MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by jmyeet | 2025-05-25 23:19:54+00:00
This is pro-Trump propaganda for what is arguably the dumbest trade war in history by perhaps the most incompetent people ever to helm a global superpower. Let's start with this:

> In 1950, according to the World Bank, 62.12 percent of the world’s population was living in extreme poverty. In 2017, the percentage had fallen to 9.18 percent.

How did that happen, exactly? Let's do some math. In 1950 the world population was ~2.5B [1]. In 2017 it as ~7.6B. 62% of 2.5B is 1.5B. 9.18% of 7.6B is 700M. What happened in that time? Oh that's right, China lifted 800M people out of extreme poverty [2]. The author's numbers may be off because I've seen other studies that show the number of people in extreme poverty went up if you remove China from the equation entirely.

Best case for the author is that China is solely responsible for the decrease in global extreme poverty. But there's no mention of that because the success of a pluralistic yet authoritarian regime with a command economy is not something neoliberals ever want to acknowledge let alone talk about.

Oh, as an aside, the author is a climate change denialist [3].

Another choice quote:

> The U.S., for instance, has a 2.5 percent tariff on cars imported from Germany, while Germany has a ten percent tariff on American cars. In addition, Germany’s value-added tax is remitted on exports but charged on imports. As a result, while the logos of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen are seen all over American roads, those of Ford and General Motors are a rare sight in Germany. And China, as already noted, is far worse, a world outlier, in terms of its nefarious trade policies.

For an economist who cannot possibly not know better, this is just dishonest. Germany charges VAT on all cars sold in Germany, whether they're domestic or foreign, just like US states charge sales tax in exactly the same way.

Also, where are those cars produced? A lot of foreign brands are produced in the US eg BMW's plant in South Carolina [4].

Lastly, this whole "they don't buy our cars" talking point comes straight from the administration when a lot of American cars are simply not suitable for use in Europe. A Ford F150 requires a commercial driving license in much of Europe. Also, try and imagine such a beast navigating the narrow, winding strets of a French village.

There's also no mention of how the US outright bans Japanese auto imports where the Japanese produce some of the most reliably and commercially successful trucks on the planet eg the Toyota Hilux.

[1]: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/world-populat...

[2]: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/04/01/l...

[3]: https://www.commentary.org/john-steele-gordon/climate-global...

[4]: https://www.bmwgroup-werke.com/spartanburg/en.html
by trevinhofmann | 2025-05-25 23:19:57+00:00
I recently launched Early Access for my AI-powered service for automated bug reporting, PR review, fearure implementation, a difficult test/documentation/refactor suggestion PRs.

It was in the works for about a year, and I'm now trying to find ways to make it more marketable and useful.

The three main things I'm working on are:

1. GitLab support (GitHub only at the moment) 2. A demo on the landing page that doesn't require any sign-up. 3. Better "vibe coding" experience through the Chat interface for those who want it.

I built it with TypeScript on the front- and back-end, React, Node.js, and PostgreSQL. And I over-engineeres it, as one does, with a Redis cache and websockets to push the latest data to web clients so the latest info is always shown without needing to refresh. I'm using the OpenAI API right now, but I want to switch to local models when I can invest in the hardware for it.

Edit: https://mysticode.ai - Would absolutely love feedback.
by altairprime | 2025-05-25 23:20:27+00:00
Even with isolated segments, the measurements performed with Southern found 10% of regenerative power was turned into heat as the line voltage was already at max threshold from other trains; if that holds true today, then there’s still opportunity to consider optimizations for ensuring that 10% is weighted towards aboveground rather than below.

https://railknowledgebank.com/Presto/content/GetDoc.axd?ctID...

Also:

> A super capacitor is being used in a substation by Docklands Light Rail in London, UK

So at least they were considering what to do about this fifteen years ago. I wonder if they've made progress?
by wkat4242 | 2025-05-25 23:20:44+00:00
I was told by building services when I complained about the removal of the wellness/meditation room. They have presence sensors. They also told me that nobody actually asked for it besides the union idiots who are not even in our city. They're just ticking boxes.

I really needed that place because of the move to hotdesking so I'm constantly sitting besides blabby sales people. Formerly we had an IT floor where people knew concentration is sometimes needed. So I'd go there to sit in silence and de-stress for a while.

But I have to say the company is good otherwise, I told them about my difficulty and the H&S people let me work from home much more than others.

I hate the way companies are going back from full remote to hybrid hotdesking though because that is the worst of both worlds.
by kimos | 2025-05-25 23:21:03+00:00
This problem with this is that it assumes a supply and demand shaped problem that markets solve.

You can’t just make more Taylor Swift to meet demand. You can’t open more Taylor Swifts in different regions. Acts have a very low very rigid upper supply limit. So if you price up at that demand it puts it out of reach of almost everyone. And that’s a bad outcome for almost everyone.
by jumploops | 2025-05-25 23:21:16+00:00
We’re trying to make AI-first apps accessible to everyone.

Here’s a simple app my toddler made to generate toy trains[0].

“Real users” are using it to build personal software tools like finance dashboards, content generators, and educational apps.

Right now the functionality is great for many simple tools, but it’s notably lacking a first-class data layer (coming soon!).

All of the AI-generated code runs in secure MicroVMs, and the front-ends are just static assets, meaning the apps scale to zero when not in use.

We’re currently in the process of making the builder less of a “workflow” and more purely agentic, which should improve the overall success rate.

[0]https://toy-train-generator.magicloops.app/
by hopeadoli | 2025-05-25 23:21:23+00:00
A mobile app called Trip o'clock (https://tripoclock.com)

An AI-trip planner with a nice twist. It shows you everything you need to know about a place even before getting there: Images, a great summary, cost of living broken down weather conditions etc. It also comes with the usual features you'll expect in a trip planning app (ai itinerary suggestions, travel expenses tracker, group chat for group trips, google places integration for looking up places to eat, things to do, healthcare places and transportation centers, and a private travel checklist). You should check it out today!
by avianlyric | 2025-05-25 23:21:43+00:00
I think people might object to TfL drilling a bowling ball sized tunnel in the middle of their house/garden/park/road/driveway/swimming pool/historic monument.

Remember the deep level network is some 23m down, and runs under buildings. At lot of it doesn’t follow roads, or have any kind of conveniently clear space on the surface above it.
by tom_ | 2025-05-25 23:21:52+00:00
I switched to dvorak about the same time I switched to using a split keyboard, and it feels like I've ended up with separate muscle memory for these two different arrangements. I imagine something similar could apply for this sort of thing too.

(I don't get all that much practice with QWERTY, but sometimes I use my laptop without an external keyboard, and I've got a couple of retro computers with inbuilt QWERTY keyboards, and it never takes long before my fingers get back into it. It's not very comfortable, and I don't like to do a lot of typing this way, but I'm not hunting for every keypress.)
by tialaramex | 2025-05-25 23:22:18+00:00
Five years is almost the worst case. In five years most of the people who did it last time are either in a different post or have left, meanwhile related systems have probably changed, so if they did leave documentation and if you can find it still, that may no longer be the correct process.

When Let's Encrypt was created it could have issued 3 year certificates. But it didn't because they knew that's a bad idea, the whole point of Let's Encrypt was automation, and if the certificates expire in 3 years you will say "Eh, we'll automate later" and never do the work.
by arjunbajaj | 2025-05-25 23:22:35+00:00
Fostrom (https://fostrom.io)

A developer-focused IoT Cloud Platform. The idea stems from pain points experienced while automating an indoor farm a few years ago where I had to spend way too much time building the data collection and analysis infrastructure instead of focusing on the actual automation.

Devices connect via secure MQTT, HTTP, or WebSockets and send structured, typed data. Each device gets its own sequential mailbox for messages. You can trigger webhooks or broadcast messages to other devices based on incoming data, powered by programmable actions.

Just deployed to production. Currently working on Device SDKs (coming very soon) and time-series analytics. Check out the platform, we're in technical preview now. Happy to answer questions and appreciate any feedback.
by cafard | 2025-05-25 23:23:44+00:00
For the Chesterton buffs here, I will mention an essay of GKC's, which you can find at http://www.gkc.org.uk/gkc/books/alarms_and_discursions.html#.... It concludes

"I do not know whose heads are criminal, but I think I know whose are imbecile."
by lwansbrough | 2025-05-25 23:23:49+00:00
The concept of Lottie is very cool, but what you'll find after using it is that it is very hard to work with.

Rive is a new platform that is trying to solve a lot of the issues with Lottie. In particular, dynamic data updates in Lottie are all but impossible.

We did however manage to make Lottie do it, for Tracker.GG's Valorant Backtrack (like Spotify Wrapped) -- here's a demo: https://tracker.gg/valorant/backtrack/episode6/00d0aa2d-94d3...

To make this work, we're accessing the layers by name as they were named in a source file, created in After Effects. Each slide is its own Lottie file, so care had to be put into creating seamless transitions between the files. IIRC, Lottie doesn't provide any dynamic layer access out of the box, so we had to use a second library to work with the Lottie instance, and then build a better data control layer on top of that library.

This was a pretty intense project that took lots and lots of iteration between our design team and engineering, as the process does not lend itself to collaboration very well. In some cases, layers properties are targeted by other attributes, such as by their actual default value (ie. colour.) Not at all a fun format to work with. I'm looking forward to being able to use Rive for future work.
by bryanhogan | 2025-05-25 23:24:05+00:00
I'm working on a customizable app for self-tracking, a combination of habit trackers, health logging and journaling. You should be able to track what you want in a way relevant for you. Think of a combination of free form CSV programs x habit tracker or health app.

App will be local-first and without locking important features behind a subscription.

Very recently I finished my bachelor thesis which was about this app (focus usability and market fit).

Also made this site a few days ago, get notified when it launches: https://dailyselftrack.com

More about me here: https://bryanhogan.com
by masswerk | 2025-05-25 23:24:18+00:00
Because artists need an at least semi-competent vis-a-vis, AKA audience. This is the main proposition for entering a stage to begin with. And chances are that the most economical potent ticket buyers are not in this group and probably also not the most enthusiastic about the act. So there's a natural incentive to aim not for the highest cap, but for a somewhat realistic medium. I.e., "the prices people are willing to pay" are probably not the prices artists are willing to perform at.

(Edit: there's a reason for opera houses providing cheap standing room for enthusiasts – it keeps the art alive.)
by nssnsjsjsjs | 2025-05-25 23:24:51+00:00
Not really. Frame or not frame a house would be a core requirement if the jobs needs that. Having used DI is not a core requirement. It is something you can learn in 2 hours if you are experienced. It might be like a carpenter not having used a specific tool but instead used another tool and there is a 4hr training at the local college on how to use the new tool.

Or like a pilot doesn't get a job because they flew a slightly older Airbus model and need to do some sim time.
by foobarqux | 2025-05-25 23:24:59+00:00
> The most accurate models of anything necessarily account for the underlying mechanisms

But they don't necessarily convey understanding to humans. Prediction is not explanation.

There is a difference between Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and a deep neural network that predicts gravity. The latter is virtually useless for understanding gravity (that's even if makes better predictions).

> Specifically in the case of deep neural networks, we would generally suppose that it had learned to model the underlying reality. In effect it is learning the rules of a sufficiently accurate simulation.

No, they just fit surface statistics, not underlying reality. Many physics phenomena were predicted using theories before they were observed, they would not be in the training data even though they were part of the underlying reality.
by elpatokamo | 2025-05-25 23:25:18+00:00
I was immature right out of high school and fumbled a really good opportunity to finish a degree in computer science. After getting married and having kids I later went back and quickly finished a degree in IT, but CS was always my first love.

A couple years ago I found myself in a place where I would really benefit from finishing my CS education. I put a lot of thought into getting a true second BS degree, a post-bacc, bootcamps, etc but eventually settled on OSSU.

It’s taken me longer to get through it than I wanted (life happens) but I have nothing but positive things to say about the curriculum so far and about how it’s affected my career and honestly my own happiness.

I blog about it occasionally. This is the first one and explains why I chose OSSU over the other options available to me: https://dustinbriles.com/ossu-blog-1/
by kaashif | 2025-05-25 23:26:42+00:00
To allow you to write more readable and extensible code, that can solve real problems more effectively. Solving problems is the point of writing code.

Saying that reading code is the point of writing code is crazy, that's like saying the point of writing scripts is to read them, or the point of writing sheet music is to look at it.

No - the point of writing a script is to have it performed as a play, the point of writing music is to hear it and enjoy it. The point of writing code is to run it.

> All these abstractions are good because they are useful when modeling a problem.

Then what do you do after modeling the problem? You solve it! You run the program! Everything is in service to that.
by lumber_prog | 2025-05-25 23:26:48+00:00
Hey HN,

I just launched a free web-based tool for creating Instagram Story templates:

https://templates.bunnybooster.com

I built it because I got tired of the same default Instagram story layouts — and I know a lot of creators and small business owners feel the same. Whether you're running a product page, posting updates, or just want your stories to look more polished without wasting time in Canva or Photoshop, this tool helps you build clean, reusable templates in seconds.

Features:

Pre-built layouts Color and font customization Responsive design – works great on mobile and desktop.

No login or signup required!

I made it for creators like me who want better-looking stories without design headaches.

Would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and if you find it useful — happy to keep improving it!

You can submit suggestions or improvements here: https://bunnybooster.com/suggest-feature
by ryukoposting | 2025-05-25 23:28:29+00:00
A POTS line simulator. Basically a telco central office that fits on your desk. Up to 16 lines, touch tones only, only 1 call at a time. No digital intermediate between the caller and answerer, just a pure analog line.

I'm going to plug a couple phones into it, but the main goal is to get all my old computers to talk to each other using their modems.
Does anyone use backspace navigation anymore?
by stnvh | 2025-05-25 23:28:38+00:00
It seems deeply ingrained to me that I can hit the backspace key to navigate to the prior page, maybe something from the "older web". I notice this recently when using a website like github, presented with a "Code view is read-only." when simpy trying to navigate the web after visiting a reference page. Am I alone here?
by neuroelectron | 2025-05-25 23:28:53+00:00
While I was at Amazon, just before AWS, the entire internal network was monitored by a Lisp agent. I'm not sure if that is still true but it was kind of secret, and the internal wiki (only a few sentences) that documented its existence was removed with no deletion record.

Right before my position was outsourced to an entire remote overseas team, we had rolled out AAA* which conceivably cut out any unauthorized automated agents from the loop.

* https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/what-is-aaa-authentication-aut...
by johnea | 2025-05-25 23:29:29+00:00
Ummm, no one has ANY idea how our brains work at the level of consciousness. Full Stop.

Please lets all try to resist this temptation.

Physiology, neural dynamics, sensory input and response, all lead to levels of functionality that exist even in fruit flies. Of which we have practically 0 comprehensive knowledge.

Higher order processing, cognition, consciousness, and conscious thought processes all build on top of these fundamental biological processes and are far Far FAR from having any level of understanding currently, at all.

Human cognition has nothing in common with LLM operation. They are at best 10,000 monkeys typing from training sequences (that were originally generated by humans). There is a new emerging issue with so much content of the internet being LLM generated text, which becomes included into training data, that the risk of model collapse is increasing.

Its very easy to anthropomorphize what's coming out of a language model, it's our job as s/w engineers to try to understandably explain what's actually happening to the lay public. The LLM is not "understanding" anything.

Let's do our best to resist to urge to anthropomorphize these tools.
by mrbungie | 2025-05-25 23:29:38+00:00
Yep, I share the sentiment about missing examples.

The whole overengineering problem does have a yin/yang quality to it, especially around themes like designing "for the future or for scale" (generalization) vs YAGNI/"premature optimization is the root of all evil", and engineering is, after all, largely about calibration. But it's not just abstract philosophy. There are plenty of concrete signals and they tend to appear in cycles, which suggests the industry collectively relearns how to navigate complexity over time: the rise of DuckDB and Iceberg over Spark or Hive, the cycle of people embracing MongoDB then returning to PostgreSQL, and even companies moving workloads off the cloud and back to colocated metal after complexity hit them hard, both in direct costs and in hidden ones like engineering headcount. These aren't just trends, they’re signs that overengineering is a concrete problem with real-world, objective consequences, and not merely a matter of opinion.
by synergy20 | 2025-05-25 23:29:43+00:00
A wifi router that blocks all websites except for those needed for kids to study when you need it, and there is no way to escape, not even with vpn or tor or whatever, also with dashboard to show where they spent time on for how long.

My middle school aged kids was able to escape with free proxy, vpn, tor etc in the past which forced me to figure out a way to lock it down totally when it's absolutely needed.
by gmuslera | 2025-05-25 23:29:48+00:00
Oh, but there are "surviving" games, as they are still popular, and remixed, and emulated, and things like that. You have a Doom, a Tetris, Pacmans, Marios, even you have new editions of the series of the Monkey Island. That is one way to see surviving, still present, played, and with enough exposure in the media to still have a decent enough player base. And then you have curiosity items that may be in big bags of old games that are tried, discarded, but they are essentially forgotten.

That is one way to die, like a random book written 100 years ago that never became a classic and even if you can find a copy, it doesn't count as existing anymore for the current culture. A game that had enough players and cultural mindset, but that because the maker, the servers it used to run or whatever don't let them be played anymore can spawn copies and lookalikes with different names and get some player base, it is a different kind of death.
by ccvannorman | 2025-05-25 23:31:23+00:00
Mathbreakers 2 (https://mathbreakers.com)

A 3D game to help students in grades 5-8 learn Arithmentic, Fractions, Geometry, and Algebra.

50% or more of middle school students experience math anxiety, and it's no wonder that so many people grow up believing, "I'm not a math person." Math can be incredibly fun and beautiful if approached and experienced the right way. Mathbreakers is a vibrant, interactive world where all game mechanics are built on intrinsic mathematical properties, so simply by playing the game, a foundation of understanding of those concepts is built.

We're doing early prototype testing now with a planned launch in September 2025. The game engine is PlayCanvas (engine-only) and the platform is WebGL (Mac/PC/ChromeOS).
by broken-kebab | 2025-05-25 23:31:55+00:00
Ponzi, or no Ponzi, it's still an illusion: let's assume that we all generate enough money saved in those funds during our productive years to sustain ourselves in senior periods, even counting in the almighty inflation. The problem is it's not money you need when old, and frail, you want somebody doing work for that money. So the whole scheme still requires enough young workers entering the market, and them be willing to perpetuate it. Which is kinda not guaranteed if each gen is smaller then the previous one.
by thaumasiotes | 2025-05-25 23:32:09+00:00
Expanding a little further...

> What is necessarily the case is that, if writing that sounds bad is less likely to be right, writing that is right is less likely to sound bad.

That's true. You're 100% right about this.

But if you're able to prove it, you should be well aware that exactly the same proof will quickly show that writing that doesn't sound bad is more likely to be right.

> Which, as above, is not logically equivalent to "writing that doesn't sound bad is more likely to be right".

And that, obviously, is false. They are the same statement; either is sufficient to prove the other. I don't know what happened in your comment.
by Tanzirul | 2025-05-25 23:32:16+00:00
Replyhub (https://replyhub.co), a tool that helps businesses not just monitor Reddit and X, but actually engage with the right conversations that can turn into customers.

The idea is simple: instead of blasting you with every keyword mention like F5bot, Replyhub filters for posts where people show real buying intent. These are posts where they ask for recommendations, compare products, or look for solutions.

It also suggests context-aware replies and helps collect leads from people who show real interest.

If you want to reach niche communities where people are actively discussing products, it might be useful.

Would love to hear feedback or questions from folks here.