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kc0bfv

144 karma · joined December 29, 2011

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kc0bfv··on Python numbers every programmer should know
I agree - however, that has mostly been a feeling for me for years. Things feel fast enough and fine.

This page is a nice reminder of the fact, with numbers. For a while, at least, I will Know, instead of just feel, like I can ignore the low level performance minutiae.

kc0bfv··on An Analog Network of Resistors Promises Machine Learning Without a Processor
As the newcomer to the, very entrenched, block, I think the memristor has a lot of momentum to overcome. In a EE undergrad (2007, so it has been a bit) we spent plenty of time understanding resistors, capacitors, and inductors. We looked at example circuits and uses, we learned the math and theory... We developed intuition around them.

Memristors were the missing fourth, and "imagine what you could do with that!" My imagination did not extend very far. Everything was being built with those other three and the non-linear components.

It'll take a while to overcome that momentum.

I feel like IPv6 has a similar barrier. I'm mostly an infosec nerd and I've been through a lot of training and education. Never once seen IPv6 treated beyond, "it has more bytes, firewall it off".

kc0bfv··on Find Verified Journalists on Mastodon
Keyoxide and similar are a great way to establish and verify identity across a variety of platforms, and are open to more than just journalists.

https://keyoxide.org/

kc0bfv··on Curio – Notebook application for note-taking and research
Tiddlywiki is fun and useful- especially in environments where they don't let you run anything other than webpages...
kc0bfv··on Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
And to the kids I say - you can make a videogame. That was always compelling to me, although I knew I'd never be a game developer professionally.
kc0bfv··on Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
Programming a computer is a way of thinking. It in some ways involves the same thinking as determining how to break down a mechanical manufacturing process, or parts of team management (sport or industry), or legal arguments, or considering how biology works.

Basic logic is part of this, as is process decomposition, as is just learning a new way of communicating and many other things.

Learning new ways of thinking makes us flexible individuals. It fosters creativity. These are skills we all need in society, but the modern economy especially.

This is actually, I think, a compelling argument (aimed at adults who are deciding what children will do, less so the children themselves) for almost any subject.

kc0bfv··on Texas lawmaker wants to know what books on race, sexuality are in schools
And that the person making these inquiries is a, "founding member of the House Freedom Caucus"? (Thanks @finite_jest for the news article https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/26/texas-school-books-r...)

Unfortunately just like putting "democratic" in your country name - if you have to put "freedom" in your name it's a good sign you are going for anything but.

kc0bfv··on Natural gas customers in Texas get stuck with $3.4B cold-snap surcharge
A bit of a follow on from an earlier article:

Texas gov knew of natural gas shortages days before blackout, blamed wind anyway

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/texas-gov-knew-o...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27234151

kc0bfv··on Hit me with a wrench all you want, I can’t tell you my password
You should have asked the other patrons.
kc0bfv··on Signs that can reveal a fake photo (2017)
Ok - I like this for some use cases. To restate my understanding so you can tell me I'm wrong if I am:

I think that it's still the user's job to make sure that they are skeptical of the provenance of any photos that claim to be from, say, the NY Times, that are not viewed in the NYT's viewer (if they were using your system). And then, they should still trust the image only as far as they trust the NYT. But if they're viewing the image the "right" way they can generally believe it's what the NYT intended to put out.

And perhaps, over time, user behavior would adapt to fit that method of media usage, and it would be commonplace.

I am skeptical that that "over time" will come to pass. And I think that users will not be apply appropriate skepticism or verification to images that fit their presuppositions. And I think malicious players (like some mentioned in the article) will attempt to build and propagate user behavior that goes around this system (sharing media on platforms that don't use the client, for instance).

And I guess making that broad set of problems harder or impossible is really what I'd like to solve. I can see how your startup makes good behavior possible, and I guess that's a good first step and good business case.

kc0bfv··on Signs that can reveal a fake photo (2017)
I can see how then a journalist source could use this to help prove their integrity. And I like that as a solution for that...

But - I don't really see that as the issue today. Those outlets that are interested in lying don't have to participate in this Blockchain chain of proof system. The malicious entities like political groups cited in the article definitely don't have to participate. It's still really on the viewer/spreader of the fake images/misinformation to verify the images, and to only rely on verifiable images. But I think a system like that would leave out most of the population who simply don't care.

Perhaps my worry about leaving out that chunk of population means this problem is unsolvable - and therefore my point is unfair. But I do think we need some solutions that are practical for widespread acceptance and use. If I can't imagine my parents (who are tech literate) would participate, and can't imagine some of my non-nerd friends wanting to participate, I don't think it solves the problems I'd like systems like this to solve.

kc0bfv··on Signs that can reveal a fake photo (2017)
But this only works if all views of the images employ your client... If I download an image (screenshot if necessary), modify it, and host it myself, how does the system work then?

And, unless all users trust only things viewed securely, and distrust things viewed nonsecurely (out of your client), then misinformation and fake photos can still propagate, right? (Or, how does the system handle this?)

kc0bfv··on Signs that can reveal a fake photo (2017)
In this scenario, it would almost certainly have to be that manufacturers would have to build cameras that cryptographically sign the images and videos. The cameras would have to be able to have that ability, install of the manufacturers doing the signing.

And then what would the Blockchain provide in this case? A chain of cryptographically signed certificates back to a manufacturer is basically the same system we use on the web today TLS certs. No Blockchain required.

And a major problem with that system is making sure the camera only signs genuine images. A nation state actor, or even a large political operation, is going to have an incentive to bypass the protections on that camera - perhaps just driving what the CCD is telling the rest of the camera - so they can produce signed fakes.

That's if they can't just get the private key off the camera, perhaps through a side channel attack - which can be pretty tough to pull off but is very tough to really defend against. Get a private key, game is over for the fraudster.

kc0bfv··on In a patch of Arizona, everyone knows Waymo, but few use it
"Once it works properly, you won't need to spend anything at all on marketing... people will flock to it in droves."

I agree.

However this really remains to be seen. If Waymo got everything working as right as they could it might still fail. This is a culture shift you're talking about, and even when past tech has required less to shift some has failed.

kc0bfv··on Gail.com
Recent relevant XKCD. Average Familiarity.

https://m.xkcd.com/2501/

kc0bfv··on Counterfactuals are not causality
'All three statements using "because" are counterfactual.'

No - the definition the article refers to is this: adjective - relating to or expressing what has not happened or is not the case.

I used "because" to illustrate the "looking for root cause" use case, like what the article was referring to. Regardless, that doesn't make it counterfactual per the definition the author is using.

To me the part that makes the counterfactual less useful when determining root causes is the human element the author mentions - looking for root cause tends to stop once they're brought up (they're the end of the causal chain in discussion), and blame starts to get assigned. I've seen that happen, and it hasn't helped resolve the issue, so avoiding that seems useful. I don't see a problem with using a counterfactual statement if it really is the root cause and I'm blaming myself for something.

kc0bfv··on Counterfactuals are not causality
Sure.

"I'm tired because - I stayed up all night playing games", or, "I'm tired - because my child screamed all night long," are more along the lines of what the post suggests are useful, and I can see how they're fundamentally more useful to getting at the root cause than the counterfactual, "I'm tired because I didn't sleep."

But this example is very simple and makes the argument less important I'd say.

kc0bfv··on Recreating an Old “Dirty Gamedev Trick” (2019)
All of the higher level systems map down to something very low level, like a syscall or writing to a specific memory address in a specific pattern. The layers of abstraction between the lowest levels and the highest levels can get pretty dizzying, but understanding even a piece of it reveals how fantastic the whole system is.
kc0bfv··on Police raids across Europe after encrypted phone network shut down
In a cop show, they'd bust everyone they could with the info they have. Then they'd say something publicly like, "the work is only starting", to make the folks they can't bust nervous enough to do something stupid.

The Galaxy brain move is maybe to realize that this news will cause the crims to move to a new network, and to have one waiting for them.

E:sp

kc0bfv··on Zero Data App
This was my first time seeing it - looks like there's a small community around it. Their website lists two hosting providers now...
kc0bfv··on Local PDF Tools – Powered by WebAssembly
Thanks for that - I haven't tried it there...

Yup - single file operation was a design goal, but I bet there's a better way to get it working than the hack I used.

kc0bfv··on Local PDF Tools – Powered by WebAssembly
There are a few versions of tools like this, or similar, available. Here's mine:

https://kc0bfv.github.io/WASM-PDF-Combiner/

I used existing wasm compiles of PDF tools. This use of wasm is pretty awesome to me - I often end up working on very restricted desktop clients with little customization possible, but they always let me run a browser.

kc0bfv··on Ask HN: Always on low power home server
I used a ShivaPlug and part of it melted. I was glad when I had planned for that by putting it on a low risk surface - it came with a cord option, and I was using that partly because I also don't like the strain it was likely to induce on the outlet.
kc0bfv··on How to have better arguments online
I've resolved several online arguments that started in response to opinions I've shared. The methods the article mentions are methods I've used, usually because they seemed like natural ways to chill the situation.

I'm not sure I've ever changed anybody's mind online, but I try to always keep in mind that that is not my goal. When others disagree I try to make sure my opinion is understood, and I try to understand their opinion too.

One benefit to online argument over in-person is that it's easier to take time to reflect on my own reactions to others. I can take time to decide how to react. In-person it's often impossible to do that.

I agree with most of what you wrote - I like being able to choose when to be "in the bubble" and when to not be in. I think we'll really benefit over time as people learn how to use these different forums better.

kc0bfv··on Police found pickup truck full of bombs and guns near Capitol
We're up to 5 deaths now.

Not to mention those that will result from COVID branching out from this event. Which - while less related - when considering the actions of the instigator are certainly notable.

DC has a ton of security, and it's basically only legal for them to possess the guns. Carrying guns openly in this area would lead to a quick arrest.

So - I think you're right that there was a lot of luck, but also there was a lot of preparation.

kc0bfv··on Twitter appears to have removed the president's last two tweets
US postal service?

Oh wait...

kc0bfv··on Vim³ – Vim rendered on a cube for no reason
Take your ctrl sequences and go back to Emacs ;-)
kc0bfv··on Geometrize: Turn Images into Geometric Primitives
Indeed, you seem to be correct. It gets a call-out down at the bottom of the page.
kc0bfv··on Apple apps on Big Sur bypass some firewalls and VPNs
I used my router for this purpose until recently. It was difficult to keep up with updates, partly because openwrt versions for my router lagged other versions for long periods.

I replaced my router recently and changed my strategy. Now the router is only a router (and firewall of course).

I have a raspi sitting next to it providing the wireguard vpn. This is easy to update and everything actually works better than in past. I attribute a large part of that to wireguard over openvpn, though...

kc0bfv··on Show HN: Create a Deep Fake Video from Any Image
Well, if you uploaded it to this site then you shared it with everybody potentially. They seem to be choosing videos that come out well as the demo videos.
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