MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by JoeAltmaier | 2025-04-05 14:50:53+00:00
Sure; but so is pretty much anything we do with animals.

Is it worse than the cattle industry? Worse than re-introducing wolves to Yellowstone? Worse than engineering mosquitoes to be sterile? They all have their cost.

This cost is measured in African elephant abuse. A sound argument. The ecosystem argument, not so much as they also elaborate competently on.

Let's admit, the single reason to 'bring back' the Mammoth is, it's cool and a tremendous publicity scheme for ecological efforts. That alone, may be reason enough.

And, anything that brings in the dollars is going to happen. Argue all you want, about ecology and seed dispersal and other 'real' effects. The money a Mammoth park would bring, the imaginations stimulated and the youth inspired, could be worth it all on it's own.
by rainsford | 2025-04-05 14:50:53+00:00
The problem is that the masses seem unlikely to enjoy the bulk and complexity that comes with such an infinitely modular phone, and they definitely won't enjoy the higher cost. I think people sort of have this idea in their heads that manufacturers can easily make something just as cheap and usable while lasting forever and they just don't for profit reasons. But I see very little evidence that's actually the case and applying some critical thinking and engineering experience suggests Apple is probably not just holding out on us having the infinitely upgradeable iPhone of our dreams. Again I'm sure they could make one, but they realize the market is small especially at the likely price point and given other tradeoffs they'd have to make.
by glenstein | 2025-04-05 14:50:57+00:00
I think I can't really accept that framing on a number of levels, but first and foremost, because it's a very lazy and easy accusation to make. One famous criticism of George W. Bush, as he was increasingly discredited in his second term was that "some things are true, even if George Bush says them."

I personally think The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens is a must-read, and I would also say that what Uncle Sam really wants by Noam Chomsky was truly eye-opening to me in recasting the history of American foreign policy, but that co-exists with a reality apparently uncomfortable to critics that having the moral upper hand and aligning ourselves with the project of global democracy post-World War II absolutely was an intentional part of Roosevelt's post-World War II strategy. Sometimes these criticisms of labor issues, of human rights issues, of democracy issues, etc are going to speak for themselves not because they conveniently coincide with a preferred state department narrative, but because they do map onto legitimate moral issues.

So I don't think it's enough to just say that the State Department would agree with criticisms as though that's sufficient to dismiss them. I understand there are corners in the internet where that passes muster, but to me it feels like it skips too many necessary steps in critical thinking.
by Aerbil313 | 2025-04-05 14:51:41+00:00
I share the experience of all 4 parents of this comment. It turned out I had undiagnosed ADHD. After diagnosis all my life suddenly made sense. Before the diagnosis, my situation had progressed to a point I’d get burnout by just everyday life, let alone work. Everything was overwhelming. Treatment turned my life around.

Later, I found out I have autism too - many autistic people “mask” around other people, altering their behavior to hide autistic traits. This is another thing causing (temporary) burnout after being around people.
by Isamu | 2025-04-05 14:51:46+00:00
Funny because I regard his show as “story time” and not something I would treat as journalism.

In contrast Tucker Carlson’s former show on Fox was a part of their “opinion” lineup and I don’t think regular viewers knew not to trust it as journalism.

When Carlson and Fox won the defamation lawsuit in 2020 it was because “Mr. Carlson’s statements were not statements of fact and that she failed adequately to allege actual malice.”

The “not statements of fact” included the reassurances that Carlson always made, in this case he said “Remember the facts of the case. These are undisputed” followed by clearly disputed and false claims.

The lawyers argued successfully that it should be clear to the viewer that what Carlson says “cannot reasonably be interpreted as fact” even when he says that these are the facts.

Arguably the bigger factor was proving malice, and Carlson seems very careful not to put anything into an email or text that undermines what he says on air.

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-yor...
by tmoertel | 2025-04-05 14:52:01+00:00
It would be telling, however, to quantify the reliability of those “years of reliable journalism” by fact checking a random sample of the stories told over those years. According to the article we are discussing, TAL started using professional fact checkers only after the discovery of the Daisey incident. We’re assuming that stories aired prior to that event are reliable, but we haven’t verified that belief, have we?
by acdha | 2025-04-05 14:52:41+00:00
> biden imported millions of third worlders with no vetting through a combination of lack of border enforcement and wide ranging refugee and amnesty efforts.

Everyone who told you those mistruths was lying to you hoping against you’d vote against your interests. Biden not only enforced immigration laws, he was doing so at a higher rate.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-dep...
by throwaway_47831 | 2025-04-05 14:53:42+00:00
I once thought this, but it is dangerously incorrect. During the pandemic I observed people up-close deny reality in front of their own eyes. I sat at a dinner table and listened to a man go on about how the hospitals were just making up Covid cases for money, and it wasn't really that widespread - right after his wife related that the Covid ward at the hospital she just got back from was nearly full. Where she worked, as a doctor.

Or consider a century earlier, in world war one we poured humans into literal meat grinders with the belief that maybe today, if we just poured enough in, it would make a difference. Despite the obvious evidence to the contrary for days, weeks, and months prior. One need not read much history to see that people will care about a story they have accepted long past the point their senses tell them otherwise. They will claim they are freezing while the flames lick their very feet.
by monkeyfun | 2025-04-05 14:53:48+00:00
And of course, one of the other dirty aspects to this is that if you're willing to emotionally jerk off and manipulate your base to the extreme, that basic perception of material conditions can distort away from reality. Not completely so, but it's part of what makes populism so powerful, and unless they can find ways to embrace elements of populism they're going to find nobody's receptive to their messages.
by JackFr | 2025-04-05 14:53:49+00:00
It’s really simple. Don't lie or cheat and don’t abide those who do.

As a software development manager, I find the most important quality I need in my direct reports is honesty. If you are not honest with me it makes it very difficult to do my job.

That some developers have been conditioned to dishonesty is a shame on our industry.
by A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 | 2025-04-05 14:54:30+00:00
I will admit that this is not only accurate, but also a sad commentary on the current state of things. I know I am now actively avoiding any political discussions ( I mean, realistically, I should have before, but I do hold some opinions I wish to inflict upon others ) for very pragmatic reasons. We are semi-officially in soviet state regime, where your speech can mean your family is excluded from society. It didn't start with Trump or even with Covid, but it is absolutely enraging to see this become not only a default, but encouraged aspect of this society.
by timcambrant | 2025-04-05 14:54:35+00:00
#2: The war economy pumps a huge amount of money back into the Russian market, but regardless of the outcome, the state will be left with a major deficit—and that will affect poor Russians the most. Their roads will fall into disrepair, substance abuse treatment will deteriorate further, the quality of their schools will decline, and veterans (including freed ex-convicts) will be highly visible when they return from the front lines.

Russia may now assume the role of the little brother of the East, having poured vast resources into the invasion while China and India have bided their time, watching the US-EU relationship deteriorate. Without getting too ahead of myself, it almost feels like watching the stars align perfectly for China, which could emerge as the “good guy” on top — much like the USA after the 1950s. They didn’t have to go to war, yet they’ve benefitted from a Russian military failure, Trump-related chaos, a possibly weakened NATO, increased exports to the EU and other markets, and more. Culturally, Hollywood may even shift to Beijing, and our grandkids might find it strange that Europeans once idolized the USA. It remains to be seen how China will manage to downplay its repression.

I visited Russia 15 years ago and have long wanted to return — assuming those in power were replaced with a more friendly alternative — but I’m no longer sure I want to. I imagine it will feel similar to the last years of the Soviet Union with widespread alcoholism and child prostitution. Historical significance only goes so far when signs of social despair are visible on every street corner.
by glenstein | 2025-04-05 14:54:52+00:00
So that's exactly the kind of over correction in the wrong direction that I'm talking about. I don't think I agree that that's the pertinent extrapolation here. We absolutely would benefit from that spot checking. But I don't think the implication should be that 100% or something near it of the previous articles are fabricated, or under the cloud of deep suspicion until proven otherwise. The same things that led to this particular story unraveling, are vulnerabilities that could have led to other stories unraveling.

If we get a second and a third, I think you might be right to have that cloud of suspicion. That would be like a Shattered Glass scenario and we're not there yet.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shattered_Glass_(film)
by jijijijij | 2025-04-05 14:54:54+00:00
I am not convinced. This would mean it could only be "blocking" the sun. If anything, it would be atmospheric light reflections blocked. In any case, it's not "other clouds".

I think diffraction has to play a role. Why wouldn't it? Dense, or raining clouds certainly have different water droplet sizes and shapes than fine, fluffy clouds. They may even reflect the ground or sky at some point, I imagine, like the ocean.
by rchaud | 2025-04-05 14:55:16+00:00
Over-construction is not uncommon during boom times. It's not a problem either: the buildings may be empty temporarily, but once prices adjust, they will be occupied and in use. China needs new cities to distribute their population more evenly geographically, so some level of over-capacity is planned for.

Contrast that to the US, where housing economics are completely messed up due to zoning restrictions, Airbnb-only properties, immigration crackdowns causing labour shortages, and a system that allows cash-rich investment funds to hoard large amount of the supply.
by docdeek | 2025-04-05 14:55:22+00:00
> Had she been paid? Was there a contract? Would she have lost her accommodation if she could no longer provide services? Becky answered no to everything. She was a tourist, she said.

Isn't the point of the 'free' accommodation via Workaway that you o my get to stay for free for doing some work/cleaning/service? If you turned up and didn't fulfill your side of the Workaway deal surely you would lose your accommodation.

Certainly no fun to be treated this way however Canadian authorities also told her she needed a working visa to Workaway in that country. It seems that the reason she ever came into contact with the US authorities is that she did not apply for the correct visa for either Canada or the US in the first place.
by solardev | 2025-04-05 14:55:23+00:00
> Admittedly, the horrible load times of wordpress.com sites are causing me to look at alternatives - waiting 5 seconds for the homepage to show up is not really acceptable.

It shouldn't be that slow. Did you enable Jetpack caching and such?

WordPress sites can be lightning fast if cached well. I forget what the WordPress.com options are, but if you host on Pantheon, Wpengine or similar, it can be very very fast.

You can also self-host on Cloudways (managed WordPress containers), now owned by DigitalOcean, or use Gridpane to deploy it to any VPS with a dashboard.

> I wish someone made a hosted version of a static site generator - they maintain the compatibility between individual components, provide some online editor for content, but the output is just a bunch of static files

(Disclaimer: I work for one) Headless CMSes can often do this, but usually you have to bring your own frontend. Astro makes this setup pretty easy to maintain (it all works together and is maintained by a single vendor). Of course Next would work too but it's much more complicated. You'd still have to manage the frontend though :(

There might be a static generation plug in for WordPress too. I can't remember exactly.
by NotGMan | 2025-04-05 14:55:34+00:00
What incentive alignment? In my country the publicly founded TV that I'm obligated to pay for each month is completely biased.

Tax founded/public != real/useful.

Also: I am NOT a "customer": since it's tax founded I am EXTORTED to pay for it.

A customer is someone who has the option to CEASE buying it. I do not have that option.
by perrygeo | 2025-04-05 14:55:39+00:00
The conservation biology world has some interesting philosophical problems to wrestle with.

On one hand, despite the best efforts, biodiversity loss is accelerating. We're losing habitats and species faster than earth has seen in 60 million years. Ecosystems are so degraded that they require intervention.

On the other hand, what sort of intervention is appropriate? Are we trying to conserve things as is today, or restore to a vision of the pre-industrial landscale, or the pre-agricultural landscape? Or do we try to build a new ecosystem to handle anticipated climate shifts? Do we introduce new species? Do we focus on all biomass, just flora or fauna, insects, fungi too? Do we bring back extinct keystone species like the mammoth?

There is no ethical compass that can tell us the "right" intervention.
by yekta_ | 2025-04-05 14:58:50+00:00
I generally only check the homepage and maybe page 2-3, otherwise it takes too much time. I also follow an RSS feed [1] for Show HN threads over 100 points or 25 comments, in my Miniflux instance.

Sometimes I read them right away on my PC or smartphone, most of the times I just open the link and send it over to my iPad and read later when I have the time.

[1] https://hnrss.org/show?points=100&comments=25
by JumpCrisscross | 2025-04-05 14:59:23+00:00
> the buildings may be empty temporarily, but once prices adjust, they will be occupied and in use

With what population? Like, there is a reason these structures are being left unfinished: they were never smart to have started.

> zoning restrictions, Airbnb-only properties, immigration crackdowns causing labour shortages

China is heavily zoned, has a prominent issue in its cities with the rich “hoarding” property as investment, and is notoriously immigrant unfriendly. (We haven’t even gotten to hukou.)

China’s system excels in one respect when it comes to housing and construction: efficient use of public lands and eminent domain to overcome NIMBYism.

> cash-rich investment funds to hoard large amount of the supply

By which “large” means considerably less than 1% [1].

You have a good argument. It doesn’t need hyperbole or falsehoods.

[1] https://www.housingwire.com/articles/no-wall-street-investor...
by throw0101d | 2025-04-05 14:59:53+00:00
> This is about the trade deficits with the EU, Japan, and China.

And trade deficits are important because… ?

* https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/trade-deficits-do-not-make-a-c...

> The Swiss make the watches and the Italians make the pasta.

> If the watches cost more than the pasta it doesn't mean the Italians are getting "ripped off". It just means they are optimizing their comparative skills wisely.

* https://twitter.com/cullenroche/status/1908229255026397574
by bluGill | 2025-04-05 15:00:01+00:00
There are a lot of people on the "right" who are horrified about how Trump is doing anything and have no clue what they can do about it.

There are evil people on both sides, always have been, always will be. It always looks like the other side is more evil than your side because you have a human bias to assume people who agree with your are not evil with a few small exceptions. Because of this bias it is always wrong to try to paint the other side worse than yours.

The important take away: power shifts, it always has and always will. Next time your side is in power how will you recognize where they are doing evil and oppose them. The first is at least something you can partially train yourself to do with great effort - I have no clue what you can usefully do about it though.
by monkeyfun | 2025-04-05 15:00:08+00:00
I 100% get you, genuinely, but you have to realize that even mentioning that in most people's eyes legitimately makes you look at a glance like you're going to talk about Bill Gates' 5G rna vaccine autism microchips and how soros is a reptile infiltrator.

Naturally and as we all know, Zuckerberg is actually the reptile. And more to the point, it really was and still is next to nobody but some right wingers who were complaining about NGOs in that fashion -- it's an optics hurdle that has to be overcome, especially as it's usually only focused in on a couple offenders but ignoring many more.

Generally, it'll take more effort and tact to explain yourself as a result, and if we're talking about where it came from, it really does appear like it's just appeared suddenly out of the rightwing-o-sphere to many.
by ksec | 2025-04-05 15:00:09+00:00
It depends what do you want to use it for. If you do not want to reply and only want to consume, all you need is to go to "list" at the bottom, view the front-page of the day, and classic.

Upvote submission, comments, add to favourite. Once you spend a few years reading you will get the general vibe of certain topics and community bias.

If you are not busy you could simply view all the top post during a weekend few hour sessions. Sometimes I have HN tabs that were opened from months before I just haven't have time to read it. Generally I grind it through when I have free time.

And if you read a lot on Desktop / Laptop with hundreds of Tabs, your browser is far more important than whatever reading habit you have. Chrome and Firefox is order of magnitude better than Safari in handling hundreds of tabs.
by vel0city | 2025-04-05 15:00:12+00:00
> if the median trip distance is 200 miles,

This is a figure not based on reality. The normal commuter car does not have a median trip distance of 200mi. More like 20mi, if even that.

How many people do you know have a 200 mile daily commute? Who normally drives 200mi to go get groceries? Absolute insanity.

For most people I know their median car trip is probably <15mi. Mine is probably like 10.
by jchw | 2025-04-05 15:00:13+00:00
I don't really believe porn addiction ever really was normalized. The layperson definition of "addiction" is just something that someone is habitually occupied with. The medical definition of "addiction" is more like something that you have a serious dependence to, to the point where it impacts your life and it would cause distress to be without it.

And don't get me wrong, I am not saying that there are not people with a sex or porn addiction, but I think it is woefully uncommon. I'm pretty sure if you take the average person that the Internet classifies as a "gooner" or "porn addict" and took away all of their porn, they would be completely fine. It's the same for those stupid mobile games, too. They get the vast majority of their money from a small minority of people, and even then, not all of those whales are addicted either, some of them are just well off enough and choose to spend their money on frivolous things, no different than people with thousands of vinyl figures (and although I think they have a bad taste in figures, I doubt most of them have a serious problem.)

What I do think was normalized in the late 90s and early 2000s was extrarordinary crudeness and overt sexuality, but I don't think there was really a point at which people were normalizing getting psychologically dependent on pornography. It'd be kind of hard to normalize that since it's more about the specific person than it is the thing they're dependent on.

This also does not mean that social media or algorithms aren't fucking with our brains in other ways. And I'm going to be honest, I have absolutely no idea what the porn algorithms are or what they're doing. I don't use Pornhub or sites like Pornhub (yes, I know, "sure you don't", but I'm serious.) I do use YouTube constantly, and I don't think I'm addicted to YouTube. I'm not addicted to Technology Connections or Practical Engineering. I'm sure the YouTube recommendation algorithm is fucking with my brain, but I wouldn't call anything it's doing an addiction. I'm also sure this is true for a majority of TikTok users, even though it's a ton more... well, what us laypeople would call "addicting".
by Natsu | 2025-04-05 15:00:16+00:00
Sierra's Thexder haunted me for years, because I couldn't understand the tinny Japanese at the start of it at all or even tell what language that was, but I remembered the sound from playing it on an Apple ][ GS as a kid despite that.

Just watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si_iveNrUPo

And tell me if you can hear "Siera ga ookuri suru Thexder" (Thexder presented by Sierra) there. Even now, at most I can make out Sierra and a distorted bit of Thexder, even knowing how Thexder is rendered into katakana.
by whatever1 | 2025-04-05 15:00:30+00:00
The Greek stock exchange went gradually from ~5,500 in 2007 to ~ 500 in 2011.

The recovery started only after 2020 ish. Today it is around ~1,500.

Edit: Oh now I see. I had a typo. I meant to say the crash happened after 2008 not 2018.
by soulofmischief | 2025-04-05 15:00:36+00:00
Your error is in assuming (or at least not disproving) that natural language cannot fully capture the precision of a programming language. But we already see in real life how higher-level languages, while sometimes making you give up control of underlying mechanisms, allow you to still create the same programs you'd create with other languages, barring any specific technical feature. What is different here though is that natural language actually allows you to reduce and increase precision as needed, anywhere you want, offering both high and low level descriptions of a program.

You aren't stating the obvious. You're making unbacked claims based on your intuition of what transformers are. And even offering up the tired "stochastic parrot" claim. If you can't back up your claims, I don't know what else to tell you. You can't flip it around and ask me to prove the negative.
by rsynnott | 2025-04-05 15:00:52+00:00
> show me the evidence that a large scale trade war is "winnable".

I don’t think there _is_ any, not for a “one country vs the world” one like this. Country v country, maybe, though even then they rarely in practice work out well.

I’m not sure any large developed country has done this in the modern era. The closest might be Brexit, in that the UK voluntarily exposed itself to all manner of tariff and non-tariff barriers on what was previously the free-est trade around, but it’s a bit different; EU tariffs are not particularly high, and the UK in practice mostly suffered from more nebulous non-tariff barriers (mountains of paperwork and inconvenience and shipping difficulty and so on, which previously didn’t exist within the Common Market).