1. Notes apps are where ideas go to die (2022)
Total comment counts : 78
Summary
The article discusses how we use notes and bookmarking apps to remember things, but we actually use them to forget. By writing things down, we can clear our minds and organize our thoughts. Our desire to remember everything stems from an innate fear of loss. However, most of what we write down isn’t actually valuable. The author suggests that any note-taking app can do the job of helping us forget, and what matters more is the act of writing itself. The article concludes that relying on a note-taking app is fine, but we should trust our recall abilities and not hoard notes.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses how writing notes is not just about remembering but also about letting go and revisiting them later with fresh eyes to add value. Blindly making notes is not effective for memorizing as notes need to be revisited blindly in a new way to become effective with a new combination. Instead of spending time optimizing note-taking apps with unnecessary features that don’t help, it’s better to let the notes app become a giant trash pile as proper search can still be done.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article agrees with the idea presented but personally found that spaced repetition has greatly increased their retention of information and ability to understand more advanced concepts. They can now solve problems and estimate with mental math without constantly referring back to their notes. By being able to remember more, they were able to raise the level of their thinking. The author acknowledges that there may be a balance to strike between forgetting and remembering and they are excited to continue practicing with spaced repetition to find out.
2. Show HN: I made CSS Pro, a re-imagined Devtools for web design
Total comment counts : 75
Summary
CSS Pro is a browser extension that allows users to visually edit the design of any website without writing CSS code. It includes a visual editor that generates code as well as tools for picking colors, trying out fonts, and converting measurements. Additionally, it offers a background editor with layers and presets, the ability to share and export improvements, and the ability to inspect CSS code from other websites. CSS Pro is available for a monthly or yearly fee.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article argues that it is difficult to sell to developers and startup ideas that target developers are dangerous to bootstrap because developers are cheap and spending-averse. Developers have high incomes but will spend 40 hours a week for months to save $5 per month. The article suggests that the product should be sold to businesses instead, and offers a recommendation to sell the product to a dev shop with 10 developers at $20 per developer per month.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author praises a new tool for its impressive landing page, functionality and ease of use, but expresses reservations about the pricing. They appreciate that great software is worth paying for but are unsure if it’s worthwhile at the $30/month entry price. They also noted a minor criticism about the “Try it Free” link, which doesn’t offer a free trial as expected. Overall, the author found the tool’s work to be seriously impressive.
3. Lost John Coltrane recording, from experimental phase with Eric Dolphy, emerges
Total comment counts : 20
Summary
A recording of a 1961 John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy performance at the Village Gate in New York has been discovered at the city’s public library. Previously thought lost, the recording offers a unique insight into a short-lived but highly influential collaboration. The two saxophonists worked together on albums including “The Avant-Garde” and “Live at the Village Vanguard.” The recordings were made during a residency at the club, when Dolphy had recently joined Coltrane’s quintet. The newly discovered material forms the basis of “John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy, Evenings at the Village Gate,” a new Impulse! Records release out on 14 July.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the writer’s experience of discovering the 1961 release of Coltrane’s album featuring Dolphy playing Rogers & Hammerstein’s ‘Favorite Things’, which blew him away. The article also mentions the unique theories of chromatic chord structures that Coltrane used and diagrammed.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author describes hearing an experimental jazz piece on the radio while driving with their daughter, who identified the instrument as a bass clarinet. They later discovered the music was “Eric Dolphy - God Bless The Child” and provide a link to the track on YouTube.
4. More malicious extensions in Chrome Web Store
Total comment counts : 12
Summary
There are 34 extensions on the Chrome Web Store that have malicious code and have been downloaded collectively by 87 million users. These extensions inject arbitrary JavaScript code into every website a user visits and are meant to redirect search pages and do more dangerous things. Many of the reviews for these extensions are fake, and some of them complain about functional issues. Some of these extensions even gained users after reports of the malicious code were published. Google has started removing the extensions, but the review process is slow and ineffective. Some employees at Google care about users, but the formal channels to report issues are not very actively monitored or responded to. The same group or individual is suspected of reputation manipulation for 56 extensions. These extensions are not just a problem for Chrome users; they are also available on Microsoft Edge.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The developer of Voice In, a Chrome extension with over 300,000 users, has received requests from users for Bing integration and anonymized web browsing data. However, Google has recently sent an email stating that extensions should not seek to manipulate or hijack a user’s browsing experience, in order to protect users’ browsing experience and foster a safer environment.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author expresses concern about the lack of security when using Chrome Web Store, wondering how to know if a downloaded extension is trustworthy and not malware disguised as a legitimate one. The author questions the reliability of the download count as a way of determining trustworthiness because the number could be artificially boosted by bots. The author is skeptical of suggestions about implementing a review process, citing Google’s history of displaying ads for obvious malware.
5. A mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky
Total comment counts : 6
Summary
Bioreconstruct is a Twitter account that provides daily aerial and ground photos of Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort, particularly focusing on construction projects. The account offers a valuable resource for theme park reporters, bloggers and fans who are interested in keeping track of theme park construction projects. However, the identity of the person behind the account remains unknown, and no personal details are provided. Their recent work has focused on the construction of Universal’s Epic Universe, a new theme park scheduled to open in Summer 2025, as well as the upcoming Moana-themed Journey of Water attraction in Disney World’s Epcot theme park.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article is a comment from a user on the website Hacker News about the Twitter user Bio, who covers the theme parks in Orlando and has been providing updates on the construction of the new theme park, Epic Universe. The commenter speculates that Bio is likely a super fan of the theme parks who has carved out their own niche in the fandom and uses a tourist helicop-tour to gather information.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author warns against sharing too much information about a photo, as it may lead to amateur detectives figuring out when the photo was taken and ruining the fun.
6. Distcc: A fast, free distributed C/C++ compiler
Total comment counts : 35
Summary
Distcc is a program that allows for the distribution of builds of C, C++, Objective C, or Objective C++ code across multiple machines on a network. It is designed to be simple to install and use and is usually faster than a local compile. It does not require machines to share a filesystem, have synchronized clocks, or the same libraries or header files installed. It can even work across different processors or operating systems, if cross-compilers are installed. The program has been successfully used on large, complex free and proprietary software systems like the Linux kernel and Samba. Distcc has been under development since early 2002, and there are separate tools available that enhance it.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of distcc, a tool for distributed C and C++ compiling, expresses appreciation for its continued use 20 years on. The author now has a new tool called cargo-mutants, which is a mutation testing tool for Rust that operates in a similar space to distcc.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author recounts their experience of setting up a server farm of old PCs nearly twenty years ago, with the purpose of becoming familiar with Gentoo and easing the burden of recompiling by using distcc. However, after a few weeks, every Gentoo box in the house began crashing regularly due to one of the slower machines sharing corrupted .so files as a result of a single-bit memory error.
7. Zig is hard but worth it
Total comment counts : 33
Summary
The Zig programming language has been touted as easy to learn due to its relative simplicity compared to other languages like C++. However, the lack of documentation for the standard library and the need to think in numeric types for every value, as well as handling memory allocation strategy, can be a hurdle for beginners. Despite this, the language’s lack of undefined behavior, logical type system, and comptime execution offer benefits that make it worthwhile to learn. Its simplicity and focus on correctness over ease of use make it a solid investment for developers willing to put in the effort.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author is experienced in writing Zig code and believes Zig falls into the “easy to learn, average/hard to master” category. However, they point out that some insiders underestimate the effort required for newcomers, due to issues like poor documentation, inconsistent stdlib and lack of package manager. While these are just transient growing pains for insiders, they are significant challenges for newcomers. The author wishes there was a polished package manager for Zig, as this could help set expectations and focus development efforts.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author expresses concern about investing time in developing with Zig due to fear that the community and adoption may not be strong enough compared to Rust or C++. However, the author does find the language itself enjoyable, particularly the explicit allocation choices and comptime. The author notes that error handling, particularly in allocation, can be a nuisance, but acknowledges that the verbosity may be necessary given the flexibility that Zig allows in choosing allocators.
8. Security.txt file now mandatory for Dutch government websites
Total comment counts : 24
Summary
The website uses a security service to protect from online attacks. If you are blocked from accessing the site, it may be due to several actions, such as submitting a certain word or phrase or malformed data. You can contact the site owner with the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of the page to let them know that you were blocked.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the use of a standard file called security.txt that helps to direct ethical hackers to the right person or department to address security vulnerabilities. Despite the availability of this file, some security researchers are still unaware of it and use other email addresses to report vulnerabilities. The GPG key listed in the security.txt file has never been used, and the email address listed (security@) has not received much spam.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article provides maps that show how well government organizations implement basic security requirements such as TLS, IPv6, DNSSEC, etc, and offers open source tools to help get started. Contacting the author is also encouraged for assistance.
9. DARPA hacked a science writer’s brain and turned her into a sharpshooter
Total comment counts : 22
Summary
Journalist Sally Adee tried transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) while participating in an army training simulation, and found the electrical currents dramatically reduced her negative thoughts and improved her focus. Researchers have been studying tDCS since the technique was presented as a potentially effective way of helping people to learn new languages or mathematical aptitude, and cutting the time that novices take to become experts in certain areas, such as sharpshooting. The technique is based on strengthening the connection between neurons by stimulating them with electrical currents, leading some scientists to believe it could be used to allow stroke patients to regain movement.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the concept of flow state, which is a state of intense focus where time seems to pass quickly. The author has experienced this state many times while deeply focused on tasks, but has also experienced it in “life and death” situations. In these situations, they felt emotionally detached and as if they were watching themselves perform actions. They believe this state is the same as the “flow” state that extreme sports enthusiasts talk about.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the use of devices for brain hacking and mentions that one of the ways to do so is through transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS), although it can only be used recreationally through a DIY setup which is potentially dangerous. The author suggests an alternative device called Altman’s Brain Machine that uses modulated light pulses and is easy to build at home. The article also references sources for readers to learn how to build the device.
10. Iguana: fast SIMD-optimized decompression
Total comment counts : 8
Summary
Sneller, a cloud-native data processing engine, has developed a new compression algorithm named Iguana that provides high-speed data processing by offering a compression rate close to 4:1 while performing at 244% faster speed than zstd. Iguana allows Sneller to complete large data-analysis tasks at a faster rate by compressing data to increase effective throughput. Additionally, Iguana has a straightforward implementation structure derived from Lizard, an efficient compression algorithm, and encodes data streams specifically for efficient use with the modern SIMD extensions.
Top 1 Comment Summary
Iguana, a general-purpose compressor, is decompressing slower than advertised when tested with typical data compression. The compressor requires avx512-vbmi2, which is only available on ice-lake/Tiger-lake/AMD zen4 processors. Iguana has a similar compression ratio to zstd -3 but decompresses more than twice as fast. When entropy coding is disabled, Iguana has a compression ratio roughly equivalent to lz4 -5 and decompresses about 33% faster.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the implementation of a compression algorithm similar to LZSSE in ClickHouse, which was later removed due to low compression speed and issues found by a fuzzer. While the LZSSE library was abandoned five years ago, it has good blog posts to read. The article also briefly mentions a promising compression tool called Iguana, but the requirement for AVX-512 is too restrictive, and integrating Go assembly into other software is difficult, especially due to the A-GPL license.