HackerNews Summary (2023-06-13 02PM)

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Tech

Source: Cormac McCarthy, Novelist of a Darker America, Is Dead at 89

Summary
Cormac McCarthy, the legendary author known for his dark and macabre themes, died at the age of 89 at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His novels were marked with violent themes like scalping, arson, incest, rape, and cannibalism, and he refused to conform to the conventional literary world by shying away from interviews, readings, and jacket blurbs.

Fact

  • 💀 Cormac McCarthy’s novels were marked with graphic violent themes like scalpings, beheadings, arson, rape, incest, necrophilia, and cannibalism.
  • 👥 McCarthy’s protagonists were outsiders, like him.
  • 🚫 McCarthy refused to give interviews, do readings, or commit to teaching writing.
  • 📚 He never provided jacket blurbs for other authors’ books.

    • Source: Apps on Google Play

    Summary
    Blackpage is a social blogging platform that allows you to post content to the dark web from your mobile device. It is ad-free, built for geeks by geeks, with privacy in mind. No email account is needed to register.

    Fact

  • 📱 Blackpage allows you to post content to the dark web from your mobile device with ease.
  • 🕵️‍♂️ Built for geeks by geeks, the platform offers an ad-free and privacy-focused experience.
  • 📧 No email account is necessary to register on Blackpage.

    • Source: Reddit communities with millions of followers plan to extend the blackout indefinitely

    Summary
    Reddit moderators of over 300 subreddits are pledging to extend the blackout indefinitely in protest of the platform’s new pricey API pricing changes.

    Fact

  • 📉 Over 300 subreddits have committed to extending their blackout indefinitely as part of the protest.
  • 🗣️ Reddit administrators have been silent since the blackout began, with moderators demanding more action to be taken.
  • 🕑 Some subreddits may not be able to participate indefinitely, with alternative ways of showing support suggested.

    • Source: McDonald’s Just Dropped A Brand New Game Boy Game In 2023

    Summary
    McDonald’s celebrates Grimace’s fictional birthday by releasing Grimace’s Birthday, a Game Boy Color game, developed by Gumpy Function using GB Studio. The player controls Grimace on a skateboard through various platforming levels to locate his buddies so his birthday party can start.

    Fact

  • 🎮 McDonald’s released a brand new Game Boy Color game in 2023 titled Grimace’s Birthday, developed by Gumpy Function using GB Studio.
  • 🍔 The game was released to coincide with Grimace’s fictional birthday of June 12th and with the release of a limited edition meal.
  • 🕹️ Grimace’s Birthday is a fun platformer where the player controls Grimace on a skateboard to locate his buddies.
  • 💻 The game is available for free on McDonald’s website, and the ROM file has been shared online for emulation fans.
  • 💰 The article contains affiliate links to purchase items, and readers are prompted to order some McDonald’s and keep supporting their oddball, retro gaming-related projects.

    • Source: swetland/zx81-keyboard: ZX81 Mechanical Keyboard

    Summary
    This repository contains design files and exported versions for a mechanical keyboard compatible with the Sinclair ZX81 and ZX81+38. Careful review is advised before ordering hardware.

    Fact

  • 💻 The mechanical keyboard is compatible with the Sinclair ZX81 and ZX81+38.
  • 🛠️ The repository contains KiCAD files for the schematic and layout, as well as various exported versions and images.
  • 📄 The export directory contains PDF versions for online viewing.
  • 🎨 Custom keycaps were ordered via wasdkeyboards.
  • 🖥️ There are two versions of SVG files in the keycaps directory: “paths” and “text”.

    • Source: A note on Metal shader converter

    Summary
    Apple introduced Metal shader converter, which converts shaders from DXIL to Metal, but it doesn’t move us towards a world of robust GPU infrastructure. Metal is the only major GPU API that doesn’t support atomic barriers, which are necessary for some advanced compute techniques. Shader translation adds to the complexity of the already-complex GPU ecosystem.

    Fact

  • 👷‍♂️ Atomic barriers, present in HLSL since 2009, are not supported in Metal, hindering WebGPU’s performance and advanced compute workloads such as prefix sum and job queues.

    • Source: Leo Robinovitch @ The Leo Zone

    Summary
    Learned how to implement a hash table in C, understanding key concepts such as hash functions, the buckets array, collision resolution, and the heap vs stack in program memory management.

    Facts

  • 💾 A hash function takes a key and returns a deterministic number, which is used to store values in an array known as the “buckets” array.
  • 🔗 Buckets optionally contain the head of a linked list, in case of hash collisions. Buckets with many collisions can lead to poor performance.
  • 📝 Design decisions include hash function selection, initial bucket array size, collision resolution method (e.g. separate chaining, open addressing), and when to resize or compact the bucket array.
  • 🧠 The heap is a segment of program memory where variables live beyond a function’s scope, while the stack is scoped to a function and gets deallocated when the function returns.
  • 🔍 Common hash table implementations include dict in Python and map in Go and JavaScript.

    • Source: Tsutsuku (he/they): “#redditmigration #reddit One of my friends is a…”

    Summary
    Enable JavaScript or use a native Mastodon app for your platform to access Mastodon web application.

    Fact

  • 🔧 JavaScript must be enabled to use Mastodon web application
  • 📱 Native Mastodon apps are available for different platforms

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