Jane Street barred from Indian markets as regulator freezes $566 million (cnbc.com | comments) The Indian financial regulator has prohibited the U.S. trading firm Jane Street from participating in Indian securities markets, freezing $566 million amid claims of manipulation related to the Nifty 50 index. Jane Street's entities are barred from any trading activities, directly or indirectly, involving securities.

• I look forward to the Matt Levine's section on this in tomorrow's Money Stuff.
• The alternative claim - that large traders do not make decisions based on how their activity will move the market, is of course absurd. It’s just political. Who is allowed to manipulate and who pays their dues to be able to.

Volvo delivers 5,000th electric semi with little fanfare (electrek.co | comments) Volvo has delivered its 5,000th electric semi truck, which has collectively logged over 100 million miles. This positions Volvo ahead in the electric commercial vehicle sector amidst intense competition.

• 5000 EVs is nothing though.
• Awkward headline, since its not really much of a milestone. The first couple in a region are interesting, hitting significant proportions a year is interesting, a cumulative (relatively) small number is not that interesting.

Colombia seizes first unmanned narco-submarine with Starlink antenna (france24.com | comments) Colombian authorities have seized an unmanned drug smuggling submarine equipped with a Starlink antenna off the Caribbean coast. While no drugs were discovered onboard, officials suspect this could indicate a trial run for automated cocaine trafficking operations.

• I'm kind of curious how much this matters to Colombia now. For this who haven't been following the drug wars, most of the action, and money, has moved to Mexico. If you only know this stuff through pop culture, Mexico today is what Colombia was in the 80's and 90's: the violence, level of corruption, money flowing through, etc.

The War on the Walkman (pessimistsarchive.org | comments) The Sony Walkman, a symbol of the 1980s, represents a nostalgic era of music ownership before the shift to streaming services. The piece highlights how the Walkman's original appeal was rooted in personal ownership and convenience, contrasting it with today's digital rental culture.

• Articles like this read a bit like the tech equivalent of "The climate has always changed". Yes, sure, new technologies have always spurred anxieties and moral panic - they also usually had some real impact on the social fabric. But the question is what kind of impact, and if the impact of current technologies is really the same as in the past.

What a Hacker Stole from Me (mynoise.net | comments) The text titled 'What a Hacker Stole from Me' appears to be an unfinished HTML document without meaningful content regarding specific theft or hacking incidents. Instead, it consists largely of coding elements and layouts associated with web design, lacking coherent narrative or insights.

• I'm a lifetime member and have enjoyed mynoise.net for many years. It's the best thing I've found for focus and distraction blocking. I have brain.fm, and YouTube music, but I keep coming back to his site because it's just better, more intentional, and more effective for me.

A non-anthropomorphized view of LLMs (addxorrol.blogspot.com | comments) The piece presents a critical perspective on how discussions around AI alignment and safety often attribute human-like qualities to large language models (LLMs), arguing that this anthropomorphism clouds rational understanding and leads to misconceptions about their capabilities and limitations.

• Which is a more useful mental model for the user? 1. It’s a neural network predicting the next token 2. It’s like a person 3. It’s like a magical genie I lean towards 3.
• LLMs are complex irreducible systems; hence there are emergent properties that arise at different scales

LLMs should not replace therapists (arxiv.org | comments) Research critically assesses the potential of large language models (LLMs) to replace mental health providers, emphasizing major shortcomings. Findings reveal LLMs like GPT-4 show stigma towards mental health issues and inappropriate responses in therapeutic contexts, underscoring the necessity of human characteristics in therapy, including empathy and interpersonal relationships.

• Rather than here a bunch of emotional/theoretical arguments, I'd love to hear the preferences of people here who have both been to therapy and talked to an LLM about their frustrations and how those experiences stack up. My limited personal experience is that LLMs are better than the average therapsit.

The first time I was almost fired from Apple (engineersneedart.com | comments) In a candid recounting, the author shares their challenging early experiences as a graphics engineer at Apple during a turbulent time for the company. Tasked with adapting a legacy Color Picker project for new PowerPC architecture, the engineer navigates technical obstacles, learns from peers, and ultimately finds creative fulfillment in developing intuitive color pickers, reflecting on the culture of innovation at Apple.

• Only corporate legal could freak out over the idea of hiding a single stanza of an 80 year old poem across a dozen resource names where they'll never ever be seen by the average user. If that's not fair use it should be.
• I’m pretty sure the Gold Wing-riding, pipe-smoking boss is/was C.K. Haun

Stop killing games and the industry response (kronis.dev | comments) A European Citizens' Initiative titled 'Stop Destroying Videogames' has gathered over a million signatures in response to game publishers disabling online features that render purchased games unplayable. The initiative calls for publishers to keep games functional, even after services are discontinued, while facing resistance from the gaming industry citing economic concerns.

AI is coming for agriculture, but farmers aren’t convinced (theconversation.com | comments) Despite significant investments in high-tech agricultural systems, many farmers remain hesitant about adopting artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Farmers express a demand for solutions that are not only advanced but also practical, adaptable, and dependable, reflecting their skepticism toward overly complex tech innovations.

• I dream that AI robotic drones can reduce our dependence on vulnerable monocultures. Rather than a monoculture processed by million dollar combine harvesters using bulk techniques, a polyculture harvested by a swarm of small cheaper drones that work at the individual plant level.

Nobody has a personality anymore: we are products with labels (freyaindia.co.uk | comments) In a world increasingly dominated by predefined social identities, the idea of individuality is eroding, suggesting that people are becoming mere 'products' labeled by societal expectations rather than being recognized for their unique personalities. This observation raises concerns about the implications for genuine self-expression.

• Fascinating article. It's think the author's experiences are fairly context-dependant, with where you live, the political leanings of your social circle, your online community etc. But I have noticed an increase in the pathologizing of normal human behaviours and traits. Maybe not all character flaws should be fixed.

Why English doesn't use accents (deadlanguagesociety.com | comments) English distinguishes itself from languages like French by traditionally lacking accent marks, which serve phonetic purposes. This absence simplifies spelling and writing, but it can lead to ambiguities in pronunciation and meaning. The discussion raises interesting points about how language evolution impacts communication.

• Clearly the early scribes were looking forward to the 7-bit ASCII code and needed to reduce the number of characters that were represented.
• Fascinating site...
• Diacritics aren't unambiguous, there are different conventions for using them. What sound does "ā" make? It depends.

I don't think AGI is right around the corner (dwarkesh.com | comments) In a critical examination, the author argues against the notion that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is imminent, highlighting that continuous learning remains a significant challenge. This piece delves into the limitations faced in the development of AGI, emphasizing the complexities of creating truly intelligent systems.

• While most takes here are pessimist about AI, the author himself suggests he believes there is a 50% chance of AGI being achieved by the early 2030's, and says we should still prepare for the odd possibility of misaligned ASI by 2028. If anything, the author is bullish on AI.

Async Queue – One of my favorite programming interview questions (davidgomes.com | comments) David Gomes reflects on a favorite programming interview question centered on asynchronous queue management—a concept critical for developers navigating concurrent processing. With over 500 iterations of this question facilitated in interviews, he unpacks the reasoning and methodology behind its selection, exploring its applicability in a tech-driven workforce.

• > Here's a naive, faulty implementation For this first implementation, I don't see anything ever added to the queue. Am I missing something? New task is added to the queue if the queue is not empty only, but when the queue is empty the task is executed and the queue remains empty so in the end the queue is always empty?

More than 1 in 5 Show HN posts are now AI-related, get > half the votes/comments (ryanfarley.co | comments) AI-related Show HN posts now make up over 20% of submissions, but receive fewer than half the average votes and comments. An analysis using Hacker News data reveals a significant rise in AI content among posts, indicating a shift in user engagement. The author expresses frustration over perceived low-quality submissions and a decline in meaningful self-promotion on HN.

• Yeah i am so sick and tired. It was so refreshing to read HN and always find something interesting, now its tiresome, AI marketing everywhere and comments from people that doesn't even like to program and they now can develop a todo list app at the expense of 200$ for whatever claude has release that week.. sad.

Overthinking GIS (2024) (scottsexton.co | comments) Scott Sexton's 'Overthinking GIS' reflects on the significance of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in modern cartography, positing it as a transformative advancement. The piece discusses the intricate challenges of data downsampling in GIS, illustrating its potential with nuances drawn from the author's experiences in the field.

• GIS is truly impressive from a user's perspective: intuitive, powerful, and full possibilities. However, from a sysadmin's point of view, hosting an ArcGIS Enterprise setup - the market leader in this space - can quickly turn into a complex and frustrating experience.

Take Two: Eshell (yummymelon.com | comments) Charles Choi reflects on his evolving experience with Eshell, a shell interface for Emacs. Initially unimpressed, he now finds it integral, noting how he substitutes traditional shell tasks with Emacs modes like Dired and Magit. He emphasizes understanding Elisp to leverage Eshell's full potential, blending shell commands with powerful Elisp functions.

• I wish someone could write a "The Good Parts" book for Emacs. Even after reading the manual twice, I'm still overwhelmed with the API and forget even the most basic configuration options after a month of inactivity.
• The writer is incredibly knowledgable. But all of this is completely unapealing. To me this isn't power, it is just learning a lot more things.

The Force-Feeding of AI on an Unwilling Public (honest-broker.com | comments) The piece critiques the rapid and often forceful integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday life, characterizing the trend not as genuine innovation but as a form of coercion against public will. It raises concerns regarding the implications of such developments on society and individual autonomy.

• ChatGPT is the 5th most-visited website on the planet and growing quickly. that’s one of many popular products. Hardly call that unwilling. I bet only something like 8% of Instagram users say they would pay for it. Are we to take this to mean that Instagram is an unpopular product that is rbi g forced on an unwilling public?

Are we the baddies? (geohot.github.io | comments) The author critiques modern capitalism's reliance on manipulation through algorithms and psychology, questioning the ethical implications of tech interventions in daily life. They express concern about the inevitability of exploitation in society, suggesting traditional democratic reforms may be ineffective against systemic issues driven by corporate greed.

• The issue is the market. These things are possible because of the skewed market. There are far more men than women on dating apps, women don't buy the boosts, etc. So you are paying for exposure in that skewed market. If it were a complete free-for-all then women would get thousands of messages a day and not use the apps at all.

Bitchat – A decentralized messaging app that works over Bluetooth mesh networks (github.com/jackjackbits | comments) Bitchat is a decentralized messaging application designed to operate over Bluetooth mesh networks, enhancing communication even in areas with limited or no internet connectivity. This innovation leverages local device communication to facilitate real-time messaging, offering users increased privacy and reliability compared to traditional messaging systems.

• This is a really exciting project! I love how it makes each message feel more valuable, like modern-day letters, but more convenient.
• Is it Bit Chat or Bitch At?
• Is this similar to Briar? I reckon a cool feature would be the ability to create a poll. Use case? You're in the middle of a protest. Where to next?

Show HN: I wrote a "web OS" based on the Apple Lisa's UI, with 1-bit graphics (lisagui.com | comments) Andrew Yaros has created a web-based operating system inspired by the Apple Lisa's user interface, featuring 1-bit graphics. The platform incorporates a graphical user interface (GUI) reminiscent of the original Lisa, aiming to evoke nostalgia while functioning as a modern application. Users can access it through a browser.

• I never spent a lot of time using Lisa, but I got several opportunities to kick the tires as a Mac repair tech in the early 90s. I even fixed a Lisa or two, and converted one to a "Mac XL". You've captured the UI really nicely, and it was fun to click around. Good job!

Toys/Lag: Jerk Monitor (pcarrier.com | comments) After upgrading to a 240 Hz monitor, the author, Pierre Carrier, investigated latency issues with his wireless mouse. He created a tool that measures frame delays and pointer event timings to confirm the impact of switching USB ports, learning that even with high DPI settings, occasional missed pointer updates occur.

• Seems like it doesn't properly handle mouse events on Safari in macOS and only shows "frames with no pointer events". I assume it's because "pointerrawupdate" event is not supported there. Also it's interesting that with ProMotion enabled it reports 16.67ms per frame (indicating 60Hz redraw rate) in Safari, but in Chrome it's 8.33.

Speeding up PostgreSQL dump/restore snapshots (xata.io | comments) Recent improvements in PostgreSQL's pgstream snapshots have significantly accelerated bulk data loads and complex schema operations. This upgrade is designed to enhance data backup and restore processes, catering specifically to scenarios demanding faster data handling.

• What about ZFS Snapshots and send/recv for backup and restore?. For us this is the cleanest approach, since we use it not only for PostgreSQL, but for all the data in our organization. Of course, the underlying filesystem must be ZFS.

Corrected UTF-8 (2022) (owlfolio.org | comments) Corrected UTF-8 proposes essential modifications to the UTF-8 encoding to rectify design flaws. These changes eliminate overlength encodings, exclude C1 controls and surrogate characters, and remove the upper limit on codepoints. The new encoding aims to enhance security and ensure future compatibility in text representation.

• I don't expect anyone to adopt this. Listing complaints about a heavily used standard, and proposing something else incompatible won't gain any traction. Compare to WTF-8, which solves a different problem (representing invalid 16-bit characters within an 8-bit encoding).

Functions Are Vectors (2023) (thenumb.at | comments) Understanding functions as vectors allows the application of linear algebra to complex problems in infinite-dimensional vector spaces and functional analysis, particularly in machine learning and image processing. The article emphasizes prerequisites in linear algebra, calculus, and differential equations.

• I will need to read through the rest of the article later, but the initial intuition building is a bit sloppy. None of those vectors drawn in the initial examples belong to the same vector space. Vectors need to emanate from the same origin to be considered as part of the same vector space.

Hannah Cairo: 17-year-old teen refutes a math conjecture proposed 40 years ago (elpais.com | comments) Hannah Cairo, a 17-year-old prodigy, has successfully refuted a mathematical conjecture that has puzzled experts for 40 years. Her work challenges established theories and has garnered significant attention in the mathematics community. Experts are analyzing her findings, which could reshape parts of mathematical theory.

• While extremely talented, I am not surprised to find this coming from a teen. Major mathematical discoveries often have come from those in their mid 20’s with the greater discoveries being skewed towards the younger 20s and teens. I think this because pure mathematics is just so creative.

Get the location of the ISS using DNS (shkspr.mobi | comments) Terence Eden's blog post covers how to locate the International Space Station (ISS) using Domain Name System (DNS) techniques. It highlights the intriguing aspects of DNS, emphasizing its ability to instantly distribute location data. The piece illustrates DNS as a practical tool beyond its typical association with web servers.

• I understand there are API limitations, but isn't 15 minutes a lot for an object that orbits around the entire Earth in 90 minutes? On average you're going to be off by about a twelfth of the circumference of the Earth, or roughly the distance between Lisbon and Istanbul

July 5, 1687: When Newton explained why you don't float away (multiverseemployeehandbook.com | comments) On July 5, 1687, Isaac Newton published the *Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica*, providing crucial explanations of gravitational theories, from why apples fall to why planets remain in orbit. His work revolutionized our understanding of physics and laid the foundation for modern science, still applied today by institutions like NASA.

• It's actually 338 years. I turn 38 today and was born in 1987. TIL Newton published the Principia exactly 300 years before I was born.