1. Log is the “Pro” in iPhone 15 Pro
Total comment counts : 39
Summary
The article discusses the new log video recording feature in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. It explains that log video recording is different from standard iPhone video as it is flat and known. Log footage retains all the dynamic range and detail but lacks the punchy colors and contrast of standard video. To make log footage look normal, it needs to be color managed using Look-Up Tables (LUTs) or other color adjustments. The article highlights the benefits of log, such as the ability to recover shadow and highlight detail and perform natural color corrections. It also mentions that log footage is not the most efficient way to store an image, but it is best at a high bit depth and data rate. The article discusses the use of ProRes for log recording and how the iPhone 15 line can record log video to external USB-C drives. It cautions that log footage is not raw and is still heavily processed. The article mentions the lack of manual control in the iPhone camera app but recommends the Blackmagic Camera app for more control. It explains that log footage is known and can be accurately converted to different color spaces, making it useful for VFX artists and colorists. The article mentions compatibility with the ACES color management system and provides LUTs for converting log footage to different formats. It concludes by discussing the cinematic look that can be achieved with log footage and how the iPhone 15 Pro Max is now a viable option for shooting professional video.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author, who has never owned an Apple device and does not frequently use their phone for photography or video, found a video presentation by Apple to be captivating. They describe it as clear, concise, free of nonsense, and thoroughly interesting.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the concept of Log in digital image processing. The author finds the concept confusing, as they believe it is similar to what gamma does in color spaces like sRGB. The main feature of Log, as mentioned in the article, is that it preserves more headroom for post-processing by clipping black and white levels less. The author questions the need for a new format, as they believe this can be achieved with existing video formats, as long as there is sufficient bit depth.
2. Multifault earthquake threat for Seattle region revealed by mass tree mortality
Total comment counts : 10
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a method used to precisely date samples from the Puget Sound region by analyzing tree-ring sequences. The researchers used an extreme solar proton event that occurred between the years 774 and 775 CE as a geochronological anchor point. This event caused a significant increase in radiocarbon concentrations, which is reflected in tree cellulose around the world. The study highlights the ability to obtain more accurate dates by using this method.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions that underwater hydraulic chainsaws are used to sample trees for research purposes. The author notes that this field work involves getting wet and that they have friends who work in this field.
3. The glEnd() of Zelda: Automatic 3Dification of NES Games (2016)
Total comment counts : 8
Summary
The article discusses a software designed for the SIGBOVIK 2016 conference, which is known for publishing fake research on April 1st. However, this particular software is a real contribution and focuses on rendering NES games in 3D with some manual steps. The author also mentions techniques that can automate these manual steps. The software is related to their work on Nintendo AI and more details can be found in their research paper titled “The glEnd() of Zelda,” which was published in SIGBOVIK 2016. The source code for the software is available, and the author plans to create a user-friendly binary for Windows and possibly OS X. The author encourages readers to leave comments on their blog or contact them on Twitter.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article mentions Tom7, who has a YouTube channel with interesting and funny content. The author particularly enjoys his video titled “Harder Drive.” The YouTube channel can be found at the provided link.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The user is wondering if tom7 is familiar with the team at geodstudio who are working on a project called 3dsen, which is similar to what was shown in the video.
4. Spacedrive – an open source cross-platform file explorer
Total comment counts : 38
Summary
The article discusses Spacedrive, an open-source cross-platform file explorer powered by a virtual distributed file system written in Rust. It emphasizes the importance of user feedback and explains that Spacedrive is currently in the alpha stage of development, with some features possibly missing or disabled in official release downloads. The article highlights the benefits of Spacedrive, including the ability to organize files across multiple devices and combine storage capacity into one personal distributed cloud. The virtual distributed file system (VDFS) used by Spacedrive is designed to work across various storage layers and maintains a virtual index of all storage locations. The article also mentions the use of the PRRTT stack (Prisma, Rust, React, TypeScript, Tauri) in the project’s development.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the user’s experience with a new file explorer called Spacedrive. The installation process is different from other file explorers, as it requires creating a library, sharing analytics, and logging in. However, when trying to navigate to a directory, double-clicking on it or using the context menu did not have any effect. It turns out that having 15,000 files in a directory makes it difficult to navigate, unlike other file explorers like Total Commander and Windows Explorer. The user suggests that Spacedrive needs to improve its basic file explorer features.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests that Hacker News may not be the best platform to promote a software tool. It states that people on Hacker News probably already have their own optimized workflows and may not be interested in a new tool. The article suggests that the software may be better suited for digital creative types who use Windows and Mac and are not comfortable with the terminal. It also mentions that the marketing of the software is not clear and needs improvement. The author suggests working with a PR person or marketing expert to effectively communicate the value of the software to the target audience. Additionally, the author suggests taking down the source repositories and discontinuing the Linux version to save team effort at this early stage.
5. Going faster by duplicating code
Total comment counts : 13
Summary
The article discusses the concept of adding special cases to improve code generation even when the implementation in each branch is identical. It explains how this technique can be used to optimize code by giving the compiler an opportunity to exploit runtime information. The article provides examples of how this technique can be applied, such as in integer upscaling and generating code to handle different possibilities. Overall, the technique involves adding branches and conditions to the code to guide the compiler in generating more efficient instructions.
Top 1 Comment Summary
Compilers attempt to optimize loop conditions by moving constant conditions outside of loops but they are not very effective at it. This can result in redundant checks being performed with every loop iteration. However, the GCC compiler is actually good at recognizing and optimizing this issue with the -O3 optimization level. There is even a specific option (-funswitch-loops) that can be used to extract loop invariants. This option is not enabled at the -O2 optimization level due to a space-speed tradeoff. However, if this optimization is desired even at the -O2 level, the #pragma GCC optimize("-funswitch-loops") directive can be used to force it.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses why the compiler does not add special cases for the simplest version of code. The reason is that the compiler does not know which special case to use out of its many options. However, when the unoptimized version of the code is actually used, the compiler is able to inline the code and optimize each case correctly. The article provides a code example and a link to further examine the code.
6. Geospatial data science with Julia
Total comment counts : 4
Summary
The article “Geospatial Data Science with Julia” introduces a new approach to data science using geospatial data and the programming language Julia. It provides best practices for writing clean and efficient code in geoscientific applications involving complex representations of the Earth’s surface. Readers will learn advanced geospatial features not typically found in traditional geographic information systems (GIS). The book is an open-source project that encourages community contributions and offers various ways to get involved, such as joining the community channel, sponsoring the project, sharing it on social media, asking questions, organizing training courses and workshops, and citing the work in publications.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author has a website called 4x4anarchy.com that uses a Python-MariaDB system to query map data based on latitude and longitude. The data is then transformed into GeoJSON for map display. The website deals with large tables, approximately 1 GB in size, and the author has made optimizations such as well-structured indexes, caching mechanisms, and query optimization to improve performance. The author is considering incorporating Julia and a geospatial database (PostGIS) to further optimize geospatial data retrieval and presentation, especially when dealing with large datasets and complex geospatial operations.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions a cool project that was discovered during a discussion about Julia.
7. Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Total comment counts : 29
Summary
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history. He built dockyards, the Great Western Railway, steamships, bridges, and tunnels that revolutionized public transport and modern engineering. Despite some unsuccessful projects, Brunel’s designs often contained innovative solutions to engineering problems. Some of his notable achievements include building the first tunnel under the River Thames, developing the first propeller-driven iron ship, and designing the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Brunel’s railway projects, including the Great Western Railway, were known for their well-built infrastructure and use of the broad gauge. He also played a significant role in promoting the use of steamships for transatlantic travel. Brunel’s work and contributions have made him one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution.
Top 1 Comment Summary
In 1843, while performing a magic trick for his children, Brunel accidentally inhaled a half-sovereign coin which got stuck in his windpipe. Despite failed attempts to remove it with forceps and a shaking machine he had invented, Brunel finally turned upside-down and was able to jerk the coin free after being strapped to a board. This incident reflects a hacker spirit of inventiveness and finding solutions to problems.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article tells the story of the Intrepid Engineer pub in Bristol, which is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel (IKB). During the construction of the Clifton suspension bridge, IKB was pulled across the Avon Gorge in a bucket suspended from a steel table. When the bucket got stuck on a cable halfway across, IKB climbed out, freed it, and then resumed his journey. The article also mentions that in the UK, it is common to have a pub named after someone if they are well-liked.
8. Replit’s new AI Model now available on Hugging Face
Total comment counts : 13
Summary
Replit, a platform for software development, has announced that its AI tool, Replit AI, is now free for all users. The company believes that AI will become an essential part of every software developer’s toolkit and aims to empower its 25+ million developer community by providing free access to Replit AI. Along with this, Replit has released its code generation language model, Replit Code V1.5 3B, on Hugging Face. The model has outperformed larger models when fine-tuned on public Replit user code. Replit Code V1.5 3B is open source and can be used as a foundation for application-specific fine-tuning without strict limitations on commercial use. The company recommends using the transformers library to generate code and provides additional resources for using GPUs and training personalized language models.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article expresses disappointment with smaller code generation models compared to larger ones. They find that even the q6 13B code llama model generates inconsistent code that often fails to compile after around 30 lines in length. The author discusses the difficulties in using smaller models for anything beyond a line or two of code. They describe a process of carefully crafting prompts, performing tests, and iterating to generate code that passes tests and meets target thresholds. The author wonders if others only use these models for short code snippets or if there is a way to achieve better results through fine tuning.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the limitations of the first version of a model called Replit Ghostwriter, which could only provide completion and not Fill In The Middle (FIM). The author suggests that although FIM is missing, the software around the model can still yield good results. However, they believe that FIM could further improve performance. The Refact-1.6B model, which is smaller but supports FIM, performed well in recent testing. The purpose of these smaller models is to serve as a smarter alternative for code completion rather than writing entire programs, which is better suited for larger instruct/chat-tuned models.
9. Pantographia: 1799 specimen book of all the known alphabets
Total comment counts : 13
Summary
The article discusses Edmund Fry’s book, Pantographia, which was published in 1799 and contains examples of alphabets from various languages. The book explores the idea that there may be a missing letter of the alphabet, either invisible or corrupted. It also touches on the belief that the order of the Psalms in the Bible is intentionally rearranged to prevent humans from gaining divine power. Fry’s book is described as a treasure chest of alphabets from different languages, including both familiar and mysterious ones. The article notes that while the study of alphabets can be fascinating, it’s also a reminder of the loss of languages over time. Fry suggests that alphabets could potentially solve the problem of time and the origins of language. The craftsmanship and labor involved in creating Pantographia is also highlighted. Overall, the book is seen as a meeting ground for communication and a key transitional work in the field of linguistic knowledge.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article discusses the author’s observation that the hiragana characters in a book do not accurately resemble the actual characters. The author speculates that the creator of the book may not have been familiar with the characters and suggests a possible influence from a French encyclopedia that could have contained non-native renditions of the characters. The author also notes that the book refers to the language as “Japonese” instead of “Japanese,” which may have been influenced by the French encyclopedia. The author questions if Japan was commonly referred to as “Japon” in English at that time.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the publication called “Pantographia” and compares it to other notable publications of the Enlightenment era, such as the “Encyclopédie” by Diderot and d’Alembert. The author highlights the care and effort put into these publications and mentions the acknowledgment of Sir Joseph Banks, who had extensive knowledge of printing and set the standard with his famous “Florilegium” engravings. The author also mentions that Banks’ “Florilegium” is recognized as one of the great publishing efforts of all time. The article provides links to more information about Banks’ “Florilegium.”
10. Common Lisp: An Interactive Approach (1992)
Total comment counts : 10
Summary
The article discusses a book titled “COMMON LISP: An Interactive Approach” by Stuart C. Shapiro. The book is out of print, but the author has made it available in PDF and other formats. It includes exercises for students to practice programming in Common Lisp. The article also mentions other resources and projects related to the book.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the author’s reliance on Steel Bank Common Lisp for their businesses and refers to interactive software building as “the work of magic.” The author expresses their desire to make videos and open-source contributions in order to make Common Lisp more appealing and approachable for beginners. They believe that people are missing out on a lot of joy and happiness by not programming in Common Lisp, although they also understand why it may not be widely used.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article provides a list of resources for learning and working with Common Lisp. These resources include a cookbook, an editor support section, a curated list of libraries, a list of the best Lisp courses, and an overview of the Common Lisp ecosystem. The article also includes links to these resources for further exploration.