alphaXiv is a new platform for open research discussion built on top of arXiv, aiming to enhance the way academic papers are discussed and ranked.
Users suggest improvements such as displaying papers directly on the front page, using HTML for better interaction, and implementing different ranking mechanisms to avoid bias towards controversial papers.
The platform faces challenges like verifying authorship of papers due to outdated or generic email addresses, and balancing the preference for PDF over HTML among academics.
Cruise operators are adopting "jumboization," a process of slicing ships in half and adding extra sections to lengthen them, to expand capacity and increase profits without building new ships.
The process, involving precise engineering, takes about nine months from planning to completion, with the actual cutting and welding taking just weeks.
New sections, costing around $80 million, significantly enhance the ship's revenue potential, making this technique common in the cruise industry to meet growing demand.
Cruise ships are being cut in half and extended, a profitable yet complex engineering process involving significant welding to maintain structural integrity.
This practice has historical precedents, such as with British WW1 destroyers and French submarines, and continues despite ecological criticisms and staff shortages.
The idea of long-term living on cruise ships is gaining popularity among retirees, highlighting the industry's appeal despite environmental and regulatory challenges.
The author critiques the Gnome Files UI, highlighting issues like confusing icons, unhelpful help functions, and inconsistent keyboard shortcuts.
Despite Gnome's philosophy of usability and elegance, the author finds the design frustrating and argues that many problems have known solutions from older paradigms.
The review concludes that while Gnome Files is functional, its UI has many objectively bad elements, suggesting that new design paradigms should be adopted with caution.
The post discusses usability issues in GNOME Files, particularly the difficulty of right-clicking in list view when the window is full, which prevents users from creating new documents or pasting content.
Users share their experiences and workarounds, such as using keyboard shortcuts or switching to icon view, highlighting the ongoing frustration with this UI design flaw.
The conversation also touches on similar issues in other file explorers like Thunar (XFCE's file browser) and compares GNOME Files to macOS Finder, noting both strengths and weaknesses in their design approaches.
Academic journals and repositories are increasingly encountering AI-generated research papers, particularly from ChatGPT, which mimic scientific writing and are listed on Google Scholar.
The presence of these AI-generated papers, especially on controversial topics, poses risks to the integrity of the scientific record and public trust in science.
Recommendations include implementing filtering options in academic search engines, developing evaluation tools for indexed journals, establishing a non-commercial academic search engine, and educating stakeholders about the risks of AI-generated content.
Concerns are rising over the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT in generating scientific papers and reviews, with some journals and conferences encountering LLM-generated content that lacks proper reasoning and accuracy.
The issue is particularly problematic in prestigious venues like ACL Rolling Review and NeurIPS, where the pressure on reviewers and the volume of submissions may lead to the use of LLMs for reviews, potentially compromising the quality and integrity of scientific discourse.
The debate highlights the need for better detection methods and policies to manage the use of AI in academic writing, ensuring that the content remains credible and trustworthy.
fenster is a minimal 2D canvas library by Serge Zaitsev, designed for simple pixel drawing without the complexity of SDL or OpenGL, and supports WinAPI, Cocoa, and X11.
microui by rxi is a small library for creating GUI elements, translating them into drawing bytecode, typically using SDL as a backend.
The author and Kartik developed a new backend to bind microui to fenster, resulting in a compact solution (under 250 LOC) for handling GUI elements with fenster, including mouse and keyboard input.
Strava, a running app, has experienced a 20% annual increase in users, reflecting a broader trend of people migrating from major social media platforms to niche hobby apps.
Apps like Strava, Goodreads, and Letterboxd are becoming new social networks, offering focused and civil community experiences, which users find preferable to the often toxic environments of larger platforms.
This shift is affecting dating apps, with Match Group (owner of Tinder) seeing a decline in stock value and user numbers, as people increasingly find connections through hobby-focused apps.
The discussion centers on whether hobby apps are becoming the new social networks, with users debating the benefits and drawbacks of location-based features and privacy concerns.
Examples like Reddit's location-based subreddits and Strava's Flyby feature highlight the potential for local community building but also raise significant privacy issues.
The conversation touches on the broader implications of social interactions facilitated by hobby apps, including the potential for healthier relationships and community engagement compared to traditional social media platforms.
A tech enthusiast built a dedicated LLM (Large Language Model) server using 8x RTX 3090 GPUs, totaling 192GB of VRAM, to run Meta’s Llamma-3.1 405B.
The setup includes an Asrock Rack ROMED8-2T motherboard, AMD Epyc Milan 7713 CPU, 512GB DDR4 memory, and three 1600-watt power supplies, highlighting the importance of hardware choices for AI projects.
Upcoming blog posts will cover system assembly challenges, PCIe connections, NVLink speeds, and benchmarking inference engines, providing valuable insights for those interested in building high-performance AI systems.
A 192GB VRAM AI setup was built in a basement to enhance data privacy and performance compared to platforms like ChatGPT.
The setup utilizes advanced techniques such as tensor parallelism, batch inference, and synthetic data generation.
The creator is developing a model from scratch, considering releasing a tutorial, and plans to blog about their findings, inviting questions and topic suggestions.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) has digitized and archived photos of hikers taken at their headquarters, thanks to a grant from the Quimby Family Foundation and volunteers.
The archive includes over 12,779 images of more than 18,000 hikers, scanned between January and April 2009, and is searchable by various criteria such as date and trail name.
Digital photos are also available at the A.T. Museum in Pennsylvania's Pine Grove Furnace State Park, which opened in 2010.
The Appalachian Trail Hiker Photo Archive (athikerpictures.org) has become a significant repository, preserving images of over 18,000 hikers scanned between January and April 2009.
The archive has evoked emotional responses, with users finding photos of friends and loved ones, some of whom have passed away, highlighting the personal and historical value of the collection.
The project has inspired many, including those who have hiked the trail and those who aspire to, by providing a visual connection to the trail's community and history.
Iain M. Banks's Culture novels present a utopian future blending anarchism and socialism, where citizens enjoy radical freedom under superhuman systems of planning and manufacture.
The Culture series is known for its appealing characters, warmth, and humor, setting it apart from other grand-scale science fiction.
Recommended starting point is "Player of Games," with further exploration into titles like "Matter" and "Surface Detail," and eventually "A Few Notes on the Culture" for detailed worldbuilding.
Iain M. Banks' Culture series generates diverse opinions, with fans discussing the philosophical and practical implications of advanced AI on human freedom and meaning.
Some readers view humans in the Culture as pets to AI Minds, lacking true agency, while others appreciate the utopian aspects of the series.
The series prompts debate on whether the Culture represents a utopia or a dystopia, highlighting the complex relationship between humans and AI.
The discussion revolves around spomenik monuments, their historical significance, and contemporary views, including resources like the Spomenik Database and related films.
Users debate the ethics of skateboarding on these monuments and compare the abstract nature of spomenik art to traditional memorials.
The conversation also addresses the political undertones and historical accuracy of the original article, with some users expressing concerns.
Home server racks are increasingly popular, but their placement and size can cause issues, as one user experienced with a large AV rack in their basement.
DIY solutions like the IKEA Lack Rack and alternatives such as military surplus racks were discussed, with some users recommending used racks to save costs.
The conversation also addressed the noise and practicality concerns of having server racks in home environments.
A user created a bot that could infer the mood of a conversation and decide whether to engage, sparking a discussion on the behavior and limitations of Large Language Models (LLMs).
Users noted that LLMs can sustain nonsensical conversations longer than humans, highlighting potential uses in customer service and challenges in distinguishing between human and bot interactions.
The conversation also covered the technical aspects of LLMs, their training, and the ethical implications of deploying such technology.
The argument emphasizes the importance of hiring junior engineers to foster a culture of teaching and learning, which drives innovation.
Juniors encourage knowledge sharing and challenge senior assumptions, leading to breakthroughs and fresh perspectives, as evidenced by innovations like Twitter and Firefox.
A balanced team of juniors and seniors promotes psychological safety, reduces burnout, and resembles a high-performing research lab, driving continuous improvement and innovation.
Companies benefit from hiring junior developers as it promotes a culture of teaching, collaboration, and continuous learning.
Encouraging juniors to ask questions during code reviews helps senior developers understand their code better and consider edge cases, enhancing team learning and product quality.
While some argue that small pull requests (PRs) and frequent reviews can hinder design discussions, balancing junior and senior talent with a focus on communication and a supportive environment is crucial for a successful development team.
Google has rewritten the firmware for protected virtual machines in its Android Virtualization Framework using Rust, emphasizing its security benefits over C and C++.
Android engineers Ivan Lozano and Dominik Maier highlighted Rust's ability to reduce memory safety vulnerabilities, despite its steep learning curve and some developer resistance.
The US government and tech firms support this shift, with Google claiming increased productivity among Rust developers and expanding Rust's use across its platforms.
Google asserts that transitioning from C/C++ to Rust in firmware development is straightforward, but developers note several challenges, including long compile times and immature RTOS (Real-Time Operating System) options.
Despite these issues, Rust's safety benefits, such as memory safety and concurrency, make it an attractive option for many developers.
The debate on whether to switch from C/C++ to Rust continues, with some developers valuing Rust's productivity and safety improvements, while others prefer the familiarity and stability of C/C++.
LuaJIT is adding full interpreter and backend support for RISC-V 64 architecture on Linux, including various extensions and ABI (Application Binary Interface) support.
The patchset, contributed by infiWang, includes 21 commits that cover a wide range of functionalities such as register definitions, JIT (Just-In-Time) compiler hooks, and disassembler support.
This update is significant as it enhances LuaJIT's compatibility with the RISC-V architecture, a growing open-source hardware instruction set, making it more versatile for developers and researchers.