jstr_ (u/jstr_) - Readit News

jstr_ commented on Furnace – the biggest multi-system chiptune tracker ever made github.com/tildearrow/fur... · Posted by u/unleaded

thesuperbigfrog · a year ago

>> A classic for starting is the NES sound chip (Ricoh 2A03). It only has 5 channels and is very straightforward to use.

Such a simple chip and yet it was capable of producing amazing music in the right hands. Tim Follin created some legendary game soundtracks with that chip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzTDAgG4EXk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_gObHt1uZA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQlLl2j5THQ

jstr_ · a year ago

Can't talk about Tim Follin and not talk about Plok!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peuTnilEv9g

Feels very proto-Hotline Miami to me

jstr_ commented on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (September 2024) · Posted by u/whoishiring

Jarred · 2 years ago

Bun | Software Engineer (systems, runtime, i/o) | Fulltime | Onsite in San Francisco | https://bun.sh

Bun is an open-source JavaScript tooling company focused on making programming simpler. Today, Bun is a JavaScript runtime designed to be a faster drop-in replacement for Node.js, along with an incredibly fast npm client, jest-compatible test runner, and JavaScript transpiler, minifier, and bundler.

We're hiring systems engineers to come to San Francisco and help us make JavaScript faster and more productive. This role will involve lots of open-source low-level systems work, mostly in Bun's GitHub repo - https://github.com/oven-sh/bun and also in a commercial hosting product.

Apply here: https://apply.workable.com/oven/j/A7A1388873/

Most of our code is in Zig and C++ and open-source. To see what we do every day, have a look at the recent pull requests.

jstr_ · 2 years ago

I love reading your guys's code releases, always some interesting zig stuff in there! Wish you were hiring in Europe :)

jstr_ commented on iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus apple.com/newsroom/2023/0... · Posted by u/mikece

dreamcompiler · 3 years ago

> What kind of feature do you to be excited to see in a product that is 16 years old?

How about an OS that's not walled-garden shite? One that any competent programmer could write an app for -- in any language they chose -- and offer for download to all comers without getting Apple's permission and without paying Apple a dime?

How about a development system built in to the phone so you could add a keyboard and a mouse and write an app, compile it, and install it without ever leaving the phone?

How about a 1/8" jack so I can listen privately on $15 wired buds from one of 1000 different suppliers without paying $300 for buds that are going to become e-waste as soon as their batteries refuse to charge?

How about being able to replace the main battery myself, in my home, without trashing the entire fu*king phone?

How about selling the phone with a decent protective case that still allows the Qi charger to work?

How about using formal methods to ensure some Israeli spyware group cannot constantly find zero-days in my phone and put my life in danger without constant after-the-fact patch-and-pray security upgrades?

I've been building chips, computers, and operating systems for decades. I know the subject like I know my own name. There is no technical reason Apple couldn't do all these things. They choose not to because not doing them makes Apple more money.

Apple is not refusing to do any of these things for cybersecurity or privacy reasons either. I eat, sleep, and breathe cybersecurity and I get paid for it. Apple could do everything on this list with zero security risk. They know this but they choose to lie and say otherwise.

Fuck apple and their horse. They are everything that is wrong with engineering under the control of rapacious capitalist greed.

jstr_ · 3 years ago

> How about being able to replace the main battery myself, in my home, without trashing the entire fu*king phone?

You can already do this, either getting the parts/tools thru Apple or on your own [0]

> How about using formal methods to ensure some Israeli spyware group cannot constantly find zero-days in my phone and put my life in danger without constant after-the-fact patch-and-pray security upgrades?

> How about a 1/8" jack so I can listen privately on $15 wired buds from one of 1000 different suppliers without paying $300 for buds that are going to become e-waste as soon as their batteries refuse to charge?

Those are fair, altho personally I've been using bluetooth headphones for 5+ years, only going wired when cycling or gaming, and I'm pretty happy with it.

The rest, approximately 0.01% (uneducated guess) of the consumers in the smartphone market will want or care about those things. The regular consumer doesn't want their phone to do everything and be everything, they want it to work for their use-case when they're expected to work, and be relatively easy to use.

Anyway, you seem to be a niche consumer, why aren't you looking for a niche product to match instead of complaining about a mass-market product that never has and probably never will fit your needs?

Genuine question, btw.

[0] https://support.apple.com/self-service-repair

jstr_ commented on The Best Pens for 2023: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens jetpens.com/blog/The-42-B... · Posted by u/axiomdata316

fsckboy · 3 years ago

I don't like pencils, for my vision the color is too low contrast with the paper compared to black ink, or even blue ink, and for that reason I prefer a .7 nib to a .5, the thin lines also result in less contrast (they also make a scraping "sound/sensation" on the paper). but I didn't comment just to say that, but I selected your comment as a representative sample for a broader comment:

hey everybody, could you tell us why you like something rather than just that you like it? We had a mechanical pencil recommended, and then two more mechanical pencils recommended, but I'd have to do my own research to figure out why I would choose one over another. Whereas, you all already know what I'm looking for in a writing implement (high contrast and maximum smoothness)

even though I don't think I want a pencil, I do have opinions about mechanical pencils, for example I love when they can autofeed new leads.

jstr_ · 3 years ago

I like the rOtring 800 because it's heavy in my hand but the actual lead-on-paper "feel" is extremely smooth. Contrast depends entirely on the lead you put into the pencil. For max contrast there are versions of the 800 with thicker tips, (iirc) even going up to the regular pencil nibs that you can sharpen (if you know what I'm talking about, I don't really know how to properly explain it).

Basically, I like it because it's a high quality writing utensil that I won't get worried about.

A lot of people don't like the 800 because of the retractable tip, but as someone who has this pencil in their backpack all the time (and who has had the non-retractable version unfortunately ruined in a backpack) it is an absolute necessity.

jstr_ commented on The Best Pens for 2023: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens jetpens.com/blog/The-42-B... · Posted by u/axiomdata316

dragontamer · 3 years ago

I spend way more money on jetpens's selection of notebooks than pens though. Also, I tend to prefer pencil, and will recommend the Pentel Kerry.

---------

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The future of online stores is jetpens and websites like it. Jetpens is useful because I trust their reviews.

They're a store, yes, but more importantly, they're a trustworthy source of information. Amazon reviews are no longer trusted by me, but all of the discussion / reviews from Jetpens has been 100% accurate in my experience. They've managed to build up this relationship with their customers (such as myself) where I will trust their reviews and prefer to buy from them.

Bonus points: a shop like Jetpens organizes their journals in A5, B5, A4, (etc. etc.) sizes. Amazon does not. Custom browsing experiences / categorizations is a big deal. Logically presenting Jetpen's catalog to the user makes me more likely to use their site and end up buying something.

jstr_ · 3 years ago

Since you're into pencils, have you tried the Pentel GraphGear? Or, my personal favorite, the Rotring 800?

jstr_ commented on Pre-Order Altar I – Electronic Materials Office electronicmaterialsoffice... · Posted by u/TheHwangover

jstr_ · 3 years ago

I've followed the development for the past year, I really want one, but €400 + €25 for shipping is too much for me, at least right now. I'm hoping they don't only do a limited run and continue manufacturing for a little while at least.

jstr_ commented on Show HN: I built a little online drum machine using 808 style samples peel.fm... · Posted by u/berkcebi

jstr_ · 3 years ago

I had way too much fun with this during my backlog refinement meeting. Amazing project, well done!

d3fault commented on The inflated promise of science education bostonreview.net/articles... · Posted by u/andyjohnson0

cm42 · 4 years ago

I frequently seek out the original press releases and they're usually pretty clear, but are then dumbed down to something thought to be digestible by the general public. "Masks work!" say Experts. "No they don't!" say these other two.

Which "masks"? "Work" by what metric? Under what circumstances? Or, is it as the True Believers and Most Faithfully Devoted to Science might have it: that all masks are effective against all things in all situations (or at least certainly have some kind of effect)?

With regard to <masks>, The Science™ really has never been controversial and has not changed significantly since the start of the pandemic, but they used "masks won't work [to keep you from inhaling it] (so don't buy them all)" early on to ease supply chain problems, followed by "masks do work [like covering your mouth when you cough]", resulting in what might have been the dumbest two years of public discourse in the history of humanity, inclusive of The Burning Years, as at least it might be said that they genuinely didn't know whether or not witches floated.

There was never any ambiguity or confusion among Science™ or Medicine™ or Public Health Policy™ here - only among the loud and clueless - 1000% the result of mismanaged communications and a thousand know-nothings echoing calls (largely along Red and Blue lines) to Do The Thing or Not Do The Thing.

Perhaps we need to create a new degree program for, among other things, interpreting and reporting on press releases such that extremely basic facts and terms of art aren't mixed up. (See also: Fig 1a. "Journalists' Guide to Aircraft" and Fig 1b. "Journalists' Guide to Firearms", Fig 2. Any news article with Quantum, Hacking, or Crypto- in the title)

d3fault · 4 years ago

> Perhaps we need to create a new degree program for, among other things, interpreting and reporting on press releases such that extremely basic facts and terms of art aren't mixed up.

I agree with this, but I think it needs to come from the other side. I personally think the scientific (community? world? sphere?) needs to step up and work on disseminating information to the general public in a way almost everyone can understand. Get rid of the middleman journalist who has to translate a press release or research paper that they probably don't understand, even if they had the time to look into it, into something the general public doesn't really completely understand either.

I also think this won't ever really happen, because the scientific community (imo) has a bit of an ego problem - same as the guy who makes themselves feel smarter by only explaining things using jargon.

There should also be more focus on critical thinking in middle and high schools, but that's a whole other can of worms.

d3fault commented on Prenatal cannabis exposure associated with mental disorders in children nih.gov/news-events/news-... · Posted by u/lame-robot-hoax

PointlessLogin · 4 years ago

> People cannot cope with even the slightest gray area, so they end up saying and doing ridiculous things. Everything has to be 100% good or 100% bad.

I suggest this binary positioning is a very American phenomenon; the cultural reasons for which I'm unable to suggest a reason for.

d3fault · 4 years ago

> I suggest this binary positioning is a very American phenomenon

I really don't think so. Binary thinking is something I've personally noticed and thought about for a while, and I think it stems from the human brain just trying to simplify things. In most scenarios, it is far easier (and time efficient) to only consider the 2 extreme options rather than the entire spectrum of possible options, even if those two extremes are far worse than the alternatives.

Plus, I've seen Europeans do the same thing all the time [0]. Remember, polarization (which is really just an extension of tribalism imo) isn't an American condition, it's a human condition.

[0] I've lived in both the US and Europe