MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by lemoncookiechip | 2025-08-14 11:21:21+00:00
>Has society really become this dangerous that we must deploy these things?

Over the last hundred years, violent crime has droped sharply worldwide.

Over the last twenty years, it has fallen alot in developed countries such as Western Europe, North America, Japan and South Korea.

In the United Kingdom, both violent and property crime have gone down in the past two decades. The main exception is fraud, scams and cybercrime, which have increased.

Overall, crime, especially violent crime, is far lower now than it used to be.

So why does it not feel that way? Mostly because we are floded with news about every incident. It sticks in our heads and makes us beleive things are worse than they are. It is like air travel: whenever there is a major crash, the headlines fill up with every minor incident, even though flying has never been safer than it is today.

This is less about criminality and more about control.

There's definitely an argument to be made that things have gotten safer because we have more surveillance, but that argument also has many valid counter-arguments, and giving away your freedom for absolute law and order isn't the way to go in my opinion, especially when you use narratives like "crime in DC is at an all time high" like we've seen in the USA lately which is false. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/violent-crime-dc-hits-30-...

A balance of surveillance and freedom is necessary for a healthy society. (By surveillance in this context, I mean simple things like CCTVs, police patrols, not necessarily drag-nets, face rec, whatever mind you).
by xivzgrev | 2025-08-14 11:21:22+00:00
People back then just needed to learn one skill, say baking. Then they ply that trade for their lives.

Our economy changes so fast that we need more generalized skills to adapt. If you were apprenticed as a telephone operator, what would you have done? So we learn math, science, communication, etc.

Kids are absolutely right - much of it you will never use to make money. But if you learn how to learn, then that will help make you successful no matter where you go.
by Imustaskforhelp | 2025-08-14 11:21:33+00:00
Yes. But the world has become way more interconnected yet it still feels like the world doesn't care about such exploitation though.

I had also said the same thing after writing this comment and the conclusion I built was: The world has gotten so good at propaganda that even though we can change the world in good direction, nobody wants to because of such propaganda / in general the algorithms make us worry about smaller things than large scale change. Clippy came to my mind too thinking that it is maybe a symbol of change though. I might create a blog post some day about it but I hope you get the idea.
by HsuWL | 2025-08-14 11:23:15+00:00
Hey there, buddy. Your plan sounds ambitious and promising. However, it's crucial to be cautious not to get carried away by the large language model's sweet talk. It's rare to see a Gemini user propose such a theory. I've previously seen similar situations where a user of ChatGPT 4o was led by GPT to conduct AI personality research. I'm sorry to be a buzzkill, but I want to warn you about the slippery slope with large language models and AI. Don't mistake any concepts they present to you, seemingly advanced and innovative under the guise of "academic research," for your own original thoughts. Furthermore, issues of ontology and existence are not matters of scientific testing or measurement, nor can they be deduced by computational power. This is a field of ethics and philosophy that requires deep humanistic thought.
by mr_mitm | 2025-08-14 11:24:00+00:00
I'm pretty sure basically every operating system under the sun uses the DNS servers communicated by the local DHCP server. Sure, for the vast majority of private users that may be the local ISP's DNS, and the DHCP server is on the router provided by said ISP, but if you configure cloudflare DNS servers there, Debian will use those. I think it's misguided to describe this as a quirk of Debian, and while there are good reasons not use the ISP DNS servers, you should change those in your router settings instead of the settings of every OS on every device you own.

If you happen to plug in your device at your employer's network, for instance (not saying that's a good idea, but BYOD is a reality for some employees), there is a good chance you won't be able to access internal resources if you follow the author's advice.
by Imustaskforhelp | 2025-08-14 11:24:15+00:00
Well I appreciate the effort, might need to look a closer look since my country has UPI and its basically free transactions instantly and even then we are constantly warned by our older generation to always carry cash too as there are places that will still not accept UPI or you would need to go to shop, do upi payment, get cash etc. and I kinda agree, I have seen/heard of even many fights happening because UPI wasn't accepted.

and that is when UPI is almost ubiquitous, I can't imagine a shop saying cards only. I think it might be illegal where I live.
by bayindirh | 2025-08-14 11:24:16+00:00
MIT is pumped to enable current ecosystem, precisely. Companies say "This my code when I need it, and it's your code when it breaks", and developers read the fine print very late, because they thought exposure is valuable.

GPL & AGPL is effective against that, but companies are afraid of it since it tells "code is a collaborative effort, and you have to share what you did with the code".

Because of this, I share most of the code I write for myself, and strictly use (A)GPLv3 as a license. I don't care what companies do or what riches I possibly ignore. My principles are not for sale.

Being responsible generates no value for the shareholders. Being able to be reckless and ignore everyone while making business is.

Don't get distracted. It's about monies.
by jcgl | 2025-08-14 11:24:31+00:00
But then you have to redistribute the cert from that single server to all the others. Which, yes, can be done. But then you've gotta write that glue yourself. What's more, you've now chosen a special snowflake server on whom renewals depend.

In other words, no, it's not just as easy as setting up DNS-01. Different operational characteristics, and a need for bespoke glue code.
by foldr | 2025-08-14 11:26:13+00:00
Just a note that johnisgood appears to be another person on this thread who has very strong opinions about what it’s like to live in London based on online content that they’ve consumed, but who doesn’t actually live here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44898930

If they’re not willing to listen to actual Londoners then the discussion is unlikely to be productive.
by rmccue | 2025-08-14 11:26:15+00:00
https://lwn.net/op/FAQ.lwn#slinks

> Where is it appropriate to post a subscriber link?

> Almost anywhere. Private mail, messages to project mailing lists, and blog entries are all appropriate. As long as people do not use subscriber links as a way to defeat our attempts to gain subscribers, we are happy to see them shared.
by cbeach | 2025-08-14 11:26:22+00:00
Interesting. I've done some digging and found that the division you linked to was a procedural vote (that is, it was to discuss timetable and structure for how the bill passes through parliament, as opposed to the content of the Online Safety Bill itself).

Also, since there were zero "No" votes from Tories, it could be that the party whip imposed conditions on Tory MPs.
by propter_hoc | 2025-08-14 11:27:09+00:00
The major problem I see in this group is that they have constructed a self-identity of being intelligent. This means that by being part of a Rationalist group, a person can claim to have insight into things that "the rest of the world doesn't understand."

Which, because (1) self-identifying as intelligent/insightful does not mean you are actually so; (2) you are following the "brain reprogramming" processes of some kind of comvincing leader; is a straight shot to NXIVM style apocalyptic cultism.
by mtts | 2025-08-14 11:27:09+00:00
Right, and then you’re expending mental energy on figuring out how to teach math (to yourself) instead of on the math itself. This is not wrong, and will likely even teach you a thing or two (and in fact it was how self-teaching math worked before this came along) but, to me at least, MathAcademy seems to be more efficient in getting you to do just the math and nothing else.
by peach13 | 2025-08-14 11:27:56+00:00
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia (UTC+4, open to remote worldwide) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Maybe Technologies: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (ES6+), TypeScript, SASS/SCSS, React, Next.js, Styled Components, Tailwind CSS, Bootstrap, Bulma, jQuery, Jest, Vitest, Cypress, Playwright, Webpack, Babel, NPM, Yarn, RESTful APIs, GraphQL, Git, GitHub, GitLab, Figma, Canva. Familiar with: Node.js, Python and C language. Résumé/CV: http://peac-h.github.io/folio-25/tl_cv.pdf Email: p6eac.h@gmail.com

Hello, my name is Tamta. I'm a Frontend Developer with 3+ years of experience, 2+ in production environments. I specialize in React + TypeScript and enjoy building web applications with great UX and meaningful nature. My background includes deep-tech (interactive displays), enterprise software, and creative full-stack side projects. Looking for a role where I can work on meaningful, creative products — a place where I can contribute my skills and continue to grow.
by Hxroot | 2025-08-14 11:28:36+00:00
Author here — this research began as a Google VRP submission (Aug 2025) and focused on a systemic permission-inheritance pattern in Google Drive.

Key points: - Files inside a publicly shared folder can return sensitive metadata (names, emails, timestamps, links) via unauthenticated API calls using any valid API key - Google VRP classified the behavior as “intended” and “infeasible to address” under current design - No UI banners or audit trails indicate inherited exposure - VRP acknowledged that a leaked key isn’t required, but that public keys online make automation trivial - Broader implications exist for other cloud vendors using similar inheritance models

Links: - Medium deep dive: https://medium.com/@aei.ismaieel/the-inheritance-trap-how-cl... - GitHub (sanitized PoCs + safe scripts): https://github.com/ISMAIEEL/inheritance-trap

Would love to hear HN’s thoughts on: - Practical mitigations for vendors and admins - How to improve user awareness of inherited exposure - Any similar patterns you’ve seen across other platforms
Ask HN: Is it common now to move QA into Dev roles with AI coding assistants?
by vgoncharenko | 2025-08-14 11:28:37+00:00
I’ve been hearing from several friends that their companies are taking QA team members, giving them AI coding assistants (like Cursor, Copilot, Cloud Code, etc.), and having them start picking up development work.

Has anyone else seen this happening these days? Is it actually common, and how well does it work in practice? Would love to hear from both QA and dev perspectives.
by close04 | 2025-08-14 11:28:51+00:00
> At least the pivots before that point kind of made sense.

But was this even a real pivot? They "rented" out their name to a company with an already failed crypto coin project, who thought they'll make it if they use a bigger brand. A pivot implies some effort to change the business model, not just literally throwing your name out there and hoping money follows.
by ndiddy | 2025-08-14 11:29:22+00:00
> That alone is one of the biggest ways they can contribute. The actual code contribution will come naturally if they do that.

The article claims that this is not happening:

> Procurement practices often make the problem worse. Contracts are typically awarded to the lowest bidder or to large, well-known IT vendors rather than those with deep Open Source expertise and a track record of contributing back. Companies that help maintain Open Source projects are often undercut by firms that give nothing in return. This creates a race to the bottom that ultimately weakens the Open Source projects governments rely on.

> The European Commission runs more than a hundred Drupal sites, France operates over a thousand Drupal sites, and Australia's government has standardized on Drupal as its national digital platform. Yet despite this widespread use, most of these institutions contribute little back to Drupal's development or maintenance.
by HarHarVeryFunny | 2025-08-14 11:29:44+00:00
That's not the normal definition of empathy - you don't need to have experienced it yourself, just to have the ability to imagine what it would be like.

Here is Google's AI summary:

> Having empathy means the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It involves stepping into someone else's shoes and seeing the world from their perspective, even if you haven't personally experienced the same situation.

Sociopathy is essentially the opposite of empathy - someone who pathologically acts in ways detrimental to society.

Anyways, the point apropos this thread is that whatever innate behaviors and responses humans are genetically predisposed could could equally well be made innate to an AI.
by securesaml | 2025-08-14 11:29:59+00:00
> Companies say "This my code when I need it, and it's your code when it breaks", and developers read the fine print very late, because they thought exposure is valuable.

I think that this is an accurate description of working relationship. But, the fine print (MIT license) explicitly says that the companies are responsible:

> THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
by itsalotoffun | 2025-08-14 11:30:30+00:00
I mean.. there's simply no repercussions for these companies, and only rivers of money on the other side. The law is laughably inept at keeping them in check. The titans of Surveillance Capitalism don't need to obey laws. CFOs line-item-ing provisional legal settlement fees as (minor) COGS. And us digital serfs, we simply have no rights. Dumb f*cks, indeed.
by hopelite | 2025-08-14 11:33:35+00:00
You imply a major if not the only real factor in all of this, the self-destruction America engaged in to “fight communism” by advantaging others at its own detriment. The simple version of this matter is that in the 70-90s it was Japan, from the 80s Mexico/Latin America, from the 90s on it was China, from the 00s India, etc.

In essence, America was ruined by a kind of fast talking con artistry by people with selfish interests. America has fallen to con artists … “listen here. What you really need to do is help others in my interest, and not help your own in your own interests. That’s the smart thing to do. You see?“
by pbiggar | 2025-08-14 11:33:36+00:00
Meta truly is the worst company. In almost everything Meta does, it truly makes the most user-hostile decisions, awful decision, every single time.

Cambridge Analytica The Rohingya Genocide Suppressing Palestinian content during a genocide Damage to teenage (and adult) mental health

Anyway, I mention this because some friends are building a social media alternative to Instagram: https://upscrolled.com, aiming to be pro-user, pro-ethics, and designed for people, not just to make money.
by styanax | 2025-08-14 11:34:26+00:00
A problem I've seen emerge in the Lemmy side of ActivityPub is that it relies on a hub and spoke model. In practice this has failed when the hub goes offline, all the spokes are now left with independent copies of it's last known state and destroys the community progress (have to rebuild elsewhere, lose old content and references, etc.) if even you can regrow the community.

Mastodon has the similar problem but worse with content discovery; a user is not "seen" remotely by anyone until one remote person finds them and subscribes to their content explicitly. On every single remote instance, which of course is undesirable but that's how ActivityPub is designed.

I don't believe in ForgeFed terms this matters as much as being able to search across the federated network for repos, etc. which I think is a key feature. Sure issues and user accounts and whatnot, but an AP-linked FF-wide search would be insane on how useful it could be for users (and how to implement a "distributed search index" seems like a tough nut to crack).
Show HN: Wrote a small tool that turns PDFs and docs into fine-tuning datasets
by FineTuner42 | 2025-08-14 11:34:48+00:00
I previously posted a terminal tool that could generate fine-tuning datasets from real-world data using deep research. One of the most common requests was: “Can it work with local resources instead of only going online?”

Over the weekend, I built a separate version that does exactly that:

Point it to a local file (PDF, DOCX, JPG, TXT)

Describe the dataset you want

It extracts text → finds relevant parts via semantic search → applies your instructions through a generated schema → outputs a clean dataset.
by kubb | 2025-08-14 11:35:10+00:00
Whenever you think of a court versus Facebook, imagine one of these mini mice trying to stick it to a polar bear. Or a goblin versus a dragon, or a fly versus an elephant.

These companies are for the most part effectively outside of the law. The only time they feel pressure is when they can lose market share, and there's risk of their platform being blocked in a jurisdiction. That's it.
by ACS_Solver | 2025-08-14 11:35:16+00:00
The Arch wiki is one of the best things the Linux community has produced. It's like a modern, improved and more complete version of TLDP.

I haven't even used Arch on any of my machines but can't count how many times I've found their wiki useful for my workstations, servers and even custom Yocto-built systems. Arch supports many ways of doing a thing, so whatever tool I'm dealing with, Arch probably supports that and documents it on the wiki. And Arch makes few changes from upstream so the wiki instructions are often applicable on any distro. Sure, it takes some familiarity to recognize when something is e.g. Debian-specific and should be done in a Debian way, but as a user fairly familiar with Linux, I often find Arch to be the best source of documentation.
by hodgehog11 | 2025-08-14 11:35:57+00:00
As someone who works in the theory of deep learning, I'm curious to know what you mean by "understand how they work". Sure, we understand the broad strokes, and those tend to be good enough to chip away at making improvements and vague predictions of what certain things will do, but we still have a severe lack of understanding of their implicit biases which allow them to perform well and give rise to the scaling laws.

We know a lot more about basically every other machine learning approach.
by oinfoalgo | 2025-08-14 11:36:13+00:00
A few years ago, I really dug into the research to try to find things to convince my father to stop drinking but all the evidence I could find said the opposite.

That not drinking is what is dangerous for longevity. Completely not what I wanted to find or was expecting.

I think what is actually happening is we are becoming less of an evidence based society and more of a society based on sentiments. That is what has changed the past 20 years. It doesn't matter if the actual evidence says the opposite.

We "know" drinking is bad a priori, the evidence be damned.
by porridgeraisin | 2025-08-14 11:37:10+00:00
Well I may be misunderstanfing you, but speculative decoding is just using next token predictions from a few models(or many samples from one model) instead of just one sample. It is still next token prediction.

Tool usage is also just next token prediction. You have it predict the next token of the syntax needed for tool use, and then it is fed the result of that in context which it then predicts the next token of.
by kreddor | 2025-08-14 11:37:59+00:00
For me personally, it's just the convenience of always having my phone in my pocket. Sometimes when out and about and I have a bit of free time, but haven't brought my laptop, it's nice to be able to just pick up my phone and hack for a bit. I wouldn't do full blown project on it though.

I couple of years back, I really liked replit for having probably the best integrated IDE on a phone. Everything was so smooth and well thought out.
by opendomain | 2025-08-14 11:38:11+00:00
I agree completely.

20 years ago I gave Dries the domain Drupal.com for free to support open source.

I recently gave the domain MrBeast.org to Beast Philanthropy.

But more important than Open Source is Freedom. I recently acquired the domain antifascist.org to fight the rise of fascism. This will be a website to share information on protecting your loved ones - it will be open source in that everyone can contribute.

I welcome anyone that wants to help - send an email or use the contact form on the website.
by slightwinder | 2025-08-14 11:38:13+00:00
It probably just never worked out that way. Usually everyone starts with documenting the distro-specific parts first, and then adds more and more, until even general parts are there. But at the same time, everyone probably thinks that those general parts are supposed in the specific projects' documentation, so nobody really cares about sharing. Until the point is reached that some wiki is so big and successful, that it just silently took over the whole domain.

Also, the whole sharing somehow seems to have died off over the decades. 25+ years ago, when wiki was new and shiny and everyone was experimental and motivated, there were strong movements for interwiki-content, sharing stuff between them openly. Then time happened, not much sharing was done, and every wiki-software slowly moved on, doing their own thing, becoming some semi-open silo or even a closed garden.

And today we had this same movement arising in the knowledge management-community, around their tools, and mainly in the context of Markdown, and it also kinda died down and never turned into anything substantial. Maybe, in the end, sharing information and knowledge is a bit harder to execute than it seems?
by Terretta | 2025-08-14 11:38:13+00:00
From the deck:

Phase 2: 7. Sell shares to MS, Oracle, IBM 8. They do most of the Enterprise Sales

How comfortable are you that these firms do this and do this this way? MS, for example, doesn't really sell to a majority of its customers, they support VARs. And for IBM, do you mean Kendryl? Is your product a gateway to their products, generally causing a bundle to be sold? Are you familiar with firms like yours that have an arrangement where these enterprises bought shares then go sell on the startup's behalf? Note, it is indeed helpful if you can claim you're patented, but not to protect your "business model" (too many ways to work around a patent, or more likely, get it invalidated), more to suggest you have something.

See also: https://patentskart.com/how-to-invalidate-a-patent-in-10-eas...
by exasperaited | 2025-08-14 11:38:18+00:00
> I believe that Kodak’s missed opportunity was in not realizing the social sharing potential of digital photography.

They were screwed long before capitalising on this was a real possibility. The damage was done to Kodak before the vast majority of consumers had fast enough broadband to share more than a couple of photographs a day.

Kodak was an obviously cheesy, out-of-touch, cheap-looking digital brand by 2000, and it showed (at least to anyone outside the USA). The Fuji, Olympus, Nikon and Canon compacts were better-designed, full stop, and Kodak really even had nothing good in the "office camera", "lab camera" or "art department camera" offerings (which Nikon owned with the Coolpix 900 series, and Canon with the G1/G2/G3).

People simply would not have bought into the idea that anything Kodak did was cool or fun. It was the same bad cheesy smiling family branding nonsense.