MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by kjellsbells | 2025-09-12 12:55:51+00:00
Humbly disagree. The majority of tech writing sucks.Or perhaps I should say that it never has a chance to be better because the medium of choice, the blog, is clunky at best and little more than diary entries for the most part (which perhaps makes it harsh to judge them, but then, don't put your diary online). The worst of them are look-at-me/SEO/LinkedIn audition spam. The best are entries that are useful in the moment and then quickly forgotten.

I like some tech writing, but the number of tech authors who I return to for the long view, reflective of industry understanding and life lessons learned, like I might do with writing about any other topic, is extremely small.
by Yizahi | 2025-09-12 12:55:56+00:00
Pricing problem really interests me lately, like where do we draw line? In cloud you may get access to essentially unlimited consumer storage, plus a lot of different paid services all for like 15$/month. Or you may purchase only one service from that pack for more. You may subscribe to some news aggregator for 10$ or to a single private blog for 20$. You may subscribe to a AAA modern 3D game for 15$, or buy a fraction of a fraction of a single character kit in a less advanced and worse looking gacha for the same 15$. You may buy a Netflix sub with years of content for 15$, or a single new movie one time 48h "permission" for about the same.

My point is, humans are unable and unwilling to operate prices less than 1, so everything is priced close to that number, even something incomparable in complexity and features. How do we even solve this?
by AlecSchueler | 2025-09-12 12:56:00+00:00
> the archeological evidence is rather consistent and clear.

What are you referring to?

> but nobody denies that they are naked female figures.

No, but the suggestion above that they were the prehistoric equivalent to cartoons of school girls lifting their skirts hasn't been the dominant theory for about thirty years.

> And the critiques don't seem to have found much purchase among archeologists.

This is simply incorrect. They became part of the general archeological discourse as far back as the 1990s and are now a normal part of any such discussion. Multiple theories now coexist and to frame those critical of the original Venus ideas as being somehow more fringe than the fertility/pornography theories is just misleading.
by huitzitziltzin | 2025-09-12 12:56:20+00:00
Why stand up and not use your legs at all?? People have rowed it.

This is a weird stunt that won’t prove anything. If he (magically) made it in a week people would still fly.

What’s the point? Don’t say “raising awareness”. Whose mind does the exercise have a chance of changing about what question? What behavioral change will that changed mind cause?
by nailer | 2025-09-12 12:56:49+00:00
I disagree with him about gun ownership, but he didn’t want to disarm in order to prevent all gun deaths. He made the point at the time that we don’t take cars off the road to stop car deaths. It’s a reasonable point.

Re: DC national guard, from what I’ve seen rough neighbourhoods in DC were very happy with additional policing, particularly in gang areas, while middle class people who were less affected seemed mainly angry about it.
by Okawari | 2025-09-12 12:56:54+00:00
I wouldn't necessarily call it comforting fantasy, people change their minds all the time. I think we're all to some extent able to justify some negative sides of any political movement as tensions rise.

I've felt this myself a few times now. Both when Trump was attempted assasinated and now with Charlie Kirk. I am sad that public discourse and our democracies are kind of unraveling these days and that this is just a sad reality of that fact. As far as Trump or Charlie Kirk go, I have no sympathy what so ever.

I'm not sure I really want to blame anyone for things becoming like this, it all seems like par for the course in the world we've created for ourselves. I just wish we were able to stop before this.
by disgruntledphd2 | 2025-09-12 12:56:56+00:00
> And, as parents, model reading physical books, not your phone.

Speaking as a Dad of two (5 and 2), this is really hard, not because I don't read (I read a lot), but because every time I bring a physical book out the kids start grabbing it, so it's much easier to use my Kindle.

Additionally, I'd probably end up getting divorced if we needed to find space for all the books I read in the house (I've acquired about 1100 books on Kindle over the past ~decade).
by flippyhead | 2025-09-12 12:57:00+00:00
The trick to getting results in the gym, and establishing a sustainable practice (which is key in both exercise and diet), is to just go regularly but allow yourself to leave at any point. Say you decide four days a week is your long-term goal. On that first day, if you want, leave after 5m. But return the next day. Keep doing this and eventually, I promise, you'll average the 45m you need four days a week forever.

I do the same thing with books. I have tons I have only partially read. But I also have tons that I pick back up later and absolutely LOVE. I don't know exactly why this happens, but I never feel any dread about reading and so read a lot more than I did when I did not think this way.
by close04 | 2025-09-12 12:57:26+00:00
You learn extremely valuable lessons even during your traineeship. But it takes many more years to realize if that lesson is truly unique and worth sharing, and if it won’t be turned on its head as you learn more later in life.

I learned very different versions of the same lesson given 20 more years of experience. Sometimes just having my confidence in “old” life lessons shaken was a huge deal, it takes a lot to shake what I thought is bedrock.

If you watch 20 minutes from a 2h movie can you really tell something about the whole movie or just about its beginning?
by Cthulhu_ | 2025-09-12 12:57:46+00:00
Motor controls are interesting like that; it's (to my layperson's understanding) a subsystem of your brain close to the brain stem / spine that allows your brain to skip conscious processing for (fine) motor controls. And it can be trained. It's what allows us to learn to play an instrument.

Take drums, put an amateur behind it and it's all over the place, but learning it is (simply?) a matter of slowing down until you can think about every strike, repeating, then slowly speeding up. The movements become almost automatic.

I'm sure something similar happens in 'higher' brain functions, but it takes longer; a common saying is that it takes 6 weeks of conscious effort to form a new habit.
by thw_9a83c | 2025-09-12 12:57:55+00:00
Motif was the real "classic" API. But let's do a little justice to GTK1. Motif was still a proprietary library when GTK1 was released. GTK1 was also already easier to develop with, and the default look&feel was somehow better. For some reason, all the widgets in the Motif UI were huge. Given the small resolutions of that time, it was very space inefficient.
by styanax | 2025-09-12 12:58:02+00:00
Sharing undocumented gotcha: nginx default config (/etc/nginx/nginx.conf) now has `server_tokens off` set with a comment that it's "common practice" (agreed). This is not in upstream's git version of the file[1], I therefore presume it's a Debian maintainer change.

The operational upgrade failure is if you have any existing drop-in config that sets `server_tokens off` already a hard fail Nginx error about duplicated keywords will occur, causing the apt process to exit with failure code(s) during the standard upgrade process.

[1] https://github.com/nginx/nginx/blob/master/conf/nginx.conf
by mothballed | 2025-09-12 12:58:06+00:00
It can be hard to figure out exactly what is outlawed with banking interactions. It seems a lot of the KYC/AML stuff is based on industry best practices and guidelines. There's no law you need a state ID with address to open a bank account, but when I tried to open up a bank account without an address I found it basically impossible. The bank will then cite that these practices are what they're held to as law, because the law itself is vague and relies on more nebulous customs.

So what is called "guidelines" one day becomes legally binding later with no act of congress.

Unfortunately there's a massive swath of mere guidelines and regulation that end up having legal binding. For instance, a Navy sailor was recently sent to jail for 20 years for having gun parts that were cut up the wrong way, the "wrong way" being the right way with previous mere guidance and the wrong way apparently being the fact that some time since then the guidance changed but not the law.
by mrcarrot | 2025-09-12 12:58:10+00:00
Thanks - this does make sense in isolation.

I think my actual issue is that the "most package managers do something like this" example code snippet at the start of [1] doesn't seem to quite make sense - or doesn't match what I guess would actually happen in the decompress-in-a-loop scenario?

As in, it appears to illustrate building up a buffer holding the compressed data that's being received (since the "// ... decompress from buffer ..." comment at the end suggests what we're receiving in `chunk` is compressed), but I guess the problem with the decompress-as-the-data-arrives approach in reality is having to re-allocate the buffer for the decompressed data?

[1] https://bun.com/blog/behind-the-scenes-of-bun-install#optimi...
by AlienRobot | 2025-09-12 12:58:12+00:00
The EU law isn't fine.

Many websites are free because they survive from ads. Ads make more money if you collect data. The EU law essentially cut the revenue of all these websites. Their choice is to not collect data (meaning less revenue) or show a popup (meaning more bounce rate, which means less revenue).

People who think this is a good thing are being short-sighted. That's because this law mainly affects websites that host information that visitors visit from clicking on links on the web. If a website is like Facebook or Youtube, where users must sign up first or probably already have an account, they will be able to collect data for ads with or without banners since they have their own ToS for creating an account, and they can infer a lot from how the user uses their services.

I'm not saying privacy regulation is a bad thing. It made countless businesses reconsider how they handle people's data. But it's clear to me that there are two problems.

First, this regulation hurts all the small websites that need to exist in order for we have to have a healthy "web." A lot of these are making only barely their hosting costs in ads, so there is no way they can afford the counsel to figure out how to comply with laws from another continent. If we had another way to support these websites, this wouldn't be a problem, but ads are really the lifeblood of half of the internet, and almost nobody wants to donate or pay a subscription.

Second, this regulation doesn't even really protect people's private data in the end, which may give users a false sense of security because they have the GDPR on their side. I forgot the name, but there was a recent gossiping app that required the user to upload a photo in order to sign up, which should be deleted afterwards, but they never deleted it and when the app was hacked the attacker had access to photos of all users. It's the same thing with GDPR. We can tell when a website is clearly not complying with the GDPR, but there is no way to tell if they actually complied with the GDPR until the server gets hacked.

Even the way they comply with GDPR isn't enough to protect users' privacy, e.g. if you have an account on Discord and you want your data deleted, they will simply turn every post your made into an "anonymous" post. This means if you sent a message that discloses your private information on Discord, that will never get deleted because its outside the scope of compliance. You could literally say "Hi, my name is XYZ, I live in ABC" and they won't delete that because you consented to provide that information, they will just change your username from "xyz" to "anonymous" or something like that.

I still wonder what are the actual benefits of GDPR with these cookie banners when 99% of the users just stay on Facebook and Youtube anyway.
by mschuster91 | 2025-09-12 12:58:14+00:00
> It genuinely comes down to an American belief that "the individual is the primary unit" and must be equipped with tools to secure his safety, security, and well-being through his own actions.

That's understandable if you look at the US' history - it wasn't called the "wild west" without reason!

Up until a century, give or take a few decades ago, there was nothing coming even close to the "universal rule of law" of today. In contrast, Europe and its systems of public order are hundreds of years older.
by bobajeff | 2025-09-12 12:58:39+00:00
This[1] is what I use. So far haven't needed anything that's not supported by Katex. and Pandoc doesn't seem to have any problem with converting my stuff to Latex.

The only real problems I ever ran into were due to markdown (errors?) that vscode preview ignores but pandoc trips over. Mostly having to do with not leaving blank lines between different Markdown elements.

[1]: https://katex.org/docs/supported.html
by michaelcampbell | 2025-09-12 12:58:53+00:00
> I've generally found quite a lot of success at abandoning goals / "destinations" for most things, and focusing on the "journey"

One of the habits books I've read ("Atomic Habits", I believe) has this piece of advice: When working on a habit focus not on what you hope to achieve, but who you want to become. This feels a lot like your reflection.
by abound | 2025-09-12 12:58:56+00:00
I was thinking about this from another thread (the Helix one).

Initially, learning Helix broke my ability to use Vim, but now I flit back and forth between Helix and IdeaVim without thinking about it.

Similarly, I switched to a split keyboard at my desk with lots of customizations, and it initially broke my ability to use my laptop keyboard, where there was a several minute adjustment period every time I switched, but now I can jump back and forth without making more typos or typing slower.

Both followed the same curve for me: learning the new thing disrupts the old thing, but if you do both enough, your brain/body seems to distill the shared core of both just fine.
by derelicta | 2025-09-12 12:58:59+00:00
I know it's controversial to say here, but Korean people are human too. They are not stupid insects groomed to follow some great leader as if it were the queen of the hive. Most of what you assume to know about Koreans and likely Chinese or Vietnamese people is false. It's pure propaganda.

Also lol for linking the BBC. To me it's like linking Radio Free Asia or the New York Times and pretend those are freedom fighters.
by GuB-42 | 2025-09-12 12:58:59+00:00
That's why I don't really get the gym. What is enjoyable in a gym? All activities you do there feel so useless and mindless. Running on a threadmill, lifting weights to put them back down, etc... For the journey/destination analogy, the destination is all that matters here, and you are taking the highway, because it is efficient.

There are may other activities that will get you fit and are what I think are way less boring. Sometimes, it is a literal journey, as in hiking. But also team sports, combat sports, climbing, actual gymnastics, etc... Here, you actually concentrate on the activity itself rather than on the end goal.
by moduspol | 2025-09-12 12:59:13+00:00
> creating and using single-use wallets, addresses, or accounts, and sending [cryptocurrency] through such wallets, addresses, or accounts through a series of independent transactions

One could argue that's how normal Bitcoin wallets work. The addresses are deterministic based on your passphrase (or derived private key). The addresses don't need to get reused because there's no real value in doing so, and no real cost of just using a new address each time.

Though yes--even if that's the exact meaning and design, presumably one could still use the simpler wallets that DO just reuse the same address over and over. And obviously that'd reduce privacy quite a bit.
by anshorei | 2025-09-12 12:59:27+00:00
I have several friends who have squatted abandoned buildings in Europe. I have other friends who live in otherwise abandoned buildings under agreement with the owner to prevent squatters breaking in to the building. When I moved into my house several years back it looked abandoned (because it had been before buying it), and when I invited friends over for the first time some assumed I was squatting there upon arrival. Squatting is really not an unusual thing. Squatters aren't squatting in order to claim ownership. Often they're students looking for a cheap place to stay.
by evanjrowley | 2025-09-12 13:00:04+00:00
What will the reaction be from Canonical, iXsystems, NixOS, and Proxmox? I choose my Linux platforms based on their support for OpenZFS. Everything else at the moment is just a disadvantaged compromise.

The outlooks seems bleak because of 1) last week's news of a potential successor, Bcachefs, moving to being externally maintained; 2) one of the Btrfs maintainers stepping down.

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Bcachefs-Externally-Maintained

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Josef-Bacik-Leaves-Meta
by Brendinooo | 2025-09-12 13:00:07+00:00
This is good, and I'll add that for the kind of person who grew up sitting in front of a computer and is now working full-time sitting in front of a computer, this is most likely to manifest in recognizing problems with physical health and taking steps to fix it, steps that are tangible and highly achievable for someone in their 20s and 30s.

EDIT: Oh, and farmers do not have this particular problem, lol
by FirmwareBurner | 2025-09-12 13:00:35+00:00
> To see that parade, picture and video of them being taken on purpose while in chains to humiliate them on purpose and seeing so many Americans cheer in front of that makes me hate most of you

Firstly, where do you see me cheering for that? I never said I approved of that. I was explaining how things work from the perspective of the people living there since they're less likely to be here commenting on HN.

Secondly, who is this "most of you", you claim to hate? I am not even from the US and don't approve of that, I was explain you the thought process of the people who approve of that, since it's simple and quite obvious. Your hate for me is unfounded.

> Cheered because workers are publicly humiliated.

I'll explain you again why the people there cheered. Put yourself in their shoes, you have no good education, no work opportunities, nothing, and suddenly when a factory opens in your town but instead of you getting jobs there, you see foreigners without working visa getting jobs there. Wouldn't you also cheer when you see law enforcement taking them away chains for the unfairness you perceive? To them it doesn't matter all the things you explained here about knowledge transfer and shit, that is irrelevant, what matters is that there's job opportunities that go to outsiders and not to them and they feel wronged by the system so seeing people in chains gives them a sense of retribution.

I can't believe I have to explain it several times, such basic stuff like the 'crabs in a bucket' mentality and why they cheer for such events unfolding. Are people THAT oblivious to this fact of life?

HN users aren't above this themselves. You'll see the same mentality crawl out of them if they're struggling to land jobs but see companies hiring H1B workers instead.

> That's what your country looks like from the outside.

Again, not my country, but if you asked the people there they will agree with my interpretation of the things because it's just basic human psychology.

No need to worry though. Hyundai will also give a "gift" to Trump just like Tim Cook's $300k 24 karat solid gold Apple stand, and Trump will make everything go back to normal and everyone wins. Trump got to look tough to voters by parading foreigners in chains and Hyundai gets to keep making money in the US like before. It's how business is done in banana republics.
by olalonde | 2025-09-12 13:00:36+00:00
Sure he had typical right wing and religious views, but did not advocate violence.

Again that clip you linked was just him pointing out the irony of using Bible verses to support homosexuality while ignoring other very violent verses towards them. He was not literally advocating the stoning of homosexuals.

FWIW, I disagree with Kirk on probably most topics (e.g. guns, religion, abortion, homosexuality being a bad "lifestyle") so there's no need to debate me.
by Cthulhu_ | 2025-09-12 13:00:57+00:00
I can see why; doing something useless requires conscious thought / effort. Doing something you want to do / achieve / change is, controversially, difficult because you think you can rely on just you "wanting it", that is, innate motivation. But that's usually not the case, especially not if it's something that causes discomfort at first (like going to the gym) or if it means giving up or cutting back on something pleasurable (mmm, donuts).

But intentionally doing something that you don't do normally, something you don't want to do, something that doesn't give you any kind of dopamine feedback can help you practice forming habits, practice self-discipline, etc. It's an interesting experiment.
HairMama – AI-powered hair analysis and personalized care recommendations
by Jenni_emeka | 2025-09-12 13:00:59+00:00
Hey HN! I built HairMama, an AI tool that analyzes hair photos to provide personalized diagnostics and care recommendations.

What it does:

- Upload a hair photo → get analysis of hair health, damage level, texture, and specific issues - Receive personalized product recommendations and care routines - Track hair progress over time with follow-up photos

Technical approach: Currently using computer vision models via OpenRouter's API to analyze hair characteristics like porosity, damage patterns, and scalp health. The frontend handles image preprocessing and result visualization.

Current state:

- Built working frontend and core functionality - Successfully processing hair photo analysis via OpenRouter API - Validating the concept before full launch (hitting free API limits during testing)

Questions for the community:

- Would this solve a real problem for you or people you know? - What features would be most valuable in a hair analysis tool? - How important is accuracy vs. speed for this type of analysis?

Planning to launch publicly soon - would love your thoughts on the concept and any technical suggestions for scaling the AI processing cost-effectively.
by adityaathalye | 2025-09-12 13:01:23+00:00
TIL: these delightful portmanteaus "whipuptitude" and its fraternal twin, "manipulexity".

Quote:

How Perl Entered the Unix Universe (2:06)

Anyway, speaking of paleontology, I dug up this fossil. It's kind of a dinosaur egg. And when Perl was first starting out this was how people saw the universe. If you were a Unix programmer you either programmed in C or shell. And there really wasn't much in between. There were these little languages that we used on top of shell, but that was the big divide. The big revelation that hatched Perl, as it were, was that this opened up into a two-dimensional space. And C was good at something I like to call manipulexity, that is the manipulation of complex things. While shell was good at something else which I call whipuptitude, the aptitude for whipping things up.

So Perl was hatched. As a small egg.
by dewey | 2025-09-12 13:01:32+00:00
> I do the same thing with books.

Can relate, I go to a Cafe to read almost every morning, even if I'm just reading for 5-10 minutes.

I usually read 1-3 books in parallel because sometimes I'm just not in the mood for non-fiction and I just want to read a quick interview with an interesting person. One of the best features of ebook readers for me is that I can easily switch between books with a few taps, instead of having to bring 3 books.