MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by drillsteps5 | 2025-07-05 23:01:12+00:00
THAT. This is what I don't get. Instead of fixing a complex system let's build more complex system based on it knowing that it might not always work.

When you have a complex system that does not always work correctly, you start disassembling it to simpler and simpler components until you find the one - or maybe several - that are not working as designed, you fix whatever you found wrong with them, put the complex system together again, test it to make sure your fix worked, and you're done. That's how I debug complex cloud-based/microservices-infected software systems, that's how they test software/hardware systems found in aircraft/rockets and whatever else. That's such a fundamental principle to me.

If LLM is a black box by definition and there's no way to make it consistently work correctly, what is it good for?..
by icevector | 2025-07-05 23:01:31+00:00
I’m a student researcher working on unusual bio-based ideas for climate change.

This paper explores whether ice-nucleating bacteria (like Pseudomonas syringae) could be used to increase cloud reflectivity and naturally cool the atmosphere — without chemicals, aerosols, or machines. It’s a weird, low-tech geoengineering concept.

Curious what people here think. Feedback welcome.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PMBNK
by thfuran | 2025-07-05 23:01:32+00:00
>Chips that allow you to pay for stuff by waving your hand at a sensor

You've been able to do that relatively cheaply for at least a decade. Nobody really does because the market for even minor surgeries that can essentially be replaced by having a pocket is pretty small.

Implanted neural interfaces have a lot of technical challenges that I think make them extremely unlikely as purely elective procedures in anything like the immediate future. AR glasses are way more plausible.
by kragen | 2025-07-05 23:01:57+00:00
It's more nuanced than that. Unique parts made to fit specific applications can clearly perform better, but that doesn't mean I'm in favor of them in all contexts. Rather, I'm observing that the reason we don't use them for things like desk lamps, instead using mostly generic parts, is because of our cognitive limitations, which we cope with through specialization and generic parts with loosely-coupled, independent designs. This is a form of "dividing and specializing design", which is what alganet was saying people shouldn't do.

I am not in favor of ignoring those cognitive limitations. That wouldn't make the limitations go away; it would only keep us from taking measures to cope with them, such as dividing and specializing design into modular generic parts.
by llm_nerd | 2025-07-05 23:02:10+00:00
As one aside on this, that Dr. Layne Norton video has drawn a lot of comments by people who declare that while CAC scores are rising dangerously in the LMHR Keto group --- exactly the opposite to what the LMHR and Keto communities predicted and wanted to see -- okay fine...it's, they now defensively claim, is the seed oils that are the cause.

Just as there is enormous volumes of data demonstrating that statins and/or lowering cholesterol naturally have a high degree of efficacy and benefit, there is a complete dearth of data showing seed oils to be the cause of much at all. Sure they're high in calories and are used in a lot of processed foods, which is bad, but the notion that some fries cooked in lard is healthier than fries cooked in canola oil has literally zero evidence. None. It has loads of counter-evidence, however.

The current seed oil boogeyman is based on absolutely nothing. But the Wellness Industry absolutely dwarfs the pharmaceutical industry, without any of the annoying oversight or governance, and there are loads of grifters that have to find the new Easy Fix.

And while I said "low carb" above as a surrogate for the carnivore/keto diet above, just to be clear, everyone should minimize simple carbs, which are often the foundation of ultra-processed foods. Unless you're highly active and burning that glucose as quickly as you digest it (which is rapid for simple carbs), those carbs are going to lead to a massive insulin spike, which is bad, and most will end up being converted into triglycerides, which is also bad. Everyone should be "low simple carbs", at least unless you're literally fuelling for a specific task.
by shadowgovt | 2025-07-05 23:02:27+00:00
Pony Time actually reminds me of the hard-boiled egg from the revolutionary rallying cry in another Terry Pratchett story.

Part of me feels a little sad that they set it aside if I understand your story correctly. Real world politics is rife with this kind of tradition for tradition's sake. It's one of the things that ends up binding people together in the long run. Compare and contrast The Black Rod in the British Parliament and their role in summoning the Commons.
by Tadpole9181 | 2025-07-05 23:02:29+00:00
Last I heard it explained, it's about the "real time" nature of custom content through streaming services. It creates a more immediate pressure to capitulate with (often increasingly extreme) demands at the risk of financial loss.

A porn actress can look at a role, the type of content being made, and mull it over and compare to other gigs. A live streamer has a minute to decide if they'll do a weird request for rent money. There's a (at least perceived to be a) larger lever being used against their judgement than normal.

I've also heard livestream content has a higher prevalence of trafficking? Not sure how true that is, so take it with a grain of salt.
by sharkweek | 2025-07-05 23:02:34+00:00
I’m about to start grad school to get my clinical mental health counseling licensure, and Amazon has multiple fake/counterfeit DSM-5s (basically the holy grail of recognized mental disorders and their insurance billing codes) on it, so much in fact that my program director mentioned the Amazon problem in the orientation.

So I’ll add “if you need to guarantee the accuracy of the information in whatever you’re buying… avoid Amazon as well”
by lll-o-lll | 2025-07-05 23:03:42+00:00
Difficult people are not “assholes”. Someone saying “your engineering practices are shoddy and the quality of your code is bad” does not make them an asshole. It makes them french maybe.

My point is that there are people low on the agreeableness scale, and they can often be exceptional engineers. You have to manage them, yes, but taking the easy way out of “i’ll sack anyone who’s prickly” will mean a shit team. You need people (or at least one), who will say “that won’t work because…” “this is bad because…” “this will fail because…”.
by variadix | 2025-07-05 23:04:59+00:00
None of these are good arguments to convince the average person to not use Amazon (or any other service provided by a megacorp). A better argument (well, maybe not as of May 2025) is that most crap on Amazon is available for 1/5 the price from websites like Aliexpress. Nothing on Amazon is sold for less than ~8 dollars, meanwhile you can buy the exact same product from Aliexpress for less than a dollar.
by ericvsmith | 2025-07-05 23:06:27+00:00
In DC, they're storing the combined runoff+sewage until it can be treated: https://dcist.com/story/23/09/18/new-anacostia-river-tunnel-...

As expensive as this project is, separating the storm drains from the sewage lines (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_sewer) in an existing system is much more costly.
by gopher_space | 2025-07-05 23:06:52+00:00
I mean, sure, if we were forced to include end-of-life self hosting we could have shipped it with an early, janky QA build with most of the features that differentiated our game from others stripped out.

But why would we do that? It's not the game we designed, pitched, built, or advertised. It wouldn't be fun.

The hypothetical requirements I've seen throughout this discussion would result in whole categories of games either jacking up their prices or just skipping an EU launch entirely.
by Tadpole9181 | 2025-07-05 23:08:02+00:00
I'll show my ass on this, but calling someone is absolutely an order of magnitude more effort than checking online. Anytime I have to put in an order via phone or place a reservation, I do a mental check of if I actually care enough to not just go with something else. There's a social battery cost associated with it, even higher than talking to someone in person.
by nextos | 2025-07-05 23:08:02+00:00
I think it's even worse. They have a completely chaotic returns policy meaning they re-sell used things pretending they are new all the time. I stopped buying from Amazon UK after I received 6 opened and used items in just 20 orders. Some were even missing components. I even received used underwear (yuck!) from a brand that sells boxers inside sealed packages and doesn't allow returns. I heard some scammers were exploiting this returns policy by purchasing phones, installing malware, and sending them back to Amazon.
by elcritch | 2025-07-05 23:08:20+00:00
I second Daemon as an excellent sci-fi. I also really enjoyed Project Hail Mary and thought the characters weren’t too bad for a sci-fi.

Daemon isn’t about a rogue AI in the sense it was designed that way. Also you need to read the sequel “Freedom” to really get the true sci-fi philosophical message.

I personally enjoyed the sequel Freedom because it really explores the idea of a crypto-DAO like society that embraces human nature to build a more sustainable and fair society. It was ahead of its time as I don’t think DAO’s had been created yet.

Suarez’s later books also build on the themes in interesting ways.
by FireBeyond | 2025-07-05 23:08:49+00:00
This varies hugely around the country. The Utstein criteria are only a subset of cardiac arrests, but while in NY you might have 11% chance of survival, Detroit, 8%...

Rochester County, MN, King, Pierce and Thurston Counties in WA regularly battle each other for highest survival rates in the country, from high 30s, often in the 40s, even 49% survival.

-- paramedic in Washington
by Dylan16807 | 2025-07-05 23:09:26+00:00
If those principles don't make a difference on the world around you then it's not bad but it is quite limited. It's fine to do things that don't make a difference, but it's important to keep perspective.

In particular, if you have an urge to make a difference on a regular basis, that's a great urge, but you need to make sure you don't fall into the trap of doing something that feels good but has negligible effect and thinking the job is done.
by gibbitz | 2025-07-05 23:11:31+00:00
I've been a vegetarian for 30 years. Big beef is still raging despite all the Hindus and abstainers. Doesn't mean I'll grill a burger and chow down. It would be great if suddenly the world woke up and thought about consequences of what they do in a myriad of things. It will never happen, but acting unaware when you are aware is something you have to live with. Some people think morals are divine, but I guess some people think of them as "feelings".
by AngryData | 2025-07-05 23:12:20+00:00
I am a gamer, and I don't understand why everyone flocks to Nvidia either unless they are buying the newest flagship card. Maybe just because "the best card" is from Nvidia so many assume Nvidia must be the best for everyone? For multiple generations ive gotten better card for my dollar at any "mid-tier" gaming level with AMD, and have had zero complaints.
by raddan | 2025-07-05 23:12:33+00:00
I have always found this quote annoying. There are many ways to solve problems, but when you constrain yourself to solving them mechanistically, that is what makes computer science computer science. Virtually every theoretical CS paper implicitly presupposes a specific model of computation. Sometimes they even say it explicitly.

Sure, computer science is not about a specific computer. But it is definitely about computers.
by Ferret7446 | 2025-07-05 23:13:21+00:00
Forking the blockchain is impractical. You need enough compute power to maintain both forks for some period of time, which means you've effectively halved your compute power. And all that gives you is the power to double spend, after which one fork's transactions are "revoked". This is not a huge problem; regular financial transactions also get revoked (e.g., chargeback). The amount of compute needed to protect transactions for, e.g., half a day (which is much much shorter than the potential chargeback interval) is basically impossible.

> do all sorts of other shit

There's not much shit they can do, without breaking the fundamental cryptographic primitives that make it work. They can't steal money. They can double spend, as above, or they can delay transactions with a probability proportional to their ownership of compute, integrated over a period of time. If they own 80% of the compute, and they really really don't want you to perform a transaction, then they can block it for 10 minutes with 80% chance, 20 minutes with 64% chance, 30 minutes with 51%, an hour with 26%.

Compare that with Visa which has blocked transactions it doesn't like (e.g., porn) for years.

And even this blocking is economically disincentivized. If you want to get a transaction through and the "mafia" don't want it, you can offer a higher transaction fee. Either the "mafia" will have to accept your transaction, or give up the enticing fee to someone else. Transaction processing is a free market.

And compute dominance is something that needs to be maintained indefinitely. Obtaining compute dominance does not guarantee future dominance (unlike with proof of stake systems, which is IMO one reason why proof of work is superior).
by ranger_danger | 2025-07-05 23:14:56+00:00
Thank you for your perspective, I 100% agree.

I just read your Vox article and the comment "We exist with multiple hats" really resonated with me. I find it difficult to interact with a lot of people in tech because they too often seem to be overly dogmatic and unable to consider that other valid perspectives can and do exist... and that they might not know everything.

Sometimes I just want to say to those people, "I want to live in your world, where everything is black and white and you have all the answers in your pocket. It sounds comfortable and easy."
by JZerf | 2025-07-05 23:15:05+00:00
I'm actually typing this reply on a 2012 MacBook Pro which is still working pretty well. I've also used several recent MacBook models at work so am familiar with those. Things that I like better about the 2012 MacBook Pro compared to newer models is that it's easier to replace/upgrade items. On my 2012 MacBook Pro I've replaced the original hard drive with a SSD, upgraded the memory, and replaced the failed battery (which shouldn't be unexpected for such an old laptop) which were all fairly simple to do.

I also do not like that Apple has completely removed all USB type A ports on the newer MacBooks. USB type A plugs are still very common and I wish Apple left one or two on the newer MacBooks in addition to the USB-C ports. Yes, you can use USB-C to USB type A adapters but it is annoying.

I also do not like that Apple has removed the Ethernet and microphone jacks. Both jacks are still useful to have on modern computers. I'll make an exception for removing the Ethernet jack on the MacBook Air to accommodate a thinner chassis but wish the MacBook Pro chassis was kept thick enough to accommodate the Ethernet jack.
by vector_spaces | 2025-07-05 23:16:17+00:00
> via a partner like doordash

I do technical consulting for small food companies

This is an immediate non-starter for most local retail businesses because of the steep (25+%) transaction fees Doordash and other consumer last-mile providers charge, and the razor-thin margins of many retail stores

To be clear I agree with your proposal overall and suspect this particular challenge is surmountable, but it's very difficult to get it right, and either way relying on another parasitic platform won't be the answer
by UltraSane | 2025-07-05 23:17:29+00:00
"no i will be watching 24fps films for the remainder of my life, which may be 40 more years. if all new films went up 1fps per year i would still go out to the movies in 20 years and be like “wtf is this crap?”"

The Hobbit looked great at 48fps. Higher FPS failed only because reactionary people as yourself irrationally rejected it because "it looks weird!".

You need to understand that 24fps is a compromise chosen to save film. It is the bare minimum frame rate to have smooth motion under most but not all circumstances. It really hurts action films because anything moving too fast has excessive motion blur.
by admsmz | 2025-07-05 23:18:00+00:00
Your best bet at this point would be https://mathacademy.com/. Their CS course will be launched between okt and dec. In the meantime I would recommend levelling up your math using the same website.

I noticed this line at the end of the article about the things you would like to build: “Education apps that leverage learning theories, community learning and game design to make learning more inspiring and accessible for students”

That’s a perfect description of mathacademy.
by aprilthird2021 | 2025-07-05 23:18:33+00:00
Thanks for the insight. I have seen similar uses at work, where people do a bit of an enhanced codemod to migrate code from using one deprecated thing (library, function, syntax) to another. And while a codemod has to be more exactly programmed. AI gives you the ability to cover spots in the code that may not 1 to 1 fit with what the pattern you had in mind.

EDIT: I haven't used Tailwind much but would something like this do what you're saying, or not really? https://www.loopple.com/tools/css-to-tailwind-converter
by gsf_emergency_2 | 2025-07-05 23:18:43+00:00
Tell me if you don't think he's similar to early Pedro Sanchez? What makes Sanchez not a populist is that he tamped down the anti-estab vibes as he rose. (Theory #1 in Nate Silver's, this would be the horizontal integration part)

https://youtube.com/shorts/IOFU8abI47c

(It seems like Mamdani should be able to do that without looking like a traitor tho. Also disregard that everything else screams fratboy Trudeau in that yt short)

Most worrying to the dems (on top of the antiestab look) might be that he's Muslim. Farsi to my ears. Hope they don't harp on that Or maybe they should, in the primaries, so that he builds some immunity

Unlikely+hilarious (but exciting) were he to join forces with Elon

Edits: after reading your Nate Silver link
by metalman | 2025-07-05 23:19:03+00:00
I built a hands free cell phone adapter based on a headset for an android phone, little dash mike, and an answer button, it puts out audio to honkin amp that powers the trucks stock speakers, the amp has a high impidence output and gain control that works with the headphone output just fine (no hum) hitting the button cuts off music and answers the call. Totaly stealth phone shelf where the stereo used to be.
by bluefirebrand | 2025-07-05 23:19:05+00:00
> Give an AI to a product manager and their code will be shit. Give it to a good programmer, and they're likely to ask the right questions and verify the code a little bit more so they get better results.

I'm finding the inverse correlation: programmers who are bullish on AI are actually just bad programmers. AI use is revealing their own lack of skill and taste.
Show HN: From Photos to Positions: Prototyping VLM-Based Indoor Maps
by accurrent | 2025-07-05 23:19:28+00:00
Just a fun hack I did while bored over the weekend. My wife was busy shopping, it got me thinking that can VLMs solve the indoor location problem in a mall? Can I just show a VLM a map and an image and have it doa good enough job locating me? I hacked this P.O.C and it seems to work.
by camgunz | 2025-07-05 23:21:14+00:00
Wow it's one of the best things about SQLite, truly tragic. Another point in your favor I think is like, the coding (deployment, etc) isn't usually the bottleneck. Like in a given 2 week sprint I'm probably spending... max 24/80 hours coding, so something like a 30% ceiling. The rest is like, reqs, design, shop around for buy in, mentoring, politicking, bug hunting, planning, etc etc. The problem is most of that stuff isn't nearly as enjoyable as the coding part. Why didn't we invent a bot that talked engineering leadership out of terrible ideas? That's where the real gains are haha.
by aprilthird2021 | 2025-07-05 23:21:42+00:00
> Every generation that had that big new thing had an enormous group claiming it was terrible and would destroy everything.

Isn't it possible that they all did have negative consequences (as well as positive ones) and we're just now reaching the tipping point?

Like surely movies are less cognitively stimulating and make one less learned than only reading books. But it didn't hinder us to the point where people are frustrated like they are now with phones and social media and slop feeds, etc.
by swsieber | 2025-07-05 23:23:29+00:00
I agree that not every app needs it's own sync engine, but I disagree with your framing that the file system is the universal way to embrace local first. I have two reasons.

First is that yeah, local first, but I also want concurrency. If it's just local first, you're right, any old sync will do. But I want more than that. I want to not have to think (a la dropbox, being slick). I want my wife and I to be able to make separate edits on our phones when we're in a dead zone.

Second is that sync works a lot better when it has deep knowledge of the data structure and semantics. Git and box both have significant shortcomings, but both exacerbated by the concurrency desire.
by dustingetz | 2025-07-05 23:24:49+00:00
“If a system is to serve the creative spirit, it must be entirely comprehensible to a single individual. Human potential manifests in individuals.” https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs655/readings/smalltalk....

“Experts and beginners both want to use the same tools. Children want to learn saxophone, not kazoo.” - Rich Hickey
by Fade_Dance | 2025-07-05 23:27:35+00:00
I'm even probably being a bit "boomer" with that suggestion. Kids could probably benefit from a quick course in swype typing when it comes to data entry productivity in the modern world. Which makes handwritten cursive even more absurd.

I agree it's sort of a cool hobby though. I could see it having a few days dedicated to it in an art class, or maybe in an elective that covers typography.
by gerdesj | 2025-07-05 23:27:59+00:00
Not so insane as it turns out - P is using the language of LLMs because english is a second language for them.

Perhaps you will not take umbrage when I point out that you use full stops (periods) but not bother with twitching a finger towards your shift key. I will guess you are using a phone/tablet and have to switch keyboard layouts to get something as exotic as a capital letter on the screen.
by alpinisme | 2025-07-05 23:30:03+00:00
One of the quirks of the current system is that subsidies are pitched as decreases to what one owes in taxes. There would be more transparency (but more overhead) if everyone paid full sticker price for taxes and then the govt separately gave money to the groups whose behaviors it wanted to encourage or whose challenges it wanted to help with (or fined the ones whose behaviors it wanted to discourage). This would not be feasible either politically. But it would bring transparency and clarity.
by yupitsme123 | 2025-07-05 23:31:19+00:00
Yeah, I guess the virtual nature of it allows a pimp, possibly in a foreign country, to put a bunch of girls in front of cameras and have them do whatever they're told to do. A typical porn video is slightly different than that.

Still, from an American point of view this is interesting for several reasons. One, it seems somewhat prudish for the Swedes, who we often stereotype as being very liberal and sensible. Two, I can't imagine american lawmakers caring about or being able to pass legislation on such a niche issue.