Hacker News Reader

rx_txon NTP at NIST Boulder Has Lost Power

If you ever are in Paris, I can't recommend the Musee des Arts et Metiers enough. I believe they have the several reference platinum kilograms that are now out of spec. [1] they also have the original actual Foucault pendulum that was used to demonstrate Earth's rotation. (and a replica doing a live demo, of course)

They have so many incredible artifacts (for weights and measures but also so much more: engineering, physics, civil engineering, machining,...)

[1]: https://collections.arts-et-metiers.net?id=13404-0001-

rx_txon alpr.watch

On the topic of tricking the automated phone usage detection cameras this youtuber had an entertaining video where he built a car phone holder by molding his hand and making a replica.

https://youtu.be/Ud8kFCmalgg

rx_txon The Rapper 50 Cent, Adjusted for Inflation

> Based on 50 Cent's name being coined

I see what they did there.

rx_txon Hacking a Smart Home Device (2024)

I suspect hiding the manufacturer/model was very much on purpose, they blurred the markings on the PCB and hid the domain name for the manufacturer's API calls (and in the console logs as well).

rx_txon WWI's 'Dazzle' Camouflage Seemed Effective Due to Unexpected Optical Trick

H.I. Sutton did a great video [1] about it that also explains how it was beneficial due to the way enemy submarines had to estimate speed and heading and could get fooled.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw7vq_YD6JM

rx_txon Nvidia’s $589B DeepSeek rout

This article has good background, context, and explanations [1] They skipped CUDA and instead used PTX which is a lower level instruction set where they were able to implement more performant cross-chip comms to make up for the less-performant H800 chips.

[1]: https://stratechery.com/2025/deepseek-faq/

rx_txon Absinthe: From green fairy to moral panic

Gastropod is a great listen, and they did an absinthe episode, interesting history and details.

https://gastropod.com/absinthe-the-worlds-most-dangerous-dri...

rx_txon Linux/4004: booting Linux on Intel 4004 for fun, art, and no profit

the "World's longest song" is from John Cage, called As Slow As Possible and is played continuously on an organ in a church in Germany.

It will be completed in the year 2640.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Slow_as_Possible

rx_txon Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch

It's been a big pain for Tesla as well, where their tiny 8GB emmc on the center screen would fail since they logged to it too much... 134,000 vehicles recalled eventually after they denied it was an issue.

https://www.tesla.com/support/8gb-emmc-recall-frequently-ask...

rx_txon Panasonic Toughbook 40

the specs on the one in the article mention it's a multitouch RESISTIVE trackpad, so I don't expect it to be great, at all.

rx_txon Panasonic Toughbook 40

> Integrated tetra-array mic

That's definitely an uncommon way of saying quad microphone array.

It's an AI toughbook due to having a unspecified "1.4Ghz AI Boost NPU" which seems to be something Intel offers, and according to other websites, operates at 34 TOPS.

rx_txon NASA announces Boeing Starliner crew will return on SpaceX Crew-9

Maybe NASA still wants to get something for the money spent launching Crew 9 and get some science done, not just be a rescue mission. They don't want to cut that mission short.

rx_txon NASA announces Boeing Starliner crew will return on SpaceX Crew-9

A few tidbits/notes I took:

- They'll reconfigure Crew-8 for 6 occupants for contingency evac between Starliner undock and Crew-9 arrival.

- Starliner leaving ISS autonomously early September

- Crew 9 launching no later than Sept 24th with 2 crew + 2 empty seats

- Crew 9 coming back down in ~Feb 2025

rx_txon The guidance system and computer of the Minuteman III nuclear missile

If you want to understand GPS more, https://ciechanow.ski/gps/ is always an amazing read, witchcraft confirmed.

rx_txon East Germany invented 'unbreakable' drinking glasses

I tend to find large "Gigogne" Duralex mixing bowls often in Goodwill/second hand stores in the Bay Area, and I can't resist getting them. They're truly versatile and very sturdy, and they stack very well without getting jammed.

rx_txon ESA report shows unsustainable levels of orbital debris

What do you do with the added deltaV from the venting? (not sure if significant) It could send the already-out of control rocket stage/object to a weirder or worse orbit, increasing the changes of collision.

rx_txon The Race to Seal Helium HDDs (2021)

(2021)

rx_txon Twonkie: A USB-PD sniffer/injector/sink based on Google's Twinkie open hardware

ChargerLab's KM003C passes in Thunderbolt 4 correctly at least.

(source: I have one and can have it between my macbook pro and a TB4 dock and two displays work correctly)

rx_txon George Gorton Machine Co engraver typefaces

Exactly, they're plates to follow using a pantograph machine that will in turn engrave your piece. I love the "Himalaya" type in the article, very Art Deco.

If you want a demo of a vintage one, this video from Inheritance Machining [1] is a great watch. It also shows how you can change the scale by adjusting the lever arm positions.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7am-ysvGD3s

rx_txon Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

Logitech mice (like the MX3 master) have a profile toggle switch on the bottom that can swap between 3 different BT devices or their supplied dongles. Super fast and convenient.

rx_txon "I used a pin to unlock the cable connected to the Apple Vision Pro battery"

It's actually different than the OG Lightning, it's quite wider. (the tweet has comparison pics)

There's actually another undocumented pin-hole ejection feature in apple hardware. ifixit found during their teardown of airpod Max that you can disconnect/remove the earcup in one go with a sim tool, allowing for theoretical easy mix and match (or headband replacement) [1]

[1] : https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/AirPods+Max+Teardown/139369#...

rx_txon Americans are spending billions on stuff they forget to cancel

would a service like privacy[dot]com which generates custom one-off credit card numbers with custom spend limits be useful? (Not affiliated, I just use them from time-to-time exactly for that purpose)

rx_txon X-59 Rollout – The First Look at the Future of Supersonic Flight

Actual rollout video: https://youtu.be/KjCdGqgD9Bs?t=1238

rx_txon Show HN: A Chrome Extension to Skip Introductions on YouTube

Would be neat to maybe integrate it into SponsorBlock, which has similar functionality (but is crowd-sourced instead of using ChatGPT)

rx_txon Sphere and Loathing in Las Vegas

Mirror: http://archive.today/dqs0Y

rx_txon YouTube's ad blocker crackdown is getting harder to dodge

Almost everyone using an iphone to watch youtube, or using safari on Mac probably doesn't use any adblocking. I'd wager that's a significan part of the population in some countries (where Apple is dominant, like the US or Japan).

Similarly, most people on Android likely use the youtube app, and not the off-playstore ad-blocking alternatives, or Firefox + ublock.

rx_txon Samsung unveils monobloc heat pump for residential applications

That might make sense, but as it doesn't mention any cooling features, I assumed it was purely for (faucet) hot water. The fact that there's no tank is weird if it was for residential hot water, I think you're right that it's for heating. (or combo, with a separate hot water reserve for showers)

rx_txon Samsung unveils monobloc heat pump for residential applications

For other readers, this unit is a water heater, not an HVAC heat pump.

It would be interesting to compare it to other heat pump water heaters to get an idea if the performance is that much better, of if the interesting feature is its operating temperature range.