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exeldapp

95 karma · joined December 18, 2019

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exeldapp··on A different take on S-expressions
Not sure if that example helps. You can make any programming language hard to read without some basic formatting. The way I would write the sexpr would be:

  (impl
    (impl 
       p 
       (impl q r))
    (impl
       (impl p q)
       (impl p r)))
It's clear when each section begins and ends and doesn't require complex parsing rules.
exeldapp··on I failed a take-home assignment from Kagi Search
Yes, software is full of ambiguities but there are methods we use to handle them. OP emailed an outline wanting feedback, as any team player would do to iron out ambiguities, and received a meaningless reply. I think it's safe to say companies don't want their engineers going into a corner never to be seen again for 2 weeks, which is what this interview process recreates.
exeldapp··on Trapping misbehaving bots in an AI Labyrinth
I remember reading someone's shower thoughts that if the internet was completely safe there would be no need for Cloudflare, so it's in Cloudflare's best interest to keep the internet unsafe. It's an interesting thought even if a bit tinfoil hat-esque.
exeldapp··on Trapping misbehaving bots in an AI Labyrinth
I could imagine more sophisticated crawlers might be able to detect false information and then avoid those pages, but maybe that's more far fetched than how it comes across in my mind.
exeldapp··on Why Go?
I agree that it's good they looked passed typical corporate reasons. I admit it's still strange to see.

At the end of the day, companies like Microsoft are in the business of making money and that's one of the reasons they made C#. If they don't see the profit in using one of their own products (and one that competes with Go) in their future products then why would I use them for mine?

It's like if they used Google Cloud instead of Azure, it'd be very weird.

exeldapp··on Why Go?
Normally I don't think anyone would be losing their mind, but this is a Microsoft team creating a widely popular Microsoft product and they use a Google product (Go) instead of using another Microsoft product (C#) that is arguably competing with it. It strikes as odd why a Microsoft team isn't comfortable with/trusting a Microsoft product. I think it makes sense that some people are taking this in a way that maybe they shouldn't trust in C#'s future either.
exeldapp··on Don’t store cash in Venmo and PayPal, US regulator warns
I would argue that, yes, it is okay to expect your average person not to understand the law. Of course, it would be great if everyone understood everything (laws, in this case) but that's not feasible.

The FDIC being in place means the average consumer does not have to understand nor think about the economics of a bank, for example, that by depositing money into a bank you are a creditor to that bank.

exeldapp··on Examples using Photoshop’s new “Generative Fill” feature
Many products have been successful not because they bring new features to the market but because they make existing features trivial to use. UX is everything.
exeldapp··on OpenAI CEO's threat to quit EU draws lawmaker backlash
Sounds like his talking backfired.

"We need to regulate AI! No, not that much!"

There's no way OpenAI will quit EU and leave it for competitors to take, easy bluff to call. The whole thing makes it seem like the desire for AI-related regulation isn't ethics motivated and is instead only trying to make it harder for competition to start.

exeldapp··on I Still Use Windows 95 (2008)
I had similar thoughts when I was messing with Mac OS 7 and 8 a few months ago. I was astounded at how featureful most software was. Microsoft Word version 5 had every feature I possibly needed and was extremely fast, way faster than modern Word. It makes me wonder what has modern software added to justify making it so slow? Because it’s obviously, at least to me, not new features.

If I could I would be just like Andrew here but my work, and love for playing video games (modern and classic alike) prevents me.

exeldapp··on Snapchat sees spike in 1-star reviews as users pan the ‘My AI’ feature
I’ve seen that and also seen that if you ask it for the nearest Mcdonald’s and then ask how it got that it will say it used your IP address. I haven’t seen anyone test it by spoofing their IP, yet.
exeldapp··on Snapchat sees spike in 1-star reviews as users pan the ‘My AI’ feature
I second this. I’ve never used it, talk to friends, and yet it’s still sitting there at the top.
exeldapp··on ArmorPaint and ArmorLab: open-source alternative to Adobe Substance
Just as another data point, Substance tools can get even cheaper if you don’t care to have the whole collection. You can get the Substance 3D Texture pack which includes Painter, Designer, and Sampler for $19.99/mo or you can buy a perpetual license for this year’s version of Painter for $149.
exeldapp··on CD Projekt is remaking the first Witcher game in Unreal Engine 5
I would say yes and no. Yes, obviously the renderer is there but at the same time it's only doing what it was told to do. Taking Unity and Unreal as examples, you can make something look plastic, cartoony, realistic, a mixture, or really anything you want. Usually there will be art director(s) (or a someone with a similar title) that make sure the art/graphics stick with a certain look and feel so I would put the blame more on them than the engine.
exeldapp··on Pentaform launches AbacusBasic, the ‘world’s most affordable PC’
Putting the fact there’s cheaper options aside, who was this made for? They made an affordable computer supposedly for people without computers but it doesn’t have a screen, as if those people have ready access to a monitor or TV, and a 4K one at that. Maybe that’s not the target demographic?
exeldapp··on Humans did not evolve to ride bicycles (2017)
I’m curious why you say that. I put clip ins on my bike and it made a world of a difference being able to pull and push while pedaling. Are there better options?
exeldapp··on Light exposure during sleep impairs cardiometabolic function
I don’t live in an area with a lot of light pollution but have black out curtains for full moons and that hour or two after sunrise before I’m awake and they have made a noticeable difference.
exeldapp··on How I learned French in 12 months (2020)
I agree. Maybe there's some truth in the whole "brain plasticity" talking point but how long does it take a child to become fully comfortable with speaking and writing a language? 8 years? Longer? Compared to an adult who can accomplish that in about a year. And that is when the child has no choice but to use that language, since they know no other.
exeldapp··on Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
I don't doubt the number, but it does make me genuinely curious. How does this compare to other software? How much energy does running, for example, Facebook require? How much extra energy is required if you use a language like Ruby, PHP, Python, etc. versus a language like C?

It will be interesting to see how energy consumption will be a part of software in the future. I wonder if we will see something like "green" programming languages.

exeldapp··on Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?
It honestly looks like a low effort scam website.