2023-04-17

De-Stressing Booking.com

Original. The writer shares an opinion piece on the overuse of persuasion tactics on e-commerce websites, specifically Booking.com, and introduces their Chrome Extension, "De-stresser," which removes stress-inducing messages and notifications from Booking.com, giving users a more pleasant experience. By hiding persuasion tags and tweaking language to sound more positive, the De-stresser enables a calmer and more relaxed booking experience for users. The extension is now live and available for use on Booking.com.

Discussion Service. Booking.com is facing criticism over its use of high-pressure sales tactics, including urgency messaging and pop-ups that can deter users. Critics argue that this approach prioritizes short-term metrics over long-term customer loyalty. Users report having found ways to work around these tactics, including using extensions to block or filter them. Meanwhile, Discussion Service users debate the merits of A/B testing, with some pointing to its potential to create "dark patterns" on websites. Despite these concerns, many users continue to use booking aggregators like Booking.com and Expedia, either for convenience or because they offer favorable prices and cancellation policies. Some experts caution that booking directly with hotels can offer better dispute resolution options, while others point out that commission rates for booking sites can vary widely depending on the hotel. Nevertheless, loyalty programs from hotels can provide significant benefits to frequent travelers.

I used Stable Diffusion and Dreambooth to create an art portrait of my dog

Original. The article discusses using Stable Diffusion and Dreambooth AI techniques to create a high-quality painted portrait of a dog. The author shares their entire workflow and provides detailed instructions on how to train a Dreambooth model on photos of their dog. The article also discusses the use of upscaling to blow up small images for high-quality prints and introduces Stable Diffusion as a game-changer for the world of text-to-image generative art.

Discussion Service. An Discussion Service user used Stable Diffusion and Dreambooth to create an art portrait of their dog, while comments discussed the pushback against AI art and debates around copyright and fair use. The use of generative AI for art presents ethical questions concerning copyright law and fair use, with divided opinions on the matter. Some criticized Stable Diffusion for using uncompensated stolen artwork as its training data, while others praised the technology and its potential for further innovation in the field.

AT&T Wireless traffic shaping apparently making some websites unusable

Original. AT&T's "unlimited" 100Mbit plan with 50GB for prioritized data may aggressively traffic shape, causing some websites to be unusable, while a test showed a Verizon SIM card did not have the same issue. Akamai traffic shows evidence of intentional manipulation of the TCP stream. Traffic shaping affects only data-only accounts on business accounts.

Discussion Service. AT&T Wireless is reportedly throttling IP addresses for some video streaming sites, making some websites unusable and causing discrepancies in internet speed tests. Users have suggested solutions such as filing an FCC complaint, using a VPN to bypass throttling, or trying a different APN. Some commenters are skeptical about nefarious intent behind the throttling, while others propose solutions like rate limits or downgrading video quality to preserve data allocation.

Future Blues – Emily's Cowboy Bebop Page (1999)

Original. Sorry, there is no text provided for me to summarize.

Discussion Service. Discussion Service users express nostalgia for the original and creative designs of classic websites, contrasting them with the standardized, noisy and monetized nature of modern websites, suggesting a longing for more artistic, individuality-focused media landscapes. Discussion points emerge comparing Wikipedia and Fandom, and the distinction between mobile and desktop-only sites, and the design of the website inspires both nostalgia and amazement for its longevity. Overall, the post offers a glimpse into users' fond memories of the early internet and provides a platform for discussing the current state of the web.

Dishwasher Salmon

Original. Dishwasher salmon is a fish dish made by wrapping pieces of salmon in at least two layers of aluminum foil and placing it in a dishwasher during the wash and dry cycle. The method was first demonstrated in the US by Vincent Price in 1975 and has since been featured in various media outlets. However, there are concerns about the consistency of temperatures in dishwashers, which can lead to incomplete cooking and potential health risks.

Discussion Service. A Hacker News article about cooking salmon in a dishwasher sparks a debate about the safety of the cooking method, with users in the food safety industry countering claims made in a YouTuber's investigation. While the safety of dishwasher cooking depends on multiple factors, at least 63°C for 15 seconds is required to kill bacteria in salmon.

Pico3D: Open World 3D Game Engine for the PicoSystem (RP2040 Microcontroller)

Original. The Pico3D game engine uses the second core of the RP2040 as a dedicated rasterizer/GPU to run a complete open world 3D game on a $1 microcontroller. The engine contains a small city and outskirts featuring shootable zombies, with Blender tutorials available for creating game worlds. The engine simulation currently includes 50 NPCs and 50 zombies at the same time, with rendering optimized with distance and view frustum culling.

Discussion Service. A new 3D game engine called Pico3D has been developed for the RP2040 microcontroller with a 120x120px display, and it lacks enough memory and video RAM but has a unified API. Hackers are enthusiastic about creative ways to use the Pico/RP2040, and the unique application of RAM chips in the frame buffer makes this article stand out on the tech site.

Wayback: Self-hosted archiving service integrated with Internet Archive

Original. Wayback is a self-hosted archiving tool that aims to snapshot web pages in time capsules. It is free, open-source, cross-platform, and allows for easier integration with various platforms, including the Internet Archive, archive.today, IPFS, and Telegraph. It also provides several installation options, including via GitHub, Snapcraft, APT, RPM, and Homebrew.

Discussion Service. The Wabarc self-hosted archiving service snapshots web pages into "time capsules" and stores files for offline use; however, Discussion Service users criticize the unclear README and lack of documentation. Other similar projects include ArchiveBox, Shiori, DiskerNet, and SingleFile; HTTrack Website Copier is recommended for downloading an entire website locally, while Browsertrix/Brozzler crawls with headless browsers for accuracy. An Discussion Service user recommends The Old Net for browsing old/modern browsers without JS, and the repo linked needs more clarity on shareability and established archiving standards.

The fastest math typesetting library for the web

Original. KaTeX is a fast math typesetting library for the web that offers print-quality layout based on Donald Knuth's TeX, has no dependencies, and can easily be bundled with website resources for server-side rendering using Node.js. Its simple API efficiently renders math expressions, even on pages featuring multiple expressions, with no browser or environment limitation, and it is open source under the MIT License.

Discussion Service. KaTeX, the fastest math typesetting library for the web, lacks support for diagrams, making it unsuitable for some mathematicians, while MathJax and AsciiMath both have similar projects. A comparison website has been shared, and the performance and practicality of adapting markup to suit different contexts is being debated by Hacker News users.

'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco

Original. San Francisco Unified school district's "Algebra for none" policy failed to improve the achievement of black and Hispanic students in advanced math, according to a study by Stanford professors, resulting in a widening achievement gap. The decision to delay algebra until ninth grade and place low-achieving and high-achieving students in the same classes did not help low-performing students and made it harder for high-achieving students to succeed. Families that can afford it have turned to online courses or private schools. A group of parents has filed a lawsuit against the district, claiming it violates state law on equitable access to advanced math.

Discussion Service. San Francisco's policy of delaying algebra until 9th grade and placing low, average, and high achievers in the same classes has been criticized, with some suggesting fundamental math concepts should be taught earlier. Some Discussion Service users suggest incentivizing academic and extracurricular success by linking it to financial reward, while others argue that subsidizing higher education through credit systems to pay for college later would be a better solution. There are debates on the usefulness of traditional math education and the effectiveness of increasing funding to reduce class sizes, with some users suggesting teaching math through engineering problems and the benefits of online education.

FSF Slams Google over Dropping JPEG-XL in Chrome

Original. The Free Software Foundation criticizes Google's decision to drop JPEG-XL support in Chrome, highlighting the need for browser choice and free media formats. Despite community uproar, Google engineers still went ahead with the decision, which remains one of the top "starred" issues in the history of the Chromium project. Users have shown strong support for JPEG-XL, but Google's focus on control over freedom seems to prevail.

Discussion Service. Google faces criticism from the Free Software Foundation for discontinuing support for JPEG-XL in Chrome despite its adoption by major image editors. Some users argue that older formats like PNG and JPEG are sufficient, while others prefer codecs like AVIF for video. The debate centers around the viability and adoption of new image formats in the ecosystem, with industry support and interest in JPEG-XL noted, but adoption reliant on all major browsers supporting it.