MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
Show HN: Instant escrow for crypto purchases with automated dispute resolution
by YourOldNemesis | 2025-10-27 19:37:10+00:00
Smart contract escrow on Base for safe USDC transactions. Deploy time-locked contracts with a few clicks - funds release automatically at payout time unless dispute is raised. Key features:

- Verified and audited contracts on Base - Auto-arbitration: when both parties agree on refund amount, funds distribute instantly - Non-custodial: users own their contracts, I provide infrastructure - 1% fee (vs 2-3% traditional escrow), gasless for users

Two implementations:

- P2P: https://app.instantescrow.nz (eg. NFT trades, freelance, vehicle sales) - Merchant plugins: https://app.instantescrow.nz/plugins WordPress/Shopify checkout integration

I built this because crypto needs safe transaction rails. Traditional escrow economics don't work at scale - smart contracts make 1% viable. I'm looking for feedback from first customers/merchants. Test with $0.001 USDC (fees waived). Demo videos on plugin site.
by anup_sia | 2025-10-27 19:37:14+00:00
LLMs are great at creating plans but terrible at following them. I've seen agents claim to create 5 files but only make 2, repeat API calls 3x, skip error handling, then report success anyway. The fix: treat execution like todo management—track every step, block the agent if it tries tools not in the current step, and verify completion (don't trust its word, actually check if the file exists). This plus guardrails and git-like versioning improved the reliability siginificantly
by miladyincontrol | 2025-10-27 19:37:35+00:00
Same in my experience testing and deploying a few sites that support both. In general the only time AVIF outperformed in file size for me was with laughably low quality settings beyond what any typical user or platform would choose.

And for larger files especially the benefits of actually having progressive decoding, pushed me even more in favour of jpeg-xl. Doubly so when you can just provide variations in image size by halting the bit flow arbitrarily.
by Joel_Mckay | 2025-10-27 19:37:45+00:00
It does share similarity to a rebranded Sipeed NanoKVM model already sold in China.

Would have to dump the flash with proper tooling, and load up a clean OS on a blank chip to even begin checking for issues. Mostly, these gadgets are purposely built like garbage for a number of reasons.

If I needed a DIY KVM install for a home-theater, I'd just setup a https://pikvm.org/ install. =)

https://github.com/pikvm/pikvm/
by danudey | 2025-10-27 19:38:05+00:00
I have seen Copilot make (nit) suggestions on my PRs which I approved, and which Copilot then had further (nit) suggestions on. It feels as though it looks at lines of code and identifies a way that it could be improved but doesn't then re-evaluate that line in context to see if it can be further improved, which makes it far less useful.
by the__alchemist | 2025-10-27 19:38:37+00:00
This is a bit of a microcosm of Rust OSS libs in general; the libraries that get the most PR, articles, popularity are often not the best ones. I see this in the rust embedded and GPGPU areas as well, for example.

The smell for me is if the library is designed based on a plan, or attempting to be X ecosystem in Rust instead of built around one or more practical piece of software, and evolving to meet the needs of these softwares.

With that in mind: I adore EGUI. I hadn't heared of GPGUI before, but because of its origin as being purpose built for the Zed editor, this immediately gives it credibility, and I'm excited about it!
by break_the_bank | 2025-10-27 19:38:43+00:00
I forgot to add, you can try TabTabTab, without installing anything as well.

To see something much more powerful on Google Sheets than Gemini for free, you can add "try@tabtabtab.ai" to your sheet, and make a comment tagging "try@tabtabtab.ai" and see it in action.

If that is too much just go to ttt.new!
by skissane | 2025-10-27 19:38:47+00:00
> Finally, one lead put their feet down and mandated that setting timezone to PST should be the first thing all applications do and db columns should be considered PST unless otherwise required.

That seems to me like a really bad mandate. If you are going to mandate something, mandate UTC. If someone forced me to change a system from UTC to something else, I’d not be very happy. It’s the kind of decision which makes you seriously question if you want to work there any more.
by beej71 | 2025-10-27 19:39:09+00:00
> Since everyone would be able to build exactly the same quality of products, this would linger on marketing tactics, deception, corporate sabotage, and similar strategies.

Through good old fashioned, malicious, human ingenuity. :)

I could see it unfolding the way you said.

Or AGI is simply not achieved for another 100 years. Or maybe never.

Or Butlerian Jihad.

But yeah, I think the timeline's pretty fucked.
by dylan604 | 2025-10-27 19:39:19+00:00
> "I never thought that a data centre would be built across the street from my house," she said. "I would not have bought this house if I had known what was going in across the street."

and let this be a lesson to anyone looking to buy with vacant land within whatever radius you want to apply. if you think you might be upset by something that could be developed in the future, you can do some basic research on what zoning the lot(s) have, if they are owned by someone/thing that is discernible and not a shell company (if it is a shell company that's probably an indication you won't like what's coming), etc. sure, the ultimate developer of the think you won't like might only purchase the lot just before they are ready to build (specifically to avoid this), ultimately they will have to file for plans. it's possible those plans have already been filed, but if you don't look into it, it's really on you since you have the problem with it.
by _young_grug_ | 2025-10-27 19:39:24+00:00
Yeah one thing is for sure, permission granted by terms of use and the like, are not realistically parsable by most users. Its sad how leaned-upon they are given that.

It seems like a well constructed runtime could encourage permissions that are right-sized, action-aligned, and even linked to specific UX components - like it could be possible to have a special runtime-compatible "Pay" button that can be included in an app, which automatically serves as proof of consent to release a credit card number.
by zahlman | 2025-10-27 19:39:49+00:00
> When did facts and enlightenment started to be for "liberals lol" ?

It didn't. That's one employee of the company, who has a clear bias in the matter, being ridiculous. It has nothing to do with liberal ideology, nor critique of liberal ideology, nor whatever sort of person that employee thinks should be considered a "liberal", nor their ideology. It's only the employee who even suggests that, and probably not even seriously.
by embedding-shape | 2025-10-27 19:41:09+00:00
> A trusted environment, even in a "good neighborhood", requires a lock at least to the front door of your house, or gate, or w/e.

I don't think that's a trusted environment or "good neighborhood". But then I basically use "can leave front door unlocked with zero worries" as the threshold for "trusted environment".

But those environments and neighborhoods definitively exists today across the world, although they're probably becoming less and less common.
by SmellTheGlove | 2025-10-27 19:41:47+00:00
I’ve been using the glinet comet kvm for my homelab and have no complaints. Their cloud is optional and I don’t use it. The built in tailscale client does what I need it to. I use it with their ATX power accessory to manage physical power on/off when needed.

Given that these things have bare metal access, keeping them off of the public internet seems wise no matter what though.
by mbreese | 2025-10-27 19:41:57+00:00
I’ve seen raspberry pi based kvms that do just this - draw power from PCI to operate. Except they still usually require a cable to HDMI/USB ports on the computer. I suspect you’d like to have the whole thing to be on card without cables.

Example: https://geekworm.com/collections/pikvm (but I think this still requires separate power)

To do this, wouldn’t you effectively need to make a graphics card (VGA would work) where a separate chip could read the screen buffer? And somehow get this card to display preferentially over the on-board video card?

I’m sure the all in one card version exists, but honestly a cabled version seems more robust (w/o vendor support that is).
by CamperBob2 | 2025-10-27 19:42:20+00:00
It's certainly different this time; machines have never been able to do anything like what they can do now. You might as well argue that the Industrial Revolution or the Internet itself wasn't "different this time."

But the phrase "this time" requires a lot of hand-waving. The current generation of models is obviously a bubble, which means that businesses based on them are also participants in a bubble. The market seems to be pricing in various unspecified future miracles. Given the history of AI to date, the miracles needed to justify current valuations might arrive next week, next year, or 30 years from now.

They will arrive, though. That part is no longer up for debate by anyone who's been paying attention since AlphaGo, never mind Vaswani.
by abdullahkhalids | 2025-10-27 19:42:41+00:00
In a multi-agent dynamic system, the optimal actions by each individual agents (based on whatever cost-benefit analysis they do) can evolve the system into a state where every agent is worse off compared to some initial state. This holds even if every individual agent is a "smart businessperson".

One main purpose of law and social rules is to prevent multi-agent systems from getting stuck into these global non-optimal states. And arguing that agents are smart is not a counter-argument to this.
by alwa | 2025-10-27 19:42:50+00:00
Being convicted and jailed can be pretty bad. Didn’t Robert Hanssen end up in Florence ADMAX until he died [0]? And, maybe a more direct comparison, Wikileaker Joshua Schulte [1]?

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADX_Florence

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Schulte
by jay_kyburz | 2025-10-27 19:43:19+00:00
I had to update my credit card details on Dropbox, but the website it so badly designed, I almost just canceled. I'm not sure if its dark patterns or incompetence.

I _suspect_ they switched me from annual billing to monthly while I was updating, but the support chat guy said I was still annual. If it turns out he was wrong, I'm out.
by travisgriggs | 2025-10-27 19:43:22+00:00
As I was reading through the post, and the comments here, and pondering my own many hours with these tools, I was suddenly reminded of one of my favorite studio C sketches: An Unfortunate Fortune

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF-psoWdSpo

Curious, if others see the connection. :D
by davidpolberger | 2025-10-27 19:43:51+00:00
I'm a co-founder of Calcapp, an app builder for formula-driven apps using Excel-like formulas. I spent a couple of days using Claude Code to build 20 new templates for us, and I was blown away. It was able to one-shot most apps, generating competent, intricate apps from having looked at a sample JSON file I put together. I briefly told it about extensions we had made to Excel functions (including lambdas for FILTER, named sort type enums for XMATCH, etc), and it picked those up immediately.

At one point, it generated a verbose formula and mentioned, off-handedly, that it would have been prettier had Calcapp supported LET. "It does!", I replied, "and as an extension, you can use := instead of , to separate names and values!") and it promptly rewrote it using our extended syntax, producing a sleek formula.

These templates were for various verticals, like real estate, financial planning and retail, and I would have been hard-pressed to produce them without Claude's domain knowledge. And I did it in a weekend! Well, "we" did it in a weekend.

So this development doesn't really surprise me. I'm sure that Claude will be right at home in Excel, and I have already thought about how great it would be if Claude Code found a permanent home in our app designer. I'm concerned about the cost, though, so I'm holding off for now. But it does seem unfair that I get to use Claude to write apps with Calcapp, while our customers don't get that privilege.

(I wrote more about integrating Claude Code here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45662229)
by wyre | 2025-10-27 19:43:58+00:00
Cope harder, bro. Show me sources. Cattle is a massive industry and it should not be hard to find sources proving me wrong. Calves live on pasture for the first few months, but are then transferred to backgrounding farms, that are technically still pastures, but are fed a highly supplemented diet and have less room to roam. STFU about me not knowing what I'm talking about.

Feedlots are absolutely necessary at the levels that American's consume beef. It might look like there isn't a shortage of pasture for cows, but the truth is there is not enough land to transition to 100% grass-fed with American's level of consumption. [1]

[1] https://grazingfacts.com/land-use
by Veserv | 2025-10-27 19:44:24+00:00
Monsanto has already made legally binding declarations that they will never sue for "simply having GMO plants in a field" or "accidentally growing trace amounts of patented crops" which have been affirmatively held as legally binding [1].

The cases you are referencing are cases where the farmer discovers trace contamination of their field, then deliberately sprays Roundup to kill all non-GMO crops, then deliberately harvest seed from the survivors, then deliberately create a GMO section of their farm where they repeatedly plant and harvest to concentrate seed production until they have multiple thousands of acres of GMO crops they derived from the trace contamination [2].

Or cases where they signed a agreement to not replant their GMO soybeans, so they sold those GMO soybeans to a facility which sells to consumers for consumption, then turned around and rebought from that same facility the GMO soybeans they just sold so they could replant them [3] claiming that the sale to a third party meant they were not "replanting" the soybeans they just produced since they just oopsie-whoopsie bought them from someone not bound by the agreement.

If you actually look into it, most of the cases that people imagine were really bad or evidence of Monsanto screwing farmers are actually examples of ridiculously slimy farmers. That is not to say that Monsanto is a saint as they almost surely are hiding evidence of Roundup toxicity and you should be generally distrusting that large corporations are value-aligned with regular people, but specifically in the cases of Monsanto versus farmers, the farmers are almost always hiding how absolutely slimy they are actually being.

[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/06/12/190977225/co...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto_Canada_Inc_v_Schmeise...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowman_v._Monsanto_Co.
by bluGill | 2025-10-27 19:44:41+00:00
1 - farmers watch the wind and won't spray when drift is an issue. the epa requires this in the us and they look at drift before approving spray

2 - this has only happened when someone sprays their crop thus killing anything that isn't gmo and bringing the patents into the field. if you don't take advantage of the trait the corporate people don't care.

though many of the more useful traits are off patent now and so they won't care anyway
by XCabbage | 2025-10-27 19:45:27+00:00
Hmm. That'd be pretty nasty to be on the receiving end of (and may well have been an outrageous abuse of executive power), but still, an administrative freeze is temporary and is not in itself a clawback. Even if it was a certainty this would happen to PSF, it would still be worth it for $1.5 million!
by kstrauser | 2025-10-27 19:45:38+00:00
I almost feel like we're looking at different things. From secretspec[0]:

[project] name = "web-api" revision = "2.1.0" extends = ["../shared/base", "../shared/auth"] [profiles.default] # Inherits DATABASE_URL, LOG_LEVEL from base # Inherits JWT_SECRET, SESSION_SECRET from auth # Service-specific additions: STRIPE_API_KEY = { description = "Stripe payment API", required = true } REDIS_URL = { description = "Redis cache connection", required = true } PORT = { description = "Server port", required = false, default = "3000" }

From fnox[1]:

[secrets.DATABASE_URL] provider = "onepass" value = "Database" # ← Item name in 1Password (fetches 'password' field) [secrets.DB_USERNAME] provider = "onepass" value = "Database/username" # ← Specific field [secrets.API_KEY] provider = "onepass" value = "op://Development/API Keys/credential" # ←

Is the similarity that they both refer to providers (as did Terraform and countless other config tools before it)? Or profiles (like aws-cli and countless other config tools before it)? Because other than that, I'm not really seeing it. And if I hadn't seen either of these, and my boss ordered me to implement something like them, I almost guarantee I'd use similar names for things because those are the common terms for them in industry.

Honestly, I'm not invested in either of these. They both look nifty, but I couldn't personally care less if either (or both or neither) of these catch on and become standards. I'm only commenting here because your statement here and on the linked discussion[2] ("it's almost a verbatim copy") seems incredibly aggressive, and to me, quite offputting. They don't look alike at all to me, other than that they both aim to do similar things and thus will have some natural overlap in terminology.

[0]https://secretspec.dev/concepts/declarative/

[1]https://github.com/jdx/fnox

[2]https://github.com/jdx/mise/discussions/6779#discussioncomme...
by lxgr | 2025-10-27 19:45:44+00:00
> That is the correct and only sane way to determine date format, timezone is not the same as formatting preference.

That's unfortunate, but then wouldn't the sane way for localization-aware software be to ask the user and not make any such assumptions?

> Assuming you're using the en-US locale, have you tried using the en-CA locale? It has ISO8601 formatted dates, and is otherwise pretty similar to the en-US locale.

Thanks, I'll give that a try tomorrow! If my log exploring UI of, well, not quite choice actually respects that, I'll be very grateful :)
by akshatjiwan | 2025-10-27 19:45:44+00:00
Rousseau was famous for saying that man is born free and is everywhere in chains. He advocated for self rule and formulation of laws by the people. Yet after 100s of years of democracy (thousands really) the corrupting influence of social norms has not really been remedied.

Inequalities still exist,corruption still happens and social institutions that were once liberating become oppressive over time.

His ideal of self governance has not been realised as most nation states have adopted a representative democracy. People don't really make the rules. They just handover the power to someone else who makes them on their behalf.

It's certainly right that Franklin believed in practicing virtue. He famously kept a log of his good and bad actions.

Yet there is another great philosopher that has had tremendous impact on American society whom the author has not mentioned. Emerson believed in transcending societal definition of virtue and vice and follow one's own inclinations. His ideas of self reliance resonated with American people and brought about a change in their thinking when they started to believe in themselves rather than looking to Europe for intellectual guidance.

I find it difficult to accept either Franklin's or Rousseau's view as they were more politically motivated—Rousseau wanted his social contract,Franklin worshiped Socrates but when it came to governence he kicked him aside to chose democracy,an idea that was popular at the time due to thinkers like Locke.

Emerson gave people true agency over their lives and inspired them to think critically and not sheepishly believe a thing to be good or bad. He was more revolutionary than Franklin (Self reliance was released around the time of civil war) and gave people courage to question institutional authority and he eventually became more impactful than Rousseau's collectivism.
by filleduchaos | 2025-10-27 19:45:46+00:00
Of course you no longer have to actually try anything and give it a good-faith evaluation before criticising it. If it's different, then it de facto sucks.

This stance is not necessarily wrong - life is short, after all, and not every cup of tea has to be drunk from - but it does make finding useful criticism in a haystack of generic talking points rather difficult.
by gr4vityWall | 2025-10-27 19:46:01+00:00
That article reads like it was AI-generated.

> a slow-loading app isn’t just an annoyance. It’s a liability.

> the issues I was seeing with Next.js weren’t specific to Next.js. They were fundamental to React’s architecture.

> The real performance story isn’t splitting hairs over 3ms differences, it’s the massive gap between next-gen and React/Angular.
by tasuki | 2025-10-27 19:46:16+00:00
Heh, nice. I suppose that was AI-generated? Your beginning:

> It appears inconsiderate—perhaps even dismissive—to present me, a human being with unique thoughts, humor, contradictions, and experiences, with content that reads as though it were assembled by a lexical randomizer.

I like that beginning than the original:

> It seems so rude and careless to make me, a person with thoughts, ideas, humor, contradictions and life experience to read something spit out by the equivalent of a lexical bingo machine because you were too lazy to write it yourself.

No one's making anyone read anything (I hope). And yes, it might be inconsiderate or perhaps even dismissive to present a human with something written by AI. The AI was able to phrase this much better than the human! Thank you for presenting me with that, I guess?
by skissane | 2025-10-27 19:46:26+00:00
> "Our customers aren't in UTC" is often a compelling reason.

This doesn’t work as soon as you become a global business… because if you tell a customer in Asia that it resets at midnight in some US timezone, what are they going to think?

Many people will accept UTC because it is the international standard. Everyone will accept “let each customer pick the timezone that works best for them”. Saying “I’m going to use a US timezone because that is easiest for our US customers” risks sending a message to your (now or future) global customers that you view them as second-class citizens.
by sandworm101 | 2025-10-27 19:47:04+00:00
Now, for a similar price, you can buy a hydraulic cutter powered by a hand pump. They also come with replaceable jaws so you dont wreck your cutters when attacking a hard lock.

https://www.amazon.com/Lothee-Hydraulic-Cutting-Portable-Han...

And there are powered models too. The 3-foot snippers are long out of date for thieves.