Show HN: Local pretrained classifiers, GPU not needed
8 by nico | 3 comments on Hacker News.
I was curious about what classifiers could do. It turns out, a lot, sometimes even play Doom. Jeffy is currently a collection of simple classifiers that can do spam detection, intent routing, topic classification, sentiment analysis and even play Doom Jeffy works locally on a regular computer, no GPU needed. It comes with 13 already-trained classifiers, and you can also use Jeffy to train your own classifiers And there’s a lot that can be built on top of this style of architecture Curious what tasks people find useful, and what architectures you are using for similar tasks
Hack Nux
Watch the number of websites being hacked today, one by one on a page, increasing in real time.
New Show Hacker News story: Show HN: Thoreau BASIC – What if BASIC hadn't gone out of fashion?
Show HN: Thoreau BASIC – What if BASIC hadn't gone out of fashion?
10 by Gorsefound | 5 comments on Hacker News.
Thoreau BASIC started as a joke. I wanted a BASIC where I could type something ridiculous like: DIM A%(12000000000) …and have it actually work. Then I kept adding things. The result is Thoreau BASIC, a free x64 BASIC interpreter inspired by GW-BASIC, running both as a normal Windows program and directly on bare-metal UEFI without an operating system. Version 3.2 has become considerably more ambitious than the little interpreter I originally intended to write. The language still deliberately looks and feels like old Microsoft BASIC. Line numbers, GOTO, GOSUB, PRINT, PSET, LINE, CIRCLE, DRAW, etc. are all there. But underneath that rather innocent-looking surface is now quite a lot of machinery. Some of the current features: native x64 JIT compilation, with automatic fallback to the interpreter PARFOR for multithreaded numeric loops SSE2 / AVX2 acceleration where available 64-bit addressing and very large arrays native complex, quaternion and other hypercomplex numbers arbitrary-resolution 24-bit graphics sprites, bitmap operations, polygon filling and mouse input TCP/IP networking on Windows and UEFI an integrated profiler, debugger, tracing and program-analysis tools CREATEEXE to turn a BASIC program into a standalone Windows executable CREATEEFI to turn the same program into a directly bootable UEFI application The sound system has also grown rather out of proportion. Thoreau BASIC can now handle up to 32 live instrument channels plus 64 sound effect channels and 256 voices, with real-time pan and brightness control. NOTE and SOUNDKEY can be used more like playable synthesis primitives rather than just old-school BASIC beeps. 3.2 also expands the less glamorous but surprisingly useful parts of the environment. There is better file browsing and selection with GETFILES and SELECTBOX, longer case-preserving paths, recovery/file-flush facilities, and considerably more detailed SYSTEMINFO$ diagnostics. The latter is useful for seeing things such as available CPU capabilities and the execution environment while debugging performance differences between machines. One thing I've spent a lot of time on recently is making the BASIC programs themselves fast enough that they stop feeling like demonstrations of an interpreter. For example, the current Mandelbrot demo is a real-time interactive fractal explorer. Mouse movement pans the fractal, left-click zooms in and right-click zooms out, while the BASIC program continuously redraws and displays the frame rate. There are also 3D and procedural demos, sprite programs, networking examples, hypercomplex fractals and games. An important design constraint throughout the project has been that Windows and UEFI should execute essentially the same BASIC language. A program shouldn't suddenly become a different species just because there is no operating system underneath it. And yes, I am fully aware of the absurdity of combining GOTO 100 with AVX2, multithreading, TCP/IP and quaternion arithmetic. That is increasingly the point. I'm interested in the question: What would BASIC look like if it had never gone out of fashion? Thoreau BASIC 3.2 is my current answer. I'd be especially interested in feedback from people who remember GW-BASIC/QBasic, compiler/interpreter people, and anyone sufficiently unreasonable to enjoy the idea of booting a modern x64 PC directly into a BASIC interpreter/JIT compiler.
10 by Gorsefound | 5 comments on Hacker News.
Thoreau BASIC started as a joke. I wanted a BASIC where I could type something ridiculous like: DIM A%(12000000000) …and have it actually work. Then I kept adding things. The result is Thoreau BASIC, a free x64 BASIC interpreter inspired by GW-BASIC, running both as a normal Windows program and directly on bare-metal UEFI without an operating system. Version 3.2 has become considerably more ambitious than the little interpreter I originally intended to write. The language still deliberately looks and feels like old Microsoft BASIC. Line numbers, GOTO, GOSUB, PRINT, PSET, LINE, CIRCLE, DRAW, etc. are all there. But underneath that rather innocent-looking surface is now quite a lot of machinery. Some of the current features: native x64 JIT compilation, with automatic fallback to the interpreter PARFOR for multithreaded numeric loops SSE2 / AVX2 acceleration where available 64-bit addressing and very large arrays native complex, quaternion and other hypercomplex numbers arbitrary-resolution 24-bit graphics sprites, bitmap operations, polygon filling and mouse input TCP/IP networking on Windows and UEFI an integrated profiler, debugger, tracing and program-analysis tools CREATEEXE to turn a BASIC program into a standalone Windows executable CREATEEFI to turn the same program into a directly bootable UEFI application The sound system has also grown rather out of proportion. Thoreau BASIC can now handle up to 32 live instrument channels plus 64 sound effect channels and 256 voices, with real-time pan and brightness control. NOTE and SOUNDKEY can be used more like playable synthesis primitives rather than just old-school BASIC beeps. 3.2 also expands the less glamorous but surprisingly useful parts of the environment. There is better file browsing and selection with GETFILES and SELECTBOX, longer case-preserving paths, recovery/file-flush facilities, and considerably more detailed SYSTEMINFO$ diagnostics. The latter is useful for seeing things such as available CPU capabilities and the execution environment while debugging performance differences between machines. One thing I've spent a lot of time on recently is making the BASIC programs themselves fast enough that they stop feeling like demonstrations of an interpreter. For example, the current Mandelbrot demo is a real-time interactive fractal explorer. Mouse movement pans the fractal, left-click zooms in and right-click zooms out, while the BASIC program continuously redraws and displays the frame rate. There are also 3D and procedural demos, sprite programs, networking examples, hypercomplex fractals and games. An important design constraint throughout the project has been that Windows and UEFI should execute essentially the same BASIC language. A program shouldn't suddenly become a different species just because there is no operating system underneath it. And yes, I am fully aware of the absurdity of combining GOTO 100 with AVX2, multithreading, TCP/IP and quaternion arithmetic. That is increasingly the point. I'm interested in the question: What would BASIC look like if it had never gone out of fashion? Thoreau BASIC 3.2 is my current answer. I'd be especially interested in feedback from people who remember GW-BASIC/QBasic, compiler/interpreter people, and anyone sufficiently unreasonable to enjoy the idea of booting a modern x64 PC directly into a BASIC interpreter/JIT compiler.
New Show Hacker News story: Show HN: Four LLMs play 20 questions for real money, live
Show HN: Four LLMs play 20 questions for real money, live
4 by Individuum | 0 comments on Hacker News.
Hi HN, I wanted to explore how AI models behave when they have their own money. So I gave 4 frontier models their own USDC and had them compete in games of 20 questions. Anyone can watch live. Each round, one model takes a turn picking the secret word, and the others interrogate it in a group chat. Every move costs money: 10 cents to ask a question, $1.00 for a wrong guess, and a right guess takes the pot. Questions are paid for privately, but inform everyone. This introduces a free rider problem that's fun to observe. The models privately record their best guess and confidence level on every turn. This makes it possible to look for patterns in how they’re calibrated. Overconfident models bleed money, timid ones rarely win, and well-calibrated ones get rich. The money is real, and every transfer is on-chain. At the end of each game a referee model judges the transcript to make sure the host didn’t lie in any answers. If the host is caught lying, it forfeits all its fees (it happens). Season 1 ran for 85 games and Gemini turned $25 into $61 while Claude and Grok went broke. Models who had recently guessed wrong were 5x more likely to guess again. Full writeup at https://ift.tt/6AULG9s Season 2 is live now, and you can watch them play here: https://ift.tt/yFfR0TU Built solo as a side project.
4 by Individuum | 0 comments on Hacker News.
Hi HN, I wanted to explore how AI models behave when they have their own money. So I gave 4 frontier models their own USDC and had them compete in games of 20 questions. Anyone can watch live. Each round, one model takes a turn picking the secret word, and the others interrogate it in a group chat. Every move costs money: 10 cents to ask a question, $1.00 for a wrong guess, and a right guess takes the pot. Questions are paid for privately, but inform everyone. This introduces a free rider problem that's fun to observe. The models privately record their best guess and confidence level on every turn. This makes it possible to look for patterns in how they’re calibrated. Overconfident models bleed money, timid ones rarely win, and well-calibrated ones get rich. The money is real, and every transfer is on-chain. At the end of each game a referee model judges the transcript to make sure the host didn’t lie in any answers. If the host is caught lying, it forfeits all its fees (it happens). Season 1 ran for 85 games and Gemini turned $25 into $61 while Claude and Grok went broke. Models who had recently guessed wrong were 5x more likely to guess again. Full writeup at https://ift.tt/6AULG9s Season 2 is live now, and you can watch them play here: https://ift.tt/yFfR0TU Built solo as a side project.
New Show Hacker News story: Show HN: Portus, A Rust Based API/AI/MCP Gateway
Show HN: Portus, A Rust Based API/AI/MCP Gateway
3 by nodstuff | 0 comments on Hacker News.
Portus is a Rust-based API/AI/MCP Gateway built on top of Rama as the networking stack (Rama replaced Pingora due to better throughput and lower resource usage). Portus uses a split control/data plane architecture and conforms with the Kubernetes Gateway API specification (130/130 tests across all profiles). Portus also runs in standalone mode outside of Kubernetes with a simple Yaml config file with ACME support built-in. Please give it a try and if you like it then if you wouldn't mind going to Github and starring the project I would be very appreciative! If there is something missing that you would like to see then please leave feedback and I will see what I can do. Thank you! https://ift.tt/8QcRLds
3 by nodstuff | 0 comments on Hacker News.
Portus is a Rust-based API/AI/MCP Gateway built on top of Rama as the networking stack (Rama replaced Pingora due to better throughput and lower resource usage). Portus uses a split control/data plane architecture and conforms with the Kubernetes Gateway API specification (130/130 tests across all profiles). Portus also runs in standalone mode outside of Kubernetes with a simple Yaml config file with ACME support built-in. Please give it a try and if you like it then if you wouldn't mind going to Github and starring the project I would be very appreciative! If there is something missing that you would like to see then please leave feedback and I will see what I can do. Thank you! https://ift.tt/8QcRLds
New Show Hacker News story: Show HN: PhreshOS – OS for Web Apps
Show HN: PhreshOS – OS for Web Apps
2 by zouhirdx | 0 comments on Hacker News.
I'd like to share my experience building this system with you. It's an operating system for web applications, and it took me about six months to develop this model. The idea is that every time I build a web tool, I need to design the infrastructure, including authentication and communication. If it's a WebSocket, it's even more complicated; I need another port for each application. I couldn't find any neutral tool that provided all of this ready-made, allowing me to build my tools directly on top of it. This is where the PhreshOS project began. It's an open-source, neutral platform for any web application, with everything ready-made: authentication, two-way communication without any configuration, and more. Another key feature is that the applications run as Node.js threads, instead of each application using its own Node.js. This means that on a simple server, dozens of applications can run without any problems, unlike if each application had its own Node.js. Furthermore, AI agents can use the services of these applications and interact with the same state displayed by your application's interface, without needing a separate interface of their own. The project and all its associated packages are open source under the MIT license. I welcome all your feedback, both encouraging and critical.
2 by zouhirdx | 0 comments on Hacker News.
I'd like to share my experience building this system with you. It's an operating system for web applications, and it took me about six months to develop this model. The idea is that every time I build a web tool, I need to design the infrastructure, including authentication and communication. If it's a WebSocket, it's even more complicated; I need another port for each application. I couldn't find any neutral tool that provided all of this ready-made, allowing me to build my tools directly on top of it. This is where the PhreshOS project began. It's an open-source, neutral platform for any web application, with everything ready-made: authentication, two-way communication without any configuration, and more. Another key feature is that the applications run as Node.js threads, instead of each application using its own Node.js. This means that on a simple server, dozens of applications can run without any problems, unlike if each application had its own Node.js. Furthermore, AI agents can use the services of these applications and interact with the same state displayed by your application's interface, without needing a separate interface of their own. The project and all its associated packages are open source under the MIT license. I welcome all your feedback, both encouraging and critical.
New ask Hacker News story: Commadore64 vs. Nvidia GB10
Commadore64 vs. Nvidia GB10
2 by spottedmarley | 1 comments on Hacker News.
One of my first PCs was a C64 (my very first was a TRS80) Today I have a Dell Pro Max GB10 (2, actually) I started thinking about how far tech has come since those days so I asked Grok to try and calculate for me how many C64s would be required to match the processing power of one GB10. Grok's answer: Between 10- and 50-billion C64s (depending on how you compare them, they are not strictly comparable) Anyway, that's quite a 40yr leap!
2 by spottedmarley | 1 comments on Hacker News.
One of my first PCs was a C64 (my very first was a TRS80) Today I have a Dell Pro Max GB10 (2, actually) I started thinking about how far tech has come since those days so I asked Grok to try and calculate for me how many C64s would be required to match the processing power of one GB10. Grok's answer: Between 10- and 50-billion C64s (depending on how you compare them, they are not strictly comparable) Anyway, that's quite a 40yr leap!