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Experts have it easy (2024) (Score: 152+ in 14 hours)

Link: https://readhacker.news/s/6uEt7
Comments: https://readhacker.news/c/6uEt7
Show HN: I modeled the Voynich Manuscript with SBERT to test for structure (🔥 Score: 156+ in 2 hours)

Link: https://readhacker.news/s/6uFKt
Comments: https://readhacker.news/c/6uFKt

I built this project as a way to learn more about NLP by applying it to something weird and unsolved.
The Voynich Manuscript is a 15th-century book written in an unknown script. No one’s been able to translate it, and many think it’s a hoax, a cipher, or a constructed language. I wasn’t trying to decode it — I just wanted to see: does it behave like a structured language?
I stripped a handful of common suffix-like endings (aiin, dy, etc.) to isolate what looked like root forms. I know that’s a strong assumption — I call it out directly in the repo — but it helped clarify the clustering. From there, I used SBERT embeddings and KMeans to group similar roots, inferred POS-like roles based on position and frequency, and built a Markov transition matrix to visualize cluster-to-cluster flow.
It’s not translation. It’s not decryption. It’s structural modeling — and it revealed some surprisingly consistent syntax across the manuscript, especially when broken out by section (Botanical, Biological, etc.).
GitHub repo: https://github.com/brianmg/voynich-nlp-analysis
Write-up: https://brig90.substack.com/p/modeling-the-voynich-manuscrip...
I’m new to the NLP space, so I’m sure there are things I got wrong — but I’d love feedback from people who’ve worked with structured language modeling or weird edge cases like this.
$30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (Score: 150+ in 5 hours)

Link: https://readhacker.news/s/6uFSG
Comments: https://readhacker.news/c/6uFSG
Spaced Repetition Memory System (Score: 150+ in 9 hours)

Link: https://readhacker.news/s/6uFHb
Comments: https://readhacker.news/c/6uFHb
Building my childhood dream PC (Score: 150+ in 11 hours)

Link: https://readhacker.news/s/6uFA2
Comments: https://readhacker.news/c/6uFA2
Show HN: Vaev – A browser engine built from scratch (It renders google.com) (Score: 151+ in 10 hours)

Link: https://readhacker.news/s/6uFZA
Comments: https://readhacker.news/c/6uFZA

We’ve been working on Vaev, a minimal web browser engine built from scratch. It supports HTML/XHTML, the CSS cascade, @page rules for pagination, and print-to-PDF rendering. It even handles calc(), var(), and percentage units—and yes, it renders Google.com (mostly).
This is an experimental project focused on learning and exploration. Networking is basic (http:// and file:// only), and grid layouts aren’t supported yet, but we’re making progress fast.
We’d love your thoughts and feedback.