HNHacker News
TopNewBestAskShowJobs

Demiurge

2,176 karma · joined March 18, 2013

[ my public key: https://keybase.io/demiurge; my proof: https://keybase.io/demiurge/sigs/PC80TXjKuT_opeUzYSzo3OTGtO1y0JK4BBGdTy8PDvk ]
submissionscomments
Demiurge··on The future of Python web services looks GIL-free
> If you really care about performance, probably best to avoid Python entirely

This has been true forever. Nothing more needs to be said. Please, avoid Python.

On the other hand, I’ve never had issues with Python performance, in 20 years of using it, for all the reasons that have been beaten to death.

It’s great that some people want to do some crazy stuff to CPython, but honestly, don’t hold your breath. Please don’t use Python if Python interpreter performance is your top concern.

Demiurge··on New updates and more access to Google Earth AI
That's a good example, yes. I think this one can actually be interpreted by multiple AI agents to do search on the algorithms, or could even train a model, and then run the model. How amazing would it be, if this could actually all happen based on a few prompts :)
Demiurge··on New updates and more access to Google Earth AI
How would you even define “most fertile grassland”? What does “fertile” mean - soil nutrients, water availability, or productivity for a specific crop? And what counts as “grassland”? Are you talking about a 1 acre parcel, something for sale, or land next to a road?

There’s already data for all of this: SSURGO soil maps, vegetation indices, climatology datasets, and more — that could help you find the “most something” in a given radius. But there are too many variables for a single AI to guess your intent. That’s not how people who actually farm, conserve, or monitor land tend to search; they start from a goal and combine the relevant data layers accordingly.

In fact, crop-specific fertility maps have existed for decades, based on soil and climate averages, and they’re still good enough for most practical uses today.

Demiurge··on French ex-president Sarkozy begins jail sentence
This is slightly off-topic, but is it "jail" or "prison"? I see this switch all the time, and French does not make a difference. But, in English, and many other languages, jail is more specific than prison, and is usually for short term or pre-sentencing holding. If someone is sentenced, it's usually a different facility called "prison". Is BBC making a mistake, or are they actually saying Sarkozy will be held in in an actual jail?
Demiurge··on RFCs: Blueprints of the Internet
I agree. RFCs have a niche use case, like a manual, or a glossary. They're there, if you need them, but few people are supposed to be implementing RFCs or internet from "blueprints" all the time.
Demiurge··on Python 3.14.0
New features

* PEP 779: Free-threaded Python is officially supported

* PEP 649: The evaluation of annotations is now deferred, improving the semantics of using annotations.

* PEP 750: Template string literals (t-strings) for custom string processing, using the familiar syntax of f-strings.

* PEP 734: Multiple interpreters in the stdlib.

* PEP 784: A new module compression.zstd providing support for the Zstandard compression algorithm.

* PEP 758: except and except* expressions may now omit the brackets.

Syntax highlighting in PyREPL, and support for color in unittest, argparse, json and calendar CLIs.

* PEP 768: A zero-overhead external debugger interface for CPython.

UUID versions 6-8 are now supported by the uuid module, and generation of versions 3-5 are up to 40% faster.

* PEP 765: Disallow return/break/continue that exit a finally block.

* PEP 741: An improved C API for configuring Python.

A new type of interpreter. For certain newer compilers, this interpreter provides significantly better performance. Opt-in for now, requires building from source.

Improved error messages.

Builtin implementation of HMAC with formally verified code from the HACL* project.

A new command-line interface to inspect running Python processes using asynchronous tasks.

The pdb module now supports remote attaching to a running Python process.

More details: https://docs.python.org/3.14/whatsnew/3.14.html

Demiurge··on The best worst hack that saved our bacon
What kind of API specifies that your number is int, uint, or bigint? According to a quick search, the formats for APIs are: JSON ~80%, XML ~15%, ~5% other.
Demiurge··on The best worst hack that saved our bacon
I don't understand, what was the issue with changing the column type from `int` to `bigint`? What does exposing the IDs have to do with how large those ints can be? This seems like a backend issue, if we're talking about HTTP/REST APIs. Now, if we're talking compiled C style APIs, then yes, obviously widening the types will cause issues. This is very important context that is missing from this article.
Demiurge··on How AWS S3 serves 1 petabyte per second on top of slow HDDs
There was an article or interview with one of the lead AWS engineers, and he said they use CDs or DVDs for cold glacier.
Demiurge··on UUIDv7 Comes to PostgreSQL 18
The next ID can't be found just by adding 1, can it? How would you guess the next value?
Demiurge··on If you are good at code review, you will be good at using AI agents
What if you use a different AI model? Sometimes just a different seed generates a different result. I notice there is a benefit to seeing and contrasting the different answers. The improvement is gradual, it’s not a binary.
Demiurge··on macOS Tahoe
Razer Blade is my windows laptop. The hardware is great, MacBook nice, but it needs the chip efficiency.
Demiurge··on macOS Tahoe
In some sense, some releases are always better than the previous version. Of course, Apple developers do some valuable work. However, there are changes that are not "undeniably better". I don't think every Sonoma feature was better. I don't want widgets, I don't want notifications, I don't want pretty much anything they've added in Tahoe. Not a single thing, that I'm aware of. And, now it's ugly as heck, to me.

I don't know what you're picturing, but I promise you, I am not being hysterical, I'm just annoyed. I feel like, when you "its hysterical", you think my mouth is foaming, my face is red, my heart rate is above average... It's definitely not. I'm just looking at CPU benchmarks and Windows ARM compatibility discussions. Honestly, it's kind of fun to have a reason to switch. I used to run hackintoshes, because Apple hardware was overpriced. But now, unfortunately, it is the other way around, and running Windows on M4 seems impossible.

Anyway, I don't think it's a huge deal, but it is definitely a straw that can break many peoples backs in terms of their preferred development environment. I know many people who have switched to Linux from the previous releases too. Un-hysterically, also.

Demiurge··on macOS Tahoe
It's not really hysterical to want to jump a ship that feels like is turning into a clown cruise. I can use Windows, Linux, and OSX equally well for work, even if I deploy to AWS in the end. However, I love the osx aesthetic and MacBook hardware, since around Snow Leopard, which is when I switched from Linux to OSX. Since then, OSX osx gotten worse with every release, and Tahoe is a very low, new low. At some point, it becomes not worth it. Just like it's not worth staying on the previous release of OSX while random apps and extensions lose compatibility. It's not hysteria, it's just the straw that breaks the camels back. The only thing is, I really like the M4 speed. There is nothing that runs as fast, and as cool, that I am aware of. If I wasn't doing a bunch of processing right now, I would probably switch. Non-hysterically.
Demiurge··on Next.js is infuriating
Thanks for sharing! :)
Demiurge··on Next.js is infuriating
Hmmmm, that sounds like it would work, but is also a bit concerning :) I’d rather not have some mystery bugs, and considering all the open issues in GitHub…
Demiurge··on Next.js is infuriating
Any thoughts on the Tanstack libraries? We use their query library, and ironically, it reminds me of ext.js tiny bit, but it's been pretty consistent.
Demiurge··on Next.js is infuriating
Maybe this is a good place to ask... but I was actually considering Next.js as a replacement for Gatsby.js project that is a few years old, but is growing at a steady pace. Given all the negative sentiments, what are better alternatives? I don't even use any SSR, or GraphQL capabilities. The main thing I liked about gatsby vs previous "bring your oown library(router)" are: very little configuring, nice dev server, easy to use plugins. It just solved many of the boilerplate tasks for me, and let me get on with react.js components, hooks, etc. I use Django backend for API, and static hosting for the frontend.

Potential alternatives I've found:

  * astro
  * remix
  * back to react-router... and there were multiple back when I used it! :(
Update: after some research, I really Tanstack router approach: https://tanstack.com/start/latest
Demiurge··on Use One Big Server (2022)
Yeah, I do confuse it, because I've been using Hetzner long before they had "cloud".
Demiurge··on Use One Big Server (2022)
Overall, I agree that most people underestimate the runway that the modern dedicated server can give you.
Demiurge··on Use One Big Server (2022)
I think it’s the other way around. I’m a huge fan of Hetzner for small sites with a few users. However, for bigger projects, the cloud seems to offer a complete lack of constraints. For projects that can pay for my time, $200/m or $2000/m in hosting costs is a negligible difference. What’s the development cost difference between AWS CDK / Terraform + GitHub Actions vs. Docker / K8s / Ansible + any CI pipeline? I don’t know; in my experience, I don’t see how “bare metal” saves much engineering time. I also don’t see anything complicated about using an IaC Fargate + RDS template.

Now, if you actually need to decouple your file storage and make it durable and scalable, or need to dynamically create subdomains, or any number of other things… The effort of learning and integrating different dedicated services at the infrastructure level to run all this seems much more constraining.

I’ve been doing this since before the “Cloud,” and in my view, if you have a project that makes money, cloud costs are a worthwhile investment that will be the last thing that constrains your project. If cloud costs feel too constraining for your project, then perhaps it’s more of a hobby than a business—at least in my experience.

Just thinking about maintaining multiple cluster filesystems and disk arrays—it’s just not what I would want to be doing with most companies’ resources or my time. Maybe it’s like the difference between folks who prefer Arch and setting up Emacs just right, versus those happy with a MacBook. If I felt like changing my kernel scheduler was a constraint, I might recommend Arch; but otherwise, I recommend a MacBook. :)

On the flip side, I’ve also tried to turn a startup idea into a profitable project with no budget, where raw throughput was integral to the idea. In that situation, a dedicated server was absolutely the right choice, saving us thousands of dollars. But the idea did not pan out. If we had gotten more traction, I suspect we would have just vertically scaled for a while. But it’s unusual.

Demiurge··on New research reveals longevity gains slowing, life expectancy of 100 unlikely
> Take jobs an American would otherwise fill

That's a big assumption. Yeah, take out all the H1b immigrant that came to this country since 1985, what do you think the US economy looks like, filled exclusively with Americans? Where do you think US economy would be? Where do you think the Silicon Vally would be now? Do you think US and Americans would be better off? Do you think that the economic input of the immigrants is net negative?

I don't think you need to answer. I think you've already said no, these workers, and their contibutions are net negative. I just don't see how that makes any sense, given they're clearly a big part of the economy.

Demiurge··on Tell HN: My advice after I applied to 450 positions before getting hired
Thats crazy to me. It takes am an hour to apply to one job, including finding some kind of a match, and some jobs are disproportionally harder due to weird questions.
Demiurge··on New research reveals longevity gains slowing, life expectancy of 100 unlikely
> In almost all cases immigration replaces the need for native births - the latter being a key component for a strong, safe culture that creates a happy median population.

Immigration in USA has multiple components, but it seems to be you're undervaluing the amount of opportunistic intellectual workers, who come here to participate in high level education, and entrepreneurial capitalism. But, here are the numbers across multiple sources (thx GPT):

  - High-skilled (H-1B + EB green cards + PhD retention): ~200–300k annually.
  - Low-wage (H-2A + H-2B + others): ~500k+ legally, probably >700k when including unauthorized inflows.
This a pretty good amount of brain power absorption, not just farm work.
Demiurge··on New research reveals longevity gains slowing, life expectancy of 100 unlikely
> - America integration doesn’t exist. The American strategy has always been leave people alone to keep living in their own culture. There is no actual American identity. The only things American have in common in the shared trauma of slavery and the civil war, and the founding myth which is why they remain so prevalent in the US modern discourse. Meanwhile, people will happily talk about "race" culture, half the country would be happy to slaughter the other half and culturally linked riots are a thing.

As an immigrant to USA, living here for 20 years, you're unequivocally wrong about this point. There is an American culture, and cult of "American dream". There are English as a Second Language programs, job integration programs, classes at every language of educations, rules and traditions for immigrant flow. The police, governments, and citizens of USA all know this is a country of immigrants and all have respect for immigrants, even if there is an "illegal" immigrant backlash right now. The threat of violence coming from political extremes absolutely does not represent the majority of people every day interactions.

In sum, American integration does exist, and I have first hand and second hand data to prove it. I'm not an expert on your other points, and I think you're trying to prove the sky is not blue, but genuinely, good luck.

Demiurge··on Tell HN: My advice after I applied to 450 positions before getting hired
50 job applications in a few hours?
Demiurge··on Tell HN: My advice after I applied to 450 positions before getting hired
Nice advice. How long did the process take? How many hours a day did you spend doing all this? You say, pace yourself, send a few hours, does that mean it took you months to find and apply to 450 jobs? Did you read company reviews on Glassdoor?
Demiurge··on Grok Code Fast 1
Sometimes it's obvious, but in this case, why are you downmodding my comment? I'm genuinely curious, what am I saying, that is so offensive or wrong?
Demiurge··on Grok Code Fast 1
I've actually seem really good outputs from the regular Grok 4. The issue seemed to be that it didn't explain anything and just made some changes, which like, I said, were pretty good. I never wanted a faster version, I just wanted a bit more feedback and explanations for suggested changes.

I recently found it much more valuable, and why I am now preferring GPT-5 over Sonnet 4, is that if I start asking it to give me different architectural choices, its really quite good at summarizing trade-offs and and offering step-by-step navigation towards problem solving. I am liking this process a lot more than trying to "one shot" or getting tons of code completely rewritten, thats unrelated to what I am really asking for. This seems to be a really bad problem with Opus 4.1 Thinking or even Sonnet Thinking. I don't think it's accurate, to rate models on "one-shoting" a problem. Rate it on, how easy it is to work with, as an assistant.

Demiurge··on Why Semantic Layers Matter (and how to build one with DuckDB)
Yeah, I think it's great that there are ARD formats and you can access bytes via low level s3 like protocol. This enables interesting tools like DuckDB which can abstract away some stuff, and be fastish and "serverless". However, clearly there is also some kind of marketing hype train and jargon built around it, and it seems like a concerted movement to displace some other "boring" and "uncool" products and technologies. I actually think it's great to displace proprietary services with open formats and protocols. I hope it takes out "data lakes" and co, but I'd love to keep MVC and not invent completely new terms, APIs and ORMs, for things that have been working fine, for a long time.
← PreviousPage 4 of 33Next →