TL;DR summary of stories on the internet
Author showcases how to run the visually compelling music video “Bad Apple” in vim using search queries. Frames of the video are transformed into text previews, then drawn using vim’s highlighting features. Although an initial naive algorithm had performance issues, multiple solutions were created to generate optimal search patterns. A vim macro is employed to […]
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The Internet was built on a series of decentralized protocols, from TCP-IP to HTTP, enabling global connectivity. However, the challenge of content discovery remained, leading to the rise of search engines and social media platforms. The downfall of open-data initiatives like RSS highlighted the importance of global information syndication. Bluesky, with the AT Protocol, aims […]
The author discusses the frustrating experience of being bombarded with relentless emails and calls from sales teams trying to sell their products or services. They highlight the lack of flexibility in demos and the pressure to involve higher-ups in the decision-making process. The author sarcastically notes the over-hyped claims made about the product’s capabilities. The […]
In the 1980s, biologist Paul Ehrlich and economist Julian Simon made a bet on how the prices of five materials would change over the next decade, reflecting their contrasting views on resource scarcity. Ehrlich believed that population growth would deplete resources, leading to a steep price increase, while Simon believed innovation would counter scarcity, keeping […]
The author recently posted a prompt on Large Language Models (LLMs) like Claude sonnet, GPT-4o, and Deepseek v3, instructing them to contemplate before providing final answers, which unexpectedly went viral. The inspiration behind the prompt was exploring reasoning skills, following OpenAI’s latest models. The author discusses the main principles of building the prompt, emphasizing exploration […]
The author stumbled upon an old programming book and found a self-learning game called “Guess the Animal” written in BASIC in the 1980s. The game used a decision tree to ask questions and learn from user responses, adding new animals and questions to its knowledge base. The author recreated the game in C++ to showcase […]
Cannonball is an OutRun arcade game engine rewritten in C++ for modern platforms, offering enhancements like higher frame-rate and widescreen support. The engine requires original ROMs for graphics and audio data. Developer Chris White maintains the Windows build but has successfully built Cannonball for various platforms using SDL 2 and Boost libraries. Installation requires setting […]
AES Andes, a subsidiary of the US company AES Corporation, is planning a massive industrial complex near Chile’s Paranal Observatory, home to some of the darkest and clearest skies in the world. This project, just 5 to 11 kilometers from the observatory, poses a significant threat to astronomical research, including Nobel Prize-winning discoveries. The complex […]
This year’s roundup of IP addresses reveals the slow progress of IPv6 adoption despite the increasing number of connected devices. The transition from IPv4 to IPv6 has been sluggish, with controversial debates surrounding the effectiveness of NATs in accommodating the growing number of devices. The exhaustion of IPv4 addresses is ongoing, with attempts to release […]
Standard C has been improved up to C23, but certain long-standing issues remain. The Dlang community created ImportC, a C compiler integrated into the D programming language compiler. ImportC fills in the gaps left by Standard C, allowing for modern compiler technology like executing functions at compile time, enabling unit testing without separate builds, and […]