1. Ziplm: Gzip-Backed Language Model
Total comment counts : 22
Summary
The article discusses the ZipLM model which uses compression algorithms built into Python to create a language model. The model can be trained using training data or run without any training data to see what kinds of patterns the gzip algorithm likes. The article explains how the model works by converting code lengths to probabilities and discusses the Shannon Limit. The model has some recognizable parts but is described as “pretty bad”.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author made a language model that generated random sentences and one of them accidentally made it to the front page. The article discusses the relationship between compression codes and probability distributions, and provides insight into how gzip and bzip2 pick up on patterns in text.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests that while “Moby Dick” has a large and unique vocabulary, it may not be the best choice for demonstrating language models due to its length and relatively small number of words. The author suggests using a larger dataset such as the Gutenberg library or a Wikipedia dump for better results. However, they acknowledge that the project is just a “toy” and the choice of text may not ultimately matter.
2. Chiptune.app
Total comment counts : 64
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The entire Shovel Knight OST has been released by Jake Kaufman as an NSF under Creative Commons, allowing anyone to host it and use it. An NES visualizer has been created that can run the Shovel Knight OST on a real FamiCom, show a piano roll in real-time, and even load up other NES games or NSF files to run the visualizer. The article suggests that a slicker interface is needed.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article is a comment on Hacker News in which the author expresses surprise about seeing their previously expired domain at the top of the homepage. The author shares a link to a project they had hosted on the domain before it expired and notes similarities in aesthetics with the current project. They also introduce readers to a composer of Chiptunes on the NES platform.
3. The Blob Toy
Total comment counts : 22
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author is reminiscing about a sand game they used to play many years ago that had different versions and materials that interacted with each other in interesting ways such as gravity, plant material that grew with water but burned with fire, and gas that exploded. They are asking if anyone knows the name of the game and would like to try playing it again but may not have as much time as they did in the past to create complex mechanisms.
Top 2 Comment Summary
Oimo.io offers a variety of cool and often interactive tech demos, including a recursive Conway’s Game of Life and an impressive front page.
4. The Uxn Ecosystem
Total comment counts : 15
Summary
The Uxn ecosystem is a personal computing stack created to run tools and games in a portable graphic application format, shareable like classic console game roms. Uxn programs require an emulator to run, and the latest emulators can be downloaded on major OSs and electronic devices. Uxn has been ported to various platforms, including GBA, Nintendo DS, ESP32, iOS, and more. Additionally, users can write and implement their own programs and access helpful resources via the Uxn website and IRC channel.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a group of digital nomads living on a boat, with every article providing a glimpse into a unique and fascinating lifestyle that previously seemed impossible. The author often finds themselves immersed in reading the website’s content.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article reflects on the bravery of the individuals behind a website called 100r and how it is something missing in society today. He admires their willingness to take risks and try new things, including their approach to coding and their sailing adventures. The author feels inspired to be more courageous in his own life.
5. Tor is not just for anonymity (2022)
Total comment counts : 17
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article expresses frustration with the lack of anonymity provided by social media networks and cloud-based services, citing the use of captcha and phone verification measures to prevent users from remaining anonymous. The article suggests using hidden services, but acknowledges that reaching wide audiences is difficult.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article explains that Tor provides free NAT busting, meaning it offers an alternative to services like ngrok for exposing services if you are behind two layers of NAT. It includes basic authentication support with public keys to protect your services. However, the article mentions that Tor is not a secure alternative to DNS, as there is no way to verify if a specific onion address is the official source or if you must go to a different one. Therefore, it is similar to TOFU for domains, but you can use the special onion location header to specify the real onion address.
6. The theory versus the practice of “static websites”
Total comment counts : 30
Summary
The article discusses the argument that there is less difference between static and dynamic websites, and how static websites have proven to be more durable over time. The use of static files for website content has been in practice since the beginning of the web and has proven to be stable and easy to operate. This is due to the sharp boundary of responsibilities with simple isolation that static websites create. In contrast, dynamic websites have no clear and simple boundary between the web server and code, making it harder to operate. The distinction between static and dynamic websites is still sharp based on where the boundaries are and what the sides have to care about.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author details their decision to switch from Craft CMS to their own static site generator for their content website. They no longer need to worry about servers or CMS updates, and their website is now more reliable and requires less maintenance. Working offline is now also possible, and version control allows for easy review and modification. The author has written more about their experience and reasoning for the switch in a linked article.
Top 2 Comment Summary
This article explains the difference between static and dynamic websites in terms of security. A static site has a smaller security surface since it can only serve the wrong files, whereas a dynamic site can be induced to run code, return incorrect data from the database, or modify data. The article suggests that Wordpress breaches are more common because it is a dynamic site, while Nginx breaches are less common because it is a static site web server.
7. Signal president says company will not comply with U.K. ‘mass surveillance’ law
Total comment counts : 28
Summary
Signal’s president, Meredith Whittaker, has criticized proposed UK online safety legislation, calling the requirement for a backdoor to access encrypted messages “mathematically impossible”. Whittaker stated that if the legislation comes to pass, Signal will leave the UK. The country’s online safety bill, first drafted in May 2021, would give the government the authority to demand backdoor access to all end-to-end encryption systems. Whittaker considers a backdoor to undermine the security of core infrastructures.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the tendency of governments to want to retain certain capabilities and practices when new technologies are introduced, while not feeling the same way about the public benefits associated with those technologies. It also highlights the tendency to relitigate battles that have already been lost, stating that it’s unfortunate that precedents only seem to accrue to one side’s benefit.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article urges Signal to leave the UK market due to the government’s unethical and totalitarian agenda. The writer suggests that the greatest service Signal could do for the people of the UK is to suspend operations in the market preemptively, as totalitarianism’s roots deepen the longer people believe they are safe from it. The article also discusses the possibility of history repeating itself and young men being rounded up for another war.
8. History of T (2001)
Total comment counts : 10
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author reminisces about taking an introductory computer science course in 1981 at Yale, which was run on APL with a bit of Pascal at the end. The computer room was located in the basement of the music annex and students could hear musicians practicing in the rooms above. The author compares this experience to taking a course with Sussman/Abelson’s introduction to programming at MIT a year later.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article describes how the author used to criticize premature optimization without fully understanding it, until they made a mistake that left a permanent scar that now predicts the weather.
9. Matrices and Graph
Total comment counts : 13
Summary
The article discusses the connection between matrices and graphs in linear algebra, highlighting the benefits of encoding matrices as directed graphs or digraphs. The author explains how various properties of matrices, such as powers of the matrix, can be understood in terms of walks in the corresponding digraph. They also discuss the concept of strongly connected components in digraphs and how it can be used to understand the structure of nonnegative matrices. The article concludes by introducing the Frobenius normal form and explaining how any nonnegative square matrix can be transformed into this form with a permutation matrix. The author suggests that this connection between matrices and graphs has led to the development of spectral graph theory and has been beneficial for both graph theory and linear algebra.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article highlights that certain domains, specifically those with an “identity matrix” for quantities, are valid for the use of square matrices. However, it is nonsensical to transform the table arbitrarily with a rotation matrix in these domains as input and output vectors lack tensor transformation symmetries, making data science notions such as Principal Component Analysis pseudoscience in this context. The significance of unit dimensions and multiplicative vs additive quantities is also mentioned.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions that this approach is similar to RedisGraph, which was the first queryable Property Graph database to use sparse matrices and linear algebra for graph querying. However, RedisGraph is now end-of-life.
10. Akan Names
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
The Akan people of Ghana have a naming tradition where children are named after the day of the week they were born and the order of their birth, with meanings related to their soul and character. Other middle names can refer to their twin status, birth order, or an ancestor’s name. This tradition is common in West Africa and the African diaspora, and even notable figures like Kwame Nkrumah and Kofi Annan have names from this system. Ashanti people follow this naming tradition and conclude it with a family name that reflects close relatives. It was once a disgrace for Ashanti men not to name a child after their parents, and many Ashanti family names can be given to both boys and girls.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article provides links to Wikipedia articles on different interesting naming systems such as Burmese names, generation name tradition in East Asia, Roman naming conventions and the Hungarian naming system where the surname is written first.
Top 2 Comment Summary
Some people in Anglo cultures have a tradition of naming children after their birth month or weekday, with popular names being April, May, June, or Wednesday. This practice is not as common as in some other cultures.