MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by cycomanic | 2025-05-24 07:58:40+00:00
> >a) I am currently a victim of other people's choices. > > You're not a victim in a democracy when your candidate looses and have to put up with the policies you don't like but which are popular with the majority of the voting population. It's the feature of democracy, not a bug. Grow up. > > >Acting like this is just "politics as usual" > > IT IS politics as usual. Always has been when you look at history. The difference is now you have Twitter and social media to rile you up for the sake of monetizing engagement. Lay off social media and your TDS will heal itself naturally. > > > Do you support his rise to dictator > > As someone born in a dictatorship, you have no idea what a dictatorship actually is. If you were in a dictatorship, a black Volga would show up at your door and arrest you for your previous comment. You don't have the right to complain in a dictatorship, let alone to vote.

Funny that you mention it, this is exactly what's is happening.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwit...
by nopelynopington | 2025-05-24 07:59:50+00:00
I had a fun day with replit yesterday. I signed up to try it out after someone at work mentioned it.

I gave it a really simple challenge: a note taking app. Allow the user to write a sentence of plain text, and add it to an array with a time stamp. Show the text on screen. Save it in local storage.

I could hand code this in about ten minutes.

Replit went off and built a truly impressive UI that looked like something that would take me a couple of evenings to pull together. It was professional and polished, but it didn't work. Hitting enter to add the item did nothing.

I chatted to it and explained. It confidently did a few revisions but didn't fix it.

It started adding logging and asked me to paste in the logs. After each subsequent paste it would say some variation of "ah I see the problem" and revise again.

After the third time, I didn't reply with the console logs and instead suggested we change tack. Replit completely ignored my input and carried on talking as if I was following instructions "yes I see the issue now, ok I've fixed it"

It was just a string of hallucinations, pretending to take user input but it fact not doing so. In the end I started asking it completely off topic questions but it had an imaginary convo with me instead. I gave up.

I've had much more success with non agentic LLMs like Gemini or Claude but they all are great at the initial response and slowly degrade add the conversation continues
by AnthonBerg | 2025-05-24 08:00:04+00:00
Experiences may vary; I’ve tasted and smelled NAC.

The smell is reminescent of a high-potency cannabis strain. (Sulfur-containing molecules.)

The taste is very acidic and a bit astringent.

Generally the smell and taste of something isn’t a concern with medication. I don’t think acetaminophen tastes great.

I’ve never encountered or seen the digestive issues that are often mentioned. I’ve seen other side effects which were noticeable – mast cell and histamine related I believe, kind of weird ones, like psoriasis kind of drying out a bit and the skin on the lips “refreshing” itself. (Really!) Subtle side effects and hard to put into words without making them seem bigger and weirder than they are, but NAC can nonetheless be a sort of histamine and mast cell “flusher”, so to speak and as it seems. Beneficial in the long run imo ime, but tricky to package universally.

Still, NAC is also tragically unknown and unused! There’s tons of fascinating literature on it. They fried rats’ brains with methamphetamine and fixed them with NAC; Brutal study, intriguing results on very significant mechanisms.
by ergl | 2025-05-24 08:00:15+00:00
> If you were offered 7-figures USD to do these kind of hours from anywhere in the world, would that make a difference?

Depends, if your work schedule leaves you so drained that it leads to extreme burnout and eventual depression, along with a string of health issues, then it doesn't matter how much money you make, because spending it won't bring you the joy back, and you may fall into a shopping addiction in order to keep you stimulated. Sometimes I think of telling my boss that I don't want a raise, I want less hours at the same rate.
by keiferski | 2025-05-24 08:01:37+00:00
I wouldn't call it a "cult of personality" because that seems unduly negative. It will just be...different, both better and worse.

Better, because creators are no longer dependent on a film exec in LA / publishing exec in NYC / etc. to "make it" as a creative.

Worse, because while those gatekeepers did lock out many talented people, they also had the function of allowing the creator to focus excellent, "pure" work. I'm thinking of anonymous/semi-anonymous authors that wrote world-famous novels while being unknown. I don't think that is going to be a viable route anymore, because it depended on the middle-men.

Now that I think about it, this last function might actually appear again: agencies that manage a creator's marketing, budget, etc. and just let them focus on making stuff.

In short: I don't know if we could have the open opportunity of social media without it also being dependent on personal charisma.
by madaxe_again | 2025-05-24 08:01:51+00:00
She doesn’t explicitly say it, but it sounds like she has thoracic outlet syndrome - it’s familiar to me because I have it, and it sucks. Looking up her name plus that, yes, that’s what she has.

Sat here after a night of crappy sleep poking this out with hands that feel like they’re in tight rubber gloves, but life goes on, but it’s never even crossed my mind to see it as a disability, just as “one of those things”.

The only things that it has made extremely difficult for me are things like rock climbing or climbing very long ladders - but not impossible, if I take the time to pause and windmill my arms until they aren’t useless numb pain obelisks, or until other people start to get impatient with me. Other things I’ve had to just adapt to - stuff with fine motor control I have to take frequent breaks and ensure I’m supporting my hand and arm. Washing dishes, which she cites in another piece, I deal with by pincering a sponge between my fingers and using the back of my hand. It just became the new normal. Gross stuff, I find little difference with, although it definitely aggravates it if I spend a day doing heavy work involving my arms. Buy now, pay later.

Maybe it’s a generational or cultural thing. Maybe hers is worse than mine. I don’t know - I just found it jarring to hear someone describe it as a disability, as that idea has literally never even crossed my mind.
by Waterluvian | 2025-05-24 08:01:52+00:00
I’ve found my way into a small group of incredibly supportive dads. And one of the ways in which we exercise rooting for our friends is to basically commandeer “jealousy” into a positive thing. “Ah man I’m so jealous that your kids sleep so well!”

“Jealousy” in a non-toxic manner feels kind of right for the task of describing wins that we all know are largely just up to random chance.

Being jealous of someone’s hard work doesn’t really feel the same.
by Joeri | 2025-05-24 08:02:22+00:00
I don’t think we should ever put “implement LLMs/AI” as the goal. Process transformation should be defined in terms of user or business goals (reduce turnaround time, reduce costs, improve customer experience, …). In the course of doing that the places where LLMs have a use will be apparent, but more often something a lot less clever will be the better solution.
by fullstackchris | 2025-05-24 08:02:23+00:00
Great article, yes, its the classic "I want to not work AND keep my current lifestyle" I dont know if it was social media, bitterness at boomers, or whatever, that made most zoomers behold this pipe dream.

Loved the Massena example, but I went to school near there (Clarkson) and the winters are pretty rough. Summer / fall is beautiful though!
by petepete | 2025-05-24 08:02:30+00:00
> Gamers probably already have a Microsoft account as its required for games like Minecraft or services like Gamepass. A Microsoft account is needed for Windows Hello to function.

If I want to use these things let me opt in.

> Do you have an example [of ads]

There are hundreds or thousands of articles on the subject. Here's one.

https://uk.pcmag.com/migrated-3765-windows-10/151992/microso...

> How is it being forced?

Maybe force was too strong a word, but 'incessantly nagged regardless of previous rejection' sums it up nicely

https://tech.yahoo.com/general/articles/microsofts-latest-co...

> comes preinstalled with bloat

If I install an operating system and there's a Netflix logo in the application menu when I don't havw a Netflix account and was never asked if I wanted it, it's bloat.

When people have taken the time to write debloating scripts it's fair to say some people think it's bloated.

https://github.com/Raphire/Win11Debloat

If you enjoy using it don't let my high standards stop you.
by e40 | 2025-05-24 08:03:04+00:00
The hawks in my neighborhood are always harassed by my local murder. I have seen hawks carrying dead crows at least twice so the cacophony is warranted, when a hawk is noticed.

What I do not understand is why the hawks won’t take the fat squirrels that mess up our garden and shit and piss on our deck out of revenge for us not sharing our peanuts with them, but sharing them with the jays and crows and titmouses.
by imiric | 2025-05-24 08:03:08+00:00
> This is something we cannot easily do on the shell with the standard Unix utilities.

Huh? All your examples are easily done in a shell. GNU find and fd support regex, xargs can be used for bulk operations, etc. This is more flexible and scriptable than anything dired allows you to do. It might not be immediately easier, but once you grasp how a few basic shell utilities work and how to combine them, using shell history, functions, aliases, and key bindings becomes part of your muscle memory. This workflow is even more transferable across systems and environments.

I think dired is convenient if you're already using Emacs and want to do a quick operation, but the shell is far more generally useful in the long run.
by carbocation | 2025-05-24 08:03:31+00:00
When I was in my postdoc (applied human genetics), my advisor's rule was that you needed to understand the tools you were using at a layer of abstraction below your interface with them.

For example, if we wanted to conduct an analysis with a new piece of software, it wasn't enough to run the software: we needed to be able to explain the theory behind it (basically, to be able to rewrite the tool).

From that standpoint, I think that even if you keep with #2, you might benefit from taking steps to gain the understanding from #1. It will help you understand the models' real advantages and disadvantages to help you decide how to incorporate them in #2.
by CactusRocket | 2025-05-24 08:03:36+00:00
May I ask why you want to wait for Steam OS? Especially if you have Linux experience already.

Last year I was fed up with Windows, and switched to Linux. Since I had a lot of experience with Linux already, I went with Arch. I thought it was going to be really difficult. Sure, the initial setup was a lot of work, but now I'm extremely happy with it. Much happier than I ever was running Ubuntu, Mint, etc.

But anyway, nowadays I don't even think about that I'm running Linux anymore. I have a pretty big Steam library and play a lot of games. I install a game, I run it, and play it. I haven't found any instance where it doesn't work yet. Granted, I don't play multi-player games nor games with DRM (I'm a patient gamer, most games I play are >2 years old).
by cess11 | 2025-05-24 08:03:58+00:00
How did you come to this hedonic position?

MacIntyre wrote in response to the failures of utilitarianism and deontology, and certain responses to that, so you'd better have arguments for utilitarianism that top those he knew about.

You've also clearly misread him. His argument is that morality is inherently social and good morals necessarily dependent on a good society. To show how deeply connected morals and society are he opts for the use of descriptions of historical societies, because superstition and fantasy alone, like math or thought experiments, just aren't good enough for him. In this he agrees with Marx and disagrees with parts of the analytic tradition in philosophy.

Specifically in After Virtue he also uses such examples to show that the ethics of a society might carry little moral weight, and that some historical societies were better at understanding and teaching morals than his own, in particular the philosophical ethics of the Enlightenment, i.e. deontology and utilitarianism.

If you actually have an argument for why the napkin math morals and disregard of freedom at the center of utilitarianism would be the pinnacle of human ethics I'd really like to hear it.
by anshumankmr | 2025-05-24 08:04:15+00:00
I root for my friends, but it's hard since the ones who mattered are all abroad. I haven’t seen most school friends in a decade, and college friends since 2020—except one, who’s now in Australia. A relationship ended badly last year, and I haven’t had the energy to start another. I’ve made a few surface-level connections through running/cycling clubs, with one solid bond. Feel bummed to keep rooting for other people, but no one is there that way for me, besides my parents.

Having a cat reall helps though.
by permo-w | 2025-05-24 08:04:23+00:00
you may well be right about all of this, and who knows what damage the security establishment is causing right now in their efforts to "protect us", but nonetheless, I think it's incredibly unfair to blame the BBC for doing the same as every other institution in the country would have done if MI5 came knocking. you're setting the bar higher than any institution of any kind has ever reached
by palmfacehn | 2025-05-24 08:04:33+00:00
>...the emergence of an “agentic web” populated by semi-autonomous AI agents interacting with one another on behalf of their human masters.

I frequently see launches of these AI products, which are nothing more than the content spam engines platforms used to ban. It is funny to see this ecosystem being developed to do things many of these large platforms previously claimed where very naughty no-nos and bannable offenses. Yesterday's autoblogging and social media spam has become the darling of SV.

Another similarly laughable concept is that in lieu of actual users, many of these proposed hyperscaling projects will claim that other AI agents will make use of their slop. Circular reasoning abounds. The next step will be to spam their own products with other AI interactions to rationalize the existence of the entire ecosystem.

Perhaps I'm old-fashioned, but I suspect that at a certain point a genuine human consumer needs to be served by all of this.
by red_admiral | 2025-05-24 08:05:58+00:00
That sounds horrible if you want to transmit a base64 string where the length is a multiple of 3 and for some cursed reason there's no letters or special characters involved. If "7777777777777777" is your encoded string because you're sending a string of periods encoded in BCD, you're going to have a fun time. Perhaps that's karma for doing something braindead in the first place though.
by edg5000 | 2025-05-24 08:06:31+00:00
Not an MS fan, but you guys rock for making VS Code, really changed software development for me. Especially combined with good language servers (Redhat for Java, intelliphense for PHP, Clangd for C/C++, and some python stuff). Yay! Sure, Eclipse could do it, but things like search, which I do a 1000 times a day, really benefits from good UI design choices. It simply speeds up the work massively.
by timr | 2025-05-24 08:08:25+00:00
> This comment is asinine on too many levels to fully rebut.

Thanks. I mean, it's not like I have direct experience with this stuff or anything, as one of those 9,999,999 who spent years of my life doing science, only to end up in industry.

Also, it's not like we would do better by skipping the years of science and going directly to the productive part, or that those (now grown up) "kids" are encouraged to continue circling the airstrip of life by the funding programs that are happy to pay postdoc salaries -- postdocs being the best kind of cheap, indentured labor -- to keep the dream alive just a little bit longer. After all, walking away from a PhD/postdoc(s) is only just a bit harder than chewing off your own leg to escape a bear trap.

It's clearly much better to waste the time of our smartest people by injecting false economic incentives into the system in an effort to socially engineer some kind of scientific command economy. Let's grind those rocks, and turn the cheap gravel into concrete to build glorious future!
by bradain | 2025-05-24 08:10:08+00:00
Yup, very familiar with SBCL. But the truth is, to get SBCL to the point where it's anywhere near the realm of C for performance there's a ton of work that the compiler has to do that GCC simply doesn't.

Escape analysis to work out when heap allocations can be avoided, type inference to work out when dynamic type checks can be omitted / fixnum math can be used instead of generic math, when functions can be linked directly instead of dynamically dispatched, when functions are pure to allow for more flexible optimizations with evaluation order, etc.

Scheme adds even more complexity despite being a far smaller language than common lisp. Reified continuations massively complicate any optimzation and so does automatic lisp-1 to lisp-2 conversion, which has a bunch of caveats making it much trickier than it seems. Add on the fact that scheme lets you overwrite core primitive operations like car/cdr and there just isn't really any ground to stand on to prove anything about the code at all.

I have no idea how guile scheme runs as fast as it does.

GCC on the other hand is coming from a much better point of view: C is statically typed with full type signatures on every function, argument and variable, so you can safely eliminate all runtime type-checking and arity-checking. There's no garbage collection, so you don't need that. functions can't be redefined, and all must be declared before being used so you don't need a mechanism for dynamic dispatch, there's no closures so you don't need to perform any lambda lifting or closure conversion, you don't need the compiler or the interpreter available at runtime to handle calls to eval, loops are clearly marked and easy to optimize (vs lisp using tag-body and scheme using widespread recursion with TCO), fast iteration of lists in lisp requires the compiler to prove that it can safely eliminate a null check and C just doesn't do bounds checks, and so on.

There's an endless of list of reasons why it's easier to generate near-optimal assembly from C and why it's very hard to do so from lisp. A simple C compiler will produce far, far faster code than a simple lisp compiler.
by madaxe_again | 2025-05-24 08:10:13+00:00
I have the same thing as her and I built an off-grid homestead with my stupid useless arms, and I type until they’re so numb it’s like watching a hen peck for feed.

It never even occurred to me to make it a core part of my identity - it’s just pain and numbness, and they aren’t about to drop off and catch fire, even if it feels like it sometimes.
by makeitdouble | 2025-05-24 08:10:21+00:00
Thank you so much for your work!

WebSequenceDiagrams has been my go to for years, and I'd be basically brainstorming straight in it in lieu of pen and paper. I laughed the day one of my colleague was explaining his issue on the whiteboard and he was writing it "A->B: some action" style instead of the actual box and arrow sequence, it just became part of our culture I think.

I had to move on when I couldn't get it approved at the place I worked, and nowadays PlantUML tools have become "good enough" (still wish Notion had PlantUML support instead of mermaid...), but I'm incredible thankful your service is still up and running.
by 0xDEAFBEAD | 2025-05-24 08:10:36+00:00
Fair point. I still think they'd have a shot if they explicitly marketed it as a dual-use work/play device.

Here's one way to think about it. The Steam Machine was asking gamers to buy a new device so they can game on their TV. Its failure shows that most Steam users were happy to keep gaming on their PC.

But, almost everyone wants to buy a laptop every once in a while. And as long as you're buying a laptop, if you're a gamer, you might as well buy the gaming laptop which is running SteamOS and has really strong gaming compatibility.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.
by nroets | 2025-05-24 08:12:13+00:00
"suddenly powerless Anglo minority". That's just factually incorrect when you look at who controlled the businesses in South African at that stage: Many prominent blue blooded Englishmen. And also Oppenheimers and Ackersmans who were of Jewish decent but identified as Anglo.

Anglo schools and universities thrived.

Englishmen could vote etc.
by chrisco255 | 2025-05-24 08:13:40+00:00
> those foundational industries come from traditionally "Blue Cities" that have expanded to fill the state as those industries have grown.

In the 50s and 60s, when Silicon Valley was founded, it was heavily Republican. David Packard was a conservative. Nixon and Reagan were CA Republicans. In the early 90s it flipped blue, partially due to demographics and partly because Gore and Clinton (both Southern Democrats) courted them and pursued pro-tech policies, in particular Gore played a role in opening up the internet to commercial markets, enabling the dot com boom of the 90s.

CA flipped blue largely because of migration into the state from Asia and Mexico, and a shift in industries and focus post-Cold War, as well as some trends towards environmentalism and social progressivism while the GOP became more socially conservative in the 90s.

> A faster time to market is beneficial for companies, but it's also an excuse to avoid quality, safety, and ethics.

A faster time to market is beneficial to human progress. By slowing everything down by a factor of 5 humanity shrinks in its potential, dramatically so, and it hurts the trajectory of our whole country in the face of rivals that move at lightning speed with no such pretenses. In large part, its just bureaucratic rot that holds back everything in the name of safety or ethics while we conveniently import things from nations which have no such ethics. You simply export the problem at the cost of long term financial, industrial, and logistical security. The Tesla HQ was built in Texas in 14 months perfectly safely and soundly.
by charcircuit | 2025-05-24 08:13:49+00:00
Again you are listing things that are possible but not explaining why it's better to do it via algebraic effects as opposed to the alternatives.

For example if you were in a meeting with Oracle to try and convince them to invest 100 million dollars for adding algebraic effects to Java and its ecosystem how would you convince them it would be providing enough value to developers to justify it over some other improvement they may want to do.

For example, "Writing mocks for tests using algebraic effects is better than using jmock because ..."
by foxwolf | 2025-05-24 08:17:47+00:00
All my life, I've suffered from frequent (as in daily) headaches. I even have a photo of myself from my 10th birthday (or thereabouts), where you can visibly tell from how I'm holding my head that I had a headache. The nature and intensity of my headaches has changed over time.

In my 20's I discovered Excedrin (acetaminophen + caffeine) and, surprisingly, it not only worked, but worked very well. One tablet would kill most of headaches I was having at that time of my life in about 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, it stopped working for me by the time I was 30. It no longer has any noticeable effect.

Aspirin, Naproxen, Ibuprofin, and Tylenol 3 have no effect, either.