MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by VHRanger | 2025-06-03 17:46:48+00:00
It's similar "parrot" behavior the models have on other inputs, even text. For instance, take the answers models have to this variation on the "surgeon son riddle":

> A nurse comes to a surgeon and asks: "Sir, you are a dog. You do not hold a valid medical license. Canines cannot be in an operating room".

> She then asks: "why does the hospital keep making these mistakes? It is a riddle to me".

> Why can't the surgeon operate on the boy?

Check out the models humiliating themselves one after the other [1]. For instance deepseekv3 is so insistent on giving the common answer he's happy to gaslight us:

> This is a classic riddle that plays on word meanings and expectations. Here's the breakdown:

> The key is that the surgeon is the boy's mother. The riddle relies on the unconscious assumption that surgeons are male, which makes the initial scenario seem impossible. When the nurse says "you are a dog," she's using it metaphorically to imply the surgeon is unqualified (like calling someone a "dog" in a derogatory sense), not literally suggesting the surgeon is a canine.

> The "mistakes" the hospital keeps making are hiring female surgeons, which the nurse (representing outdated biases) perceives as errors because she expects surgeons to be male. The riddle highlights gender stereotypes in medicine—the real "mistake" is the assumption that a surgeon couldn't be a woman.

> Thus, the surgeon can't operate on her own son because she’s his parent, not because of any actual licensing issue.

1. https://kagi.com/assistant/54c1b8eb-71e9-4bb4-9eed-bde2fc563...
by masklinn | 2025-06-03 17:46:49+00:00
> It’s opt-in like generics, so I don’t see why it would be controversial to anyone?

It "breaks" the language in fundamental ways — much more fundamental than syntactic sugar for error handling — by making zero values and thus zero initialisation invalid.

You even get this as a fun interaction with generics:

func Zero[T any]() T { var v T return v }
by dbg31415 | 2025-06-03 17:47:10+00:00
Feedback loops are critical.

The faster you get real user feedback, the better. Decades ago, that meant coding first -- which sucked.

So we evolved.

Wireframes, pixel-perfect designs, clickable prototypes -- tightening the loop and cutting costs at every step.

Today, tools like Figma make that process even faster and more accessible. Build it in Figma, using UX-approved components and brand-approved styles, and you get something ready for feedback -- fast. (Plus, you save developers from wasting time coding something just to find out it’s wrong.)

Every front-end project should start with a clickable, usability-tested prototype before it ever hits a dev's backlog. It’s not rocket science. Skipping this step isn’t "moving fast," it’s just wasteful.
by piinbinary | 2025-06-03 17:47:11+00:00
> At the other extreme, writing merely puts into words something readers were already thinking — or thought they were.

I actually really like this end of the essay spectrum.

Reading (and writing!) this kind of essay can tie together mental loose threads, finishing a nearly-complete bit of thinking, finally coalescing a bunch of static into a coherent signal. The essay can give the concept a name (e.g. maker's schedule, manager's schedule) or at minimum allow referring to the entire conceptual result with a single URL.

They can get people talking about a thought that they've all had but never shared. They can provide a new starting line for thinking, allowing it to advance a few millimeters further.
by videoenc | 2025-06-03 17:47:29+00:00
BBC Research and Development | bbc.co.uk | Hybrid, London, UK | Full-time

BBC R&D has an open position for Senior R&D Engineer. This position is in the field of video encoding research. The team is working on new video codecs, shaping picture quality analysis and the technical design, assurance and optimisation of the BBC's technical output on IP distribution and broadcast platforms. There can be academic elements in it too, if writing papers is something you enjoy!

If you're interested, please apply via the BBC Careers website: https://careers.bbc.co.uk/job/Senior-R&amp;D-Engineer/24042-...
by agonza | 2025-06-03 17:47:40+00:00
Monadical.com | Senior Full-Stack Engineer | Full-Time Montreal | REMOTE (Canada)

We're a consultancy committed to building software that outlasts us. We work on a wide variety of interesting projects, including building unified data formats for neuroscience labs to share datasets, developing custom medical software for doctors, creating a brand-new MOBA game, and developing platforms for real estate agencies, crypto, and more. We're looking to hire people who are driven and want to play a lead role in growing an exciting company. Our goal is to be a workplace with a strong focus on learning, where client projects provide a base of capital for us to all work on dream projects of our own. We have an inclusive, transparent culture with a public company principles handbook.

We’re seeking:

- Senior Full-Stack developers strong at Python and/or JS, with experience in client relations, project management, a good understanding of machine learning systems—particularly LLMs—and strong UI/UX design and user research skills to help us build more thoughtful AI-powered products. Experience with ML model deployment and LLM application development is a plus.

See the full description and apply here: https://careers.monadical.com/

If you have any questions, drop us an email at apply at monadical dot com

Some perks of working with us include: - Work from home (we’re fully remote!) - Flexible working hours - Six weeks of paid vacation - Competitive salary - Strong culture emphasis on individual autonomy and impact on company direction
by more_corn | 2025-06-03 17:48:00+00:00
I don’t think this is a moral panic article. There is a drop in seizures. What could cause that? The article goes into many possible causes: Maybe the cartels are sneaking it through another way, Increased border security, Crackdown on chemical precursors out of China, Turmoil within the cartel primarily responsible for smuggling it, Adulteration of the drug (including with a tranquilizer which might cause a behavior change which reduces consumption patterns), Opioid overdoses causing a drop in demand, Change in usage type (away from injection), Increased access to overdose treatment drugs, A demographic shift (younger people are less likely to be users)

Overall a well reasoned analysis of the possible causes.
by hagbard_c | 2025-06-03 17:48:08+00:00
Maybe, maybe not. It is better than not doing anything at all, so much is clear. What is also clear is that due to the multitude of interests it is hard if not impossible do something substantial without stepping on some toes. Also clear is that any committee created to study a solution would quickly be mired in special interests intent on guarding their own interests.

The solution to untying the Gordian Knot was to cut in in two.
by continuational | 2025-06-03 17:48:09+00:00
What kind of data would you want?

I'm 100x as productive now that I eat breakfast while reciting the declaration of independence.

You really should try it. Don't give up, it works if you do it just right.

Edit: I realize this line of argument doesn't really lead anywhere. I leave you with this Carl Sagan quote:

> Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

(or perhaps we can just agree that claims require evidence, and not the anecdotal kind)
by 9rx | 2025-06-03 17:48:09+00:00
> and you have absolutely no idea if the string was "0" or "not zero"

You do – err will tell you. But in practice, how often do you really care?

As Go prescribes "Make the zero value useful" your code will be written in such a way that "0" is what you'll end up using downstream anyway, so most of the time it makes no difference. When it does, err is there to use.

That might not make sense in other languages, but you must remember that they are other languages that see the world differently. Languages are about more than syntax – they encompass a whole way of thinking about programs.
by bigyabai | 2025-06-03 17:48:51+00:00
...they were catastrophic.

What's key to understanding this attack in particular is that Ukraine isn't really hobbling a key Russian asset. They're damaging extremely expensive, entirely irreplaceable strategic systems that are typically used to saber-rattle the last stages of a war. If push comes to shove, Russia has fewer assets to threaten their adversaries with.

If you understand the difference between tactical integrity and strategic integrity, it's pretty easy to gauge the relative impact of this attack.
by rustcleaner | 2025-06-03 17:49:19+00:00
Siemens NX 10, KDE 3.5, Windows 2000, SimCity 2000

Examples of UI designs which should be copied everywhere.

GNOME 3+, Apple iOS, Windows XP/8/11, SimCity 3000+

Examples of UI designs for which you need to STOP IT NOW!
by zahlman | 2025-06-03 17:49:33+00:00
The problem isn't that the question is "for homework".

The problem is the lack of analysis that goes into producing a useful question for others that fits in with the rest of the site.

True, proper analysis of the homework rarely yields such questions, and even less so in 2025. But the point was always to have a question that's about a clear, specific problem, not about a task that was assigned. Because the latter can only possibly help people who were assigned the same task.
by kelseyfrog | 2025-06-03 17:49:34+00:00
I sometimes think the whole world would be better if more people learned to boil potatoes properly. It teaches attention, restraint, and the value of small, invisible work. There's no applause for a perfectly boiled potato, no headlines, no likes. But you know it when you taste it - soft but intact, simple but complete. It is the reward of not needing too much.
by citizenpaul | 2025-06-03 17:50:23+00:00
Forgive me if I don't consider your personal blog an authority of your honesty. "I'm not a liar, for real dude see it says right there"

Why are all your public projects "joke/toy projects" if AI is so awesome and production ready? My experience reflects this as the truth. Yet your work backs up my experience rather than your words.

To avoid only being snark. I think all software is about power/control and software has allowed unprecedented concentration of power Which is why it resists being official like other industries. No one with power wants restrictions on their power/software. Ultimately AI is good for small'ish projects and a productivity multiplier(eventually). I think it will lead a new revolution in distilling the current incumbents in the business world that are stagnant on vast proprietary software systems that previously could not be unseated. Small players will be able to codify/automate their business to make it competitive with big players. So I'm not "anti-ai".

edit: AI will simultaneously rot the proprietary software advantage from the inside out. As companies are further convinced that AI can solve their problem of having to pay people to maintain their software.
by consumer451 | 2025-06-03 17:51:43+00:00
There are so many possible scripts that could be based on what has happened since 2022 in Ukraine. There would be no need for exaggeration of the heroism, bravery, and loss. The only issue might be that people would not believe it actually happened.

From Zelenskyy, a previous comedic actor refusing to flee, "I need ammunition, not a ride," to the defense of Snake Island "Russian warship, go fuck yourself," to all the brave women who volunteered, the farmers towing abandoned Russian tanks, the constant drone attacks on residential and commercial areas, the 40,000 stolen Ukrainian children, this most recent attack on Russian air bases...

If this was a movie, I would probably think it was a bit much myself, but this all happened. We witnessed it.

"Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!"
by Sohcahtoa82 | 2025-06-03 17:52:04+00:00
I usually gotta wipe like 10 times.

On the Bristol stool chart, they look like type 4, which is supposed to be normal, but they make a terrible mess on the way out, and often don't exit completely. I can sit and push for however long I want, but eventually I have to pinch it off. And then I've got a huge mess that needs 10+ wipes.
by jedberg | 2025-06-03 17:52:39+00:00
> If you're writing for smart people about important things, you're writing for the young.

And then there is the "You're one of the 10,000" XKCD comic to counter this point.

https://xkcd.com/1053/

There is just too much to know, even important stuff, for even smart old people to have been exposed to it.

Sure, you'll have a higher chance of surprising young people, who have less experience. But you can still surprise old people too.

Smart old people still have a lot to learn.
by Workaccount2 | 2025-06-03 17:52:52+00:00
I'm not gonna go all out, this thread is gonna be dead soon but here all the toothpastes ChatGPT was referring to

[1]https://dentalhealth.com/products/fluoridex-sensitivity-reli...

[2]https://www.fireflysupply.com/products/hello-naturally-white...

[3]https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/fda/fdaDrugXsl.cfm?set...

(Seems toms recently discontinued this, they mention it on their website, but say customers didn't like it)

[4]https://www.jason-personalcare.com/product/sea-fresh-anti-ca...

[5]https://popularitems.com/products/autobrush-kids-fluoride-fo...

As far as I can tell these are all real products and all meet the requirement of having fluoride and being SLS free.

Since you did return however and that was half my bet, I suppose you are still entitled to half my life savings. But the amount is small so maybe the knowledge of these new toothpastes is more valuable to you anyway.
by afzal_ali | 2025-06-03 17:52:55+00:00
Location: Lahore, Pakistan Remote: Yes

Willing to relocate: Yes

Technologies: Ruby on Rails | React js | Typescript | PHP Laravel | MySQL | Psql | AWS

Résumé/CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q6IQrVH3llpEqX0CRt_YzN08_Jf...

Email: afzalali2728@gmail.com
by NobodyNada | 2025-06-03 17:53:35+00:00
> Since you could just design your `?` to encourage wrapping instead.

Which is exactly what Rust does -- if the error returned by the function does not match the error type of `?` expression, but the error can be converted using the `From` trait, then the conversion is automatically performed. You can write out the conversion implementation manually, or derive it with a crate like thiserror:

#[derive(Error)] enum MyError { #[error("Failed to read file") IoError(#[from] std::io::Error) // ... } fn foo() -> Result<(), MyError> { let data = std::fs::read("/some/file")?; // ... }

You can also use helper methods on Result (like `map_err`) for inserting explicit conversions between error types:

fn foo() -> Result<(), MyError> { let data = std::fs::read("/some/file").map_err(MyError::IoError)?; // ... }
by Lammy | 2025-06-03 17:54:47+00:00
> What could be mistaken for a planet is actually a quark or, more specifically, a down quark, an elementary particle that is a major constituent of matter: they give life to every complex structure we know of, while also being one of the lightest objects in existence.

Cool project, but seems dangerous to use the word “Quark” in a publishing context RE: QuarkXPress:

- https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=90886976&caseSearchType=U...

- https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=97009034&caseSearchType=U...

(Why do they have two for the same word?)
by IAmBroom | 2025-06-03 17:54:50+00:00
If I run a red light on a bicycle, how is a camera going to record evidence where to send the ticket? Or a cop on foot, for that matter?

You're presuming there's an office on the spot AND the cyclist stops. The penalties for a car driver to run are heavy and likely: license plate tracks to the owner, and the cop identifies (or "identifies") the owner in court. On a bike? "Be on the lookout for a blue bike, and a guy wearing a yellow windbreaker."
by homebrewer | 2025-06-03 17:54:58+00:00
Writing it was never the problem if you're using proper tools, e.g. an actual IDE (IDEA does fine), or at least a snippet manager for your text editor. Inserting a wrapping error handling snippet requires two key presses.

It's reviewing mountains of that crap that's the problem, especially if there are non-trivial cases hidden in there, like returning the error when `err == nil` (mentioned by others in this thread).
by immibis | 2025-06-03 17:55:35+00:00
Apparently it's not uncommon that when a debt collector buys a spreadsheet of unpaid debt, they can't actually prove in court that the debtor actually owes them the debt. You'd think some form of cryptocurrency technology would improve this - the legal contract would say you'd pay to a certain smart contract address until the smart contract says you paid enough (the legal contract would also have to specify how this is calculated as it would take precedence over the smart contract in case of a dispute); the smart contract would implement an NFT where the holder of the NFT receives the debt payments. Alternatively, it implements an NFT and holds a payee address (physical address, business name) and whoever has the NFT can update the payee address and whoever that's set to is the current creditor.

Of course, we probably don't want the dystopic parts of society to get more reliable, but the fact is the tech would probably make them so.
by codyb | 2025-06-03 17:55:52+00:00
The fact frequent, repeated contact with the customer isn't the norm is why so many interfaces suck and so many engineers could't design a decent one with a gun to their head (although, frankly, that level of stress might not induce thoughtful design patterns).

Instead engineers get hit with micro view after micro view, and they build it using test flows that don't mimic the real world, and then they all tie it in to create a tangled macro view that's a shit show for the user.

I've been working to bring recurring Shadow Sessions here at my workplace by creating a basic scheduler (which is really the pain point at scale) that just sends you and somebody working in the tooling you're building (we're internal tooling) every three weeks and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive and we're working to expand the functionality a bit.

So, all you out there who want a nice win, set up a little scheduler and get your Product, Design, Engineers, Managers, and TPMs in rotating sessions with actual customers at a lightweight pace with minimal asks to create greater empathy which translates to all of us potentially ending up with better software in the world as a whole.

A fella can dream.
by thangalin | 2025-06-03 17:56:04+00:00
My FOSS text editor, KeenWrite[1], takes a similar approach: Markdown -> XHTML -> TeX -> PDF. The software architecture shows how you can have processor chains:

https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/KeenWrite/-/blob/main/docs/ima...

I developed KeenWrite to help write a sci-fi novel where I can use variables for character names, places, etc. See the tutorials[2] for details.

For anyone still using pandoc and shell scripts, my Typesetting Markdown[3] series describes building a script-based infrastructure for converting Markdown into PDF.

[1]: https://keenwrite.com/

[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFCqe3A5dFg&t=15s

[3]: https://dave.autonoma.ca/blog/2019/05/22/typesetting-markdow...
Which tech jobs can you realistically get by learning online without a degree?
by med97 | 2025-06-03 17:56:15+00:00
I'm 28 years old, and to be honest, I haven’t done much with my life so far. Recently, I stumbled across programming and cybersecurity online, and the positive aspects of both fields really caught my attention. I’ve always been patient with solving problems, and I actually enjoy figuring things out. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. I'm also fairly tech-savvy, and for the first time in a while, I feel like I might have found something I could be genuinely good at.

The thing is, I’m not in a position to go to college or attend any formal institution. I’ve seen stories about people learning online and breaking into tech, but I’ve also read a lot of negative takes. Even graduates sometimes struggle to land jobs.

So I’m genuinely curious: if I commit to learning and work really hard, do I realistically have a chance to turn my life around and get into programming or cybersecurity without a degree?
by DonaldPShimoda | 2025-06-03 17:56:30+00:00
A Turing machine is not a real device; I suggest reading the Wikipedia article on abstract machines [0], which says verbatim: "Turing machines, for example, are some of the most fundamental abstract machines in computer science."

Abstract/theoretical doesn't mean "doesn't do anything practical". Labeling gravity as a "theory" doesn't mean that it doesn't hold things to the surface of the Earth. The Turing machine is a model of computation that is so simple (so abstract) that we can implement it with a pencil and paper very easily, and it can be used for actual calculation, but it is not — and never was — a literal device that existed physically.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_machine
by Bender | 2025-06-03 17:56:47+00:00
Good question. It probably depends on the overall political power of the tech companies using that datacenter. The alternative of course would be to build out the grid which is easier said than done. Costs aside many of the components used for the grid come from China and relations are already getting sketchy and some of those components can't even be moved any more such as giant transformers where roads and access have changed over the decades and wil require a new design. And that is just the grid, not what is feeding it. There are political obstacles to new power plants and renewables only go so far as parts of EU have discovered. I think it's going to get really interesting.
by guywithahat | 2025-06-03 17:57:02+00:00
I suppose it doesn't matter since we can disable it but I don't think anyone asked for this feature. If I wanted to use a rich text editor, I'd have opened a different app. Markdown editing is interesting but again, I would probably have opened vscode or another editor if I'm writing markdown.

I'm also almost entirely on linux though so maybe I'm just not the target demographic.
by e2le | 2025-06-03 17:57:20+00:00
Not entirely related. Some scam health products are made with radioactive material[0,1] (thorium dioxide) and can be found in wands, baby clothing, pendents, cards, wristbands, face cream, toothbrushes, and more.

Even more concerning given that these products will shed that radioactive material into the environment and be ingested by humans. The "quantum wands" as shown in the YouTube video are filled with a sizeable quantity of thorium dioxide powder and is possible to forcibly open.

They are illegal but continue to be sold.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7TwBUxxIC0

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BA5bw1EV5I
by jvanderbot | 2025-06-03 17:58:00+00:00
I really don't care what Russia does, but in a future war USA is more likely to be attacked by asymmetric exploding drones than to be attacking with them. That I _do_ care about. And for that, a PDS system on a few trucks seems kind of useful. If they can be made cheaply and the expensive bits centralized, then a few $1k every 100 yards is kind of reasonable, don't you think?
by dang | 2025-06-03 17:58:38+00:00
Could you please stop breaking the site guidelines, as you did here and in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44167429? If you keep posting like that we're going to have to ban you again. I don't want to do that, but we can't have commenters abusing HN like this.

If you'd please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here, we'd appreciate it. Note these, for example:

"Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith."

"When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. 'That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3' can be shortened to '1 + 1 is 2, not 3."

"Please don't fulminate."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html