1. Low Cost Robot Arm
Total comment counts : 28
Summary
This article is about a low-cost robot arm that can be built for approximately $250. The arm can be controlled by building a second robot arm, referred to as the “leader arm,” which controls the first arm, known as the “follower arm.” The design of the leader arm is inspired by the GELLO project but is simpler to construct. The robot arm is well-suited for robot learning, and it can also fold clothes. It uses Dynamixel XL430 and XL330 servo motors, with the XL430 motors being stronger and used for the first two joints. The arm is lightweight and fast due to the use of the XL330 motors, which weigh only 18g each. Instead of the expensive U2D2 adapter, a cheaper adapter board is used for connecting the servos to a computer. The arm can be controlled with the Dynamixel SDK. Other helpful suggestions include using a discount code for purchasing from the robotis shop, adding grip tape to the gripper, and using a USB-C cable to connect the servo driver board to a computer. The assembly of the leader arm is simpler since all motors use 5v, and the gripper is replaced by a handle and a trigger. The teleoperation.py script can be used to test the arms, but the device names may need to be adjusted.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the author’s plan to create a similarly sized arm for the purpose of making faceted glass pendants. The author mentions that repeatability is a challenge due to the need for tight tolerances and the inaccuracy introduced by each joint in the arm. They also point out the need for finer resolution than what an ungeared servo can provide and the difficulty in gearing it to balance tightness and friction. The author suggests using a cycloidal gear for the arm’s gears and emphasizes the importance of using real servos with feedback for safety when handling glass. The estimated cost for building the arm is between $1,000 to $2,000, with the majority of the expense being in the gearboxes.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author expresses surprise and curiosity over the absence of a company that produces affordable, high-quality, and standardized robot arms on a large scale. They mention that while other technologies such as 3D printers and CNC machines have become accessible to consumers, this particular area remains relatively unexplored. The author speculates that there is potential for such robot arms to reach a similar scale as Arduino or Raspberry Pi but has not come across any prominent names or ecosystems in this field as of yet.
2. Timeline of the xz open source attack
Total comment counts : 50
Summary
The article discusses a supply chain attack on the xz compression library. An attacker named “Jia Tan” gained commit access and maintainership to the library and inserted a hidden backdoor into liblzma, which is a dependency of OpenSSH sshd on various Linux systems. This backdoor allowed the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on targeted systems without authentication. The attack was publicly disclosed on March 29, 2024, and is considered to be the first serious known supply chain attack on widely used open source software. The article provides a timeline of the social engineering aspect of the attack, which goes back to late 2021.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article provides a comprehensive summary of recent events, particularly focusing on social engineering tactics. It includes a collection of relevant links for further information. However, the author notes that the mention of Fedora in the article could be expanded for completeness, as it seems that there were social engineering efforts aimed at Fedora as well. The article references additional sources, such as a comment on Hacker News and a thread on Fedora’s development list, which provide further context.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article received emails from “Jia Tan” from Feb 27 to Mar 27 regarding getting the new xz into Fedora 40 and 41. The author also emailed Russ with the details.
3. Wireproxy: WireGuard client that exposes itself as a HTTP/SOCKS5 proxy
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
The article discusses a wireguard client called wireproxy that functions as a socks5/http proxy or tunnel. It is a userspace application that connects to a wireguard peer and allows users to access certain websites via the wireguard peer without the need for configuring a new network interface. The article also provides instructions for using wireproxy with Firefox container tabs and auto-start on MacOS. The article mentions a fork of wireproxy for Amnezia VPN users. Additionally, the article explains that wireproxy can be configured to allow peers to connect to it.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article is about a helpful tool that the author uses to selectively proxy Firefox tabs using multi-account containers. They use this tool to connect to a home router that uses Wireguard, but does not support application-layer proxying protocol or SSH.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a GitHub repository called “https://github.com/dariost/soks" that offers a solution for working with WireGuard, a virtual private network (VPN) software. It explains that this solution is similar to other methods but with the advantage of reusing an existing WireGuard interface. The author also mentions that they have written a blog post about their specific use case, which can be found at “https://www.nicoco.fr/blog/2023/09/10/wireguard/".
4. Blue Ball Machine
Total comment counts : 40
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
I’m sorry, but I am unable to access and summarize specific webpages. Is there any other article or text that I can assist you with?
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions a website called floor796, which is described as rich and interesting, with regular updates.
5. Microchess for the Kim-1 (2006)
Total comment counts : 11
Summary
The article discusses the history of the Microchess game program for home computers. It mentions that the first copy was shipped on December 18, 1976, and it was developed for the Kim-1 computer. The article also discusses the cost and availability of hobbyist computers at the time, including the Kim-1, which sold for $245. The author shares their personal experience of acquiring a Kim-1 and the excitement of programming it. The article concludes by comparing the processing power and memory of the Kim-1 to modern-day computers.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The Wikipedia page for Microchess provides information about the game, including the pricing options (ranging from $10 to $13) and the fact that Chuck Peddle, the president of MOS Technology, offered to buy the rights for $1,000 but was refused. Over 1,000 copies of the game were sold by mid-1977, leading to the creator quitting his job to run Micro-Ware full-time. By 1978, the game had made over $1 million for Micro-Ware, and it was claimed to be the first computer program to reach that level of success. Microchess led to the creation of Micro-Ware, which later merged with Personal Software and became VisiCorp in 1982.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses how the Kim-1 computer’s 1K memory used to be sufficient for both the program and data. It highlights the fact that despite technological advancements in the past 25 years, software continues to consume all available memory.
6. Building GCC 1.27 (first GCC with x86 support) (2019)
Total comment counts : 7
Summary
The author of the article discusses their experience using gcc 1.27 to build “doom” and their need to use the ASM version for fixed math due to the absence of a “long long” type. They also contemplate the difficulties of converting gcc 1.27 to compile 32-bit instructions and registers in a “64-bit” version, acknowledging the need for thunking to interface with libraries.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the release of the first version of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) that supports the x86 CPU. The author expresses a sentimental feeling upon realizing that previous versions of GCC supported the Motorola 68000 and Vax processors. The article also mentions that while the support for these processors still exists, there is a note indicating that the Vax processor is no longer being manufactured. The author finds it disconcerting to think about a time when GCC did not support the x86 CPU.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses how Richard Stallman approached Andrew S. Tanenbaum, the creator of the Amsterdam Compiler Kit, in 1983 to help with the GNU operating system. Stallman mentions that he had heard about the Free University Compiler Kit, also known as VUCK, just before starting the GNU project.
7. Bun 1.1
Total comment counts : 36
Summary
The article discusses the features and updates of Bun, a toolkit for running, building, testing, and debugging JavaScript and TypeScript. Bun 1.1 is a significant update with over 1,700 commits, bug fixes, new features, and Windows support. Bun now has a built-in package manager that installs packages faster than yarn and npm on Windows. The introduction of the .bunx file format improves the speed of running scripts. Bun also includes built-in support for watch mode and optimized Node.js APIs for faster performance on Windows. Other enhancements include a content-addressable cache, a cross-platform shell, a Glob API for matching files, a Semver API for parsing and sorting semver strings, and a string-width API for measuring terminal string width. Overall, Bun 1.1 offers numerous improvements and features for developers.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the neatness of the API for the shell function, which avoids accidental shell injection vulnerabilities by enforcing proper quoting of arguments. It provides examples in Python and the Bun API to illustrate this difference. In Python, calling the shell function without proper quoting can lead to a shell injection vulnerability, while the Bun API prevents this mistake by separating quoting from executing the command.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article states that they use both Deno and Bun in production, but on different projects. They consider both to be great upgrades from Node, especially because of their first-class support for TypeScript. Bun is particularly well-suited for large projects, as it offers improved developer experience compared to other Node-based environments. The author uses Bun for a mono-repo project with multiple frontends and a GraphQL backend, and mentions that test suites run in 5 seconds. On the other hand, Deno is praised for its compatibility with “lambda style” environments, such as their use with Supabase. The module approach in Deno allows for standalone scripts to be easily integrated.
8. Show HN: OneUptime – open-source Datadog Alternative
Total comment counts : 15
Summary
OneUptime is an open-source observability platform designed to monitor and manage online services. It offers a comprehensive solution for checking the availability of websites, dashboards, APIs, and other online resources, as well as alerting teams and keeping customers informed during downtime. Additionally, OneUptime helps handle incidents, set up on-call rotations, run tests, secure services, analyze logs, track performance, and debug errors. The platform replaces multiple tools by offering integrated functionality, including monitoring, communication during downtime, incident management, on-call scheduling, log collection and analysis, workflow automation, and performance optimization. Users can integrate OneUptime with existing tools and access advanced features through paid plans. The product is open-source, and contributions and donations are welcome.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author discusses their experience in building an open-source observability platform using tools like Prometheus and Grafana at new jobs. They mention that this approach can have more overhead and may require stitching together different components for analytical capabilities. On the other hand, they state that Datadog provides a comprehensive solution out of the box, although costs can increase if running spot instances or having many short-lived hosts. The author shares their experience with an enterprise license, where thoughtful infrastructure design has prevented excessive costs so far. They highlight the trade-off between the time and effort required to build and maintain a homegrown platform versus purchasing an enterprise plan. The author expresses a preference for building from scratch without constraints, as it would allow them to avoid being dependent on a major SaaS company that charges for ambiguous things like “per host”, which could lead to unexpected price increases.
Top 2 Comment Summary
This article states that while the author appreciates the product Datadog, they find it to be too expensive unless one invests significant time in cost optimization. They also express a preference for focusing on making their app robust rather than ensuring the stability of their monitoring system.
9. Refix: Fast, Debuggable, Reproducible Builds
Total comment counts : 13
Summary
The article discusses a method called “refixing” that makes builds of C/C++ source code both fast and debuggable. The author explains that most people believe it is impossible for builds to be both debuggable and reproducible, so they use workarounds instead. The author proposes using a tool called debugedit, but notes that it can be slow and buggy. They then present an alternative method using sed to replace strings in the binary file. Finally, the author suggests that the size of the binary can be reduced by removing unnecessary debug information.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author does not explicitly mention a specific tool called Nix, but they discuss a build system that offers reproducibility of all paths, including fixed-length paths with a chroot, and has automagic debuginfod support. The support is provided through a GitHub repository called nixseparatedebuginfod.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article states that the GNU memmem function is slower than the memchr::memmem::Finder function, as well as slower than most other string search functions. The musl library, however, has the fastest string search function for substrings with less than 32 characters. A comparison of different string search functions can be found at the provided link.
10. Bypassing Denuvo in Hogwarts Legacy
Total comment counts : 11
Summary
The author of the article discusses their experience with reverse engineering and bypassing the Denuvo DRM in the game Hogwarts Legacy. They explain that the game collects hardware and software features to create a fingerprint, which is then used to generate a Steam Ticket as proof of game ownership. The Steam Ticket is sent to Denuvo Servers, and if the user owns the game, a Denuvo Token is generated that allows them to run the game. The author states that their goal was not to crack the game, but rather to research and understand the DRM system. They mention using the Qiling reverse engineering framework to discover the features used in the fingerprint and patching runtime checks. The author also discusses the challenges and flaws they encountered in the reverse engineering process. Finally, they explain how they used their own hypervisor to bypass certain limitations and run the game on a different PC using the generated token.
Top 1 Comment Summary
According to the article, there is a running tally on Reddit that keeps track of which games protected by Denuvo have been cracked. As of now, there has not been a single Denuvo game released in 2024 that has been cracked, and there are more games from 2023 that remain uncracked compared to those that have been cracked. This suggests that Denuvo is an effective anti-piracy measure for PC games.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the performance impact of a software called Denuvo, which is used to protect video games from piracy. The author suggests that Denuvo’s frequent checks, which happen every few seconds, are unlikely to cause significant drops in frame rate but may contribute to issues such as frame pacing and stuttering. The article also mentions that many players have reported improvements in these issues after Denuvo’s removal from games.