MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by aylmao | 2025-09-05 22:59:22+00:00
> Why do we need type checking at all? The standard answer is scale.

It's not scale, it's correctness.

> Consider this: electronics engineers routinely design systems with millions of components, intricate timing relationships, and complex interactions between subsystems. Yet they don’t rely on anything analogous to our type checkers.

They do. Verilog gets its name from "verification". The electronics industry has built all sorts of verification and testing software and equipment to essentially do the same things as type-checkers; ensure that inputs yield the right outputs, and some sort of assurance this is true all the time.

> We’ve created systems so intricate and interconnected that human reasoning fails, then declared the tools that help us navigate this complexity to be essential.

That's just how complexity works. We've created cities so large we need maps to navigate them. We've created so much medical knowledge, we need specialists. This last one is a good analogy— our bodies are so complex we still don't fully understand them. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them.

> It’s like building a maze so convoluted that you need a GPS to walk through it, then concluding that GPSs are fundamental to architecture.

As similar as this sounds to the statement I made about cities above, this sentence is flawed in that GPSs in no way fundamental to architecture. They're fundamental to quick navigation. You can live without a GPS, but you'll take more wrong turns if you're not familiar with a place.

CAD is fundamental to architecture, and helps both build cheaper and avoid mistakes.

> The missing piece is programming languages and development environments designed from the ground up for this isolated, message-passing world. Languages where time is a first-class concept, where components are naturally isolated, and where simple data formats enable universal composition. Tools that make it as easy to wire together distributed components as it is to pipe together UNIX commands.

This is a bad conclusion because anyone who was worked with microservices and distributed systems will know– they don't reduce complexity, they just try hide it.

We'd like to believe we can create a big system out of little system— and that is true. That's how programming languages work, and the reason functions, modules, classes, etc exist. Logic can be encapsulated.

We'd also like to believe we can completely decouple these systems, so that when my team works in the "users" service, I can just ship code and not have to worry about any of the other teams' work. This is not true. If my system changes its output, it'll have downstream effects— wether it be in the same, type-checked program or a separate program consuming it. The only difference is in the former case I realize my change will break something and I am told to mind the change as I write the code for it— In the latter, I don't. Independently deployable components come in two flavours— non-typechecked and error prone due to version drift and unintended API changes, or typechecked, which is essentially a mono-system but with extra steps.
by zer00eyz | 2025-09-05 23:00:01+00:00
> courts are generally far more common sense than that in applying the law.

'The Board’s decision was later upheld by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which rejected the applicant’s contention that the AI system itself should be acknowledged as the author, with any copyrights vesting in the AI’s owner. The court further held that the CO did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in denying the application, reiterating the requirement that copyright law requires human authorship and that copyright protection does not extend to works “generated by new forms of technology operating absent any guiding human hand, as plaintiff urges here.”' From: https://www.whitefordlaw.com/news-events/client-alert-can-wo...

The court is using common sense when it comes to the law. It is very explicit and always has been... That word "human" has some long standing sticky legal meaning (as opposed to things that were "property").
by tialaramex | 2025-09-05 23:00:17+00:00
I don't buy it. Go look at the Godbolt assembly output when you write software with some floating point constants on a modern CPU. The assembly has no floating point constants, because why would it, the data doesn't have a type, those constants are just emitted as integers, because they're the same thing.

The 32-bit integer 0x3f000000 is literally the same thing as the 32-bit floating point value 0.5
by anonymousiam | 2025-09-05 23:00:21+00:00
I got my ham license before the "no code" license became a thing. I missed my "Extra" CW test by one point and never tried again, which is sorta cool, because the "Advanced" class is now gone, so I'm keeping mine.

I've got a lot of friends who are avid CW users. One friend used to do CW in his car, which is also very cool.

I learned CW with SuperMorse (on DOS). I went from no skills to passing the General/Advanced in two weeks. It was a fun and easy way to learn.
by dave333 | 2025-09-05 23:00:33+00:00
I scored 54 and while the cube rotations are painful to do I was sure of all my responses and wonder which ones I got wrong. There was one I didn't know the answer: somebody liked 96 but not 45 and liked 540 but not 250 - can someone spoil that for me? There was one that had a trick in the answer order - which was 4 letters on from T which is X but in the choices 4 after T was Y which was what I checked initially.
by refset | 2025-09-05 23:00:34+00:00
The world deserves something better than json_agg. For XTDB we coined NEST_ONE and NEST_MANY: https://xtdb.com/blog/the-missing-sql-subqueries

The output format is either raw Arrow DenseUnions (e.g. via FlightSQL) or Transit via a pgwire protocol extension type.
by kdaker | 2025-09-05 23:01:05+00:00
Neat but it looks like it is reinventing the Arabic QWERTY layout slightly differently. The QWERTY layout uses shift for the special letters here. So ش is shift+S. Another neat thing is it maps the transliteration alphabet as inspiration for letters that don’t exist in English. For example, ع, Which is informally “3ayn”, is on the “e” key right below the 3 key. I don’t know if the transliteration bit is intentional or a coincidence.
by eawgewag | 2025-09-05 23:02:08+00:00
Wow, I enjoyed your comment deeply and it reminded me of 15+ years ago on the internet, where your experience really matched mine. I still am friends to this day with the people I met 15+ years ago. I haven't made an internet friend in over 10 years though.

I personally believe that part of this is due to the upvote/downvote culture of Reddit. We're all incentivized to say something that will attract upvotes. There's a positive side to this -- thanks to this I regularly read really funny, entertaining comments. Genuine genius in the comments section.

On the other hand, its just to entertain. There's nothing really human or of substance there. Or, what's especially dangerous, to say something that bucks the trend, the status quo, admit an unpopular vulnerability outloud and suddenly you're hit with waves upon waves of downvotes. Not only that but I genuinely believe that the downvotes empowers angry debaters to come in and pick apart whatever it is that you said, just to enjoy the upvotes. I perceive it as a kind of bullying.

At any rate, I don't think these spaces are designed for intimacy. They're designed for memes and funny jokes, not genuine conversations.
by ndriscoll | 2025-09-05 23:02:10+00:00
I don't know/remember the historical derivation, but the story you might get in a class goes something like:

Energy can't be created or destroyed, so it follows a continuity equation: du/dt + dq/dx = 0. Roughly, the only way for energy to change in time is by coming from somewhere in space. There are no magic sources/sinks (a source or sink would be a nonzero term on the right).

Then you have Fourier's law/Newton's law of cooling: heat flows proportional to temperature difference, from high to low: q = -du/dx.

Combining these, you get the heat equation: du/dt = d^2 u/dx^2.

Now if you're very fancy, you can find deeper reasons for this, but otherwise if you're in engineering analysis class, just guess that u(t,x)=T(t)X(x). i.e. it cleanly factors along time/space.

But then T'(t)X(x)=X''(x)T(t), so T'(t)/T(t) = X''(x)/X(x). But the left and right are functions of different independent variables, so they must be constant. So you get X''= λX for some lambda. But then from calc1, X is sin/cos.

Likewise T' = λ T so T is e^-λt from calc 1.

Then since it's a linear differential equation, the most general solution (assuming it splits the way we guessed) is a weighted sum of any allowable T(t)X(x), so you get a sum of exponentially decaying (in time) waves (in space).
by taffer | 2025-09-05 23:02:17+00:00
AFAIK relational algebra and relational calculus are based on FOL (first-order logic) which predicates atomic elements. For nested elements you would need HOL (higher-order logic) which is mathematically hard to optimize.

As FOL is as powerful as HOL but easier to optimise, it has become the basis for relational databases. The trade-off is that you have to normalise your data so that you can efficiently query and apply constraints to it.

But yes, just because your data at rest should be flat relations, that doesn't mean that the results of your queries need to be flat. I think querying a well-normalised database and returning nested JSON makes a lot of sense.
by hedora | 2025-09-05 23:02:38+00:00
It’s possible an “average” president could have done OK, but I’m comparing to his predecessors.

It’s hard to see how the isolationist macroeconomic geniuses that created the Great Depression would have built a war machine that could have won the war.

I doubt they would have wanted to. It’s more likely that, like the Bush family, they were supporting Hitler behind the scenes during the war.

That crowd’s running the US today. We need another FDR.
by g-b-r | 2025-09-05 23:03:54+00:00
Ok, although everything seems to go through the "MentraOS Cloud" (https://docs.mentra.glass/core-concepts).

It's not that the OS is not open source, it's that it seems a privacy nightmare; the fact that the app also runs on the developers' servers just adds to the amount of parties you need to trust. That you and the people around you need to trust, actually.

And the company has strong connections to China, by the way.

The system is also not very open, if the users are forced to use your store.

It seems unlikely that there's much to be salvaged, given that you're using AOSP as the actual operating system.
by croes | 2025-09-05 23:04:10+00:00
> How many of the illegal boat immigrants work in the German healthcare sector

Nice try of moving goalposts. „Fachkräfte“ is about refugees and legal immigrants.

But undeclared work in the care sector is what makes it affordable for many private people.

> Maybe he meant in the tech sector. Because I can't take the LVMH sweatshop seriously even if they're making a lot of money.

Why do you start at number 3 and ignore SAP and ASML?

Another goalpost. Parents point wasn’t about being better but existence

Nvidia is higher overvalued thanks to the AI bubble.

But Nvidia highly depends on TSMC and they depends on ASML
by Imustaskforhelp | 2025-09-05 23:04:12+00:00
I think that I can also vouch for things like discord in the fact that it can bring internet friends.

Though I think that two things that I hate is that information there isn't as structured in the sense that someone might come reading this comment after specifically searching for this topic of comment culture.

But the same couldn't be said for things like online forums and as such I can't shake the feeling that if we all collectively stopped commenting on things, it can really move a lot of discourse away that might influence new generation.

I myself have been inspired many times to try something new or think of some idea because of some idea just to try if that make sense. Or seeing someone post some idea that I like and then reading the comments to find nuanced opinion about and maybe I can chime in sometimes helping it.

I feel like commenting system to definitely be one of treasures like wikipedia although I think that the noise:signal ratio is definitely higher in commenting systems (ie. they have more noise than signal)
by jandrewrogers | 2025-09-05 23:04:33+00:00
There are different clandestine and covert legal authorities under which these kinds of operations can be conducted with different rules of engagement. While most don't, some of these authorities may allow for killing of innocents in furtherance of the mission. The article implies that the rules of engagement for this particular mission allowed for the elimination of witnesses.

Governments around the world have strong incentives to keep this kind of thing out of the news even when they are on the receiving end, so it is relatively rare for it to leak into the public sphere no matter which government ends up killing innocents.
by ocdtrekkie | 2025-09-05 23:04:59+00:00
My Insteon thermostat is a great dumb thermostat that I can also send commands to over a serial connection to a powerline/RF modem. (Very similar to Z-Wave's RF, though proprietary.)

The key is do not buy smart devices with Wi-Fi. There are better products for serious people. Everyone here with a Zigbee or Z-Wave product probably learned that the hard way first. ;)
by xyzelement | 2025-09-05 23:05:04+00:00
The guy I replied to was asking why you'd want an Internet connected thermostat.

I am a HA guy and prior to my ecobee I ran an American Radio Thermostat with local HA support and you could control over curl. But the wifi module was so old that no modern device connected to it when I had to reset it up.

But I agree zwave plus HA are a great option too.
by zuji1022 | 2025-09-05 23:05:07+00:00
Ridges Has Achieved Open Source State Of The Art

We launched Ridges less than four months ago with the goal of harnessing incentive mechanisms to build the world's best software engineer. Today, we are by far state of the art for software engineering agents running on open source models, at 73.6% on the full 500 SWE-Bench verified questions.
by RiverCrochet | 2025-09-05 23:05:25+00:00
The only 100% certain way to know you're talking to humans is to see, hear, and smell them face to face.

Given AI, bots, and desire to make Internet properties collect identification data of all users to make sure they're adults (even though their ISPs already do), I feel like your new, exciting and culture-driver Internet spaces of the future are going to be more like private clubs if trends continue.

They won't be accessible until you physically check in with the admin at a public place, or attending a "Meet-N-Greet" type function. This will make them local-first, and such clubs/forums will have to master the art of developing and networking with other local chapters.

Things operated like this before the Internet, and that's where the real people are probably going to end up back to, because the Internet is becoming as boring and tamed as the capital-intensive corporate-driven phone and TV networks of yesteryear.

Should surveillance increase, I can even see the typical social function of the Internet being nothing more than an events calendar and payment processor, and no other real chat or interaction happening within it.
by sashank_1509 | 2025-09-05 23:05:29+00:00
I’m a big fan of 100% anything goes free speech. But the insanity of how X has implemented this, makes me think twice. In turns out that if you allow completely free speech on a town public square, one of the most popular high engagement speech will be prejudice and hatred towards out-groups (to throw an olive branch to rightists, an outgroup can be immigrants for rightists or nazis for leftists though these days my X feed it is just anti immigrant and I don’t see much brown shirt hysteria ).

Now I’m convinced, free speech maybe works in a technocracy, where the common man has no power and could scream whatever he wants and you could ignore him. In a liberal democracy, probably speech, especially speech to the masses need to be policed, because the ideas that win to the masses are just complete insanity. And so my new leaning goes, I still can’t give up on my free speech prior, I don’t mind all the insane nonsense I see on X but I would mind if someone tries to implement that in real life and the way things go, I think that’s just a matter of time.
by BizarroLand | 2025-09-05 23:05:40+00:00
They're intended to save lives by slowing down a car careening out of control or bouncing it out of oncoming traffic at least.

Galvanized steel would increase the hazard by having a higher likelihood of piercing through the shell of the vehicle and striking the passengers than the softer and more bendy aluminum would. It also corrodes over time, so barring an accident aluminum despite its higher initial cost is a better choice of material for guardrails.

Tradeoff is that they would need to make the fines for recyclers so onerous that they would knowingly never accept guardrail material since the only truly effective deterrent is removing the profit motive.
by rise_before_sun | 2025-09-05 23:05:46+00:00
It seems weird that there was legal culpability for downloading pirated books but not for training on them. At the very least, there is a transitive dependency between the two acts.

Other people have said that Anthropic bought the books later on, but I haven't found any official records for that. Where would I find that?

Also, does anyone know which Anthropic models were NOT trained on the pirated books. I want to avoid such models.
by jongjong | 2025-09-05 23:05:55+00:00
I've also been commenting a lot over the past decade. Partly for practicing my writing, like OP, partly to help maintain balance within the social order by shedding light on alternative perspectives which were often overlooked.

But now as my comments are likely being fed into AI for training for profit by specific individuals, it doesn't feel the same. I'm getting a stronger urge to keep my expertise to myself.

Also, the benefits of good writing aren't as great anymore. I still kind of benefit in terms of practicing my tough typing... It's valuable to be able to type AI prompts quickly.
by gerdesj | 2025-09-05 23:06:37+00:00
Its much less disturbing than living under a flight path to an airport. I actually like the sound of a helo - its variable and interesting, as is a piston powered fixed wing aircraft.

Mind you I also lived near RAF, USAAF and Luftwaffe bases back in the day and several flights of Phantoms, Starfighters, Jaguars and Tornadoes and the rest can make quite a din. Phantoms were pretty huge engined beasts with minimal effort made for noise reduction. A "finger four" lighting up their after burners to gain altitude really fast is ear splitting.
by kennywinker | 2025-09-05 23:07:00+00:00
ICE’s average, by their own untrustworthy account, seems to be about 30% of people arrested are let go.

As for carrying id - yeah i carry my drivers license. A drivers license isn’t proof of citizenship, nor is it a work visa.

Mostly what irks me about this, besides people blindly believing the words of a corrupt kleptocratic government, is that this is just cruelty for show to make people think something’s actually changing. So far they have deported half of people the biden admin deported in a year. It’s been over six months.

If you actually wanted to solve the problem, you’d skip arresting workers and lay down harsh jailtime for ceos who hire workers with visas. But the cruelty and the show is the point. As is building up a loyal army of goons who are practiced at disappearing people
by johnnienaked | 2025-09-05 23:07:17+00:00
>Since most of what they consume is on the open web, it’s difficult for authors to withhold consent without also depriving legitimate agents (AKA humans or “meat bags”) of information.

It shouldn't be difficult at all. When you record original music, or write something down on paper, it's instantly copyrighted. Why shouldn't that same legal precedent apply to content on the internet?

This is half a failure of elected representatives to do their jobs, and half amoral tech companies exploiting legal loopholes. Normal people almost universally agree something needs to be done about it, and the conversation is not a new one either.
by cco | 2025-09-05 23:07:17+00:00
Disagree with you there having used Rayban Metas for about six months.

Always-on access to an LLM via voice is a useful and novel way of interacting with computers.

From trivial things like asking it about a landmark I'm seeing or when I'm driving to tell me about some historical event (almost like an on tap podcast), to slightly more useful things like asking it to add stuff to my calendar/reminders when I'm biking home.

It certainly isn't a replacement for a more robust interface, but it is a very nice way of using a computer while I'm out and about and don't want to pull out my phone.
by rurp | 2025-09-05 23:07:43+00:00
I think this tracks pretty well. Even if our Democracy survives this regime the future looks so much more bleak than it did a year ago. Much of the current damage will last for many years and too many norms have been broken.

All of the powerful psycopaths have seen what one aspiring dictator can get away with. Trump will keep pushing over norms and other pillars of society and the next one will be starting much further along.
by _mu | 2025-09-05 23:07:51+00:00
What is really missing is good sex education in schools, especially public schools - and in particular in the United States. The state of sex education in America actually deserves the work deplorable, it's so bad.

Looking at this comment thread, I get the sense that people are coming from vastly different backgrounds and upbringings. There's no baseline established for what people are trying to discuss.

There are a lot of topics that should simply be explained to children up front from a very early age. When a topic is not shrouded in mystery, it becomes boring. So kids should learn from an early age what is sex, puberty, menstruation, homosexuality, etc. and it should be presented in a manner-of-fact way that takes the emotional charge out of the picture. When people are educated, they have more latitude to make good decisions.
by mikestorrent | 2025-09-05 23:08:04+00:00
This is a good insight. The real gambles behind tech debt are not taken on the same way a company would take on real debt. If there is analysis of it, and it's not just a sneaky shortcut by a dev (either being lazy or working to a deadline), then it's not considered in terms of future cash flow or any other kind of meaningful metrics that matter over time. It only comes due if you want it to; you only pay interest on it when you interact with it. Sometimes it really is Good Enough for the slapdash thing you're working on. Sometimes more crap on top of more crap is just how the thing you're working on goes, and trying to fix it is tilting at windmills... especially if it's just to make your employer rich by mildly improving efficiency on their ad delivery platform.
by mechanicalpulse | 2025-09-05 23:08:16+00:00
Mostly the fact that it's based on Markdown, which makes the raw specification far easier to read with a text editor than OpenAPI/Swagger. Markdown also permits styling in the various descriptive portions, which makes for superior documentation.

I ran into some deficiencies, though, at least with the parser I was using with Node/TS -- IIRC (and it's been a few years), I wasn't able to specify a wide variety of disparate responses (e.g., an HTTP 200 with an application/json Content-Type header, an HTTP 200 with a text/plain Content-Type header, and an HTTP 400 response with an X-Error-Code header). Since API Blueprint was introduced, the tooling around OpenAPI has improved dramatically and it's become a de facto standard, so I'd probably avoid API Blueprint for anything serious.

It's unfortunate, though, because I really liked the idea.