Readit Newstomduncalf commented on Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work? · Posted by u/manthangupta109
We're overlooking a critical metric in AI-assisted development: Token and Context Window to Utility Ratio.
AI coding tools are burning massive token budgets on boilerplate thousands of tokens just to render simple interfaces.
Consider the token cost of "Hello World":
- Tkinter: `import tkinter as tk; tk.Button(text="Hello").pack()`
- React: 500MB of node_modules, and dependencies
Right now context windows token limits are finite and costly. What do you think?
My prediction is that tooling that manage token and context efficiency will become essential.
But the model doesn't need to read the node_modules to write a React app, it just needs to write the React code (which it is heavily post-trained to be able to use). So the fair counter example is like:
function Hello() { return <button>Hello</buttton> }
tomduncalf commented on Notes on Apple's Nano Texture (2025) jon.bo/posts/nano-texture... · Posted by u/dsr12
Tangent but the screen scratches mentioned from the keyboard are annoying. Every generation of MacBook has suffered from them and everyone’s seems to have it after a while, I guess it’s just physics when it gets stuffed in a bag etc, but any good tips to avoid it? I’ve heard mixed things about keeping a cloth in there
I thought this was an absolutely fascinating look into reverse engineering hardware. If you’re a musician, check out the plugins at https://dsp56300.wordpress.com/ - you can bit perfect emulate famous 90s synths including Access Virus, Waldorf MicroQ and XT, Nord Lead and now Roland JP8000
tomduncalf commented on Show HN: Z80-μLM, a 'Conversational AI' That Fits in 40KB github.com/HarryR/z80ai... · Posted by u/quesomaster9000
This is excellent. Thing I’d like to do if I had time: get it running on a 48K Spectrum. 10 year old me would have found that absolutely magical back in the 1980s.
This was my first thought too haha. That would be mind blowing
tomduncalf commented on Who Watches the Waymos? I do [video] youtube.com/watch?v=oYU2h... · Posted by u/notgloating
Thank you, I was about to start searching for it :) !
It has a similar feel to Vletrmx21 by Autechre if you dig the spooky ambient feel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-fhfYhqBr4
I expect that Waymo will have standards. In theory Uber does as well, but since the drivers own their own cars they can't enforce them. A 15 year old car that has been well maintained is still safe to have on the road (within the limits of the safety systems on board), while a 6 year old car with a lot of miles that hasn't been maintained can be deadly.
Yeah I’ve almost never got in an Uber that was notably unclean or damaged in some way in London. Most of the times I’ve got one in SF, it’s been an unpleasant experience and so I now Waymo when I can there.
- Using Claude as a “pair producer” in Ableton by giving it access to the Ableton remote script API so it can create patterns - this was 1 year ago so I’d be interested to see how newer models can do https://youtu.be/2WxSB75U6vg
- A Claude Code skill which teaches it how to arrange Ableton loops into songs (by modifying the XML as there isn’t an API for this): https://youtu.be/P6Zw6f6CEbI and https://youtu.be/tVZigxFceUE