1. I pwned half of America’s fast food chains simultaneously
Total comment counts : 49
Summary
The author successfully found exposed Firebase credentials in AI startups by searching through a list of websites using the .ai top-level domain. Their suspicion was that some startups may have overlooked proper security measures. They discovered a self-proclaimed AI hiring system that offers services to fast food chains and other hourly employers in the United States. By exploiting vulnerabilities, they were able to gain full access to the Firebase database, including sensitive data. Furthermore, they discovered that they could manipulate admin users to gain even more control over the system. The author concludes by mentioning the assistance they received in conducting this penetration test and responsibly disclosing the findings.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article discusses the author’s curiosity about whether someone was hired or acting independently when conducting a pentest on the company chattr.ai. The author questions the brazenness of the person if they were acting independently and wonders if chattr.ai has a responsible disclosure policy. The author believes that people should be allowed to pentest as long as they don’t intend to cause harm and report any findings. However, they note that many companies often overreact and involve the law, even if the person is acting in good faith.
Top 2 Comment Summary
I’m sorry, but without access to the article itself and its content, I’m unable to provide a summary. Please provide the article or a brief description of its main points and I’d be happy to assist you.
2. Wikihouse: Open-Source Houses
Total comment counts : 49
Summary
WikiHouse is a user-friendly modular building system that simplifies the process of designing, manufacturing, and assembling high-quality buildings.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article points out that having walls and interior floors that are as thick and insulated as the roof is not a practical use of materials, considering the way heat flows. However, it suggests that this approach might be appealing to those who have been influenced by playing Minecraft.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the idea of using CNC-cut block-based assembly in construction projects. The author expresses their interest in this concept, citing examples from the show Grand Designs. They mention their intention to pursue a similar project in the US, although finding a manufacturer might be more challenging. The author questions the claim of reusability and customization made by the blocks. They argue that while the blocks may be accurate, using them in a different project might not be feasible, likening it to trying to reuse puzzle pieces in a different puzzle.
3. I quit my job to work full time on my open source project
Total comment counts : 47
Summary
The article discusses Atuin, a tool that helps improve productivity by allowing users to retrieve any command they have previously run. Atuin stores shell history in a database, recording command context and syncing it across devices. The author of the article mentions leaving their job to focus on developing Atuin full-time and adding new premium features. The tool started gaining popularity and attracting more contributors and users, resulting in increased usage and feedback. The author also discusses the challenges of managing the project while working a full-time job and the need to dedicate more time to it. To support the costs of running the Atuin servers, the author set up a GitHub sponsors account. However, they found that they gained more sponsors when they actively mentioned it, which made them uncomfortable. Overall, the article highlights the author’s journey with Atuin and their decision to start a company and work on the tool full-time.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The given article is a note from a user, not the author, introducing a website called Atuin. No further information or content is provided.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author expresses their appreciation for the concept of Atuin but finds it too slow when dealing with large history files. They mention having synced their own history for the past ten years, resulting in approximately 170,000 lines of history. The author finds the history search function, specifically the ctrl-r search, to be very slow. Although they acknowledge not needing most of the history, they are hesitant to manually review and audit such a large number of lines to determine what is necessary.
4. MoE-Mamba: Efficient Selective State Space Models with Mixture of Experts
Total comment counts : 7
Summary
The article discusses the arXivLabs framework, which enables collaborators to create and share new features for the arXiv website. It emphasizes the importance of openness, community, excellence, and user privacy. The article also mentions that arXiv only partners with organizations and individuals who adhere to these values. The article concludes by inviting readers to learn more about arXivLabs and providing information on how to receive status notifications.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses how the authors of a study shared their code and dataset, allowing others to replicate and expand on their work. The code is available on GitHub, and the dataset can be found on Huggingface. The article mentions that the only thing missing is the weights, which would be helpful to have on Huggingface as well.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author discusses the core idea of MoE models and highlights that the MoE models in Table 1 have a significantly larger parameter count compared to the baseline transformer. While this may be acceptable for certain applications, it is unclear how these performance benefits would scale when the model grows to practical sizes. The author expresses interest in seeing real-life applications of scaling traditional models to 70B parameters and the possibility of parallelizing the original or the MoE model.
5. Aim, fire, scan: the 80/20 of executing on big projects
Total comment counts : 10
Summary
The article is about the author’s experience using commitment contracts to write a novel within a specific timeframe. The author discusses their confidence in completing the contract due to their mastery of an iteration process called the plan, do, learn loop. They explain how they plan, execute, and review their progress, highlighting the factors that lead to successful outcomes. The author introduces two acronyms: AIM (ABZs, Interrogate, and Mandatory) and FIRE (Frontload, Improvise, Resourcefulness, and Exhaust) which outline strategies for effective iteration. They emphasize the importance of staying flexible, adapting to unforeseen obstacles, and maintaining a realistic mindset.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article offers some hacks for achieving goals. It mentions goal escrow sites like stickK and beeminder, but the author personally does not find them useful. Some alternative hacks suggested are: setting standards, releasing something unfinished to feel motivated to fix it, just getting started on a task even for a minute, trying to make tasks more enjoyable, and acknowledging the power of habits.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author shares their Interstitch app, which is an interstitial journaling app for individual performance tracking. They initially struggled to gain traction, but after connecting with the CEO of Medium and being added to a newsletter, they now have around 100 users. The experience taught them the importance of reaching the right audience.
6. Ibogaine banishes PTSD, small study finds
Total comment counts : 38
Summary
A small trial in military veterans suggests that the psychedelic drug ibogaine could be used to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI). One month after treatment, the veterans reported a decrease in TBI symptoms such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression by over 80% on average. The study, published in Nature Medicine, did not include a control group but suggests that rigorous trials should be conducted to test the drug. Ibogaine, made from the bark of a Central African shrub, is tightly regulated in many countries and can cause fatal heartbeat irregularities. However, the available therapies for conditions like PTSD do not help everyone, so new interventions are needed. The researchers are now studying whether the drug can have a long-term benefit and are using neuroimaging and biomarkers to understand how it works. Studies in mice suggest that ibogaine can temporarily re-open a ‘critical period’ in which the nervous system is more malleable.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article discusses an observational study involving veterans who went to Mexico to take ibogaine, a psychedelic drug. The study is not a phase 1 trial and lacks a control group. Other psychedelics, such as psilocybin, are being studied for their potential to treat conditions like PTSD and depression.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article explains that while PTSD is often associated with war experiences, it can be caused by any traumatic event, such as a car crash or abuse. It defines PTSD as a fear of a traumatic memory, where individuals experience flashbacks and fear the event happening again. The most effective treatment mentioned is exposure therapy, where individuals write down the traumatic memory in full and read it until they understand it was not their fault. It also provides a link to a recent meta-analysis on the subject.
7. The teen mental illness epidemic is international (2023)
Total comment counts : 79
Summary
The article discusses the epidemic of mental illness among American teens that began in the early 2010s and examines whether this trend is also present in other countries. The authors point out that the epidemic started simultaneously in many nations, suggesting a global event or trend rather than country-specific factors. They highlight the rise in depression and anxiety, overprotection of children, “safetyism,” and the suppression of free speech on university campuses as common trends in various Anglo nations. The authors conducted research in Australia and New Zealand, discovering similar trends emerging there as well. They then hired a research assistant, Zach Rausch, to gather empirical studies from various countries and identify the international nature of the mental illness epidemic. The report concludes that teen mental health declined across the Western world in the early 2010s, especially among girls and in individualistic nations. The following parts of the report will discuss Scandinavian countries and present data from international surveys.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the increase in reported rates of teen mental illness and attributes it to the decreasing stigma surrounding mental health. It highlights the lack of resources and support available to teenagers in the past compared to the present. The article suggests that openly discussing and addressing these issues is essential in combating them.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author observes that there is a trend towards people self-diagnosing or diagnosing others with depression or mental illnesses. They are uncertain whether this is influenced by external factors or a cultural phenomenon.
8. Gmail and Yahoo’s 2024 inbox protections and what they mean for email programs
Total comment counts : 34
Summary
The article discusses the recent updates announced by Gmail and Yahoo regarding their inbox protections for unwanted emails. The changes focus on improving authentication and email relevance, and will have a significant impact on email senders. The article advises senders to prioritize email authentication, make it easy for recipients to unsubscribe, and carefully monitor spam rates. The article also mentions that Sinch Mailgun can help with these issues. The changes by Gmail and Yahoo are expected to be implemented in 2024 and will require senders to comply with stricter standards.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author is asking questions about how certain actions, such as requesting a two-factor authentication (2FA) code or password reset, interact with transactional emails. They are specifically interested in how the presence or absence of a list-unsubscribe header in these emails affects the user experience. The author also raises concerns about the potential consequences of allowing users to unsubscribe from these types of emails, particularly in sensitive situations like banking. The author expresses a desire for clarification from Google on these matters.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article states that as a self-hoster, it is advisable to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC as they are one-time setups and do not cost anything. The author suggests that most self-hosters have likely already implemented these measures.
9. The Biggest Smallest PNG
Total comment counts : 6
Summary
The article discusses the minimum required elements of the PNG image format and explores ways to optimize the compression algorithm used in PNG. It mentions that the minimum size for a PNG file is 67 bytes and discusses different valid 67-byte PNGs. The article then delves into the compression step, explaining that compression algorithms cannot always make the input shorter due to mathematical limitations. It briefly explains the DEFLATE compression algorithm used in PNG and provides insights into the contents of the compressed block. The article questions if there is a better way to compress the data and discusses the LZ77 compression strategy used by DEFLATE, which allows for overlapping backreferences. It concludes by examining the possibilities for optimizing the compression and refers to the DEFLATE specification for further exploration.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article suggests a method to create a large PNG file consisting of a single pixel. By using empty uncompressed blocks typically used for sync flush, an arbitrary number of these blocks can be added to the file. These blocks do not affect other parts of the file but do impact the PNG checksum. The example given shows a valid DEFLATE stream that decompresses into a single byte. It also mentions that PNG IDAT chunks can be concatenated, allowing for the creation of a large PNG file consisting of a single pixel if desired.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the possibility of creating smaller PNG files that do not comply with the specifications, by omitting certain chunks or CRCs. It mentions that some browsers may still render these files, but it is unclear if this issue has been fixed in the latest versions of browsers. The author also mentions the possibility of confusing this issue with GIF files.
10. OpenWRT turns 20; wants to launch their “first upstream supported” design
Total comment counts : 38
Summary
The article discusses the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the OpenWrt project by launching a new hardware design. The idea for the design was initially discussed in 2017 and 2018, and it was decided to use Banana Pi style devices as they closely align with the project’s goals. The proposed hardware design includes features such as multiple recovery options, system console access, and an on-board RTC with battery backup. The specifications of the design include a MediaTek SOC, MediaTek Wi-Fi, 1 GiB DDR4 RAM, 128 MiB SPI NAND flash, 2x RJ45 Ethernet ports, USB 2.0 ports, M.2 slot for NVMe SSD, buttons, LEDs, external hardware watchdog, RTC, USB-PD power, expansion slots, and certifications. The device will be distributed by BPi, and a donation will be made to the OpenWrt fund for every device sold. The article concludes with a FAQ section addressing various details of the hardware design.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the celebration of OpenWrt’s 20th anniversary. The user provides a link to a forum post where more information can be found.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a new board that is expected to compete with the NanoPi R5S in terms of pricing. The board is said to have direct support for real OpenWrt, which is different from other manufacturers who often provide unsupported Linux distributions.