The best Hacker News stories from Show from the past day
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Show HN: Calculator for US individual income tax, from 1970-present
I wanted to share a simple web app I created recently, which lets you estimate income taxes owed in the US: <a href="https://taxsim.app" rel="nofollow">https://taxsim.app</a><p>All the calculations occur directly in the browser, and are powered by a Fortran program that has been converted to WASM using emscripten. This calculator was originally developed in the 1970s [1] by the non-profit National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER has been maintaining this F77 codebase for the last 50 years, and uses it primarily for academic research on tax policy. The Fortran source code itself is over 1MB of text, because it codifies both federal and all 50 states' tax laws for each of the last 62 years.<p>I first learned about NBER TAXSIM [2] a few months ago via an interesting paper they published "Automatic Tax Filing: Simulating a Pre-Populated Form 1040" [3]. The Fortran code itself is not open-source, but is available on request for research purposes. I reached out to NBER and proposed compiling it to WASM, so it could be run directly in a browser. With relatively little effort I was able to create a js/wasm version [4], thanks in huge part to previous open-source work [5].<p>This WASM build now powers <a href="https://taxsim.app" rel="nofollow">https://taxsim.app</a>, which is my attempt to create an interactive UI to allow for easier exploration of the US tax code. Specific tax scenarios can also be shared easily, by simply copying the browser URL. The code for this webapp is also open-source [6].<p>This was my first time experimenting with WASM, and I am already a huge fan. Not only was I able to take a 60 year old codebase and get it working on every modern browser and device, this work is also now benefiting the academic community. For example, the js/wasm can be run directly in V8, which means it can also now be run locally within R using libv8 [7]. Previously most researchers were uploading their tax scenarios to NBER's servers via ftp/ssh/http.<p>[1] <a href="https://taxsim.nber.org/feenberg-coutts.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://taxsim.nber.org/feenberg-coutts.pdf</a><p>[2] <a href="https://taxsim.nber.org/" rel="nofollow">https://taxsim.nber.org/</a><p>[3] <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w30008" rel="nofollow">https://www.nber.org/papers/w30008</a><p>[4] <a href="https://github.com/tmm1/taxsim.js" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/tmm1/taxsim.js</a><p>[5] <a href="https://chrz.de/2020/04/21/fortran-in-the-browser/" rel="nofollow">https://chrz.de/2020/04/21/fortran-in-the-browser/</a><p>[6] <a href="https://github.com/tmm1/taxsim.app" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/tmm1/taxsim.app</a><p>[7] <a href="https://github.com/shanejorr/usincometaxes/pull/11" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/shanejorr/usincometaxes/pull/11</a>
Show HN: We made a fast audio editor for podcasting
Show HN: I ranked news websites by speed
I've been working on building "the fastest news website" for a few reasons:<p>1. I got tired of waiting for news websites to load, so I made a text-only news website that only has major news headlines.<p>2. I wanted to demonstrate to the world that if you want to build something really fast on the web, you can do it without loads of JavaScript.<p>3. I wanted to show that you can design something that looks good without having tons of images, etc.<p>I put together the speed page at <a href="https://legiblenews.com/speed" rel="nofollow">https://legiblenews.com/speed</a> to hold my website to be more accountable for speed, but it's also interesting to see how fast other news websites are (or in most cases, are not).<p>Some feedback I'm interested in receiving:<p>1. What's your take both on the speed ranking methodology for Legible News?<p>2. Are my descriptions of the metrics for a non-web developer reasonable? Example of that at <a href="https://legiblenews.com/speed/websites/associated-press" rel="nofollow">https://legiblenews.com/speed/websites/associated-press</a>, and if you click through the links on that table, you see a description like <a href="https://legiblenews.com/speed/audits/cumulative-layout-shift" rel="nofollow">https://legiblenews.com/speed/audits/cumulative-layout-shift</a><p>Sorry ahead of time, but I can't fit all news websites on the speed report. I had to target general news websites, not ones for specific niches like HN for Tech. If there's something you think that's missing please post it, but I can't promise that I'll add it.<p>If you like it, please consider subscribing! Thanks!
Show HN: I ranked news websites by speed
I've been working on building "the fastest news website" for a few reasons:<p>1. I got tired of waiting for news websites to load, so I made a text-only news website that only has major news headlines.<p>2. I wanted to demonstrate to the world that if you want to build something really fast on the web, you can do it without loads of JavaScript.<p>3. I wanted to show that you can design something that looks good without having tons of images, etc.<p>I put together the speed page at <a href="https://legiblenews.com/speed" rel="nofollow">https://legiblenews.com/speed</a> to hold my website to be more accountable for speed, but it's also interesting to see how fast other news websites are (or in most cases, are not).<p>Some feedback I'm interested in receiving:<p>1. What's your take both on the speed ranking methodology for Legible News?<p>2. Are my descriptions of the metrics for a non-web developer reasonable? Example of that at <a href="https://legiblenews.com/speed/websites/associated-press" rel="nofollow">https://legiblenews.com/speed/websites/associated-press</a>, and if you click through the links on that table, you see a description like <a href="https://legiblenews.com/speed/audits/cumulative-layout-shift" rel="nofollow">https://legiblenews.com/speed/audits/cumulative-layout-shift</a><p>Sorry ahead of time, but I can't fit all news websites on the speed report. I had to target general news websites, not ones for specific niches like HN for Tech. If there's something you think that's missing please post it, but I can't promise that I'll add it.<p>If you like it, please consider subscribing! Thanks!
Show HN: I ranked news websites by speed
I've been working on building "the fastest news website" for a few reasons:<p>1. I got tired of waiting for news websites to load, so I made a text-only news website that only has major news headlines.<p>2. I wanted to demonstrate to the world that if you want to build something really fast on the web, you can do it without loads of JavaScript.<p>3. I wanted to show that you can design something that looks good without having tons of images, etc.<p>I put together the speed page at <a href="https://legiblenews.com/speed" rel="nofollow">https://legiblenews.com/speed</a> to hold my website to be more accountable for speed, but it's also interesting to see how fast other news websites are (or in most cases, are not).<p>Some feedback I'm interested in receiving:<p>1. What's your take both on the speed ranking methodology for Legible News?<p>2. Are my descriptions of the metrics for a non-web developer reasonable? Example of that at <a href="https://legiblenews.com/speed/websites/associated-press" rel="nofollow">https://legiblenews.com/speed/websites/associated-press</a>, and if you click through the links on that table, you see a description like <a href="https://legiblenews.com/speed/audits/cumulative-layout-shift" rel="nofollow">https://legiblenews.com/speed/audits/cumulative-layout-shift</a><p>Sorry ahead of time, but I can't fit all news websites on the speed report. I had to target general news websites, not ones for specific niches like HN for Tech. If there's something you think that's missing please post it, but I can't promise that I'll add it.<p>If you like it, please consider subscribing! Thanks!
Show HN: I stripped DALL·E Mini to its bare essentials and converted it to Torch
Show HN: I stripped DALL·E Mini to its bare essentials and converted it to Torch
Show HN: Yboard is a multiplayer desktop-like workspace based on CRDT
I've always been curious about real-time multiplayer user interfaces.<p>When I found out about CRDTs and Yjs[1] I thought they could serve as a solid base for a project like that.<p>So I built this pretty simple desktop-like UI (heavily inspired by lifeat.io) and used Yjs to replicate the whole UI state among multiple peers, creating the experience of a unique interface.<p>Try online: <a href="https://yboard.lol" rel="nofollow">https://yboard.lol</a><p>[1]: <a href="https://github.com/yjs/yjs" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/yjs/yjs</a>
Show HN: PRQL 0.2 – a better SQL
Hi everyone — thanks for your interest in PRQL — let us know any questions or feedback!<p>We're excited to be releasing 0.2[1], the first version of PRQL you can use in your own projects. It wouldn't exist without the feedback we got from HackerNews when we originally posted the proposal.<p>[1]: <a href="https://github.com/prql/prql/releases/tag/0.2.0" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/prql/prql/releases/tag/0.2.0</a>
Show HN: PRQL 0.2 – a better SQL
Hi everyone — thanks for your interest in PRQL — let us know any questions or feedback!<p>We're excited to be releasing 0.2[1], the first version of PRQL you can use in your own projects. It wouldn't exist without the feedback we got from HackerNews when we originally posted the proposal.<p>[1]: <a href="https://github.com/prql/prql/releases/tag/0.2.0" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/prql/prql/releases/tag/0.2.0</a>
Show HN: Ferris, social network for IRL activities with your closest friends
Show HN: Pathfinding Visualizer
Decided to remake my old pathfinding project to hexagonal tiles. Pretty happy with how it turned out.<p>Source code: <a href="https://github.com/honzaap/Pathfinding" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/honzaap/Pathfinding</a>
Show HN: Feather – 90 percent of Bloomberg terminal, for 5 percent of the price
Hey,<p>Wanted to share what my friend and I built — Feather. It provides investors with all imaginable financial data, without breaking the bank. Effectively 90 percent of the Bloomberg Terminal, at 5 percent of the price.<p>We just opened sign ups for early access — all you need to sign up is your email address. We’ll open access to the software in order of sign ups, and we’d love to have you onboard.<p>Check it out!<p><a href="https://try-feather.com" rel="nofollow">https://try-feather.com</a>
Show HN: Domfetch.com - free tool to find expired domains with history
We have finally launched Domfetch!<p>Domfetch is a free platform to find expired domains. Users can search through domains that are (almost) available for registration. We enrich these domains with extra data to help users find valuable domains.<p>We created this tool because we found the (free) alternatives lacking certain data, such as Moz, Alexa history (we check 5 years of data) & search volume history over a period of 1 year.<p>Let us know what you think! More features and tld's will be added in the near future.
Show HN: Domfetch.com - free tool to find expired domains with history
We have finally launched Domfetch!<p>Domfetch is a free platform to find expired domains. Users can search through domains that are (almost) available for registration. We enrich these domains with extra data to help users find valuable domains.<p>We created this tool because we found the (free) alternatives lacking certain data, such as Moz, Alexa history (we check 5 years of data) & search volume history over a period of 1 year.<p>Let us know what you think! More features and tld's will be added in the near future.
Show HN: I developed a fast general purpose sorting algorithm
Show HN: OpsFlow – Low-code DevOps – Webflow for infrastructure
Opsflow cofounder here! We launched a bunch of things recently, some of them well received (Terragen, AWS Bootstrap). It's no secret that AWS is hard, and our mission is to make it simple.<p>What HN crowd helped us realise is that the UI was still not simple enough. Rather confusing in fact.<p>So in the last couple weeks we have radically simplified it based on your feedback. We have removed the unnecessarily complex concepts like Services and Environments - it's just Apps now. All options are now on the new Settings screen. Instead of Infrastructure and Software deployments there is now a sequence of steps.<p>Check it out - and tell us what you think!<p>Here's our launch on ProductHunt: <a href="https://www.producthunt.com/posts/opsflow" rel="nofollow">https://www.producthunt.com/posts/opsflow</a>
Show HN: OpsFlow – Low-code DevOps – Webflow for infrastructure
Opsflow cofounder here! We launched a bunch of things recently, some of them well received (Terragen, AWS Bootstrap). It's no secret that AWS is hard, and our mission is to make it simple.<p>What HN crowd helped us realise is that the UI was still not simple enough. Rather confusing in fact.<p>So in the last couple weeks we have radically simplified it based on your feedback. We have removed the unnecessarily complex concepts like Services and Environments - it's just Apps now. All options are now on the new Settings screen. Instead of Infrastructure and Software deployments there is now a sequence of steps.<p>Check it out - and tell us what you think!<p>Here's our launch on ProductHunt: <a href="https://www.producthunt.com/posts/opsflow" rel="nofollow">https://www.producthunt.com/posts/opsflow</a>
Show HN: Easily Convert WARC (Web Archive) into Parquet, Then Query with DuckDB
Show HN: Easily Convert WARC (Web Archive) into Parquet, Then Query with DuckDB