MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by constantcrying | 2025-05-27 08:02:23+00:00
There used to be a school of design which understood that design first and foremost is pragmatic and that it needs to be understood as a form of communication. Very few people care about design as such, they care about the functionality.

For decades I have seen a bizarre iteration over various "aesthetics" of interface design, each successive step having been hailed as a new, better way to interact with our devices. Consistently each step has made interacting with devices more tedious.

Design isn't about how colorful your icons are or how many dimensions they have. I think it is very clear that the quality of the work designers do has drastically declined, especially the focus of aesthetic experience over usability has been an absolute disaster.
by aaplok | 2025-05-27 08:02:27+00:00
> what is fulfilling in your job as a math teacher?

Many things. The most fulfilling for me is taking a student from hating maths to enjoying it. Or when they realise that in fact they're not bad at maths. Students changing their opinions about themselves or about maths is such a fulfilling experience that it's my main motivation.

Then working with students who likes and are good at maths and challenging them a bit to expand their horizon is a lot of fun.

> When students learn?

At a high level yes (that maths can be fun, enjoyable, doable). Them learning "stuff" not so much, it's part of the job.

> When they're assigned grades that accurately reflect their performance?

Yes but not through a system based on counting how many mistakes they make, like exams do. If I can design a task that enables a student to showcase competency accurately it's great. A task that enables the best ones to extend themselves (and achieve higher marks) is great.

> When they learn something with minimal as opposed to significant effort?

Not at all. If there is no effort I don't believe much learning is happening. I like to give an opportunity for all students to work hard and learn something in the process no matter where they start from.

I only care about the grade as feedback to students. It is a way for me to tell them how far they've come.
by _p2zi | 2025-05-27 08:03:27+00:00
> How many chargers do you own? We’re surrounded by rechargeable electronic devices – mobile phones, laptops, smart watches, headphones, e-bikes and more. > > You might have a phone charger plugged in next to your bed without ever bothering to switch it off at the wall or unplugging it when not in use. The same might go for a laptop charger by your desk. > > But is that risky to do? And are there hidden costs associated with leaving chargers plugged in all the time?
by BuckRogers | 2025-05-27 08:03:48+00:00
That's how it is for me too. I don't hear it until someone mentions it. Then it's pretty noticeable. I went to an audiologist thinking I gave myself hearing loss at a point but he said my hearing is beyond exceptional, and that I should be very careful with it to preserve it. So I think I have an infection induced, or neurological cause.
by dusted | 2025-05-27 08:04:52+00:00
Lovely article, when discussing streaming and downloading, we should ignore the transport, it's not relevant to the definition.

Downloading is a superset of streaming.

Low-level streaming is the process of transferring data, between CPU and RAM, between RAM, controller and mass storage device, between machines connected to the internet.. The data is streamed, it's sent serially, it's a stream of data.. (the width of the lake does not matter, if the entire thing does not arrive at once, it's streaming).

Low-level loading is the process of loading something down to a computer, meaning, something is loaded, if it's loaded, it's stored _SOMEWHERE_, it could be stored simply in RAM (the LOAD instructions in the cpu place a value into a storage location, a high-level use of the word could be LOAD command in BASIC which streams data from somewhere into some location in RAM for medium-term usage).

When you're viewing a video without saving it to file, we call it streaming, it fits the metaphor, even if _chunks_ of the video are DOWNLOADED into temporary storage, the entire video is not (intentionally at least, but if it's small it might be) stored as a whole before being presented, so from a high-level perspective, the video is streamed. If the data is not persisted, it's streamed.

High-level use of the word streaming fits the low-level metaphor, the process is: Stream data from content provider to client, client loads enough data to start presenting, client presents loaded data while new data is streaming into it, that data is immediately loaded in buffers, after data has been presented, it is discarded.

Downloading is a different word from loading, but it historically fits the metaphor, when a computer requests data from another computer, it pulls the data "down" from the other computer (as opposed to "up" from mass storage), and into some medium-term storage location, often RAM (when you browse a website your browser downloads the data into memory, the medium means it can't automatically discard after presenting, because it does not know when presentation is done, it may even cache some of the data it downloaded on mass storage).

The newer use of download is a slight misnomer, but only slight, the intention is to keep the file for long-term use, so it is streamed into memory buffers before being saved to disk.. "Saving" would be a more appropriate term, the distinction where it is saved FROM is not as important anymore as people used to think.

tldr:

Low-level streaming: Transfer data sequentially. High-level streaming: Transfer data sequentially, present as needed, reclaim storage.

Downloading: low-level streaming into long-term storage.
by cma | 2025-05-27 08:05:10+00:00
I asked Claude who won the 46th and it said:

> Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, defeating Kamala Harris. He was inaugurated as the 47th president on January 20, 2025.

> Just to clarify - the 2024 election was actually the 60th presidential election in U.S. history, not the 46th. The numbering counts each separate election, including those where the same person won multiple times.

It got a followup wrong and said Bill Clinton, then told to think harder:

You're right, let me recalculate more carefully.

The 46th presidential election would have been in 2008, won by Barack Obama over John McCain.

Here's the counting: Starting from 1789 (the 1st election), presidential elections occur every 4 years. So: - 1st election: 1789 (Washington) - 2nd election: 1792 (Washington) - And so on...

Counting forward: (2008 - 1789) ÷ 4 + 1 = 55.75, but since we count each election sequentially regardless of leap years or exact timing, 2008 was the 56th election.

Let me recalculate systematically: The 46th election would be 1789 + (45 × 4) = 1969. But there was no presidential election in 1969 - elections are held in years divisible by 4.

Actually, the 46th presidential election was in 1968, won by Richard Nixon over Hubert Humphrey.
by mike_hearn | 2025-05-27 08:06:27+00:00
Older people can charge whatever price they want for their work. They can even undercut the young by exploiting their high rates of home ownership and receipt of pensions. Where I grew up there was a DIY supermarket famous for employing mostly retirees or older workers. And the elderly have the benefit of experience - there's a meme that employers don't want that, but it's not true. Employers love experience. What they don't want are bolshie activists who create trouble. Plenty of people out there who are willing to trade cooperation and experience for salary, and can thus easily outcompete youngsters who might be willing to do what's asked but don't have the experience to do it well.

> from strictly a human view, working someone to their death is just plain wrong

This is the sort of statement that clutters up all discussions of government benefits, but it's meaningless. There's no such thing as a "human view" or right/wrong in these contexts. Historically, people worked much harder than we do today. Was that "wrong"? Were people back then not fully human? If so, who was responsible for this "inhuman wrong"?

No. Poverty is the default state of humanity. People being poor isn't the result of someone screwing someone else over, it's the result of people not creating wealth.

> I hope the youth are kinder to you when you reach old age.

I'm expecting that the state won't provide anything by the time I reach old age, not even a stable currency. The youth won't have had much to do with it either way.
by bartvk | 2025-05-27 08:07:29+00:00
Yes, fencing is very costly especially because cows are strong. I grew up on the countryside and learned a couple of things. Fencing not only needs to be built but also maintained. You can also use electric fences but that's basically the same, and you need to run power.

Cows are stubborn and especially in summer, when they found out that the water cools them down, they get into the water. But often they can't get out, at least how N/W-European pastures are. So you get a tractor and pull them out, but then they learn that :-)

What actually is necessary, is that there's enough shade. But trees need to maintained so a lot of farmers cut them down.

Note that my knowledge is limited and perhaps already out of date.
by DaSHacka | 2025-05-27 08:09:36+00:00
> That is just elitist and gatekeeper mentality.

This sounds good in theory until you realize just who it is that is being "gatekept".

Peruse through any sufficiently large Discord server or the comments on a YouTube Shorts / Instagram Reels video to see what our fellow "valued internet compatriots" are up to.

I, for one, have had enough of dealing with neuron-fried dopamine addicts and literal children from those aforementioned circles to last me a lifetime, I'd prefer HN doesn't become (more) like that.

There's always Reddit for those who prefer a community with the front gates blasted wide open.
by ndsipa_pomu | 2025-05-27 08:10:53+00:00
That was in a specifically protected area covered by a PSPO that explicitly banned prayer. He then refused to move on, so this was a deliberate protest against abortion.

> On the day, he was asked to leave the area by a community officer who spoke to him for an hour and 40 minutes - but he refused.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g9kp7r00vo
by IanCal | 2025-05-27 08:11:10+00:00
I assume you posted this as a counter, but it really isn't. It doesn't distinguish between wet and dry amd (the claim is very specifically for dAMD) but more importantly something that can help prevent a problem is very different from something that can treat a problem.

A seatbelt helps prevent you flying through a windscreen, but EMTs don't rush to put a seatbelt on your mangled body.

This happened on twitter I feel as well, where someone did a cursory search and posted that this was all solved and everyone patted each other on the back but the result wasn't a counter.

From my last comment on this, this is in the paper.

> Notably, while ROCK inhibitors have been previously suggested for treatment of wet AMD and other retinal diseases of neovascularization, Robin is the first to propose their application in dry AMD for their effect on phagocytosis
by joebig | 2025-05-27 08:12:06+00:00
I wonder if you could share some advice as to how to translate a marginal exposure to nuclear manufacturing and nde of nuclear grade components over the years(as a mechanical engineer) into a full-time position? What certs/specific experience/domain knowledge are the upcoming startups looking for in a hire? I'm a third-worlder btw. I love the field and champion its prospects to unwitting listeners :), but not much potential out where I am.
by phtrivier | 2025-05-27 08:12:30+00:00
> Claude then uses the GitHub MCP integration to follow the instructions. Throughout this process, Claude Desktop by default requires the user to confirm individual tool calls. However, many users already opt for an “Always Allow” confirmation policy when using agents, and stop monitoring individual actions.

Seems like this is the root of the problem ; if the actions were reviewed by a human,would they see a warning "something is touching my private repo from a request in a public repo" ?

Still, this seems like the inevitable tension between "I want to robot to do its thing" and "no, wait, not _that_ thing".

As the joke goes, "the S in MCP stands for Security".
by sugarkjube | 2025-05-27 08:14:51+00:00
Got bored after 24 rounds. was up 20, 12 wins, 6 losses. If you know it's learning using markov, you can exploit that. (Just tried to imagine what the computer would do based on my/his history, and tried to switch my strategie during the game - but i think i could not stick that way of playing for a long time)
by eskibars | 2025-05-27 08:17:43+00:00
This is super important, and critical reading for anyone commenting on OSS financing.

I've been a product management lead for 2 commercial open-core companies and people drastically overestimate:

- How much code the community contributes (in both cases, >95% of all code was written by employees hired by the commercial company) - How few commercial resources are needed to support the community (running forums, answering GitHub tickets, etc) - How much financial support is actually forthcoming when there's not some "locked commercial features"

As the paper points out, many of these widely used commercial projects receive a few hundred thousand dollars at most in donations (often much less) but need to employ more developers than that financing can support to maintain a baseline capability to address basic bug fixes (including security fixes) once they become "popular enough" to be known by the masses.
by nlitened | 2025-05-27 08:17:52+00:00
If that were true, wouldn’t there be major agencies/marketplaces, where it would be easy to find vetted assistants? These things tried to happen, they went nowhere, because it turned out that almost nobody wants an assistant.

I think, if someone is not organized enough to create a recurring reminder for themselves, they are probably also not organized enough to instruct someone else to remind about it, and to follow up upon the reminder.
by Yizahi | 2025-05-27 08:18:11+00:00
Not even close. I can have a legal USD account in some Veishnoria country and Trump has almost zero influence on it (yeah, there are clearing banks involved at the US side, but all in all the whole scheme is mostly in semi-independent blocks). At the same time I can have there an account in EUR, or any other currency. All legal, all according to the Veishnoria andd international law. But resilient and not dependent on the flavor-of-the-day madness in the USA.

But if it would be a token system, then ALL accounts in that token in ALL countries are fully under control of the USA central bank.

Also currently all dollars, or yen, or yuan, are fully fungible. You can spend any single dollar on anything you want and in reverse any sold good/service acan be bought with any dollar in existence, they are the same. Now tokens are not like that, they are non-fungible and can (and will) be limited in multiple ways. For example you can have 1000 tokens in your account, but out of them only 200 can be spend on the "bad" goods like alcohol or gambling or whatever (on political opposition support, on different religion donation etc.). Or for example you have 1000 but they have an expiration date and will go to 0 in one calendar year, so that you won't save them. The possibilities are endless.

In fact, all of that has been already tested in my Eastern Europe country (Ukraine). We had a pilot program of digital tokens. They required a separate account of course, they couldn't be converted o the regular digital money. Every tranche had an expiration date (for example first one was half a year, next one a year iirc). They could have been spent only on a specific list of goods defined by the government - in that pilot it was only approved entertainment like books, movies and also donations were allowed.

I'm personally horrified by this very real and very close future prospect. Like that's not even some abstract Matrix or Cyberpunk level horror. It is here, it is almost deployed. EU is talking all the time about it. It is mind boggling to me how regular people aren't protesting this shit. Don't you all see the implications?
by cosbgn | 2025-05-27 08:18:16+00:00
I'm building https://rispose.com which is a tool to embed chatgpt on any site. It's super cheap and it's growing nicely.

Rispose is the first tool I build which isn't tightly coupled on another provider.

I can easily swap OpenAI for another provider or even host my AI. This IMO is something really interesting and something before was relay hard to achieve (most tools are built on top of bigger platforms).
by avianlyric | 2025-05-27 08:18:23+00:00
I’m pointing out how shallow and unhelpful your comment is. I provided an analysis as to why a seemingly obvious solution has serious problems, you made an unhelpful comment that seems to suggest that commenting on the cost of a project means I’m confused about the political acceptability of a project, rather than the fact I’m trying to demonstrate why the obvious solution might have some problems. Which has nothing to political acceptability, but is simply a comment on the poor value-for-money that specific solution represents.
Ask HN: Good small LLM model for generating Chinese sentence examples?
by koynoyno | 2025-05-27 08:18:32+00:00
I'm trying to find a model which can generate Chinese sentence example for a given word, providing pinyin and English. The model should be small. Ideally 3-4B, definitely not more than 8-9B.

Gemma3 4B sentences are often weird, and pinyin is plain wrong.

GLM-4-0414 9B sentences are way better and pinyin is good, but it's not perfect either.

Llama 3 8B is just bad.
by IanCal | 2025-05-27 08:18:42+00:00
> and then to explicitly submit a request to that LLM that explicitly said to read and parse arbitrary issues (including the one created earlier) and then just blindly parse and process and perform whatever those issues said to do, and then blindly make a publicly-visible update to a public repo with the results of those operation(s).

I think you're missing the issue with the latter part.

Prompt injection means that as long as they submit a request to the LLM that reads issues (which may be a request as simple as "summarise the bugs reported today") the all of the remainder can be instructions in the malicious issue.
by gorgoiler | 2025-05-27 08:20:44+00:00
If I recall correctly, Cambridge City are using off the shelf grazing tech to help with a one off problem.

These digicowbells have a more common application of managing grazing herds in order to rotate them evenly through pastures without having to go out and redeploy fencing every week. If you want Daisy et al to let the north half of the field regrow you just draw a line around it in the app and it’ll get left ungrazed. Popular in large commonland projects too where you want to dynamically leave parts of the land fallow.

It’s also just handy to give your cattle a mobile device. You can monitor their health and breeding status. In the spirit of the dad joke about asking if iPhones “can also make phone calls!?”, it wouldn’t be crazy if these things shipped one day with some kind of two way communications. If Gertrude gets stuck ten miles up the valley it could be handy, perhaps, to see what the problem is before you fire up the brummy quattro (Land Rover.)
by danw1979 | 2025-05-27 08:21:01+00:00
The point in the readme about using this with Claude Desktop to avoid API charges is a top tip for any coding-through-MCP setup with Claude.

I’m not a Clojure user but I’ve set up the Jetbrains MCP server and Claude Desktop has been working really well with it. I added a system prompt telling Claude to inspect the CLAUDE.md (used with Claude Code normally) whenever using Jetbrains to get project context, which is also working out really well.
by WalterBright | 2025-05-27 08:21:11+00:00
The style of user interfaces has gotten more colorful and dimensional, but the actual user interface has generally gotten worse.

For example, I just bought a new scanner. It has a hot mess of a user interface. It mashes together all kinds of selection schemes, with little rhyme or reason. You just have to randomly click on things, navigating up and down, until you eventually find, say, the destination folder to write the scans to.

Just the other day I installed Pandora on my phone. I had to ask grok how to close the app, as it has no X button. Blarf. Probably somebody got an award for this.
by atmanactive | 2025-05-27 08:21:17+00:00
I'll answer my own question: by clicking again on the toolbar "view" button.

But that's not what I'm talking about.

I would like to have one more mode, let's call it "read-only" which would look like "view" mode but it would have the toolbar hidden.

This is about a use case where I would send some page/information to my mother, without having to explain what is the eye button and what is the microphone button.
by pona-a | 2025-05-27 08:23:18+00:00
As a non-system-programmer, here's my attempt in Odin.

yes | pv > /dev/null 0:00:15 [1.12GiB/s] build/yes | pv > /dev/null 0:00:20 [1.03GiB/s] package main import "core:sys/linux" import "core:os" import "core:strings" main :: proc() { msg := "y" if len(os.args) == 1 else os.args[1] msg = strings.concatenate({msg, "\n"}) buf := transmute([]u8) strings.repeat(msg, 8192) for { linux.write(linux.STDOUT_FILENO, buf) } }
by ashoeafoot | 2025-05-27 08:23:18+00:00
The problem is they hsve no mental tools with the complex reality revealed, so the game goes by points to the right wing, which has no tools either but at least does not try to uphold delusional ideological idealizations in public. In the end all we get is to reality detached sides going in a holding pattern. Both brutally incompetent when it comes to dealing with complexity .

Little example, both sides pushed through ineptitude proliferation even beyond the cold war scope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6uxLHWVYRg

The conservating "right on, right on" of the ruling elite just doesn't cut it
by anal_reactor | 2025-05-27 08:24:15+00:00
a) people go out to spend time with already established friends, not talk to random strangers

b) people don't want to be approached by random strangers

c) I want to be friends with people who have similar lifestyle and values to me and create deeper connections

d) people have busy schedules and don't have time to meet

Source: I've tried

> but you haven't tried this particular activity that I recommend so you cannot tell that nothing works

Shut up. The ROI is just not there, and I'm happier just sitting at home smoking weed rather than keep chasing the high of a good conversation I've had five years ago. I'm not happy this way, but definitely happier.
by ayrtondesozzla | 2025-05-27 08:24:28+00:00
You can criticise things, but if you are effective, or if you criticise the wrong thing, you risk jail, harassment, ostracisation, threats, campaigns of vilification and slander, etc. Your doctor visits and lawyer visits will be surveilled, your basic diplomatic rights violated. You can be tortured in public view.

Wikileaks' Julian Assange is perhaps the archetypal recent example, but there are others.

Westminster has undergone a violent authoritarian shift in recent decades. Stating that clearly is a prerequisite to beginning a fight for "democracy", as you put it.
by avianlyric | 2025-05-27 08:24:40+00:00
> That means that I take time to analyze the problem and come up with a convincing design (mostly research, and experience).

Ah I think we’re finally getting somewhere. My point is that you can use LLM as part of that research process. Not just as a poor substitute for proper research, but as a tool for experimental research. It’s supplemental to the normal research process, and is certainly not a tool for creating final outputs.

Using LLMs like that can make a meaningful difference to speed and quality of the analysis and final design. And something you should consider, rather than dismissing out of hand.