1. When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option
Total comment counts : 63
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author expresses support for the idea of using fake data in apps but emphasizes the need for apps to handle cases where users deny permission to access real data gracefully. The author mentions Apple’s policy that apps should not punish users or exit the app in retaliation for denying permission, but should instead handle it gracefully and continue running. The author also discusses a previous policy which prohibited apps from requiring users to have an account to function. However, they note that this stance may have softened, as they are now seeing more apps that require an account to work.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions that XPrivacy, a tool for rooted Android devices, has been able to control and limit app permissions for over 7 years. The author also suggests there are other modern alternatives available, although they cannot vouch for them since they have not rooted their phone in a long time. The article acknowledges that while this functionality should be mainstream, both Android and iOS still allow practices like region-locked apps and preventing screenshots of DRM content.
2. If PEP 703 is accepted, Meta can commit three engineer-years to no-GIL CPython
Total comment counts : 42
Summary
The text discusses the idea of minimizing the work done in the single-threaded “gather” phase at the end, by having each thread individually count in a lock-free way. It also mentions that if free threading becomes possible, it could cause threading issues even for developers who only care about single-threaded work. The text suggests that languages like Rust, which have almost-free threading with some restrictions, have fared better at making multithreading easier to use. Additionally, it discusses the potential for language-level tools to detect threading bugs and suggests implementing thread safety heuristics on top of Python’s type system. The text also raises concerns about GUI toolkits and their reliance on threads, as well as the challenges of making GUI applications thread-safe. Overall, the text explores various aspects of threading in Python and discusses potential solutions and challenges.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article explains that removing the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) in Python will not break the majority of existing Python code. According to the PEP 703, the removal of the GIL will only impact certain areas such as destructors and weak reference callbacks for code objects and top-level function objects, which will be delayed until the next cyclic garbage collection. Destructors for some objects accessed by multiple threads may also be delayed slightly due to biased reference counting, but this is rare. Existing C-API extensions will need to be rebuilt and potentially require other changes if the GIL is removed, which will be an opt-in feature by building the interpreter using “–disable-gil”. The transition from GIL to non-GIL is not comparable to the Python 2 to 3 transition. The proposed changes are targeted for Python 3.13.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author praises the multiprocessing module, which they have used with success. They believe that message passing parallelism, similar to the actor model, is the best approach for handling parallelism in higher-level languages like Python, even without the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL). However, the primary disadvantage of the multiprocessing module is that it uses separate processes, resulting in duplication of the author’s resource-heavy Python extension in memory. They suggest that supporting threads instead of separate processes in the module could prevent this duplication, reducing memory pressure on the system.
3. Owner of Symbolics Lisp machines IP is interested in a non-commercial release
Total comment counts : 11
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses rumors that the Genera software from Symbolics may be open-sourced. However, these rumors have been circulating for over a decade, with no concrete developments to date. The current owner of Symbolics has shown interest in open-sourcing Genera in the past, but no progress has been made. In the meantime, the software can still be found for hobbyist purposes.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses an attempt to purchase chips from a company. The company was asking for a higher price that reflected commercial rates rather than historical collectible prices. It is suggested that the company is still operating as a corporation and is protective of its intellectual property. The author, who maintains a large die photography collection, was able to obtain one die image from a third party for historical purposes.
4. Train an AI model once and deploy on any cloud
Total comment counts : 10
Summary
The article discusses the challenges organizations face when operationalizing AI applications across different platforms and introduces the NVIDIA Cloud Native Stack Virtual Machine Image (VMI) as a solution. The VMI is GPU-accelerated and comes pre-installed with the Cloud Native Stack, which includes Kubernetes and the NVIDIA GPU Operator. This allows developers to build, test, and run containerized GPU-accelerated applications orchestrated by Kubernetes without making code changes. The article also mentions Run:ai’s certification of the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software suite on their Atlas platform, which simplifies the development and deployment of AI models. It provides instructions on installing the NVIDIA Cloud Native Stack VMI and using Run:ai for GPU orchestration. Overall, the NVIDIA Cloud Native Stack VMI and AI Enterprise software suite offer comprehensive support and access to AI experts for developing and deploying AI applications.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author questions the need for Kubernetes (k8s) involvement in most model serving cases, as it can add unnecessary overhead. They argue that it is not applicable to any cloud, but rather to specific ones where EKS/AKS is being used.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article highlights Nvidia’s decision to focus on AI products rather than crypto products. The author appreciates Nvidia’s commitment to working on what they believe in and feels that, amidst the hype around AI, this focus is refreshing.
5. Matrix multiplication using only addition
Total comment counts : 22
Summary
The article states that the reader does not have permission to access a specific website. It provides a link for more information on restoring access if it’s believed to be an error. The article was updated on December 18, 2019.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The claim that performing matrix multiplication using only addition is advantageous because it allows for the elimination of multiplier circuits in chip design is being questioned by the author. They argue that while this may be true in simpler designs, in real-world chips, the space occupied by the multiplier is minimal. Furthermore, even if matrix multiplication can be eliminated, there are other scenarios where multiplication operations are necessary. The author recalls attending a chip design conference where NVidia showcased its GPU, and it was noted that a small portion of silicon was used for floating operations, with the majority devoted to pipelining and bit manipulation.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article expresses their appreciation for a particular style of academic writing that is accessible, full of examples, and conversational in tone. They believe that some math papers use excessive abstractions to mask the simplicity of their ideas, or they themselves have failed to understand that some concepts require the use of arcane symbols.
6. When did Alan Partridge first appear on television?
Total comment counts : 23
Summary
I’m sorry, but I am unable to summarize this article as the content is not provided in the inquiry. Can you please provide the actual text of the article?
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the movie “Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa” and praises its humor. The author mentions rewatching it multiple times and highlights a memorable line from the film. They also mention being introduced to actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon through another movie, “The Trip.” The article includes links to videos showcasing impressions by Coogan and Brydon.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article recommends the books “I, Partridge” and “Nomad” featuring the character Alan Partridge. The reviewer enjoyed “Nomad” in particular, praising its humor and the portrayal of Alan’s insecurities. The book follows Alan’s journey from Norwich to the Dungeness Nuclear Power Station to honor his father. The reviewer also mentioned the book’s comedic writing style. Overall, the article highly recommends reading both books.
7. Software engineers hate code
Total comment counts : 48
Summary
The article discusses the view of software engineers towards code and the maintenance it requires. It highlights that engineers generally dislike code, especially code written by others. The article mentions that engineers prefer working on new projects without code maintenance. It also discusses the use of microservices architecture to easily replace old code. The article suggests that engineers often turn to Stack Overflow for assistance instead of looking at code directly. It mentions that engineers dislike reviewing other people’s code and will sometimes approve pull requests without thoroughly examining the code. The article emphasizes that engineers primarily enjoy writing code excessively and may neglect other tasks like eating and sleeping. It mentions that engineers put much effort into building tools that automate code writing. However, it acknowledges that some senior engineers derive joy from reading and modifying other people’s code. The article explains that senior engineers understand the cost and burden of maintaining code and, therefore, aim to minimize it. They advocate for deleting unnecessary code and only writing what is necessary. The article concludes by encouraging engineers to leverage existing tools and systems to minimize unnecessary code and its associated costs.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author uses a house analogy to express their frustration when others damage their property to make improvements. They give an example of someone blasting a hole through two walls and then only covering the second hole with plastic. The author anticipates having to fix the wall when winter comes and is not happy about it, as they will likely be questioned why the wall wasn’t adequate to begin with.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a “best-kept secret” in the software engineering profession: engineers dislike code, especially code written by others. The article goes on to mention that there are engineers who actually prefer maintaining existing code over starting new projects, highlighting a division in engineer personalities. The article concludes by noting that both types of engineers are essential for project success.
8. The horrors of Pompeii
Total comment counts : 8
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the significance of graffiti as evidence of life in Pompeii. It highlights that graffiti provides unique insights into the perspectives of a wider range of society, as opposed to the writings of the elite or powerful. The article also mentions that the contemporary viewpoint tends to focus on topics such as slavery and prostitution, and may sometimes exaggerate the cruelty of historical times without providing proper contextual understanding.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses Petronius’ description of brothels in ancient times. It suggests that brothels were located in hidden parts of town and were not easily identifiable from the outside. The article questions the notion that people could be tricked into visiting brothels, as it may be more likely that they were aware of their destination. The author criticizes historical articles for being overly certain without providing proof.
9. Show HN: My platforming game written in C 89
Total comment counts : 17
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author praises the work done on a project made from scratch, acknowledging the difficulty involved. They suggest taking inspiration from games like Jump King and Getting Over It, which have unique aesthetics that inform the player’s expectations. They recommend adding animations to provide feedback to the player, such as showing when the character can jump. The author also suggests adding a slight delay or making the controls more “sticky” to prevent accidental falls. Overall, they believe the project is heading in the right direction but could benefit from these improvements.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author questions why game developers would assign the action of jumping in a game to double tapping the A/D keys, likening it to a prank played on the players.
10. LlamaIndex: Unleash the power of LLMs over your data
Total comment counts : 9
Summary
The article introduces LlamaIndex, which is described as a simple and flexible data framework. It is designed to connect custom data sources to large language models.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a product called Definite that focuses on the SQL component. It allows non-technical users to ask questions about their SQL database. The product achieves this by pulling in schema information and structuring it in a way that is easily understandable, analyzing prior query history to understand how data is used, and adding context from other tools used. Definite also offers a Slackbot that can parse messages in a specific channel and convert them into SQL tasks, providing answers from the database. Building a similar product would require a significant amount of work.
Top 2 Comment Summary
Jerry from LlamaIndex appreciates the feedback received and acknowledges the need to enhance the documentation. Specific improvements mentioned include organizing the content to highlight basic and advanced features, clarifying information regarding customization, and improving the clarity of examples and notebooks. Jerry plans to provide an update on these enhancements within a day or two.