1. The biggest CRT ever made: Sony’s PVM-4300
Total comment counts : 31
Summary
In 1989, Sony introduced the largest Trinitron CRT television ever built, the KV-45ED1 or PVM-4300. It was advertised as a 43-inch model, but actually had a 45-inch tube inside. Weighing around 450 pounds and standing at 27 inches tall, it was too big to fit through a standard door frame and was meant for the living room rather than a bedroom. In Japan, it sold for 2.6 million yen, but in the US, it retailed for $40,000. The PVM-4300 was a conventional CRT TV that used a technology called IDTV to enhance picture quality. It had a buffer to store successive frames and interpolate them for a clearer image. Despite the high price tag and predictions of obsolescence within 15 years, the TV was a product for those who didn’t worry about cost or future compatibility. It’s unclear how many units were sold and how many survive today, as owners have kept a low profile about their ownership.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article mentions that a product was sold for 2.6 million yen in Japan and for $40,000 in the United States, indicating a significant price difference. The author suggests that the cost of shipping the product from Japan to the United States might explain the higher retail price in the US.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the author’s experience with a 21-inch Sun monitor, which was one of their last monitors before LCDs became popular. The monitor was heavy, weighing over 30 kgs (65 lbs). The article includes links to more information about the monitor.
2. SSH as a Sudo Replacement
Total comment counts : 20
Summary
The article discusses an alternative method to using tools like sudo to run commands as root. It explores the use of SSH locally to perform the same role as sudo without exposing the SSH instance to the network. The process involves configuring a dedicated SSH key for authentication as root, running an SSH server instance bound to a Unix domain socket, and tightening permissions to restrict access. The root account is locked to disallow logging in via any mechanism, and a ProxyCommand option is used to connect to the local SSH instance. The article concludes by mentioning that the technique relies on OpenSSH for security and authentication and suggests further improvements for daily usage.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article expresses concern about the complexity introduced by using a UNIX socket instead of a single suid binary for privilege escalation. The main argument against sudo/doas is that an unauthorized user could exploit a bug in the suid binary. To address this concern, the article suggests changing the group, removing read and execute permissions for others, and adding sudoers to the wheel group. This provides similar security as the sshd approach, but with less complexity. Furthermore, the sshd approach does not allow restricting root access to specific commands like sudo does. To mitigate concerns about the system package manager affecting sudo’s permissions, the article suggests setting up a cron job to fix them regularly or manually installing sudo from source to a different location.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a new tool called “run0” in systemd, which is actually a symlink to the existing tool “systemd-run”. Run0 behaves like a sudo clone but with a key difference - it is not SUID (Set User ID). Instead, it asks the service manager to execute a command or shell under the target user’s UID. Run0 allocates a new PTY (pseudo terminal) and transfers data between the client’s TTY (terminal) and this PTY. This means that the target command is executed in an isolated context without inheriting any context from the client. The article compares run0’s behavior to “ssh” rather than “sudo”.
3. I’ve stopped using box plots (2021)
Total comment counts : 33
Summary
The author of the article argues that box plots are poorly conceived and unnecessarily unintuitive, making them difficult to grasp and prone to misinterpretation. They propose that alternative chart types are easier to learn and provide more informative insights. The author identifies three flaws in the design of box plots: they don’t align well with how the human visual system works, they require a leap of understanding to interpret properly, and they rely on concepts like quantiles and quartiles that are unfamiliar to most audiences. The author suggests alternative chart designs that may be easier to understand and communicate distribution-based insights effectively. They also acknowledge that familiarity with box plots may make them seem more intuitive than they actually are. Ultimately, the author recommends avoiding box plots and using other chart types that don’t require audiences to understand complex concepts.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author clarifies a common misunderstanding about box plots. They explain that box plots do not make distributions look bell-shaped, but rather assume that the data follows a bell/gaussian shape. This assumption is valid in most cases where the central limit theorem applies. However, when this is not the case, using a box plot is not appropriate as the values it displays have no real use. The author emphasizes the importance of understanding basic statistics before utilizing box plots.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article argues that box plots, which were once advantageous for being able to be drawn by hand, are no longer valuable given the prevalence of computers. Instead, the author suggests that violin plots and bee swarm plots are superior alternatives. They also mention that jittered strip plots can be acceptable as long as precautions are taken to avoid saturation.
4. The Pre-Scheme Restoration
Total comment counts : 15
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the concept of writing C semantics in Scheme notation as a way to preserve a historical design space. Scheme is a programming language that allows for explicit memory allocation and compile-time macros. By writing C syntax trees in prefix notation within Scheme, developers can benefit from Scheme’s tooling and debug the code. This approach also offers an alternative to using C as the runtime language for Lisp runtimes and other projects where syntax is a hindrance.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the revival of a forgotten programming language called Pre-Scheme. The language is described as incredible, featuring live hackability, static type inference, and the ability to compile to C without garbage collection. The author expresses excitement about the revival of Pre-Scheme by Andrew Whatson and praises NLnet for recognizing the importance of this effort. They believe that Pre-Scheme could have a role alongside other languages like Zed and Rust, and looks forward to using it.
5. Shape Rotation 101: An Intro to Einsum and Jax Transformers
Total comment counts : 6
Summary
The article discusses einsum notation, which is a method for simplifying complex linear algebraic operations on multi-dimensional arrays. It is used in libraries such as NumPy, PyTorch, and Jax. Einsum notation leverages Einstein summation notation and can outperform other array functions in terms of speed and memory efficiency. The article provides an example of how to use einsum notation to multiply and sum two matrices. It also explains the syntax and rules of einsum notation. Overall, learning einsum can be beneficial for deep learning researchers and those working with multi-dimensional arrays.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article emphasizes the importance of understanding numpy broadcasting and using negative axis references in order to improve programming efficiency. It explains that numpy broadcasts from the back, so referencing indices from the back as well can significantly enhance coding. The article also suggests using axis references less than zero to reference rows, as this technique works consistently regardless of the dimensionality of the array. It advises against neglecting this practice, as numpy can become difficult to work with otherwise. The numpysane library is mentioned as a tool that can help mitigate some of these challenges.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article finds NumPy to be overly complex for machine learning. They mention implicit rules, such as broadcasting and truncating int64 to double, that make it difficult to read and analyze the code. They express disappointment that NumPy has become the standard for machine learning, and criticize the fact that other packages have their own versions of NumPy that are incompatible with the standard one. The author desires a simpler array library with stricter type checking, saner type specifications, manual broadcasting, and explicit casting. They also prefer if the library is not exclusively tied to Python.
6. Ruby: A great language for shell scripts
Total comment counts : 41
Summary
The article discusses the benefits of using Ruby for writing shell scripts instead of Bash or Python. The author highlights several features of Ruby that make it suitable for this purpose. Ruby allows for easily calling external commands using backticks, and system and popen functions are also available. Ruby has types and follows the object-oriented programming paradigm, which makes it safer than Bash where everything is a string. Ruby also provides built-in support for functional operations like map, select, reduce, and flat_map. Regular expressions are a type in Ruby with built-in operations. The language supports working with multiple threads, making it useful for tasks like downloading multiple files simultaneously. File and directory operations in Ruby are methods of the File and Dir classes, respectively, making them more intuitive compared to other languages like Python. The article concludes by suggesting that Ruby can be a viable replacement for complex shell scripts, while acknowledging that Bash still has its merits.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article points out that Ruby has many advantages for shell scripting, as it inherits useful features from Perl and makes code more readable. It also mentions that Ruby allows for smooth growth in complexity without sudden challenges. In contrast, the author questions why Go is often used for tooling despite not being user-friendly for operating system manipulation and not necessary for many tasks.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests several tricks for working with Ruby scripts. Firstly, it recommends using binding.irb or binding.pry in rescue blocks to debug code interactively. Secondly, it suggests using Pathname instead of File for a more natural API. Additionally, the article mentions that Ruby has various tools in its standard library, such as system, to handle scenarios like handling filenames with spaces or potentially dangerous user input. Lastly, it mentions that while Ruby threads are easy to use, the Parallel gem can make parallel processing even easier. The article also notes that although MacOS has Ruby 2.6 installed by default, it is recommended to use version 3+ for its additional features.
7. I am using AI to drop hats outside my window onto New Yorkers
Total comment counts : 72
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article is received positively and described as the best thing the person has seen on the internet in a long time. The author appreciates the work and thanks the article for adding brightness to their day.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article offers a payment of $10 to anyone willing to drop a hat on their head while standing still for 3 seconds. The author asks interested individuals to contact them for further details.
8. ECMA-17: Graphical representation of control characters (1968) [pdf]
Total comment counts : 11
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article is interested in learning more about the process of choosing specific symbols and whether this information is still available. They suggest that including a non-normative section in standards could help provide reasoning behind design decisions.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses an interesting observation about the usage of hexadecimal notation in the past. It points out that, unlike today, hexadecimal numbers were not written in the usual format. For example, instead of writing 0x7F, it was written as 7/15 in code positions.
9. Llama.ttf: A font which is also an LLM
Total comment counts : 35
Summary
The article discusses a font file called “llama.ttf” that serves as both a large language model and an inference engine. This font file can be used in applications like Firefox and Chrome, thanks to the font shaping engine Harfbuzz. By utilizing “magic symbols” for fake ligatures, the font can initialize and generate text using the language model. Users can download and use the font in any Harfbuzz-based application without having to wait for new features from the vendor. The font allows for local text generation and even enables users to chat with the font. The article also mentions other interesting uses of fonts and language models, including formatting text and creating playable games within fonts.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author suggests that the world would benefit from a weekly television program featuring weird, brilliant, and funny content. They believe the video in question would make a great first episode for such a show.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a font that incorporates an LLM (long short-term memory) and an inference engine, allowing users to interact with the font and even write using the font itself without physically typing. The font is inspired by a previous hacker post that used Tetris in a font.
10. Of Psion and Symbian
Total comment counts : 17
Summary
The article discusses the history of Psion, a company founded in 1980 by David Edwin Potter. Potter recognized the potential of microprocessors and began packaging and selling software developed by others. Psion’s first successful products were games developed for the Sinclair ZX81. Psion later expanded into productivity software and developed a suite of applications for the Sinclair QL. In 1984, Psion released the Organiser, a handheld microcomputer.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author shares an anecdote from their early career in the late 1980s when they wrote a program for a UK chain store. The program allowed store personnel to enter stock codes and quantities using a Psion device, which they would then connect to a serial device. The author also created a separate program in MS Basic for dialing up the Psions and downloading the orders into an IBM S/38 Order and Inventory management system. The author fondly remembers this experience and their love for those devices.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses missed opportunities for European companies in the field of mobile computing. It mentions Psion’s logo and operating system, Symbian, co-developed with Nokia and Ericsson. The author found an old Nokia presentation from 2001 that anticipated user needs in smartphones but failed to predict the technological advancements that would make those features possible. The article criticizes Nokia for focusing on bandwidth limitations and appeasing mobile operators instead of focusing on innovation. It contrasts Nokia’s approach with Apple’s ability to project their desktop operating system onto mobile devices and their design capability to prioritize features. Nokia, on the other hand, dabbled in various directions without a clear vision, only focusing on cost-cutting measures.