Obituary for a quiet life (2023)

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A man's quiet, unassuming life is honored by his grandson, who struggles to capture the essence of a life lived contentedly out of the spotlight. The man, Ray Harrell, led a life rich with simple pleasures and familial love, leaving a legacy of quiet strength and audacity.

Visualizing Attention, a Transformer's Heart [video]

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The article expresses gratitude to patrons and supporters of a video project, encouraging others to consider joining their community. It lists numerous individuals and entities who have contributed to the ongoing endeavors.

Redis re-implemented with SQLite

https://repository-images.githubusercontent.com/783038627/6aedc9a7-e25a-4b0e-a6ba-3169932ee993
Redka integrates SQLite's features with Redis compatibility, aiming to support five Redis data types in its API. It can be installed as a standalone server or embedded in Go, with future updates planned to expand its capabilities.

Show HN: I made a tool to clean and convert any webpage to Markdown

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Convert any webpage to a clean markdown w/ images downloaded.

Show HN: PostgreSQL index advisor

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The article discusses `index_advisor`, a function that suggests SQL index creation statements to optimize query performance, showing before and after metrics. It provides examples demonstrating how the function recommends indices for faster query execution.

Kate editor on all platforms

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Kate, a KDE application, is widely available across various Linux, BSD variants, and has been ported to Windows, with efforts to reach new users despite slow progress. It's also runnable on non-mainstream systems like Haiku, with community contributions encouraged for development and testing.

Spectral Ray Tracing

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The article discusses the author's use of spectral ray tracing in computer art to simulate light and color more realistically by accounting for the wave-like properties of light, as opposed to traditional RGB methods. The author also reflects on the implications of perception and the physics of light, and shares outputs from their artwork created with this technique.

My cat alerted me to a DDoS attack

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The author recounts a middle-of-the-night DDoS attack on their startup's website, which was resolved by implementing a country-based blocking rule in AWS WAF. They also received a ransom email during the attack, which they ignored.

Hospitals that make profits should pay taxes

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The article criticizes U.S. nonprofit hospitals for exploiting the "community benefit" standard to maintain tax-exempt status while engaging in predatory financial practices. It calls for Congressional action to enforce tax contributions and transparency, highlighting the misuse of funds and lack of genuine charity care.

WireViz: Easily document cables and wiring harnesses

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WireViz is a documentation tool for cables and wiring harnesses, creating graphical outputs and BOMs from YAML files, but not for full system wiring. It offers various features and requires GraphViz, with ongoing development inviting contributions.

Problem with selling developer tools is that devs have no purchasing authority

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Knuth–Morris–Pratt illustrated

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This paper presents an incremental construction of the Knuth–Morris–Pratt (KMP) string search algorithm, using visual aids to simplify understanding. It also discusses the algorithm's derivation from functional programming principles and its improvement over naive string search methods.

AI made these movies sharper – critics say it ruined them

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Geoff Burdick from Lightstorm Entertainment used advanced computer processes to remove imperfections from the "Titanic" film for its VHS release, which received mixed reactions. The restoration of several Cameron films with AI has sparked debate due to the unnatural look of the enhanced images.

Good news against dengue

Sandboxing all the things with Flatpak and BubbleBox

The author shares their evolving approach to sandboxing applications, expressing frustration with Firejail and a preference for Flatpak and bubblewrap solutions, while also introducing their own project, BubbleBox, for better sandbox management. They commend the ease of use and documentation of bubblewrap and xdg-dbus-proxy, hinting at a future project in Rust.

Making Truth Social Comply with the AGPL

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Republicans have created social media platforms using open-source code without proper attribution, exploiting work often done by groups they oppose. Mastodon has enforced its AGPL license, compelling platforms like Truth Social to release updated source code.

Fast and secure translation on your local machine with a GUI

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The article discusses a secure, local translation service with a GUI, using marian and Bergamot, available for various operating systems with builds for older hardware. It details installation and usage instructions, including model management and integration with browser extensions.

The Guide to Stock Options Conversations

A day in the life of a Walmart manager

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Personal VPN services are snake oil

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The article argues that personal VPN services are largely unnecessary for average users due to the widespread adoption of HTTPS and better security practices, suggesting alternatives like HTTPS-only mode and DNS over HTTPS for privacy. It also criticizes free VPNs as potentially harmful and promotes using ToR for those truly concerned with privacy.

Show HN: Stack, an open-source Clerk/Firebase Auth alternative

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The article introduces Stack, a comprehensive user login management system with adaptable components for Next.js and React, aiming to simplify the development process. Stack is open-source, self-hostable, and offers an admin dashboard, with plans for expansion and active community support.

Phanpy: A minimalistic opinionated Mastodon web client

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Minimalistic opinionated Mastodon web client

I ported thousands of apps to Windows 95 [video]

The Airship to Orbit Project

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The article discusses a novel space travel concept using a mile-long airship to reach orbit, requiring significant advancements in technology. This ambitious project involves a three-stage journey and is currently under active testing and development.

Interview with Senior JavaScript Developer 2024 [video]

Roku says hackers gained access to 576k accounts in latest data-breach incident

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Ask HN: Is RAG the Future of LLMs?

The article discusses the limitations of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) in Language Learning Models (LLMs) and suggests it's a temporary solution for reducing hallucinations until larger context windows are developed. It also predicts the evolution of RAG into more complex systems involving various search and optimization techniques.

Canoes discovered northwest of Rome are oldest boats ever found in Mediterranean

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La Marmotta, an underwater village in Italy, houses the oldest Mediterranean canoes, revealing advanced maritime technology and a complex trade network. International researchers published their findings in English, broadening the understanding of Neolithic social organization and seafaring skills.

Why good external SSDs are faster with Apple Silicon

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The article discusses the performance discrepancies between Thunderbolt and USB4, highlighting that despite claims of "up to 40 Gb/s," actual speeds vary with different Mac types and connections. It recommends high-quality USB 40Gbps enclosures for Apple silicon Macs for speeds over 3 GB/s.

Hidden dependencies in Linux binaries

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Bram released 'sotrace', a tool visualizing .so dependencies in graphs, revealing hidden complexities when run on binaries or processes, which can surprise Linux developers.

How Shazam Works (2003) [pdf]

Shazam, launched in 2002 and based in London, offers a service to identify music tracks via mobile and is expanding its reach. Despite initial technical challenges, the service has improved in speed and specificity, and provides various music-related services.

Ask HN: What movies changed your perception of reality or life?

The article discusses how various films and scenes have profoundly impacted the author's perspective on life and morality. It highlights the complexity of characters and the philosophical shifts in understanding right and wrong.

Godot as an Embeddable Game Engine

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Xamarin once sought to add gaming capabilities to mobile apps, choosing Urho over Godot for 3D due to its embeddable nature. Years later, after UrhoSharp's decline, Godot gained popularity and advancements, leading to patches allowing its embedding into applications.

A primer on x86 by Casey Muratori and The Primeagen [video]

Algae that can fix nitrogen – thanks to a tiny cell structure

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Researchers found an organelle called nitroplast in algae that converts nitrogen gas into useful compounds, a process previously thought to occur only in bacteria. This discovery could lead to genetically engineered plants that fix their own nitrogen, reducing fertilizer use and environmental impact.

Integral Calculator

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The Integral Calculator provides free online calculation of integrals and antiderivatives, with step-by-step solutions and support for various functions and techniques. It features interactive graphs for visualization, options to set integration variables and bounds, and a practice problem generator.

Can You Grok It – Hacking together my own dev tunnel service

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The author explores self-hosted tunnel solutions for development purposes, rejecting options like ngrok and Tailscale due to lack of control and privacy concerns, and eventually crafts a custom solution using nginx and SSH reverse proxies. They detail the process of creating secure, named tunnels on their own domain with automated cleanup and access control.

x86 and x86_64 software optimization resources

The series provides comprehensive optimization manuals for C++ and assembly language programmers, covering microarchitecture, instruction timings, compilers, and operating systems. It includes practical advice, detailed guides for Intel, AMD, and VIA CPUs, and tools for enhancing compatibility and performance.

Linux fu: getting started with systemd

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The article provides a foundational overview of systemd, explaining its functions and how it differs from traditional init scripts, with a focus on service units and their configuration. It also touches on the author's mixed feelings about systemd and hints at future posts with practical examples.

Show HN: Comprehensive inter-process communication (IPC) toolkit in modern C++

The article introduces the Flow-IPC project, highlighting its main repository and suggesting the introductory blog post for newcomers. It details various sub-projects like memory management and transport support.

Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell upended privacy bills for years

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Maria Cantwell, a U.S. Senator, has been a long-time advocate for internet privacy but has faced criticism for stalling privacy legislation. Recently, she reached a bipartisan agreement on privacy rights, though skepticism remains regarding the bill's advancement.

Getting into way too much detail with the Z80 netlist simulation (2021)

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The article examines the complexities of Z80 instruction timings using a netlist simulation and is the first in a series about a new cycle-stepped Z80 emulator. It highlights the irregularities of the Z80 instruction set due to the need for binary compatibility with the Intel 8080.

Saskatoon freezing deaths

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The article details the suspected involvement of Saskatoon Police in the deaths of Indigenous Canadians, known as "starlight tours," where individuals were abandoned in freezing temperatures. Despite evidence and convictions for related crimes, no officer has been convicted for causing these deaths.

The Battle to Define Mental Illness (2010)

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Allen Frances, the editor of DSM-IV, criticizes the definition of mental disorders and the creation of DSM-5, fearing it will pathologize normal behaviors and benefit drug companies. His concerns reflect a broader debate on psychiatric diagnoses and their scientific validity.

Fedora 41 will unify bin and sbin

The article discusses the consolidation of system binary directories in Fedora, where /usr/sbin will become a symlink to /usr/bin, simplifying the system structure and making it more user-friendly. This change also aligns Fedora with other distributions, reducing confusion over binary locations.

LLMs Are This Close to Destroying the Internet

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The article criticizes the current state of the internet, highlighting Google's monopoly on search and ad networks, leading to content quality being sacrificed for ad revenue and reach. It also discusses the rise of AI, which is consuming and regurgitating web content, potentially leading to a decline in human-written content and diverse opinions.

Trying to Understand Copilot's Type Spaghetti

The article discusses the complexity of type-level programming in TypeScript, illustrating how mapping object configurations to types can reduce bugs but may still lead to errors if not carefully managed. It suggests refactoring type logic and using generic types to maintain clarity and avoid implicit errors.

Is the Atlantic Overturning Circulation Approaching a Tipping Point?

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The article discusses the critical role of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in global climate, highlighting its past instabilities and potential tipping points that could lead to dramatic climate shifts. It emphasizes the importance of salinity and temperature in the AMOC's function and the risks posed by current climate change.

Ask HN: Does it still matter to be in the Bay Area?

The article suggests that being physically present in tech hubs like the Bay Area may improve job prospects and attract venture capital, especially in AI. It also notes the growth of telecommuting, though hybrid roles are more common than fully remote ones.

U.S. Steel Shareholders Approve Sale to Japan's Nippon Steel

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Emacs 2011-2023

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The author reflects on transitioning from Emacs to Visual Studio, initially using Emacs to manage a complex development environment but eventually finding it incompatible with a new job's Visual Studio-centric workflow and experiencing growing friction with Emacs on Windows. The final shift occurred due to the need for collaborative tools like Visual Studio Live Sharing, making Emacs less ...

Swatch Internet Time

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Swatch Internet Time divides the day into 1,000 '.beats' instead of hours and minutes, with no time zones, based on Biel, Switzerland's time. It was marketed with special watches and online, but is infrequently used outside certain tech areas.

1,800-year-old Roman statue discovered in parking lot

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Construction workers in the UK unearthed a Roman statue dating back to the 1st or 2nd century while building a parking lot. The find, believed to have been collected by the ninth Earl of Exeter during the 1760s, will be displayed at Burghley House.

Base 10 is not a good base

The article criticizes base 10 for its lack of useful factors, suggesting bases like 12 or 8 are superior for practical divisions. It humorously imagines aliens perplexed by our base 10 system, highlighting its impracticality in tasks like cooking.

PicoGK is a compact and robust geometry kernel for computational engineering

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PicoGK, developed by Lin Kayser and maintained by LEAP 71, is an open-source platform under Apache License 2.0 aimed at revolutionizing Computational Engineering design. It offers a robust framework and encourages widespread adoption and contribution to the advancement of invention.

Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

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FBI agents in high-cost cities struggle financially, leading to long commutes and shared housing. The FBI Agents Association seeks a $165 million housing allowance in the 2025 budget to aid these agents.

Mysterious Moving Pointers

The company's upgrade from Visual Studio 2013 to 2022.1 led to segmentation faults due to changes in C++ language standards, which affected how vectors handled memory reallocation. The issue was resolved by switching from std::vector to std::list, highlighting the complexity of C++'s evolution.

The unwritten laws of engineering at Stedi

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The article describes Stedi's engineering culture, emphasizing the importance of philosophical alignment in hiring and the use of managed services, open source libraries, and standards for building cohesive systems. It also stresses the significance of writing for clear thinking and decision-making in software development.

Trimming The Herbs TAS Clear on my Wii U [video]

Travelling with Tailscale

The author sets up a Tailscale exit node on a DigitalOcean droplet to ensure access to critical apps while traveling in Europe but faces routing conflicts with their work VPN, Netbird. They resolve the issue by prioritizing Netbird's routing rules to access internal networks, automating the process with a shell script.

Bing Copilot seemingly leaks state between user sessions

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Attached: 1 image You know the "repeat the previous text" trick to get initial chatbot prompts? This variant sure makes it look like Bing Copilot GPT4 is leaking state between user sessions. I have never used copilot before.

WD Ultrastar Transporter: Briefcase with 368TB of NVMe SSD, 128GB RAM, 1300W PSU

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Western Digital introduces the Ultrastar Transporter, a travel case with 368TB NVMe storage for physical data transfer, featuring a 12-core server and dual ethernet ports. The solution caters to the need for moving large data sets faster than internet speeds, ideal for multi-datacenter workflows.

Homicides are plummeting in American cities

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llm.c is now down to 26.2ms/iteration, matching PyTorch

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Turning off electrical grids to prevent wildfire− a complex, technical operation

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The aging U.S. power grid faces increasing stress from climate disasters, leading to more frequent public safety power shutoffs to prevent wildfires, which require complex procedures to manage. Utilities need sophisticated plans and transparency with customers for these shutdowns, which can significantly impact people's lives.

Proving Heron’s formula by complex number (2013)

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The author is busy with work and has limited time for blogging, opting to share a proof of Heron's formula. The proof, attributed to Miles Edwards, was published in the American Mathematical Monthly in 2007.

Linux 6.10 to Merge Driver for Emulating Windows NT Synchronization Primitives

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The Linux 6.10 kernel will introduce the NTSYNC driver, enhancing performance for Windows games and apps on Linux through better emulation of Windows NT synchronization primitives. This development promises significant improvements for Linux gaming and app performance, spearheaded by CodeWeavers and supported by Valve.

A City Is Not a Computer (2017)

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The article discusses Y Combinator's initiative to build new cities from scratch, focusing on optimizing urban life and questioning traditional urban planning. It also explores the broader implications of technology in governance and urban development, highlighting Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs and the complexities of the "city as a computer" metaphor.

Taking CO2 out of the air would be an expensive way to fight climate change

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A new report suggests that significant government investment, potentially hundreds of billions of dollars, is needed to scale carbon dioxide removal technologies to impact climate change. Despite the high costs and unproven scalability, the U.S. continues to explore these technologies to meet climate goals.

Dumping Parallel NAND with Glasgow

The Glasgow device installation "Just Worked" on one computer, with a minor driver tweak needed on another. The author successfully debugged and dumped a NAND flash device, despite some technical challenges and improvised hardware solutions.

Evidence that LLMs are reaching a point of diminishing returns

New Titanosaur Species Identified in Argentina

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A new titanosaur species, Titanomachya gimenezi, was discovered in Patagonia, dating back 66 million years. Despite limited fossils, it exhibits unique traits and contributes to understanding sauropod diversity in the Late Cretaceous.

Sleeping more flushes junk out of the brain

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Researchers found that during sleep, neurons help clear metabolic waste from the brain, potentially preventing neurodegenerative diseases. Their study revealed that neural activity drives the glymphatic system, which is crucial for brain self-cleaning.

Apple's mysterious fisheye projection

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The article discusses the author's investigation into Apple's undocumented "fisheye" projection format for immersive video, which is used but not openly supported for third-party content. It also explains the concept of spherical content and the challenges of encoding it for playback devices.

Squatters take over Gordon Ramsay's London pub

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At least six people are occupying the York & Albany pub near Regents Park in central London.

I setup my terminal for max productivity

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The author shares a detailed guide on optimizing terminal setup for efficiency, highlighting the benefits of using iTerm2, zsh, and various plugins to save significant time. They also discuss personal experiences and resources for professional growth, including a job board and a podcast appearance.

Gordon Ramsay's £13M pub taken over by squatters

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Squatters have taken over Gordon Ramsay's £13 million pub, barricading themselves inside and threatening legal action against forced removal. Ramsay is struggling to evict the invaders, who have turned the temporarily closed venue into a mess.

The Space Force is planning what could be the first military exercise in orbit

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The US Space Force is partnering with Rocket Lab and True Anomaly to demonstrate response capabilities to on-orbit threats through the Victus Haze mission. The exercise involves satellites from both companies engaging in a realistic threat scenario to showcase rapid deployment and response in space.

What will humans do if technology solves everything?

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In Greg Egan's novel, the character Peer becomes bored despite mastering virtual immortality and total control, leading him to seek new passions. Nick Bostrom's book "Deep Utopia" explores a future where technology fulfills all needs, questioning human purpose in a post-scarcity world.

US finalizes rules for 'forever chemicals' in drinking water

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The EPA sets enforceable federal limits on five types of PFAS in drinking water, marking a first in US policy. The rules aim to reduce health risks linked to these chemicals, with public water systems required to comply within specific timeframes.

ChatGPT Can Predict the Future Telling Stories Set in the Future About the Past

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The study evaluates the predictive abilities of ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4 for 2022 events using direct and narrative prompts, finding narratives improve accuracy, especially in economics and awards predictions. Narrative prompts tap into the models' storytelling to enhance data synthesis and extrapolation, suggesting new uses for LLMs in analysis.

Top Europe court chides Switzerland in landmark climate ruling

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The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Switzerland violated human rights by not adequately addressing climate change, marking a precedent for climate litigation. Two other climate cases against European states were dismissed on procedural grounds.

Broadcom has willingly dug its VMware hole, says cloud CEO [video]

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Broadcom's acquisition of VMware has led to customer fears being realized, with a focus on profit from top accounts and higher bundle pricing. CEO Mark Boost of Civo highlights significant price hikes and a strategy that may sideline many of VMware's clients.

Journalism in the Digital Age

The article discusses the evolution of print journalism in the digital era and its challenges in maintaining the Fourth Estate's role in democracy. It includes a historical perspective, economic analysis, and interviews with journalists on the impact of the internet on news reporting.

Show HN: Docker-boot – Run a system from RAM without LiveCD

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Docker-boot allows users to run a system from a Docker image as an in-memory root filesystem, replacing the current system. It simplifies the process of running an OS off RAM, which typically involves complex manual setup.

Wikipedia Abuse Filter

The Edit Filter interface allows authorized users to set up tests to prevent harmful edits on a wiki, with a strong emphasis on careful use and testing without actions to avoid unintended disruptions. It also provides detailed statistics and guidance on filter usage and encourages seeking help when in doubt.

Fastest way to get IPv4 address from string (2015)

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The article discusses optimizing IP address parsing from strings, with a vectorized solution being 7.8 times faster than the original code. It processes 336 million addresses per second and involves a detailed explanation of the method and its implementation.

Is the Ballmer Peak real? (2011)

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The article discusses the "Ballmer Peak" myth, which suggests a specific blood alcohol concentration can enhance cognitive abilities, with mixed evidence from various anecdotes and studies. Some believe moderate alcohol consumption aids creativity and problem-solving in certain activities, while others find it detrimental overall.

Orifice.ai

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New website in progress:

What Researchers Discovered When They Sent 80k Resumes

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An experiment with fake résumés sent to major U.S. firms showed a 9.5% higher contact rate for white-sounding names, with significant industry and company variations. AutoNation and Genuine Parts Company notably favored white applicants more.