1. Radios, how do they work?
Total comment counts : 24
Summary
This article provides an introduction to radio communications for hobbyists. It explains the concepts of antennas and electromagnetic waves, discussing how information can be encoded and transmitted through altering wave characteristics. The article also introduces the idea of a half-wavelength dipole antenna and explains its resonant behavior. It concludes by mentioning the presence of dead zones in the antenna’s field propagation due to destructive interference.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the author’s search for an old online electronic course that explained concepts of analog circuits without the use of calculus. The author describes the course as being made of HTML pages and images, and believes it was taken from a navy electric engineer-focused applied electronics course. The author is looking for help in finding the course again.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests that Jim Sinclair’s book, “How Radio Signals Work All the Basics plus where to find out more,” is a useful and easily understandable resource for the general public to learn about the theory of Radio Science.
2. Google’s First Tensor Processing Unit: Architecture
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
This article discusses the development of Google’s first Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) and its architecture. The objective of the project was to create an ASIC that would provide a 10x cost-performance advantage over GPUs for inference. The TPU is designed to speed up operations involving tensors, which are multilinear relationships between different objects. The hardware is focused on performing calculations associated with one and two-dimensional arrays, specifically vector and matrix operations. The TPU’s architecture follows a systolic approach, originally proposed in a 1978 paper, where processors rhythmically compute and pass data through the system. This approach efficiently performs matrix multiplications by using a grid of multiplication units. The article provides a step-by-step example of how matrix multiplication is performed using the TPU’s systolic architecture.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses an interview with Groq CEO Jonathon Ross, who talks about the creation of the original TPUs (Tensor Processing Units) at Google. Initially, it started as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) in Ross’s 20% time, in response to a team facing inference speed issues. They were able to make it work, and then Jeff Dean, a Google executive, decided to switch to an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) after doing some calculations. The article suggests that the TPU team should be spun off as a separate company from Google since it is seen as the only credible competition to NVidia, and its software support is second only to NVidia.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article highlights how Google invented the TPU (Tensor Processing Unit) and how Google Research produced a paper on LLM (Large Language Models) and NVDA (Nvidia Corporation). It also mentions that AI startup companies have obtained almost all of the value in this field.
3. The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland Has Collapsed
Total comment counts : 1
Summary
The article states that in order to continue using twitter.com, users need to switch to a supported browser. A list of supported browsers can be found in the Help Center. The article also provides links to the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Imprint. The article is © 2024 X Corp.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article states that the comments have been moved to a different website that provides more background information.
4. Inkjets are for more than just printing
Total comment counts : 19
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article states that home inkjet printers are most useful for those who regularly print a lot of photos and require high image quality. However, if you don’t print frequently, the ink nozzles can become clogged, wasting ink in the process. In this case, a laser printer is recommended as it can print documents even after being unused for a long time. If occasional photo printing is needed, using professional printing services is more advantageous than dealing with clogged ink cartridges. For those who print a lot of documents, a laser printer is faster and more cost-effective since ink tends to be more expensive per page than toner. Therefore, the main reason to get an inkjet printer is if high-quality color prints, specifically photos, are frequently needed.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article is a testimonial about the Brother color laser printer. The author has had the printer for 12 years and it has been reliable. They also mention buying more for their office and recommending them to others. The author appreciates that the Brother printer doesn’t have malware or deceptive ink practices and consistently prints without issues. Overall, they highly recommend Brother laser printers.
5. Sega Saturn Architecture – A practical analysis (2021)
Total comment counts : 13
Summary
The article discusses the Sega Saturn console and its hardware features. It mentions that Sega chose the Hitachi SuperH or ‘SH’ CPU, which has a new instruction set called SuperH ISA. The article explains that the size of the instructions is compressed to reduce program size and improve performance. However, there are still some drawbacks, such as control hazards and the small 16-bit multiplier. Therefore, Hitachi released a second revision called SH-2 with an extended multiplier unit. The article also mentions that the Sega Saturn has two SH-2 CPUs running at around 28.63 MHz each, placed in a master-slave state. It explains the use of cache and the division of 2 MB of RAM between two blocks. Additionally, the console has an additional coprocessor called the Saturn Control Unit (SCU) for vector processing.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article describes the Sega Saturn’s design as surprising due to its lack of synergy between the Japan and USA teams. The Japanese team was working on a 2D console, while the US team was working on a 3D console. However, the arrival of the PlayStation caused them to merge the two designs, resulting in a 2D console with unfinished 3D components. This design choice was praised by tech enthusiasts but criticized by those seeking a clean design. The lack of focus from Sega also contributed to disappointment among gamers of that era.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article explains that the VDP1 used in the Sega Saturn console is designed to use quadrilaterals as primitives, limiting it to composing models using 4-vertex polygons. This led to Sega Saturn games having a more boxy appearance compared to PlayStation 1 games. The article suggests comparing Resident Evil on both consoles to see the difference. Overall, Sega Saturn games have a unique aesthetic in 90s 3D gaming. Additionally, the article mentions that the Sega Saturn’s emulation lags behind other platforms, possibly due to its lack of success in the west and its complex architecture.
6. Moirai: A time series foundation model for universal forecasting
Total comment counts : 12
Summary
The article discusses a new time series forecasting model called Moirai. It highlights the model’s versatility in addressing diverse forecasting tasks across different domains, frequencies, and variables. Moirai solves four major challenges: constructing a large-scale and diverse time series dataset, using multiple patch size projection layers to capture temporal patterns, implementing an any-variate attention mechanism to handle forecasts across any variable, and integrating a mixture distribution for flexible predictive distributions. The model is evaluated and shown to outperform other models in both in-distribution and out-of-distribution settings. The article also discusses the importance of efficiently managing resources in IT infrastructure and the potential of universal forecasting, where a single large pre-trained model handles any time series forecasting problem. The article introduces the architecture of Moirai, which utilizes patch-based modeling and modifications to handle heterogeneity in time series data. The model’s objective is to optimize the mixture distribution log-likelihood during pre-training.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article expresses skepticism towards the performance claims of transformers-based foundation time series models. They mention that there have been many such models released recently, all claiming to be at or near the state-of-the-art. However, the author has not found a single transformer-based model that performs better than gradient boosted tree models in their specific use case of economic forecasting. They believe that these foundational models may be overfit and that the limited benchmarking sets used in time series analysis make it easy to tune a model specifically for those benchmarks. The author calls for a broader set of varied benchmarks and independent evaluations to determine the true performance of these models.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the positive aspects of a paper’s dataset and model weights being openly available. It also highlights that the paper avoids strange architectural choices commonly found in other time series foundation models. The author expresses gratitude for the potential usefulness of the paper and hopes to employ representation learning for time series during their PhD. The author also suggests that a specific baseline model should be included in all supervised time series benchmarks. They argue that many papers compare their models to a linear model without utilizing a component called RevIN, which leads to misleading comparisons. Additionally, they believe it is impractical to train transformers from scratch on datasets with less than 1 million or 1 billion points, considering this to be unwise or at least suboptimal. The author acknowledges that the discussed paper focuses on zero-shot learning, which somewhat excuses it from this criticism, but still expresses interest in comparing its performance with a supervised model combination.
7. Nonlinearsolve.jl: Fast and Robust Solvers for Nonlinear Equations in Julia
Total comment counts : 3
Summary
The article introduces arXivLabs, a framework that enables collaborators to create and share new features on the arXiv website. It mentions that both individuals and organizations working with arXivLabs uphold values such as openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. The article also emphasizes arXiv’s commitment to these values and its collaboration with partners that follow them. It invites readers to explore arXivLabs if they have project ideas that can benefit the arXiv community. Additionally, the article provides information about receiving status notifications through email or Slack.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the comparison between IPOPT and another optimization solver, specifically for non-linear equations (NLEs). IPOPT is known for its ability to solve non-linear programming problems efficiently, although it is not specifically designed for NLEs. Additionally, IPOPT utilizes high-quality Fortran linear algebra routines from Harwell, such as the MA57 library.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article states that GPUs are capable of solving small instances that can be handled by a single GPU thread, and they can benefit from solving multiple instances simultaneously.
8. Two open source projects with great architecture documentation
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
The article discusses the importance of good documentation in codebases and software architecture. It highlights two open source projects, esbuild and Redis, as examples of codebases with excellent documentation. The article emphasizes that good documentation benefits developers, end users, and contributors alike. It further examines the documentation of esbuild, a JavaScript bundler, and praises its README, architecture documentation, and changelog for their clarity, organization, and use of visuals. The article concludes by noting that esbuild’s comprehensive documentation has contributed to its success and popularity.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article discusses the importance of well-written project documentation for users, developers, and contributors. It emphasizes the need for clear and easy-to-understand documentation to make projects more accessible. The author reflects on their own experience and realizes the value of improving documentation. The article also mentions that writing good documentation requires different skills from coding, and sometimes non-technical people can be better at explaining things. Additionally, the author suggests that automatically generated documentation can be helpful as a supplementary reference.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a post written by Antirez, the creator of Redis, about code comments. Antirez identifies nine types of comments used in Redis and emphasizes the value of “guide comments,” which are often overlooked as trivial. He argues that these comments are important in helping readers understand the code.
9. Deej: An open-source hardware volume mixer for Windows and Linux
Total comment counts : 11
Summary
The article is about “deej,” an open-source hardware volume mixer for Windows and Linux PCs. It allows users to control the volumes of different applications using real-life sliders. The system consists of a lightweight desktop client written in Go and an Arduino-based hardware setup that can be built using inexpensive parts. The article provides links to download the latest release, watch video demonstrations, and join the project’s Discord server. It also mentions the availability of a FAQ page, community-created 3D-printed designs for the hardware, and the option to clone the repository and build the software yourself. The article encourages community engagement, including submitting designs, giving feedback, and providing support for the project. The project is released under the MIT license.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a DIY project that is highly expandable and has a supportive community for improving its features. The project was featured in a video by LTT, where they discussed cheap gadgets. The article includes a link to the video.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests that purchasing premade MIDI faders for around $25 is more cost-effective compared to making them from scratch. The hardware aspect of the project is considered not worth the effort when compared to the available options in the market. The software, on the other hand, is seen as the main concern. A suggested alternative for software support is a website that offers generic MIDI fader support with additional features. The provided links direct to a Chinese clone product on AliExpress (a clone of the Korg nanoControl 2) and a website called midi-mixer.com.
10. Baltimore’s Key Bridge struck by cargo ship, collapses
Total comment counts : 79
Summary
A cargo ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse. Six people are still missing as search and rescue efforts continue. The ship’s crew had lost power and alerted authorities before the collision. There is no evidence of intentional wrongdoing or terrorism. The Maryland Port Administration has suspended vessel traffic in the Port of Baltimore until further notice. The bridge collapse occurred during work hours, and there were workers on the bridge at the time. The FBI is involved in the investigation, and the ship had previously undergone inspections with no issues reported. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, and the governor expressed support for the families of the missing individuals.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses an analysis of a YouTube video involving a ship. At 1:24 AM, the ship loses power while traveling at a speed of 8.5 knots. Power is restored at 1:25.30. At 12:25.59, the ship shows smoke and has drifted in the channel. It is believed that the ship applied full reverse power, as indicated by the black smoke. By 1:26.45, the ship has turned in the channel and is pointing at the pier. At 1:28.52, the ship impacts at a speed of 7.6 knots. The camera timestamp shows 1:28.52, but AIS reports the ship still moving at 1:29:35.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author expresses shock and concern about a bridge that they have frequently crossed with their children. The bridge is a significant route in the area, and the author is grateful that the incident occurred in the middle of the night. However, they acknowledge that this will not provide comfort to the families of those who may have died.