MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by adrian_b | 2025-09-01 11:44:45+00:00
Several earlier electro-mechanical computers were closer to a modern computer than ENIAC from the point of view of program storage, as they had a clearly defined instruction set and the programs were stored on punched tape (taken from teletype machines).

With ENIAC, reconfiguring the computer for solving a new problem was done essentially in the same way as for an analog computer (or nowadays for an FPGA), by rewiring the connections between the arithmetic units, the storage registers and the control sequencers, so that ENIAC will solve the new problem when powered on.

The resemblance of ENIAC to an analog computer is not an accident, but its architecture has been conceived as an electronic substitute of the electro-mechanical analog computers known as "differential analyzers", which had been in widespread use both before WWII and during WWII, for computing solutions of systems of differential equations, which were found in various engineering problems, including in many of military importance.

On the other hand, Harvard Mark I had been inspired by Babbage's proposal for a digital computer with stored program, hence its architecture much closer to modern digital computers.

While ENIAC had an architecture inspired by the mechanical differential analyzers, for the schematics of its electronic arithmetic and register circuits it used some information from the designers of the earlier Atanasoff-Berry Computer, which was a special-purpose electronic computer for solving systems of linear algebraic equations, and which included even the first DRAM memory (the second DRAM memory will be the British Williams CRT).
by closewith | 2025-09-01 11:45:12+00:00
> If your job is just grinding out code in a stressful and soul-crushing manner, the issue lies elsewhere.

The vast majority of developers are in or near this category. Most software developers never write code outside of education or employment and would avoid doing so if an AI provided the opportunity. Any opportunity to reduce cognitive load is welcome

I think you don't recognise how much of an outlier you are in believing that your work improves your cognitive abilities.
Tell HN: A data-driven look at a failed HN account
by attogram | 2025-09-01 11:45:27+00:00
I crunched the data to figure out why my old HN account was a failure:

Old Account:

Day 0: Account Created in mid 2017 | 0 karma Day 0: Submission 1: Show HN - live - 2 points - 3 comments | 2 karma Day 0: Submission 2: Show HN - live - 2 points | 4 karma Day 0: Comment 1: replied to post on Submission 2 | 4 karma Day 11: Submission 3: Show HN - [flagged] - [dead] - 1 point - 1 comment | 3 karma Day 11: Submission 4: Show HN - live - 2 points - 1 comment | 5 karma Day 11: Comment 2: replied to post on Submission 3 | 4 karma Day 11: Comment 3: replied to post on Submission 4 | 3 karma Day 12: Submission 5: Show HN - [dead] - 1 point | 3 karma Day 13: Submission 6: Show HN - [dead] - 1 point | 3 karma Day 2584: Submission 7: Show HN - [dead] - 1 point | 3 karma Day 2942: Submission 8: Show HN - [dead] - 1 point | 3 karma

Notes:

- Day 11: the [flagged] submission basically killed the account

- Pattern of using HN as a marketing/pr outlet with minimal community engagement

- Turn on showdead in your user settings, it's a great help in analyzing failures

This new Account:

Day 3019: Account Created | 1 karma Day 3019: Comment 1: on post | 2 karma Day 3019: Comment 2: on post | 3 karma Day 3019: Comment 3: on post | 4 karma Day 3020: Comment 4: on post | 5 karma Day 3020: Comment 5: on post | 6 karma Day 3021: Comment 6: on post | 7 karma Day 3021: Comment 7: on post | 8 karma Day 3022: Comment 8: on post | 9 karma Day 3022: Comment 9: on post | 10 karma Day 3023: Comment 10: on post | 12 karma Day 3023: Comment 11: on post | 14 karma Day 3024: Comment 12: on post | 16 karma Day 3024: Comment 13: on post | 18 karma Day 3025: Comment 14: on post | 20 karma Day 3025: Comment 15: on post | 22 karma Day 3025: Comment 16: on post | 24 karma Day 3025: Comment 17: on post | 26 karma Day 3025: Comment 18: on post | 28 karma Day 3025: Comment 19: on post | 30 karma Day 3025: Submission 1: This post | 30 karma

The fix wasn't a new account, but a new strategy: listen first.
by cousin_it | 2025-09-01 11:45:40+00:00
I think the theremin remained a curiosity because it's both hard to control and low-dimensional. Something like the cello or saxophone is just strictly better: there are more dimensions on which you can control the sound, and at the same time controlling pitch is easier. Or to put it another way, on cello or saxophone a beginner can learn a passable C major scale much faster than on the theremin, and at the same time there are much more expressive possibilities.

Combining the theremin with the keyboard helps with pitch, but the low dimension problem remains. You might as well play a keyboard with one hand and a trackpad or joystick with the other, it's easier and the number of dimensions is the same.
by lotsofpulp | 2025-09-01 11:46:16+00:00
The US federal government alone (not including state and other local governments) spends north of $1 trillion dollars per year on healthcare.

https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/feder...

Another $1.3 trillion on wealth transfers from workers to non workers (including disability). And another $608B on wealth transfers from people with higher income to people with lower or no incomes.

Alphabet and Apple, combined, earned $193B in 2024, from the entire world.

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/GOOG/alphabet/net-...

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/AAPL/apple/net-inc...

How does your suggestion make any difference, other than destroying 2 of the very few organizations driving demand for US assets, and hence help support the US dollar's purchasing power?
Show HN: Umbilic Torus Model of 12‑Tone Harmony (Now, Live TCP Note Tracking)
by jimishol | 2025-09-01 11:46:51+00:00
This is a real‑time, interactive model of 12‑tone equal temperament harmony, projected onto an umbilic torus. Harmonic ordering is encoded as a closed 3D curve tracing the circle of fourths; adjacency is defined along this spiral.

Previous 3D projections of 12‑tone equal temperament — including Tonnetz‑on‑torus visualizations, chord‑space topologies, and other geometric or topos‑inspired models — often represent harmonic adjacency through triangular lattices or higher‑dimensional embeddings. While these preserve the underlying relationships, the added lattice can make the global structure harder to perceive as a single, continuous form. In this model, the umbilic torus is shown without such overlays, so the harmonic spiral is seen as one uninterrupted 3D path. The smooth curvature is used purely for visual continuity and aesthetic clarity, not as a determinant of harmonic relations.

The system now supports *Live TCP Note Tracking* — meaning any external tool (DAW, MIDI parser, audio analyzer) can stream active notes directly into the visualization.

It’s built with Love2D and 3DreamEngine, and integrates with FluidSynth or any TCP‑capable backend. I’d love feedback from topologists, mathematical music theorists, and educators exploring new ways to visualize harmony.
by dangus | 2025-09-01 11:47:55+00:00
Some other examples of why this could be bad:

- Running code on your car that compromises safety, like modifying/disabling legally-required safety features.

- Modifying code on health devices, like pacemakers

- Protective code involving things like overheating protections (e.g., firmware preventing you from disabling cooling fans in your laptop or running your 3D printer so that it catches fire)

- Running devices with parameters known by the manufacturer to damage them (e.g., processor manufacturers will let you overclock their chips but will keep some parameters limited/locked that the designers know will not work)

It’s notable that Google is implementing this change first specifically in countries that are impacted by a specific style of fake app scam. They seem to be responding to a legitimate consumer safety issue.

Should we be able to run our own code on our own devices? Generally, yes, and it’s also already legal to do so even if the manufacturer doesn’t want you to. But it’s also legal for manufacturers to set their own parameters.

Like you said, examples like Kindles and game consoles exist where the business needs to have some level of freedom in defining their business model. Would you be able to buy a $150 4K TV at Walmart if the included Roku software wasn’t subsidizing it?

The issues surrounding anticompetitive lock-down only occur in markets with a lack of competition and I think those issues can be balanced agains the manufacturer’s desires to sell a specific experience.
by sevensor | 2025-09-01 11:48:04+00:00
I’ve seen multiple projects founder on the complexity of writing software for the cloud. Moving data from here to there ends up being way harder than anybody expected. Maybe teams with more experience build this into their planning, but from what I’ve seen, if you’re using the cloud, your solution ends up being 95% about getting data where it’s supposed to be and 5% application logic.
by AlecSchueler | 2025-09-01 11:49:10+00:00
Again you're conflating things and are now also moving goalposts (overwork->moderate work) and asking me for very precise kinds of studies while refusing to even point towards the basis for your own claims. On top of this you're implying that I'm some kind of lunatic by associating my questions with climate denial.

It's clear that you're more interested in "winning" than actually have a reasonable discussion so goodbye. I've had less frustrating exchanges with leprechauns.
by theshrike79 | 2025-09-01 11:49:25+00:00
But LLMs can make the soul crushing part so much easier.

I need to add a FooController to an existing application, to store FooModels to the database. The controller needs the basic CRUD endpoints, etc.

I can spend a day doing it (crushing my soul) or I can just tell any Agentic LLM to do it and no something that doesn't crush my soul, like talk with the customer about how the FooModels will be used after storing.

"But it'll produce bad code!"

No it doesn't. It knows _exactly_ how to do a basic CRUD HTTP API controller in C#. It's not an art form, it's just rote typing and adding Attributes to functions.

Because it's an Agentic LLM, it'll go look at another controller and copy its structure (which is not standard globally, but this project has specific static attributes in every call).

Then I review the code, maybe add a few comments for actual humans, commit and push.

My soul remains uncrushed, client is happy when I delivered the feature on time and I have half the day off for other smaller tasks that would become technical debt otherwise.
by gregoriol | 2025-09-01 11:50:21+00:00
From my experience, about 20-30% of the packages are not working with swiftpm, either because they don't have a Package.swift file, or because it is not compatible with up-to-date developer tools. On many projects, I had to fork a few repositories just to add or fix the swiftpm integration... while their Pod integration has always been working well.
by komali2 | 2025-09-01 11:50:37+00:00
I disagree that there's a technological solution to late stage capitalism and the slow death of liberal democracy.

New technology doesn't change anything about social institutions - the most powerful groups before the technology was invented simply own the technology after it's invented and use it to further cement their power.

I think the luddites were on to something. We don't need technology, we need humans doing things a little differently, maybe even doing bizarre things like setting factories on fire. Personally I hope we can try other things before setting factories on fire, see Keith McHenry's version of The Anarchist Cookbook for peaceful resistance solutions as well.

The point is though without a restructure, new technology doesn't liberate, in fact it further entrenches existing power structures.
by JeanMarcS | 2025-09-01 11:51:12+00:00
This. For me (senior as in I am in the field since last century), that's how I use it. "I want to do that, with this data, to obtain that"

I still do the part of my job that I got experience on, analyze the need, and use the AI like an assistant to do small libraries or part of code. Like these, errors have less chance to appear. Then I glue that together.

For me the time ratio is best use like that. If I have to describe the whole thing, I'm not far from doing it myself, so there's no need for me.

Important: I work alone, not in a team, so maybe it has an impact on my thought
by rs186 | 2025-09-01 11:52:00+00:00
If USB consortium cared about being consumer friendly, they would have mandated that USB cables clearly mark their capabilities, and require that every cable must transmit data.

Instead we have this mess where you don't know whether a cable is good for laptop charging, and whether that same cable can be used for data in addition to charging. (skipping that data wire saves a few cents, that sounds like a great idea!)

So nothing will come out of them regarding Nintendo's behavior.
by tsimionescu | 2025-09-01 11:52:03+00:00
> as far as I understand the git version is "git checkout -b XYX"

The difference is actually worse than that. There is not the regular git equivalent, because this step is just done implicitly for you, normally. That is, with jj, just because you had checked out the head of main and then you added a new commit, doesn't mean your new commit is now the new head of main. `jj bookmark set -r@ main` is the way you tell jj to actually advance main to your latest commit.

But you are right - `git switch -C main` would be more or less the equivalent in git if you were working in detached head mode, which is how jj normally works (note the `-C`, not `-c`, to forcefully update main to point to this commit).
by Quarrelsome | 2025-09-01 11:53:15+00:00
> A handful of tech-savvy users with rooted devices and open-source software will not make a difference to the giant crushing machine that is the system.

Agreed, although I don't think that's entirely true, its just that post-smartphones we no longer have any political agency over a significant volume of the new traffic. Much of the new traffic represents that faction of people who initially mocked the internet as "nerd shit". But we don't have to get discouraged by our smallness here.

Rather we can offer a sub-system that satisifes our demands and is an open door to those willing to find it. We could try to fight our corner, but unless we're incredibly organised, its unlikely they'll listen due to how less relevant we are, now that all the normies transitioned online.

So we either jump ship to other, more permissive platforms and help make them good by developing software that closes the gap, or we counter by attacking the systems that prevent people from installing software on the device they have bought.

We just shouldn't expect the general population to care about our problems en-masse because they never have and never will. We will make a difference by creating an alternative sub-system that is poised to grow when the giant crushing machine stumbles at some point in the future.

We can't hate people for picking the parental wing of Apple because for most normies they don't enjoy the freedoms of technology, its the choice and difficulty that they conversely find oppressive.
Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
by ggap | 2025-09-01 11:53:17+00:00
Hi HN,

I've been working on AfriTales, a flutter based mobile app that brings African folktales into modern stories narrated episodes wrapped in a children and adult friendly UI player. The stories are created to cover north, south, west and east Africa. I think of it as a digital by-the-fire-side.

Why AfriTales: Cultural relevance: There is a gap in culturally-rich audio-native storytelling apps for Africans, the diaspora and people interested in African stories. Modern Influence: Modern UI makes the the app feel elegant and emotionally resonant. Retention via structure: Episodes are short (2-5 minutes) and there are stories series for premium users.

MVP features include: A launch landing page (https://afritales.org/) for early engagement and waitlist signups. I have currently sourced over 100 stories. Thanks to Google's Gemma 3 270M, users can generate stories with their own twist. Freemium model: 3 free tales per day, plus premium subscription for unlimited access. Robust Flutter structure: Architecture with TTS integration, and images for context.

I am starting in Ghana before expanding, and I'd love feedback from this community: Would you (or your child) use an audio-based storytelling app with a strong regional cultural tie? Suggestions for retention strategies or content formats that engage long-term users?

Thanks
by _heimdall | 2025-09-01 11:53:28+00:00
This doesn't seem right to me. It is often in companies' best interests to adopt standards, but that is because it allows them both to have an optimized supply chain.

Car manufacturers today have a lot of standards that I expect would make competition from any new contenders harder not easier. Tesla would be an example of that, they did survive but the industry thought it was never going to work precisely because of all the standards and regulations required.

On the other hand, early car manufacturers didn't have standards and shared technology stacks. At that time new car makers popped up everywhere and we had a ton of competition in the space.

Open standards are good for the consumer and good for any features that require interoperability. It has nothing to do with competition though.
by EagnaIonat | 2025-09-01 11:54:01+00:00
Article: All in all, my impression is that you have to read carefully whatever the AI assistant writes if you want to be sure you “own your code”

If you are 100% vibe coding then you do not own the code at all. You might have some limited protections in the UK, but EU/US any AI generated code can't be copyrighted.

So someone can steal your Vibe coded app and resell it without fear.

.. The other major issue that I have seen using LLMs is that it is useless if you "don't know what you don't know". Sample code often given is incorrect, or not the best approach.

A few times when I discuss my issues with the code generated, it has offered better code to do the same thing.
by Ygg2 | 2025-09-01 11:55:01+00:00
> You're stating this as if class tensions preclude the existence or effectiveness of foreign information operations. Do you actually believe that to be true?

I'm saying, what could Russians possibly do that Americans aren't already doing to themselves? Look at: The War on drugs, The War on terror, and omnipresent surveillance. These weren't instituted by Russian agents.

And if Russia was that omnipotent, then their "special op in Ukraine" would actually be a few days "special OP".

Whatever paltry ops Russia has is like a drop in the ocean compared to what the US (or other actors) are doing on US.
by firesteelrain | 2025-09-01 11:55:20+00:00
Are you sure that is accurate? My research found that since the invasion, Russia’s MFN was revoked and Column 2 rates + import bans make US barriers on Russian goods much higher overall than on EU goods.

1. https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/930201/download

2. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-117publ110

3. https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/entry-summ...

4. https://media.bis.gov//about-bis/bis-leadership-and-offices/...

5. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/03/15/2022-05...

6. https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/1024

7. https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-fact...

8. https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-...
by tsimionescu | 2025-09-01 11:55:24+00:00
They're closer to the right command than you are. `git reset --hard` will move HEAD to the given branch. The right command would be `git checkout -B branch` / `git switch -C branch`, to create or update `branch` to point to the current commit (except for the side effect that future commits will then go onto `branch` in git, while they won't in jj).

Basically, jj is just like working with git in detached head mode as far as I can tell.
by liendolucas | 2025-09-01 11:55:31+00:00
Is not that easy and is not a matter of being awkward or not, being social or not. People get tired very easily when talking about things they don't understand, especially technology.

And when they kind of get you, they don't see the point that you are trying to make, easily dismissing you on why would you want to do something like that when you have "all the apps for free" with a few taps and that there is not such need for what you are trying to explain to them.

People don't even get it when you explain that FB, Google, etc are not free products and so on. Is kind of a rabbit hole and people don't want to dive on such topics because is an endless talk and they lose patience very quickly.

Is very hard to make them see the problem. People are happy with new phones, apps and entertainment every day, they don't care if they are unable to run custom software that may benefit their very own interests. As long as they can do the things that they usually do, to them there's no problem at all. Is as simple as that.
by lelanthran | 2025-09-01 11:55:58+00:00
> Don't forget the cost of managing your one big server

Is that more, less than or about the same as having an AWS/Azure/GCP consultant?

What's the difference in labour per hour?

> the risk of having such single point of failure.

At the prices they charge I can have two hot failovers in two other datacenter and still come out ahead.
by philomath868 | 2025-09-01 11:56:14+00:00
I hear you loud and clear... Thanks!

What about deleting vision layers (e.g. the "multi_modal_projector" and the "vision_tower.vision_model" layers, assuming I go with Gemma 3), since I need just language generation? Would that also be considered a "kick in the balls", or a useful trimming?
by ljlolel | 2025-09-01 11:57:07+00:00
Out of the more than 600 potential locations Lewis and Clark stopped at, only one has been verified by mercury analysis: Travelers’ Rest in Lolo, Montana. We know from their journals that the Corps visited on two occasions. The first was in mid-September of 1805, after attempting to pass over the Bitterroot Mountains and being forced back by deep snow. Then they returned at the end of June and into early July of 1806, on their way back east.
by philipallstar | 2025-09-01 11:57:12+00:00
I think it is partly about code of conduct issues[0]. I totally agree that Linus can run whatever release process he likes, and Overbeck should get in line with that. However all of the accompanying sighing at how many times we've had to explain things to him from others is not okay. So what if more discussion is needed or wanted? People doing difficult work might have strong opinions. People doing easy work (e.g. sending code of conduct emails) should not have an equal weight to their opinions, if any at all.

[0] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/6740fc3aabec0_5eb129497@dwillia...
by komali2 | 2025-09-01 11:58:19+00:00
This argument doesn't contradict the article.

An expensive iPhone ships with iOS and a rigid security model.

If you tap the `about` button 16 times and click a confirmation dialog, you disable certain security mechanisms against arbitrary software installation. Do something else easy but impossible to do accidentally, and you unlock the bootloader. You progressively lose portions of your warranty in doing so.

This is the path I think we should be going down.