1. Style your RSS feed
Total comment counts : 40
Summary
The article explains how to style and customize RSS feeds for readers who do not know what RSS feeds are or how to use them. The author explains that by using an XSL file, the XML feed can be transformed into a valid HTML document that any browser can render, allowing for customization and the inclusion of additional information about RSS feeds. The browser support for XSL transformations is excellent, and XSL files can be applied to any XML file, including website sitemaps. The author encourages the use of RSS and hopes for it to become more popular.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the challenge of styling RSS feeds correctly. If the style is added whilst serving the feed with text/xml content type, it will render correctly within a browser, but this content type is not correct for RSS feeds. Conversely, if served with the correct content type of application/rss+xml, the feed will not render correctly in a browser and will be treated as plain text without any styling. Despite this issue, in practice, content type is not too important, and most RSS readers are fine with text/xml.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The use of RSS feeds has decreased and many blogs now do not have one. The decision by browser companies to remove or de-emphasize the RSS icon is criticized, with Firefox being the only exception.
2. Loneliness is stronger when not alone
Total comment counts : 48
Summary
The research suggests that spending time with people when lonely does not necessarily alleviate the burden of loneliness and may even backfire in some cases. The study tested two theories about the role of social contact: whether it strengthens or weakens the negative effect that loneliness has on psychological well-being. Results of the analysis showed that the negative association between loneliness and well-being was stronger when individuals were with others than when they were alone, which supports the amplifying account. Additionally, when experiencing high levels of loneliness, being with others was associated with the same or even a lower level of well-being than being alone.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article suggests that those who feel lonely should consider moving to the Philippines because it is sunny, family-oriented, cheaper, and offers many opportunities for social interaction such as relationships with foreigners, waterfalls, sandbars, diving, cheap food and housing, and fast internet. The author, a programmer and introvert, has been living in the Philippines for 14 years with his Filipina wife and three children, and appreciates the social interaction, but has negotiated to have more alone time with his children recently. The author believes that humans need to be with each other and that living in isolation is not natural.
Top 2 Comment Summary
Loneliness can be defined as the difference between the amount of social connection desired and the amount obtained. If this difference is small or zero, loneliness is eliminated. This difference can be influenced by two variables: the amount of social connection desired and obtained. For introverts who don’t desire social connection, they’re fine without it. However, if they find themselves in situations that remind them of their lack, they may begin to desire it, creating a delta. Similarly, extroverts desire lots of social connection, and when they receive less than they desire, they feel sad. While we can’t always control the amount of social connection we receive due to circumstances, we can sometimes control our desire by avoiding triggers that remind us.
3. Cloud Appreciation Society
Total comment counts : 23
Summary
The Cloud Appreciation Society offers resources for cloud enthusiasts, including a Cloud-a-Day app with descriptions and reference images of different clouds, a Memory Cloud Atlas website for sharing sky views and emotions, a book called A Cloud A Day with photos and explanations of cloud formations, and downloadable lesson plans and resources for schools. Member 43,608 spotted mammatus clouds painted yellow by the setting sun over Oklahoma, though nobody knows how these clouds form.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author was relieved to find out that the content of the article was related to the sky, rather than digital infrastructure.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article talks about a Wiki page about a cloud named Hector which the author initially thought was a joke, but later found a reference to it on a cloud appreciation society website.
4. A daytime nap is good for the brain
Total comment counts : 45
Summary
University College London researchers have discovered that taking regular naps is good for the brain and can help delay ageing by between three to six years. The research found that nappers’ brains were larger by 15 cubic centimetres or 0.9 cubic inches. However, scientists recommend napping for less than half an hour. The team used a massive natural experiment based on DNA to support their findings. Napping benefits brain health, but researchers say more research is needed to determine whether it can help prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author shares their napping routine, which involves setting a timer for 25 minutes, tensing and then relaxing their muscles, and imagining black nothingness. They find that a nap lasting between 18-24 minutes is the “sweet spot” for feeling rested without feeling groggy for the rest of the day or having trouble sleeping at night.
Top 2 Comment Summary
Napping may be beneficial even if you don’t fall asleep, as it can relax and de-fragment the mind. People often feel like a nap was a waste of time if they don’t drift off, especially if they are always busy, but it’s important to be able to regulate mental energy expenditure as needed. If napping disrupts sleep schedule, it may be due to feeling too energized at an inappropriate time, which negatively affects energy level management.
5. The least interesting part about AVX-512 is the 512 bits vector width
Total comment counts : 14
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
AVX-512 is an instruction set that simplifies complex instructions and doubles the number of available SIMD registers, but because of its high cost and requirement for more expensive CPUs due to its large size and width of 512 bits, it is not widely used, and may have been more widely used if it had a limited or 256 bits version.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article explores the idea of using a single byte to index a set of functions that map 3 bits to 1 bit, which allows for quick and easy access to any 3-valued boolean function. The author also wonders whether there will be a similar instruction for 2 bits to 2 bits in the future.
6. Filenames and pathnames in shell: How to do it correctly (2020)
Total comment counts : 20
Summary
The Bourne shell scripts used in Unix-like/POSIX systems often mishandle filenames and pathnames. Many shell programming books and even the POSIX standard get it wrong, leading to buggy scripts, surprising failures, and even security vulnerabilities. The excessive permissiveness of filenames in Unix-like systems turns easy tasks into easily-done-wrong tasks. Thus, this essay provides a summary of how to handle filenames correctly for shell scripts. The article presents basic rules and a few small changes that would make it much easier to write secure code for handling filenames for all languages including shell.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author recommends using shellcheck and shfmt to write shell scripts, running them via pre-commit hooks, and avoiding POSIX-compliant shell unless it is necessary. They prefer using arrays and self-documenting long-options to single-letter switches, and when writing a script for more than one OS, they use #!/usr/bin/env bash and only use features supported by the older version of bash that macOS ships with. They have to be careful when dealing with utilities like find, sed, etc which can differ between BSD and Linux.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author suggests that shell scripting is flawed and needs to be redesigned since it requires programmers to memorize many rules to avoid mistakes. They argue that modern programming languages include data structures and treat everything as more than just a string of bytes. They recommend using Python, Ruby, or other languages instead of a shell for scripting.
7. LCD TVs won’t see any further development
Total comment counts : 21
Summary
According to an industry insider, R&D money is being spent on self-emissive displays like MicroLED and OLED, and backlight technology like Mini-LED, and as a result, all new R&D money is being spent on self-emissive displays like MicroLED and OLED. LED-LCD TVs and monitors will continue to be produced for years to come, but won’t see many improvements compared to their more expensive counterparts. OLED development is the priority for manufacturers who are working on the production of QD-OLED panels for use in high-end Samsung and Sony TVs, as well as the development of PHOLED panels that use a blue phosphorescent material that has a longer shelf life and can go brighter than the traditional organic material in OLED panels.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article clarifies that the recent innovation in LCD technology is related to the backlight technology behind the LCD panel, not the display itself. Therefore, LCD displays still have a promising future.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions that pixel density has not improved much since 2014 when the first 5k TV and 5k desktop displays were released. Despite it being 2023, it is still expensive to get a 5k display with high pixels per inch (ppi) and a 6k display with high ppi is even more costly. The author believes that the industry is intentionally approaching the limit of 6k slowly, as it is likely the stopping point for pixel density improvement.
8. Rivian embraces Tesla’s charging standard for EVs
Total comment counts : 20
Summary
Rivian plans to adopt Tesla’s charging standard to provide its customers access to Tesla’s Supercharger network of approximately 12,000 fast chargers. Beginning in spring 2024, Rivian customers will be able to utilize Tesla Superchargers with the help of adapters, while the automaker plans to introduce Tesla-style charging ports as a standard feature on its own vehicles from 2025. This partnership will give Tesla the potential to supply power to a wider group of electric vehicle drivers, while Rivian will benefit from Tesla’s robust charging infrastructure. Despite the partnership, Rivian will continue expanding its own charging network, which is projected to include over 3,500 charging stations.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article wishes that the government would push for the creation of a universal connection for all electric vehicles, similar to the standard gas intake for traditional cars, as their current connection is not compatible with Tesla charging stations.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests that Tesla may have learned from BlackBerry’s mistake of not opening up its network to other potential partners. While Tesla’s charging network gave it an advantage in the past, eventually competitors would catch up. By opening up their network to other car manufacturers, Tesla is making themselves more vulnerable in the short-term but could ultimately avoid failure in the long-term. The article draws a parallel to BlackBerry’s failure to open up its BES/BBM network to the iPhone, which may have contributed to their downfall.
9. Mullvad Leta: A search engine used in the Mullvad Browser
Total comment counts : 18
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article mentions the inconvenience of using Mullvad on a device or network where the connection is not active. The author also mentions being a happy customer of Kagi, a privacy-focused search engine that provides a magic session link for easier searching from multiple devices. The author claims to have used Google only a few times in the past few months.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the benefits of reducing one’s online footprint by using older data from Google searches through an API. The author suggests this method saves resources and is a good way to minimize one’s online presence. However, the author also notes that it relies on Google not shutting down the API and that some search strings may need to be more specific to bypass cached data.
10. Sub.Rehab – See where Reddit communities have relocated
Total comment counts : 39
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author questions why some people are leaving Reddit due to changes in API pricing that affect third-party apps, which can still function with some difficulty. The author thinks it’s odd that people are moving to Discord, which is completely closed off to third-party apps and doesn’t make content visible on search engines.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article points out that some of the listed alternatives to certain subreddits are not active, while the original subreddit remains popular. The author argues that the website is meant to showcase alternatives to subreddits rather than serve as a directory of where communities have relocated.