1. The Typeset of Wall·E (2018)
Total comment counts : 20
Summary
This article is about the movie WALL·E and explores the futuristic world depicted in the film. It discusses the typography used in the movie, particularly the font on the protagonist’s front plate called Gunship. The article also examines the consumerist themes portrayed in WALL·E, with ads promoting immediate consumption and corporate mergers. Additionally, it mentions Easter eggs and references found within the movie, such as a billboard advertising Eggman Movers, a nod to the film’s production designer. The article also notes the presence of Buy n Large-branded banknotes in the film, with some marked with unusually high denominations. It concludes by mentioning that the movie is set in the year 2105.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article covers a wide range of cultural analysis, including typography, architecture, art styles, film, and music. It provides great depth and includes many links and reference images. The article is highly enjoyable and worth reading.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a book that is described as a fun read. It highlights how the book contains interviews and visually appealing content that showcases the depth and details of the movie world. Additionally, it explores how movies influence and challenge the concept of the future.
2. Show HN: Dut – a fast Linux disk usage calculator
Total comment counts : 40
Summary
The article discusses the usage and features of the dut tool, a command-line utility that allows users to analyze directory sizes and disk usage on a system. The tool provides options to limit the output to a specific number of rows or depth, and it displays information about the space taken up by each entry, including the portion shared with other entries due to hard links. The article mentions that dut is a fast tool, but it may lose in certain cases when disk caches are not populated. The author also includes benchmark results comparing dut with other similar programs when operating on different types of storage devices.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article is asking if there is a way to trade accuracy for speed when analyzing file storage. The author wonders if they can quickly identify and discard small, unimportant items and gradually narrow down the analysis to get a higher resolution picture of which directories and files are using the most space. They are looking for a method that allows them to see the tally as it happens across the board. The author is asking if such an approach exists.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article expresses satisfaction with the program ncdu, which they have been using for a long time. However, they are also glad to have found a more modern alternative to ncdu.
3. Engineering principles for building financial systems
Total comment counts : 22
Summary
The article discusses the principles of building software for financial systems, specifically accounting systems. It explains basic financial definitions such as the general ledger and sub-ledger, as well as the concept of materiality in financial statements. The three main goals of an accounting system are accuracy, auditability, and timeliness. The article emphasizes the importance of accuracy in financial records and the challenges of ensuring completeness in a scalable system. It also highlights the need for an easily auditable system and the varying requirements for timeliness depending on the business.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article suggests two key strategies for handling rounding and time representation in code. Firstly, it recommends using consistent rounding methodologies and promoting them to a named part of the business-domain in code. This involves having separate functions and unit-tests for rounding strategies based on country codes. Secondly, it suggests using integer representations of time, such as Unix timestamps or integer-based UTC datetimes. This approach simplifies handling timestamps and avoids discrepancies caused by different libraries parsing timestamps differently. However, it should only be used for times in the past or for future delays that are completely under one’s own control. The article also highlights the importance of considering factors like time zone differences and potential changes in tax schedules or national time-keeping when storing timestamps.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the benefits of using a relational database for bookkeeping systems rather than relying on high finance. It highlights the following advantages:
- ACID compliance, which eliminates the need to create it from scratch.
- Ability to handle arbitrary precision numeric data types with approved operations and rounding modes.
- Efficient handling of time-related operations.
- Computations and reporting can be performed entirely using SQL.
- With expertise in SQL, reporting can be done elegantly.
- The database’s performance is optimized by skilled database architects.
- The database provides tools for disaster prevention and recovery.
The author, who has built financial systems for major multinational companies, emphasizes the advantages of using a database for most of the work, citing examples such as Coca-Cola, GE, UPS, AIG, and various pharmaceutical companies. They state that any performance issues can be addressed more easily within the existing database framework rather than reinventing the underlying technology of reliable financial systems.
4. Second Factor SMS: Worse Than Its Reputation
Total comment counts : 30
Summary
The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) discovered a security flaw in two-factor authentication via SMS (2FA-SMS), which is commonly used to increase the security of logins. The CCC had live access to over 200 million SMS messages from more than 200 affected companies, including major companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Attackers can intercept SMS messages through techniques like SIM swapping or exploiting vulnerabilities in mobile networks. The CCC advises against using SMS as a second factor and recommends using one-time passwords generated in an app or using hardware tokens instead.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a phishing attack in which a family friend fell victim. The attacker used Google Ads to create a fraudulent login page for a bank. The victim entered her 2FA code, but the interface rejected it and asked for another code. Unbeknownst to the victim, the second code authorized the addition of a new payee, resulting in money being stolen. The author reflects on the security of SMS 2FA versus app-generated tokens and suggests that the ideal solution would be an app that generates specific tokens for different types of transactions. The article concludes with a note that the victim eventually recovered her money.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article suggests that companies that enforce SMS 2FA (two-factor authentication) may not genuinely prioritize security but rather use it as a means to obtain users’ phone numbers. The implementation of 2FA is viewed as a superficial security measure that encourages users to share their phone numbers with these companies.
5. The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)
Total comment counts : 41
Summary
The article discusses the author’s process of creating and automating their resume using various tools. They use the JSON Resume standard to define their resume data and choose to template it into Markdown or HTML using the Zola template engine. The author then uses the Weasyprint tool to render the HTML into a PDF format. They also mention using YAML for easier data authoring and using standard semantic HTML tags with CSS for styling. The author provides code snippets and explains how all the components come together to create a data-to-PDF pipeline. They also discuss automating the process and the importance of tooling setup for a seamless developer experience.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article argues against using Nix and a web server to solve the resume “problem.” Instead, they propose using LaTeX as a superior choice. They find LaTeX to be the perfect solution as it allows for modular updates and customizations. The resume generated with LaTeX is optimized for automated systems and prevents recruiters from easily copying and pasting it. The author does not see the need to add Nix and a web server to improve the resume creation process.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the process of automating resumes for software engineers and the author’s personal experience with it. They found that constantly changing job summaries made automating the process more time-consuming. As a result, they now use a simple approach of copying a Word file and editing its contents as needed. The author reflects that their younger self would have been surprised and slightly annoyed by their use of this “dumb” solution.
6. Real-time audio programming 101: time waits for nothing (2011)
Total comment counts : 14
Summary
The article explains that writing real-time audio software for general-purpose operating systems requires adherence to certain principles. These principles are aimed at achieving stable real-time audio behavior and preventing glitches. The author highlights the need to avoid blocking the audio processing thread by performing tasks that can take a long time, such as accessing the disk or calling functions that can block. This is because real-time audio software requires a constant stream of audio samples to be played at a specific rate, and any delays can result in audio glitches. The article also mentions that low latency is important in interactive audio systems and real-time audio effects.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the reality that audio processing code is often running in a shared bus with other modules. It emphasizes that the deadline for processing audio in a buffer is not always as flexible as it seems, as the responsibility is to make the entire bus as performant as possible. The pressure to meet this performance requirement is often higher than what the buffer length suggests.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article recommends using Rust for learning audio programming. It specifically mentions the “cpal” library in Rust as an excellent resource for developing cross-platform desktop applications. The author also maintains a library for cross-platform audio recording/playback with a command-line interface and Terminal User Interface (TUI). They welcome pull requests for testing and review from Linux users. The article mentions a paper documenting the author’s experience with real-time audio in the browser and recommends Paul Adenot’s blog for additional resources. The author is also working on a WebAssembly (wasm) audio module system that they plan to publish soon.
7. An abundance of Katherines: The game theory of baby naming
Total comment counts : 28
Summary
The article discusses arXivLabs, a framework that enables collaboration and sharing of new features on the arXiv website. It highlights the importance of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy, stating that arXiv only works with partners who uphold these values. The article also encourages individuals and organizations to propose projects that could benefit the arXiv community and provides information on how to stay updated on arXiv’s operational status.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article is written by multiple authors, all of whom have first names similar to or derived from Katherine.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses various topics, including generative AI and LLMs in a paper written in 2024. It references the Mayfly Parenthood Assumption, which suggests that parents die immediately after naming their child for the sake of simplicity. The article also mentions the common understanding that parents always agree on the name they want for their baby.
8. Pyxel: A retro game engine for Python
Total comment counts : 12
Summary
The article discusses Pyxel, a retro game engine for Python. It highlights Pyxel’s simple specifications inspired by retro gaming consoles, such as limited colors and sounds. Pyxel is open source and free to use. The article provides instructions for installing and using Pyxel, as well as details about Pyxel Editor and its edit modes. It also mentions Pyxel’s support for creating dedicated application distribution files.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article shares a link to GitHub where the author created pyxel snippets a few years ago to help students learn how to use it. The author thinks that these snippets may still be useful to others who are interested in pyxel, assuming not much has changed with it since then.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the author’s experience of creating their first video game using a tool. The game is a pong game that can be played, but it lacks polish. The menu works, but it does not display the selected option. Additionally, the AI opponents in the game are either too easy or too difficult. The article provides a link to the game for readers to try it out.
9. Children’s mental models of recursive LOGO programs (1985)
Total comment counts : 1
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the challenges of embedded recursion compared to tail recursion. It draws a parallel between the difficulty of central embedding versus tail embedding in linguistics. The article provides two examples of recursive programs, one using tail recursion and the other using embedded recursion. It mentions that the mental model of recursion as looping can be misleading, especially for embedded recursion. The article also highlights the disconnect between the meanings of terms in natural language and their usage in programming constructs. It concludes by mentioning that mistaken mental models and atomistic thinking about programming can lead to misunderstandings and incorrect predictions.
10. A relativistic framework to establish coordinate time on the Moon and beyond
Total comment counts : 9
Summary
The article states that arXivLabs is a framework that enables users to create and share new features on the arXiv website. It emphasizes that both individuals and organizations working with arXivLabs must follow the values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. The article also mentions that arXiv is committed to these values and only partners with those who adhere to them. Additionally, it encourages readers to learn more about arXivLabs and provides information on how to receive status notifications via email or Slack.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the lack of time-keeping standards for solar system exploration that consider relativistic differences. It mentions the CSPICE toolkit from JPL/NAIF, which contains routines for calculating local time and the time of arrival of events from other locations, including down to the nanosecond.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article examines if science fiction novels contain information on how time is represented, referenced, and distributed.