhead compared to using Option or Result. One commenter points out a potential issue with using no_panic in interrupt handlers where unwinding is genuinely unsafe, suggesting careful consideration is needed when applying this technique. Another appreciates the blog post's clarity and the practical example provided. There's also a brief discussion on how the underlying mechanisms of no_panic work, including its use of static mutable variables and compiler intrinsics.
This post explores the connection between quaternions and spherical trigonometry. It demonstrates how quaternion multiplication elegantly encodes rotations in 3D space, and how this can be used to derive fundamental spherical trigonometric identities like the spherical law of cosines and the spherical law of sines. Specifically, by representing vertices of a spherical triangle as unit quaternions and using quaternion multiplication to describe the rotations between them, the post reveals a direct algebraic correspondence with the trigonometric relationships between the triangle's sides and angles. This approach offers a cleaner and more intuitive understanding of spherical trigonometry compared to traditional methods.
The Hacker News comments on Tao's post about quaternions and spherical trigonometry largely express appreciation for the clear explanation of a complex topic. Several commenters note the usefulness of quaternions in applications like computer graphics and robotics, particularly for their ability to represent rotations without gimbal lock. One commenter points out the historical context of Hamilton's discovery of quaternions, while another draws a parallel to using complex numbers for planar geometry. A few users discuss alternative approaches to representing rotations, such as rotation matrices and Clifford algebras, comparing their advantages and disadvantages to quaternions. Some express a desire to see Tao explore the connection between quaternions and spinors in a future post.
The author recounts their experience creating a Mii of their cat on their Wii, a process complicated by the limited customization options. They struggle to capture their cat's unique features, ultimately settling on a close-enough approximation. Despite the imperfections, the digital feline brings them joy, serving as a constant, albeit pixelated, companion on their television screen. The experience highlights the simple pleasures found in creative expression, even within the constraints of a limited platform, and the affectionate bond between pet and owner reflected in the desire to recreate their likeness.
Hacker News users generally found the story of the author's cat, Mii, to be heartwarming and relatable. Several commenters shared their own experiences of deep bonds with their pets, echoing the author's sentiments about the unique comfort and companionship animals provide. Some appreciated the author's simple, honest writing style, while others focused on the bittersweet nature of pet ownership, acknowledging the inevitable grief that comes with losing a beloved animal. A few comments humorously related to the cat's name, connecting it to the Nintendo Wii, and some questioned the veracity of certain details, suggesting parts of the story felt embellished. Overall, the discussion was positive and empathetic, highlighting the shared experience of pet love and loss.
The author details a frustrating experience with GitHub Actions where a seemingly simple workflow to build and deploy a static website became incredibly complex and time-consuming due to caching issues. Despite attempting various caching strategies and workarounds, builds remained slow and unpredictable, ultimately leading to increased costs and wasted developer time. The author concludes that while GitHub Actions might be suitable for straightforward tasks, its caching mechanism's unreliability makes it a poor choice for more complex projects, especially those involving static site generation. They ultimately opted to migrate to a self-hosted solution for improved control and predictability.
Hacker News users generally agreed with the author's sentiment about GitHub Actions' complexity and unreliability. Many shared similar experiences with flaky builds, obscure error messages, and difficulty debugging. Several commenters suggested exploring alternatives like GitLab CI, Drone CI, or self-hosted runners for more control and predictability. Some pointed out the benefits of GitHub Actions, such as its tight integration with GitHub and the availability of pre-built actions, but acknowledged the frustrations raised in the article. The discussion also touched upon the trade-offs between convenience and control when choosing a CI/CD solution, with some arguing that the ease of use initially offered by GitHub Actions can be overshadowed by the difficulties encountered as projects grow more complex. A few users offered specific troubleshooting tips or workarounds for common issues, highlighting the community-driven nature of problem-solving around GitHub Actions.
Summary of Comments ( 17 )
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43746017
Hacker News users discussed Falsify's approach to property-based testing, praising its clever use of type information and noting its potential advantages over traditional shrinking methods. Some commenters expressed interest in similar tools for other languages, while others questioned the performance implications of its Haskell implementation. Several pointed out the connection to Hedgehog's shrinking approach, highlighting Falsify's type-driven refinements. The overall sentiment was positive, with many expressing excitement about the potential improvements Falsify could bring to property-based testing workflows. A few commenters also discussed specific examples and potential use cases, showcasing practical applications of the library.
The Hacker News post about Falsify, a hypothesis-inspired shrinking for Haskell, has generated a moderate amount of discussion with several interesting comments.
Several users expressed interest and appreciation for the approach Falsify takes. One user highlighted the benefits of property-based testing and how Falsify improves upon existing shrinking methods by targeting smaller, simpler counterexamples. They pointed out how this can significantly reduce debugging time and improve overall testing efficiency.
Another commenter drew a parallel to property-based testing in other languages, mentioning Hypothesis for Python. They discussed how effective these techniques are for uncovering subtle bugs that would be difficult to find through traditional testing methods. They also expressed excitement for the potential of Falsify to advance property-based testing within the Haskell ecosystem.
One user focused on the explanation of "rose trees" in the context of shrinking. They appreciated the clear explanation provided in the blog post and linked Falsify's approach to related concepts in QuickCheck. They suggested that this approach could have broader applications in other areas beyond property-based testing.
There was a discussion about the challenges of shrinking complex data structures, with one commenter noting the difficulties involved in shrinking recursive data types. They expressed interest in how Falsify handles these complexities and how it compares to other shrinking strategies.
A few users touched upon the importance of good generators in property-based testing. They emphasized that while shrinking is important, having well-defined generators that produce relevant test cases is equally crucial for effective testing. They inquired about Falsify's approach to generating test data and how it interacts with the shrinking process.
Finally, one commenter raised the question of how Falsify handles type-level constraints in Haskell. They wondered if the shrinking process takes these constraints into account to ensure that generated counterexamples are always valid.
Overall, the comments on the Hacker News post reflect a positive reception to Falsify and acknowledge its potential to enhance property-based testing in Haskell. The discussion highlights the importance of shrinking in finding minimal counterexamples, the challenges involved in shrinking complex data, and the crucial role of well-defined generators in the property-based testing process.