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2023-04-29

Check if your IKEA chair is compatible with your screen​

News​

  • IKEA has developed an AR app that allows customers to see how IKEA products, like chairs, will look in their home before they buy.
  • The app utilizes Apple's ARKit framework and is available for iOS devices.
  • Customers can check if their IKEA chair is compatible with their computer screen or other devices to ensure a good fit.

Industry Reactions​

  • The post also emphasizes the importance of electrostatic discharge (ESD) safety in electronic work environments, with suggestions including using grounded equipment, anti-ESD bags, and avoiding direct grounding of chairs.
  • Multiple people report experiencing monitor issues caused by electrostatic discharges from cheap office chairs or other environmental factors, sparking humorous reactions but raising the issue of overlooked environmental factors in tech issues.

Cloudflare verification is breaking the internet​

Summary​

  • Cloudflare, a popular internet infrastructure company, is experiencing an intermittent outage caused by a bug in their DNS verification process.
  • The bug is causing websites to become inaccessible, leading to widespread disruption across the internet.
  • Some of the affected websites include Discord, Pinterest, and Shopify, among others.

Industry Reactions​

  • There is a need for alternative methods of verifying human activity on the web, such as domain validation and reputation systems.
  • Some users criticize the power dynamics and gatekeeping associated with verification systems and express the desire for increased privacy and less tracking.

Driver adventures for a 1999 webcam​

News​

  • Drivers stop being made for devices leading to obsolescence even for devices with consistent connectors like USB.
  • A 1999 Logitech QuickCam Express Webcam with no drivers since Windows XP was restored using a user space driver embedded in a program.
  • The restored device was made to work with modern-day operating systems and applications through V4L2 Loopback using FFMPEG for easy conversion into MJPEG.

Industry Reactions​

  • Users discussed improving image quality through pixel characterization and flat-field correction, as well as feeling nostalgia for similar technology they used in the past.
  • The project demonstrates the open-source community's support for old hardware and the challenges of working with legacy technology, particularly in regard to accessing historical information.

Is Gmail killing independent email?​

News​

  • Gmail's spam filtering is causing some self-hosted emails to end up in spam folders, limiting options for people and businesses who want their emails to be reliably received by Gmail.
  • Hosting your own email server is possible but requires sufficient technical knowledge and due diligence to ensure emails are not flagged as spam by email providers.
  • Google's power to decide whether a business is sending spam or not with its email filtering highlights the potential abuse of market power by larger tech companies in limiting the options of smaller services.

Industry Reactions​

  • Legacy cultural problems and the deep pockets of email providers are seen as the main issue with interoperability, and running your own email infrastructure is still viable and desirable.
  • The post discusses various strategies for managing personal email servers and the difficulty of avoid being labeled as spam, including using external email services and implementing explicit opt-ins.

Microsoft exec says Windows 11 kernel will soon be booting with Rust inside​

News​

Microsoft's EVP Jason Zander has revealed that the company plans to incorporate Rust into Windows 11's kernel. Rust is a programming language known for its memory safety and thread safety, making it an attractive choice for system-level coding. The use of Rust is aimed at improving the security and reliability of the Windows operating system. The move comes as part of Microsoft's efforts to enhance its security posture and reduce the number of vulnerabilities in Windows 11.

Industry Reactions​

  • Rust's memory safety features may improve performance in certain areas and increase security.
  • While some express excitement about Rust's benefits, others suggest that it alone will not be enough to prevent all vulnerabilities. Windows is also implementing stricter security measures to improve reliability.

News​

  • The article discusses a branchless binary search algorithm called "Shar's algorithm" described in a book written by John Bentley in 1982.
  • The algorithm uses a loop with a conditional move instruction instead of a branch statement, making it faster on GCC compared to std::lower_bound.
  • The variable "step" jumps in powers of two to find the middle element to search for, and the algorithm does more comparisons than the traditional binary search.

Industry Reactions​

  • Some commenters suggest optimization techniques for various hardware configurations, such as using SIMD instructions and prefetching, as well as the use of Profile-Guided Optimization with CMOV instructions.
  • Developers discuss performance issues with binary search for close to power of 2 sized data, and the thread showcases various perspectives on low-level optimization and trade-offs between language portability and hardware specificity.

How to spend money on your friends without it looking like bribery​

News​

  • It can be awkward when friends offer to pay for things like dinner or a vacation rental, as it can feel like a direct wealth transfer instead of a genuine gesture of generosity.
  • Instead, it can feel more authentic to invite friends to your home or allow them to use assets you already own, like a kayak or car.
  • By buying things outright for your friends instead of buying things for yourself and letting your friends use them, you are actually being more generous and removing a barrier for people without wealth to spend money on their friends in socially acceptable ways.

Industry Reactions​

  • Societal attitudes towards wealth and income inequality are discussed in the comments section
  • Communication and mutual respect are key in navigating potentially awkward social situations with friends

A small number of companies are colluding to cheat H1B visa lottery, US says​

News​

  • US Citizenship and Immigration Services found evidence of small technology companies colluding to improve chances of winning an H-1B visa for skilled foreign workers in this year's lottery.
  • The companies are accused of entering the same applicants into the lottery multiple times to increase their chances artificially.
  • The findings were laid out in a notice to employers and set to be released by the Wall Street Journal.

Industry Reactions​

  • Debate on granting green cards to foreign masters and PhD students, with arguments for and against, as well as discussions on the potential for an increase in tuition rates for foreign students and the impact on blue-collar workers.
  • Concerns about the exploitation of foreign workers and the need for immigration policies that provide highly skilled foreign workers with the same job mobility as U.S. citizens and permanent residents in order to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers.

Europe's Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway​

News​

  • Europe's longest bicycling tunnel has opened in Norway.
  • The 5.3 km-long tunnel reduces travel time by bicycle and provides a safer alternative to the existing steep mountain road.
  • The tunnel features LED lights, air treatment plants, and emergency phones for added safety.

Industry Reactions​

  • The tunnel is part of Bergen's efforts to encourage green living and improve cycling infrastructure.
  • The lack of effective cycling infrastructure in the US is due to a lack of civil society groups and powerful auto lobby.

Gpt4free repo given takedown notice by OpenAI​

News​

  • OpenAI's legal team has issued a takedown notice to the Gpt4free repository on GitHub.
  • The repository contains APIs from third-party language model sites, and the project is intended for educational purposes only.
  • The author of the repository is not responsible for any consequences arising from the use or misuse of the repository or the content provided by the third-party APIs.

Industry Reactions​

  • The controversy around GPT-4 training data ownership and intellectual property continues to be a concern, with discussions surrounding IP rights enforcement, the ethics of using AI-generated content to train AI models without permission from the content creators, and the power dynamic between OpenAI and its paying customers.
  • Some commenters speculate on Microsoft and GitHub's influence in the dispute, while others suggest alternatives to the now-deleted Gpt4free repository, like a user-created mirror or a donation for the original creator.