1. “Exit traps” can make your Bash scripts more robust and reliable (2013)
Total comment counts : 39
Summary
The article suggests using the “exit trap” technique in Bash scripts to make them more reliable and ensure necessary cleanup operations. By trapping the pseudo-signal “EXIT,” commands or functions can execute when the script exits unexpectedly. This is useful in automating system administration tasks and handling expensive resources, such as creating Amazon Machine Images, to terminate the instance or server once the desired task is done. The author recommends trying out the pattern to improve the reliability of Bash scripts.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article discovered that when using an exit trap to kill an SSH agent, the script was only killed when it ran to successful completion, not if it was interrupted. The author inquired about this behavior and learned that POSIX only requires the EXIT signal to run on a clean shutdown, so to catch interruptions, additional signals such as INT, ABRT, KILL, and TERM need to be added to the trap command.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses an issue with the bash shell where the EXIT command also runs on SIGINT, which is not the case with most other shells and is not POSIX compliant. The author suggests that this is a bug and not a feature, as sometimes cleanup should not happen to allow for debugging. The author also mentions that zsh has a more flexible mechanism for handling temporary files.
2. A regular expression to check for prime numbers (2007)
Total comment counts : 18
Summary
The article discusses the use of regular expressions in Perl and Ruby to check if a number is prime or not. The regular expression /^1?$|^(11+?)\1+$/ is described as having two parts, the first matching either the empty string or “1”, and the second performing “magic” by eliminating all even numbers except two and using backtracking to check odd numbers. The author tests the regular expression in both languages and it works successfully. The article also includes several comments from readers discussing their experiences with regular expressions and programming.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses how backreferences in regular expressions are unable to count arbitrarily high due to the limitations of finite state machines. The 2022 discussion expands on this concept with a more formal proof that uses the pumping lemma.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article is about an exegesis on a blog post from the author’s own website. The post is about using regular expressions to test for prime numbers and can be accessed through a web archive link as the author is currently transitioning to a different blog engine.
3. Linux Namespaces Are a Poor Man’s Plan 9 Namespaces
Total comment counts : 25
Summary
The article discusses the operating system Plan 9, which was developed by Bell Labs as a successor to Unix. Plan 9’s major ideas were everything is a file and per process namespaces, which made the namespace API simpler than its Linux counterpart and allowed for a unified concept of file system namespaces. Plan 9 also supports networking natively with its own network filesystem protocol called 9p, which allows for an elegant remote desktop solution. Though it has some APIs missing, Plan 9 can serve as an inspiration for simplification in system design.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The namespaces API is a result of the simple and general “everything is a file” model of Plan9, with all objects exporting the same file API. However, this approach can have limitations when mapping object operations to open, read, or write actions, and hardware advancements have introduced increased complexity and heterogeneity. As a result, Linux namespaces have a complex and less general implementation compared to Plan9.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author believes that everything is a cheap imitation of the advanced and futuristic operating system called Plan 9. They feel regretful for discovering it too late and describe it as living in the future.
4. Ego and Math [video]
Total comment counts : 14
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author admits to having a disdain for practical things, such as experiments, programming, and applied math, when they were younger because they weren’t engaging enough. The author found it difficult to process information unless they were able to derive it analytically from first principles and felt like it was cheating to use a formula without fully understanding how it was derived.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author did not connect with a talk about how being seen as smart in math can be a motivator because, as a child, their motivation in math did not come from that desire. Additionally, the author notes that being good at math wasn’t seen as cool when they were growing up.
5. Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering
Total comment counts : 91
Summary
A tourist submarine operated by OceanGate Expeditions, which was headed for the wreck of Titanic, has gone missing with five people on board, including a British billionaire and adventure enthusiast, and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate. The sub had a non-standard design that did not meet regulations, with steering apparently handled by a $30 Logitech F710 wireless PC game controller from 2010, a detail which began circulating on social media after the news of the sub’s disappearance. The search and rescue operation is still ongoing, with fears that the crew only has about 70 to 96 hours of oxygen left.
Top 1 Comment Summary
There is no article to summarize, only a link to a discussion thread on the website Hacker News about the Titanic.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses how technology companies in Silicon Valley prioritize getting their products to market quickly over ensuring their products are thoroughly tested and reliable. The author suggests that this mentality is symptomatic of the tech industry as a whole, where “hacker” has become an honorific title and attention to detail is often overlooked in favor of speed. The article ends with a ominous warning about the potential dangers of relying on hastily-coded autopilot systems without proper testing and caution.
6. GPT4 is 8 x 220B params = 1.7T params
Total comment counts : 24
Summary
The article states that if JavaScript is disabled on your browser, you will not be able to use Twitter and suggests switching to a supported browser or enabling JavaScript. It also provides links to the Help Center, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and company information.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the recent buzz surrounding the upcoming GPT-4 model, which is said to be technically 10 times the size of its predecessor, GPT-3. However, it is clarified that GPT-4 is actually made up of 8 models with a collective capacity of 220 billion. The article also mentions the increasing use of mixture of experts (MoE) approach and refers to the recently open-sourced Switch-Transformers models. The author reminds readers to not just rely on misleading headlines.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article compares the parameter count of GPT-4, an upcoming language model, to the clock speed of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X processor, indicating that both metrics are not directly comparable and are simply measurements of different aspects of technology.
7. How scientists are hacking the genetic code to give proteins new powers
Total comment counts : 9
Summary
Researchers have been able to create non-standard molecules by hacking the genetic code of cells. Normally, genetic information is carried in a code that specifies just 20 amino acids which limit the kinds of reactions that can take place within cells. By tweaking the cellular machinery for building proteins, researchers have been able to add more amino acids into the genetic code, supplementing the translational apparatus without altering it. Although protein synthesis is a crucial cellular function that cannot easily be changed, researchers have been able to engineer an entire system to enable cells to incorporate non-standard amino acids into proteins using its own translational machinery. This has enabled researchers to develop protein-based drugs that can form irreversible covalent bonds with other molecules, resulting in anti-tumour drugs that cause tumours to shrink, and controlling diabetes by engineering cells to express insulin. Researchers have also demonstrated the genetic isolation of cells by using 61 codons for 20 amino acids to create cells that are immune to pathogens.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the use of nature’s 3d printer as a tool for manufacturing materials and structures. Drew Berry has created animations that demonstrate how these systems work, specifically Kinetochore and Mitosis. Additionally, the article includes a playlist of videos that explain the process of respiration.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions that scientists created super-bacteria that cannot be targeted by current medication or immune response, and expresses hope that their lab safety measures are adequate.
8. Moog sells its business to InMusic
Total comment counts : 20
Summary
The article cannot be accessed due to restrictions set by the site owner. An error code of 1020, along with other identifying details, was provided. Cloudflare provides performance and security for the site.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author recalls attending Moogfest, a music festival that also showcased technology, talks, and culture, curated by Moog in Asheville and later in Raleigh. Though the festival ran into some trouble, the author found it to be one of the most fun and enriching music festivals they have ever attended, but doubts that it will return after recent news. The author is looking for recommendations for similar festivals still in existence.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses inMusic, a company founded in 2012 by Jack O’Donnell, a former VP at Stanton, that has faced controversy regarding unpaid royalties to Roger Linn, the creator of the MPC 60 drum machine for Akai. Linn has accused O’Donnell of being unscrupulous and not paying him royalties, calling him a “bastard” in interviews. The article questions whether it is necessary to harm others to achieve success and asks for examples of counterarguments.
9. Textbooks are all you need
Total comment counts : 25
Summary
The article is inaccessible and the reader does not have permission to access it. If the reader thinks this is wrong, they can visit a provided link to get more information on how to restore access.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the efficiency of language models and how they don’t need to be as big as previously thought to learn human knowledge and handle low-quality data. The author mentions that an 8-pass model has seen 50 billion tokens, but even models with over 50% human evaluation need not be as big. This progress is attributed to the high-quality synthetic dataset produced by GPT, which supports the idea that language models need not be too big in both data and parameters to learn human knowledge and manage low-quality data.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article explains that a study used data from StackOverflow and The Stack dataset along with GPT3.5 to generate explanations, examples, and exercises. The study did not use any textbooks as training data.
10. Defer for Shell (2020)
Total comment counts : 9
Summary
The article discusses the usefulness of the defer keyword in the Go language for cleaning up resources upon returning from a function. The author suggests that other languages, such as C, could benefit from a similar feature. The author also implemented a pseudo-defer keyword for shell scripts to ensure proper cleanup of mounts and files, even if the script exits early. The example of how to use this function is presented with an invitation for suggestions and comments.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article explains that adding a “defer” function to a script does not guarantee idempotency, which means that calling the same function with the same input multiple times will not necessarily have the exact same effect as calling it once. The author suggests using the command “rm -rf /tmp/$script_dir*” on the first line to ensure idempotency.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author suggests cleaning up files before using them by using file descriptors instead of relying on cleaning up temporary files on a clean exit, as no trap can catch SIGKILL. By using file descriptors, even if the plug is pulled out, the file will not be present on the filesystem.