2024 reading list

Author

ivan commented Jan 4, 2026

Every new horror a footnote. Every fucking day.

https://www.metafilter.com/211682/Musks-CSAM-Factory

Author

ivan commented Jan 6, 2026

I am curious on how you would algorithmically find the optimal solution for this kind of problem for much bigger grids. I wanted to do some seed finding in Factorio for the same exact problem using the generated map images, but never found a good solution that was fast enough.

The site uses Answer Set Programming with the Clingo engine to compute the optimal solutions for smaller grids. Maximizing grids like this is probably NP-hard.

Note that traditional SAT and SMT solvers are quite inefficient at computing flood-fills.

The ASP specifications it uses to compute optimal solutions are surprisingly short and readable, and look like:
  #const budget=11.
  horse(4,4).
  cell(0,0).
  boundary(0,0).
  cell(0,1).
  boundary(0,1).
  % ...truncated for brevity...
  cell(3,1).
  water(3,1).
  % ...
  
  % Adjacent cells (4-way connectivity)
  adj(R,C, R+1,C) :- cell(R,C), cell(R+1,C).
  adj(R,C, R-1,C) :- cell(R,C), cell(R-1,C).
  adj(R,C, R,C+1) :- cell(R,C), cell(R,C+1).
  adj(R,C, R,C-1) :- cell(R,C), cell(R,C-1).
  
  % Walkable = not water
  walkable(R,C) :- cell(R,C), not water(R,C).
  
  % Choice: place wall on any walkable cell except horse and cherries
  { wall(R,C) } :- walkable(R,C), not horse(R,C), not cherry(R,C).
  
  % Budget constraint (native counting - no bit-blasting!)
  :- #count { R,C : wall(R,C) } > budget.
  
  % Reachability from horse (z = enclosed/reachable cells)
  z(R,C) :- horse(R,C).
  z(R2,C2) :- z(R1,C1), adj(R1,C1, R2,C2), walkable(R2,C2), not wall(  R2,C2).
  
  % Horse cannot reach boundary (would escape)
  :- z(R,C), boundary(R,C).
  
  % Maximize enclosed area (cherries worth +3 bonus = 4 total)
  #maximize { 4,R,C : z(R,C), cherry(R,C) ; 1,R,C : z(R,C), not cherry(  R,C) }.
  
  % Only output wall positions
  #show wall/2.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46509661

Author

ivan commented Jan 7, 2026

In my experience, there's been a big drop in quality (likely to maintain competitive pricing) on the wire shelves sold in store and you can no longer purchase based on brand name alone. If you want to store hundreds of pounds on each shelf level, you'll benefit from a pincer-type truss design (where the mat wire is between the two top truss wire) adding strength and distributing the load without stress on the welds. The old models were designed this way, but the new ones are not. Additionally, the new casters aren't rated for the same weights as they once were and I've bent and snapped many. With this being said, the in-store wire shelves are still suitable for probably 99% of residential / non-commercial users, but if you want "buy-it-for-life" you'll want to look for the truss design and terms such as "heavy-duty". Additionally, pay attention to the manufacturer's load ratings per shelf and for the whole unit using adjustable feet or casters (which varies greatly).

https://old.reddit.com/r/Costco/comments/197ljva/are_the_trinity_wire_shelves_durable/

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ivan commented Jan 4, 2026

Uh oh!

ivan commented Jan 6, 2026

Uh oh!

ivan commented Jan 7, 2026

Uh oh!