Hacker News: buzzm

New comment by buzzm in "How old is Ann?"

buzzm — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 14:56:16 +0000

I am surprised no one spotted the obvious solution:

perl -e '$_=24;print+(y///c,$m=$_)&&$_*3/4 .$/'

New comment by buzzm in "AI World Clocks"

buzzm — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 03:00:35 +0000

Wonderful. I don’t particularly care if it is or is not a valid test. I like the “wrong” renderings better. Some are hilarious, some … inspired.

New comment by buzzm in "Show HN: I made Confetti: a configuration language file format"

buzzm — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 22:16:25 +0000

Of late I have grown fond of ... brace yourself ... RDF in turtle format for config files. Supports comments, multiline literals, built-in support for references, and rich typing via xsd casting when necessary e.g. ex:subject ex:createdOn "2002-01-24T12:00:00.000Z"^^xsd:dateTime ; You can have no namespace (:subject :name "foo") or one or more to help separate metadata and structure (the config structure) from actual config data (ex:myInstance config:logfile "pathname to file"). And of course, all the metadata itself is labelable and can carry comments and descriptions so the config is essentially self-documenting. Or at least there is a standard, straightforward way to extract and organize the labels and comments if time has been taken to add them.

New comment by buzzm in "Boris Spassky: 1937–2025"

buzzm — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 15:35:20 +0000

UGN -- unusable game notation. That has a ring to it.

UGN was designed with SPARK and AWS S3 pbzip2-aware threading JSON readers in mind. For an analysis of a year's worth of lichess games -- over a billion, maybe more -- I believe UGN is a good solution. Try bucketing clock time vs. blunders or castling analysis or opening vs. ELO on 1 billion PGNs. Not simple search; aggregation. In the end, UGN is an information architecture; JSON is used as a convenient implementation/representation but it happens work well with SPARK and S3. And you can reliably use jq or even grep on the same UGN files. I didn't feel the need to create yet another binary format.

Anyhoo.... We're up to 60 downloads!

New comment by buzzm in "Boris Spassky: 1937–2025"

buzzm — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 01:03:51 +0000

:-) You visited the site so props for that. But I find it odd you call the soup of braces, colons, and quotes a complete mess. That's JSON. As in industry standard everyone-uses-it JSON. If you're not familiar with the space I can see why PGN has more human readable appeal.

New comment by buzzm in "Boris Spassky: 1937–2025"

buzzm — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 15:03:57 +0000

Well... it's actually more parseable. Human readability is not the primary goal of BGN. It's precise capture of information esp. things ending up in PGN comments like %eval and %clk

New comment by buzzm in "Boris Spassky: 1937–2025"

buzzm — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 20:40:09 +0000

Game in BGN (https://moschetti.org/rants/bgnchess.html)

{"moves":[{"p":"P","f":"d2","t":"d4"},{"p":"n","f":"g8","t":"f6"},{"p":"P","f":"c2","t":"c4"},{"p":"p","f":"e7","t":"e6"},{"p":"N","f":"g1","t":"f3"},{"p":"p","f":"d7","t":"d5"},{"p":"N","f":"b1","t":"c3"},{"p":"b","f":"f8","t":"b4"},{"p":"P","f":"e2","t":"e3"},{"p":"k","f":"e8","t":"g8","castle":"K"},{"p":"B","f":"f1","t":"d3"},{"p":"p","f":"c7","t":"c5"},{"p":"K","f":"e1","t":"g1","castle":"K"},{"p":"n","f":"b8","t":"c6"},{"p":"P","f":"a2","t":"a3"},{"p":"b","f":"b4","t":"a5"},{"p":"N","f":"c3","t":"e2"},{"p":"p","f":"d5","t":"c4","x":"P"},{"p":"B","f":"d3","t":"c4","x":"p"},{"p":"b","f":"a5","t":"b6"},{"p":"P","f":"d4","t":"c5","x":"p"},{"p":"q","f":"d8","t":"d1","x":"Q"},{"p":"R","f":"f1","t":"d1","x":"q"},{"p":"b","f":"b6","t":"c5","x":"P"},{"p":"P","f":"b2","t":"b4"},{"p":"b","f":"c5","t":"e7"},{"p":"B","f":"c1","t":"b2"},{"p":"b","f":"c8","t":"d7"},{"p":"R","f":"a1","t":"c1"},{"p":"r","f":"f8","t":"d8"},{"p":"N","f":"e2","t":"d4"},{"p":"n","f":"c6","t":"d4","x":"N"},{"p":"N","f":"f3","t":"d4","x":"n"},{"p":"b","f":"d7","t":"a4"},{"p":"B","f":"c4","t":"b3"},{"p":"b","f":"a4","t":"b3","x":"B"},{"p":"N","f":"d4","t":"b3","x":"b"},{"p":"r","f":"d8","t":"d1","x":"R","c":1},{"p":"R","f":"c1","t":"d1","x":"r"},{"p":"r","f":"a8","t":"c8"},{"p":"K","f":"g1","t":"f1"},{"p":"k","f":"g8","t":"f8"},{"p":"K","f":"f1","t":"e2"},{"p":"n","f":"f6","t":"e4"},{"p":"R","f":"d1","t":"c1"},{"p":"r","f":"c8","t":"c1","x":"R"},{"p":"B","f":"b2","t":"c1","x":"r"},{"p":"p","f":"f7","t":"f6"},{"p":"N","f":"b3","t":"a5"},{"p":"n","f":"e4","t":"d6"},{"p":"K","f":"e2","t":"d3"},{"p":"b","f":"e7","t":"d8"},{"p":"N","f":"a5","t":"c4"},{"p":"b","f":"d8","t":"c7"},{"p":"N","f":"c4","t":"d6","x":"n"},{"p":"b","f":"c7","t":"d6","x":"N"},{"p":"P","f":"b4","t":"b5"},{"p":"b","f":"d6","t":"h2","x":"P"},{"p":"P","f":"g2","t":"g3"},{"p":"p","f":"h7","t":"h5"},{"p":"K","f":"d3","t":"e2"},{"p":"p","f":"h5","t":"h4"},{"p":"K","f":"e2","t":"f3"},{"p":"k","f":"f8","t":"e7"},{"p":"K","f":"f3","t":"g2"},{"p":"p","f":"h4","t":"g3","x":"P"},{"p":"P","f":"f2","t":"g3","x":"p"},{"p":"b","f":"h2","t":"g3","x":"P"},{"p":"K","f":"g2","t":"g3","x":"b"},{"p":"k","f":"e7","t":"d6"},{"p":"P","f":"a3","t":"a4"},{"p":"k","f":"d6","t":"d5"},{"p":"B","f":"c1","t":"a3"},{"p":"k","f":"d5","t":"e4"},{"p":"B","f":"a3","t":"c5"},{"p":"p","f":"a7","t":"a6"},{"p":"P","f":"b5","t":"b6"},{"p":"p","f":"f6","t":"f5"},{"p":"K","f":"g3","t":"h4"},{"p":"p","f":"f5","t":"f4"},{"p":"P","f":"e3","t":"f4","x":"p"},{"p":"k","f":"e4","t":"f4","x":"P"},{"p":"K","f":"h4","t":"h5"},{"p":"k","f":"f4","t":"f5"},{"p":"B","f":"c5","t":"e3"},{"p":"k","f":"f5","t":"e4"},{"p":"B","f":"e3","t":"f2"},{"p":"k","f":"e4","t":"f5"},{"p":"B","f":"f2","t":"h4"},{"p":"p","f":"e6","t":"e5"},{"p":"B","f":"h4","t":"g5"},{"p":"p","f":"e5","t":"e4"},{"p":"B","f":"g5","t":"e3"},{"p":"k","f":"f5","t":"f6"},{"p":"K","f":"h5","t":"g4"},{"p":"k","f":"f6","t":"e5"},{"p":"K","f":"g4","t":"g5"},{"p":"k","f":"e5","t":"d5"},{"p":"K","f":"g5","t":"f5"},{"p":"p","f":"a6","t":"a5"},{"p":"B","f":"e3","t":"f2"},{"p":"p","f":"g7","t":"g5"},{"p":"K","f":"f5","t":"g5","x":"p"},{"p":"k","f":"d5","t":"c4"},{"p":"K","f":"g5","t":"f5"},{"p":"k","f":"c4","t":"b4"},{"p":"K","f":"f5","t":"e4","x":"p"},{"p":"k","f":"b4","t":"a4","x":"P"},{"p":"K","f":"e4","t":"d5"},{"p":"k","f":"a4","t":"b5"},{"p":"K","f":"d5","t":"d6"}],"opening":{"ECO":"E56"},"site":"Reykjavik ISL","event":"Spassky-Fischer World Championship Match","result":"W","type":"C","players":[{"handle":{"domain":"UNK","value":"Boris Spassky"}},{"handle":{"domain":"UNK","value":"Robert James Fischer"}}]}

New comment by buzzm in "Nuclear fusion: WEST beats the world record for plasma duration"

buzzm — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 16:21:20 +0000

Agreed. Multi-multi billion. It is a fundamental change in the global energy dynamic -- including the fact that D-T reactors are still use heat exchange which means heat is also a useful output product for industrial purposes. MSRs are really good for this but of course are fission not fusion reactors.

It borders on a national security issue.

New comment by buzzm in "The Taylorator – All Your Frequencies Are Belong to Us"

buzzm — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 18:25:00 +0000

Very good.

New comment by buzzm in "Why blue animals are so rare"

buzzm — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 22:17:31 +0000

Exactly; see pollinators comment above. Although as tech progresses... perhaps we can make black plants as attractive to genetically modified pollinators. Do I sense a slippery slope here?

New comment by buzzm in "How the Soviets revolutionized wristwatches (2016)"

buzzm — Fri, 17 May 2024 11:40:18 +0000

A fascinating piece that combines technology, precision in micromanufacturing, design aesthetics, economics, politics, and history -- centered on the now all-too-forgettable wristwatch in the smartphone age. I haven't worn a wristwatch since I got a Blackberry about a 100 years ago (wink) but it is articles like this that rekindle my appreciation of them.

New comment by buzzm in "What to do when an airline website doesn't accept your legal name"

buzzm — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 22:06:33 +0000

Adding to the chorus of woes, my legal first name is Paul and middle starts with A and often the ticket comes out as "Paula". I have had at least two heated encounters with gate attendants saying the ticket could not possibly be mine because I don't look like a "Paula".

New comment by buzzm in "AI-generated sad girl with piano performs the text of the MIT License"

buzzm — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 15:10:28 +0000

Agreed! Unexpected and made my morning.

New comment by buzzm in "Show HN: Qrlew, simple SQL to SQL-with-privacy written in Rust"

buzzm — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 15:03:31 +0000

It does; I got this running easily because fortunately I have current postgres and psycopg2 installed so no tangential problems to interfere with the main event.

So clearly the example shows how I can issue a SELECT statement against the raw data. Is there a concise statement about what the DP'd statement offers me? This isn't access control or raw data obfuscation in the traditional sense. What is the consumable use case here as opposed to, say, the statistically private use?

New comment by buzzm in "Show HN: Qrlew, simple SQL to SQL-with-privacy written in Rust"

buzzm — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 17:51:58 +0000

Is there a "hello world" example available that is a highly simplified version of https://qrlew.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/getting_sta... ? Just 2 tables, 2 fields apiece, with the join bringing private data into the mix?

New comment by buzzm in "Sky lapse in two tone"

buzzm — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 14:46:36 +0000

Outstanding link; thanks for sharing.

New comment by buzzm in "Show HN: Babel – browse every book that will ever be written using simple math"

buzzm — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 17:33:10 +0000

Fascinating. Well done! There is a certain eerieness to seeing this actually work. Although Borges lived to see computers becoming mainstream, I am sure he never imagined his artistic vision being implemented in such a strangely convenient and easy way.

New comment by buzzm in "Show HN: Natural-SQL-7B, a strong text-to-SQL model"

buzzm — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 18:06:00 +0000

Like many uses of AI, very good as a "seed" especially if it comes up with nuggets like grouping on a range instead of a single value. But as with almost any database, devil is in details. Different products have different interp of "quantity" (e.g. box vs. unit), coupons and discounts are modeled in weird ways, weights are assumed to be pounds/kg and are mixed without assigning units, etc. etc.

Show HN: BSON Extension for SQLite

buzzm — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 15:14:39 +0000

sqlite is, well, everywhere. It's a little shy on high-fidelity types, though, esp no dates and penny-precise numbers. And carrying rich shapes in JSON doesn't really help because JSON lacks those too. BSON supports these types but more importantly is a data carrier external to the database; you can fluidly move BSON in and out of sqlite without creating your own binary representations; just use the BSON SDK for your environment. Upwards of 20 languages are supported. The BSON extension is designed to exploit sqlite built-in JSON functions as desired.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39241041

Points: 8

# Comments: 0

New comment by buzzm in "Show HN: BSON Extension for Postgres"

buzzm — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 18:38:16 +0000

Retested on OS X 13.2 for both 15.5.3 and 16.1; bug discovered thanks to 16! Fixed and new version pushed.