hackernews

1. Preserving a floppy disk with a logic analyzer and a serial cable Total comment counts : 8 Summary The author of this article discusses their interest in preserving floppy disks and mentions that they already have the necessary hardware, a Saleae Logic 8 logic analyzer, to capture the low-level data from the disks. They explain that unlike modern storage devices, floppy drives operate at a more low-level interface and use encoding schemes to represent the data stored on the disks....

1. Moving to a RTOS on the RP2040 Total comment counts : 18 Summary The article discusses the author’s experience working on a project involving microcontrollers, specifically Raspberry Pi Pico boards. The author is developing a hardware controller for PTZ cameras and video switching equipment. They express dissatisfaction with the current controller they are using and decide to create their own. The author explains the hardware design and the challenges they face in developing the software....

1. The Origins of DS_store (2006) Total comment counts : 28 Summary The “.DS_Store” files on Mac computers were named after the back-end of the Finder, which dealt with file enumeration, metadata, and other functions. The back-end was referred to as Finder_BE, and there were plans to make it available as a public API, so the name “Desktop Services” was chosen. The “.DS_Store” files were meant to store information related to the desktop services....

1. I Received an AI Email Total comment counts : 101 Summary The author of the article received an email from someone named Raymond, who claimed to have a CMS called Wisp that would be perfect for the author’s needs. However, the author discovered that the email was actually generated by an AI agent and found it impersonal and spammy. The author questions whether they should make their GitHub mirror private to avoid similar spam in the future....

1. Getting the World Record in Hatetris (2022) Total comment counts : 19 Summary The article discusses a version of Tetris called HATETRIS, which was created by programmer and author Sam Hughes. HATETRIS is known for its unique piece selection algorithm that makes the game difficult and frustrating. Unlike traditional Tetris, HATETRIS uses a deterministic algorithm that always chooses the same pieces in a predictable pattern. This means that players cannot rely on luck to their advantage....

1. Pipes: A spiritual successor to Yahoo Pipes Total comment counts : 26 Summary The article discusses Pipes, a visual programming editor specialized in working with feeds. It explains that Pipes allows users to fetch and create feeds, manipulate them, and connect different blocks to create a new feed. The article also mentions that Pipes supports various input formats such as RSS, Atom, JSON, HTML, and regular text files. It explains the process of connecting blocks and filling in user inputs....

1. Inside a $1 radar motion sensor Total comment counts : 15 Summary The article discusses the author’s exploration of the RCWL-0516 microwave motion sensor and their attempt to understand its functioning. The author explains that the sensor uses the BISS0001 infrared motion sensor chip and works by detecting millivolt-level changes in the low frequency IF signal created when a moving object reflects the transmitted carrier signal. The article provides a detailed analysis of the sensor’s components and oscillators....

1. The XAES-256-GCM extended-nonce AEAD Total comment counts : 10 Summary The article announces the existence of the XAES-256-GCM specification, which is an authenticated encryption with additional data (AEAD) algorithm. It has 256-bit keys and 192-bit nonces. The algorithm was designed with the goal of enabling safer and more user-friendly APIs for automatically generating fresh nonces. It is compliant and compatible with various settings where alternative large-nonce AEADs are not an option....

1. Software galaxies Total comment counts : 52 Summary error Top 1 Comment Summary The article describes how each dot represents a program within complex projects, and each dot corresponds to at least one person. This illustrates the immense complexity of these projects, which can be seen as large human architectures. Top 2 Comment Summary The article discusses the difficulty of navigating galaxies using a touch screen device. The author explains that moving forward with a single touch is easy, but it becomes challenging to select and view specific points of interest....

1. Show HN: I built an indie, browser-based MMORPG Total comment counts : 45 Summary error Top 1 Comment Summary The author of the article is experiencing issues with their SMTP email limit, which is causing failures with TCP connections. They will investigate further tomorrow. The article also mentions the success of over 5000 logins, suggesting the need for a better SMTP email provider to prevent failures from impacting other systems....