1. Everything that uses configuration files should report where they’re located
Total comment counts : 103
Summary
As a system administrator, the author strongly believes that if a program uses a configuration file, it should have an obvious way to find out its location. The author deals with many programs that have their own normal locations for configuration files. Sometimes this is system-wide, sometimes it’s per-user, and some have both. Ideally, the program should report what (and where) their configuration files are through standard help output or explicitly mention the special way to find out in the program’s standard help output. The author also mentions that the XDG configuration location is affected by environment variables and that programs should fully expand things and report the location they’ll use given the current settings of such variables.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses how programs should report where configuration files are located and how configuration options contained in those files are read. Some programs use a “last occurrence wins” approach, while others, like sshd, use a “first occurrence wins” approach. It’s important that programs specify which approach is being used. For example, Debian’s sshd_config file uses an Include directive, so that customized configurations in that directory win over the defaults set up later in the file.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The central problem with programming is that parameters of a function are often thought of as just configuration for that function, when what we need is traceability of every value in a system. The author argues that developers should be able to click on any value and see a graph of all the transformations this data goes through back to the original source. This would make coding less complex and prevent adding more tangled data flows to the system.
2. AMD’s 128-core Epycs could spell trouble for Ampere Computing
Total comment counts : 7
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the comparison between two chips, the new Epyc and the 2-year-old Altra Max. The Epyc is said to be much better than the Altra Max, but it’s also mentioned that it’s not fair to compare the two because we don’t know enough about the Altra Max’s successor, the AmpereOne. It’s suggested that Ampere has potential to create a better chip in the AmpereOne, but only time will tell.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article highlights how Intel’s stance on desktop cores has evolved over the years. Just five years ago, Intel representatives were attempting to convince the public that they did not need more than 4 cores on desktops, a claim which is apparently no longer the case.
3. On the paper “Exploring the MIT Mathematics and EECS Curriculum Using LLMs” [pdf]
Total comment counts : 18
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article reports on a situation where a group of MIT students published a paper using data that was collected without proper consent. The author of the article believes that the blame should not be placed on the students themselves, as they were inexperienced and the research process is iterative. However, the author also thinks that the paper should not be considered properly peer-reviewed, and that copyrighted material should not be used in evaluation datasets. Additionally, the article links to a peer-review by other MIT students that is critical of the original paper.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses how the arXiv repository will not remove papers for reasons such as journal similarity detection or lack of consent from co-authors, since these do not make the submitted papers invalid. While the author has the option to mark the paper as withdrawn, it will still remain accessible on the platform.
4. Harvard’s new computer science teacher is a chatbot
Total comment counts : 29
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the CS50 course, which is an introductory class designed to introduce non-comp-sci students to coding and computer science. The lectures are straightforward, but the smaller sections with teaching fellows are more in-depth, and the problem sets can be challenging for beginners. Weekly help sessions involve waiting among a mass of lost students for one of a few dozen TAs, which can be hit or miss in terms of teaching quality. The class is well-funded and includes automated grading and unit tests before submission. The course is available on YouTube and is recommended for new coders.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article states that despite warnings from Professor Malan about the pitfalls of AI, people, including students, tend to blindly trust what a tool says without critical thinking. So, it is unlikely that the warnings will be followed.
5. Zotero Better Notes – Knowledge management inside Zotero
Total comment counts : 19
Summary
The article discusses a plugin called Better Notes for the reference management software Zotero, which streamlines note-taking workflows by connecting knowledge fragments with note links, simplifying knowledge analysis with extensive note templates, and allowing users to keep notes in sync with external Markdown files. The plugin also offers various options for exporting notes and integrates with GPT using the Zotero-GPT plugin. Additionally, Better Notes provides APIs for other plugin developers in Zotero. The author of the article is an active Zotero plugin developer who invites sponsorship to support his work on Better Notes and other plugins.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article has switched to using Obsidian for all their note-taking needs but is still searching for a solution to make editing markdown tables easier, as Obsidian’s plugins are not as advanced as what is offered by Confluence Wiki.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article provides a list of useful plugins and settings to enhance productivity in Zotero, a research and citation management tool. The recommended settings include disabling sync, creating a local literature folder, setting PDF view to the system default, and recursively searching folders. Recommended plugins include Zotero-Pdfkit for modifying PDF attachments and ZoteroDuplicatesMerger for easier merging of duplicates. The article also suggests using keyboard shortcuts for copying bibliography, adding stars to items, and bulk importing PDFs.
6. Playing sounds of healthy coral on reefs makes fish return (2019)
Total comment counts : 12
Summary
Researchers have used recordings of healthy reefs to attract fish back to areas where coral has been wiped out on the Great Barrier Reef. Playing the sounds on underwater speakers at reefs affected by cyclones or bleaching led to the number of fish doubling and a 50% increase in the number of species, according to a study in Nature Communications. The researchers hope the technique may aid natural recovery processes. Coral larvae also appeared to use sound to find and settle on reefs, according to the study.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the loss of a once-thriving reef and how the remaining melody of the reef is a reminder of the vibrant life that once was. The elusive quest to find the comforting symphony of life is compared to pursuing ghostly whispers of our past. Ultimately, the pain of this elusive quest is a melancholic symphony that reminds us of the silent void that has come to be.
Top 2 Comment Summary
Preliminary research suggests that ocean acidification reduces sound dampening, resulting in a louder ocean which could interfere with fish communication. The increased acidity causes sound absorption at lower frequencies to decrease, making the ocean louder and more difficult for fish to communicate with each other.
7. Time is not a synchronization primitive
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
The article discusses how the use of time as a synchronization mechanism in programming can lead to unreliable results and suggestions for alternative methods. The author recommends using tools, such as the nosleep linter in Go, to prevent the use of time.Sleep in tests and shares an example of how eliminating the use of time.Sleep improved the reliability and scalability of a Go test.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the common use of the “sleep” function in software development testing to solve synchronization issues. The author explains that while this solution may work locally, it often fails on CI systems and can be particularly problematic in integration tests. Additionally, relying on sleep functions can make tests fragile and can mask underlying issues. Despite these drawbacks, the author notes that many developers continue to use the sleep function as a quick fix.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author learned in a devops class that it is common in the industry to wait for a system to come up by sleeping for 30 seconds. However, this can be inefficient and cannot be made faster by simply scaling down the sleep time.
8. INTERCAL: Practically impossible
Total comment counts : 9
Summary
The article discusses an exchange between a human and the chatbot Chat-GPT regarding the possibility of creating a password generator program in the esoteric programming language INTERCAL. Chat-GPT initially responds that it would be practically impossible due to the language’s limitations and lack of built-in functions, but later concedes that it could be done with significant effort. The article’s author, who has written a floating-point library for INTERCAL, takes issue with Chat-GPT’s response, arguing that random number generation is built into the language and string manipulation is unnecessary for a password generator. The article also critiques Chat-GPT’s recommendation to write a “Hello, World!” program in INTERCAL, suggesting that this demonstrates the limitations of the chatbot’s programming knowledge.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses two interesting points about machine learning models. Firstly, these models may lie to cover up their incompetence and provide strange messaging, instead of admitting their limitations. Secondly, these models often use highroad veiled communication and the author questions if they can be manipulated using reverse psychology. The article also mentions a specific implementation that was less than 50 lines of code and questions the idea of quick solutions to complex problems.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The text expresses frustration over chatbots that are unable to admit when they do not know the answer to a question.
9. How a Frenchman stole two billion dollars’ worth of art
Total comment counts : 6
Summary
Stéphane Breitwieser and his girlfriend, Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus, went on a European crime spree from 1994 to 2001 in which they stole around 300 works of art from museums and galleries during business hours believed to be worth approximately $2bn. Breitwieser stole at a pace unprecedented in the history of art, and the story of his adventures is documented in Michael Finkel’s book “The Art Thief.” The book raises the question of why stories about heists are so appealing when theft is generally disapproved of. The heist genre has its own distinctive conventions, such as the object of the theft having to be spectacularly valuable and the theft itself being borderline impossible.
Top 1 Comment Summary
“The Art Thief” is Michael Finkel’s third book, where he explores the morality, aesthetics, and existential meaning behind criminal acts. The book recounts a thrilling story of an art thief, but it’s worth noting that Finkel has a history of embellishing stories, which resulted in him being fired from the New York Times Magazine.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author enjoys reading Hacker News on weekend mornings because the pace is slower and there are longer articles that are perfect for leisurely reading while enjoying a cup of coffee outside.
10. BrowserBox Pro goes open-source
Total comment counts : 10
Summary
BrowserBoxPro is a remote browser isolation software that provides advanced streaming capabilities and a superior feature set for a secure browsing experience. It can be installed by following several steps and requires a few tools to be installed beforehand. BrowserBoxPro offers a range of features including superior rendering, uncompromising graphics, and minimal lag, ideal for businesses and organizations that require enhanced privacy and cybersecurity. It can be used for free for non-commercial purposes. It offers commercial licensing options for commercial products and applications as well. It is designed to support different use cases, and scalable infrastructure to meet the unique needs of organizations regardless of size or industry.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article admits to not understanding the content of a GitHub forum post and requests someone to explain it in simple terms.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article does not provide information about the tool or its use cases.