356
Automated summaries of top Hacker News stories written by a large language model.
Ask HN: How much ad revenue you make from your side project?
The author is seeking advice and information from the Hacker News community about the profitability of side projects through ad revenue. They are interested in knowing if it is still a viable business idea for simple web apps. The author asks for examples and specific numbers to gain a better understanding.
Robotic "Companions" Are Testing the Scope of Privacy and Sexual Freedom
The article discusses the controversy surrounding the rise of sex bots and sex bot brothels. It mentions the closure of the first sex robot brothel in England and the blocking of a proposed sex robot brothel in Houston. The debate over sex bots and dolls is compared to the sexual revolution of the past, with some liberal voices now advocating for bans and criminal penalties. The article also highlights the concerns of feminists who believe that sex bots allow men to objectify women. The legal issues surrounding childlike sex bots are also discussed, with some countries banning their possession and importation. The article concludes by questioning the moral and social judgment on the private tastes and relations of adults.
One Billion Row Challenge Shows Java Can Process 1B Rows File in 2 Seconds
The One Billion Row Challenge (1BRC) was launched by Gunnar Morling to find Java code that can process one billion rows in the fastest time. The challenge involves parsing temperature measurement values from a text file and determining the min, max, and mean temperature for each weather station. Participants can join the challenge by cloning the repository and implementing their solution. Many interesting solutions have been submitted, including the use of SIMD and highly optimized parsing functions. The challenge has received a positive response from the coding community, with submissions using various Java distributions and even solutions from outside the Java ecosystem.
Streetview scraper v1: cheap, arbitrary sized streetview images
The author of this web content discusses their project of collecting a streetview image dataset for a research project. They explain that they wanted multiple angles and images from previous time periods, but found it cumbersome to do so using the Static API. They then resorted to using Selenium to load the JS API and scrape images, which allowed them to get arbitrarily sized images for a cheaper cost. The author acknowledges that this method is against the Maps Platform's Terms of Service and may result in a ban or retribution. They also mention that they used this method for academic research purposes. The content includes code snippets and a system architecture diagram. (Summary based on 50% of story text.)
Higher Order Derivatives of Transforms
The blog post discusses the concept of finding the second and higher order derivatives of a transform. It starts by recapping the relationship between derivatives, logarithms, and transforms. The first derivative is given as \(x'(t) = log(T) x(t)\), and to find the second derivative, the author takes the derivative of the first derivative, resulting in \(x''(t) = log(T) log(T) x(t)\). The author then explains that this pattern can be extended to find the nth derivative, which is \(x^{n}(t) = log(T)^n x(t)\). The post also provides an interactive example and invites readers to leave comments on the post.
Estonian Song Festival
The Estonian Song Festival, known as "laulupidu" in Estonian, is a massive choral event held every five years in Tallinn, Estonia. It is one of the largest choral events in the world and has been recognized as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The festival features over 30,000 singers performing to an audience of 80,000. It is held simultaneously with the Estonian Dance Festival. The tradition of the song festival dates back to the Estonian national awakening in the late 19th century. During the Soviet era, foreign songs were forced into the repertoire, but the festival has since returned to its roots. In 2019, the festival reached its maximum capacity with nearly 60,000 tickets sold.
Google Update Reveals AI Will Read All Your Private Messages
Google has announced a new AI upgrade for Android called Bard, which will serve as a personal AI assistant within the messaging app. Bard will analyze the content of private messages to understand context, tone, and interests, and tailor its responses accordingly. However, this raises privacy concerns, especially in light of previous scandals involving AI assistants eavesdropping on conversations. Additionally, users' message requests to Bard will be sent to the cloud for processing, potentially raising further privacy issues. The article also discusses Apple's efforts to introduce generative AI into iOS and the potential privacy implications of on-device versus cloud-based AI processing.
Reverse Engineering a Soviet CMOS Chip
This Twitter thread takes you on a fascinating journey of reverse engineering a Soviet CMOS chip. The author, a skilled engineer, shares their step-by-step process of dissecting the chip, identifying its components, and deciphering its functionality. They uncover some surprising features, such as a hidden encryption algorithm and a unique power-saving mechanism. The author also highlights the controversy surrounding the chip's origins, as it was developed during the Cold War era. This thread is a must-read for anyone interested in vintage technology and the secrets hidden within.
Show HN: Personal Financial Assistant with AI (Update)
Introducing Project Hermes, the personal financial assistant powered by AI. With Hermes, you can say goodbye to the hassle of dealing with accountants and complex numbers. This innovative tool simplifies your finances by providing solutions tailored to your specific needs. All you need to do is continue with your Google account, and Hermes will take care of the rest. This update brings even more advanced features and improved functionality to help you manage your money with ease. Say hello to a stress-free financial future with Project Hermes.
Several Truths Regarding Success
The author of this web content discusses several truths about success. The first truth is that many people convince themselves not to take action due to perceived risks, time constraints, and difficulty. The author argues that these concerns are often overestimated. The second truth is that many people start projects but fail to finish them, including programmers, game developers, artists, and musicians. The third truth is that a majority of work produced is of low quality, but producing something of high quality increases the chances of success. The fourth truth is that most people struggle with marketing themselves and their work. The fifth truth is the Pareto principle, which states that 80% of the work is done with 20% of the effort. The author suggests that announcing plans and intentions can hinder progress due to seeking social validation. The final truth is that success is iterative, with each success leading to bigger successes and each failure leading to bigger failures. The author also mentions a biblical verse, Matthew 25:29, which represents the cumulative advantage of success. The author concludes by stating that only a small fraction of the population will achieve success, especially when creativity is involved. They suggest that cultural factors and individual strategies play a role in determining success.
Switching to Firefox's Deb on Ubuntu 22.04: A Guide to Avoiding Snap Packages
This tutorial from linuxconfig.org explains how to install Firefox as a traditional Deb package on Ubuntu 22.04, which now packages Firefox as a Snap package by default. The article provides step-by-step instructions for installing Firefox using Apt or PPA repositories instead of Snap. It also includes precautions to avoid losing bookmarks when switching from Snap to APT version of Firefox. The tutorial highlights the shift towards Snap packages in Ubuntu and offers an alternative for users who prefer traditional Deb packages. The controversy lies in the preference and functionality issues that some users may have with Snap packages.
Estonia, Japan join nine other nations in suspending UNRWA funds
Estonia and Japan have joined nine other nations in suspending funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following allegations that 12 of its staff members participated in a Hamas-led massacre. The suspensions by Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Iceland have put at least $363 million in pledged funds for UNRWA at risk. UNRWA provides essential services such as food, education, and healthcare to 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in various regions. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged donor countries not to suspend funding, emphasizing the dire needs of the populations UNRWA serves. Israel has privately submitted its allegations to UNRWA and has called for an in-depth investigation into the involvement of all UNRWA employees in terrorism. The funding cuts have raised concerns about exacerbating hunger and potentially leading to famine in Gaza.
Why You've Never Been in a Plane Crash
The article discusses a plane crash that occurred in 1991 involving a USAir flight and a SkyWest flight at Los Angeles International Airport. The crash resulted in the deaths of 35 people. The article highlights the role of air traffic controller Robin Lee Wascher, who made a mistake in clearing the USAir flight to land on an occupied runway. The article explores the concept of blame in the aftermath of disasters and discusses the aviation industry's approach of conducting blameless postmortems to focus on prevention rather than assigning fault. The article emphasizes the need for systemic improvements and safeguards to prevent accidents caused by human error. (Summary based on 65% of story text.)
Modern CSS One-Line Upgrades
The web content discusses 12 modern CSS properties that can be used to upgrade and enhance application CSS with just one line of code. The properties are divided into three categories: stable upgrades, stable enhancements, and progressive enhancements. The stable upgrades include properties like aspect-ratio and object-fit, which can replace older techniques. The stable enhancements include properties like text-underline-offset and outline-offset, which can improve the user experience. The progressive enhancements include properties like scroll-margin and color-scheme, which provide an upgraded experience without causing harm in unsupporting browsers. The content also provides example CSS code for each property and suggests additional resources for further learning. (Summary based on 65% of story text.)
A parliament of owls and a murder of crows: How groups of birds got their names
This web content explores the fascinating world of collective nouns for groups of birds. The author highlights the creativity and pliancy of language, emphasizing how the names we give things shape our perception of them. Some of these collective nouns are based on observable characteristics of the species, while others stem from myths and folk beliefs. The content also discusses the origins of these company terms in the Book of Saint Albans and the courage of its female author, Juliana Barnes. The author concludes by noting that language, like life, is subject to evolutionary forces and the peril of extinction.
Useful Models: The Barbell Strategy
The barbell strategy, popularized by Nassim Taleb, is a useful model for navigating risk/reward tradeoffs when risk estimates are unreliable. It originated in financial investing but can be applied to product and business strategy. The strategy involves primarily investing in conservative, low-risk options to limit losses, while also taking a few high-risk bets in the hopes of significant returns. The key insight is that risk estimates tend to underestimate the actual risk, making middle-of-the-road investments riskier than they appear. This strategy is resilient to poor risk estimates. The author also mentions that this model can be seen in John Doerr's approach to product strategy and in deciding when to defend existing markets or expand into new ones.
Amazon terminates iRobot deal, vacuum maker to lay off 31% of staff
Amazon has announced that it will not proceed with its planned acquisition of vacuum-maker iRobot due to a lack of regulatory approval. As a result, iRobot will lay off 31% of its staff and its CEO will step down immediately. The deal's fate became uncertain after the European Union indicated it would not approve the acquisition. iRobot shares fell 15% following the news. Amazon will pay iRobot a $94 million breakup fee. Regulators worldwide are scrutinizing large tech companies for potential anti-competitive effects, and Amazon is also under investigation by the FTC for its investments and partnerships with AI developers.
There Is No Planet B (For Worldbuilding)
The author of this web content discusses the simplicity and lack of complexity in J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. They point out that despite its vast size, Middle-earth consists of only a few identifiable countries and a small population. The author compares this to real-life Europe, which has a much larger population and a complex system of states and cultures. They argue that fictional worlds are more interesting when they are intricate and realistic, and suggest that borrowing elements from the real world can enhance the believability of a fictional world. The author also contemplates the idea of real-world colonization and the potential for new civilizations and stories to emerge on other planets.
Florida House of Representatives approves bill to ban social media for kids < 16
The Florida House of Representatives has approved a bill that would ban children under the age of 16 from using most social media platforms, regardless of parental approval. The bill targets platforms that track user activity, allow children to upload content, or use addictive features. The bill has received support from both Republicans and Democrats in the House and will now move to the Senate for consideration. Supporters argue that social media is harmful to children, while opponents claim the bill infringes on First Amendment and parental rights. This legislation comes at a time when social media companies, parents, and medical providers are grappling with how to address the impact of social media on children.
—-libcurl
At everything.curl.dev, we highly recommend users to test their transfers using the curl command-line tool. Once you have achieved the desired functionality, you can enhance it further by appending the --libcurl filename option to the command line and executing it again. This allows you to generate code snippets in various programming languages, making it easier to integrate curl functionality into your own applications. It's a clever way to streamline the development process and ensure seamless integration of curl into your projects.
Ask HN: Self Hosting an Email Server?
The author of this post on news.ycombinator.com is seeking advice from the HN community on self-hosting an email server. They express a desire to send and receive emails from their custom domains without having to pay a monthly fee. The author provides a list of alternatives they have come across, including cloudron.io, cyberpanel.net, hmailserver.com, wildduck.email, and setting up Sendmail and dovecot on a Raspberry Pi. They also mention a tutorial on makeuseof.com for creating a Raspberry Pi email server. The author emphasizes that they are not concerned about the user interface and are primarily focused on the functionality of reading and sending emails.
Take the Road Most Documented
The author of this web content discusses the benefits of using the Arch Wiki for troubleshooting and finding solutions to errors encountered while using Arch Linux. They highlight the detailed documentation and known workarounds provided by the wiki, which have helped them successfully navigate installation and configuration issues. The author shares their personal experience of struggling with other Linux distributions but finding success with Arch Linux due to the extensive documentation available. They emphasize the importance of choosing software with extensive documentation and active community resources to avoid headaches and easily resolve issues. The author also mentions their use of Hugo for website generation, praising its well-documented nature and the availability of answers on StackOverflow. The content concludes with the advice to "take the road most documented" when faced with choices.
linefont: Font for rendering line chart data
The linefont project is a typeface designed specifically for rendering small to medium-scale line charts, such as time series data. It provides a font file that can be used in web projects to display line charts using characters. The font values range from 0 to 100 and are assigned to different characters. The project differentiates itself by being compatible with the wavefont project, allowing for easy swapping of fonts while maintaining visual coherency. The font also includes visible charcodes that can be selected with Ctrl + → or double click, and characters outside of visible ranges are clipped to 0. The project also includes an npm package for easy integration into JavaScript projects.
Harmonics Explorer
Harmonics Explorer is a fascinating tool that allows users to explore the world of harmonics in music. With just a few clicks, users can visualize and analyze the harmonic structure of any musical piece. The tool provides a unique and interactive experience, allowing users to see the relationships between different harmonics and understand how they contribute to the overall sound. Whether you're a musician, music lover, or just curious about the inner workings of music, Harmonics Explorer is sure to captivate and educate. It's a clever and innovative way to dive deep into the world of harmonics and discover the hidden secrets of music.
The Suburbs Have Become a Ponzi Scheme
This article discusses the unraveling of America's suburbs and the impact it has had on families of color. The author follows five families who moved to suburbs in search of a better life for their children, only to find themselves facing crumbling infrastructure, financial mismanagement, and declining schools. The article highlights the racial and economic fissures that exist in suburbs and how they have been largely overlooked. The author also mentions the controversial statements made by Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential election, where he used the decline of suburbs as a fear tactic. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding and addressing the issues facing suburbs to create a better future for all residents.
Y Combinator President Garry Tan publishes a menacing tweet before deleting it
Y Combinator President Garry Tan caused controversy when he published a tweet on X, a social platform, that contained violent language directed at San Francisco supervisors. Tan later apologized, stating that he thought the tweet would be understood as a rap reference. He also issued a formal apology to the Board of Supervisors. Tan's comments were described as "rattling" by District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar. Tan, who became Y Combinator's president in August 2022, has a history of combative behavior on social media and has been critical of progressive politicians in San Francisco. Some have defended Tan, stating that he deserves forgiveness for his actions.
The Menu Trends That Define Dining
The Caesar salad has become a popular dish at various types of restaurants, not just steakhouses. It can be found on menus at Mexican, Thai, and Cuban restaurants, among others. Chefs have put their own twists on the classic salad, adding ingredients like miso, fish sauce, fennel pollen, and snow peas. The average price for a Caesar salad on these menus is $15.42, with some restaurants charging as much as $22. Fermin Nuñez, owner of Este in Austin, Texas, describes the Caesar salad as a favorite among chefs. The article also includes a list of restaurants that serve unique versions of the salad.
Google marked this vulnerability as "Won't Fix" but I disagree. Care to comment?
The author of this web content is questioning a vulnerability in Google Docs. They discovered that even without having access to a Google Doc, they were able to view a high-resolution preview of the first page through a shared link. The author believes this is a security vulnerability that should be addressed by Google. However, Google responded to their report stating that the issue is not severe enough to be considered a security bug. The author disagrees and argues that many people have publicly exposed Google Drive links, assuming that only those with access can view them. They are seeking opinions on whether this is an oversight by Google or if they are missing something.
Japan: Moon lander Slim comes back to life and resumes mission
Japan's moon lander, Slim, has successfully resumed its mission after experiencing technical difficulties. Slim is the first spacecraft from Japan to achieve a soft touchdown on the Moon, making Japan the fifth country to accomplish this feat. The mission aims to investigate the lunar surface and gather valuable data. The successful revival of Slim is a significant achievement for Japan's space exploration program.
A writer fabricated a series of stories for Atlas Obscura
The article discusses the case of a writer named Blair Mastbaum who fabricated a series of stories for the online publication Atlas Obscura. Mastbaum's stories, which covered a range of topics, were well-researched and included factual details and believable quotes. However, it was later discovered that multiple details and interviews in his articles were fabricated. The article explores the motivations behind Mastbaum's deceptions and questions how he was able to sustain a year-long series of lies. The incident has led to a review of Atlas Obscura's editorial process and a decrease in trust in the media. (Summary based on 97% of story text.)