MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by secunit90 | 2025-08-04 21:46:34+00:00
But the offerings are like “jack of all trades” and “master of none”.

These days software owners like AWS, GCP, Azure has there own superior security solutions embedded with in there stack instead of relying on external companies.

I think the same will happen for these AI based companies like OpenAI where they will release security solutions embedded within the model instead of relying on different external providers.

In one way these external providers bring in new security risk. Most of these companies offshore stuff. Like PAN offshores to India and Israel. This is an additional risk. Citizens of those countries have access US and EU data. Which no one seems to worry about.

Thats the reason, long run things are not looking good for these independent security providers. With the advent of AI, it is easy to embed security functions in their respective software stack.
by Uehreka | 2025-08-04 21:46:54+00:00
I get that if you can imagine something, it exists, and also there is porn of it.

What disappoints me is how aligned the whole community is with its worst exponents. That someone went “Heh heh, I’m gonna spend hours of my day and hundreds/thousands of dollars in compute just to make Miyazaki sad.” and then influencers in the AI art space saw this happen and went “Hell yeah let’s go” and promoted the shit out of it making it one of the few finetunes to actually get used by normies in the mainstream, and then leaders in this field like the Qwen team went “Yeah sure let’s ride the wave” and made a Studio Ghibli style image their first example.

I get that there was no way to physically stop a Studio Ghibli LoRA from existing. I still think the community’s gleeful reaction to it has been gross.
by vanviegen | 2025-08-04 21:47:12+00:00
Steering wheel lock? Is that seriously a thing, or is that a strong exaggeration?

My car just gently applies a tiny bit of force on the steering wheel, to keep the car in the lane. It's very easy to override manually. In fact, it feels quite similar to moving out of pretty shallows ruts in te road, and could even be mistaken for it.
by tonyarkles | 2025-08-04 21:47:39+00:00
My HP-49g+ was definitely load-bearing going through EE. I was never much good at memorizing big sheets of formulas but I was pretty good at memorizing a couple of simple differential equations (e.g. I(t) = C dv(t)/dt was easy, v(t) = v_s * e^(-t/RC) wouldn't stick). So I'd just... derive all of the "special case" formulas from scratch during the exam. Usually they were simple enough that I could just get them into the right form but I'd lean on my calculator doing the symbolic integration for me when they weren't.

The other thing it was awesome for was solving systems of linear equations. I could do the nodal or loop analysis just fine, I'd write down the matrix that represented the system of equations and then just punch that matrix in and invert it.
by cosmic_cheese | 2025-08-04 21:47:55+00:00
This just goes to show how bad at driving a large number of people on the road are. Driving test standards are way, way too low.

Personally speaking I felt like I somehow accidentally cheated or something when I passed my test. It was too easy. Even now I sometimes question if I should really be trusted with piloting a 4k+ lbs steel box at highway speeds.
by rkomorn | 2025-08-04 21:48:16+00:00
sway and waybar's configuration management is better through HomeManager (again: unless I basically raw-configure everything). Not quite sure where in nixpkgs swayidle configs would go, based on the sway module.

Some other user-levels get tossed in there by virtue of "since HomeManager's there, I may as well use it".

It seems that most wiki pages that I see that have both NixOS and HomeManager sections at the very least make HomeManager seem more featureful or flexible.
by nkmnz | 2025-08-04 21:48:21+00:00
Well, this could actually be exactly what you want: by injecting "I don't know" everywhere, you make it more a more probable answer than some randomly imagined shit. It's basically a high-pass filter: high-probability (a.k.a. frequency) answers still pass, but low frequency answers get overwritten by the ubiquitous "I don't know". Some loss of good (or at least: creative) answers will happen, though.
by felurx | 2025-08-04 21:48:21+00:00
I sometimes think about trying keyboard things like this, but I'm pretty much always on the go with my laptop. My desk at home can be described as just the horizontal surface that happens to be near where I sleep and sometimes do other stuff, not my primary place of doing computer activities.

Is there some kind of very portable ergonomic/alternative typing device? Maybe something designed for steno or whatever. It would be cool if I could just hold it in my hands, since often that'd be more comfortable than the surface my laptop is on.
by einpoklum | 2025-08-04 21:48:29+00:00
As a person who has some of both, I'm not so sure I agree. Many developers just get into the habit of assuming they don't need any more language knowledge, since they get by already, and the codebase they use is filled with code which fails to utilize most modern language features, and _that_ is already quite a hassle to know well enough to use.
by ch_fr | 2025-08-04 21:48:44+00:00
I mean, it did happen, don't you remember in March when SourceHut had outages because their most expensive endpoints were being spammed by scrapers?

Don't you remember the reason Anubis even came to be?

It really wasn't that long ago, so I find all of the snarky comments going "erm, actually, I've yet to see any good actors get harmed by scraping ever, we're just reclaiming power from today's modern ad-ridden hellscape" pretty dishonest.
by godelski | 2025-08-04 21:49:39+00:00
I think this generalizes poorly. A junior can use an AI to learn (just like anyone) but a junior is also much more likely to feel the pressures of getting things done quickly and not taking the time to understand what was written. A junior is also less likely to be about to identify when the AI makes errors as well as when accurately describe the demand to the machine.

I see people refer to AI as "training wheels" but even training wheels force you to learn balance while riding a bike. They just give you more flexibility in how much you can lean. But AI, it is easy to just accept the answers and treat it like a black box. There is no need to practice the actual skills of a developer: designing algorithms, analyzing, testing (designing tests!), reading code deep with a code base and learning how it connects, interpreting asks and determining appropriate ways to solve those problems (a big part of experience is having fewer unknown unknowns. Known unknowns are incredibly valuable)

While all that is possible with AI, I don't see it happen often in practice due to other pressures. And with AI it seems there's just become increasing pressures to get more done faster. But a junior still needs time to learn. We all do, but juniors need more and have less experience and ability to find this time
by dalibenothmen | 2025-08-04 21:50:27+00:00
Absolutely agree! I’ve seen the same thing happen. The idea that “power users” will manage workflows sounds great on paper, but in reality, it always falls back on developers. And once things get even slightly complex, I end up writing custom scripts anyway because the visual tools just can’t handle it cleanly.

At that point, you’re stuck using a tool that’s harder to debug, test, or version and still coding on the side. Totally with you on this being an anti-pattern in most serious use cases.
by bobbiechen | 2025-08-04 21:51:30+00:00
_How to Measure Anything_ by Douglas Hubbard includes a chapter on Monte Carlo simulations and comes with downloadable Excel examples: https://www.howtomeasureanything.com/3rd-edition/ (scroll down to Ch. 6)

The main example is, you're considering leasing new equipment that might save you money. What's the risk that it will actually cost more, considering various ranges of potential numbers (and distributions)?

I think it's harder to apply to software since there are more unknowns (or the unknowns are fatter-tailed) but I still liked the book just for the philosophical framing at the beginning: you want to the measure things because they help you make decisions; you don't need perfect measurements since reducing the range of uncertainty is often enough to make the decision.
by johnnyanmac | 2025-08-04 21:52:00+00:00
If your filters still get you unqualified candidates, I'd start looking at your filters first. Job reqs are being driven sky high, but people who get called back are horror stories like this that fail fizz buzz. Seems like the only ones who make it though are 90% liars and 1% unicorns. And perhaps soke 4-5% that could do the job but were failed anyway.
by homefree | 2025-08-04 21:52:01+00:00
That's one criticism I've heard about it actually, but not sure how much it's actually true. Basically that people love Bluey because it appeals more to adults, but that may make it not as good as other shows for child development (which adults might find boring).

I don't know that I buy that though, I think the shows that claim they're for child development but are insufferable to adults would be better of just skipped entirely, probably those skills are better learned from real life play and interaction than tv.

Of course there's also the mad science of cocomelon and their 'distractatron' https://www.readtrung.com/p/why-i-love-bluey-and-hate-cocome... - nothing can be worse than that.
by creativenolo | 2025-08-04 21:52:30+00:00
Weird critique. Someone builds a quality pair of lightweight scissors, and you critique it like a boastful 5-axis CNC operator.

Like the rest of us needing to edit many couple of minutes long videos, there is massive gap in the market for something lighter weight. Look at Capcuts success over Adobe: 200+ million active user per month for Capcut.
by mindslight | 2025-08-04 21:52:58+00:00
Outside of a city the sushi chef could own the restaurant themselves, including the building itself free and clear. There's less resilience in the labor market, but more resilience from things like recessions cutting the restaurant's revenue (it's much easier to come up with property taxes than rent). There is a virtue in the more responsive economy where a downturn in the demand for sushi results in a portion of the restaurants closing, but there is also a virtue in the less responsive economy where the sushi chef stays being a sushi chef.
by Jare | 2025-08-04 21:53:00+00:00
If you're not a Junior and that's all you have to say without even attempting to approach the actual question, you would be raising a red flag with me. Maybe there are better ways to phrase that counter-question, but this one in particular made me twitch.

In my experience, outlining one or a few things you call interfaces would be a much better display of both knowledge and attitude: GUI, API, interface keyword or concept in some programming language, etc. Even better, add a quick description of what they all have in common ("broadly speaking, a way to access a set of functionality" or something like that).

And THEN you may ask "would you like me to elaborate on one meaning in particular?"
by Jtsummers | 2025-08-04 21:53:09+00:00
At least the 401k, IRA, and HSA don't require knowing anything particularly arcane. Money goes in, don't touch until 59 1/2 (401k, IRA) or 65 (HSA).

529 plans can get a bit more complicated because you'll want one from your state (if your state has an income tax) and they may offer several, but then it's less about knowing tax code specifics than about what the differences are between their offerings.
by redhale | 2025-08-04 21:53:38+00:00
> It’s always easier to straighten a sapling than a grown tree.

Ok, but in this case you can just throw away the tree and a new one will grow immediately for you to review anew. Rinse and repeat.

I'm not saying the author's proposed approach is never the right one, but there is a meaningfully different approach between the two suggested. You can look at the result of a fully autonomous agent, note the issues, tweak your prompt + inputs and then start over. You get the benefits of more closely-steered output without the drag of having to constantly monitor it synchronously. For some things, this approach is token-wasteful, but for small (yet critical / high-value) features, I have found it to work quite well. And an ancillary benefit is that your starting prompts and inputs improve over time.
by austin-cheney | 2025-08-04 21:53:39+00:00
How do you define battle tested?

Typically JS developers define that as assuming something must be safe if enough people use it. That is a huge rift between the typical JS developer and organizations that actually take security more seriously. There is no safety rating for most software on NPM and more and more highly consumed packages are being identified as malicious or compromised.

If you do it yourself and get it wrong there is still a good chance you are in a safer place than completely throwing dependency management to the wind or making wild guesses upon vetted by the community.
by bsza | 2025-08-04 21:54:03+00:00
I don't think anyone is conspiring against people who go to bed late - as an early waker I've often had noisy neighbors playing loud music late at night to contend with. Sometimes it was a larger event like a wedding reception, so calling the police wasn't exactly an option either (not that I'd ever done that).

I would say the world simply agrees that things - whether schools, shifts or parties - should generally start sometime, and thus, by necessity, be less accommodating to some people than to others.
by omnimus | 2025-08-04 21:54:30+00:00
What people who don't work on content sites don't realize is that from 10 best CMSes like 7 are written in PHP. And i don't even mean Wordpress. It's stuff like Craft, Kirby, Twill, October, Bolt, Statamic, Bookstack, Dokuwiki, Mediawiki… there few OK ones in Javascript but they lack features and maturity.

That's why it's so popular in those circles. If you want really solid selfhosted platform for publishing/ecommerce you can't avoid it.

For SPA web apps or anything realtime… sure there are probably better choices. But many agencies transition to making small apps with devs already knowing PHP then it's not bad choice.
Show HN: Tab'd – Track and share AI and clipboard operations within your IDE
by iann0036 | 2025-08-04 21:54:43+00:00
I'm working on Tab'd, a GitHub Copilot / Windsurf / Kiro extension which tracks and visualizes AI-assisted coding and copy-paste operations in codebases, and optionally shares that metadata with teams to help maintain accountability.

Tab'd shows detailed metadata about AI edits and clipboard origins, and allows users to distribute that metadata within code repositories. If present, the associated browser extension can highlight these edits during GitHub PR review online or within the IDE.
by crazygringo | 2025-08-04 21:54:52+00:00
> the person who has put in the work then has some rights to decide how that information is accessed and re-used

You do, but you give up those rights when you make the work public.

You think an author has any control over who their book gets lent to once somebody buys a copy? You think they get a share of profits when a CEO reads their book and they make a better decision? Of course not.

What you're asking for is unreasonable. It's not workable. Knowledge can't be owned. Once you put it out there, it's out there. We have copyright and patent protections in specific circumstances, but that's all. You don't own facts, no matter how much hard work and research they took to figure out.
by godelski | 2025-08-04 21:54:55+00:00
I don't mean rendering of an icon so much as I mean that humans become blind to persistent things (and frequent things). Losing glasses on your head kinda thing. I don't find a mirror as helpful as having a fixed location to put my glasses when I'm done with them. Same strategy

But yeah, when I didn't have splits and things in my emulator I used something like you did. Make a remote section visually distinct. To a lot of extent I still do, just this isn't necessary through tmux anymore
by Jaygles | 2025-08-04 21:55:11+00:00
In my opinion, a very generic question like that deserves a very generic answer, with a follow-up asking if that is what they had in mind.

"An interface is roughly how a system is designed to be interacted with. A web page can be an interface with your bank if they have online banking. An API can be an interface for a back-end service to provide to other back-end services. Did you have anything specific in mind?"
by tialaramex | 2025-08-04 21:55:31+00:00
> This is commonly done when using Vec as a fixed capacity buffer and you don't want to add another field to whatever owns it that's semantically equivalent to .capacity().

The documentation for Vec already explains exactly what it's offering you, but lets explore, what exactly is the problem? You've said this is "commonly done" so doubtless you can point at examples for reference.

Suppose a Goose is 40 bytes in size, and we aim to store say 4 of them, for some reason we decide to Vec::new() and then Vec::reserve_exact(..., 4) rather than more naturally (but with the same effect) asking Vec::with_capacity(4) but alas the allocator underpinning our system has 128 or 256 byte blocks to give, 4x40 = 160, too big for 128, so a 256 byte block is allocated and (a hypothetical future) Vec sets capacity to 6 anyway.

Now, what disaster awaits in the common code you're talking about? Capacity is 6 and... there's capacity for 6 entries instead of 4
by kstrauser | 2025-08-04 21:55:56+00:00
That's not quite right. Imagine some (horrid) code like:

$conn->query('SELECT * FROM giant_table ORDER BY foo LIMIT 1'); require 'old.php';

such that there's a significant interval between the request being spawned and it later including another file. The duration of the query is the opportunity for 'old.php' to go away, which would cause a 500 error.

The difference is that you can have 2 ports listening at once and can close the first once it's drained of connections.

There's no fundamentally safe way to upgrade a bucket-of-files PHP app without tooling complex enough to rival another language's deployment.
by toxi360 | 2025-08-04 21:56:07+00:00
I built this as a collection of simple Python projects for beginners. Originally, it started as a way to help new learners (and myself, out of boredom) practice Python basics. Over time, it grew into a small hub that covers CLI, GUI, web, and API examples with progressive difficulty.

The repo includes:

Calculator (CLI, Tkinter, Flask) Password Generator (GUI + Clipboard) Number Guessing Game (CLI & GUI) TODO App with SQLite (CRUD) Internet Speed Test (Threading + Tkinter ASCII Art Generator (Text & Images) User Management API (Flask + JWT + Frontend)

Key focus:

Beginner-friendly, hands-on code Clean structure & progressive concepts Covers CLI apps, Tkinter GUIs, SQLite DB, threading, web APIs, authentication

Repo: https://github.com/Efeckc17/simple-example-projects-in-Pytho...

Would love feedback, suggestions for more beginner-friendly Python project ideas, or contributions! MIT licensed – feel free to fork and use it.
by throwaway81523 | 2025-08-04 21:58:17+00:00
$140, lol. How about just selling the keycaps for an existing numeric pad or even small mech keyboard, and that's only if the physical keys are really needed.

The main slowdown I face as an occasional TeX user is remembering the TeX names of less frequently used symbols. For that purpose there is detexify (draw the character and find the name, doesn't work all that well) but a popup graphical menu or (if you must) a phone app would be fine.
by ravenstine | 2025-08-04 21:58:21+00:00
I think the memory of slime molds (which are referenced in the article) can go further than merely relying on paths of slime they leave behind.

Recently, I acquired a sample of Physarium polycephalum and have been keeping it as a sort of "pet", if one can call it that. For those who don't know, slime molds like Physarium are actually considered a single-celled organism, at least when it's in its plasmodial phase. People typically feed them oat flakes because that's what they seem to love most, though I started trying some other foods to see what my little slime mold would be willing to eat. Carby things like pieces of bread, etc. The funny thing is that it seemed to really like those other foods, even multiple feedings in a row, but would then spontaneously refuse to respond to those same foods again. I've heard some anecdotes suggesting I'm not the only one to witness this. It really does seem like the slime mold is "remembering" at a level that may go beyond slime trails.
by RossBencina | 2025-08-04 21:58:43+00:00
That looks very cool. I wonder how hard it was to get those printed keycaps made.

Ideally you want access to everything without moving your hands off the keyboard. The DIY keyboard scene makes a lot of use of layered keymaps. It seems like the endgame for this kind of thing is not separate "keypads," but rather wider support, standardisation and adoption of multiple-layer keymaps. Half the problem is designing good maps and the other half is learning them. Sharing maps, and better software for learning/practicing the maps would help. Then you might need a few more keys to select layers. A minimum implementation might be adding a two thumb buttons below the space bar to select layers.

EDIT: inserted more text
by the_af | 2025-08-04 21:58:58+00:00
>> Altman’s analogy didn’t hold up. Calculators were uncontroversial

> Calculators are uncontroversial now. But when they first became cheap and widely available, they were not allowed in math classes.

The author of TFA means specifically for his cohort of students, not in general. He polled his students, and the result was that they thought calculators weren't seen as unethical but they were more skeptical/uncertain about AI. By his current students, now, not in general.
by yummypaint | 2025-08-04 21:59:20+00:00
A simple example that highlights the strength of this method: a 137Cs point source is at the origin. A detector consisting of a right cylinder at arbitrary distance and orientation is nearby. What is the solid angle?

There may exist an analytical solution for this, but I wouldn't trust myself to derive it correctly. It would certainly be a huge mess.

If we add that the source is also a right cylinder instead of point source, and we want to add first order attenuation of emitted gammas by the source itself, the spreadsheet becomes only a bit more complex, but there will not be a pen and paper equation solution.

In this example every row of the spreadsheet would represent a hypothetical ray. One could randomly choose a location in the source, a random trajectory, and check if the photon intersects the detector. An alternative approach would be randomly choosing points in both target and detector, then doing additional math.

The results are recovered by making histograms and computing stats on the outputs of all the rows. You probably need a few thousand for most things at least. Remember roughly speaking 10k hits gets you ~1% statistics.
by kstrauser | 2025-08-04 22:00:10+00:00
That's a perfectly reasonable approach, so long as you understand why it's a risky operation and can tolerate the consequences, including customers seeing errors in their browser. If that's OK for your use case, then rock on! If you can't tolerate that, then you have to have switch to a more complex upgrade system, like blue-green deploys behind a load balancer or such. In other words, the deployment method of a Rust or Go or Python or Java app.