MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
How the most feared algorithm in algebra is simple
by diegoofernandez | 2025-10-30 02:04:15+00:00
When I started implementing Buchberger's algorithm in TypeScript for my algebraic engine RomiMath, I discovered something surprising: this algorithm, considered one of the most complex in computational algebra, is actually pure mechanics.

Let's break it down to earth, step by step, without unnecessary abstractions. 1. Monomials (Without Complications)

A monomial is simply a term. Sums (+) and subtractions (-) divide monomials.

Example: 254 + 15x - 2 has 3 monomials.

In code:

class Monomial { coefficient: number; // e.g., 5, -2 variables: string[]; // e.g., ['x', 'y'] exponents: number[]; // e.g., [2, 1] for x²y }

2. Degree (Super Simple)

Degree is just the sum of exponents:

3x²y → degree = 2 + 1 = 3 5x → degree = 1 7 → degree = 0

3. Lexicographic Order (Easier Than It Seems)

It's like ordering words in a dictionary:

x > y > z > w x³ > x²y¹⁰⁰⁰ (because 3 > 2) x²y > x²z (because y > z) xy > x (because it has more variables)

4. Buchberger's Algorithm (Step by Step)

Step 1: Take Two Polynomials

P1: x² + y - 1 P2: x + y² - 2

Step 2: Look at Their "Leading Terms"

LT(P1) = x² (because x² > y > -1) LT(P2) = x (because x > y² > -2)

Step 3: Calculate the "LCM" of Those Terms

LCM(x², x) = x² (maximum of exponents: max(2,1) = 2)

Step 4: Do the "Smart Subtraction" (S-polynomial)

S(P1,P2) = (x²/x²)P1 - (x²/x)P2 = (1)(x² + y - 1) - (x)(x + y² - 2) = (x² + y - 1) - (x² + xy² - 2x) = -xy² + 2x + y - 1

Step 5: Simplify Against What We Already Have

Try to reduce the result using P1 and P2 If it doesn't reduce to zero → NEW POLYNOMIAL!

Step 6: Repeat Until Nothing New Appears

The Real Essence

Buchberger is just:

while (pairs remain) { 1. Take two polynomials 2. Do their "smart subtraction" 3. Simplify the result 4. If something new remains, add it to the basis }

It's no more complex than following a cooking recipe.

Why This Matters

I implemented this algorithm in TypeScript and it now solves 7-variable systems in seconds in the browser. The complexity wasn't in understanding the algorithm, but in overcoming the fear of mathematical notation.

When you decompose "advanced" concepts into mechanical operations, everything becomes accessible.

Has anyone else had that experience of discovering that a "complex" concept was actually simple once they broke it down?
by guy_5676 | 2025-10-30 02:04:26+00:00
"No. Yours is uncharitable because it has got nothing to do with how many languages you speak. This is not a multiglot competition."

I was referring to this specific part of the comment I replied to: "Americans are averse to learning languages as opposed to other people". My response is a very accurate explanation of the reasons why this is a) an unfair way of looking at things, and b) not unique to Americans. What aspect of my response is uncharitable? I'm not saying things should be one way or another, just explaining how they are.

"Here’s an alternative explanation. These people were so gracious and willing to communicate with you, a foreigner, that they were flustered and embarrassed that their command of the English language did not allow them to express themselves as clearly as they could. "

The situation I described has occurred to me more then once, even after I tried to communicate in the local language. English speaking is a flex in a lot of the world and poor English is embarrassing. The desirability and prevalance of English may upset you, but it is objectively true. You can get English teaching jobs and find plenty of English speakers all over the planet. The same is not true for any of the other languages I mentioned in my post.

"For someone having lived in twenty countries you seem as wordly as a North Dakotan having travelled abroad three times. All to Winnipeg"

Lmao, why are you so angry? I grew up in Australia and south east asia.
by msla | 2025-10-30 02:05:09+00:00
And Semmelweis is a perfect case against being an asshole who's right: He was more right than wrong (he didn't fully understand why what he was doing helped, but it did) but he was such a horrible personality and such an amazing gift for pissing people off it probably cost lives by delaying the uptake of his ideas.

But this is getting a bit off topic, I suppose.
by gorwell | 2025-10-30 02:05:14+00:00
For context, here are the top 10 biggest footprints

1. China 26.16%

2 United States 11.53%

3. India 7.69%

4. Russia 3.75%

5. Brazil 3.16%

6. Indonesia 3.15%

7. Japan 2.15%

8. Iran 2.06%

9. Saudi Arabia 1.60%

10. Canada 1.54%

The top 10 countries account for about ~60% of global CO₂ emissions.
by eileen-stars | 2025-10-30 02:05:17+00:00
While Generative AI rapidly advances in various domains, generating truly creative, aesthetic, and counter-intuitive outputs remains a challenge. This paper presents an approach to tackle these difficulties in the domain of chess puzzles. We start by benchmarking Generative AI architectures, and then introduce an RL framework with novel rewards based on chess engine search statistics to overcome some of those shortcomings. The rewards are designed to enhance a puzzle's uniqueness, counter-intuitiveness, diversity, and realism. Our RL approach dramatically increases counter-intuitive puzzle generation by 10x, from 0.22\% (supervised) to 2.5\%, surpassing existing dataset rates (2.1\%) and the best Lichess-trained model (0.4\%). Our puzzles meet novelty and diversity benchmarks, retain aesthetic themes, and are rated by human experts as more creative, enjoyable, and counter-intuitive than composed book puzzles, even approaching classic compositions. Our final outcome is a curated booklet of these AI-generated puzzles, which is acknowledged for creativity by three world-renowned experts.
by mindslight | 2025-10-30 02:05:17+00:00
As a libertarian, I had given Republicans the benefit of the doubt figuring they earnestly wanted freedom, but were just terrible at understanding the details of how their freedom gets taken away. But I still had figured that conservatism actually meant something - trusting institutions / "the system", believing America is a force for good in the world, slow measured change, etc.

But the point we've arrived at, with so many of them complicit in these wanton attacks on our freedoms and our society, it's hard to see that there are any sort of ideals or values behind their party. People are going about their days, getting accosted by unaccountable masked gangs, having their face scanned, then getting sent to a concentration camp when some buggy app claims they aren't a citizen? How can one possibly look at that and think anything but "this could easily happen to me or my family" ?

The only answer I've been able to come up with is that it is straight up racism. They believe they could never possibly be on the pointy end of this fascist dystopia, because they look "American" (ie white), and so would never possibly be scanned in the first place? I earnestly hate this "racism everywhere" chant the Democratic party has fallen into for the past decade. But I'm having a real hard time finding any other explanation, so I'm reluctantly coming around to that. Someone please convince me I am wrong.
by nemo44x | 2025-10-30 02:06:11+00:00
A ton of regulation happened after 2008/09. So to even become a public entity it’s a ton of effort and expense. And scrutiny. Not saying the laws are bad (but overdone) but the side effect is that small companies with upside don’t go to the public market now. Among other reasons like better developed VC outlets. That were formed because of the regulations.
by brendoelfrendo | 2025-10-30 02:06:26+00:00
The article for this post is about the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA). Since the original comment argues against research access to data by arguing that "Cambridge Analytica was research as well," another poster chimed in to rebut that assertion by arguing that Aleksandr Kogan's research would not have been allowed access to user data under the DSA and thus, that specific legal concern is moot.
by bombcar | 2025-10-30 02:06:49+00:00
I remember that the "general consensus" was that RISC was gonna win, it was just a matter of when (and when it could be affordable). What was NOT certain was which RISC architecture would come out ahead, so there was a bunch of porting to "remove the risk" - later they would unport most everything and "remove the RISC".

Pentium shook that tree a bit, and Pentium II really razzle-dazzled it.
by m10i | 2025-10-30 02:06:59+00:00
A similar issue has been plaguing the manga industry since "The Great Scanlator Purge" that took place a few years ago, leaving only the "official" Viz media-contracted translators in the wake of the ruins. For some reason, this change came with a general unwillingness on the translators part to correct, or translate, concepts that virtually all fan translators would've been happy to do.

Here's some examples (there are many more):

1) the explanation of puns and hidden meanings in the kanji used to describe names, locations, special abilities, jokes, which honorifics are being used currently (if any), etc. of which there are usually many. Understanding/being aware of this context used to be absolutely vital to the experience of reading manga.

2) there's a relatively new manga called "Versus", in which humans from parallel earths, in parallel universes all merge into the same universe, and their planets are also merged together. In the english version, Viz translates one of those worlds as "Indignia", which doesn't mean anything. However, the Japanese for this world is "怒ど神しん界かい" (Doshinkai), which is literally interpreted as "World of the Angry God", or "Mad God World". They took it upon themselves to make similar changes for all the other worlds, obscuring their original meanings as intended by the author... why? Beats me. Now, one could make the argument that "Mad God World" doesn't sound good in english, so the Viz translators change is an improvement, which is not unreasonable. However, any half-decent fan translator would've simply left a footnote like "the literal Japanese interpretation is X; I changed it to Indignia because...". Problem solved! Don't just retcon things because you feel like it without explaining yourself. And if you won't explain yourself, then leave it as is.

3) english One Piece readers often have no idea just how many things are lost in translation; One Piece is filled to the brim with puns, double-entendre's, and foreshadowing, which has always been a significant part of its appeal, and is now nowhere to be found via the official providers.

4) Physical signs, such as things written on buildings, on somebody's clothing, or even on a stop sign, are usually not translated.

5) cover pages! You wouldn't know it anymore, but manga often has cover pages (often officially colorized) with extra comments and tidbits from the authors. Fans would include these pages in their scanlations. Viz pretends they don't exist.

I can only imagine the thought process of whoever's making these decisions at Viz (or its parent company Shueisha) resembles something like "westerners don't care about that stuff. Stop wasting precious time and resources trying to explain it". They don't quite seem to understand how badly they have diluted the manga reading experience in the west, especially for those of us that grew up reading this stuff, way before it reached mainstream popularity.
by rixtox | 2025-10-30 02:07:28+00:00
Netflix implements "imgsub"[1] - it actually delivers a zipped archive of transparent images to the player. So technically they can pre-render positioned typesetted subtitles on server and render them as images overlay, as long as there's no animated text effects.

In general, streaming services have to ensure maximum compatibility when playing their contents on all kinds of devices - high end and low end. For which on low end device it could be very resource constraining to render typesetted subtitles. There are other platforms where all video playback have to be managed by the platform system frameworks with limited format support, and streaming services can't do much about it.

The priority of streaming service is extending their market reach, and I think Crunchyroll itself is facing the same challenge of market reaching.

I think the right solution is trying to get typesetted subtitles, and the end-to-end workflow - creation, packaging, delivery, rendering with adaptation (device capabilities, user preferences, localizations etc) all standardized. A more efficient workflow is needed, so a single source of subtitle is able to generate a set of renditions suitable for different player render capabilities. Chrunchyroll should actively participate in these standard bodies and push for adaption for more features and support in the streaming industry.

[1]: https://netflixsubs.app/docs/netflix/features/imgsub
by array_key_first | 2025-10-30 02:07:30+00:00
Yes, blocking a NON-PROFIT from magically IPO-ing as a for profit company and therefore skirting years of taxes is overreach.

Guys, the only state morally bankrupt enough to just allow that is Texas. Why do you think these tech bozos love Texas? It's basically cyberpunk over here. Our government actively hates us.

We struck down paid water breaks in Texas. I once worked a job with no breaks at all. 10 hour days, no lunch. Yes, that's legal here.
by ransom1538 | 2025-10-30 02:07:56+00:00
I was shopping at a mall with a visa vanilla card once. I got it as a gift and didn't know the limit. No matter what I bought the card kept going -- and I never got a balance of what was on the card. Eventually, later that day it stopped. I called customer support and asked how much was left on the balance. They told me they had no idea my balance - but everything I bought was mine.
by _kb | 2025-10-30 02:08:11+00:00
+1 -- consistency is key.

Wezterm runs everywhere, but lets me customise it once and keep that config uniform across all machines.

I can have a single config [0], wrap that in a nix expression [1] for anywhere that runs home-manager / NixOS and then also check it out and symlink on Windows machines as my portal to WSL. As my preferences change, my tooling stays consistent and familiar everywhere it's needed.

[0]: https://git.sr.ht/~kb/env/tree/main/item/dotfiles/wezterm.lu...

[1]: https://git.sr.ht/~kb/env/tree/main/item/programs/wezterm.ni...
by Moto7451 | 2025-10-30 02:08:43+00:00
I had this very same argument today. It was claimed that a once per year data mapping process of unstructured data that we sell via our product - would not scale. The best part is if we somehow had ten of these to do it would still be something that would take less than a year. Currently it takes a single person a few weeks and makes millions of dollars. This is the sort of fiddly work that you can find an Ontologist for and they’re happy to do it for the pay.

I’m unsure what is unattractive about this but I guess anything can be a reason to spend a year playing with LLMs these days.

I’ve had the same problem with compliance work (lightly regulated market) and suddenly the scaling complaints go away when the renewals stop happening.
by easton | 2025-10-30 02:08:57+00:00
They used to do that (so that everyone picking 1a wouldn’t actually route traffic to the same az), but at some point they made it so all new accounts had the same AZ labels to stop confusing people.

The services that fail on AWS’ side are usually multi zone failures anyway, so maybe it wouldn’t help.

I’ve often wondered why they don’t make a secret region just for themselves to isolate the control plane but maybe they think dogfooding us-east-1 is important (it probably wouldn’t help much anyway, a meteor could just as easily strike us-secret-1).
by anigbrowl | 2025-10-30 02:09:43+00:00
Fully agree, it's become a thought-terminating cliche at this point.

> They’re predicting what words are most likely to come next in a sequence.

I find this objection hilarious because it describes an awful lot of humans. One of the banes of my life is when I'm trying to phrase something clearly and specifically and the person I'm talking to interrupts to respond to a wildly incorrect guess about what I was about to say next.A lot of people don't have the patience to unspool a thought or the instinct to ask a clarifying question instead of plowing ahead with their mistaken assumption.
by WarOnPrivacy | 2025-10-30 02:09:53+00:00
> This reads like a boomer Facebook post based on anecdotes extrapolated into a worldview centered around the core idea that everyone but you is raising their kids wrong.

For your criticism to be valid, my assertions would need to be factually inaccurate - in that they do not well represent the my generations' childhoods and the same for my kids' generation.

Otherwise, it seems like you're just vibing at me for having vibes.
by virgildotcodes | 2025-10-30 02:10:58+00:00
> As someone who doesn't really drink and never has alcohol at home, is it just that people buy beer/wine and drink on a daily basis for fun?

Yes, anything from a couple of drinks a night with dinner / tv to getting blackout drunk multiple times a week, alone, with your significant other, or with friends / roommates.

In the case of people in my social circle (late 30s early 40s) it's primarily still for fun, as well as just a large amount of momentum from your teenage years, 20s, 30s, etc. For a lot of people I know, the association between drinking and good times / relaxation has been deeply engrained since high school.

I've recently taken an extended break for my health, as I'm fully aware that it takes a toll on me, but I still love grabbing some drinks whether I'm relaxing alone in the evening or going out with friends and family.

While it's certainly true that many people get into a dark place with drinking and let it spiral into a self-destructive, depressive pursuit, I don't think it's quite the rule it's made out to be.

I have a good amount of family who live idyllic, full, happy, social lives, drinking heavily multiple times a week with their friends and family into their 70s/80s until death.
by my_brain_saying | 2025-10-30 02:11:06+00:00
To be fair to Linux, Windows has many, many rough edges as well. The difficult part for newbies is that those rough edges are _different_. In the long run I feel pretty confident saying that Linux is overall better, and that's because of the customizability. Ultimately, with some experience, one can essentially choose one’s own rough edges :P
by tux1968 | 2025-10-30 02:11:44+00:00
The details are different, but they're both select-then-act. Admittedly, I've never used Helix, but I don't see how what you've described is a game changer. Surely, at least sometimes, what you want to do is exactly what visual-mode provides: explicitly select a region, using the combined movement of any available operator, and then act on that region.
by pseudalopex | 2025-10-30 02:11:56+00:00
Nothing they wrote implied minuscule or abnormal.

Can you define huge fraction and really commit? And cite evidence?

I disagree the basic idea of CBT or ACT is leaning into discomfort. In the senses articles suggest David Goggins and Wim Hof advise even less.

CBT and ACT work for many patients and don't work for many patients.

Some people liked intense exercise their whole lives. Some people hated it when they started but liked it eventually. Some people exercised daily since decades and hated every minute. Do you not believe the 1st and 3rd groups?

Pushing through bad feelings is a form of executive control. And ADHD impairments are not limited to impulse control. People who have ADHD who do not take medication have significantly higher rates of driving accidents than people who do not have ADHD or take ADHD medication. Proprioception, internal time perception, and working memory impairments are common.
by krapp | 2025-10-30 02:12:43+00:00
>As such, writing off everyone who didn't support exactly what you support as a racist, fascistic, bloodthirsty scumbag who should be put down isn't the best strategy.

I never did any such thing. I don't believe anyone should be put down for their beliefs, I'm not like them.

A lot of them are racist, fascistic, bloodthirsty scumbags. That isn't even controversial, a lot of them will admit it openly.

>I'm incensed by what's been going on and I never supported Trump or his (now) hangers on. That said, I'm sure that you and I disagree about a bunch of things. Does that make me an unredeemably evil human being?

I never said anyone was an unredeemably evil human being. I just have no interest in their redemption.

>In fact, the vast majority of Americans agree about much more than they disagree. Your "othering" of folks is just as bad as those who "other" folks who believe what you do.

I'm not "othering" anyone, I'm expressing skepticism about the motivations behind the stated regrets of some Trump supporters and the narrative that they "never voted for this."

>Rather it's a "your fellow Americans are humans too and mostly want the same things. Why don't we agree on those things and work to come to amicable resolutions where possible?" kind of argument.

Because many of my fellow Americans want masked, armed troops in the streets kidnapping brown people. They want the government to police "degenerate" art and erase "woke" ideology. They want to send trans kids to mandatory conversion camps. They want to normalize Christian nationalism and fascism. They want to tear down science and medicine and replace it with conspiracy theories and nonsense.

If I'm not talking about you, I'm not talking about you. But I am talking about a lot of people.

If Trump supporters want to reconsider supporting him and his agenda, great. It's a little late, but I guess late is better than never. I'm not stopping them from acting differently, I'm just a guy trying to survive here. No one is stopping them. I don't need to "make room" for them - they're the most politically and culturally powerful demographic in existence. If they want something different next time - assuming there is a next time, they can just vote for it. They believe in the will to power don't they?

But I'm under no obligation to forgive and forget when the brownshirts are in the streets.
by array_key_first | 2025-10-30 02:13:05+00:00
> The non->for profit status of the company is not impacting anyone.

They're quite literally running away with millions in tax money they stole. That means from YOU.

It's a sense of entitlement that pisses people off. Imagine you're a hardworking American who pays his taxes for the betterment of his country.

And then here comes this Sam Altman douchebag, who thinks he's so important he doesn't have to pay taxes. He thinks you should foot the bill, because you're nobody, and he's Sam Altman.

If you're not at least a little bit pissed at the precedent this is setting, I personally view that as pathetic.
by seanmcdirmid | 2025-10-30 02:13:07+00:00
Per capita most definitely matters. Every human is equal, there is no reason why one human has the right to emit much more than another. If we go by your reasoning, then all developing countries should figure out how to raise living standards without consuming more resources so the Americans don’t have to reduce theirs.

You are incorrect that China isn’t doing anything to lower its impact. It’s emissions would be much much much worse for the standard of living increases it achieved without investments in clean energy and EVs, tech that it is exporting abroad to the benefit of the world and to the dismay of America’s petro dollar dependence.

With such thinking, I now get why the rest of the world is beginning to hate America so much.
by refactor_master | 2025-10-30 02:13:43+00:00
Just to add a less opinionated take: https://www.citymonitor.ai/analysis/why-winter-is-a-poor-arg...

Personally I've also biked to work (and everywhere, really) in sub-zero degrees many times, because the bicycle lanes are cleared and salted. It's really not too bad. It actually gets a bit too hot even, because you start out by wearing so much.