1. Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames
Total comment counts : 61
Summary
Signal is making changes to enhance privacy for users. By default, your phone number will no longer be visible to everyone you chat with on Signal. People who have your number saved in their contacts will still be able to see it. Additionally, you can now create a unique username to use on Signal instead of sharing your phone number. There is also a new privacy setting that allows you to control who can find you on Signal by your phone number. These features are currently in beta and will be rolled out to all users in the coming weeks. It is important to note that these changes are optional, and users have full control over their privacy settings. Your phone number will no longer be visible in Signal to those who don’t have it saved in their contacts. However, your profile name and photo will still be visible. You can change the default setting to allow everyone to see your phone number if you prefer. A new setting allows you to control who can find you by your phone number on Signal. By default, anyone who has your phone number can find you on Signal, but you can limit this by setting it to “Nobody.” Overall, these changes aim to keep your phone number private on Signal and give users more control over their privacy settings.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses several features that the author would like to see in software applications. They express enthusiasm about a QR code generator that makes connecting with others easier. The author also suggests the implementation of multiple usernames and profiles to enhance privacy, as individuals may have different identities in various social groups. They mention that many software programs assume users have only one identity, but on platforms like Twitter and Instagram, users are accustomed to having multiple personas. The author also expresses the desire for self-destructing or one-time links, suggesting that these features could be easily implemented, especially if multiple usernames are allowed. They acknowledge the need for funding and suggest that multiple names could potentially become a premium feature.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author is questioning whether it will still be necessary to provide a phone number when creating an account. They believe that requiring a phone number is essential for a service to be considered private, as in Germany, every phone number is linked to a person’s identity through their identity card.
2. In Defense of Simple Architectures (2022)
Total comment counts : 68
Summary
The article discusses the benefits of using simple architectures, specifically monolithic architectures, in building applications. The author highlights the scalability and cost-effectiveness of such architectures, citing examples like Stackoverflow. They argue that while complex architectures receive more attention and coverage, simple architectures can be more efficient and easier to create. The article also mentions the use of synchronous Python and the decision to use a queue for long-running tasks. The author acknowledges that there are certain limitations and complexities involved, such as compliance with local data residency laws and the need to build software instead of buying it. Overall, the article emphasizes the importance of considering the advantages of simple architectures in application development.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article explains that microservices are not primarily a performance strategy but rather a potential cost-saving and engineering coordination strategy. It suggests that scaling a monolith horizontally or using microservices with the same codebase may have similar outcomes unless there is a need to underscale certain functionalities. However, cost savings only become significant at large scales, and having a minimum of 3 replicas is necessary for resiliency. The main benefit of using microservices is seen in better engineering coordination, as a single team can own the monolith and maintain its cleanliness, whereas a shared monolith becomes difficult to manage.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article highlights the lack of focus on building simple monoliths at a recent tech conference. It mentions a talk about microservices by David Schmitz that humorously discusses his mistakes with microservices. The talk is praised for its entertaining delivery. A link to the talk is provided.
3. WebKit switching to Skia for 2d graphics rendering
Total comment counts : 25
Summary
The article discusses the efforts of the WebKit GTK and WPE ports to improve graphics performance. While previous improvements were made using a CPU-based 2D renderer, it was clear that the limits of this approach had been reached. The article explores attempts to use Cairo for GPU rendering, but it was not successful. The next option considered was Skia, a library that had been previously passed over due to API stability concerns. However, after testing Skia internally and achieving impressive results, the decision was made to switch to Skia. The Skia implementation proved to be more performant and had the potential to simplify the code and enable the implementation of new features. The article states that the Skia implementation has reached a state where it can be considered for upstreaming to WebKit, and positive feedback has been received from teams at Google, Sony, Apple, and Red Hat. The process of integrating Skia into WebKit, including CMake integration and initial Skia implementation for the WPE port, is underway. The implementation will continue to be developed and will eventually be extended to other ports that currently use Cairo.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the challenges of building and using Skia, a popular graphics library developed by Google. The author mentions that building Skia from source is time-consuming, and the library’s APIs are subject to frequent changes and lack proper documentation. Additionally, the development team’s decisions are not openly discussed, making it difficult to understand the codebase. Despite these drawbacks, the author expresses a desire for an alternative vector graphics library with GPU acceleration, but states that Skia remains the only viable option currently available.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses two developments in the software development space. Firstly, Flutter has created a new engine called Impeller to replace Skia. This change is unexpected to some. Secondly, Rive is a new animation tool that aims to support multiple platforms, including web. The CEO of Rive, Guido Rosso, gave an interview about their animation-first vector engine. The article includes links to further information and a demo comparing Skia, Impeller, and Rive.
4. Translating OpenStreetMap data to HTML5 Canvas with Rust and WebAssembly
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
The article is about a web development project involving the use of JavaScript, Python, WebGL, GLSL, Rust, Lua, and other programming languages. The author is revamping an old project called Line Buddy, which visually represented wait times in Disney World theme parks. The original project used an now-deprecated API library called themeparks and A-Frame. The author plans to create a simplified version of the map using OpenStreetMap data and eventually create it in 3D. For the proof of concept, the author will draw to an HTML5 canvas. They are using Rust and WebAssembly for data processing because Rust generally performs faster at large amounts of data processing. They are using wasm-pack to create a Rust library that will be used by client-side JavaScript. The author gives a step-by-step explanation of their process, including importing the WASM code, retrieving coordinates from OpenStreetMap, and parsing XML files using the osm-xml crate.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article is praised for providing a clear and detailed explanation of how to run a proof-of-concept code. The writer targets experienced programmers and it is noted that the write-up is as beneficial for the author as it is for the readers. The article involves solving a non-trivial problem using Rust, WebAssembly, and an OpenStreetMap API. The writing is commended for its straightforwardness and ability to engage the audience. The overall sentiment is gratitude for discovering the blog and author.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the issue of visual distortions that can occur when directly plotting geographic coordinates, particularly for parks located further from the equator. The author suggests two solutions: reprojecting the data to the Mercator projection or the appropriate local UTM Zone to ensure accurate distances in cartesian units with no visual distortions, or scaling the longitudinal axis by the cosine of the latitude at the center latitude of the area of interest. The second method is said to provide a good approximation for small extents like theme parks.
5. AI your home on street view
Total comment counts : 13
Summary
The article introduces a new tool called Panoramai that allows users to change the appearance of any location on Google Maps Street View based on their AI prompts. Users can reimagine their homes as different landscapes or artwork. Another tool mentioned is the Dutch Cycling Lifestyle map, which alters Street View images to create car-free environments. Additionally, Street Galleries is mentioned, where users can create virtual art galleries on Street View by adding paintings from leading museums to different locations.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a cool idea to use technology to imagine streets built differently, with less traffic, cycle lanes, and street vendors. The author mentions a Dutch website that is already doing something similar. The author believes that tools like this could be useful in pushing decision makers and the public to see new opportunities. Currently, when something is being built, optimistic 3D renders are used to sway public opinion. The author suggests that tools like this could allow “normal people” to fight back against certain projects or suggest their own ideas without needing professional architects.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the idea of car-free environments and the beauty they can bring. It raises questions about the maintenance of vegetation and suggests that a dusty gravel pathway may be more realistic considering the lack of time, money, and motivation to create beautiful gardens.
6. I broke IKEA (2023)
Total comment counts : 18
Summary
The article is a combination of personal anecdotes and comments on a phone service’s anti-spam tactic. The author describes a feature that allows them to send a rapid sequence of tones to spammers’ PBXes (private branch exchanges). The author accidentally triggered this feature when IKEA called to confirm a furniture shipment. The article includes a transcript of the call and discussions about generating the tones and the phone system setup. The author also mentions the loss of hardware in a house fire and expresses interest in finding another anti-spam solution. The article concludes with a humorous comment about the audio at the end of the recording possibly being caused by a PC crash.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author recounts a story from the past when they had a Psion Series 5 device that could dial phone numbers for the user. They discovered that contacts could have very long phone numbers, which led to them gaining access to multiple answering machines with 2-digit codes. They enjoyed changing the outgoing messages on the answering machines and even fooled a friend into thinking they had physically accessed his apartment to change the message, although it was actually done easily through the device.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article describes how the author was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the transcription after comparing it to the original text and audio.
7. DJI – The ART of obfuscation
Total comment counts : 11
Summary
This article discusses a study of an Android runtime (ART) hijacking mechanism used to protect the DJI Pilot Android application. The application is protected by a packer, which is designed to prevent static analysis of the application code. The article explains the different stages of analysis used to understand how the code is obfuscated. It also provides a Python proof-of-concept tool called DxFx for unpacking the DJI Pilot application. The analysis reveals that the packer leaves only a bootstrap code in the bytecode, which launches the application’s unpacking phase. The packer logic is found in a native library called libDexHelper.so, which is also packed. The article explains how the packer is unpacked and analyzed. It discusses methods for extracting the unpacked DEX files dynamically or statically. The analysis also reveals interesting clues about the encrypted chunks in the classes.dex file. Overall, the article provides insights into the protection mechanism implemented in the DJI Pilot application.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article explains that they reverse engineered the protocol of a drone controller to use it for drone simulators on their PC. While updating the firmware, they discovered that the software could read stick positions. By analyzing the data, they identified patterns and used a joystick library to replicate the readings as an Xbox controller. The article includes a link to their GitHub repository where more details can be found.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article highlights concerns about DJI, a drone manufacturer, not listing their Android app on the Play Store. This is unusual because it requires users to side load the app. The reason for this is unclear, but on iOS, the app is available on the App Store.
8. Old London Bridge
Total comment counts : 13
Summary
This article is about Kenwood, a hidden gem on the edge of Hampstead Heath. It describes the breathtaking interiors, world-class art collection, and glorious parkland of Kenwood. The article also talks about the history of Kenwood, its restoration, and the internationally important collection of paintings that were bequeathed by Lord Iveagh in 1927. It highlights some of the paintings by artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Dyck, and Turner. The article also mentions The Guitar Player, a painting by Johannes Vermeer, and a collection of royal and family portraits spanning the 16th to the 19th centuries. Additionally, it mentions that English Heritage cares for over 700,000 objects from various sites across the country.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article describes Kenwood House, a free-entry location in London, which is located near Hampstead Heath. Hampstead Heath is a large heathland and forest area, spanning approximately 800 acres, and it is ideal for long walks or running. The area offers hilly terrains with legally protected views of London. Despite being close to the city center, roughly 10-15 minutes away from Kings Cross on the tube, it provides ample outdoor space and is recommended for those seeking a place for outdoor activities during their visit to London.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the motivation behind building houses on a bridge, specifically in relation to the City walls. The author finds it intriguing that houses were built on the bridge, as it is an interzone area that normally wouldn’t exist. The typical reason given for building on the bridge is that space inside the City walls was limited. However, the author finds it more interesting that the bridge itself was considered part of the City walls, like a peninsular jutting out. Another reason mentioned is the high foot traffic, cattle, and long crossing times, which would necessitate the presence of shops and pubs to serve the approximately 138 dwellings on the bridge. The mention of William Gibson’s Bridge Trilogy is noted as a possible influence for the author’s fascination with the subject.
9. Cake – C23 and Beyond (2023)
Total comment counts : 14
Summary
This article discusses the development of a new feature called “c_type_system++” in the Cake source code. The purpose of this feature is to statically check code and prevent bugs, particularly memory bugs. The article explains that the compiler needs certain information from the programmer, such as naming conventions and documentation, to effectively check the code. To facilitate communication between the compiler and programmer, new qualifiers and methods have been created. These qualifiers and methods allow the programmer to indicate ownership and lifetime management of objects in the code. The article provides examples and rules for using these qualifiers. It also discusses the concept of view objects, which are objects that reference other objects without managing their lifetime. The article concludes by mentioning the implementation of delete functions and destructors for handling the release of resources and transferring ownership of objects in C.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article suggests that if a certain method can be applied to existing libraries and projects, it could enhance the safety of real-world C code. However, there would still be additional measures needed, such as eliminating uninitialized memory and data races, to achieve complete memory safety.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests that the ownership annotations on all functions, such as fclose, must be implemented correctly in order to note that the owned FILE * is moved into the call. This requirement may pose limitations as existing codebases would need to be modified with customized macros or the compiler would need to have a default “fail open” approach. The tradeoffs between these options are challenging, involving substantial developer effort or being ineffective in dealing with most of a compiled program’s API surface. Additionally, the design mentioned in the article seems to focus on temporal safety rather than spatial safety.
10. Game Font Forensics
Total comment counts : 8
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a video about “Texture archeology,” which explores the reuse of stock images of cobblestones in various video games from the PS1/N64 era. The video discusses the prevalence of this particular texture and how it was utilized across multiple games. The article also mentions that the video had been shared on Hacker News twice without receiving any comments.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article expresses their enthusiasm for VileR’s website, which provides a collection of BIOS/OEM fonts and related resources. They share their own experience of creating an “invaders-like” game using HTML5 Canvas and discuss their search for high-quality text rendering. They discovered the Oldschool PC Fonts on int10h.org and used a Python script to convert them into bitmaps for drawing text on the canvas. They later switched to using the Modern DOS font pack. The author considers int10h.org their go-to website for retrocomputing experiments. The article includes several links to the mentioned resources.