MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by samiv | 2025-04-04 20:00:02+00:00
He doesn't suggest that the economy is a zero sum game, but that the distribution of that wealth matters and in our societies we're increasingly distributing wealth unevenly so that tiny minority of people increasingly control and own all the wealth, assets and means of production thus depriving other people of economic opportunities and crippling the economies.

In your example of building more, in order to a new building get erected someone owns the land, someone owns the materials, someone owns all the assets and the capital required to build. The people who invest to this will of course want to turn a profit on it.
by hinkley | 2025-04-04 20:00:43+00:00
The biggest thing I worry about with AI is that its current incarnation is anathema to the directions I think software needs to go next, and I’m at a loss to see what the judo-throw will look like that achieves that.

Rob Pike has the right idea but the wrong execution. As the amount of second and third party code we use increases, the search time goes up, and we need better facilities to reduce the amount of time you need to spend looking at the internals of one package because you need that time to look at three others. So clarity and discoverability both need to matter, and AI has no answers here, only more problems.

IMO, a lot of the success of Java comes from having provided 80% of the source code with the JDK. You could spend so much time single stepping into code that was not yours to figure out why your inputs didn’t cause the outputs you expected. But those are table stakes now.
by mechanicalpulse | 2025-04-04 20:01:13+00:00
The site was assembled using webpack and at least one element has a `data-react-helmet` attribute, so my guess is it's a React or React derivative such as Next.js. You're right -- it's not progressive enhancement and it's not necessary to present a simple tutorial.

Maybe there are other reasons, though? Maybe Ben wanted to learn the framework? Maybe Ben wanted to integrate a storefront and a comment section -- which he has done via Shopify and Disqus -- and his choice of framework made that easy due to the existence of official React libraries from both vendors? Maybe Ben's using cloud-native serverless deployment tools alongside his React application because some of the derivative frameworks like Next.js do really well at minifying, compressing, caching, and serving only the content that's needed?

I can understand the purist argument -- I really can, especially from a security standpoint given what we've learned in the past few years about cache-timing side-channel attacks -- but is it possible that Ben is simply a fan of learning and he's as excited about building a web application in React as he is about building an 8-bit computer from scratch?
by apersona | 2025-04-04 20:01:16+00:00
Let's separate the implementation of copyright and the concept of copyright. I don't think you would find anyone who would say the US's implementation of copyright is flawless, but the OP seems to be talking about the concept itself.

> Additionally plenty of people making videos for YouTube have had their videos demonetized and their channels even removed because of the Content ID copyright detection scheme and their three strikes rule. In some cases to a ridiculous extent - some companies will claim ownership of music that isn't theirs and either get the video taken down or take a share of the revenue.

Let's take YouTube videos as an example. If the concept of copyright doesn't exist, there is nothing stopping a YouTuber with millions more subscribers from seeing a trending video you made and uploading it themselves. Since they're the one with the most subs, they will get the most views.

The winner of the rewards will always go to the brand that people know most rather than the video makers.
by hobofan | 2025-04-04 20:01:23+00:00
Even if they don't "lose" their equity, it might just turn essentially worthless. Very often "equity" founding staff receives is in the form of (V)ESOP s = (virtual) employee stock options, or other equity grants that only materialize in the case of an "exit event". Depending on how the exit events are specified in the contract, the founder taking the company private (/ divestment from the investors) might have resulted in an exit event with $1 value of the company.
by nonrandomstring | 2025-04-04 20:01:48+00:00
Getting famous and having a cult following isn't always the best thing for an author. Not for their works. Rand wrote one good book [0]. Actually really got to me. Probably not one you think of. "We The Living", a pretty bleak account of collectivisation and the exodus from communism. A shocking, semi-autobiographical account of watching the world you love and know torn up. I think it might be more apropos Americans today than any of the "objectivism" stuff. All her later work I read in my 30s seemed lacking. But that first one really had an impact, not quite Solzhenitsyn or Kafka, but a hard hit with a similar interior. That book really defines her I think.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_The_Living
by autoexec | 2025-04-04 20:01:49+00:00
> That is, in my view, a good thing. We should not be a monolithic nation and were never meant to be.

What we absolutely should be is a nation with a minimum standard of education that all American children capable enough are expected to have by the time they leave school. That standard should include the fact that the world isn't flat.

Providing a minimum standard of quality education is critical to the security and success of the nation because a democracy doesn't function when the population is made up of uneducated people who are easily fooled, can't read, and whose heads are filled with lies that will often conflict with what's been taught to the children one state over.

> If the people of (insert state here) wish to teach their children things I don't agree with, or even things which are outright false, that is their right. Nor does it hurt me in any way

If you don't think that it is possible for you to be harmed by the votes or actions of people who are uneducated, intentionally misinformed, and unable to think critically you obviously still have some learning to do yourself.
by arp242 | 2025-04-04 20:01:56+00:00
Location: Ireland (Galway)

Remote: yes

Willing to relocate: yes

Technologies: Go ("Golang"), Python, Ruby, JavaScript, Linux, Unix, PostgreSQL

Résumé/CV: https://www.arp242.net/cv/cv-martintournoij

Email: martin@arp242.net

I've been using Go as my primary language for the last seven years, although I don't overly care about the specific language and have experience with a wide variety of tools and languages such as Python, Ruby, PHP, C, JavaScript, Lua, and probably some more. While I've mainly focused on backend in the last few years, I also have written plenty of frontend code over the years, from the "pre-jQuery" days to VueJS.

In the last few years I mainly focused on GoatCounter (https://www.goatcounter.com) with the occasional contract job, but I'm keen to start working on something new for the longer term.

I've got quite a bit of code on my GitHub, so you can take a look at that if you want: https://github.com/arp242/
by HellDunkel | 2025-04-04 20:02:04+00:00
The business side of things with sierra is certainly spectacular. But the story of the characters making the games would be so much more interesting. Where did the humor come from? What was office live? How come the games were both topsellers and also extremly silly? I remeber a space quest scene where a room full of computers was a joke on sierra offices. How did that make it into the final product?
by sam0x17 | 2025-04-04 20:02:16+00:00
> You are missing something really really important.

> Most startups don't have product market fit. Further, most startups make things no one wants. The product might sound good to you and you will think "oh I can sell this", but you will work your ass off for no results.

For these exact reasons, this same business model would probably work really well if you were instead connecting pre-seed / seed round startups with VCs who commit to a round instead of customers lol
by tracker1 | 2025-04-04 20:02:20+00:00
Depends on what you are testing and how... Virtual network adapters, routing, file system redirection, etc. all have some overhead and will impact things differently. IME U haven't seen too many things affect performance more than 3-5% on native Linux. If you're using Windows or Mac as a host OS, then volume mounts to the host in particular are really going to affect the results.
by rayiner | 2025-04-04 20:02:46+00:00
It’s like due process 101: https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/amendment-14/05-proce...

(See link for footnotes.)

> Non-Judicial Proceedings.—A court proceeding is not a requisite of due process.745 Administrative and executive proceedings are not judicial, yet they may satisfy the Due Process Clause.746 Moreover, the Due Process Clause does not require de novo judicial review of the factual conclusions of state regulatory agencies,747 and may not require judicial review at all.748 Nor does the Fourteenth Amendment prohibit a state from conferring judicial functions upon non-judicial bodies, or from delegating powers to a court that are legislative in nature.749 Further, it is up to a state to determine to what extent its legislative, executive, and judicial powers should be kept distinct and separate.750
by boznz | 2025-04-04 20:03:19+00:00
> we haven't seen the signs of a runaway singularity as some thought was likely.

The signs are not there but while we may not be on an exponential curve (which would be difficult to see), we are definitely on a steep upward one which may get steeper or may fizzle out if LLM's can only reach human level 'intelligence' but not surpass it. Original article was a fun read though and 360,000 words shorter than my very similar fiction novel :-)
Show HN: I made a virtual perfume vending machine
by AndrianVentures | 2025-04-04 20:03:22+00:00
Introducing Perfumosite – The Virtual Perfume Vending Machine

Perfumosite is a digital platform that replicates the experience of a physical perfume vending machine. Users can browse a curated selection of fragrances, make selections, and engage with an interactive interface designed to simplify fragrance discovery.

Core Features: Curated Fragrance Selection – Explore a variety of scents, just like a real vending machine.

Instant Access – No physical store required, available anytime, anywhere.

Seamless Digital Experience – A vending machine reimagined for the web.

Version 1.0 – The MVP for Virtual Perfume Vending Machines Perfume vending machines have gained traction in the physical world, and Perfumosite takes this concept online. While current technology does not yet support digital scent transmission, this platform positions itself as an early entrant in the virtual fragrance space. As scent-transfer technology evolves, Perfumosite will be well-established, ready to integrate and lead the next phase of digital perfume distribution.

Explore at Perfumo.site
by squigz | 2025-04-04 20:03:26+00:00
School prayer was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Does that count as being 'passed by the left'? I'm not sure about the others but thank you for the examples.

> In general, I think you underestimate how much power religion had in 1950's America. It was constantly pushed on young people, and if you wanted to get a good job, you had to have "strong moral character" that was demonstrated by where you went on Sundays.

I don't think I do, because that is basically what I said in my last paragraph :) My point was that religious institutions certainly had a tremendous amount of power and influence not that long ago - in disagreement with you saying that universities have reached a point that religious institutions never have.
by n4r9 | 2025-04-04 20:03:27+00:00
The quote I think you're referring to:

> like many tragedies, this one is marked by a dark irony: A man devoted to the principle of individualism has ended up living a life defined by a reliance on others.

The irony is that Peikoff believed himself an advocate of individualism, while simultaneously subjugating himself, saying stuff like “I would let her step on my face if she wanted.”
by jruohonen | 2025-04-04 20:04:03+00:00
> Next, in response to a question about the vulnerabilities in the Salt Typhoon description, Sec-Gemini v1 outputs not only vulnerability details (thanks to its integration with OSV data, the open-source vulnerabilities database operated by Google), but also contextualizes the vulnerabilities with respect to threat actors (using Mandiant data).

I remain still skeptical about LLMs in this space, although I might be proven wrong, as often happens. Nevertheless, OSV has already been a big advance, so it is great that it gets a further commitment.
by pchristensen | 2025-04-04 20:04:05+00:00
There's so much demand for housing and construction in the Bay Area, that with the stroke of a pen (figuratively), you could increase building activity by 100x. That would create a huge price spike at first, but construction businesses would expand and others would move to the area, more housing would be available for workers outside of the highest income bands, which would increase supply. It would be a virtuous cycle that could continue for quite a while.
by williamdclt | 2025-04-04 20:04:26+00:00
My understanding is that hatchet isn’t just a queue, it’s a workflow orchestrator: you can use it as a queue but it’s kind of like using a computer as a calculator: it works but indeed it’d likely be simpler to use a calculator.

On your point of using transactions for idempotency: you’re right that it’s a great advantage of a db-based queue, but I’d be wary about taking it as a holy grail for a few reasons:

- it locks you into using a db-based queue. If for any reason you don’t want to anymore (eg you’re reaching scalability issues) it’ll be very difficult to switch to another queue system as you’re relying on transactions for idempotency.

- you only get transactional idempotency for db operations. Any other side effect won’t be automatically idempotent: external API calls, sending messages to other queues, writing files…

- if you decide to move some of your domain to another service, you lose transactional idempotency (it’s now two databases)

- relying on transactionality means you’re not resilient to having duplicate tasks in the queue (duplicate publishing). That can easily happen: bug of the publisher, two users triggering an action concurrently… it’s quite often a very normal thing to trigger the same action multiple times

So I’d avoid having my tasks rely on transactionality for idempotency, your system is much more resilient if you don’t
by trustinmenowpls | 2025-04-04 20:05:02+00:00
If someone said they wanted another kistallnacht while holding torches and refusing to allow jews to walk down the street, would you know what they meant? Are they just talking about breaking some glass at a jewish wedding? Maybe they just want to go to one of those rage rooms?

Just so we're clear, people are still losing their minds when someone "finds" a noose-like knot in the vicinity.

There is no baily here.
by ivanmontillam | 2025-04-04 20:05:15+00:00
> Gumroad’s licensing is still small business friendly and protects another Gumroad clone from being launched.

That's fine and dandy, but that doesn't inhibit me from rewriting the code from scratch and creating a clone myself by just matching Gumroad's existing feature matrix.

RoadGum.py, here I come!
by anigbrowl | 2025-04-04 20:05:31+00:00
The unfortunate truth is that, also, one is a consequence of the other.

This is just the 'you made me do it' defense argued by every abuser ever. Someone is behaving as an ass, they get told 'you're an ass, stop that' and then they escalate and say 'you made me do this'. It happens in families, it happens in schoolyards, it happens on streets, it happens in business, it happens in dictatorships. Just yesterday, the president of South Korea was formally removed from office after trying to stage a military coup and this was his whole defense.
by cmrdporcupine | 2025-04-04 20:05:57+00:00
It is incredibly hard to separate three things, perceptually, before even having a discussion with anybody about these topics, so I rarely try.

1. Marx and -- various political-economic thinkers who came after him inspired by him -- who were analysts of capitalism and modern society. Maybe also dabbling in prescriptive aspects -- but a lot less than laymen would think. Just full on boring economics or political philosophy concerned with analyzing the present, not describing any future.

2. Eastern bloc & Maoist "Marxist-Leninism", Stalinism, or whatever which became official state ideology in eastern bloc countries with simplifications of some of the above along with a series of rationalizations for the "way things were" in the USSR and related countries. Usually mangling some form of #1 to do that.

3. Various Marxist political action/groups/parties/sects which merged varying aspects of #1 and #2 along with whatever else, in various combinations and permutations, to intervene in politics at either an activist level or in political parties, or armed groups etc.

Especially people who grew up in the eastern bloc definitely perceive I think a lot more correspondence between #1 and #2 than I'd personally say is valid. A whole educational industry was built around it there for the purpose of ideological legitimation of some Really Bad Stuff. With some of that leaking into the west, too.

And I don't feel it's really a "no true Scotsman" type of statement to say that either. Marx himself had little to say about the future, and just a lot to say about the present (which is still our present). What #2 said about themselves doesn't bear much resemblance to #1 because it wasn't actually the concern of Marx or many of the thinkers who came after. They were critics of capitalism, not prophets attempting to come up with recipes to be used as justification by Slavic autocrats for crimes against humanity...
by osigurdson | 2025-04-04 20:06:09+00:00
Perhaps more of a meta question is, what is the value of optimistic vs pessimistic predictions regarding what AI might look like in 2-10 years? I.e. if one assumes that AI has hit a wall, what is the benefit? Similarly, if one assumes that its all "robots from Mars" in a year or two, what is the benefit of that? There is no point in making predictions if no actions are taken. It all seems to come down to buy or sell NVDA.
by squigz | 2025-04-04 20:06:15+00:00
> It does get much easier to throw up your hands and dismiss "the other side" if you dehumanize them and think of them as just a mass cult.

Funnily enough, I have a harder time convincing people that they do this and that it's significantly contributing to the problem, than I do arguing against those who those people would lump in with the "mass cult"

Funny, but tragic.
by tracker1 | 2025-04-04 20:06:21+00:00
Anecdote of one... about 8 years ago I put a lot of effort into losing weight... when I was eatng a 1500 calorie/day diet, I wasn't losing weight... per a nutritionist friend who looked at what I was eating suggested closer to 2800 (6'1" tall, 370# at the time) and when I did, I started losing weight. Note this was combined with crossfit 3-4 days a week both on the lower and higher calorie intake.

If you have a really dysregulated metabolism, your body can definitely work against you when consuming too little.
by maxrmk | 2025-04-04 20:06:26+00:00
I feel like this is missing a really important factor: how likely are guests to use airbnb again after staying at a listing?

A listing could look great online and receive a lot of bookings (so high LTV), but ultimately drive users away from the platform.

A certain ad platform I worked on cared a lot about this - offensive ads could get you to quit the site altogether. You might want to count every ad as positive for the company since you make money, but some might actually be negative expected value! As a side note, I think this is a really undermeasured problem. There are many sites I won't use because the ads are so overwhelming or are often offensive.
by trompetenaccoun | 2025-04-04 20:07:08+00:00
There is a lot of confusion around finance and economics in the the general population. The average person does not even understand what money is and how it's created. This includes many journalists.

I think people who're into economics can usually tell what he tries to say. But in terms of communicating it to the wider public its a total failure because he simply says what he thinks and tries to dumb it down for common people. Which is of course bound to fail, it sounds silly to them because they have never been told anything like it. The usual PR is to spin the strategy and essentially lie to the public. Trump talks about all the things he's actually doing without any filter which sounds insane and scary to people.

If you're worried about inflation now, probably better they didn't tell you what they did in 2020:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGMBASE
by ViktorRay | 2025-04-04 20:07:34+00:00
You know back in the 80’s free trade was a right wing Ronald Reagan Republican position and it was the left wing democrats who supported protectionism.

Even in the United Kingdom. The neoliberal Margaret Thatcher supported free trade and an end to the manufacturing jobs of North England and it was the left wing socialist Labour Party of the UK back then that wanted protectionism for English manufacturing workers
by csa | 2025-04-04 20:07:48+00:00
> How can you even remotely be sure of that given the results of the 2016 and 2024 elections?

No one can be sure of anything, but the specific years you picked happen to have possibly two of the least electable candidates on the ballot.

Biden was not even a particularly good candidate in 2020, but he was able to win. I think that’s indicative of how low the bar is.
by mike_hearn | 2025-04-04 20:09:40+00:00
This summary is OK:

https://grok.com/share/bGVnYWN5_d7ff3a8f-9cf7-4ff3-837a-0bbb...

Although Grok thinks the problem lies in "deep rooted inequalities", whereas I'd say it's pretty normal for jobs like bin men to be paid more than cleaners. It's one of the most dangerous jobs you can do, due to the frequency with which they get hit by cars.
by jvns | 2025-04-04 20:10:04+00:00
I tried to grep the code for `api.` to get a sense for all the vendors this codebase is using, and which you'd need to have relationships with to run the code. Here's what I found:

payments:

https://api.paypal.com https://api.stripe.com

tax stuff:

https://api.taxjar.com https://api.vatstack.com (EU VAT) https://apiservices.iras.gov.sg

for iOS app (?):

https://api.appstoreconnect.apple.com https://api.storekit.itunes.apple

AI stuff:

https://api.iffy.com (AI content moderation) https://api.helper.ai (AI support) https://api.openai.com

other:

https://api.easypost.com (shipping labels?) https://api.sendgrid.com (email) https://api.pwnedpasswords.com (haveibeenpwned) https://api.worldbank.org (for purchasing power parity?) https://api.dropboxapi.com (for "upload from dropbox"?)
Show HN: DuckDB Powered SQL Editor
by rahulsingh34 | 2025-04-04 20:10:39+00:00
Hi guys, I made an SQL editor that utilizes the duckDB engine to process your queries. As a result, the speed gains are +25% when compared to using any standard editor that connects through JDBC.

I built this because I work on a small data team and we can't justify an OLAP database. Postgres is amazing but, if I try to run any extremely complex queries I get stuck waiting for several minutes to see the result. This makes it hard to iterate and get through any sort of analysis.

That's when I got the idea to use duckDB's processing engine rather than the small compute available on my Postgres instance. I didn't enjoy writing SQL in a Python notebook and wanted something like dBeaver that just worked, so I created soarSQL.

Try it out and let me know if it has a place in your toolkit!