astroalex
Re:Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
on Friday April 10, 2026 @03:41PM (#47722722)
One obvious difference I can see at a glance is that Maker.js doesn't support 3D models, while FluidCAD does. I assume Maker.js is a lower level library aimed at interfacing directly with CNC machines, while FluidCAD is focused on 3D design.
Re:A Decade of Slug
on Tuesday March 17, 2026 @06:13PM (#47419078)
I used Slug at a previous job. It is an excellent, artfully crafted library; really the pinnacle of software engineering in my opinion. Thanks to the author for donating the algorithm to the public domain!
Re:Self-Taught Engineers Often Outperform
on Thursday July 17, 2025 @12:05PM (#44594839)
This is exactly right.
I taught myself coding, but struggled through some of my CS computer science classes because I hadn't learned some (important) boring details. My peers who hadn't coded before, but were otherwise bright, excelled in these classes and have had impressive career trajectories after school.
Based on my personal experience, I don't believe prior experience with programming before college is that predictive of engineering talent.
Re:New dwarf planet found in our solar system
on Wednesday May 21, 2025 @04:51PM (#44056202)
I found the preamble at the beginning of the announcement charmingly dated:
> The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual minor planets, routine data on comets and natural satellites, and occasional editorial announcements. They are published on behalf of Division F of the International Astronomical Union by the Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. > > Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network
Looking up the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network: https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/Ack/TamkinFoundation.h...
> The OpenVMS cluster consists of nine single-CPU workstations and one four-CPU server. All the machines are running the extremely robust and secure OpenVMS operating system. The twelve Alpha-based machines are arranged as an OpenVMS Cluster, allowing all machines to share disk storage, execution and batch queues and other resources, as well as simplifying system management.
Assuming "Alpha-based machines" is referring to the DEC Alpha, these computers are ~30 years old. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEC_Alpha
Re:Zed: The Fastest AI Code Editor
on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @06:06PM (#43921015)
In my personal experience I couldn't use Zed for editing python.
Firstly, when navigating in a large python repository, looking up references was extremely slow (sometimes on the order of minutes).
Secondly, searching for a string in the repo would sometimes be incorrect (e.g. I know the string exists but Zed says there aren't any results, as if a search index hasn't been updated). These two issues made it unusable.
I've been using PyCharm recently and found it to be far superior to anything else for Python. JetBrains builds really solid software.
Re:Wait. HOW MANY supernova explode every year?
on Tuesday April 15, 2025 @11:36AM (#43694345)
This is tragic. It's one of favorite games of all time--heck, one of my favorite media experiences, period. It's worth pushing through until you get hooked.
Re:Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI
on Tuesday April 08, 2025 @11:39AM (#43623062)
If you are trying to advance your career, I feel prepping for interviews is probably the number one most important thing you can do, unless you are freakishly gifted at acing interviews with no prep.
Re:The Burnout Machine
on Thursday March 20, 2025 @07:00PM (#43430047)
I took 2 years off where I made 0 income. Insurance was covered by the government and my healthcare was quite good. I didn't pay taxes because I didn't make any income. Getting back into the workforce happened literally within a single day (this was ~4 years ago when the market was different, not sure the same thing would happen now). I had no trouble switching jobs multiple times afterwards, either—recruiters and interviewers have never seemed to care that I took a break.
I was able to take some much needed time off to focus on personal projects and I'm extremely grateful I was able to do it.
My friends who didn't take time off were able to advance more in their careers, but I think it is a fair trade.
Re:Nobody Cares
on Wednesday January 15, 2025 @12:44AM (#42707715)
> Have been to the DMV? It sucked? There is a human being whose job it is to be in charge of the DMV. They do not care that it sucks.
Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've actually never had a bad experience at the DMV here in Seattle. The staff have been efficient, fast, and friendly every time.
Re:Show HN: Demo of my web game about social persuasion
on Saturday December 21, 2024 @07:27PM (#42483472)
Fascinating game that is unlike anything I've played. Nice work!
Re:Century Scale Storage
on Sunday December 15, 2024 @01:33PM (#42425052)
What prevented you from reading the page?
Re:Floral formula
on Tuesday September 10, 2024 @06:31PM (#41506271)
DNA is how you serialize flowers!
Re:Launch HN: Outerport (YC S24) – Instant hot-swapping for AI model w...
on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @09:46PM (#41315932)
Cool! Will this work for multi-GPU inference?
Re:Faster Docker builds using a remote BuildKit instance
on Monday August 12, 2024 @10:51PM (#41231711)
Love what you're doing at Depot, keep up the good work!
The creator of this tool also recently collaborated on making an experimental weaving version: https://weavescape.net/
Re:We need visual programming. No, not like that
on Monday July 15, 2024 @03:17PM (#40970671)
One major difference I’ve seen in shader graph type tools is that they are stateless, or almost stateless. The output of the shader graph is a function of time and some fixed parameters, and there are rarely feedback loops. When there are feedback loops in shader graphs, they are represented explicitly via nodes like TouchDesigner’s feedback TOP.
This way of expressing computations lends itself well for shader programming where the concurrency of the GPU discourages manipulation of arbitrary state.
In contrast, business logic programmed for the CPU is generally more stateful and full of implicit feedback loops. IMO these types of computations are not expressed well using node based visual programming tools because the state manipulation is more complex.
Re:The Illustrated AlphaFold
on Saturday July 13, 2024 @07:38PM (#40957724)
Some[1] think that things are trending in the opposite direction: away from clever manipulations and hard coded domain knowledge, and towards large scale general models.
[1]: http://www.incompleteideas.net/IncIdeas/BitterLesson.html
Re:Gen-3 Alpha: A New Frontier for Video Generation
on Tuesday June 18, 2024 @02:31PM (#40720704)
I've used it. It's been blowing my mind.
Re:Show HN: Talk to Me Human – my game about social persuasion
on Saturday April 20, 2024 @01:30AM (#40095046)
This was very enjoyable. A glimpse of the future of gaming IMO, and just plain fun! Some of the situations had me cracking up hard. Well done.
The HTML Review is an annual journal of literature made to exist on the web
Conway's Game of Hope
Re:Daft Social, the Anti-Social Social Network for Minimalists
on Thursday January 25, 2024 @06:22PM (#39136855)
You can't spam a thread if there is no "thread" feature implemented?
Re:Rabbit R1, Designed by Teenage Engineering
on Tuesday January 09, 2024 @04:58PM (#38932774)
I totally agree. The video does actually show the product, and it looks interesting, but the other parts of the website are a big turn off.
Re:Ask HN: Show me your half baked project
on Sunday October 15, 2023 @08:17PM (#37894629)
Yes! A friend pointed that out to me. I hadn't heard of Midinous but it seems like a much more sophisticated version of my idea.
Re:Ask HN: Show me your half baked project
on Sunday October 15, 2023 @08:16PM (#37894622)
I think because you have a feedback loop that creates exponential signals. It's hard to tell because the UI is bad, but that's my guess.
Re:Ask HN: Show me your half baked project
on Thursday October 12, 2023 @07:02PM (#37864293)
https://alex.miller.garden/sonic-circuit/
A weird and cumbersome web based synthesizer.
In the examples below, double click on a node to trigger a signal in the circuit and produce sound.
Here is a "song" that a friend made with it: https://alex.miller.garden/sonic-circuit/?2.9.C4.m.1.15,6.9....
And here is "Happy Birthday": https://alex.miller.garden/sonic-circuit/?3.1.G3.m.1.24,4.1....
Re:Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @04:58PM (#37068311)
You have a gift for writing and teaching technical concepts. I think you could make a serious impact on computer science education if you pursued that as a career. Congratulations on finishing this mini-book!
Re:Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @04:53PM (#37068243)
I couldn't disagree more. I found the tone charming, funny, and accessible. I think it would particularly resonate with kids and beginners. It reminded me, in the best way, of why the lucky stiff's writing.
I will henceforth be referring to CPUs as "shazam alakablams" and there isn't anything you can do to stop me!
Re:We Are All Animals at Night
on Sunday August 06, 2023 @05:51PM (#37027243)
Wow, this was a unique and beautiful read. Incredible writing.