Rich Hickey, the creator of Clojure, has announced his retirement from commercial software development.
Hickey will continue to lead the ongoing development of Clojure as an independent developer, along with the support of Alex, Stu, Fogus, and others.
Nubank has been thanked for their support and sponsorship of the core team, and Hickey expressed his appreciation for his colleagues at Cognitect.
Hickey also mentioned the new free availability of Datomic, highlighting his return to the freedom and independence he had when originally developing Clojure.
Regional telecom monopolies in Bountiful, Utah are resisting community-owned broadband networks, causing pushback and potential barriers for these initiatives.
The use of VPNs to access streaming services from abroad raises concerns about privacy risks.
There is a ongoing debate about whether a municipal broadband project should be subject to a public vote, leading to discussions on government research, funding for fiber networks, infrastructure projects, and community broadband. Additionally, discussions on various topics are happening on Twitter, and there have been issues with Patreon's payment processing, API changes, and positive feedback on a privacy extension.
Andrew McCalip created rocks on Day 8.5, focusing on the Meissner effect.
The Meissner effect is a phenomenon in which a superconductor expels all magnetic fields from its interior when it transitions into the superconducting state.
This creation by McCalip highlights the significance of the Meissner effect in the field of superconductivity.
The discussions encompass a range of topics, including the replication and credibility of the superconductor material LK99, the significance of time and rigorous verification in scientific research, and debates on gatekeeping and open access to information.
Opinions on the recent claim of room-temperature superconductivity and the different approaches of US and Chinese labs are also being discussed.
Issues related to academia and scientific funding, skepticism towards claims made on Twitter, the potential implications of room temperature superconductors, and frustrations with platforms like Twitter and paywalled content are also part of the conversation.
The Hacker News discussion covers a range of topics including private companies in regulation, food product quality, corporate influence, selling Hershey's chocolate in Germany, printer issues, and frustrations with printer companies.
Users share their experiences, opinions, and concerns, emphasizing the importance of government regulation, the impact of consumer choice, and the challenges of open-source printers.
The discussion primarily focuses on the quality, reliability, deceptive practices, and high costs associated with certain consumer brands.
A Korean team has made claims of discovering a room temperature superconductor named LK-99, which has received significant attention.
However, attempts to replicate the results have been unsuccessful thus far, casting doubt on the validity of the claims.
Multiple replication efforts have not observed any signs of superconductivity in LK-99, leading scientists to remain skeptical of its existence as a superconductor at ambient conditions.
Participants discuss the challenges and benefits of remote work, with a focus on communication, socialization, mentorship, and productivity.
The effectiveness of different communication methods and the importance of social interaction are examined in relation to remote work.
The impact of remote work on collaboration and problem-solving is explored, as well as the challenges faced by junior employees and the value of mentorship. Creating a supportive team culture and being adaptable are also emphasized in remote work environments.
The author examines the non-deterministic behavior of GPT-4 and attributes it to the Sparse MoE architecture's failure to enforce per-sequence determinism.
Experimental results and comparisons with other models are provided to support this hypothesis.
The implications of these findings on GPT-3.5-Turbo, which may have a similar architecture, are also explored.
The discussion focuses on determinism in AI models, particularly GPT-3 and GPT-4, and how the use of sparse MoE can lead to non-deterministic behavior.
Concerns are raised about potential side channel attacks and the impact on reliability and adoption of AI models.
There is a debate about whether the non-deterministic behavior is a bug or intentional design choice, with some arguing that sacrificing determinism for performance is acceptable. Reading scientific papers, understanding context, and honing in on specific interests are highlighted as important practices in the field of AI and machine learning.
The discussions center around the challenges and potential solutions for addressing climate change.
There is debate about the effectiveness and risks of geoengineering, including sulfur emissions reduction and atmospheric injection of SO2.
Participants highlight the need for lifestyle changes, technological advancements, and a global shift in mindset to combat climate change.
Concerns are raised about the urgency of the climate crisis and the effectiveness of current measures.
Climate models, political and economic systems, and the potential consequences of underestimating temperature rise are discussed.
Topics like immigrants, manipulation of the masses, and books related to climate change are touched upon.
The debate also extends to the construction of new nuclear power plants and the decarbonization of electricity grids.
Solutions like carbon capture, solar and battery technologies, and reducing the global population are mentioned, with differing perspectives on their feasibility and effectiveness.
The oceans have reached their highest recorded temperature, surpassing the previous record with an average daily global sea surface temperature of 20.96C (69.73F).
Warmer oceans contribute to higher greenhouse gas levels as they have reduced ability to absorb carbon dioxide.
Rising ocean temperatures have negative impacts such as disrupting marine species, affecting fish stocks, accelerating glacier melting, and causing sea level rise.
The discussion on Hacker News covers various topics such as capitalism, technological progress, consumerism, climate change, and population growth.
Participants express concerns about the negative effects of greed and profit-seeking behavior on society and the environment.
Alternative solutions to address wealth inequality and the climate crisis are proposed, with a focus on global leadership and immediate action to combat climate change.