Hacker News Reader

artimaeison Tracking down the 16-year-old WAL-reset SQLite bug

Just FYI - with Tailscale you can switch SSO providers by putting in a support ticket. I did it last year and it was a breeze.

artimaeison “This is not the computer for you”

You make some great points here. Here’s one of the places I’m coming from that seems to be aligned with the author of this.

I find macOS to be a superior OS for doing computer work to all the alternatives. It still sucks for a lot of reasons, but to my taste it generally sucks less. I’m a web dev, so I host a lot of crap in Linux, and I’m pretty confident in using it as a desktop. But the general day to day experience I find macOS superior.

There’s plenty of people in similar boats, and this is the most affordable machine (new, not used) that lets someone get to use macOS.

For a lot of people with budget limits I’d point them to used MacBook Air models rather than the Neo, but having this as a new model is a really nice option for some people.

Also you can call the Neo CPU slow but its benchmarks run circles around anything you find at its price range. Those machines have more RAM and storage, but the Neo will likely provide a more responsive experience than anything in its price range.

artimaeison “This is not the computer for you”

Asahi only supports M1 and M2 series Macs currently. The Neo uses an A18 Pro, which was only ever in an iPhone before. I wouldn’t count on Asahi coming to these soon.

artimaeison UUID package coming to Go standard library

My first, and primary, programming language was C# which includes probably too large a standard library. It was definitely a surprise to see how minimal/simple other standard libraries are!

artimaeison An Enslaved Gardener Transformed the Pecan into a Cash Crop

For a camera exposing onto Kodak 5254, probably the fastest available in 1975, blazing ISO 100 film stock. Yeah it’s dim for that. To your eyes as I understand it’s pretty well lit.

artimaeison KORG phase8 – Acoustic Synthesizer

Demos are on the feature page: https://phase8.korg.com

artimaeison Apple Creator Studio

No, fta:

> Alternatively, users can also choose to purchase the Mac versions of Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage individually as a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store.

artimaeison The first new compass since 1936

Magnetic induction damping compasses have traditionally used a flat plate under the needle in order to arrest the motion of the needle. This component is not transparent. By removing the plate and adding the ring, you can see through the face, providing the benefits of a liquid damped compass without the possibility of a bubble forming.

artimaeison Native vs. emulation: World of Warcraft game performance on Snapdragon X Elite

It offers native x86, Windows on ARM, and Apple Silicon versions.

I think this is incorrect. Specifically the Windows ARM support. Official hardware support page indicates that the Windows version requires x64. I unfortunately don’t have the hardware to confirm for myself. But Blizzard is the kind of company that would have made a blog post about that.

https://us.support.blizzard.com/en/article/76459

This is neat, and exciting that Windows emulation tooling is progressing! It seems like there’s a lot of work hardware vendors would need to do in order to make Win/Arm viable for game devs. I really wonder if that’s ever going to happen.

artimaeison Ask HN: Modern C# book for experienced developers?

You specified working with web and .NET Core (now just called .NET). Given the scope of modern .NET I don't think I can recommend a single book, but I've tried to order this in how I see them as most to least impactful for a dev.

For web dev specific guidance it's hard to beat ASP.NET Core in Action by Andrew Lock. Check out Lock's blog too at https://andrewlock.net, it's a great source of new features happening in ASP.NET. He does go into publishing an app on both Windows and Linux, with a decent guide to both. But you'll probably want to read through MSDN docs on that as well, I don't think there's a book that goes in very deep on that.

For generally writing modern C# using .NET, I like Code like a Pro in C# by Jort Rodenburg.

For a quick tour of modern C# features C# 12 in a Nutshell by Albahari is basically the reference guide. 12 is the latest, grab any of them from probably 7 up for a decently modern take.

artimaeison Learning music with Strudel

Running fine here on Safari 26.1 (Tahoe 26.1).

artimaeison Samsung's 60% DRAM price hike signals a new phase of global memory tightening

The Phoebus cartel didn't collude just to make the light bulbs have a shorter lifespan. They upped the standard illumination a bulb emitted so that consumers needed fewer of them to see well. With an incandescent you have a kind of sliding scale of brightness:longevity (with curves on each end that quickly go exponential, hence the longest lasting light bulb that's so dim you can barely read by its light). The brighter the bulb, the shorter the lifespan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb7Bs98KmnY

artimaeison Static Web Hosting on the Intel N150

Happy to share the report from the ME Mini box (below). But the other one is running Windows so I can't help there. Thanks to this I was able to find I'd initially left off secure boot and was able to fix a couple of its suggestions at least, but if I'm understanding the HSI status and coreboot needs, there's fuses flipped that would prevent it.

  WARNING: UEFI capsule updates not available or enabled in firmware setup
  See https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd/wiki/PluginFlag:capsules-unsupported for more information.
  Host Security ID: HSI:0! (v2.0.8)
  
  HSI-1
   csme override:                 Locked
   csme v0:16.50.15.1515:         Valid
   Platform debugging:            Disabled
   SPI write:                     Disabled
   Supported CPU:                 Valid
   TPM empty PCRs:                Valid
   TPM v2.0:                      Found
   UEFI bootservice variables:    Locked
   UEFI secure boot:              Enabled
   BIOS firmware updates:         Disabled
   csme manufacturing mode:       Unlocked
   SPI lock:                      Disabled
   SPI BIOS region:               Unlocked
   UEFI platform key:             Invalid
  
  HSI-2
   Intel BootGuard:               Enabled
   IOMMU:                         Enabled
   Platform debugging:            Locked
   TPM PCR0 reconstruction:       Valid
   Intel BootGuard ACM protected: Invalid
   Intel BootGuard OTP fuse:      Invalid
   Intel BootGuard verified boot: Invalid
  
  HSI-3
   CET Platform:                  Supported
   Intel BootGuard error policy:  Invalid
   Pre-boot DMA protection:       Disabled
   Suspend-to-idle:               Disabled
   Suspend-to-ram:                Enabled
  
  HSI-4
   SMAP:                          Enabled
   Encrypted RAM:                 Not supported
  
  Runtime Suffix -!
   fwupd plugins:                 Untainted
   Linux kernel lockdown:         Enabled
   Linux kernel:                  Untainted
   CET OS Support:                Not supported
   Linux swap:                    Unencrypted
   UEFI db:                       Invalid
  
  This system has a low HSI security level.
   » https://fwupd.github.io/hsi.html#low-security-level
  
  This system has HSI runtime issues.
   » https://fwupd.github.io/hsi.html#hsi-runtime-suffix

artimaeison Static Web Hosting on the Intel N150

I love how capable these tiny N150 machines are. I've got one running Debian for my home media and backup solution and it's never stuttered. I'd be curious about exactly what machine they're testing with. I've got the Beelink ME mini running that media server. And I use a Beelink EQ14 as a kind of jump box to remote into my work desktop.

artimaeison I do not want to be a programmer anymore

Sorry if I'm missing something obvious -- but how have you come to the conclusion that all the articles are AI generated?

artimaeison Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

I like smaller keyboards (80% or less) in both gaming and professional work because it lets me keep my hands and shoulders in a more natural position when I’m using the mouse.

A person with broader shoulders would probably have a different experience, but a full keyboard makes me feel like my mouse is either too close to the keyboard or too far to rest my shoulder.

artimaeison Preparing for the .NET 10 GC

For what it's worth, Maoni is the author's real name. Maoni0 is what they go by everywhere. You can find interviews and plenty of their other content if you search around a bit.

artimaeison The Art of Fugue – Contrapunctus I (2021)

For what it’s worth: plenty of people would refer to it, broadly, as classical music.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music_(disambiguat...

It’s not music from the classical period. Indeed, it’s from the baroque period. But in my decades of talking about and performing classical music, the term has never led to confusion.

artimaeison By default, Signal doesn't recall

I don't think they meant that 'only' in a temporal sense. Rather, they meant why that's the only platform they're implementing it on for the time being.

> "If you're wondering why we're [not implementing this on other platforms right now] [...]"

artimaeison Accountability Sinks

Every state in the US has some form of non-driver ID. They call them different things - but they're still usually administered by the state's DMV, since that's the office that is equipped to deal with identification procedures anyways.

In the US we don't have a standard form of national ID.

artimaeison 108B Pixel Scan of Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring

Click the "3D" button on the bottom-center toolbar to see the 3D scan artifact.

artimaeison I Cannot Be Technical

It's been a while since I read Rand - but I thought she felt that those monopolistic forces would use the government to empower that monopolistic behavior. What we're seeing is that if the government does nothing then that monopolization absolutely continues.

I don't see a way the free market alone could deliver us from this. Well crafted and enforced antitrust legislation seems to be the only thing that has ever worked against this kind of force. The key in that is making sure we don't elect an oligarchy who wields that antitrust to defend their interests.

artimaeison I Cannot Be Technical

She spent a lot of words making really solid arguments about how segregation has taken hold in some of the most influential and profitable sectors of the modern world. Let’s not pretend that casting people from it does not have consequences.

The technocracy does not tolerate other communities - that’s also another of her points. The powers that drive this machine are malignant and constantly striving for monopolization and domination. Competition has become a thing to be avoided, rather than relished.

artimaeison How much oranger do red orange bags make oranges look?

Dekupon oranges (branded Sumo in the US)! They’re my favorite. Just the right amount of sweet, and the easiest to peel I’ve ever had.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dekopon

artimaeison But what if I want a faster horse?

Seems like a variant of the cycle of geeks, mops, and sociopaths: https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths.

Since more of our culture is in online, advertising-dominated spaces -- the forces of capital have a lot of incentive to ensure smooth growth straight to the sociopath phase.

Maybe the key is just accepting the cycle of it all and ensuring there's always cool new places for creative/enthusiastic people to do their thing.

artimaeison The Difference Between Municipal Fire Trucks and Airport Fire Trucks

He cites his sources:

https://notjustbikes.com/references/firetrucks.txt

Re: the Baltimore FD

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2018/07/03/baltimore-city-counc...

And yes, the exception was granted just a few months later:

https://baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/city-council-passes-bi...

Even this article cites the fire department objections.

It's a shame that Not Just Bikes didn't seem to catch that the lane _did_ get built, but his point seemed to focus on FDs objecting to bike lanes, and I think that Baltimore story is a prime example of that.

artimaeison Are .NET 4.x and JDK 8.x the "zombie" runtimes of enterprise software?

Re: .NET WinForms -- they open sourced it a few years back.

https://github.com/dotnet/winforms

They even went so far as to bring back the forms designer to Visual Studio.

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/windows-forms-designer...

Obviously it's still a pretty sizable migration to go from .NET Framework to .NET, but at least the UI framework is available again.

artimaeison Declarative Web Push

This seems great, love the idea of fewer service workers needing to run in order to get web app notifications.

artimaeison War story: the hardest bug I ever debugged

If I understood correctly - the Math.Abs() value would be positive roughly half the time, regardless of the steps taken to get there. That seems definitively nondeterministic.

artimaeison Apple shuffles AI executive ranks in bid to turn around Siri

Lots of people in this thread (correctly!) pointing out Apple's struggles with releasing high quality user software on MacOS. But at least when they changed the System Settings UI in MacOS Ventura (10.13) they managed to stick the landing. Not that I necessarily _like_ the new Settings UI, but there's no jumping into old UIs to configure things.

Microsoft released Windows 8 in 2012, and here we are 13 years later using interaction panels that have only gotten minor chrome updates since their original release in Windows 95 (looking at you, Advanced System Settings and Device Manager).