MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by gyrovagueGeist | 2025-12-31 19:55:42+00:00
I've always found curriculum learning incredibly hard to tune and calibrate reliably (even more so than many other RL approaches!).

Reward scales and horizon lengths may vary across tasks with different difficulty, effectively exploring policy space (keeping multimodal strategy distributions for exploration before overfitting on small problems), and catastrophic forgetting when mixing curriculum levels or when introducing them too late.

Does any reader/or the author have good heuristics for these? Or is it still so problem dependent that hyper parameter search for finding something that works in spite of these challenges is still the go to?
by runako | 2025-12-31 19:55:45+00:00
> My computer feels fast again

A while back (Win XP?), I got frustrated with Windows and installed Linux on my dev machine instead. But I still had to run Windows, so I installed VMWare on Linux on that machine and ran Windows in a VM. For whatever reason, Windows was noticeably faster in the VM than running on bare metal. Super bizarre OS.
by jerf | 2025-12-31 19:56:36+00:00
Consider the ideal gas law: pV=nRT

Five continuous quantities related to each other, where by default when not specified we can safely assume real values, right? So we must have real values in reality, right?

But we know that gas is not continuous. The "real" ideal gas law that relates those quantities really needs you to input every gas molecule, every velocity of every gas molecule, every detail of each gas molecule, and if you really want to get precise, everything down to every neutrino passing through the volume. Such a real formula would need to include terms for things like the self-gravitation of the gas affecting all those parameters. We use a simple real-valued formula because it is good enough to capture what we're interested in. None of the five quantities in that formula "actually" exist, in the sense of being a single number that fully captures the exact details of what is going on. It's a model, not reality.

Similarly, all those things using trig and such are models, not reality.

But while true, those in some sense miss something even more important, which I alluded to strongly but will spell out clearly here: What would it mean to have a provably irrational value in hand? In the real universe? Not metaphorically, but some sort of real value fully in your hand, such that you fully and completely know it is an irrational value? Some measure of some quantity that you have to that detail? It means that if you tell me the value is X, but I challenge you that where you say the Graham's Number of your number is a 7, I say it is actually a 4, you can prove me wrong. Not by math; by measurement, by observation of the value that you have "in hand".

You can never gather that much information about any quantity in the real universe. You will always have finite information about it. Any such quantity will be indistinguishable from a rational number by any real test you could possibly run. You can never tell me with confidence that you have an irrational number in hand.

Another way of looking at it: Consider the Taylor expansion of the sine function. To be the transcendental function it is in math, it must use all the terms of the series. Any finite number of terms is still a polynomial, no matter how large. Now, again, I tell you that by the Graham's Number term, the universe is no longer using those terms. How do you prove me wrong by measurement?

All you can give me is that some value in hand sure does seem to bear a strong resemblance to this particular irrational value, pi or e perhaps, but that's all. You can't go out the infinite number of digits necessary to prove that you have exactly pi or e.

Many candidates for the Theory of Everything don't even have the infinite granularity in the universe in them necessary to have that detailed an object in reality, containing some sort of "smallest thing" in them and minimum granularity. Even the ones that do still have the Planck size limit that they don't claim to be able to meaningfully see beyond with real measurements.
by wccrawford | 2025-12-31 19:57:02+00:00
The company can't be mad that they both require me to use AI to save time and that I do it.

Cleaning up after AI can easily take longer than it takes to just it right the first time myself.

I'm not saying that this is going to be a daily occurrence, and I do find that AI is great at speeding up some tasks. But it absolutely will cause errors. If they expect it to save time, they're going to have to accept an increased error rate.

Especially of hard-to-find/predict/test bugs.

If they don't require it, and I use it to lower my workload, then it's on me, not them.
by kordlessagain | 2025-12-31 19:57:07+00:00
I have built a cross platform containerized Codex: https://github.com/DeepBlueDynamics/codex-container

100% of the code I produce now is written by this framework. I am working on several projects that will be in production shortly (and have done this before without AI).

I also use it to index websites and manage nanobanana prompts. So it’s production ready for me.
by peterfirefly | 2025-12-31 19:57:23+00:00
He is usually insufferable (and misleading) when he talks about AI innovation priorities. This article is different, though. It really does seem like Lilienfeld invented the transistor first and should be given credit for that. It also really does look like the official inventors knew that and were somewhat dishonest.

Funny, btw, that nobody here has mentioned that Lilienfeld also invented the electrolytic capacitor.
by tredre3 | 2025-12-31 19:58:09+00:00
> I'm sorry but why C#?

Because Stardew Valley is written in it. Probably half of modern games are written in C#, too (Unity). It's not exactly an odd choice.

> Isn't the big tech (Microsoft) in this case is a very big downside?

No, a language being backed by big tech is a plus as long as the stack is fully open-source (which .net now is).

> Why not LÖVE (Lua) for example?

Because Stardew Valley uses MonoGame, not LOVE.

> There is also libGDX (Java) but not sure Oracle is any better than Microsoft.

Other than Minecraft, can you name one successful game written in Java?
by twerka-stonk | 2025-12-31 19:59:03+00:00
I enjoyed the detailed article despite how depressing it is. I never can blame business for finding a market-palatable solution.

However, it is worth saying that xAI’s “solution” was illegal, unhealthy for the local constituents, and stinks of corruption, https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17072025/elon-musk-xai-da....
by wwweston | 2025-12-31 20:00:15+00:00
I’d be willing to bet that behind a change like this is a certain amount of data showing that the removed options weren’t used that frequently, and a stakeholder decision that this must mean that they should be demoted. And it’s data driven. Makes for a nice bullet point in a report. Most users don’t miss it, on stakeholders can tell themselves that those that you are a minority who don’t really matter for one reason or another.

And as technology moves from tool that provides value to be paid for to cultural experience to be farmed, aesthetic changes drive a sense of currency and progress more than utility -and take a greater place of focus (and we’re a long ways from a time with a respected UX class considering utility even if the larger teleology valued it).
by yieldcrv | 2025-12-31 20:00:27+00:00
ah, this was the comment to split hairs on the timeline, instead of in what way AI safety should be regulated

I think the good news about all of this is what ChatGPT would have actually discouraged you from writing that. In thinking mode it would have said "wow this guy's EQ is like negative 20" before saying saying "you're absolute right! what if you ignored that entirely!"
by hamdingers | 2025-12-31 20:00:32+00:00
Fair, but there are 2025 games that don't run even well on the 5090. This is the fault of game developers who think they're making the next Crysis, targeting some hypothetical future hardware instead of providing a great experience on today's midrange hardware.

Looking at the best looking games from today vs 10 years ago, they're so similar it's hard to see where that extra performance is even going.
by supermdguy | 2025-12-31 20:01:35+00:00
> A common pattern would be to separate pure business logic from data fetching/writing. So instead of intertwining database calls with computation, you split into three separate phases: fetch, compute, store (a tiny ETL). First fetch all the data you need from a database, then you pass it to a (pure) function that produces some output, then pass the output of the pure function to a store procedure.

Does anyone have any good resources on how to get better at doing "functional core imperative shell" style design? I've heard a lot about it, contrived examples make it seem like something I'd want, but I often find it's much more difficult in real-world cases.

Random example from my codebase: I have a function that periodically sends out reminders for usage-based billing customers. It pulls customer metadata, checks the customer type, and then based on that it computes their latest usage charges, and then based on that it may trigger automatic balance top-ups or subscription overage emails (again, depending on the customer type). The code feels very messy and procedural, with business logic mixed with side effects, but I'm not sure where a natural separation point would be -- there's no way to "fetch all the data" up front.
by killjoywashere | 2025-12-31 20:01:47+00:00
If you're using Windows, you're using a computer controlled by a corporation and your actions on that machine are not your own. Even if you walked into a store and bought it, your actions on that computer may not belong to your boss, but you're definitely working, directly, for Microsoft.

Any "feature" of Windows is there because one or more organizational leaders wanted it. Government, commercial, academic. Somewhere in between. But they pray every night for your more complete subjugation.
by scrollaway | 2025-12-31 20:02:32+00:00
It says it’s a non story.

As I said above: Fox is not reputable, and if they’re the only one willing to run a story, that’s not someone speaking truth to power — it’s the equivalent to a wacko conspiracy theorist being the only person agreeing with you. Not a good sign, and not one that will get you taken seriously.

Whether the story has legs can be evaluated independently, and others have done so (it is indeed a non-story that was simply used as rage bait, which you and the other guy are falling for hard). But a lot of time can be saved simply dismissing fox as a sole source, because they have this reputation, and it’s earned.
by super256 | 2025-12-31 20:03:12+00:00
It would be interesting to see the whole transcript rather than cherry picked examples. The first inputs would be the most interesting.

> regulation

How would you regulate this tool? I have used ChatGPT as well to brainstorm a story for a text adventure, which was leaned on Steins;Gate: a guy who has paranoia, and becomes convinced that small inconsistencies in his life are evidence of a reality divergence.

I would not like to see these kind of capabilities to be removed. Rather, just don't give access to insane people? But that is impossible too. Got any better ideas to regulate this?
by WoodenChair | 2025-12-31 20:04:43+00:00
> This is why most publishers won't even talk to you unless you have a finished manuscript already

This is absolutely not true in the world of technical publishing. I mean books published with publishers like O'Reilly, Manning, No Starch, etc. Usually you come to them with just a proposal and a couple chapters or even just a proposal. Or their acquisition editors actually reach out to you. It's the exception (not quite rare, but definitely less than 20% of books) that comes to them with a finished manuscript. I did that with my last book. I've published 5 technical books across three different technical publishers, so I know a bit about this business...

I'm just replying to this comment to not discourage people who just have an idea and not a finished book yet but have the motivation to finish and want to get a deal.
by 0xbadcafebee | 2025-12-31 20:04:47+00:00
My experience is using Linux as my primary desktop OS for 25 years, for gaming, 3D rendering, and web browsing. I'm also a programmer and systems engineer, and I've created Linux distributions, as well as contributed over a thousand packages and ports to other distros, and patched/backported drivers in the kernel. I'm not going to detail every single video driver issue I've run into, as I don't want to write a book just to prove to a random person on the internet that Linux does, in fact, have a history of issues with graphics cards and video subsystems. A simple Google search can provide more than enough examples.

But more than that, it's simple logic: hardware manufacturers often don't often release specs or proprietary firmware blobs, forcing kernel hackers to reverse engineer in order to support a device, which often is too difficult, not to mention there's only so many kernel hackers and a lot of devices and hw revisions. There's a famous YouTube video of the most famous kernel hacker telling Nvidia to go fuck itself for this very reason.
by danielbln | 2025-12-31 20:05:00+00:00
I'm not sure how you define skill acquisition, it's reading documentation and doing the skill, yes? The AI landscape shifts rather quickly still, and a new LLM + harness has a different set of functionality, but more importantly different fuzzy failure cases Things a model is particular good at, things that work better if you combine certain systems. All of it is documented, but also fast moving and new things are discovered frequently. In comparison, Vim has been around for decades.

And vum is absolutely harder to use than notepad. Otherwise it's like saying that rocket science isn't hard because you just have to read the documentation to know how to engineer a rocket.
by EGreg | 2025-12-31 20:05:18+00:00
Imagine you’re Black and we’re having this same conversation about systemic racism as if everyone is inherently a racist in society. Anyone who disagrees is called an uncle tom, is that reasonable?

Are there people who don’t like Jews? Of course. The most despicable were the people who came out to protest Israel in the days after October 7th, after the largest attack on Jews in Israel probably ever. And among them were rabid antisemites chanting vile things. Yes.

But look around. Are there a lot of mass shootings in USA? Yes. Many of them are not against Jews. You have to look at statistics. And this is miniscule compared to the violence in the world, eg in Mexico with the drug cartels. We have law and order. We also have a lot of homeless druggies and crazies.

But try to see others facing an entire systematic apparatus. The USA has spent decades trying to get people to hate Russians, for example, at an institutional level. First, it was that they’re commies. Then it was that they love Putin. Also Muslims by and large got similar treatment as Communists during McCarthyism and Cointelpro, after the CIA themselves funded the mujahideen and empowered jihadists (mujahideen is Arabic for jihadists, literally).

Once again, they brazenly admit they were responsible, but they are proud of it anyway. Both Democrats and Republicans:

https://www.counterpunch.org/1998/01/15/how-jimmy-carter-and...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwpR6ngoSjQ

https://www.military.com/daily-news/opinions/2022/03/01/ukra...

It always goes through the same stages with these governments. First they gaslight you. Then they engage in “special military operations”. Then they draft you. Then they invade. Then they occupy, lose a lot of money and get people killed. Then the next generation of politicians says it was “a big mistake”. Russians can’t explain to their kids why they fought in Afghanistan in the 80s, and Americans can’t explain why they fought in Iraq.

Listen to what this lady from a military family has to say for instance — it is just the latest war du jour: https://x.com/silentlysirs/status/2006133094177218711

So yeah I blame the politicians. And even if you were an Israeli, even if you were a radical right wing Kahanist, you could admit that Netanyahu and his government were negligent and call for an investigation of his handling of Hamas and the threats it posed, leading up of Octobed 7th. Agree?
by estearum | 2025-12-31 20:05:38+00:00
Agreed, totally a discussion worth having there. But you kinda point to my assumption on this: "like any large organization."

I'm doubtful that the organizations at the top end of the list are 4x more bureaucratically bloated than those at the bottom end of it.

I'm highly confident that much more sophisticated research has much higher indirect cost, because a defining characteristic of "sophisticated research" is that it entails exquisite facilities and equipment that cannot possibly be paid for under individual studies.

Another thing I'm confident of is that Harvard et al have much more talented negotiators than the smaller schools, and I'm sure that plays a role. I would be surprised if it explains the bulk of the discrepancy.
by subjectsigma | 2025-12-31 20:05:46+00:00
I have witnessed this phenomenon happening in my own life and it is so utterly bizarre and wild to me that, while having zero evidence for this, I have to believe it’s some kind of astroturfing campaign by companies selling legal marijuana.

Many of my friends barely drink anymore or have reduced drinking significantly, all while saying things like: “Alcohol is so bad for you, it is expensive, it makes you lazy and sick, I prefer to just smoke weed now.” None of them will tolerate even the slightest criticism of weed, even though smoking it is also bad for you, also expensive, and (can) also make you lazy and sick.

This coincides with dozens of articles I’ve seen over the past year on various sites, including HN, claiming that alcohol is not safe in any amount, or some other nonsense.

The transformation happened so fast and so out-of-the-blue that I just don’t understand how it could possibly be genuine.

I stick by the age-old adages: what you put in your body is your business, and everything that isn’t green vegetables and meat should be consumed in moderation.
by dogleash | 2025-12-31 20:05:54+00:00
>I used to work for an ad tech company (which I know already makes me the devil to some around here)

everyone sets the bar below what they do

>even I think that they crossed a line with this

everyone sets the bar below what they do

>I would genuinely like to know what the engineers thought when doing design reviews for a "selective stand down" feature. There doesn't seem to be a legit way to spin it.

everyone sets the bar below what they do
by coppsilgold | 2025-12-31 20:06:00+00:00
You can do the same thing with online payments combined with a ZKP token system.

The issue is and will always remain reselling the age verification tokens. The entire system is pretty pointless. Kids will just have some hoops to jump through, and they will be very motivated to do so. Criminals will be eager to aid them for some change too.

Either you forget age verification, or you can forget about privacy. Because identity theft is the only hoop big enough for most kids not to make the jump - and even that may not hold, typically identity theft is carried out for financial returns, the age verification requirement will change the calculus on that and will likely expand that particular black market to both kids and people valuing their privacy.

In my opinion it should be the parent's job to police their kid's access to an internet terminal. It's not even that hard. Mitigating the mistakes of parents at the expense of everyone's privacy is a poor trade.
by tracker1 | 2025-12-31 20:06:12+00:00
I was a Windows Insiders user for a long time... When I was bumped to Windows 11 it borked (didn't have tpm enabled) and had to do a full re-install... a few months later, I saw an ad in the start menu search results... that was it. I switched my primary drive over to my Linux install and largely haven't looked back.

Still on Windows for work, but would happily swap. I also use an M1 Air for my personal laptop, but that is probably my last Apple hardware.
by tomatotomato37 | 2025-12-31 20:06:20+00:00
I'm curious what the thermal management system on this looks like. On one hand, vacuum being in essence a perfect insulator works in favor of keeping the silicon hot for the very long time it takes to pull a boule while requiring very little energy. On the other hand, you have to make sure the control electronics don't also heat up to 1000C. I'm also curious how you keep the molten silion separate from the crystal without gravity keeping it in the crucible. I bet a lot of interesting engineering going on here.
by toast0 | 2025-12-31 20:06:58+00:00
The original plan was BEAM on metal, but I had a hard time getting that started... so I pivoted to BEAM from pkg, running on a just enough kernel that exposes only the FreeBSD syscalls that actually get called.

Where that fits in the taxonomy of life, I'm not sure. There is a kernel/userspace boundary (and also a c-code/erlang code boundary in userspace), so it's not quite a unikernel. I wouldn't really call it a microkernel; there's none of the usual microkernel stuff... I just let userspace do i/o ports with the x86 task structure and do memory mapped i/o by letting it mmap anything (more or less). The kernel manages timers/timekeeping and interrupts, Erlang drivers open a socket to get notified when an interrupt fires --- level triggered interrupts would be an issue. Kernel also does thread spawning and mutex support, connects pipes, early/late console output, etc.

If I get through my roadmap (networked demo, uefi/amd64 support, maybe arm64 support, run the otp test suite), I might look again and see if I can eliminate the kernel/userspace divide now that I understand the underneath, but the minimal kernel approach lets me play around with the fun parts, so I'm pretty happy with it. I've got a slightly tweaked dist working and can hotload userspace Erlang code over the network, including the tcp stack, which was the itch I wanted to scratch... nevermind that the tcp stack isn't very good at the moment ;)
by Greed | 2025-12-31 20:07:22+00:00
It's arguable, even if you're right, that the net loss to humanity is still far greater without these restrictions than with. Modern social media is leading to multiple generations of emotionally stunted, non-verbal children. Many of whom literally struggle to read.

If you haven't seen it in person, it is now incredibly common for children as young as 1 or 2 to be handed an iPad and driven down an algorithmic tunnel of AI generated content with multiple videos overlaid on top. I've seen multiple examples of children scrolling rapidly through videos of Disney characters getting their heads chopped off to Five Nights at Freddy's music while laughing hysterically. They do this for hours. Every day. It's truly horrifying.

Parents are just as poorly equipped at dealing with this as the children are, the difference being that at least their brains have already fully developed so that there is no lasting permanent damage.
by raw_anon_1111 | 2025-12-31 20:08:24+00:00
My “analysis” was the idea of a private company that seems to want to stay independent and control their own destrone like the author of the submission wants. There are only two ways to stay independent - stay private forever or go public.

Once you take outside funding, you really have no choice but an acquisition or go public. VCs don’t want to get tiny dividend checks. Even public shareholders will insist on a sale at the right price