MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by beej71 | 2025-08-10 22:52:56+00:00
Your son is not the average student. He will level up in school and will get hired if his interpersonal skills measure up to his tech chops. We have students who have not written their own compilers getting hired straight out of their BS today.

The competition is fiercer now, but good devs will still get hired. Average devs have a lot more trouble these days.

Does your son need to go to school? Maybe he's hireable as-is.

Finally, has he looked at financial aid? It can take a bite out of that debt.
by inglor_cz | 2025-08-10 22:53:24+00:00
Very broad strokes. "Indians vs. Whites".

But the Roman situation was more akin to "what precisely happened during the Thirty Years War". I really like history, but I wouldn't be able to tell you if Münster or Würzburg sided with those or these.

Unlike the conquest of North America, which usually resulted in physical destruction of the Indian tribes and their displacement by the colonists, Roman conquests tended to absorb the conquered polity, often with the basic social structure still intact, so the nobility would remain in local control, the priests would remain priests of that particular local god etc. This tends to take the edge off and make assimilation easier.
by latchkey | 2025-08-10 22:55:01+00:00
I read through all the comments and it is amazing that nobody is mentioning the fact that the reason why this 2020 post is coming up now is because of this:

Scale recently laid off 200 full-time employees and terminated 500 contractor positions. The CEO, author of the post, went to work for Meta.

https://scale.com/blog/scale-ai-announces-next-phase-of-comp...
by cryptoz | 2025-08-10 22:55:26+00:00
I really think people are approaching LLMs wrong when it comes to code. Just directing an agent to make you something you’re unfamiliar with is always going to end up with this. It’s much better to have a few hours chat with the LLM and learn some about the topic, multiple times over many days, and then start.

And ask questions and read all the code and modify it yourself; and read the compile errors and try to fix then yourself; etc. Come back to the LLM when you’re stuck.

Having the machine just build you something from a two sentence prompt is lazy and you’ll feel lazy and bad.

Learn with it and improve with it. You’ll end up with more knowledge and a code base for a project that you do (at least somewhat) understand, and you’ll have a project that you wouldn’t have attempted otherwise.
by Mawr | 2025-08-10 22:55:49+00:00
I doubt those very people would confuse the two when presented with both next to each other: / \ / \. The issue is, they're not characters used day-to-day so few people have made the association that the slash is the one going this way / and not the one going the other way \. They may not even be aware that both exist, and just pick the first slash-like symbol they see on their keyboards without looking further.
by gizmo686 | 2025-08-10 22:55:58+00:00
I've seen even worse. I was upgrading an old device that had a 12v barrel connector, and was happy to see the new one used USB-C instead.

It came with a power brick that I happened look at and noticed that the output voltage was listed simply as 12v (instead of all possible outputs like usbc bricks normally do). I hooked it up to a USB-PD breakout board I had and tested it. Sure enough, it output at 12v regardless of what is asked for.

Luckily, the device itself actually did USB-PD, so I was able to throw away that monstrosity before it fried anything. Annoyingly, the device only supported 12V, which is hot or miss on being supported by chargers, but at least a mismatch there isn't going to fry anything.
by tuatoru | 2025-08-10 22:56:05+00:00
No, the Black Death is not a good analogy, because it killed all ages indiscriminately.

Our "plague" "kills" the young and productive - by their never being born in the first place. We are headed for something we have never seen, ever: a society dominated by old people in pure numbers terms.

The worry is that it is a design for stagnation and decay rather than greater strength. (There won't be money or people to maintain infrastructure because the elders will demand healthcare.)

I don't know what will happen and nor does anyone else really.
by bastawhiz | 2025-08-10 22:56:21+00:00
> I’m in a state where I can’t reconcile my own results with other people’s results. I hear people saying “this hammer is indestructible”, but when I pick it up, it’s just origami: made of paper, intricate, delicate, very cool-looking but I can’t even hammer a tomato with it.

This is a really interesting signal to me. It's almost indisputable that you can get good results (I get good results pretty consistently) and so there's definitely something there. I don't think that folks who don't get good results are doing something "wrong" so much as not understanding how to work with the model to get good results.

If I was at a company building these tools, the author would be the person I'd want to interview. I doubt it's a skill issue. And it's definitely not user error. You can't sell a tool that is said to do something but the user can't replicate the result.

A tool that works but only after you've invested lots of time working to reverse engineer it in your head isn't a good tool, even if it's extremely powerful. The tool needs to be customizable and personalizable and have safety rails to prevent bad results.
by verdverm | 2025-08-10 22:57:13+00:00
The truth often lies somewhere in between

My personal experience indicates this, AI enhances me but cannot replace me

Been doing something closer to pair programming to see what "vibe" coding is all about (they are not up to being left unattended)

See recent commits to this repo

https://github.com/blebbit/at-mirror/commits/main/
by Gibbon1 | 2025-08-10 22:57:33+00:00
I'm not smarter than you but.

I believe the terms reified generics and erased generics is the type sweaty donkey ball terminology you get for professional CS academics.

Sticking my neck out further.

Reified generics means the type is available at run time. In C# you can write if(obj.GetType() == typeof(typename))

Erased generics the type information is not available at run time. That's the way Java does it and it kinda sucks.
by atoav | 2025-08-10 22:57:54+00:00
When I was producing no-budget movies (people work for you without pay!) the secret trick was to keep a mental list of why people were here. Diana the camera assistant was here because she liked to learn, John the actor was here because he liked to try some things out, Linda was here to meet people, Joe was here because he is your friend.

Now you only need to make sure the basics (food, shelter, etc) is alright and that everybody gets what they came for each day.

So to answer your question: What it looks like for an employer to care depends on the specifc employee. Some may just look for financial benefits, others (like me) may just want to be given the time and means to do their job well, yet others value free rime more than money, or a better office, more autonomy within their domain or whatnot. The wishes are many.

But you need to first get the basics right, and many fail at that.
by stavros | 2025-08-10 22:58:07+00:00
Eeeh, the LLM wouldn't have done it correctly, though. I use LLMs exclusively for programming these days, and you really need to tell them the architecture and how to implement the features, and then review the output, otherwise it'll be wrong.

They are like an overeager junior, they know how to write the code but they don't know how to architect the systems or to avoid bugs. Just today I suspected something, asked the LLM to critique its own code, paying attention to X Y Z things, and it found a bunch of unused code and other brittleness. It fixed it, with my guidance, but yeah, you can't let your guard down.

Of course, as you say, these are the tools of the trade now, and we'll have to adapt, but they aren't a silver bullet.
by code_biologist | 2025-08-10 22:58:45+00:00
As a person who easily falls for "preparing" over doing the work, I committed to the hipster PDA [1] as an antidote to this for many years: "the Hipster PDA comprises a sheaf of index cards held together with a binder clip."

My pocket index cards haven't run out of VC money or instituted a new subscription model yet!

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_PDA
by xwowsersx | 2025-08-10 22:58:52+00:00
I think one of the reasons "coding with AI" conversations can feel so unproductive, or at least vague, to me, is that people aren't talking about the same thing. For some, it means "vibe coding" ... tossing quick prompts into something like Cursor, banging out snippets, and hoping it runs. For others, it's using AI like a rubber duck: explaining problems, asking clarifying questions, maybe pasting in a few snippets. And then there's the more involved mode, where you're having a sustained back-and-forth with multiple iterations and refinements. Without recognizing those distinctions, the debate tends to talk past itself.

For me, anything that feels like anything remotely resembling a "superpower" with AI starts with doing a lot of heavy lifting upfront. I spend significant time preparing the right context, feeding it to the model with care, and asking very targeted questions. I'll bounce ideas back and forth until we've landed on a clear approach. Then I'll tell the model exactly how I want the code structured, and use it to extend that pattern into new functionality. In that mode, I'm still the one initializing the design and owning the understanding...AI just accelerates the repetitive work.

In the end, I think the most productive mindset is to treat your prompt as the main artifact of value, the same way source code is the real asset and a compiled binary is just a byproduct. A prompt that works reliably requires a high degree of rigor and precision -- the kind of thinking we should be doing anyway, even without AI. Measure twice, cut once.

If you start lazy, yes...AI will only make you lazier. If you start with discipline and clarity, it can amplify you. Which I think are traits that you want to have when you're doing software development even if you're not using AI.

Just my experience and my 2c.
by hermitcrab | 2025-08-10 22:59:44+00:00
>With two exceptions (Britain and Dacia), the Roman empire mostly ran out of interesting neighbours to conquer by 1 AD.

The Romans spent centuries after that trying to conquer the Persians (Parthians/Sassanids).

> Britain was considered Claudius' vanity project and probably was, on the net, an economic loss.

Apparently there were 3 legions in Britain, which was (per conquered person) more than any other Roman territory. Certainly a lot for a damp island with some tin. ;0)
by cogman10 | 2025-08-10 22:59:46+00:00
A problem I'm seeing more and more in my code reviews is velocity being favored over correctness.

I recently had a team member submit code done primarily by an LLM that was clearly wrong. Rather than verifying that the change was correct, they rapid fired a cr and left it up to the team to spot problems.

They've since pushed multiple changes to fix the initial garbage of the LLM because they've adopted "move fast and break things". The appearance of progress without the substance.
by inglor_cz | 2025-08-10 23:00:36+00:00
During the Gothic Wars of the 6th century, there was an interesting episode when the remaining Roman inhabitants of (much diminished) city of Rome actually defended the city on the Goths' side against their own Eastern Roman brethren, because they considered Gothic rule lighter and more tolerable.

But at nearly the same time, the Goths absolutely destroyed Milan.

History is rarely straightforward.
by robocat | 2025-08-10 23:01:09+00:00
> intangibles also fuel a winner-takes-all dynamic

> WIPO finds that intangible assets make up 90 per cent of the total enterprise value of the 15 largest American companies

> the top 10 stocks account for 40 per cent of the S&P 500’s market capitalisation and 33 per cent of its profits

Interesting that intangibles can be measured for businesses - it is so much harder to do for people.

I like the food for thought status paper at the end - asking if you'd rather (A) have your income actually increase versus (B) would you rather be perceived by your peers as having your income increase?

https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w34094/w340...
by makeitdouble | 2025-08-10 23:01:16+00:00
> proper English (they use an online translator service)

Pet peeve: why should I care ?

People take grammatical errors as some ultimate gotcha and indicator of character flaw. I don't pay for the marketing nor value that they asked 3 translators to double-check each other to have flawless text for the damn first boot guide of a computer.

I see it the same as Framework's shaky YouTube presentations: they couldn't bother hiring a cameraman for their product presentations. What does that say about their computers ? To me absolutely nothing. I'll still buy one if it sounds nice enough.

> 7 days return policy.

It's from delivery.

For comparison, framework offers 30 days, but from shipping. Which means if your laptop takes more than a month to get delivered for whatever reason you virtually have no return window.

https://knowledgebase.frame.work/what-is-the-framework-retur...

> Cha bu duo

I hear you, but this is all relative to a market. There's no maker I can blindly trust whatever the country they operate in, and if we're going for cultural generalizations I'd set Tesla as the poster child of US manufacturers at this moment.

All in all, I get why we should be wary about Chinese makers. It's just the same reason we should be wary of every other makers, including those who'll screw their customer base on any other aspect that won't get picked up by a review (repairability has been one of these. Compatibility, durability, vendor lockin, standard parts etc. are other aspects.
by toomuchtodo | 2025-08-10 23:01:28+00:00
Not enough to matter. The war ends when Putin dies or runs out of soldiers to throw into the grinder.

> The numbers that Russia is now hiding tell a devastating story. In 2024, deaths outnumbered births by roughly 600,000—the steepest natural decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Rosstat (as reported by Bloomberg). Birth rates have plummeted to what may be a 200-year low. Meanwhile, military casualties and emigration have created a demographic hemorrhage that Moscow can no longer spin or minimize: estimates of casualties are upwards of 790,000, according to Russia Matters.

> The war has also triggered a massive outflow of human capital from Russia, some 800,000, most of whom are disproportionately young, educated, and urban—having fled to avoid conscription or to express dissent. Those Russian males who remain in Russia face mobilization. Moreover, immigration is not likely to offer relief from these population losses. This is despite Putin's January 2024 enticement, which loosened earlier decrees, of offering Russian citizenship to those who sign military contracts, and most recently his July 2025 decree opening up military service to stateless persons. These are not positive inducements, especially when reports indicate "volunteer" deaths now account for more than those of any other type of Russian soldier. This reflects a growing desperation for new recruits. Once data emerge about who is actually dying in the war, recruitment numbers are likely to decline even further.

https://www.russiamatters.org/analysis/russias-demographic-v...

> Russia’s fertility rate is one of President Vladimir Putin’s obsessions because he sees boosting the population as a way to help restore Russia’s greatness. Putin regularly talks about the sort of demographic trends he would like to see, and sets targets for officials, who inevitably try to solve the problem with financial incentives and new bans. To gain the president’s favor, officials seeking demographic results are even willing to damage the economy and the social order.

…

> In Putin’s mind, boosting the fertility rate is closely linked with his other obsession of regaining territory once controlled by the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire. Indeed, these two issues are the twin pillars of the whole Putin project, which sees itself as healing Russia’s historical trauma.

https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2025/0...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Russia
by shinycode | 2025-08-10 23:01:55+00:00
A lot of people is using the tool in a wrong way. It’s massively powerful, there’s a lot of promisses but it’s not magic. The tool works on words and statistics. Better be really thoughtful and precise beforehand. No one notices that Cursor or Claude code is not asking questions to clarify. It’s just diving right in. We humans ask ourselves a lot of questions before diving in so when we do it’s really precise. When we use CC with a really great level of precision on a well defined context the probability of answering right goes up. That’s the new job we have with this tool.
by CjHuber | 2025-08-10 23:02:12+00:00
The problem is not in making something you're unfamiliar with. The problem is doing something that your familiar with, trying out an LLM to see if it can assist you, then you are kind of impressed for the first few prompts so you let it off the leash and suddently you find yourself in a convoluted codebase you would never write that way with so many weird often nonsensical things different to how you normally approach them (or any sane person would) so that you can basically throw it all in the trash. The only way this can be avoided is by diligently checking every single diff the LLM makes. but let's be honest, its just so damn inviting to let it off the leash for a moment.

I think the LLM accounting benchmark is a good analogy. The first few prompts are like the first month in accounting. the books are correct before so the LLM has a good start. in the accounting benchmark then the miscalculations compound as do the terrible practices in the codebase.
by mockingloris | 2025-08-10 23:02:18+00:00
Very well said. Just because AI can churn out a usable code project as fast as it takes for my cup garri to soak(3 mins) doesn't mean it should be used that way.

It takes mastery, just like with actual programming syntax. There are many ways to achieve a business objective. Choosing the right one for the specific use case and expected outcome takes iterations.

AI HAS replaced whole niche markets and it's just the beginning. The best any dev can do in this context is sharpen their use of it. That becomes a superpower; well defined context and one's own good grasp of the tech stack being worked on.

Context: I still lookup rust docs and even prompt for summaries and bullet point facts about rust idioms for better understanding of the code. I identify as a JS dev first but, currently learning rust as I work on a passion project.

└── Dey well
by magicmicah85 | 2025-08-10 23:02:28+00:00
Comments disabled. 2.7 rating on Glassdoor for work/life balance at Scale. I’m sure it’s nothing.

As to the substance of the article, I agree with the title, but the line of interview questions used is trying to answer “how many hours can we squeeze out of you?”. Being concerned your company will become a credential rather than a cult? I’m not here to drink the Kool-Aid, I’m here to do the work and then do the other things I care about outside of work.
by bitwizeshift | 2025-08-10 23:02:45+00:00
Why “perma goodbye”?

Go has a similar function declaration, and it supports anonymous functions/lambdas.

E.g. in go, an anonymous func like this could be defined as

foo := func(x int, _ int) int { … }

So I’d imagine in Zig it should be feasible to do something like

var foo = fn(x: i32, i32) i32 { … }

unless I’m missing something?
by RowanH | 2025-08-10 23:02:57+00:00
I don't know. Certainly the frequency and severity is just eye opening. We had 2 1 in 50's with 1 in 100 in 3 weeks (!!!).

I know you guys have also had it bad over there.

I expect the insurance companies will start removing flood cover soon. Which then becomes a bit of a shit show with mortgages. Or will raise the premiums so high that they're effectively uninsurable.
by Barrin92 | 2025-08-10 23:03:05+00:00
Sorry but am I the only one skeptical of this narrative? There is no way in hell a Purdue grad cannot at least land a lame IT role at a healthcare provider, the public sector or in the military. The government is turning 21 year olds from prestigious universities with technical degrees away?

Maybe goodbye to six figure tech jobs at fancy company X, just take the high five figure tech job where you'll have to write a lot of boring C# but at least you're getting paid
by codeddesign | 2025-08-10 23:04:14+00:00
Many people don’t understand that insurance companies only make an 8-12% margin. Since each state requires all insurance companies to gain pricing approval to sell in their state (Filings), if healthcare costs go up within a given year the insurance company loses money. We don’t have an insurance issue, we have a healthcare and inflation cost issue. Same goes with home insurance.

What many don’t know: if you don’t like your insurance cost, it’s because of state legislation and cost in YOUR state - not federal govt.
by perching_aix | 2025-08-10 23:04:25+00:00
And then radiation became a staple in medicine with the proliferation of radioimaging and radiosurgery. But then the Therac 25 thing and Chernobyl happened, and we're in this scare #2 era since.

It would seem to me that the public sentiment of stuff is not very trustworthy in general, especially at its typical intensity. Both when it's negative or positive. The word "multimedia" still makes me gag a little, for example.
by chrisco255 | 2025-08-10 23:04:28+00:00
As sibling comment mentioned, depends on if you integrate with those protocols whether or not you are exposed to external security issues.

As for upgrades, some protocols are immutable and can't be updated, however, most complex protocols implement some kind of upgrade mechanic.

Smart contracts cannot change their code once deployed, but you can implement a proxy pattern that delegates calls to an implementation contract, and swap out implementation contracts as needed by updating the pointer on the proxy. Some protocols have simple single owner systems for updating the implementation. Some are owned by multisigs and may require a 5 of 9 (or whataver arbitrary majority configuration) committee to sign off on the upgrade. Others require a vote by the token holders of the protocol to approve an upgrade.

If it's an upgradeable protocol then it can be EOLed, otherwise it lives forever onchain.
by js2 | 2025-08-10 23:04:42+00:00
The FAQ answers why this exists when macOS has a similar built-in feature:

> Optimized Charging, a feature that is built into MacOS, aims to ensure the longevity and health of your battery. It does so by "delaying charging the battery past 80% when it predicts that you’ll be plugged in for an extended period of time, and aims to charge the battery before you unplug," as explained in Apple's user guide.

> Additionally, Optimized Charging uses machine learning to decide when the battery should be held at 80%, and when it should become fully charged. If your Mac is not plugged in on a regular schedule, optimized charging will not work as intended.

> This app is a similar alternative to Optimized Charging, giving the user control over when it is activated, what percentage the battery should be held at, and more.
by Merrill | 2025-08-10 23:04:43+00:00
A favorite book on the period is "Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913/1914" by Frederic Morton. Freud's city was one of the centers of Europe's neuroses. It was also a center of political ferment under the lid weighted down by the Hapsburg monarchy.

Notably, Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, and Tito were all there at the same time.