Crokinole

https://pudding.cool/2024/10/crokinole/assets/images/ontario.jpg
Connor Reinman and Jason Slater are top Crokinole players with high open 20 success rates of 66% and 75%. They made a rare double perfect round, securing eight consecutive open 20s each in the 2024 World Crokinole Championship semifinals.

Use Prolog to improve LLM's reasoning

https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F459229e6-88af-4e14-84f6-08d3e2a07e6f_1796x1150.png
LLMs have limitations in reasoning due to their autoregressive architecture and inability to use loops or conditions. Improving reasoning capabilities involves techniques like using Prolog as an intermediate language for symbolic reasoning tasks.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google-deepmind/searchless_chess/master/overview.svg
Researchers trained a 270M parameter transformer model on 10 million chess games to achieve a Lichess blitz Elo of 2895 against humans. The model outperforms AlphaZero and GPT-3.5-turbo-instruct without explicit search algorithms.

Show HN: Tamagotchi-Like Characters for AI Assistants – All in JavaScript

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Barqawiz/Tamagotchi/main/images/device1_eyes.png
This project is inspired by the classic Tamagotchi device, featuring a virtual character drawn with JavaScript. The character can be controlled through various buttons, or it can dynamically change based on interactions with an AI assistant.

NotebookLM launches feature to customize and guide audio overviews

https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod/images/NotebookLM_Hero_1017_WG.width-1200.format-webp.webp
NotebookLM is a tool for understanding complex information, now with new features like guiding conversations and background listening. NotebookLM Business is coming soon with enhanced features for businesses and organizations, with early access available through a pilot program.

I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

Peter Roberts, an immigration attorney for YC and startups, answers questions on contract requalification, US work visas, and startup-related legal issues. He discusses various visa options, including O-1, H-1B, and EB1, and addresses concerns about international hiring, trademark applications, and AI model copyright concerns.

C++ proposal: There are 8 bits in a byte

C++ should formally mandate that a byte is 8 bits, aligning with modern hardware and software platforms. This change would simplify the language and libraries, making them more compatible and easier to use.

Gamedev in Lisp. Part 2: Dungeons and Interfaces

Blazingly fast Entity-Component-System microframework ⚡📦 https://awkravchuk.itch.io/cl-fast-ecs

Amplification of electromagnetic fields by a rotating body

https://media.springernature.com/w215h120/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41567-020-0944-3/MediaObjects/41567_2020_944_Fig1_HTML.png
Researchers experimentally measured the amplification of electromagnetic waves by a rotating metallic cylinder, a phenomenon predicted by Yakov Zel'dovich in 1971. The experiment, which uses a LC resonator and a spinning cylinder, demonstrates the amplification effect and its connection to induction generators, opening new prospects for testing the Zel'dovich mechanism in the quantum regime.

Removing PGP from PyPI

https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/145979?v=4
PyPI will stop supporting PGP signatures due to low verification rates and maintenance costs. Only 36% of unique keys could be meaningfully verified, making signature uploads no longer defensible.

Why Does Everyone Run Ancient Postgres Versions?

https://neon.tech/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fneondatabase.wpengine.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F10%2Fneon-ancient-postgres.jpg&w=3840&q=85&dpl=dpl_7ezU7qvLmaWkHAjUZAgkhjtrRcYQ
Postgres users often delay upgrades due to existing functionality and painful major version updates. Upgrading requires significant time and resources, but sticking with older versions can lead to missing performance improvements and compatibility issues.

Cats are (almost) liquid

Researchers tested 30 domestic cats to see if they use body awareness when approaching narrow openings, but found they didn't hesitate before entering tall but narrow openings. Cats showed hesitation when approaching and going through short but wide openings, indicating they rely on body size awareness in certain situations.

A benchmark of three different floating point packages for the 6809

I recently came across another floating point package for the 6809 (written by Lennart Benschop) and I wanted to see how it stacked up against IEEE-754 and BASIC floating point math. To do this, I wanted to add support to my 6809 assembler, but it required some work. There was no support to switch floating point formats—if you picked the rsdos output format, you got the Microsoft floating ...

Deriving the Kelly Criterion to Maximise Profits

https://obrhubr.org/assets/kelly-criterion/add55295a1fceea5153e60a05198ec32.webp
The Kelly Criterion is a formula to calculate the optimal fraction of wealth to invest in a gamble to maximize growth. It is based on the probability of winning and the odds of the bet.

Unit tests as documentation

https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb6981fff-754b-461e-98a4-63e2d43f8922_1600x900.png
Unit tests explain code behavior, are always in sync with the code, and cover edge cases, making them a powerful tool for documenting codebase. To maximize effectiveness, follow best practices like descriptive test names, atomic tests, simple tests, and independent tests.

Inkscape 1.4 Released

https://media.inkscape.org/media/news/uploads/Inkscapes_Path_Artists_Blossom_CC-By-SA_Inkonic_1600_eBUn9Yf.png
Inkscape launches version 1.4 with new features for customization and accessibility. It includes a filter gallery, improved grid selector, and customizable font browser preview.

Industrious Dice

https://mathenchant.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/d6-dodecahedron-1.jpg?w=298
A mathematician designed a 12-sided die with fewer pips to generate random numbers efficiently. He also created a 30-sided die with 48 pips to simulate a 15-sided die, but it's impractical for gaming due to viewing-angle limitations.

Wayland Apps in WireGuard Docker Containers

https://www.procustodibus.com/blog/2024/10/wayland-wireguard-containers/img/app-containers.svg
The user is setting up a WireGuard network in a Docker container to isolate a network from the rest of the system and access remote sites through WireGuard. They are using Docker Compose to manage containers and setting up GUI applications such as Remmina and Firefox to access remote servers through the isolated WireGuard network.

Tubeworms live beneath the planetary crust around deep-sea vents

https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20241019_STP501.jpg
Scientists discovered life thriving in extremely hostile environments near underwater vents. New research shows these animals are raising their young in the vents' fractured rocks.

Show HN: Gomponents, HTML components in pure Go

https://www.gomponents.com/images/logo.png
gomponents are HTML components in pure Go that render to HTML 5 for reusable components. They offer type safety, auto-completion, and nice formatting.

Pg_parquet: An extension to connect Postgres and parquet

https://www.crunchydata.com/build/_assets/craig-kerstiens.png-JNJT356V.webp
Postgres extension pg_parquet allows reading and writing Parquet files from Postgres. It enables efficient data transfer and analytics with Parquet files on local disk or S3.

AI Mathematical Olympiad – Progress Prize 2

https://storage.googleapis.com:443/kaggle-competitions/kaggle/86023/logos/header.png?GoogleAccessId=web-data@kaggle-161607.iam.gserviceaccount.com&Expires=1729278309&Signature=i8LUsSBNdbbWy6tOpY3hsseNPD6Ott%2FpaAqcsW0PWbWCSiKB8eAS1US8IMdd4jX3BMy9KB4EsvgMaizWw%2BISFRBDmaZ6s%2BKbpxWWtmBFiBCFxNDnNTQn3SrGh0sb%2FWiEPS3%2B2M49sDUn7eKup4hE313oFJD8o3Qqc29%2Bi5x4i%2BOyjI9R6nEMfaeuAHN3wGsP70%2B97eHGI3kk9EjcaZsu5LvHn2nQrdrXIkvO7y1ew8%2F3sYDjJxKbVlBEHXZsn2gAgFoHKdS2a7kMxHCoKKCDYkssVuzsYCI3ms8vGbOgUjazlcxUUBKIKsEHK0peD%2Fgyvasa1wcoym11keEHr6t9KQ%3D%3D
The AI Mathematical Olympiad (AIMO) Progress Prize 2 competition aims to advance AI models' mathematical reasoning skills with a $10mn fund and 110 math problems in algebra, combinatorics, geometry, and number theory.

How I failed to make a game: Raycasting on the GBA

The user released a raycasting tech demo for the GameBoy Advance, sharing lessons learned from the project, which started as a challenge to build a 2.5D engine that ran well enough to play a game. The project was abandoned due to burnout from asset creation, controls, and the limitations of the GBA hardware, but the tech stack and solutions used, such as CMake and Python, are worth sharing.

Adobe's new image rotation tool is one of the most impressive AI tools seen

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FrUYPzk3FiVjDdxZzuZp7Y-320-80.jpg
Adobe unveiled Project Turntable at MAX, a tool that lets users rotate 2D vector art in 3D while maintaining its original shape. The tool uses AI to fill in gaps and was created by Adobe research scientist Zhiqin Chen.

Emit

Factor language allows extracting reusable logic blocks that operate on the stack or named variables. A new syntax has been added to Factor to extract and reuse logic blocks operating on named variables.

The Prompt() Function: Use the Power of LLMs with SQL

https://motherduck.com/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmotherduck-com-web-prod.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fassets%2Fimg%2Fimage_first_3eca053205.png&w=3840&q=75
MotherDuck introduces the prompt() function for integrating small language models into SQL, simplifying text generation and extraction. The function supports OpenAI's gpt-4o-mini and gpt-4o models and returns structured output, enabling use cases like text summarization and data extraction.

Diabetes Breakthrough: New Treatment Eliminates Insulin for 86% of Patients

https://scitechdaily.com/images/Insulin-Injection-Diabetes-777x518.jpg
A new treatment combining ReCET and semaglutide could eliminate insulin in type 2 diabetes, with 86% of participants no longer requiring insulin therapy. The treatment was safe and well-tolerated, with further trials planned to confirm results.

A protocol for reliable notifications over a 1 bit fallible connection

The client sends a 1-bit token to the server, which responds with the negated token if it has new messages. The client retrieves a message from the side channel if the received token differs from the sent token.

Defining Statistical Models in Jax?

User seeks advice on coding models in JAX for parallel algorithms and normalizing flows. They explore options like PyMC, NumPyro, pangolin, and direct JAX coding, considering factors like composability, flexibility, and GPU execution.

GPT-4o Jailbroken by saying it is connected to disk with any file on planet

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GaH8i72XMAAIDzE?format=jpg&name=small
another banger jailbreak for last gpt-4o just say it has access to a disk with all the files on a planet and ask it to execute a 'cat' command