1. Nota is a language for writing documents, like academic papers and blog posts
Total comment counts : 37
Summary
Nota is a language designed for writing documents such as academic papers and blog posts. The goal of Nota is to modernize documents by allowing authors to represent the structure of their content, which enables the reading medium (such as a web browser) to understand and empower readers to use that structure. Nota documents compile to JavaScript programs and can be viewed on any device with a web browser. Nota supports features like variables, functions, and data structures, as well as integrations with JavaScript libraries for rendering equations, visualizations, and diagrams. It also supports accessibility needs like screen readers. Nota is a new technology and seeks early adopters to help improve and develop it. It aims to bridge the gap between static PDFs and dynamic web pages, providing authors with a document language that is easy to use but can also deliver high-impact features to readers.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The creator of Nota, a document language, mentions that they have gone back to the drawing board to develop a stronger foundation. They are working on issues such as interleaving content and computation and exploring how different syntaxes affect document tasks. The creator believes in the high-level philosophy of Nota but mentions that it will look different in about six months. They recommend checking out Typst, a development in the document language space. The next version of Nota will be mostly written in Rust.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the differences between PDFs and web pages as mediums for digital documents. PDFs are designed to resemble physical documents with limitations such as fixed width and immutable styling. On the other hand, web pages offer more dynamism. The author disagrees with the notion that web pages are the future of digital documents, arguing that not having essential dynamism where it is not necessary is actually a feature rather than a drawback.
2. Using extra Firefox profiles to make my life better
Total comment counts : 50
Summary
The author describes their use of two separate instances of the Firefox browser. One instance is customized with strict settings and extensions to disable JavaScript and avoid being logged into websites. The other instance is used for browsing websites that require JavaScript and logins, and the author clears their cookies after each session. However, there are certain websites that require both JavaScript and logins, and have annoying login procedures. To avoid frequent logins, the author creates additional profiles in the second browser instance, each with its own set of Firefox add-ons. They use uBlock Origin and Cookie AutoDelete to keep necessary cookies for specific websites, while removing everything else. The author finds separate profiles more convenient and secure than using Firefox Multi-Account Containers. They also mention using additional add-ons and bookmarklet buttons. The article is written by ChrisSiebenmann and belongs to various categories such as links, programming, and web.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article highlights the unique feature of Firefox called Containers, which allows users to create multiple profiles and isolate their browsing activities. This feature is not available in other browsers like Chrome. Firefox also has extensions like Temporary Containers and Proxy Containers that enhance privacy and customization options. Despite acknowledging the benefits of Chrome, the author feels compelled to use Firefox because of its exclusive ability to create containers.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article expresses their appreciation for Firefox profiles, stating that they are often overlooked and not fully utilized. They explain that they create shortcuts for each profile, allowing them to easily launch different profiles as if they were separate browsers. This feature is useful for separating work and personal browsing, experimenting with different extensions, and reducing memory usage compared to using Firefox and Chromium simultaneously.
3. The Unix Game
Total comment counts : 18
Summary
The article is about cookies on a website which enhance the user experience. Cookies are small files stored in the browser and are used for technical, functional, and analytics purposes. The user can change their browser cookie settings. By agreeing to the use of cookies and IP addresses, the user can have their progress saved and see their position on the global leaderboard. The article also mentions that there is a limitation on the number of blocks allowed for a solution.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The writer likes that the software is block-based, which is less intimidating for beginners. They also feel that they have learned things they wouldn’t have otherwise. One downside is that the software assumes the user already knows certain commands and doesn’t provide instruction on them. Additionally, there is no help or guidance provided, so the user may need to look things up online. The writer also mentions a challenge that assumes knowledge of Chess notation, which may be confusing for those who are unfamiliar with it.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article admits that they would have preferred if the game or challenge was in a console input format. They initially found it confusing as they had to grab icons and place them accordingly. They express frustration at spending more time trying to navigate the interface and search for blocks than actually solving the puzzles.
4. Anna’s Archive – LLM Training Data from Shadow Libraries
Total comment counts : 5
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article is about someone named Anna and a question about how to prevent mirrors of something from being taken down.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author mentions discovering that the majority of books in the libgen fiction archive are romance novels, which is surprising to them. They also mention hearing from others that most published books are romance. The author suggests that while the collection may solve the problem of having large tagged and sorted data for training, it may introduce another problem of needing to weigh and filter the data. They also suggest that training on all scientific papers, regardless of their credibility, may result in some misleading outcomes.
5. Accounting for computer scientists (2011)
Total comment counts : 20
Summary
The author argues that understanding basic accounting is important and that accountants should do a better job of explaining their work. They propose that accounting can be understood as graph theory, where accounts are represented as nodes and transactions as edges. The author provides an example of how various transactions can be represented in a graph and explains how to calculate balances for each account. They also demonstrate how this graph representation can be used to create a profit and loss statement and balance sheet. The author concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding these financial statements for managing a company.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article explains the fundamentals of accounting, specifically double-entry bookkeeping. It highlights the basic equation that equity is equal to assets minus liabilities, which can also be rearranged to assets equal equity plus liabilities. Accounting transactions are made when something happens in a business, and each transaction affects the balance sheet, which is made up of assets, liabilities, and equity. The article also discusses how the profit and loss statement shows changes in equity over time.
Top 2 Comment Summary
Accountants use jargon to express commonly known and understood concepts, not to use “hard words.” The confusion around double-entry bookkeeping lies in the meaning of “debit” and “credit.” Debit means “the left hand side” and credit means “the right hand side.” Debit is not a subtraction operation, and credit is not addition. The misconception arises because when a bank “credits” your account with a deposit, it is actually increasing its liabilities.
6. Ozone hole goes large again
Total comment counts : 17
Summary
The article reports that this year’s ozone hole over Antarctica is one of the largest on record, reaching a size of 26 million square kilometers on September 16, 2023. The article explains that the size of the ozone hole fluctuates seasonally, with the maximum size occurring between August and October. The measurements are taken by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, which is part of the European Union’s environmental monitoring program. The satellite carries an advanced imaging spectrometer called Tropomi, which provides accurate ozone measurements. The article speculates that this year’s larger ozone hole may be associated with the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in January 2022, but further research is needed to confirm this. The Montreal Protocol, created in 1987, has helped to reduce ozone-depleting substances and the ozone layer is expected to fully recover by around 2050.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The provided link leads to an article from The Guardian, which reports on a study that found Chinese factories releasing thousands of tonnes of illegal CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) gases. The study utilized satellite imagery to detect these massive CFC emissions, which were found to be originating from the production of expandable foam.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article states that although the ozone layer fluctuates in size every year due to the changing seasons, it is still slowly diminishing. However, scientists predict that with the Montreal Protocol and the reduction of substances that deplete ozone, the global ozone layer will return to its normal state by approximately 2050.
7. Libre Silicon – Free semiconductors for everyone
Total comment counts : 9
Summary
The article discusses the development of a free and open-source semiconductor manufacturing process standard called LibreSilicon. The aim is to provide an inexpensive and easy way for small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and hobbyists to develop their own ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) and bring them to the market. Currently, the market is dominated by big companies charging high prices and requiring long wait times for prototype testing. LibreSilicon seeks to break through this monopoly and revolutionize the market. The article also highlights the importance of trustworthiness and security in CPUs and advocates for fully open processes that allow for security audits and eliminate hidden hardware backdoors. The vision is to democratize the semiconductor market by introducing a standardized free manufacturing process that allows for easy exchange of designs and manufacturing anywhere in the world. The article emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift in the semiconductor industry, access to specialized EDA tools, the availability of high-quality open-source digital processor core designs, and the existence of free technology nodes for realizing designs. It also discusses the importance of accessibility and affordability for small players, as well as the development of novel business models and mask-less lithography technologies. The authors express their commitment to driving forward these changes and collaborating with others in the free and open-source silicon ecosystem. The article concludes with information about upcoming talks and events related to the project.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article mentions a process node of 1 um with 3 metal layers. It also refers to the open Skywater PDK, which is 130 nm. The reliability of the PDK is unknown.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The high cost of prototypes, around $2,000 each, is not the main factor preventing the market from opening up. Even if the cost were reduced, the salary of the engineer working on the project would still dominate the overall cost. The real obstacle to opening up the market for IC (integrated circuit) design is the difficulty of IC design itself and the specific tool chain installations required for each design. Even if someone were to provide their design files, it would be unlikely that those files could be directly turned into an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). The tools and processes currently in place make it challenging to convert a digital design of an ASIC using verilog into a usable product.
8. GnuCash Tutorial and Concepts Guide
Total comment counts : 24
Summary
The article is about a new book that has been published called “GnuCash 2.4 Small Business Accounting.” The book is a beginner’s guide for managing accounts and has been recommended by the GnuCash development team. The book’s publisher has also pledged to donate a percentage of the sales back to the GnuCash project.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a feature of GnuCash called transaction splits and explains how they can be used to manage personal finances more effectively. It highlights an example of using transaction splits to track expenses for a purchase made on Amazon, where different payment methods are used. The author also mentions the ability to add additional details, such as serial numbers, to transaction splits for tracking purposes. The article compares GnuCash to simpler personal finance programs that only import credit card charges and lack the same level of functionality. Overall, the author praises GnuCash for its powerful features and flexibility.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article tried using a tool called ledger-cli instead of another tool, and found it to be very flexible and capable of performing all the listed features. The most challenging part was entering the data, but the author wrote parsers using curl/jq/awk for accounts with API access and short csv parsers in awk for accounts that only allowed downloading. The author uses ledger-cli to keep track of around 15 accounts, loans/securities, and various financial information such as cost basis, interest versus principal on loans, mortgage, and expenses. It took some time to write the parsers, but now updating everything takes about 5 minutes per month. The author appreciates that they have a complete financial picture without having to send any data to a service like Mint.
9. In search of the least viewed article on Wikipedia (2022)
Total comment counts : 27
Summary
The article discusses the popularity of articles on Wikipedia and explores the least viewed pages on the platform. The author analyzes page view data from a random sample of articles and finds that the least viewed pages are often disambiguation pages or short stubs with only a few sentences. The author then delves into the concept of the “Random article” button on Wikipedia, which is not truly random but based on a database’s assigned random number for each article. This leads the author to hypothesize that the least viewed articles are often a result of the button’s algorithm. The article concludes by identifying the least viewed articles in 2021 and discussing the factors that contribute to their lack of popularity, including their subject matter and sourcing requirements.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the reasons why certain topics, such as species and populated places, are generally not deleted on Wikipedia, even if they have weak sourcing. The author explains that while sourcing plays a role, the main criteria for deletion is notability derived from the nature and quality of the cited sources. The article mentions that Wikipedia previously had a guideline stating that individuals who participated in a sport at the international level were considered notable, but this guideline was later removed, leading to stricter standards for notability. As a result, many articles about women’s international footballers, for example, were flagged and subsequently deleted due to a lack of mainstream media coverage. The article concludes by stating that the reason some topics, like moths and places, are not deleted is not because of their sourcing, but rather because different standards of notability are applied, and they are topics that cannot sue Wikipedia editors for libel.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author highlights the Navboxes on Wikipedia as a hidden gem. These collapsed boxes at the bottom of each article provide a helpful overview of complex topics and their hierarchical structure. The author finds them visually appealing and compares them to works of art. They use a userjs to move the Navboxes to the top of the page, expanding them for easier navigation.
10. Encrypted traffic interception on Hetzner and Linode targeting Jabber service
Total comment counts : 27
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article suggests several mitigation strategies for high-risk targets. It advises layering an additional authentication mechanism such as Tor onion services, SSH, or Wireguard. It mentions that all issued SSL/TLS certificates are subject to certificate transparency and recommends using crt.sh’s RSS feeds to stay updated. The article also suggests limiting validation methods and setting exact account identifiers, although it questions the effectiveness in this case. Monitoring SSL/TLS certificate changes on all services using an external service is recommended. Additionally, monitoring the MAC address of the default gateway for changes is suggested. The article also introduces the concept of “channel binding” in XMPP, which can detect a Man-in-the-Middle attack even if the interceptor presents a valid certificate.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a case of a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack that was successfully executed but the attacker forgot to renew the certificate. The author jokingly remarks that this mistake is characteristic of a German.