MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by shadowgovt | 2025-11-20 20:03:41+00:00
I wish them the best. I tried getting off of Google Maps, and it became a safety / quality of life issue to return to it (for United States driving directions). I tried both CoMaps and Organic Maps. CoMaps really struggled to know what address I was referencing for driving directions (and would take minutes to sort out the directions for long trips, a task Google Maps knocks out in about a second with one server query). It also doesn't seem to have the traffic signal data (or has a worse source for it) that Google has access to, and since I live too close to a major city to ignore things like "public event causes massive traffic disruption," I need that traffic signal in my route planning.

That having been said, we could use better solutions than trusting huge megacorps with a task as vital as mapping and directions, so I want them to succeed.
by noirscape | 2025-11-20 20:03:59+00:00
Grades aren't necessarily an indicator on if a person comprehends the educational material. Someone can visibly under-perform on general tests, but when questioned in-person/made to do an exam still recite the educational material from the top of their head, apply it correctly and even take it in a new direction. Those are underachievers; they know what they can do, but for one reason or another, they simply refuse to show it (a pretty common cause tends to be just finding the general coursework to be demeaning or the teachers using the wrong education methods, so they don't put a lot of effort into it[0].) Give them coursework above their level, and they'll suddenly get acceptable/correct results.

IQ can be used somewhat reliably to identify if someone is an underachiever, or if they're legitimately struggling. That's what the tests are made and optimized for; they're designed to test how quickly a person can make the connection between two unrelated concepts. If they do it quick enough, they're probably underachieving compared to what they actually can do and it may be worth trying to give them more complicated material to see if they can actually handle it. (And conversely, if it turns out they're actually struggling, it may be worth dedicating more time to help them.)

That's the main use of it. Anything else you attach to IQ is a case of correlation not being causation, and anyone who thinks it's worth more than that is being silly. High/Low IQ correlates to very little besides a sort of general trend on how quickly you can recognize patterns (because of statistical anomaly rules, any score outside the 95th percentile is basically the same anyways and IQ scores are normalized every couple years; this is about as far as you can go with IQ - there's very little difference between 150/180/210 or whatever other high number you imagine).
by gaudystead | 2025-11-20 20:04:33+00:00
Perhaps this is a stupid/contentious idea (partly because it somewhat kills the "spirit" of the original games), but there's a little part of me that would be interested in seeing the scene building parts of Zork piped into an image generation service to visualize the landscape that the game describes.

(the grue would obviously just a picture full of black, though some creepy eyes would be a nice touch)
by koliber | 2025-11-20 20:04:36+00:00
If you tell me that trees are big, and trees are made of hard wood, I as a human am capable of asking whether trees feel pain. I don't think what you said is false and I am not familiar with computational theory to be able to debate it. People occasionally have novel creative insights that do not derive from past experience or knowledge, and that is what I think of when I think of creativity.

Humans created novel concepts like writing literally out of thin air. I like how the book "Guns, Steels, and Germs" describes that novel creative process and contrasts it via a disseminative derivation process.
by saghm | 2025-11-20 20:04:41+00:00
The problem is the implicit assumption that you can throw an entire book at someone and expect them to be able to figure out where to look for each piece of information in it without them knowing beforehand what things even are. If someone hasn't ever seen a variable like `$|` before, it's not necessarily going to be obvious to them what it is, and without knowing how to classify it, they aren't going to know how to tell what chapter it's described in. You're defining the bar for someone to be able to ask a question as high enough that they spent enough time reading through everything to be able to identify it. That's going to be fine for some people, but not everyone learns the same way, and when some people learn better a different way than you, it's not because they're stupid or lazy, but because there's just a lot of variety in what works well or doesn't for people.

Of course, you aren't under any obligation to spend time helping people who you don't want to, but if a community as a whole reacts this way when someone asks a question, they're making the bet that the there are enough people who are similar enough to them to sustain things in the future. Given that this both happened years ago to the parent commenter and now again when they tell the story again, it's not really that hard to believe that this might have been common enough that a lot of people experienced it. The entire point of this thread is discussing why Perl has faltered, and your explanation in the last paragraph comes across as basically saying "kids these days..." in slightly different words. I'd argue that even if the kids loved man pages, having a condescending attitude towards them would probably still come through in other ways, and that would have had pretty much the same effect.
by bobbylarrybobby | 2025-11-20 20:04:52+00:00
What determines which “average” AI models latch onto? At a pixel level, the average of every image is a grayish rectangle; that's obviously not what we mean and AI does not produce that. At a slightly higher level, the average of every image is the average of every subject every photographed or drawn (human, tree, house, plate of food, ...) in concept space; but AI still doesn't generate a human with branches or a house with spaghetti on it. At a still higher level there are things we recognize as sensible scenes, e.g., barista pouring a cup of coffee, anime scene of a guy fighting a robot, watercolor of a boat on a lake, which AI still does not (by default) average into, say, an equal parts watercolor/anime/photorealistic image of a barista fighting a robot on a boat while pouring a cup of coffee.

But it is undeniable that AI images do have an “average” feel to them. What causes this? What is the space over which AI is taking an average to produce its output? One possible answer is that a finite model size means that the model can only explore image space with a limited resolution, and as models get bigger/better they can average over a smaller and smaller portion of this space, but it is always limited.

But that raises the question of why models don't just naturally land on a point in image space. Is this just a limitation of training, which punishes big failures more strongly than it rewards perfection? Or is there something else at play here that's preventing models from landing directly on a “real” image?
by throwaway894345 | 2025-11-20 20:05:01+00:00
I'm not nearly as angsty as the parent on this subject, but they don't really free the developer from guessing about hidden allocations--Go's allocations are still very much hidden even if developers can reasonably guess about the behavior of the escape analyzer. I think it would have been better if Go _required_ explicit assignment of all variables. That said, despite not being a big fan of this particular decision, Go is still by far the most productive language I've used--it strikes an excellent balance between type safety and productivity even if I think some things could be improved.
by loeg | 2025-11-20 20:05:08+00:00
I believe the part was at least visually inspected in 2021:

> A review of the inspection tasks for the left pylon aft mount found both a general visual inspection (GVI) and a detailed visual inspection of the left pylon aft mount, required by UPS's maintenance program at a 72-month interval, was last accomplished on October 28, 2021.
by crote | 2025-11-20 20:05:35+00:00
An important factor in AA 191 is that the engine leaving did significant damage to the hydraulic lines in that wing - including those for the leading-edge slats. At the time the plane was not equipped with any mechanism to keep the slats extended, so after hydraulic pressure was lost airflow over the wings caused them to retract, which significantly lowered that wing's stall speed.

After AA 191 the DC-10 was equipped with a locking system: loss of pressure now results in the slats getting stuck in their current position. The MD-11 will undoubtedly also have this system, so a direct repeat of AA 191 is unlikely.
by lemonwaterlime | 2025-11-20 20:05:45+00:00
A young EE is in a degreed program and is getting that progression formally as part of their degree. A person not in that degreed program is taking a random walk through the skills and potential mentors (if and when they exist). That's clearly the issue.

This also goes beyond programming on a microcontroller as the Maker Movement is about more than just electronics.
by epolanski | 2025-11-20 20:06:01+00:00
Also effect-ts in TypeScript world, which is by far the most popular effect system around (quite sure it has overtaken Scala's ZIO from which it is inspired).

The ecosystem is massive.

Cons: TypeScript is a great type system but requires some investment to get the best out of it, it's also very verbose.

Pros: you have access to the entirety of the TypeScript ecosystem.

https://effect.website/
by rft | 2025-11-20 20:06:08+00:00
At some point it comes down to probabilities. With so many flights going on, one in a million incidents become a certainty. For example UA232 [1] suffered failure in all 3 redundant hydraulic systems due to an uncontained engine failure. Any of the 3 systems would have been enough to retain control of the aircraft. Of course this lead to some investigations on why all 3 systems could be impacted at the same time and what can be done to limit failures.

Besides the technical aspects that flight is an impressive example of resilience and skill. Bringing that plane down to the ground in nearly one piece was essentially impossible and a one in a million chance in itself.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232
by Lerc | 2025-11-20 20:06:30+00:00
There are separate tests for the extremes, but obviously less researched because the further out you go the less they have to work on.

Many years ago, while unemployed, I was sent for a intelligence and dyslexia test (because of the very same perceived waste of potential that the article talks about). I was not dyslexic but scored above the range that the intelligence test could measure. The professor(I believe he was moonlighting for research funding) performing the test talked about the upper range tests, but said they were very long, required specialists to conduct and there's seldom any reason to investigate where you are in the upper range.

Then we went on to waste a huge amount of time talking about human perception and I remember describing an idea that finally seems to be feasible because the new Steam VR headset does it and calls it Foveated rendering.

I can't specifically recall the date of this but the tester was recording results on his palm pilot, which was a flash new thing at the time.
by input_sh | 2025-11-20 20:07:01+00:00
> Developers will be able to integrate alternative solutions to Apple’s AirDrop and AirPlay services on the iPhone. As a result, iPhone users will be able to choose from different and innovative services to share files with other users and cast media content from their iPhones to TVs.

https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/questions-and-answe...
by josephg | 2025-11-20 20:07:17+00:00
This is great! I notice that’s on the ditto blog. I can see why the ditto developers are watching with keen eyes!

I have a modern digital camera complete with wifi and bluetooth. There’s an app that lets me connect the camera to my iPhone for monitoring, remote shooting and copying photos. Very useful! But right now the only way for the camera to connect to my phone is through some super complicated song and dance, involving my phone requesting a connection over Bluetooth, then the camera running a wifi access point that my phone connects to (during which time my phone disconnects from my home wifi). It’ll be wonderful when my camera can use wifi aware instead, and this can all happen instantly, without permission prompts and without booting me off wifi in the process.
by fsloth | 2025-11-20 20:08:03+00:00
”actively stifling innovation.”

Weeelll … it’s a 70 year old field if you start counting from NC. It’s also possible most of the low hanging innovation fruits were picked long ago. Also innovation required decades of _really hard work_ in applied maths (see nurbs or catmull-clarke surfaces*).

I’m not saying there isn’t room for innovation!

But we also have the examples of several other types of applications clearly reaching maximum utility. Photo editing around Photoshop 6.0 or so, word processing like decades ago, spreadsheet like decades ago.

Sometimes things _do_ seem to have their optimum form.

I’m not saying FOSS CAD would not have a value! But it’s not obvious to me it would be a vehicle for innovation.

I guess better, more easier to edit and robust surface presentation would be valuable if someone came up with them. But that’s a field that requires generally decades of applied research to first find a better model and then a decade of productizing the innovation.

So since you need to keep industrial mathematicians on board without certain outcomes it’s a bit same as medical research - need continuous investment, careers, etc. For this reason it’s not obvious to me there would be an open source framework that would work here predictably.

Again, I’m not saying you are wrong. Maybe there are simple low hanging fruit just waiting to be picked. But I’m not sure you are exactly right either.

* Catmull-Clarke surfaces are a great example. Ed Catmull founded Pixar decades after inventing the surface, but it took a decade of industrial research inside Pixar before they became a usefull tool (Geri’s Game). Toy story was still NURBs, somewhat ironically.
by keane | 2025-11-20 20:08:13+00:00
Possibly relevant comment from a few years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26893693

>AirDrop also shares your full name (seemingly the one associated with your Apple ID, not what you have set for yourself in your contacts), both by displaying it in the sharing interface on the involved devices and by attaching it as an extended attribute to uploaded files.

>So if you AirDrop some files to your computer and then zip them up, anyone you send that zip to (a journalist, a public file-hosting site, w/e) will have your full legal name to go with them.

Linked article from that thread is moved to https://medium.com/@kieczkowska/introduction-to-airdrop-fore... (but is archived).

I wonder if Google is adding metadata as well. Otherwise there does seem to be the problem of, for example, threats being AirDropped in a public place.
by tolerance | 2025-11-20 20:08:38+00:00
If I may, I’d like to reproduce the lengthy article’s “punchline” here in addition:

“PNR's show where you went, when, with whom, for how long, and at whose expense. Behind the closed doors of your hotel room, with a particular other person, they show whether you asked for one bed or two. Through departmental and project billing codes, business travel PNR's reveal confidential internal corporate and other organization structures and lines of authority and show which people were involved in work together, even if they travelled separately. Particularly in the aggregate, they reveal trade secrets, insider financial information, and information protected by attorney-client, journalistic, and other privileges.

Through meeting codes used for convention and other discounts, PNR's reveal affiliations -- even with organizations whose membership lists are closely-held secrets not required to be divulged to the government. Through special service codes, they reveal details of travellers' physical and medical conditions. Through special meal requests, they contain indications of travellers' religious practices -- a category of information specially protected by many countries.

PNR's for reservations made or changed online routinely include IP addresses and timestamps to enable them to be cross-referenced with Web server logs.”

The rest of the web site remains a curious display of information.
by jatora | 2025-11-20 20:08:42+00:00
claim that i claimed you claimed: "for any coder to claim AI tools slow them down"

---

claim you made: "One thing I’ve noticed though that actually coding (without the use of AI; maybe a bit of tab auto-complete) is that I’m actually way faster when working in my domain than I am when using AI tools."

---

You did make that claim but I'm aware my approach would bring the defensiveness out of anyone :P
by netule | 2025-11-20 20:08:48+00:00
Good. I really wish Mozilla would rely less on these shady backroom deals and open up to direct user funding. The Mozilla Foundation accepts donations, but they don't go toward funding Firefox; instead, they fund advocacy campaigns.

> Firefox is maintained by the Mozilla Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation. While Firefox does produce revenue — chiefly through search partnerships — this earned income is largely reinvested back into the Corporation. The Mozilla Foundation’s education and advocacy efforts, which span several continents and reach millions of people, are supported by philanthropic donations.[1]

[1]: https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/donate/help/#frequently...
by dijit | 2025-11-20 20:08:53+00:00
clearly, you haven’t tried reading it.

Jesus Christ, it’s like talking to a brick wall.

The amount of effort I’ve spent replying to you is more than was necessary to understand the entire fucking text.

Every statement is very clear what they’re saying, don’t record what you don’t need, how do you define what you need, make sure personal information can be deleted, what constitutes personal information.

It’s really really really fucking easy, like dude; you’re halfway through a sentence you know exactly what they’re getting at. You finish it anyway in case there’s an exception or something, and it’s never the case that there is.

Whatever… you believe whatever the fuck you wanna believe don’t call me a fucking liar though you cunt.
by giantg2 | 2025-11-20 20:09:18+00:00
No, the license plates are not the problem. It's the scanning/recording of them that is.

License plates provide basically the same info as the title to the car or your house. They only supply addition information, such as location when they are recorded somewhere. With things like facial recognition, you don't need the plates to track movement (although it is easier).

The real problem is public surveillance identifying/tracking individuals.
by articulatepang | 2025-11-20 20:09:21+00:00
Won’t this only work when connected to the internet? So I can’t use it on a flight.

Or if I work in finance, or healthcare, or law, or government, or a hardware design company, I don’t want my files leaving my network. Those are very important use cases, much more important than searching my personal laptop. I want this for WORK, not my little photo collection or notes or whatever.

This is a great use case for modern LLM/embedding models but gotta be local to be actually useful in the places where it’s most needed.
by lucas_membrane | 2025-11-20 20:09:46+00:00
A functional program is an a self-contained expression -- an isolated system following its own rules. The foremost example we have of such a thing is the universe itself, but the universe is not a good example in this discussion, because we have plenty of reasons to think that the universe contains pure (not pseudo-) randomness. Beyond that, isolation , when it matters, is not an easily proven proposition, and is a deplorable fantasy when assumed in many of the other science and engineering disciplines.
by seanhunter | 2025-11-20 20:10:49+00:00
A few years ago I was learning lisp and I mentioned it to my uncle who had been an inspiration to me getting into programming. It turns out he wrote a tcp/ip stack for the symbolics lisp machine when he worked at Xerox. They had some sort of government contract that had to be done in lisp on the symbolics and deep in a very long contract it said that the interface had to be tcp/ip which the symbolics didn’t support out of the box. He said to me his boss came to him one day and the conversation went something like this:

Boss: Hey there, you like learning new things right?

Him (sensing a trap): Errr, yes.

Boss: But you don’t program in lisp do you?

Him (relieved, thinking he’s getting out of something): No.

Boss: Good thing they sent these (gesturing at a literal bookshelf full of manuals that came with the symbolics).

So he had to write a tcp stack. He said it was really cool because it had time travel debugging, the ability hit a breakpoint, walk the execution backwards, change variables and resume etc. This is in the 1980s. Way ahead of its time.
by bitexploder | 2025-11-20 20:11:02+00:00
People may not understand how deep this goes. With municipalities eagerly allowing companies like Flock to hoover up license plates and centrally aggregate this data there is a very strong argument this is true and amounts to 4A violations when considered in total.

Add that many states have laws that are /more/ punishing if you intentionally obscure your plate than simply not having one, what other conclusion can be drawn? The state’s arguments are thin. “Oh we need it to find criminals / vehicles of interest” oh sure, so you get to suck up all our data to protect a few toll roads and track a few supposed criminals. The balance of benefit to society is dubious at best IMO.
by dralley | 2025-11-20 20:11:22+00:00
>Good. I really wish Mozilla would rely less on these shady backroom deals and open up to direct user funding. The Mozilla Foundation accepts donations, but they don't go toward funding Firefox; instead, they fund advocacy campaigns.

Yes, charitable donations go to charitable causes, not development of a browser which produces profits for a for-profit entity. There's no legal way to channel charitable donations back into a business. To do otherwise would be tax fraud.

This is not a "gotcha", this is a persistent misunderstanding of what is and is not possible in tax law.
by TZubiri | 2025-11-20 20:11:59+00:00
There's also Frotz and other Z Machine interpreters, and the actual Zblorb game file. But I guess this would be the source code that compiles to the zblorb.

So this is useful to modify zork, but not much changes if you want to build something around zork, as you will most likely be building something that interfaces at the z machine level.
by rriley | 2025-11-20 20:12:49+00:00
Everyone’s excited about Nano Banana Pro’s infographic skills, so here's what I've been building: turn any link into a crisp, auto-generated infographic instantly.

Curious what the HN crowd thinks and what you'd want next.

You can also install the extension/bookmarklet and transform any online content instantly to an infographic, a mindmap, a conceptual art piece, or any other format that you prefer. One click away!

https://unrav.io
by mothballed | 2025-11-20 20:12:58+00:00
When i was building a house next to the border, I drove from the border north every week, but was astonishingly never flagged at the internal checkpoints (ive been brutalized by cbp at the actual border before under false drug smuggling accusations). I also have a lot of foreign, brown 'illegal' looking family (us citizens) whom I'd drive up/down the border regularly through CBP checkpoints as they helped us build.

The fact i was never stopped makes me even more terrified of a panopticon. Is their surveillance that bad -- or that good?