News Nug
We're forking Flutter

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: Hacker News

Flutter has grown significantly, evolving from a UI toolkit for mobile (iOS and Android) to also support web and desktop platforms (Mac, Windows, and Linux). Despite its expansion in user base and responsibilities, the Flutter team has only marginally increased in size, currently estimated at around 50 people. With an estimated 1,000,000 developers using Flutter, this results in an unsustainable ratio of one team member for every 20,000 developers, leading to significant challenges in customer support

Model Predictive Control in the browser using WASM

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/programming

The article discusses a project focused on improving understanding of trajectory optimization and Model Predictive Control (MPC) through a simulation of a cart-pole system. The author, who has a background in computer vision, created a demonstration app that functions on mobile devices but is better experienced on larger screens. The cart-pole system consists of a cart with an inverted pendulum, and the objective is to keep the pendulum stable in a vertical position by applying force to the cart. The project also involved using

Buy payphones and retire

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: Hacker News

The content discusses various schemes and trends in generating passive income, particularly focusing on payphones as a modern example. It highlights how the allure of earning money with minimal effort has led to the rise of dubious income-generating methods, such as dropshipping and AI-generated content. The term "passive income" has become a buzzword among business influencers on platforms like YouTube and Instagram, as they promote vending machines and payphones as investment opportunities. Historically, payphones were owned by telephone carriers,

Controllable Agent for Complex RAG tasks

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/programming

Certainly! However, you haven't provided any specific details about your personal Substack. Could you please share more information or key points that you’d like summarized?

Repeatability: As Difficult as it is Important

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: Hacker News

The content discusses the importance of reproducibility in experimental systems research, emphasizing that replicating findings should be as rigorous in this field as in any scientific area. It highlights that the reproducibility of results—specifically repeatability through the authors' software artifacts—has been a significant challenge historically within the community. The author refers to Collberg and Proebsting’s 2016 paper, which critiques the lack of repeatability and outlines challenges such as incentives and technical barriers. Some improvements have been made,

Steve Ballmer's incorrect binary search interview question

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/programming

In a game proposed by Ballmer, participants guess a number between 1 and 100, receiving feedback on whether their guess is high or low. The payout for the first correct guess starts at five dollars and decreases with each subsequent guess, potentially resulting in payments to Ballmer. Ballmer argues against playing, citing two main reasons: he can select numbers that are tough to guess, and that the expected value of the game is negative, meaning players are likely to lose money. However, the analysis

It's not just MV3 - Chrome's extension development experience is a problem

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/programming

Mitchell Kossoris shares his challenging journey as a Chrome extension developer since launching his first product in 2018. Initially excited, his experience soured due to communication issues, policy changes, and takedown threats from Google, which led to a significant decline in users for his extension, SynQ (formerly YTM+ for YouTube Music). Despite growing to 40,000 users, the user base halved by early 2024, largely because of Chrome's poor developer relations and

The motor turns too much

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: Hacker News

This is part 4 of the "Kona EV Conversion" series, detailing the creation of a "Bench Kona" in the author's shed. This setup includes various components salvaged from a crashed Hyundai Kona, such as the motor, drive unit, battery pack, and original wiring. The progress is hindered due to post-holiday delays. The author uses a donated wooden bench for its versatility, but notes that the Kona Electric is highly complex, incorporating multiple CAN buses and numerous electronic modules. The

Does Open Source AI really exist?

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/programming

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) has released Release Candidate 1 of the "Open Source AI Definition," highlighting its role in defining what constitutes "Open Source" software. The OSI’s mission is to clarify which licenses qualify as Open Source, as licenses can impose various restrictions that impact user interaction with the software. The selection of a software license is significant, as it determines the rights and obligations associated with the code, such as whether modifications must be shared (as with the GPL) or if they

Short Ruby Newsletter - edition 111

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/ruby

On October 28, 2024, Lucian Ghinda and Neenu Chacko shared updates relevant to the Ruby community. They highlighted several launches, including Jason Swett's new book, "Professional Rails Testing," and the second edition of the "Kamal Handbook" by Josef Strzibny. New features were announced, such as Socket's beta support for Ruby. Events were also noted, with ticket announcements for Brighton Ruby and RubyConf India, as well as speaker confirmations for Tropical

Using SQLite as Storage for Web Server Static Content

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/programming

Clace is designed for building web applications, particularly internal tools, combining functions typically managed by both web and application servers. It uses SQLite for storing application files and metadata, a decision made to enable atomic version changes during updates. This method allows multiple files to be updated in a single transaction, preventing broken web pages from being served during app updates. Clace uploads files from GitHub or local disks to the SQLite database during app creation and updates, favoring this approach over traditional file systems. The use

Jujutsu: a new, Git-compatible version control system [LWN.net]

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/programming

LWN offers a free trial subscription for readers to stay updated on the Linux and free-software community with exclusive features. Jujutsu is a distributed version control system, launched by Martin von Zweigbergk in 2019, that aims to serve as a simpler and more efficient replacement for Git. It features a simplified user interface and introduces concepts from patch-based systems for handling merge conflicts, and it's developed in Rust under the Apache 2.0 license. Unlike projects built on Git,

Go library for in-process vector search and embeddings with llama.cpp

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: Hacker News

The content discusses a Go library designed for embedded vector search and semantic embeddings using the llama.cpp framework. It aims to provide an efficient solution for projects with small to medium datasets (under 100,000 entries), utilizing brute-force techniques and optimizations like SIMD to deliver accurate and fast results. The library supports GGUF BERT models and GPU acceleration for improved performance. The library is straightforward to use, enabling users to generate embeddings, create a search index, and perform searches with minimal complexity. Precompiled

How AutoMQ Reduces Nearly 100% of Kafka Cross-Zone Data Transfer Cost

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/programming

The article, co-written by Vu Trinh and Kaiming Wan from AutoMQ, discusses the growing adoption of Apache Kafka in cloud infrastructures and the challenges that users face in operating it, particularly regarding data transfer costs. It highlights that cross-AZ (Availability Zone) transfer fees can exceed 50% of total costs, a critical concern for companies using Kafka. The authors reference WarpStream's approach to mitigate these costs by ensuring client communication occurs within the same AZ. They then introduce AutoMQ,

Letters by Oliver Sacks review

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: Hacker News

The content highlights the early life of Oliver Sacks, a prominent neurologist and writer, who moved to San Francisco in 1960. Disillusioned with English academia and facing personal challenges related to his sexuality, Sacks sought freedom and opportunity in America. His interest in literature, particularly poetry, played a significant role in his emotional development and identity. Upon arriving in San Francisco, he began his medical career while also pursuing writing, inspired by notable figures like poet Thom Gunn. The narrative touches on

KmpEssentials (Kotlin Multiplatform) Api Documentation Site

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/programming

KmpEssentials is a library offering over 35 APIs designed to enhance development across platforms such as iOS, Android, and Apple Watch. It facilitates tasks like battery management, file system operations, package information retrieval, and photo capture. To begin using KmpEssentials, import the library into your project, which can be found on MVN. For Android development, initialize the framework in your Activity's onCreate method. For projects using Android Compose, additional steps are needed, including installing

Write code that is easy to delete, not easy to extend

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: /r/programming

The excerpt discusses the implications of code maintenance in software development, particularly emphasizing the challenges of code reuse and the complexity it introduces as projects grow. It presents a philosophy shift in how to regard lines of code—not as units produced but as costs incurred. By framing code as “lines spent,” deleting unnecessary code becomes a method for reducing maintenance burdens. The author advocates for creating disposable software rather than reusable code to facilitate easier modifications, suggesting strategies such as avoiding unnecessary dependencies, layering APIs for simplicity, and isol

The Influence of Japanese Archaeology on the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: Hacker News

The article by Jean-François Cudennec examines the role of time in Nintendo's Zelda franchise, highlighting how it influences gameplay and player experience. In "Ocarina of Time" (1998), time is a gameplay mechanic that allows players to switch between a young Link and an adult Link, showcasing differing perspectives and the transformation of Hyrule from innocent to grim. "Majora’s Mask" (2000) restricts time travel to a three-day cycle, emphasizing the urgency

ATL: A layer to run Android apps on Linux

Published: 2024-10-28 | Origin: Hacker News

Please provide the content you would like me to summarize.

Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (October 2024)

Published: 2024-10-27 | Origin: Hacker News

The author is developing an integration between two ecommerce systems to optimize the delivery of boxes of coffee and organic produce in the Seattle region. The goal is to redirect coffee shipments away from traditional carriers like USPS/FedEx when deliveries go to the same area, saving the coffee company 50% on shipping costs while compensating the delivery company for extra space in their vans. The integration involves complex custom label generation and mapping/routing to align with existing workflows of both companies. This system allows multiple local stores to