1. Airfoil
Total comment counts : 35
Summary
This article discusses the physics of flight and how airplanes remain airborne. It looks at the shape and orientation of the airfoil, which is the cross section of the wings, and how it interacts with the flow of air. The article also explores the behavior and properties of air and other flowing substances. Visual representations, such as falling leaves and bending blades of grass, are used to demonstrate the effects of wind on objects and to help visualize the motion of air. Arrows representing the direction and speed of the airflow, as well as markers representing light objects influenced by the air, are used to further illustrate the concept.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article argues that flying objects fly primarily because of thrust, rather than wings. It points out that rockets and missiles are able to fly long distances without the presence of wings. The article also mentions that even though airfoils (wing shapes) and concepts like Bernoulli’s principle and the Coanda effect are important, lift is ultimately dependent on the presence of thrust or velocity. It suggests that if the engines of a 747 were to shut down, the aircraft would descend rapidly.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses how airfoils used in aircraft design were developed in the 1920s and 1930s by the NACA. Despite advancements in computer software, these airfoil shapes have already been perfected through manual calculations and experiments. Nowadays, designers can simply refer to a table of NACA airfoils based on their specific requirements for speed, air pressure, etc.
2. Netlify just sent me a $104k bill for a simple static site
Total comment counts : 138
Summary
The author received an email from Netlify stating that they have a $104,500 bill overdue for a simple static site. The author suspects a DDoS attack and questions why serverless platforms like Netlify do not have DDoS protection or spend limits. Netlify’s billing support offers a discount of 5%, which still requires the author to pay $5,000. The author has migrated their site to Cloudflare and has decided not to use Netlify again. They have also posted the story on HackerNews and received a response from Netlify’s CEO and support team.
Top 1 Comment Summary
Netlify CEO has confirmed that the user mentioned in the thread will not be charged for their site. Netlify’s policy is to not shut down free sites during traffic spikes that are not indicative of attack patterns. Instead, they will forgive any bills that result from legitimate mistakes. The CEO apologizes for the oversight in the initial support reply.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author expresses concern about the lack of limitations on spend and the potential for their website to be targeted in a DDoS attack, leading to bankruptcy. The author mentions going through Vercel’s documentation and finding their DDoS protection measures to be insufficient. The author believes that hosting providers should take responsibility for failure to protect against such attacks and suggests that there should be better default settings for protection. They are willing to pay more for a service that offers peace of mind and insurance against sudden attacks.
3. Rapier is a set of 2D and 3D physics engines written in Rust
Total comment counts : 23
Summary
The article discusses Rapier, a physics engine written in Rust. Rapier is designed for real-time physics applications such as video games, animation, and robotics. It aims to be fast, stable, and deterministic. The engine is free and open-source, licensed under Apache 2.0, and developed by Dimforge. Support for the project can be provided by sponsoring on GitHub.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author built an online multiplayer game using Rapier, a physics engine. Players take turns slamming bugs against the other team to capture the hill. The game does not have a single-player mode yet. The author praises the library for its solid functionality and well-thought-out API. The author also plans to write a post about their experience with building the game.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author discovered Geometric Algebra (GA), which is a concise and intuitive way to work with various geometries. They are interested in using GA as a foundation for a physics engine but haven’t found any widely-used libraries for this purpose. They provide links to a couple of small rust libraries related to GA. The author also suggests watching a video and visiting a website for more information on GA.
4. I turned my open-source project into a full-time business
Total comment counts : 27
Summary
The author of the article discusses their experiences with open-source software and their transition towards monetizing their projects. Initially, they only used permissive licenses and rejected donations, believing that reaching a wide audience was more important. However, they later realized that they were not benefiting financially from their work. They then released a new project, EmailEngine, under the copyleft LGPL license and implemented a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) process. They also offered a paid subscription for an MIT version of the software. However, this business plan did not yield significant revenue, so they eventually changed the license to a commercial one and introduced a license key system. This change resulted in increased revenue, and the author continued to increase the pricing without losing customers. The current monthly recurring revenue for EmailEngine is €6100 and continues to grow steadily.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The main point of this article is that the author noticed an increase in subscriptions for their software after they implemented a feature that caused the software to stop working without a valid license. The author suggests that while discussions about different license options may not be important to most users, in the corporate world, users are more likely to pay for a license rather than trying to remove the license check from the code.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article believes that companies are unlikely to pay for open-source software even if they find it valuable, since it is free. However, if the cost is relatively low, around $1,000 per year, companies are more willing to let developers purchase it without much hassle. This pricing is seen as ideal for solo founders who do not need to rapidly scale their operations. However, the situation becomes more complicated for enterprise sales, as the sales cycles are longer and the pricing structures are more complex.
5. Segmenting comic book frames
Total comment counts : 14
Summary
The article discusses the author’s project in their Computer Vision class where they developed an algorithm for extracting frames from comic books. They first encountered an algorithm by Max Halford that used Canny to detect frame boundaries and fit bounding boxes, but it had limitations. To overcome these limitations, the author procedurally generated a synthetic dataset of comic books and fine-tuned a segmentation model called SAM to detect the corner points of frames. They used a procedural generator to create layouts and assigned random boxes filled with images from the Danbooru dataset. The author modified the SAM model to predict points instead of dense masks. They learned that canonicalizing the order of corner point predictions and using L1 loss improved the model’s performance. Comparison with Halford’s method and the original SAM method showed that the author’s model performed well on both procedurally generated and real-world comics. The article concludes by acknowledging the shortcomings of the author’s method but praises the approach of algorithm design over using OpenCV functions.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a new challenge in artificial intelligence: inferring the intended panel reading sequence and the flow of speech bubbles/narrative in digital comic books. This could enhance digital comic book readers by allowing them to refocus from panel to panel in the correct order. Additionally, it could make comic book content more accessible.
Top 2 Comment Summary
In the past year, there has been an increase in YouTube channels that use AI to recap manga. It is likely that these channels utilize open source tools for panel segmentation.
6. You are not late (2014)
Total comment counts : 28
Summary
The article discusses the early days of the internet and how it was a wide-open frontier for entrepreneurs. It mentions the abundance of opportunities and the low barriers to entry. However, it also highlights that even though we have gained a lot in the last 30 years, the internet is still in its early stages and there is much more potential for innovation and advancements in the future. The article suggests that the greatest online products that will shape our lives in the future have not been invented yet, and compares the current state of the internet to the early days when dot com names were readily available. It concludes by saying that entrepreneurs in the future will look back at 2014 as a time of opportunity and wish they had taken advantage of it.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article discusses the author’s personal experiences starting a career in programming and entrepreneurship in the USA. Despite feeling like they were getting into programming late, they found opportunities and success. They started at Microsoft when many people thought the company was on its decline, but the stock value significantly increased during their time there. The author also bought a website after the dot com bust in 2001 and had a successful business for over two decades. They highlight that it’s currently a great time to start a web-based business due to the abundance of free and affordable development tools.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests that while there is merit in starting something new, there are better and worse times to do so. In the period from 2014 to 2024, the dominance of big tech platforms stifled innovation among startups. Some companies with a strong product focus, like Slack and Discord, were successful. However, many in the technology space seemed to either be working on uninspired products for the purpose of being acquired or desperately pushing for the widespread adoption of blockchain technology in the hopes of creating a new, more open ecosystem.
7. Boeing missing key elements of safety culture: FAA report
Total comment counts : 27
Summary
error
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses deficiencies in Just Culture and Reporting Culture based on a report. It then outlines the five key elements of Safety Culture, which include Informed Culture, Reporting Culture, Learning Culture, Just Culture, and Flexible Culture. Each element is briefly explained, emphasizing the importance of safety reporting, learning from mistakes, and adapting to changing demands.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author criticizes the leadership of Boeing, highlighting their high compensation, mistreatment of labor and supply chain sub-contractors, and the negative impact on taxpayers. They question the ethics of a small group of leaders benefiting personally while harming the company, economy, and taxpayers.
8. Apple cancels work on electric car, shifts team to generative AI
Total comment counts : 86
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
Apple executives have announced that the company’s autonomous vehicle project will be winding down, and employees from the car team will be shifting to the artificial intelligence division to work on generative AI projects. However, the article suggests that the number of employees shifting to these new roles is relatively small, possibly implying a minor layoff rather than a significant team reassignment.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article expresses confusion and skepticism about Apple’s entry into the car industry. They mention that Apple is unlikely to compete with established car manufacturers such as Jaguar, Polestar, Lamborghini, Ford, Mazda, and Honda. While the idea of Apple making the infotainment system for cars is interesting, the author doubts that carmakers would give up control to Apple. The author also questions why car manufacturers would choose Apple over other companies they are already familiar with and find easier to work with. The author suggests that Apple might focus on producing small city cars similar to Smart, but points out that Smart cars have not been successful in the US. Finally, the author questions the purpose behind Apple’s move into the automotive industry, as self-driving cars pose challenges for individual buyers and fleets may not be interested in purchasing from Apple unless Apple intends to become a ride-hailing service like Uber. Overall, the author views Apple’s entry into the car industry as an unusual decision.
9. Botanical gardens can cool city air by an average of 5°C
Total comment counts : 21
Summary
A recent study conducted by the University of Surrey in the UK suggests that incorporating nature into cities can help lower temperatures during heatwaves. The research found that botanical gardens can reduce inner city air temperatures by up to 5 °C, while wetlands and rain gardens can lower temperatures by 4.7 °C and 4.5 °C, respectively. Trees planted along streets and city parks also contribute to cooling, reducing air temperatures by 3.8 °C and 3.2 °C, respectively. The study highlights the role of green and blue urban infrastructure in mitigating the heat. The researchers emphasized the need to bring nature back into cities and adapt interventions based on local context, environmental conditions, resources, and budget. The paper is open access and available in The Innovation journal.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author expresses their recent interest in “Miyawaki Forests,” which are small, dense urban forests that can grow quickly. They hope to see these forests implemented widely and question the necessity of minimum parking requirements compared to minimum forest requirements.
Top 2 Comment Summary
This article suggests that if a city cannot afford botanical gardens, planting trees on sidewalks, boulevards, and other areas can have ecological benefits, improve people’s mental well-being, and reduce crime. The article emphasizes the positive impact of trees on both the environment and human society.
10. A retrospective on Requests
Total comment counts : 6
Summary
The author of the article talks about their thoughts on the Python library python-requests and its design and functionality. They explain that while python-requests has an intuitive interface and is good for rapid development and prototyping, there are issues with its internal structure that many people may not be aware of. The article discusses the importance of the requests.Session object and its benefits, such as connection pooling. It also mentions the various parameters and data serialization formats that can be used with python-requests, and highlights some potential issues and confusion that can arise. The author suggests some possible improvements to the library and discusses the advantages of other languages’ approaches to API design. Finally, they mention that one of the main features that attracted users to python-requests was its ease of use for getting verified TLS by default.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article suggests that it is better for software developers to make breaking changes after a major announcement to ensure that there is no backward compatibility in the next release. This will prevent the majority of design, development, and mental energy from being wasted on compatibility issues. The article mentions that even highly intelligent and driven individuals in the field of C++ face difficulties in preserving backward compatibility and often experience burnout as a result.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article is raising concerns about the Requests library and suggests an alternative called Python-HTTPX.