1531
What is a zero refractive index material?
I’m currently writing a textbook on Electromagnetic Waves for my graduate optics students. I was reading up on zero refractive index materials for a chapter section and thought it would be fu…
Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 3,824 posts.
1532
Optimizing Open Addressing
Your default hash table should be open-addressed, using Robin Hood linear probing with backward-shift deletion. When prioritizing deterministic performance over memory efficiency, two-way chaining is also a good choice.
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When tech says ‘no’
The tech industry always has a reason why any new laws or regulations are bad - indeed, so does any industry. They always say that! The trouble is, sometimes it’s true, and some laws are (or would be) disasters. So which is it? Well, there are three ways that people say ‘NO!’
1535
Python: Just Write SQL
I have been writing a lot more Go this past year. For those not familiar, Go favours a non-ORM, non-query-builder approach to interacting with databases. This comes naturally due to the sql package : A common interface to be used alongside database drivers. It’s very common to see actual SQL in Go, even in large…
1536
Handles are the better pointers (2018)
28-Nov-2018: I’ve added a small update at the end on how to prevent‘handle collisions’ with a per-slot generation counter
1537
Shopify elevated the non-manager career path and ditched meetings
The difference between crafters and managers and how Shopify rages against meetings
1538
Is the reversal curse in LLMs real?
A recent paper The Reversal Curse points out an apparent failure in large large language models like GPT-4. From the abstract: We expose a surprising failure of generalization in auto-regressive large language models (LLMs). If a model is
1539
Bye, Gemini
The Gemini protocol was a big part of my COVID-19 lockdown experience. Discovering this underground, small protocol, having long discussions on the mailing list, and most importantly for me, developing software. My terminal Gemini browser, Amfora, was my first public FOSS project, something actually intended for a…
1540
The AARD Code and DR DOS (2021)
In this long article, I, being as far as I know the first outside Microsoft to have learnt how the AARD code works, explain that I condemn its form but broadly sympathise with its function.
1541
Which GPU(s) to Get for Deep Learning
Here, I provide an in-depth analysis of GPUs for deep learning/machine learning and explain what is the best GPU for your use-case and budget.
1542
My Dream Computer
🥇 Thanks to maya.land and goofpunk for sponsoring the blog! If you'd like to learn how to support my writing and get a shoutout here every week, check the sp...
1543
I analyzed Stack Overflow for secrets
I analyzed stackoverflow for secrets and leaks.
1544
Finetuning Large Language Models
An introduction to the core ideas and approaches
1545
Wii Architecture – A Practical Analysis
An in-depth analysis that explains how this console works internally
1546
Hypervisor Development in Rust
In the ever-evolving field of information security, curiosity and continuous learning drive innovation. This blog series is tailored for those deeply engaged in experimental projects, leveraging Rust’s capabilities to push the boundaries of what’s possible. The focus on Rust, after exploring various programming…
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Every person on the planet should have their own website
Every person on the planet should have their own website, on their own domain name, and blog about whatever they want.
1549
Kagi finally let me lay Google Search to rest
Google Search is dead to me. Here's how and why Kagi's high quality results and compelling value proposition allowed me to fully make the switch.
1550
Testing a 1,000 player Minecraft server with Folia
Check out the impressive results of the large-scale Folia test that took place on June 18th, 2023. Learn more about our findings and technical challenges in this post.
1551
Multi-modal prompt injection image attacks against GPT-4V
GPT4-V is the new mode of GPT-4 that allows you to upload images as part of your conversations. It’s absolutely brilliant. It also provides a whole new set of vectors …
1552
Stanford Alpaca, and the acceleration of on-device LLM development
On Saturday 11th March I wrote about how Large language models are having their Stable Diffusion moment. Today is Monday. Let’s look at what’s happened in the past three days. …
1553
Notes on Puzzles
1. I mostly don’t play chess anymore — it’s too addictive, and tends to take over your brain in a way I don’t like — but one habit I’ve retained is solving puzzles.
1554
Salt and salary: Were Roman soldiers paid in salt? (2017)
Roman soldiers weren't paid in salt, and they weren't given "salt money". Dictionaries of the 1700s and early 1800s are to blame for this myth.
1555
First look at Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft has made tons of noise about their Microsoft 365 Copilot toolset. They’ve made a lot of promises about its capabilities to enhance individual and team productivity, but access to it…
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Dumb and Gets Things Done (2010)
Someone once asked Napoleon how he decided where to assign soldiers. Napoleon's reply was that it's simple: soldiers are either smart or dumb, lazy or energetic. The smart and energetic I make field commanders. They know what to do and can rally the troops to do it. The smart and lazy I make generals. They
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Facebook confirms it will drop news sharing in Canada under bill C-18
Google has been in the spotlight for the past few weeks with reports that it has been testing removal news links from search results. The move sparked outrage from MPs, who grilled executives earlier today at Canadian Heritage committee. But now it appears Google has company: the Globe and Mail reports that Facebook…
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