MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by 0xTJ | 2025-07-06 12:13:27+00:00
People can always buy on another platform if a publisher chooses to make it available. This isn't the iPhone app store, where you're mostly stuck with whatever Apple demands from you.

You are also absolutely wrong about indie titles. Many of the games that I'm presented on my personalized top pages on Steam are indie. And Steam makes it very easy to find indie games.

I don't understand your point on "marketing exists for a reason and it's also costly". You seem to be undercutting yourself by saying that the marketing provided by the Steam store provides actual value.

Selling hardware at a loss only makes sense when you control everything that's done with it. Consoles can be sold at losses because they can't (generally) be used for purposes other than playing games on which the console makers make money. But a Steam Deck is just a PC. If they sold them at a loss, people could just buy them and use them as PCs.
by DrNosferatu | 2025-07-06 12:13:34+00:00
Valve has a golden opportunity, with little downside, to go next level:

Extend SteamOS to seamlessly support other hardware beyond AMD (Nvidia, Intel), and, also offer a simple and clean Linux desktop environment on it.

No one wants to upgrade from Windows 10. A free, a fully-featured Linux OS SteamOS would put a Steam Store on every PC with relatively little effort and huge potential gains.
by torbid | 2025-07-06 12:14:17+00:00
They tried this before with fruit. The US companies just sold their interest in production and have plenty of other options for acquisition if they try to tax beyond the relative ease of South America verse anywhere else in the global south.

I would agree that letting black market bs continue will eventually lead to groups that could threaten global control on random other commodities but that's no reason kick the can further down this road.
by atrus | 2025-07-06 12:14:26+00:00
Steam DRM is optional. It's the developer/publishers choice to add it. No one should be getting mad at Valve for providing an option that the publishers ask for. Yell at the publishers.

The fact you want a distribution service to be peer-to-peer kinda implies that distributing a game can have some significant costs. Maybe that 30% isn't quite as abusive as you make it sound?
by greatgib | 2025-07-06 12:14:29+00:00
It is new, for both secret services and politics, there use to be a principe of honor and respectability. Once exposed to bad behaviors, people where quitting by themselves or heads being chopped because of the public shame.

Now the people involved will keep their position till the end, doing whatever needed and whatever the cost to not move despite being convicted or close to it.

To me, this is new in the last decades.

Look at Nixon with the Watergate, nowadays, same with Trump, the guys will just say "and so what?" And things will continue like if it was nothing.

Same in UK, same in France, ...
by skydhash | 2025-07-06 12:15:06+00:00
> These were essentially drop-in replacements with minimal impact to me. Consider what it would take to replace dired or Magit, as perfect as they might be.

There's a difference of philosophy there. The Unix way is a good concept to align software, but it's not the only one. In Emacs, the primitives are different. Instead of having pipes, redirectors, thinking in terms of lines,... What you have are buffers, windows to displays those buffers in, frames to hold those windows, a lot of functions to manipulate the text in buffers and keybindings to activate those functions. There's also the minibuffer for input and the echo area for messages.

So using those people creates packages that solve each a particular task. But the packages are not closed programs you compose together. They are both libraries and a particular way to use the library. If it does not fit your purpose, you alter it. If it's missing something, you add it. If your workflow requires two or more packages, you link them together, creating a metapackage for that workflow.

So Emacs is something to mold to your own needs. The default configuration is just the most common and the traditional way to do stuff. It's not lego bricks like the Unix way, it's clay. You don't replace ls with eza, you turn ls into eza.
by foobar10000 | 2025-07-06 12:15:41+00:00
You generally want the following in trading:

* mean/med/p99/p999/p9999/max over day, minute, second, 10ms

* software timestamps of rdtsc counter for interval measurements - am17 says why below

* all of that not just on a timer - but also for each event - order triggered for send, cancel sent, etc - for ease of correlation to markouts.

* hw timestamps off some sort of port replicator that has under 3ns jitter - and a way to correlate to above.

* network card timestamps for similar - solar flare card (amd now) support start of frame to start of Ethernet frame measurements.
by jvanderbot | 2025-07-06 12:16:03+00:00
The steam deck was a game changer. It's hard to overstate how positive it is in my mind. You can run any cloud gaming service on it. It's open and accessible. It brought a near perfect emulation (ok HAL?) layer to all my Linux machines.

It's breaking windows monopoly and cracking open the other distributors closed systems. I can even run NVIDIAs cloud gaming so I may not even need new hardware.

(Now having said all that I'm still sore over the new doom game which has ray tracing enabled permanently. It invalidates all my old hardware and the steam deck)
by cube2222 | 2025-07-06 12:16:37+00:00
If you buy a steam code via other means than the steam store, they don’t take a cut, and the distribution, hosting, etc is in fact free. Same for steamworks (so the achievements you mentioned).

This is utilized by some publishers who sell keys on their own website, same for e.g. humble bundles.

So yeah, it is in fact a 30% cut for just the store and visibility.
by 0xTJ | 2025-07-06 12:17:33+00:00
I phrased that as "never buying another game on Steam" because of the existing library aspect. Sure it's nice to just have one launcher, but you can absolutely move to another marketplace while using Steam for the games that you've already bought.

You can keep Steam installed and keep downloading your games through it, but you don't need to give them another penny.
by disentanglement | 2025-07-06 12:18:01+00:00
Range is somewhere between 350 and 600 km depending on conditions. Aerodynamics, weight, weather all have an influence as well as the battery size and efficiency of the specific model of truck. The guy on the youtube channel has driven most of the selection of currently available long haul electric trucks in Europe under a variety of conditions, so this seems fairly representative.

The trucks are all designed to be driven for the legally mandated maximum of 4.5 hours at highway speeds and to be recharged sufficiently in a 45 minute break to be able to do that again for another 4.5 hours. In particularly adverse conditions a little less driving time before recharging is possible but for an average load the currently available tech works just fine and it is mostly the charging infrastructure that limits adoption.
What Kaczynski had to say about AI in 1975
by Aerbil313 | 2025-07-06 12:18:12+00:00
"...First let us postulate that the computer scientists succeed in developing intelligent machines that can do all things better than human beings can do them. In that case presumably all work will be done by vast, highly organized systems of machines and no human effort will be necessary. Either of two cases might occur. The machines might be permitted to make all of their own decisions without human oversight, or else human control over the machines might be retained.

If the machines are permitted to make all their own decisions, we can’t make any conjectures as to the results, because it is impossible to guess how such machines might behave. We only point out that the fate of the human race would be at the mercy of the machines. It might be argued that the human race would never be foolish enough to hand over all power to the machines. But we are suggesting neither that the human race would voluntarily turn power over to the machines nor that the machines would willfully seize power. What we do suggest is that the human race might easily permit itself to drift into a position of such dependence on the machines that it would have no practical choice but to accept all of the machines’ decisions. As society and the problems that face it become more and more complex and as machines become more and more intelligent, people will let machines make more and more of their decisions for them, simply because machine-made decisions will bring better results than man-made ones. Eventually a stage may be reached at which the decisions necessary to keep the system running will be so complex that human beings will be incapable of making them intelligently. At that stage the machines will be in effective control. People won’t be able to just turn the machines off, because they will be so dependent on them that turning them off would amount to suicide."

- Industrial Society And Its Future, Ted Kaczynski (1975)

I think it's meaningful to reflect on this today, when we have something man-made at least resembling human intelligence, to see where he was right or wrong.

See my comment for the rest, this hits the character limit.
by m11a | 2025-07-06 12:19:10+00:00
That's a weak form of lock-in though, because you can switch to another platform going forward, and access your previous Steam purchases for free. No ads, no subscription fee. Stay signed out of Steam Chat and the social stuff, and you've basically just got a heavy application launcher.

Compared to PS+ and Xbox Live, which charge subscription fees to continue accessing online content, it's a pretty sweet deal for the consumer.
by oasisaimlessly | 2025-07-06 12:19:25+00:00
This is an incorrect conclusion:

> In other words, the next generation will genetically regress to the mean.

Mating is emphatically not like mixing paints.

> [T]he Hardy–Weinberg principle, also known as the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, model, theorem, or law, states that allele and genotype frequencies in a population will remain constant from generation to generation in the absence of other evolutionary influences.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardy%E2%80%93Weinberg_princip...
by spangry | 2025-07-06 12:19:46+00:00
There’s one crucial difference - countries can’t print new diamonds or gold bars at will. Whenever the US prints more dollars, it transfers value from hoarders of US dollars to themselves - they’re levying a stealth tax via global oil price inflation. Other countries do not have this ability - if they print more of their own currency it just leads to domestic inflation.

The US can effectively tax the world as long as they use their military power to ensure oil producing countries denominate their oil exports in US dollars.

The reserve currency system is a stealth tribute system.
by Flundstrom2 | 2025-07-06 12:19:47+00:00
A couple of days ago, the new EU regulation on disclosing energy efficiency for mobiles and tablets using an extended version of the A-F rating familiar to all European consumers.

https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/news/new-eu-rules...

All manufacturers are required to disclose the time to depleat as well as number of charge cycles before the battery is down to 80% in the searchable database

https://eprel.ec.europa.eu/screen/home

Not surprising, Samsung has phones running circles around xiaomi's best performing phones, with battery times almost 3 times that of X's, and number of charge cycles twice that of X's.
by tomhow | 2025-07-06 12:20:26+00:00
We ban bots that submit a lot of spam or other content that’s a bad fit for HN. We ban LLM-comment bots because we want the discussions to be between humans sharing original human ideas.

If someone has written a script that finds and submits articles that are good for HN, I don’t see why we should ban them. We can use human judgment to decide which of their posts should be rewarded or downranked; we’re doing manual curation all the time anyway.
by giantg2 | 2025-07-06 12:20:45+00:00
The risk would be from power cell failure and how difficult it is to put out those fires for most of the chemistries used, how they're packed, etc. I would guess the rate of occurrence will be pretty similar. I don't think we'll fully know until we have a bunch of older EV trucks to know how the risk compares to older diesel ones.
by everdrive | 2025-07-06 12:21:10+00:00
Hopefully nothing is next for Valve except for continuing to improve what they already have. Valve is very rare in the corporate space; they never went public, and so are providing a good service to customs rather than squeezing every last dime out of customers on behalf of shareholders. The moment Gabe Newell is replaced, or Valve goes public there will be a massive problem with PC gaming.
by 4ad | 2025-07-06 12:22:14+00:00
It's hard to say who will fare best, but it's evident who'll do the worst. The European Union will regulate AGI out of existence. Most citizens would not want to use it because of climate change, or something.

I think poor countries with weak democracies or dysfunctional systems would do pretty good with AGI. I don't believe democracy will survive AGI, except, perhaps in the United States.
by aspenmayer | 2025-07-06 12:22:32+00:00
> We ban bots that submit a lot of spam or other content that’s a bad fit for HN. We ban LLM-comment bots because we want the discussions to be between humans sharing original human ideas.

> If someone has written a script that finds and submits articles that are good for HN, I don’t see why we should ban them. We can use human judgment to decide which of their posts should be rewarded or downranked; we’re doing manual curation all the time anyway.

You should ban them for the same reason generated comments are banned.

This is not a great outcome for HN, so I don't expect this to actually occur, mind you!

I just think that the status quo unfairly advantages those who have already demonstrated that they're actively and successfully gaming the system. If the points don't matter, then script users' contributions matter even less than a human-initiated post, so why not run the script in-house under an official username at that point. This arm's length scripted behavior leaves a bad taste after Digg and every other site that has done this, or allowed others to do it. Either the content is user-submitted, or it isn't. Bots aren't people.
Show HN: Open-source AI prompt engineering workbench with systematic evaluation
by insaaniManav | 2025-07-06 12:22:48+00:00
PromptForge: Open-source AI prompt engineering workbench with systematic evaluation

I built PromptForge after getting frustrated with the manual trial-and-error approach to prompt engineering. Most tools are just text editors, but I wanted something that brings software engineering discipline to prompt development.

Key technical features: - AI-assisted prompt generation (stop starting from scratch) - Systematic evaluation engine that auto-generates test suites - Multi-model support (Claude, GPT-4, Azure OpenAI) - Go backend with SQLite for performance and simplicity - One-line Docker deployment

The evaluation system automatically tests for robustness, safety, factual accuracy, and creativity across different scenarios. Think unit testing but for prompts.

Currently #1 on Product Hunt today after 5+ hours, which validates that developers need better prompt engineering tools.

Open source (GPLv3): https://github.com/insaaniManav/prompt-forge Demo: https://demo.arcade.software/bFGTYb7AuRV33Kei7ZFQ PH URL : https://www.producthunt.com/products/promptforge-2 Would love feedback from the HN community, especially on the evaluation methodology and technical approach.
by pavlov | 2025-07-06 12:22:49+00:00
My prediction is that Netflix will buy Valve when Gabe Newell decides he truly doesn’t care anymore.

From the article:

“… the chart indicates Steam had an operating margin of about 60 per cent and made $2bn of commission revenues, for about $1.3bn in profit just from Steam commissions in 2021.”

That’s a very impressive profit and limits who can afford to buy it. Netflix could pay something like $50 billion in stock to own the gaming market.
by ChrisMarshallNY | 2025-07-06 12:22:58+00:00
I think the very earliest had decent folks. I believe it was more like the second-gen CIA (1950s and 60s). He joined in '52 (after graduating Harvard with an LLB, and working for a short time at a law firm), and resigned in '67.

[EDITED TO ADD] I updated to the proper dates, and linked his eulogy.

https://cmarshall.com/miscellaneous/MikeMarshall.htm
by user142 | 2025-07-06 12:24:38+00:00
Stablecoins are quite different from banks. Under the system of fractional-reserve banking, banks by definition only have reserves for a fraction of their user's balances. Stablecoins are meant to be fully backed and the issuers claim to be fully backed. In theory it is possible that the issuers are lying but in practice this seems unlikely. Running a stablecoin business seems to be a relatively inexpensive operation compared to the amount of money you can make by investing your reserves into short term treasuries in the current interest rate environment. Even if Tether wasn't fully backed in 2018 they should have made billions in profits since off interest rates and recovered their losses.

I still don't understand your argument how the GENIUS Act would turn off the 'faucet'. Legalizing and legitimizing stablecoins would presumably lead to more stablecoin issuance instead of a bank run.
by brookst | 2025-07-06 12:24:47+00:00
It’s not spot on. Buying and using all of these products is a choice.

The last is especially egregious. I don’t want poorly-written (by my standards) books cluttering up bookstores, but all my life I’ve walked into bookstores and found my favorite genres have lots of books I’m not interested in. Do I have some kind of right to have stores only stock products that I want?

The whole thing is just so damn entitled. If you don’t like something, don’t buy it. If you find the presence of some products offensive in a marketplace, don’t shop there. Spotify is not a human right.
by spangry | 2025-07-06 12:25:02+00:00
I see you’re being downvoted but I think you’re right.

The US reserve currency system allows the US to tax the world, whenever they print more dollars, via oil price inflation. Anyone without sufficient military power who tries to stop denominating their oil exports in US dollars ends up with freedom and democracy being brought to their country. Saddam Hussein switched to denominating Iraqi oil exports in Euros. Gaddafi tried to establish a pan-African gold-back dinar to denominate African oil exports in. And look how it turned out for them.

It’s a stealth tribute system. If you stop paying your tribute, the empire responds accordingly.
by neom | 2025-07-06 12:25:15+00:00
I've found in my life cool people generally have something to offer, be it inspiration, insight, other otherwise, I feel like cool is often aspirational and differs depending on where someone is trying to go in life. It seems to me cool people have some unique degree of "Culturedness" - this lines up with the traits they found. If you are Extraverted, Hedonistic, Powerful, Adventurous, Open and Autonomous, you're likely ending up in situations and experiences that have a different venn from the other folks around you.

From the paper: "Our method does not let us test the extent to which coolness was valued or prevalent in a culture, but historical analysis suggests that cool people were first recognized and admired in countercultural niches, such as mid-20th century African American jazz clubs and beatnik coffee shops that valued improvisation and creative expression (Belk et al., 2010; Heath & Potter, 2004). The desire to be cool spread as societies shifted their focus from industry to information, and coolness continues to play a larger role in cities (San Francisco, New York, London, Tokyo, etc.) and industries (fashion, entertainment, technology) where economic success depends on creativity (Florida, 2012; C. Warren et al., 2019). Stronger evidence that coolness is a status hierar"
Show HN: What Games Play?No Registration Required!
by harperhuang | 2025-07-06 12:25:49+00:00
Hi everyone! I'd like to share a personal project I've been working on recently: What Games Play. It's a completely free web-based mini-games platform that requires no registration or login. My goal was simple: create a place where anyone can open their browser anytime, anywhere, find classic mini-games, and instantly unwind.

Website: https://whatgamesplay.com/

Currently, the site features 6 carefully crafted mini-games:

1、Dino Run: A tribute to the classic Chrome offline game, but now you can play it anytime! I've also added accessibility features for visually impaired users to enhance the experience.

2、Tetris: The timeless classic with modern gameplay features including 7-bag randomization and wall kicks.

3、Dynamic Tic-Tac-Toe: Beyond traditional tic-tac-toe, I've added a dynamic mode where when a player places their 7th piece, their first piece automatically disappears. This prevents draws and makes the game more challenging and strategic. Supports both AI and two-player modes, plus music and sound effects for a fresh experience.

4、Snake: Another beloved classic - see how long you can grow!

5、Maze Game: Can you find the exit? Different difficulty levels offer varying challenges, with a treasure hunt mode available.

6、Healing Bubbles: A purely relaxing and stress-relieving mini-game.

One interesting aspect of this project is that from game logic and UI/UX design to code implementation, refactoring, and internationalization, I completed the entire development process with deep AI assistance. It wasn't just a code completion tool, but more like a 24/7 pair programming partner, which greatly enhanced both development efficiency and enjoyment.

The website is fully compatible with both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring a smooth experience whether you're on a computer or phone.

This project means a lot to me, and I'm eager to hear genuine feedback from the Hacker News community. Please feel free to try it out - I welcome any suggestions, bug reports, or ideas for new games!

Thanks again!
by shruggedatlas | 2025-07-06 12:26:19+00:00
You sound like you have your own issues to resolve if you are this exhausted by work, which doesn't mean the article is a parody just because you are not its exact intended recipient. There are a handful of tips in there that can help engineer more comfortable situations for people who are less confident networking. That's only if someone is willing to engage with the advice and wishes to better themselves with it, instead of just blaming... capitalism?
by sgarland | 2025-07-06 12:26:23+00:00
> PlanetScale, with their latest Metal introduction, optimized for super low latency (they act like they've reinvented the wheel, lol), but they clearly have something in mind going in this direction.

I’ve spoken to them personally, and didn’t get the impression at all that they think they’ve “re-invented the wheel.” More like they realized that separating compute and storage was a god-awful idea, and are bringing back how things used to be in the days of boring tech.

Also, re: branching, PS MySQL definitely has that. I assume they’ll bring it to Postgres.
by legacynl | 2025-07-06 12:26:48+00:00
Eh.. how can you access your steam games on another platform for free?

AFAIK your games are locked to your account, and you'd need to log in at least once a month or something to keep access even in offline mode.

If you close your steam account you lose everything, so I don't see how that's a weak form of lock-in?