> As it turns out, the majority of the Elo gains (+720 of the +1335 gained) can be attributed to better programming, and not better hardware.

It's not so easy, a lot of that better programming can be attributed to better hardware, it wouldn't have been possible to implement NNUE or Fishtest without modern hardware.

I agree. It is hard to make a separation between what is possible thanks to programming vs hardware. It is only easy to analyze post factum that certain ideas worked. Maybe there are also other factors that are important - time, availability of hardware, knowledge dissemination. What would be possible if the hardware stopped improving.

Or using the saturating methods.

The problem with:

    ret = ""
    for s in strings:
        ret += s

is that it re-allocates O(n) times, even if ret is referenced only once.

If the s are small the usual geometric buffer growth mitigates that. Of course you can compute the final buffer size in this case, but often you have a bunch of dynamically-generated strings of different sizes.

It was never possible to sum() strings.

https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/a70b19147fd163744be...

Obviously it is, I've been writing a scientific library that runs in-browser and WebAssembly has been a blessing, it's easily 10x faster than the backend Python code it replaced, and 2-5x faster than I could achieved with JavaScript.

OP said:

> We still don't have all applications running super-fast on the web. This is a failure.

My point is that the vast majority of webapps do not rely on specific scientific libraries doing complex calculations.

You have probably run WebAssembly without noticing it, I would call that a success.

Unless you're using DNS over HTTPS they can see the unencrypted DNS traffic. There's also Encrypted Client Hello, but they can also see which IP you're connecting to.

Also if the domain responds on the bare IP or there's nothing else they've seen on that IP it's a fair assumption. This is without even wondering if their router sends telemetry

Telemetry isn't a concept that would apply to a router. The information that your router sends, they send to an ISP controlled router, they receive this information for operational purposes, so they don't need to install some client-device application to further collect data.

Isn't this already happening with ADHD drugs?

To some extent ADHD drugs are abused but to us neurodivergent people those stimulants (or in other cases just alpha 2 agonists) just help us do normal things that normal people can do without drugs, like laundry. Or reading a book, or be able to focus on literally anything that isn’t giving us a high level dopamine response.

The meds (both stimulant and non stimulant) help people with ADHD choose where to hyperfocus, but hyperfocus is an internal trait of the ADHD neurotype, so it isn’t just attributable to the drugs or something.

I.e. normal people use stimulants to go fast, while ND people with ADHD use them to go slow or have their brain actually be able to slow down.

A lot of people with ADHD that have success with medication can tell you that it's not just about work.

It also helps with non-work stuff that's just not fun to do, such as chores or filing your taxes. It even helps you stick with hobbies you actually enjoy but your brain gets bored of.

Don't tell me psychiatrist but I take my addon Ritalin at night so I can play games or read a book. I just can't do it without it

I don't doubt that. For me, however, drugs like concerta changed my life from near catatonia to almost-regular function. If you see me behaving "normally", that is because I have taken my prescription. Otherwise, you will not see me because I will be sleeping, or worse, you will see me.

on the recreational level, maybe, but from a therapeutic perspective for people who actually benefit from its prescribed use its absolutely game-changing to live a life without (or with mitigated) executive dysfunction.

The kid dying is sad, but it could have probably been prevented if the batteries were coated with a bitter agent such as denatonium.

The new thing is data centers in the ocean.

https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#compute-at-sea