MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by steelzzdev | 2025-04-30 17:03:44+00:00
This is painfully accurate. I just opened YouTube on my 4K monitor and counted four videos before the ads and algorithm sludge took over. It’s like they’re actively hostile to screen real estate now.

The 2019 layout actually respected your time — now it’s just dopamine bait on rails. Feels like they’re optimizing for engagement metrics only a machine would love.

That graph made me laugh way too hard. "Zero videos by September" might honestly be the most realistic roadmap Google’s shipped lately.

Also, I’d 100% use a lightweight frontend that just shows recent uploads from my subs in a clean grid. No shorts, no nonsense. If no one builds it, I might.
by Havoc | 2025-04-30 17:03:56+00:00
Well yeah - they're pretty fucked to put it bluntly. The social contract while not entire broken is just broken enough to make things near impossible. Can't afford a house. Can't afford an education. Can't afford a family. Can't even get a proper job anymore (offshoring/gig economy/zero hour contracts)

All gets chalked up to laziness / too much avocado toast etc, when the truth is the goal posts have shifted to such an extent that for many scoring a goal is no longer plausible no matter how hard they try. This chart captures it best:

[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/e1jrvw/oc_...

I'm sorta on the edge of this (millenial) but man do I have sorry for the younger gen
by bmacho | 2025-04-30 17:04:45+00:00
I don't see how this is a debate. People unsubscreibed Kagi, they never subscribed again, billing them is illegal, period. (And even if it were legal, why would anyone want to that in the first place? If I operated a business I most certainly wouldn't want to bill people that are not my users.)

"wHaT iF tHeY wAnTeD tO sTaRt pAyInG?" was just a joke on twisted cartoon scammer logic, not an argument.

Anyone that wants to use Kagi again can click on the subscribe button.
by PaulHoule | 2025-04-30 17:05:02+00:00
As a recommendations engineer I've never been that impressed with YouTube, I think they cribbed the YouTube interface from

http://www.sebastianmihai.com/idiocracy.html

and no wonder they write papers about "negative sampling" because they don't collect clean data. I made the mistake once of clicking on a video where a Chinese lady transforms into a fox on America's Got Talent and oh my god I am suddenly scheduled for thousands of AI slop videos where some Chinese girl transforms into something on that show with the same music and with the same reaction shots.

There is an answer to the coldest cold start problem and that is have a hand curated collection of about 100 or so content pieces that are of broad interest and stupendously high quality. Instagram will show you videos that are amazing (like somebody cooking a fine meal under rustic conditions) if you're cold and Stumbleupon did the same back in the day. Now Instagram 2025 and Stumbleupon 2012 are not "cold" from the viewpoint of content the way YT Shorts is, but Google has the money to pay professionals to make something -- but their ideology is against it.
by loas | 2025-04-30 17:05:08+00:00
Was he very skilled back then when he did it?

Or was it the grit and pushing through the pain of banging his own head against the wall many times while dealing with mysterious errors and compiler warnings that made him very skilled?

I fear the current state of our industry eliminated the possibility for not-great, not-skilled juniors to embark in these journeys such as these to become great and skilled seniors. And I'm afraid that sooner or later we will all regret it.
by nottorp | 2025-04-30 17:06:04+00:00
Hmm interesting. My laptop is about the only place where I occasionally open Youtube. I get 3 videos per row and it looks just fine(tm) because it's a 14 inch screen.

I just experimentally opened youtube in a maximized window on my desktop with the 24" monitor and ... it's 3 videos per row again but I never noticed.

Perhaps all youtube UI "experts" work from cafes on tiny laptop screens?
by insin | 2025-04-30 17:06:06+00:00
If you're using an adblocker, it's because YouTube video grid items have an [is-in-first-column] attribute which gives them extra margin-left, throwing off alignment when videos flow to fill in gaps created by promoted videos which were hidden.

It's kind of silly that they add these attributes to each nth item based on what they expect the grid width to be, when you can get the same layout without them (my YouTube extension mentioned elsewhere in this thread performs this style fix so grid items line up properly when videos and entire cross-cutting shelves are hidden and the rest flow to fill in the gaps), but I suppose they have no incentive to make the layout work when videos are being hidden or the grid is otherwise being modified externally to work in a way they didn't want.
by jmyeet | 2025-04-30 17:06:09+00:00
> China is selling goods to the US because it's good for China. China not selling goods to the US is, therefore, bad for China

In the case of a hypothetical trade embargo or at least punitive tariffs, who would you rather be: the buyer of insulin or the seller of insulin? The seller can be propped up by the government or loans. The buyer? Well, they need insulin. There's a natural imbalance here.

Us not buying Chinese goods has a ton of downstream effects like what if you need parts to repair trucks and those trucks are then out of service so can't haul stuff around?

> China isn't immune to 15% of their economy disappearing.

It won't disappear. It'll diminish. It'll get diverted through third countries. In some cases, the tariffs will be paid. China will have a reduction in exports. The US will have increased inflation, shortages and supply chain issues.

> That's not relevant at all.

It's 100% relevant. Everything is sentiment based. If the world is on China's side, then they'll look the other way when China buys oil and gas from sanctioned countries, for example.
by thebiss | 2025-04-30 17:06:17+00:00
> [...] how we can restructure our approach to education so that students would actually feel encouraged to participate and ignore their smartphones.

Is there any precedent for this that we can model / reproduce? Any country or region where students are considered academically successful, while having unrestricted access to the internet in their pocket?

If it exists, it would be very worthwhile to understand what gives those students such strong self control. Do they do it on their own? Are they somehow admonished/shunned publicly for that behavior?
by amiga386 | 2025-04-30 17:06:18+00:00
Hard agree.

Some random examples where the Wikipedia page in the native language is much more detailed:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Florence vs https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rete_tranviaria_di_Firenze (and an entire second article for the historic system!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_D%C3%A9fense vs https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Défense

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi vs https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministerium_f%C3%BCr_Staatssic...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquest_of_the_Iberian... vs https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquista_omeya_de_Hispania ... but https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%AD... is better than both of them

Does anyone else have good examples? Or are there counter-examples, where enwiki has a better article than the native language wiki?
by vonneumannstan | 2025-04-30 17:06:34+00:00
>without taking the time to do it right" is more reflective of his belief that whatever he tries [even just being president] will be fought, so his options [from his POV] are "do it now" or "don't do it at all", not "do it right"

This seems completely wrong and ascribes motivations to Trump he clearly doesn't have. I think his framing is much more "everything I do is correct therefore this will work." Everything he does makes sense when framed that way.
by Apocryphon | 2025-04-30 17:06:37+00:00
1996 was far too early for what they were trying to make it for:

> The StrongARM was designed to address the upper end of the low-power embedded market, where users needed more performance than the ARM could deliver while being able to accept more external support. Targets were devices such as newer personal digital assistants and set-top boxes.

They'd be able to power a faster PalmPilot or proto-TiVo with it but this was years before the mobile design advances, let alone battery and screen improvements, that led to the iPhone.
by beloch | 2025-04-30 17:06:51+00:00
> “They’re not using gallons and miles in North Korea. They’re using the metric system—so are Iran and China. I can’t imagine why we’d want any of that in our country,”

The funny thing is that U.S. customary units have been defined in terms of metric units since 1893[1]. Americans really are using metric, just with extra steps.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendenhall_Order
by lurk2 | 2025-04-30 17:07:05+00:00
> An HN user that shares their own summary is providing a unique perspective that only they could offer. That's a great contribution to the site that reinforces community and gets encouraged.

A user shared a link. Another user provided a summary of that link. I don’t need the second user to provide his own unique take on the link.

> An HN user that shares an LLM summary is cluttering the site with the output of a program that anybody could have run.

You could make the same argument about throwing paywalled links into the Wayback Machine. It does not add a unique perspective to the discussion and anyone could do it themselves, but those links are almost always at the top of the thread.
by samsilva | 2025-04-30 17:07:55+00:00
That's a totally fair point, and we understand the skepticism towards 'stores' based on past experiences. Avoiding that kind of lock-in is actually central to our design. Our core approach is different:

1- Your data stays local on your device, encrypted, and under your control. Apps only access the specific data you explicitly permit, unlike cloud-centric models.

2- We aim for platform neutrality, supporting various AI models (including local open-source ones), not forcing you into a specific cloud or AI provider's ecosystem.

3- Regarding open source, you're right it's important for trust. We're actively exploring open-sourcing key components, balancing transparency with the need to maintain a secure and sustainable platform.

4- For developers, the goal is to simplify building powerful AI apps with shared tools and fairer distribution/monetization terms than incumbents.

Ultimately, we're trying to build a foundation that empowers users and developers by prioritizing privacy and control, not create another walled garden. Thanks for sharing your feedback, love it.
by Timpy | 2025-04-30 17:08:06+00:00
This is totally orthogonal to the issue but I think the best fix possible is to block the YouTube home page. I have gained value from algorithm-curated feeds in the past but it's no longer a net positive in my life. I recommend checking out News Feed Eradicator[0], Distraction Free YouTube[1], and set up some extremely aggressive uBlock Origin rules.

[0] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/news-feed-era...

[1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/df-youtube/
by energy123 | 2025-04-30 17:09:04+00:00
To emphasize, there's a massive difference between high-end manufacturing which is important for national security, and manufacturing of toys and t-shirts, especially in an economy with a low 4% unemployment. Those low-end manufacturing jobs can't come back to the US, and nor should any attempt be made to make that happen. Any industrial or trade policy that doesn't factor this in is not pareto optimal.

Another thing to point out is that there's no national security justification for bringing back even high-end manufacturing from close allies like Canada.

A good trade and industrial policy is one that tries to protect key industries among allies instead of insisting on every single important industry being done locally.
by t-3 | 2025-04-30 17:09:21+00:00
> According to the affidavit in the District of Columbia, 764 is a network of nihilistic violent extremists who engage in criminal conduct in the United States and abroad, seeking to destroy civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors.

Sounds like a bit of a stretch. They're just sadistic perverts who use abusive tactics to psychologically manipulate teenage girls.
Show HN: Board Buddy – open-source board game counter
by GlebShalimov | 2025-04-30 17:10:20+00:00
Hey everyone! I'm excited to share a project I've been working on: Board Buddy(https://boardbuddyapp.vercel.app) — a free cross-platform mobile app for tracking scores and rules in board games. Board Buddy simplifies gameplay by helping you keep track of scores and key points, so you can focus on the game itself and socializing with friends

You can download Board Buddy on the App Store(https://apps.apple.com/app/board-buddy-score-counter/id67439...) Google Play will be available soon, check out the source code on GitHub(https://github.com/khlebobul/board_buddy), or visit the official website(https://boardbuddyapp.vercel.app/) for more info!

I'd love to hear your feedback, ideas, or even see some PRs if you feel like contributing! If you enjoy the app, leaving a star or a review would absolutely make my day.

Thanks for checking it out!
by westurner | 2025-04-30 17:10:26+00:00
Could AI sift through removals and score as biased or vandalist?

And then what to do about "original research" that should've been moved to a different platform or better (also with community review) instead of being deleted?

Wikipedia:No_original_research: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research #Using_sources
by kspacewalk2 | 2025-04-30 17:10:48+00:00
I guess the likes of Youtube and Facebook are trying unsuccessfully to replicate TikTok. This is effort #2 for Facebook, which is/was also trying unsuccessfully to replicate Youtube with their take on some-attention-span-needed videos.

(Seriously though... Facebook's video playback UI. What the fuck is that? Why is it so bad?)

I guess they don't get that there's going to be only one winner in each niche, unless TikTok goes down for political/national security reasons. Why do I need Youtube shorts if I have TikTok? Why do I need Google+ if I have Facebook? Why do I want Facebook videos if I have Youtube? Unsolved puzzle.
by ezekg | 2025-04-30 17:11:10+00:00
I've found reddit harder and harder to actually meaningfully post your blog anywhere, unless your post is a technical/programming blog post (in which case /r/programming and /r/$lang work ok), especially if your audience for said post is other founders e.g. a post about bootstrapping. Most subreddits block self-promotion of any kind due to I assume spam and low-quality blog spam. I've written a lot about business over the years, but reddit hasn't read much of it -- just my technical posts, really.

Do you have any thoughts on this issue? I used to use a reddit scheduler quite a lot, but nowadays not so much due to the above.
by photochemsyn | 2025-04-30 17:11:27+00:00
The one economic theory of trade that seems most solid is competitive advantage but it does rely on trade between independent equal partners, rather than trade between a dominant superpower and a client state run by a puppet government controlled by said superpower.

Fundamentally, the neoliberal project created a lot of billionaires in the USA and associated wealthy enclaves by pushing manufacturing out to US-controlled client state sweatshops while also importing lower-paid workers, from H1B visa holders in tech to undocumented labor in construction and agribusiness. The resulting wealth inequality has led to political instability and unexpected consequences (eg the Rust Belt not backing Democratic candidates who promoted TPP etc.)

The reality is, reversing de-industrialization and abandoning neoliberalism would require a massive state-sponsored effort to update the basic infrastructure - electrical grids, roads, high-speed rail, ports, bridges, fiber-optic networks, schools for engineers and researchers - everything that makes competitive industrial manufacturing possible.

The notion that tariffs alone could accomplish such a massive transition by pressuring private capital to build all that infrastructure is ludicrous. Capital flight from the USA is far more likely - so a massive socialist project would be needed, including high taxes on the wealthy and cross-border capital controls to prevent capital flight (as existed in the USA in the 1960s) - all of which is heresy to the acolytes of Milton Friedman.

Maybe I'm wrong and Apple will open an iPhone factory in the USA this year with entry-level living wages of $35/hr (inflation-adjusted to 1960s factory wages) and the shareholders and executives will take a massive cut in renumeration to avoid iPhone prices spiking to levels where consumers won't touch them. I rather doubt it, though.
by 01100011 | 2025-04-30 17:11:33+00:00
I tried to supercharge my starter by putting a small piece of pineapple in it to see if it would pick up some more wild yeasts. I'm pretty sure the pineapple had bread yeast on it because now my starter is as active as commercial yeast and lost all of its sourness. I even tried putting yogurt kefir in to give the acid producing bacteria a foothold and slow down the yeast but no, the yeast continue to dominate.

Oh well, time to start over.

I generally have good luck with whole wheat + dark rye flour. Takes a week or two to get started.
by jsheard | 2025-04-30 17:11:41+00:00
Depends on how you do it, loading="lazy" helps a bit, but the iframe still gets loaded when it enters the viewport even if the user has no intention of watching the video. The best approach is to initially show a fake facade of the player and only swap in the real iframe after the user interacts with it, which is what Google recommends doing in that article.
by lurk2 | 2025-04-30 17:11:49+00:00
> Now I never have to read the linked article.

I think you’re saying this jokingly but it would be an improvement. Most people don’t read the article. This is partially laziness but also has to do with consistency: I know what a Hacker News thread will look like and how it will perform whenever I open one, whereas a lot of the submissions are from sites that are borderline unusable without an adblocker. Posting the full article in the thread would be a vast improvement, but I can’t imagine it would be feasible owing to copyright issues.
by kolanos | 2025-04-30 17:11:55+00:00
> At least, I imagine the CEOs of GM, Ford, Boeing, etc. might have a thing or two to say about seeing China disappear as a market where they can do business to sell stuff....

They largely weren't doing this anyway due to Chinese economic policy. For example:

> Ford's market share in China has declined significantly.In 2024, Ford's market share was 1.6%, down from a peak of 4.7% in 2015. Over the past three years, Ford's average market share in China has been a modest 1.8%.
by toomuchtodo | 2025-04-30 17:11:58+00:00
https://archive.today/mQn9W

Related:

South Carolina College Needs Immediate $6 Million to Keep Campus - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-21/south-car... | https://archive.today/2LvPX - April 21, 2025

US College Closures Are Expected to Soar, Fed Research Says - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42358853 - Dec 2024 (no comments)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-03/us-colleg... | https://archive.today/ADW3T - December 3, 2024

https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/working-...

The Economics of Small US Colleges Are Faltering - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38636859 - Dec 2023 (1 comment)

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-us-higher-education-... | https://archive.today/YkLR5 - December 14, 2023
by cogman10 | 2025-04-30 17:13:28+00:00
Here's the main issue I have with this reasoning. It builds in a fault to the program that doesn't need to be there.

If n is usually less than 100 then sure maybe it does make sense to do the more brute force approach. However, what's the impact of using the hash table first? If n is usually less than 100, now this method is slower usually, but is that a problem? Well, you should use a profiler to find out if it is or isn't. However, that may be entirely tolerable performance wise.

On the other hand, if your assumption that "n < 100" doesn't hold up and, indeed you start seeing n > 100, or 1000, or 10000. Now all the sudden this method becomes a fault in the application you developed that needs to be rewritten.

What's devious about the "n > 100" problem is when you first write the code, you may have very well been correct that "n < 100". But time and inputs change the way code is executed.

A lot of the code I've fixed has been due to this. I've seen the counter where really searching a list/array was the better option only a handful of times.

To me, premature optimization is using a known algorithmically inferior approach, of the same complexity as the superior approach, because you know that for small n, it is faster without knowing whether or not that will be the case.
by 34679 | 2025-04-30 17:13:59+00:00
This seems to imply that the only thing we import from China is junk. That hasn't been the case for decades. Beyond the junk we have pretty much the entire consumer electronic market, and beyond that the equipment running the infrastructure required for many of those electronics to operate. Beyond that, we have equipment for communication and navigation networks for government and first responders, and the countless components required for their vehicles or an effective response to crisis. Then we have the vast variety of equipment required for modern farming, each piece containing countless Chinese components, even if it's an American made tractor.

There is no possible way for anyone to foresee the totality of effects from a serious trade war with China, but I can assure you, it will be far worse than a lack of junk on store shelves.
by PaulHoule | 2025-04-30 17:14:07+00:00
My experience is that if you have a population doing some activity online it is self-perpetuating

https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/the-flywheel.html

and you might think, "I have (say) N=250,000 people playing game A and I can get them playing game B" you are probably going to be disappointed and very lucky if you get somewhere between 250 and 2500 of them playing your new game.

The two-sided market that makes YouTube impossible to dethrone makes it just as hard to change direction. For one thing you have to change the behavior of the viewers, but you also have to change the behavior of the creators, who know how to make videos, who know how to monetize them, all of that.

Myself I find I don't have a big attention span for short videos. I mean, Chinese girls doing the robot turn on my mirror neurons as much as anything. I can watch a 30 second video and get 30 seconds of fun but I don't want to watch another and another and another. However I cannot get enough of Techmoan talking about tape decks and such

https://www.youtube.com/user/techmoan