MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
Show HN: What does life cost me? – true life expenses calculator
by tipmisle | 2025-09-04 12:15:36+00:00
Hi everyone,

I took some time to put my before-sleep thoughts about true life costs in a simple browser only app. I don't know if this concept is unique, I didn't find anything else like it online, so I decided to make it.

It's an app that runs and saves stuff only in a browser locally, no external servers or services.

Hope you like it!
Show HN: My Daily Journal – An iOS Digital Journal Without Subscriptions
by gndimitro | 2025-09-04 12:15:45+00:00
I built a journaling app because I wanted something simple, private, and reliable - without subscriptions, third-party servers, or ads. Most journaling tools felt over-engineered or locked behind recurring payments. I wanted something lightweight and accessible.

Right now it’s free for testing and feedback. Long term, I’ll add a single one-time unlock, not a subscription. This was my first big React Native project, I learned a lot about iCloud sync and native integrations along the way!

*Features so far:*

- iCloud backup (no external servers) - Daily highlights with a single image (on purpose) - Pin lock + biometrics - Custom prompts for entries - Morning & evening journaling - Mood tracker (syncs with Apple Health) - Weekly challenges & daily quotes (Stoic + others coming) - Reminders & timeline view

*Would love feedback on:*

- The UI/UX: does the minimalist approach work? - Features: what feels essential, missing, or over-complicated?

App link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-daily-journal/id6746052206
by deathlock | 2025-09-04 12:16:02+00:00
I feel the same. I don't particularly mind if a developer overrides the scrollbar, and I would actually argue that in this case it was a good way to present the story and overall I liked it, but you need to do it right. If the sites becomes all clunky, it stutters, and you get text popping up a while after you scrolled, then it's better to focus on the performance and leave aside the animations.
by dax_ | 2025-09-04 12:16:07+00:00
GDPR doesn't stop personal data being stored. It handles whom it can be shared with, when it has to be deleted, and only collect as much data as required. Also gives transparency to the users about their data use.

And if I were to give over personal information to an AI company, then absolutely I'll prefer a company who actually complies with GDPR.
by krabizzwainch | 2025-09-04 12:16:27+00:00
The software support is decent. Currently it's running an old version of Android that allows you to side load apps. They are supposedly working on moving the OS over to a custom Linux build, but we haven't really seen anything with that. They do release updates fairly frequently and they have a publicly viewable Trello software development board so you can see the status of features they are working on.
by nunez | 2025-09-04 12:17:10+00:00
I can definitely vouch for this based on stories from my wife stories (teacher at a private school), her friends (fellow teachers), and my experience working at coworking spaces and coffee shops. [^1]

LLMs can be amazing [^0] as an assistive technology, but using them as a "do it for me" button is just way too easy, so that's how they are de facto used.

I believe it will take about 5-10 years for us to fully comprehend how damaging unplanned remote classrooms and unchecked LLM use in the classroom was. Like heroin, it will be extremely hard to undo our dependence on them by that point. I'm pretty scared for how our students will fare on the global scale in the coming years.

[^0] I strongly believe that 60% of the value of LLMs can be realized by learning how to use a search engine properly. Probably more. Nonetheless, I've fully embraced my accidentally-acquired curmudgeon identity and know that I'm in the minority about this.

[^1] You won't believe how many people leave their laptops unlocked and their screen's contents visible for everyone to see. Committing identity theft has to be easier than ever these days. This basic infosec principle seems to be something we've lost since the great WFH migration.
by dizhn | 2025-09-04 12:17:16+00:00
I wasn't trying to copy binaries over but I found a very specific thing that doesn't work with musl and libnss. System Services Security Daemon (sssd) which coupled with authentik would have made automated ssh logins on remote servers a manageable thing cannot work on alpine. It does work on Void which made me think they must have solved the musl situation but no, apparently Void has a glibc variant and it only works there.

Interestingly there is an sssd package in alpine but it cannot work. https://gitlab.alpinelinux.org/alpine/aports/-/issues/16969

https://github.com/rustadopt/uzers-rs/issues/20 ("Now the bad news: I poked around a bit and believe the problem is that MUSL does not support sideloading the NSS plugins needed to retrieve things from SSSD like GLIBC does and thus does only ever read users from /etc/passwd, see: SSSD/sssd#6586")
by sevensor | 2025-09-04 12:17:17+00:00
“Things you can only do in a fab” is but a subset of “hard problems in EE.” How many people actually understand induction motors well enough to design a better one? Or how about antenna theory? The math makes most people’s eyeballs melt, and the space of possible antenna designs is utterly unfathomably huge. And then there’s acoustics, which is just like antenna theory except the math is sideways. I could go on. Control theory. Analog signal processing. Digital signal processing. Biomedical.

I say all this as a recovering semiconductor engineer: EE is a huge field. I can’t think of a subdiscipline where we’ve run out of new ideas to explore, and most of them don’t require bucketfuls of HF. The real problem is that the financial rewards are relatively small, the math is ferocious, and there are so few practitioners, let alone experts doing research.
by dvfjsdhgfv | 2025-09-04 12:17:20+00:00
A cynic in me would say that means that the new affordable Polo (~30k€) will be 10k more expensive that the current Polo (ca 20k)...

On a more serious note though, Western car manufacturers used Covid for a massive price hike (30%?) arguing they have to do it because of parts scarcity, but once supply got to normal levels they refused to bring the prices back to the previous (or similar) price point so now they will be killed one by one by Chinese car manufacturers who - also mostly supported by their state - keep pre-Covid pricing.
by larve | 2025-09-04 12:17:46+00:00
Since I get downvoted because I guess people don’t believe me, I’m sitting at breakfast reading a book. I suddenly think about yaml streaming parsing, start a gpt research, dig a bit deeper into streaming parser approaches, and launch a deep research on streaming parsing which I will print out and read tomorrow at breakfast and go through by hand. I then take some of the gpt discussion and paste it into Manus, saying:

“ Write a streaming go yaml parsers based on the tokenizer (probably use goccy yaml if there is no tokenizer in the standard yaml parser), and provide an event callback to the parser which can then be used to stream and print to the output.

Make a series of test files and verify they are streamed properly.”

This is the slot machine. It might work, it might be 50% jank, it might be entire jank. It’ll be a few thousand lines of code that I will skim and run. In the best case, it’s a great foundation to more properly work on. In the worst case it was an interesting experiment and I will learn something about either prompting Manus, or streaming parsing, or both.

I certainly won’t dedicate my full code review attention to what was generated. Think of it more as a hyper specific google search returning stackoverflow posts that go into excruciating detail.

https://chatgpt.com/share/68b98724-a8cc-8012-9bee-b9c4a77fe9...

https://manus.im/share/kmsyzuoRHfn1FNjg5NWz17?replay=1
by palmfacehn | 2025-09-04 12:17:52+00:00
>That's true, but state management became such a big problem because of the trend of SPAs and fat clients.

I find it strange that so many developers struggle to maintain the state of a page. Then they turn to "magic" frameworks to handle it for them. What's wrong with having a canonical Object or other data structures to represent the state? Why would anyone want a generalized framework to (mis)represent the core model of your application?

We've been creating applications with internal state for decades now. GUI applications with an internal state existed before the web. Typically it is achieved via code hygiene and sane abstractions. As an example, the template element keeps your document structure out of your logic.

Yet in the modern JS world, display, state and now even the backend are all shoveled together into an unmanageable monstrosity. From this point, even more magic is added to duct tape over the madness. As a result, the accepted norm is now 10mb of cruft to display a static page.
by aw1621107 | 2025-09-04 12:19:04+00:00
> I don't know why the choice to use the compiler to implement parsing a C header is framed as a bad thing.

Not sure I agree with this interpretation, though maybe I'm focusing on a different part of the article than you are. Where you are getting the negative sense from?

That being said, I don't think it's too hard to imagine why someone might be a bit hesitant to use a C/C++ compiler to parse C/C++ headers - for example, it can be a pretty big dependency to take on, may add friction for devs/users, and integration with your own tool may be awkward and/or an ongoing time sink especially if you're crossing an FFI boundary or if the API you're using isn't stable (as I believe it is the case for LLVM).

> There is a reason it is called intMAX_t! It does not HAVE a definite size, it is the MAXimal size of an integer on that platform.

I think this somewhat misses the point of the bit you quoted. In context, it's basically saying that grabbing "real" C type info for interop is so painful that people will hard-code "reasonable" assumptions instead.

> When you want your program to have a stable ABI, that doesn't change when your platform supports larger integer types, you just don't use intMAX_t!

My impression is that the problem is less intmax_t changing and more that intmax_t can change out of sync. Even if you assume every use of intmax_t in a public API corresponds to an intentional desire for the bit width to evolve over time, you can still run into nasty issues if you can't recompile everything at once (which is a pretty strong constraint on the C/C++ committees if history is any indication).
by Liftyee | 2025-09-04 12:20:27+00:00
I am currently on the EE path but the CSEE side is very tempting. Right now the "information/computer engineering" seems much more popular than "plain" EE. I wouldn't study pure software because it doesn't seem connected enough to the real world (...or I am coping for my weak algorithmic thinking skills).

Maybe one day I will actually understand signal integrity but so far my experience has been "check return paths, match impedances and pray to the EE gods".
by fithisux | 2025-09-04 12:20:37+00:00
Indeed, still gcc objC has not been updated but D which shares a lot in gcc 15 was upgraded to the latest release.

Pragmatic SmalltaLk can still rely on LLVM since there is LDC.

No objection against objC but on windows it is not the best.

D has 3 compilers with similar or beter ergonomics than ObjC
by whalesalad | 2025-09-04 12:20:58+00:00
The valid_range with a gist index is quite fast.

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT domain) FROM time_travel WHERE (CURRENT_DATE - INTERVAL '90 days')::timestamptz <@ valid_range AND owned;

This is asking, "how many domains did we own 90 days ago"

Instead of finding records where the start is less than, end is greater than, you can just say find me rows that will cover this point in time. The GiST index on valid_range does the heavy lifting.

Lots of handy range-specific query tools available: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/functions-range.html
by pclmulqdq | 2025-09-04 12:21:57+00:00
I think you're oversimplifying this. Lots of RF research is done with a DAC, an ADC, an FPGA, and a frontend made of discretes (sometimes also with off-the-shelf boxes connected with SMA connectors). A lot of power electronics research is done with microcontrollers and discrete parts. Digital circuits research often stops on an FPGA or in a simulator.

You can do a lot of actual original work without a fab.
by mseri | 2025-09-04 12:22:32+00:00
True, but we should also remember that some services like the fast responses and the image generations (may?) run in US data centres also for Mistral. So that part of the data, in principle, may end up in the ends of other extra European countries.

This said, I am really supportive of Mistral, like their work, and hope that they will get more recognition and more EU-centric institutional support.
by myrmidon | 2025-09-04 12:22:32+00:00
Echolocation for humans 101:

Close eyes, make short impulse-like noise (tapping of feet can be sufficient, or snip fingers), and move slowly.

You will find that not running into walls is pretty easy.

Feedback, to me, feels like light pressure on my face. But this sense can be trained a lot; object detection and mapping your proximity is feasible for trained humans, and presumably changes the perception.
by tintin888 | 2025-09-04 12:22:36+00:00
Most professional development tools are boring. So I tried to flip it: what if learning felt like playing a board game?

Now, let me show you how it works.

I built ThinkFast Arena: a Monopoly-style property-building game where you take on a professional role (software developer, marketer, etc.) and face real-world career challenges.

The game generates personalized scenarios that test your actual workplace skills.

You can create custom learning boards on any topic (leadership, technical skills, interview prep).

Compete against AI opponents, acquire “career properties,” and level up as challenges get more complex.

Runs as a progressive web app, so it works on any device.

Whether you’re a student exploring career paths, or a professional sharpening interview skills and industry knowledge, ThinkFast Arena makes career growth as engaging as your favorite game.

Would this be fun or useful for you? What do you think would make it more engaging (or actually something people would want to use)?

Demo: https://thinkfast-arena.com/
by stephen_g | 2025-09-04 12:22:51+00:00
Yeah, this kind of idea is why I’m dead against using things like the hydraulic analogy in early EE for anyone who is ever going to want to do more than the ‘hook some things up to an Arduino’ (or probably ESP32 these days) kind of level electronics.

The gaps between the analogy and the real world actually make it harder to understand the fundamentals and just confuse people when you get to a deeper level understanding. It requires more unlearning than is worth it for the slight benefit of making the concepts slightly more intuitive to understand at the beginning.
by barrell | 2025-09-04 12:23:06+00:00
It’s user facing, so will just have an option for users to regenerate the explanation. It happens rarely enough that it’s not a huge issue, and normally doesn’t effect content (I think once I saw it go a little wonky and end the sentence with a few random words). Just sometimes switches to mono space font in the middle of a paragraph, or it “spells” a word wrong (spell is in quotes because it will spell `chien` as `chi§en`).

It’s pretty rare though. Really solid model, just a few quirks
by ipaddr | 2025-09-04 12:23:20+00:00
Talk to strangers it has never gone wrong for me and I even met a serial killer who killed a lot of women who asked how I would dispose of a body.

So much to unpack.

You got lucky if you were a woman you probably would have had a poor outcome.

I would prefer a rude online person who is petty vs a serial killer wanting advice on how to get rid of the body.
by mynameajeff | 2025-09-04 12:24:22+00:00
I did a lot of CS out of passion as a child but leading up to high school I was around such uniquely skilled group of friends in the field that I felt that I should pursue EE as I felt so out-skilled as a programmer. It only took me a single year of university to realize that EE was NOT my calling. I've never had so much completely fail to instinctively "click" in my brain compared to my peers. Meanwhile I was practically teaching the CS courses to my peers. I found that computer engineering was the perfect intersection for me because it let me explore so much more hardware and low level stuff without requiring analog dark magic that for whatever reason even the simplest of principles my mind couldn't grasp. I still really wish I could have gone on to make super clean headphone amps and all that but it turns out there really are just some things you can be "naturally" good and bad at, and for me it clean code not clean circuits.

edit: +1 on the "I just started bruteforcing" part of getting frustrated with everything. It was not a good way of learning but even after switching programs I found myself preferring to just bruteforce problems I had lost hope in thinking through to completion without running into a mistake that'd require me start back over from the top when I have 200 of the same type of problem to do after. So much mental effort would be wasted trying to "get" things I just wasn't getting that I started to getting more satisfaction mentally from just managing to get the solution without doing the effort of doing it "right" (ignoring that my methods of bruteforcing would probably still take far more time and energy, it was at least something that didn't hurt me spiritually on every failure).
by IAmBroom | 2025-09-04 12:24:37+00:00
I just received a blue laser as a throwaway free gift in a package of goods totalling about $50. It wasn't even advertised as a freebie in the website, not even at checkout.

It stuns me, because I am an old enough optical engineer to remember the excitement around the first blue laser. Also, who wants one? Not nearly as bright nor energy efficient as a red one (and the battery died with under a minute of use).
by trescenzi | 2025-09-04 12:24:42+00:00
> We used to share memes about pounding away at the keyboard at 11:57, anxiously rushing to complete our work on time. These moments were not fun, exactly, but they did draw students together in a shared academic experience.

This reminds me of type 1 vs type 2 fun. Type 1 fun is fun in the moment; drinks with friends. Type 2 isn’t fun in the moment but is fun in retrospect. Generally people choose type 1 if given a choice but type 2 I find is the most rewarding. It’s what you’ll talk about with your friends at the bar. I know it’s very much old man, well I guess this high schooler is too, yelling at clouds but I do worry what the elimination of challenge does to our ability to learn and form relationships. I’d expect there to be a sweet spot. Obviously too much challenge and people shut down.
by quietbritishjim | 2025-09-04 12:25:24+00:00
I think it's ok for there to be two meanings of "fish": a biologically formal (but not perfect) definition like I gave in my comment above, and a more informal meaning of "animal thing in the sea" that includes whales and even "starfish". It's very common for words to face more than one meaning. But that doesn't mean you can invalidate one by referring to the other.
by ftio | 2025-09-04 12:26:06+00:00
God I hope there's enough engagement on this tweet that they actually do it.

I don’t really understand why or how it’s happening, but my HP LaserJet printer connects to Wi-Fi less and less reliably every year. I want to upgrade to a color laser, but: (1) Wirecutter's current rec is for another HP, and (2) it's $750.

The HP inkjet I got in 1997 was far more reliable, even before we switched from parallel to USB. And it could print banners!
by XorNot | 2025-09-04 12:26:57+00:00
The problem with magstripes is I'm fairly sure there are some skimmers which basically read the card number off the mag-stripe when you insert it for a chip and pin transaction.

Because my card has been skimmed twice. The first time we were 100% it was a major retailer who was insisting my wife needed to swipe the card for a particular discount, but the second time the only in-person use we could remember was at a service station where we inserted the card to pay and pretty much the whole card goes in the slot.

You can read the magstripe from as little as about 1/3rd of the strip...though it's also possible someone is just embedding a scanner element to optically grab numbers nowadays, the tech is certainly cheap enough.

The trouble is it's really hard to reliably demagnetize a credit card, and the magstripe-less card rollout is being done incredibly slowly.

Newer cards don't have embossed numbers on the front anymore, only on the back, and these days I put electrical tape over them just in case someone is watching cameras. But I can't delete the magstripe and be sure it's gone reliably.
by barrell | 2025-09-04 12:27:04+00:00
Yeah, that’s infuriating. They’re getting better now with structured data, but it’s going to be a never ending battle getting reliable data structures from an LLM.

This is maybe more maybe less insidious. It will literally just insert a random character into the middle of a word.

I work with an app that supports 120+ languages though. I give the LLM translations, transliterations, grammar features etc and ask it to explain it in plain English. So it’s constantly switching between multiple real, and sometimes fake (transliterations) languages. I don’t think most users would experience this
by FridayoLeary | 2025-09-04 12:27:48+00:00
I don't think they care. They are chasing the higher profit margins that come with selling "premium" models and sacrificing the budget market to the chinese.

Another point about the id range; they rushed it out with half baked software and UX. They probably resolved most of this but it's disturbing that they would do it in the first place.

Finally how much cheaper is electricity? Since 2020 the prices have more then doubled and the prices of charging in service stations are huge. I'm not sure that in the future private vehicles will be affordable as they are today.
by junon | 2025-09-04 12:28:45+00:00
Once I ditched the hydraulic analogy and really tried to internalize charge, current, voltage, etc. is when I finally started to understand why the hydraulic analogy "works" but only for people who already understand electricity.

Electricity behaves in many ways just like water (just at a significantly faster time scale) but I don't think it actually helped me learn how it all worked to start with.
by mynameajeff | 2025-09-04 12:28:59+00:00
Yeah I had a magic-rules-first style experience in my EE program and it really didn't work for me at all. The nebulous reasoning made it for me where I just really couldn't internalize the pretty basic "rules" because I couldn't help but mess myself up overthinking the more abstract modes of conceptualizing everything which just confused me more. I'm thankful because it gave me the opportunity to quickly learn that I was a lot better at code than circuits, I probably would've been screwed if it took me that long to get to that point in my educations, but I will say the magic rules just did not work for me personally as a way to understand things. I'm sure others would do a lot better at just jumping right in though.