<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Hacker News: diffeomorphism</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=diffeomorphism</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:49:33 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=diffeomorphism" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "Open source security at Astral"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>There are different notions of "reproducible". Nix does not automatically make builds reproducible in the way that matters here:<p><a href="https://reproducible.nixos.org" rel="nofollow">https://reproducible.nixos.org</a><p>It is still good at that but the difference to other distros is rather small:<p><a href="https://reproducible-builds.org/citests/" rel="nofollow">https://reproducible-builds.org/citests/</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 09 Apr 2026 07:33:56 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47700419</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47700419</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47700419</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "Why I love NixOS"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>How would "bit-identical" or "free of side effects" make an actual difference in practice?<p>Rollback is already very easy with filesystem snapshots.
Configs are already tracked by etckeeper.
New laptop: either copy the whole drive or the package list and dotfiles. Also, how often do you have to get new laptops for this to be relevant ?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 08:10:55 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47486621</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47486621</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47486621</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "Document poisoning in RAG systems: How attackers corrupt AI's sources"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>That reads like blatant nonsense.<p>For a 5 (five) document library you added 3 (three) documents just to override a single response. Nothing at all is hidden and all three documents are in clear human understandable language.<p>This is not an "attack" or "poisoning" but just everything working as intended.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 13 Mar 2026 08:54:24 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47362048</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47362048</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47362048</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "The MacBook Neo"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Because AI needs so much more power and in particular RAM.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 07:01:06 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347398</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347398</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347398</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "The MacBook Neo"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The apple pricing ladder is all about the confusingly named overlap.<p>The Air with more ram costs just a bit less than the pro non-pro. But then maybe you want the pro pro? Or do you need the pro max? Oh, and the ultra will come later but not for laptops. Also it will then be a smaller number M but ultra.<p>Oh, and the iPad air is, of course, heavier than the pro because "air".</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 06:50:15 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347325</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347325</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347325</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "MacBook Air with M5"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Heavier than competing 14in laptops.
Just okay res display.
Low refresh rate.
No oled or mini led.
Basically unrepairable.<p>There are reasons the MacBook pro exists.
The air is a nice machine but there are definitely trade-off.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:23:37 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47247062</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47247062</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47247062</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Wrong question. If you sell a 6k€ machine "for AI", then you are judged on your own merits.<p>Replies like "but, but other laptops" are very weak attempts at deflection.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2026 12:05:04 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47246302</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47246302</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47246302</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "Eigent: An open source Claude Cowork alternative"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Under local deployment:<p>>   Local backend server with full API
    Local model integration (vLLM, Ollama, LM Studio, etc.)
    Complete isolation from cloud services
    Zero external dependencies<p>Seems open source/open weight to me. They additionally offer some cloud hosted version.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 08:34:46 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46629782</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46629782</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46629782</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Because they are a fire hazard:<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62vk0p5dn5o" rel="nofollow">https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62vk0p5dn5o</a><p>Trash compactors break the batteries in these things. A deposit could help to ensure that the vapes are disposed responsibly.<p>Other option: Add an "electronics" bin everywhere. Though that would be more expensive and less clear how effective it would be.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 14 Jan 2026 08:29:15 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46613675</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46613675</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46613675</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "HP Reveals Keyboard Computer with Ryzen AI Chip"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Companies often have flex offices with docking stations.<p>So previously you would have a screen, mouse and keyboard at every desk and people would move a laptop (ignoring its low res screen and bad keyboard).<p>Here you would have just a screen at every desk and people move their mouse and keyboard.<p>Also, this does have a battery.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:53:52 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601750</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601750</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601750</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "Mozilla's open source AI strategy"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>When do you think the "web 2.0 era" was?<p>Web 2.0 is around 2003 or so and chrome would not even exist for another few years.
Giving Firefox/phoenix/Netscape the majority credit for the first fall of IE seems accurate.<p>The rise of chrome happened afterwards and by then IE also fell much deeper than 55%.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:23:17 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601274</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601274</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601274</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "It's hard to justify Tahoe icons"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Nah, the irony is that you think that this was not done on purpose. E.g. look at the hamburger menu on the top right.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 05 Jan 2026 13:18:43 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498432</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498432</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498432</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "It's hard to justify Tahoe icons"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>It is called "making fun of" not "irony".</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 05 Jan 2026 13:17:03 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498420</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498420</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498420</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "It's hard to justify Tahoe icons"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Which is very much on purpose to make fun of exactly that. Try some of the other settings in the top right, e.g. the literal hamburger menu.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 05 Jan 2026 13:15:08 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498407</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498407</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498407</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "The Connectivity Standards Alliance Announces Zigbee 4.0 and Suzi"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>For matter over thread you do need a hub and you need more certifications for matter, so for manufacturers it is less open.<p>The standardization is a plus though.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 22 Nov 2025 11:48:59 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46014068</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46014068</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46014068</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "Fourier Transforms"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>> Because an FFT (short for "Fast Fourier Transform") is nothing more than a curve-fit of sines and cosines to some given data<p>That is not even wrong. A Fourier transform is a basis expansion. In particular, the full expansion is exact (not just an approximation). Of course, truncated expansions are approximations.<p>The actually interesting part: Why is this basis expansion so much more useful than, e.g. expanding into some eigenfunctions, Hermite polynomials, etc.? The decomposition into (complex) exponentials converts between addition and multiplication, i. e. sin(x+y), cos(x+y) you get from multiplying sin(x), cos(x), sin(y) and cos(y).
This in turn has important implications such as turning derivatives into multipliers.
More generally you can consider nonlinear Fourier transforms with different groups and generators other than exponentials.<p>TLDR: It is a <i>transform</i>. What you are transforming between is what makes it so useful.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 17 Nov 2025 07:51:24 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45951639</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45951639</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45951639</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "iPhone Pocket"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>> Inspired by the concept of “a piece of cloth,”<p>This is satire, right?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 11 Nov 2025 17:28:11 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45890203</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45890203</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45890203</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "Show HN: I scraped 3B Goodreads reviews to train a better recommendation model"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Unethical behavior does not become good just because it happens to hurt "bad people" (or more accurately, companies bought by bad people).</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 07 Nov 2025 13:51:02 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45846338</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45846338</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45846338</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "Show HN: I scraped 3B Goodreads reviews to train a better recommendation model"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The robots.txt is pretty explicit that this scraping is "disallowed"<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/robots.txt" rel="nofollow">https://www.goodreads.com/robots.txt</a><p>So legalities aside, this seems unethical.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 07 Nov 2025 09:48:45 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45844927</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45844927</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45844927</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by diffeomorphism in "New gel restores dental enamel and could revolutionise tooth repair"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>TLDR: regulations<p>The toothpaste maker wants to claim something like "Novamin is useful". In the EU this is treated as for cosmetics, so relatively low bar to clear. In the US this is treated as pharmaceutical, so a high bar to clear. The manufacturer has decided that passing that bar is not financially sensible for them.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 07:52:28 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45832606</link><dc:creator>diffeomorphism</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45832606</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45832606</guid></item></channel></rss>