1. What’s that touchscreen in my room?
Total comment counts : 71
Summary
The author of the article recounts their experience with a touchscreen device in their new apartment that they couldn’t figure out the purpose of. After finding a manual, they discover that it is part of an energy monitoring system. They also find another device in a communal cupboard that is connected to the electricity meter. The devices communicate using WiFi, which the author finds surprising. They manage to reset the touchscreen and discover that it is actually an old Android tablet. They try to connect it to WiFi but encounter difficulties. After investigating further, they realize that their fuse box doesn’t have a fuse, which explains the lack of power to the energy manager. They order a new fuse and install it, restoring the device’s functionality.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author realized that in order for people to be more environmentally conscious and economical in terms of utility consumption, they need more detailed data than just a monthly figure. They suggest being able to track usage down to a resolution of at most 5 minutes, so that people can identify areas where they are using excessive amounts of utilities. The author personally has an inverter and solar panels, allowing them to see a full history of electricity usage, which helps them identify areas for improvement. They give an example of how they were able to determine that their geyser heating was causing high electricity consumption, and thus were able to save money by putting a timer on it. However, the author mentions that they do not have a convenient way to monitor water consumption.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the author’s surprise at the use of Linux-powered home appliances and the inefficiency of these appliances. The author highlights that even simple tasks like displaying numbers and graphs could be performed by microcontrollers on a wired bus, which would consume less power and be more cost-effective. The author also mentions the short lifespan of these appliances, likely around three years or less.
2. Spotube: Open-source Spotify-Youtube client
Total comment counts : 49
Summary
This article discusses an open-source Spotify client that does not require a Premium account and does not use Electron technology. The client is available for both desktop and mobile devices.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a tool called Nifty, which is not a Spotify client but rather retrieves data from Spotify and plays the audio from YouTube. The author finds this tool interesting and believes it deserves recognition.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the unexpected use of Flutter, instead of Electron, in a project. The author admits to having limited experience with Flutter but believes it is not as powerful as truly native apps. However, the author is open to being proven wrong and expresses interest in transpiling Clojure to Dart.
3. Vint Cerf is accumulating Dave Mills stories
Total comment counts : 4
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article reports the death of Dave Mills, as shared on a website called Hacker News.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article is a personal memorial written by Poul-Henning Kamp in Danish, paying tribute to the late Dave Mills. Dave Mills was involved in various significant achievements, including his work on the guidance computer of the Minuteman-1 missiles and the development of 16-pulse Tactical Loran-C. He also played a crucial role in the early days of the internet, earning him the distinction of being its grandfather, while Vint Cerf is considered its father. Additionally, the article mentions that Mills managed to maintain stability and guidance for his two young children as a single father, even from a distant location. The author concludes with reverence for Mills’ memory.
4. Snowcraft – Building a Lego Snowfort from giant Lego snow-bricks
Total comment counts : 15
Summary
This article talks about how the author and their family use giant LEGO-shaped storage bin lids to create blocks of snow in their backyard. They press the lids into the snow to create perfect 2x2 LEGO bricks made entirely of snow. The children then use these snow bricks to construct their own versions of a Minecraft realm, building things like a snowlamp and an igloo fortress. The article describes how the children enjoy playing with their snowy creations and how the soft light from a lamp inside the igloo creates a warm glow. It concludes by mentioning that readers can sign up to receive new posts via email.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author describes a fond college memory of building a snow fort with his fraternity brothers. They had a rare snowfall in their area and used a parking lot as their building site. They made bricks out of snow and aimed to create an igloo big enough for 15 people. Eventually, they settled for a large fort covered with a white tarp. The author reflects on how this experience brought the group together and realizes it may be the last opportunity to build something like this. They enjoyed spending time in the fort, bonding over drinks and stories.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article warns about the potential danger of snow and ice structures, such as igloos or caves, collapsing on young children who come across them. Even if the structures are initially sturdy, they can deteriorate due to melting, snowfall, and play. If the structures cannot be checked frequently to ensure they are safe, it is advisable to disassemble them.
5. Platform Tilt
Total comment counts : 18
Summary
The article discusses technical issues that disadvantage Firefox compared to other first-party browsers. These issues include restrictions on third-party browser engines on Apple platforms, the lack of a multi-process architecture on iOS, limitations on memory region permissions, incomplete documentation of accessibility APIs, and limited access to certain features and data, such as Messages and browsing information. The article proposes changes and updates to address these issues and create a more level playing field for Firefox.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the issue of certain apps launching their own web browser instead of the user’s preferred browser. This allows the apps to potentially spy on the user’s web activity within the embedded web view. The author suggests that app stores like Android Play Store and iOS App Store should require apps to use the user’s browser for third-party websites. Apps would be categorized as “web browser” or “not web browser.” “Not web browser” apps would be limited to communicating with a short list of approved domains, while “web browser” apps would have unrestricted access. The author highlights several reasons for implementing this change, including preventing apps from spying on network and web view activity, ensuring synced data like passwords and bookmarks are accessible, and allowing for a context menu to open links in private browser windows.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses how the App Store prohibits third-party browser engines, with Mozilla challenging this policy. The author states that the dominance of Safari on iOS devices is the main reason why many developers prioritize Chrome support. They warn that if users perceive certain features to work better on Chrome compared to other browsers, it could lead to a monopoly situation. The author acknowledges that the current situation is problematic but hopes that their concerns are unfounded.
6. Textart.sh
Total comment counts : 13
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article mentions that the third image under the topic “goose” on the website textart.sh appears to be computer-generated because it contains a Shutterstock watermark.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article provides a curated and human-made ASCII version of content found on the website https://ascii.co.uk/art.
7. Lowercase letters save data
Total comment counts : 36
Summary
The article explains that swapping uppercase letters for lowercase letters saves data because text compression is more effective when there is a smaller variety of characters, less common characters are used less frequently, and characters or groups of characters are repeated more often. The article specifically discusses how the deflate algorithm, which uses Huffman encoding and LZSS compression methods, is affected by replacing uppercase letters with lowercase. Huffman encoding represents more frequently used characters with fewer bits, resulting in compressed text that takes up less space. By using fewer uppercase letters, the article suggests that the frequency of those uppercase letters decreases, leading to smaller Huffman trees and further data savings.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article discusses the idea that it is not lowercase itself that saves data, but rather the process of normalization. It explains that normalization can be achieved by using uppercase letters as well. The article also mentions that using lowercase letters may not work well when dealing with Unicode content. Additionally, it suggests that after normalization and data decompression, there may be instances where the capitalization of letters may change, making the technique a lossy algorithm.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the inconsistency in the SVG paths shown and the potential issues with using lowercase coordinates in path data. It suggests taking a holistic approach to compression by adjusting not just the case but the entire path data. It provides examples of compressed solutions by removing whitespace and unnecessary opcodes. It also mentions considering whether closing the path is necessary.
8. Thousands of small businesses are struggling because of R&D amortization
Total comment counts : 40
Summary
This article is asking readers to switch to a supported browser in order to continue using Twitter.com. The article provides a link to a list of supported browsers and mentions that more information can be found in their Help Center. The article also includes links to the platform’s Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Imprint. Finally, it mentions that the article is from 2024 and is affiliated with X Corp.
Top 1 Comment Summary
I apologize, but I am unable to access and summarize the article as it is not a valid URL format. Please provide the article text or a valid URL for me to assist you further.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author is passionate about a certain topic and has taken various actions to raise awareness, such as writing to congressional representatives and posting on LinkedIn. They mention a recent minor win in the House to delay US onshore amortization through 2025, but express that it is not enough and has affected their plans to start a business. They are considering incorporating in another country and are researching the implications. The author plans to sign up with an organization called ssballiance.org. They provide links to the sources for more information.
9. On Leibniz Notation
Total comment counts : 23
Summary
The article discusses Leibniz’s notation and the meaning of partial derivatives. It explains that Leibniz’s notation can be confusing and introduces irrelevant letters in the denominator. The proper way to think about functions is that $f: \Bbb{R} \to \Bbb{R}$ denotes the function, while $f(x)$ is the particular real number obtained when evaluating the function at the point $x$. The article emphasizes that the choice of letters used should not affect the meaning of a mathematical statement.
Additionally, the article mentions the chain rule and how it relates to differentiable functions. It states that if $f$ and $g$ are differentiable functions, then the composition $f \circ g$ is also differentiable, and the derivative of the composition at a point $x$ is given by $f’(g(x)) \cdot g’(x)$.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article argues that the teaching of calculus often relies too heavily on algebraic concepts without good reason. It discusses the shortcomings of Leibniz notation and how it led to erroneous thinking, while highlighting Newton’s approach using geometric concepts. The author also recommends a collection of anecdotes on the history of early analysis.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses how the Euler-Lagrange equations in Sussman and Wisdom’s “Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics” may not make sense as traditionally written. The authors suggest that traditional notation for partial derivatives should be replaced with a new notation that accounts for “argument slots.”
10. Simulating a minimal cell in the browser
Total comment counts : 6
Summary
The author of the article describes their journey to simulate the simplest known cell using TypeScript. They were inspired by a research paper that created a model of the molecules and reactions in a minimal cell and observed processes like DNA replication, metabolism, and protein synthesis. The well-stirred model, which models the whole cell as a single homogeneous mixture, is discussed in the article. The researchers created a cell with the smallest number of genes by removing genes from a bacterial cell until it couldn’t survive anymore, resulting in a genetically minimal bacterial cell with 493 genes. The kinetic parameters for the simulation are publicly available in the GitHub repository. The article also explains the chemical master equation method used to simulate stochastic systems, with the Gillespie algorithm being the main algorithm used. The simulation involves translating genes to mRNA and mRNA strings to proteins, resulting in variations between different cells.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the limitations of gene simulations in understanding the functionality of genes. It emphasizes that only about 20% of genes are currently understood and that simulations often overlook important biological factors that affect engineering efforts. The author also mentions a favorite paper from 40 years ago on the topic.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses how a programmer and cell biology enthusiast set out to simulate the function of cells using TypeScript.