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Automated summaries of top Hacker News stories written by a large language model.
Show HN: Sunrisewhen – pretty sunrise and sunset times for your area
Sunrisewhen.com is a fantastic website that provides users with the most accurate and visually appealing sunrise and sunset times for their specific location. With a sleek and user-friendly interface, users can simply enter their area or allow the website to automatically detect their location. The site then displays the current sunrise and sunset times, as well as a stunning image of the sun at that moment. Users can also explore future sunrise and sunset times, allowing them to plan their day accordingly. This website is a must-visit for anyone who appreciates the beauty of nature and wants to start their day off right.
That pain in your back? It's a pain in your brain
A new study published in the Journal of Pain reveals that the majority of chronic back and neck pain cases are actually caused by the mind, rather than physical factors. The study found that only 12% of patients had a structural problem as the root cause of their pain, while 88% had what researchers call "primary pain," generated by neural circuits in the brain. The brain may generate pain in the absence of injury as a way to protect patients from emotional wounds. Understanding and reinterpreting pain can significantly reduce symptoms, highlighting the importance of addressing the mind-body connection in healthcare.
The Jakt Programming Language
The Jakt programming language is a memory-safe systems programming language that currently transpiles to C++. The main goals of Jakt are to provide memory safety, code readability, developer productivity, executable performance, and fun. It achieves memory safety through strategies such as automatic reference counting, strong typing, bounds checking, and no raw pointers in safe mode. Jakt also emphasizes code readability with features like immutability by default, argument labels in call expressions, pattern matching, optional chaining, and more. It also has a flexible module system and a standard library. The author mentions that Jakt differentiates itself from other languages by its focus on memory safety and code readability. (Summary based on 46% of story text.)
HP CEO Makes Up a Whole Lot of Bullshit to Defend Crippling Printers
The CEO of HP, Enrique Lores, has defended the company's practice of crippling customer printers if they use cheaper, third-party ink cartridges. Lores claimed that HP is concerned about viruses being embedded in these cartridges and infecting consumers' printers and networks. However, security researchers have dismissed this claim as unfounded. HP's use of its "Dynamic Security System" to disable printers with non-HP cartridges is seen as anti-competitive and aimed at boosting quarterly revenues. Lores also referred to cost-conscious consumers as "unprofitable customers," which has been criticized as a distorted and anti-consumer mindset. The company's actions may harm its brand reputation among future shoppers.
Ask HN: Favourite Data Visualization Examples?
The author is seeking inspiration for new and creative ways to visualize datasets. They are asking for recommendations on websites that display data in unconventional, natural, and fun ways. The author is particularly interested in interactive data visualizations that offer a pick-your-own adventure experience. They are hoping to discover what others have built and come across.
Inside the Music Industry's High-Stakes A.I. Experiments
The article discusses Sir Lucian Grainge, the chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, and his role in the music industry. Grainge is described as a curious and empathetic leader who has solidified Universal's dominance in the industry. He is praised for his ability to operate in both the artistic and financial worlds. The article also mentions Grainge's personal life, including his near-death experience with COVID-19 and his family. It highlights his success in reshaping the music industry's business model through the strategic use of technology. The article also explores the controversy surrounding Grainge's compensation and the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the music industry. (Summary based on 87% of story text.)
Scientists document first-ever transmitted Alzheimer's cases
Scientists have documented the first-ever cases of transmitted Alzheimer's disease. The patients, who were in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, did not have the classic symptoms of Alzheimer's and did not have the known genetic mutations associated with early-onset Alzheimer's. However, they had all received growth hormone as children that was taken from the brains of human cadavers. The hormone transplant unknowingly transferred beta-amyloid protein into their brains, which later developed into Alzheimer's disease. This finding adds to ongoing debates about the causes of Alzheimer's and suggests that the disease may be transmissible under certain circumstances. However, Alzheimer's is not contagious and cannot be caught by caring for someone with the disease.
Laws of Pessimism
The article discusses why the world seems so depressing despite the fact that life is better than ever before. The author argues that the media plays a significant role in shaping our perception of the world, as they tend to focus on negative news. They also highlight the "Seven Laws of Pessimism," which explain why news outlets display a negativity bias. These laws include the invisibility of good news, the velocity of bad news, rubbernecking, the conservation of outrage, and more. The author suggests that excessive news consumption can lead to despondency and recommends seeking a more balanced perspective. (Summary based on 54% of story text.)
A Tour of Lisps
The author discusses their exploration of various Lisp dialects, including Guile, Common Lisp, Fennel, Clojure, and Emacs Lisp. They explain that their interest in Lisps stemmed from their appreciation for beautiful and elegant code, as well as the ability to debug live systems. The author highlights the strengths and drawbacks of each dialect, emphasizing the importance of aesthetics, interactivity, and tooling. They also mention the benefits of in-editor testing and the ability to be inside the program while it's running. The author concludes by sharing their ideal Lisp, which combines features from Clojure and Common Lisp with optional static typing. They encourage newcomers to immerse themselves in Lisp, embrace the REPL, and build real projects. (Summary based on 84% of story text.)
Ask HN: How can I back up an old vBulletin forum without admin access?
The author of this post on news.ycombinator.com is seeking advice on how to back up an old vBulletin forum without admin access. They explain that the admin/owner of the forum is unreachable, making it difficult to request a traditional backup of the database. The forum contains valuable information, particularly for car enthusiasts, but it suffers from neglect and access issues. The author is looking for a way to scrape and convert the forum data into a manageable database, ideally in a format that can be easily published on a new platform. They are seeking advice from others who may have gone through a similar archival process with vBulletin.
Lessons from history's greatest R&D labs
The article discusses the plans and vision for Answer.AI, a new applied R&D lab founded by Jeremy Howard and Eric Ries. The lab is inspired by the history of electrical research and development in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly Edison's Menlo Park Lab. Answer.AI aims to focus on practical applications of existing AI models and conduct original research to make AI more widely accessible. The lab's approach is different from other AI labs, as it emphasizes a small team of generalists and a research agenda that may be considered too small for larger labs. The article highlights the potential advantages of Answer.AI's application-centric approach and its focus on long-term research goals rather than short-term revenue. (Summary based on 22% of story text.)
OpenAI: Copy, Steal, Paste
The author of the web content discusses the issue of content theft and the controversy surrounding OpenAI's use of copyrighted materials. The author claims that their own work has been stolen multiple times without compensation, and criticizes OpenAI for using copyrighted materials without paying the original creators. The author highlights the argument made by OpenAI that training AI models using publicly available internet materials is fair use, but questions this defense by pointing out instances of outright plagiarism. The author argues that content creators should be compensated for their work and suggests that if genAI companies like OpenAI do not share the wealth with content creators, it will lead to a decline in the quality of online content.
The Big Little Guide to Message Queues
The article titled "The Big Little Guide to Message Queues" provides a comprehensive overview of message queues, their history, and their usefulness in software development. The author explains that message queues are a way to transfer information between systems and highlights the benefits of using them, such as decoupling systems and allowing for independent development, testing, and scaling. The article also discusses different delivery guarantees offered by message queues, including at-least-once, at-most-once, and exactly-once semantics. The author emphasizes the importance of considering the specific needs of the application when choosing a delivery guarantee. Overall, the article provides a clear and informative guide to understanding and effectively using message queues. (Summary based on 31% of story text.)
The Sacred Lake Project: preliminary findings
The Sacred Lake Project in Papowo Biskupie, Poland has uncovered significant archaeological findings from the Lusatian period. Previously, it was believed that the Chełmno community in the region did not engage in metal-related activities. However, metal detectorists discovered metal deposits and stray finds in a dried-up lake, leading to rescue excavations that recovered over 550 bronze artifacts, human bones, and other archaeological material. The site provides evidence of ritual activity during the Lusatian period in Poland. The palaeoenvironmental conditions of the site suggest that the artifacts were deposited during seasonal waterlogging of the fen, and radiocarbon dating places the site in the Northern Bronze Age. The findings include a multi-turn necklace, horse gear, and nail-like earrings, among other objects. The site also contains the skeletal remains of at least 33 individuals, suggesting sacrificial practices. The significance of the site lies in its potential to shed light on the social and ritual practices of the Lusatian era and the interplay between votive depositions and human sacrifice. The project was funded by the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Centrum Dziedzictwa w Toruniu and the National Science Centre, Poland.
The $10T benefits of overhauling our food system
A new report by the Food System Economics Commission (FSEC) reveals that the current global food system is causing significant health, environmental, and economic losses. These losses amount to $15 trillion per year and include costs associated with poor nutrition, biodiversity loss, climate change, and other environmental harms. The report argues that a complete overhaul of the food system could generate up to $10 trillion in health and economic benefits, equivalent to 8% of global GDP in 2020. This would involve incentivizing better business practices and promoting healthier consumer habits. Implementing these changes could cost between $200 to $500 billion annually but would result in the eradication of undernutrition by 2050, the prevention of 174 million premature deaths from diet-related chronic diseases, and a better chance of achieving the Paris climate goals.
An Introduction to the WARC File
The article provides an introduction to the WARC (Web ARChive) file, which is a global standard for storing web content in its original context. The WARC file is a container file that houses other files, including HTML, JS, CSS, and other structural elements that web browsers need to read. It also contains metadata about its creation and contents, records of server requests and responses, and the full payload of each server response. The WARC file format has been developed slowly, but it is maintained by the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) and is considered the generally agreed-upon way to contain web archives. The article also discusses the history of the WARC file format and its various record types.
Show HN: Submit your startup in 150 directories in 5 min
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DOS Subsystem for Linux
The DOS Subsystem for Linux is a project on GitHub that provides an alternative for users who prefer an MS-DOS environment. It integrates a real Linux environment into MS-DOS systems, allowing users to use both DOS and Linux applications from the DOS command prompt. The project provides instructions for building the subsystem on Fedora 38 and Ubuntu 22.04, including the necessary dependencies. The Makefile included in the project downloads and builds the required components, such as gcc, binutils, busybox, and the Linux kernel. The resulting files can be unzipped onto a DOS system, and doslinux can be executed to start the loaded Linux environment. The project also provides instructions for cleaning up the local git repo and removing the cross-compiler toolchain. The author mentions that the project is different from others because it provides an integration of a real Linux environment into MS-DOS systems.
Google significantly reduces recaptcha free tier, introduces new pricing models
Google has announced significant changes to its reCAPTCHA service, which helps protect websites from spam and abuse. Starting from April 1st, 2024, the free tier limits will be reduced from 1 million to just 10,000 assessments per month. This is a 100x reduction in allowance. The previously free service will be renamed reCAPTCHA-lite and will offer up to 10,000 assessments per month. Additionally, Google is introducing a new pricing model called reCAPTCHA standard, which offers up to 100,000 assessments for $8 per month. Enterprise users will have to pay $1 for every 1,000 assessments after the first 10,000 free assessments.
Ask HN: What to do with small units of time during the working day?
The author of this post on news.ycombinator.com is seeking suggestions for how to make use of small units of time during the workday. They explain that their company uses an internal build tool that takes around 20 minutes to start on their M2 Mini, which may not be enough time for serious work but adds up to 1-2 hours throughout the day. The author acknowledges that this situation is ridiculous and asks for suggestions on how to utilize this time effectively.
Show HN: Browser Automation in a Bookmarklet
The Browser Bot Bookmarklet is a framework for website automation and content scraping. It allows users to create and run JavaScript bots within a bookmarklet. The project provides a Bot API that includes functions for interacting with the browser window, waiting for elements to appear in the DOM, and opening new windows or tabs. The author warns that the bookmarklet does not have persistent storage, so users must manually back up their scripts. The project differentiates itself by offering a simple and lightweight solution for browser automation directly within the browser itself.
The horror of being a Meta content moderator
The article discusses the experiences of a content moderator who worked for a company that serves Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The content moderator was exposed to disturbing and violent content, including videos of suicides, murders, dismemberment, and rapes. The worker experienced mental health issues as a result of the job and sought help from a company psychologist. The article highlights the challenging conditions faced by content moderators and the impact it has on their mental well-being. The company has faced criticism and legal action for its handling of the mental health of its content moderators.
AMD Ryzen 7 8700G Linux Performance
The AMD Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G desktop APUs are being reviewed, with a focus on the Linux performance of the Ryzen 7 8700G. The Ryzen 7 8700G is an 8 core / 16 thread processor with a boost speed of up to 5.1GHz and Radeon 780M (RDNA3) integrated graphics. It has a 65 Watt TDP. The Ryzen 8000G series is compatible with modern Linux distributions and existing motherboards with a BIOS update. However, there may be a need for the latest AMDGPU firmware files, which can be obtained from linux-firmware.git. The Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G also feature an XDNA NPU for AI workloads.
Japan's moon explorer begins functioning again, resumes mission
Japan's lunar explorer, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), has resumed its mission after successfully landing on the Moon earlier this month. The built-in solar panels, which initially failed to generate power due to improper positioning, have now started functioning properly. The explorer's multi-band camera has also resumed taking pictures of the Moon's surface. SLIM is searching for a mineral called olivine, which could provide evidence for the "giant-impact hypothesis" of the Moon's formation. Japan is the fifth country to achieve a successful Moon landing, and SLIM's positioning accuracy was less than 10 meters before it began maneuvering to avoid obstacles.
Show HN: The Next Round – Weekly newsletter showcasing startups raising capital
Introducing The Next Round, a weekly newsletter that brings you the latest and most promising startups raising capital. We provide you with a free email every week, giving you an in-depth analysis of a startup investment opportunity. Not only that, but you'll also gain exclusive deal flow and the chance to connect with the founders themselves. Stay ahead of the game and get access to the hottest startups in the market. Sign up now and don't miss out on this unique opportunity.
Walmart Store Managers Can Make Up to $400k
Walmart store managers have the potential to earn up to $400,000, according to a report by Bloomberg. This figure includes salary, bonuses, and stock options, making it a highly lucrative position within the company. However, it is important to note that this earning potential is not guaranteed for all store managers and is dependent on various factors such as the store's performance and the manager's experience. Nonetheless, it is surprising to learn that store managers at Walmart have the opportunity to earn such a substantial income.
Negligence by experts in the early response to Covid-19
The author discusses the negligence of public health authorities and experts in the early response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They highlight the contradictory statements made by the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding human-to-human transmission and asymptomatic cases. The author also mentions the debate surrounding the origin of the virus, with evidence suggesting that virologists knew about its abnormal features early on. They criticize the lack of transparency and cover-up by some virologists, calling for their removal from the academic community. The author emphasizes the importance of open communication and the need for reform in the field of virology.
Metal guitar skills linked to intrasexual competition, but not mating success
This study explores the relationship between metal guitar skills and intrasexual competition and mating success. The researchers conducted an experiment where they asked participants to rate the attractiveness of male guitarists based on their skill level. Surprisingly, they found that while metal guitar skills were positively associated with intrasexual competition, they did not have a significant impact on mating success. This suggests that although being skilled at playing metal guitar may help individuals compete with other males, it may not necessarily make them more attractive to potential mates. This finding challenges the common belief that musical talent automatically translates into increased mating success.
Beliefs That Kill Birth Rates
The author explores the question of whether birth rates decline due to cultural or economic factors. They argue against the idea that socially liberal beliefs lead to higher birth rates and present data showing that countries where people believe a working mother harms her children have lower birth rates. The author suggests that this belief may lead to less political support for childcare subsidies. They also examine the relationship between the cost of childcare and birth rates, finding no clear correlation. The author proposes that the belief that raising children requires a lot of effort may be a key factor in lower birth rates. They argue that this belief is not necessarily tied to conservatism or liberalism, but rather a belief about the difficulty of raising children.
There's No Good Reason to Buy a Carbon Bike
The article argues that there is no good reason for regular cyclists to buy a carbon fiber bike. While carbon fiber is ideal for professional racing due to its lightweight and aerodynamic properties, the average cyclist is unlikely to benefit from these features. Carbon fiber bikes are fragile and prone to damage from everyday accidents, and they require specialized maintenance and repair. Additionally, the author claims that carbon bikes are unattractive and quickly become outdated. Instead, the author suggests that steel bikes are a better option for most cyclists, as they are durable, affordable, and have a timeless aesthetic.