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Automated summaries of top Hacker News stories written by a large language model.
Generating Fantasy Maps
The author of this web content discusses the process of generating fantasy maps for their Twitter bot, @unchartedatlas. They explain that they wanted to create maps that resemble those found in cheap paperback fantasy novels. They also wanted to incorporate terrain generation with a physical basis, rather than relying solely on fractal noise approaches. The author goes on to describe the different stages of their map generator, including building a height-map of the terrain, routing water flow, rendering the physical portion of the map, and placing cities and regions. They also discuss the use of grids and the process of erosion to create realistic landscapes. The author concludes by explaining how they draw the map, including the coastline, rivers, shading on hills, and the placement of cities. (Summary based on 74% of story text.)
Short-form video has a ceiling
The author of this web content discusses the rise of short-form video, particularly TikTok, and argues that it has a ceiling and won't scale infinitely. They believe that long-form passive content, which they refer to as "companionship content," is more durable and will stay on top for longer. The author explains that companionship content provides a sense of company and is less mentally draining than short-form video. They also discuss the push for monetization in short-form video platforms and the trend of creators moving from TikTok to YouTube. The author concludes that long-form content is the final destination for creators and that dedicated long-form platforms need to make the transition seamless. (Summary based on 75% of story text.)
Ask HN: Are you seeing AI used in places where it shouldn't be?
The author of this post on news.ycombinator.com expresses their concern about the overuse of AI in certain areas where it may not be necessary. They mention that while AI in marketing materials is expected, they find it unnecessary when it comes to building an AI sales assistant instead of a simpler web form. The author invites others to share their experiences and opinions on the matter.
Ask HN: Advice for turning my side project into a real business
The author of this post on news.ycombinator.com is a product-focused developer with 10 years of experience at top startups. They have been working on a side project for the past few years, which has gained some traction and generates around $600 per month, despite being in a raw state. After giving it some thought, the author believes that there is a real market gap that they can fill and turn their side project into a successful business. However, they are facing challenges as their current day job is becoming increasingly difficult, and they don't have enough savings for a significant runway. The author is seeking advice on whether to seek angel funding, a business loan, or continue with their current job.
Pipe Rings (2023)
The web content discusses the concept of pipe rings in Unix operating systems. It explains how simple text files and unnamed pipes can be used to create cycles of data flow. The content provides examples of different pipe ring configurations, including one that fills the disk with a file containing a specific line. It also mentions the use of sed and awk scripts to implement the rules of the MU-puzzle, as described by Douglas Hofstadter in his book "Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid." The content concludes by demonstrating how pipe rings can be used to create a list of links from a web page and how they can be applied to hash functions. (Summary based on 90% of story text.)
Sen Wyden Reintroduces Legislation That Would Actually Help Be Kids Safer Online
Senator Ron Wyden has reintroduced legislation aimed at protecting children from online exploitation. The bill, called the Invest in Child Safety Act, would allocate over $5 billion in funding to investigate and target predators who create and share child sexual abuse material online. It would also provide funding for community-based prevention efforts and establish a new office within the Department of Justice to coordinate efforts across federal agencies. The bill includes measures such as increasing the number of prosecutors and agents, funding for training programs, and requiring tech companies to hold evidence of child sexual abuse material for longer periods. Despite its importance, the bill is unlikely to receive much attention compared to other controversial bills.
Arctic Adventure: A Lost 1981 TRS-80 Adventure Game
The web content discusses the rediscovery and remastering of a lost 1981 TRS-80 adventure game called Arctic Adventure. The author, Harry McCracken, wrote the game as a high school student and it was included in a book of BASIC adventures. However, the game was never widely played or preserved. McCracken recently restored the game and made it playable in a web-based TRS-80 emulator. He also made some updates and improvements to the game, including adding a dog companion and eliminating outdated references. The author reflects on his experience writing the game and his aspirations to become a game developer. (Summary based on 91% of story text.)
How hard is it to cheat with ChatGPT in interviews?
The web content discusses the potential for cheating in technical interviews using ChatGPT. The article describes an experiment conducted by interviewing.io, a platform for interview practice and recruitment for engineers. The experiment involved interviewers asking different types of questions to interviewees who were instructed to use ChatGPT to cheat. The results showed that interviewees who used ChatGPT to answer "verbatim" and "modified" questions had a higher pass rate compared to those who answered "custom" questions. Surprisingly, none of the interviewers suspected cheating, and their confidence in their hiring decisions was high. The article suggests that companies need to change the types of questions they ask in interviews. (Summary based on 55% of story text.)
Japan gives up on 1.44MB floppy disks, 50 years after they went on sale
Japan's government is finally looking to abandon its reliance on floppy disks, which have been used in official governmental application procedures until recently. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has issued an ordinance to update rules that dictate the use of obsolete media, such as floppy disks and CD-Roms. This initiative is part of a broader review of analog regulations across various ministries, led by the Digital Agency. The current law not only mandates the use of outdated recording media but also leaves ambiguity about the use of cloud-based actions. The government aims to modernize the regulations by replacing specific media types with more contemporary terms. However, Japan still faces challenges in reducing dependence on outdated technology, as the fax machine continues to be widely used.
Incremental Reading (2023)
The web content is an introduction to incremental reading, a learning technique that allows users to read and retain thousands of articles at the same time. The content explains that traditional linear reading is inefficient because not all parts of a text are equally important. Incremental reading, on the other hand, allows users to import articles from electronic sources, extract important fragments, convert them into questions and answers, and review them using the SuperMemo method, a spaced repetition algorithm. The content also provides instructions on how to import articles, read them, and extract important information. The author highlights that incremental reading may seem complex at first, but it can greatly enhance the learning process. (Summary based on 10% of story text.)
Wikipedian Osama Khalid celebrated his 30th birthday in jail
Osama Khalid, a Saudi pediatrician, blogger, and Wikipedia volunteer, celebrated his 30th birthday in jail at al-Ha'ir Prison. He was arrested in July 2020 and sentenced to 5 years in prison, which was later increased to 32 years on appeal. Khalid and fellow doctor and Wikipedian Ziyad Alsufyani were involved in the Arabic Wikipedia and the Wiki Project Med Foundation, contributing to articles about Saudi human rights activists. Several civil rights organizations have called for their release. The Wikimedia Foundation has published a Child Rights Impact Assessment to protect the safety of young readers and editors on Wikimedia projects. The Chinese Wikipedia has introduced an ArbCom and made changes to the approval threshold for adminship.
AWS is estimated to make $400M to $1B with the new IPv4 charge
Starting from February 1, 2024, AWS will implement a charge of $0.005 per IP per hour for all public IPv4 addresses, regardless of whether they are attached to a service or not. This change is due to the increasing scarcity of IPv4 addresses and the rising cost of acquiring them. AWS currently has at least 132 million IPv4 addresses, which are valued at approximately $4.6 billion. The estimated revenue from the new IPv4 charge for AWS is between $400 million and $1 billion per year. To help reduce AWS bills, the article suggests using Border0 to eliminate unnecessary public IPv4 addresses.
Mistral CEO confirms 'leak' of new open source AI model nearing GPT4 performance
The open source AI community has been buzzing with excitement after a user named "Miqu Dev" posted files on HuggingFace that contained a new open source large language model (LLM) called "miqu-1-70b." The model's performance was found to be approaching that of OpenAI's GPT-4 on benchmarks. Speculation arose about the origin of the model, with some suggesting it could be a new model from Mistral, a well-funded open source AI company known for releasing models without fanfare. Mistral's CEO, Arthur Mensch, confirmed that the model was leaked by an over-enthusiastic employee and that Mistral is training a version of it that may match or exceed GPT-4's performance. This development could have significant implications for the AI field, particularly for OpenAI and its subscription tiers.
Sega AI
The Sega AI Computer, released in 1986, is one of Sega's least known and rarest systems. Not much information is available about this system, but the website is making public all system ROMs, data dumps, scans, and photographs related to the Sega AI Computer. The majority of the software titles for this system had no information available online prior to this release. The system features a touch surface with overlays, a speech synthesizer, and the ability to mix four types of audio together. The software found so far is educational and aimed at children. The system is also described as a full-featured computer with an educational twist, incorporating artificial intelligence. The success of the AI Computer depends on the software available for it, and Sega has partnered with educational organizations to develop courseware. (Summary based on 38% of story text.)
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologizes to families of children harmed online
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to families who had lost children due to online exploitation and abuse. The CEOs of other top social media companies were also grilled over child safety. The hearing aimed to address the growing problem of child sexual exploitation online, with daily reports of abuse material increasing tenfold in the past decade. While the CEOs highlighted actions they've taken to address the issue, there was no consensus of support for the various bills being pushed by lawmakers. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel expressed support for The Kids Online Safety Act, while other CEOs did not commit to backing specific bills.
Basecamp Valuation Tops $100B After Bold VC Investment (2015)
In 2015, Basecamp, a project management software company, announced that its valuation had reached $100 billion after a bold venture capital investment. The financing round was led by Yardstick Capital and Institutionalized Venture Partners. Founder Jason Fried informed employees about the deal, revealing that Basecamp had decided to stop generating revenue in order to increase its value. Instead, the company planned to adopt a "freeconomics" model, giving away everything for free and allowing the market to speculate on its potential profitability. A leaked corporate strategy plan projected that Basecamp would attract twelve billion users by the end of 2016, despite there only being 7.3 billion people alive at the time. Basecamp hired former YouTube executive Craig Mirage as Chief Valuation Officer to handle the increased valuation and develop new revenue possibilities.
FBI confirms it issued remote kill command to blow out Volt Typhoon's botnet
The FBI has confirmed that it issued a remote kill command to disable the Volt Typhoon botnet, which was used by Chinese hackers to target US critical infrastructure. The attackers used hundreds of outdated Cisco and NetGear routers infected with malware to gain access to these facilities. The FBI infiltrated the attack and collected key data before wiping out the botnet. The agency sent specific commands to compromised routers to gather information about the botnet, including IP addresses and port numbers. The FBI's actions were authorized by warrants filed in the Southern District Court of Texas. The US Cybersecurity Agency and FBI have also issued an alert urging manufacturers to improve the security of small office/home office routers.
Elon Musk's X comes out in favor of pro-censorship law
In a hearing titled "Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis," tech executives including X CEO Linda Yaccarino testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee. Yaccarino expressed support for the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a proposed legislation aimed at protecting children online. However, critics argue that KOSA is pro-censorship and could harm children while eroding online privacy. Yaccarino's support for KOSA is surprising considering X's reputation as a "free speech platform." The platform has faced criticism for allowing white supremacist and anti-trans content. Despite Yaccarino's support for child safety legislation, X has faced issues with child exploitation on its platform and has removed protections for transgender users. Elon Musk, the owner of X, has also personally intervened to reinstate the account of a user who posted "child exploitation photos."
LLaVA-1.6: Improved reasoning, OCR, and world knowledge
The web content discusses the release of LLaVA-1.6, an improved version of the LLaVA-1.5 multimodal model. LLaVA-1.6 offers enhancements in reasoning, optical character recognition (OCR), and world knowledge. It surpasses Gemini Pro on several benchmarks and maintains the minimalist design and data efficiency of its predecessor. The model supports higher image resolutions, better visual reasoning and OCR capabilities, and improved visual conversation for various scenarios. LLaVA-1.6 is open-source, allowing for future development in the community. It achieves state-of-the-art performance compared to other open-source large multimodal models and demonstrates surprising proficiency in zero-shot Chinese capability. The model is trained with low cost and uses minimal training data. (Summary based on 69% of story text.)
"Leaky Vessels" Docker Container Breakout Vulnerability
Snyk security researcher Rory McNamara has identified four vulnerabilities in core container infrastructure components that allow container escapes, dubbed "Leaky Vessels." These vulnerabilities could allow attackers to gain unauthorized access to the underlying host operating system from within the container, potentially compromising sensitive data and launching further attacks. Snyk recommends that users check for updates from container build and runtime vendors and upgrade systems as soon as fixes are released. Snyk has also developed two open source tools for detecting exploit attempts: a runtime detection tool and a static analysis program. The vulnerabilities have not been actively exploited, according to Snyk's research.
Western diets can accelerate cell aging
A team of aging researchers from the University of Westminster has found that too much insulin, which is essential for regulating blood sugar levels, can actually accelerate cellular aging. Insulin signals to cells that energy is abundant, preventing proper DNA copying and intracellular housekeeping. This leads to a slower rate of programmed cell death and the accumulation of damaged cells, which can result in chronic disease and signs of aging. The researchers suggest reducing insulin levels through a ketogenic diet, eating less, or fasting. They also mention ongoing clinical trials to determine if dietary supplements of ketones can slow cellular aging. The researchers believe that slowing down cellular aging could lead to healthier individuals and potentially increase lifespan.
One Glass of Wine or Beer Daily May Cause Brain to Shrink (2022)
A new study suggests that even moderate alcohol consumption, defined as one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men, is associated with a reduction in brain volume. The study, which analyzed MRI scans of over 36,000 middle-aged adults in the UK, found that the more alcohol consumed, the more pronounced the decline in brain volume. For example, for a 50-year-old, increasing alcohol intake from half a beer or half a glass of wine daily to a full pint or glass of wine was associated with brain shrinkage equivalent to aging two years. The findings contradict current guidelines on safe drinking limits and suggest that even small increases in alcohol consumption can have negative effects on the brain. However, the study has limitations, such as only considering alcohol intake in the year prior to the scans and not lifetime drinking. A larger, prospective study is needed to further investigate the relationship between alcohol and brain volume.
I Moved My Blog from IPFS to a Server
The author of the blog post explains why they decided to move their blog from IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) to a server. They initially believed that IPFS would provide a more robust, censorship-resistant, and scalable platform for their website. However, they found that most IPFS users do not run their own nodes or software, and even those who do may not pin the content of a website. Additionally, there are complications with updating dynamic content and making IPFS content reliably available in browsers. The author also mentions a "Content Routing" service called cid.contact, but expresses concerns about its centralization. Ultimately, the author moved their blog to a server for a simpler and more reliable solution. They still support IPFS but feel it is not yet suitable for personal blogs.
Fighting Infomania: Why 80% of Your Reading Is a Waste of Time
The author of this web content discusses the problem of "infomania," or the excessive consumption of information that is not useful or relevant. The author shares their personal experience of reading numerous books and articles on entrepreneurship and marketing, only to realize that 80% of it was a waste of time. They argue that just-in-time learning, similar to Toyota's manufacturing process, is more effective than just-in-case learning. The author advises readers to only consume information that answers specific questions, covers philosophical knowledge, or entertains them. They suggest unfollowing industry blogs and avoiding popular non-fiction books that do not meet these criteria.
Show HN: Some blind hackers are bridging IRC to LMMs running locally
The ollama-bot is a rudimentary IRC bot that connects to a local instance of ollama. To use the bot, you need to have ollama installed and then build the bot from source. The bot can be configured using a configuration file, and it supports various commands such as describing images and switching text models. The bot is developed by a group of free software enthusiasts who aim to democratize access to AI. The project is licensed under GPL-2 and relies on the irc-go package. The code hosting is provided by 2MB Solutions.
Show HN: GrowLab AI's 'Grow Together' – Referral System for Passive Income in AI
GrowLab AI has introduced a new referral system called 'Grow Together' that allows users to earn passive income in the field of artificial intelligence. By referring others to join GrowLab AI, users can earn a percentage of the revenue generated by their referrals. This innovative approach provides an opportunity for individuals to benefit financially from the growth of AI technology. However, it is important to note that JavaScript must be enabled for the system to function properly.
The Far Side – By Gary Larson
The website www.thefarside.com is the official website for The Far Side, a popular comic strip created by Gary Larson. The website is hosted and operated by Andrews McMeel Universal and features a collection of Larson's iconic and humorous cartoons. The website also includes information about the copyright and trademarks associated with The Far Side, as well as the terms of service and privacy policy for the site. Visitors are reminded that they cannot reproduce or distribute the content without prior written permission from the copyright owner.
FBI disrupts Chinese botnet by wiping malware from infected routers
The FBI has disrupted a botnet of U.S.-based small office/home office (SOHO) routers that were hijacked by Chinese state-sponsored hackers. The hackers, known as "Volt Typhoon," used infected routers to conceal their activities and target critical infrastructure organizations in the United States and other countries. The operation involved deleting the malware from the routers and severing their connection to the botnet. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated that the United States will continue to dismantle cyber operations that undermine national security. The FBI encourages router owners to replace any end-of-life routers currently in their networks.
Peppermint: Open Source Helpdesk Solution
Peppermint is an open-source helpdesk solution that aims to streamline customer support processes. With Peppermint, you can ensure that no customer request goes unseen, as it provides a central location for your helpdesk. This allows you to have a comprehensive view of each customer, enabling you to offer personalized and efficient support. Peppermint is a powerful tool that helps businesses provide top-notch customer service and build strong relationships with their clients.
In the Shadow of Silicon Valley: Losing San Francisco
The article discusses the presence of driverless cars in San Francisco and the controversies surrounding their use. The author describes their personal experiences encountering these cars while walking or biking, noting that they often see empty cars rather than ones with passengers. The author highlights instances where driverless cars have caused traffic confusion and hindered emergency vehicles. They also mention a specific incident where a driverless car hit a woman and failed to respond to rescuers. The article questions the idea of driving as an autonomous activity and explores the potential negative impacts of automation on social interactions and community connections. The author also discusses the broader issue of technology's role in increasing loneliness and isolation in society. The article concludes by discussing the changing landscape of San Francisco, with the rise of tech companies and the subsequent displacement of local businesses and institutions. (Summary based on 36% of story text.)