MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by Y444 | 2025-12-15 17:23:02+00:00
TL;DR you have to be like Duolingo only if you plan to monetize like them.

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I think it totally depends on your goals, let's try breaking down why Duolingo is doing what they're doing, and then we'll try to map it onto your own goals.

So, Duolingo monetises via mostly subscriptions, this means that their sales funnel is something like UA channels -> conversion to install -> conversion to subscription -> conversion to renewal.

Leaving out the first two steps (it's marketing I am not competent enough to discuss them), we arrive at "conversion to subscription". The only thing I'll mention regarding user acquisition is that we have to keep in mind, that users from standard marketing channels are always less motivated/interested in a product, that organic users, who are actively seeking the solution for their so called "pains".

In order to convert a user to a subscriber, one has to have an appealing value proposition, which for Duolingo is something like "learn the language in a really fun and engaging way", they support this proposition by including gamification elements, both mechanical (streaks, lives, mini-games) and narrative (cast of characters).

The perceived value for a user also becomes more apparent the more the user interacts with an app (see metrics like time spent, retention rate, stickiness). Thus, the aforementioned gamification mechanics also serve retention purposes (namely, the main thing - the streak) both between sessions and inside a single session.

So the more a user is with Duolingo, the more value she perceives in it ("sunken cost" fallacy also comes into play here), and the more the probability she will subscribe.

---

Now, coming back to your question. From your post I see that you're talking about "today's market" so I assume you want to sell it somehow.

You face a choice:

- Go standard UA route, acquiring users via ads, this will potentially get you a lot of traffic, if you have money to spend. Downside: you have to have A LOT of money to spend in order to make positive ROI, as ad traffic is not as motivated, and you'll have hard time making these people convert to paid users without all that fluff Duolingo is doing. Sure "calm tech" is sort of popular thing nowadays, you can play off of that, but still, you have to convince these people to stay with you, learn the value of your thing and eventually pay for it.

– Target a niche in a non-traditional way, via Reddit (though it is not that non-traditional way nowadays), communities etc. Basically direct sales. This way might get you much more focused audience who will gladly be your paying customers. Those people will NOT need bells and whistles. Downside: you really have to nail the solution for them, or they'll get back to their custom Anki decks.
by justin66 | 2025-12-15 17:23:09+00:00
Is there anything on that site that would, as I asked, factor in dividends when analyzing the company's performance? It's a classic problem when comparing stock charts with one another (or against the index) that they don't take into account dividends in a meaningful way.

"Wow, that line has been flat for a long time! Why does anyone think this is a good investment?"

(not meant to be a commentary on Xerox's performance at all - they're clearly in a bad state right now)
by wat10000 | 2025-12-15 17:23:14+00:00
I get that. But you're the one who brought up my experiences in the first place! The last few messages have been, essentially, "Doctors need advertising to find new treatments just like you need advertising to find plumbers." "I don't need, and actively avoid using, advertising to find plumbers." "Your experience isn't comparable, it's not relevant to doctors finding medical treatments." Followed by many repetitions of the last part. I get it. The part I don't get is why I'm supposed to believe advertising is good for doctors, given your previous argument made no sense (what with comparing it to my own experience with advertising) and you haven't given a new one.
by anonnon | 2025-12-15 17:23:16+00:00
There's a synthetic opioid called MPPP, which, if inappropriately synthesized (IIRC, using too much heat in one step), yields MPTP, which is non-toxic in and of itself, but has the ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, where it is then metabolized into MPP+, which is potently neurotoxic to the dopaminergic neurons of the Substantia Nigra, reliably producing a Parkinsonism in those exposed to it (from wikipedia):

>The chloride salt of MPP+ found use in the 1970s as an herbicide under the common name cyperquat.[4][3] Though no longer in use as an herbicide, cyperquat's closely related structural analog paraquat still finds widespread usage, raising some safety concerns.

EDIT: the neurotoxicity of MPTP was discovered after a number of heroin addicts developed a sudden, irreversible Parkinsonism after injecting bad batches: https://archive.org/details/TheCaseoftheFrozenAddict

The doctor featured in that NOVA episdoe summarizes the history of MPTP and its relevance to Parkinson's research and epidemiology here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5345642/

> Over the last two centuries the pendulum of opinion has swung widely as to whether the cause of PD was due to genetics or environment causes [69]. While MPTP has not yet been found in the native environment, beginning in the 1980s the pendulum swung dramatically in the direction of the environmental hypothesis, spurred not only by the observation that a simple pyridine (MPTP) could induce so many of the features of PD, but also the striking similarity between its toxic metabolite, MPP+ and paraquat (differing only by one methyl group) [70], an herbicide that is used worldwide. Since that time, a large number of studies have shown pesticide exposure is a risk factor for PD [71]. Interesting, this risk is enhanced by the presence of certain genetic variants [72], consistent to the adage that “genetics load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger”.
by mikkupikku | 2025-12-15 17:23:33+00:00
> Most countries draw the line at aiding and abetting foreign harm to your own country, no matter how justified

On the books maybe. But for instance, America defines treason so narrowly that nobody has been convicted of it since WW2. Americans are free to sing praise of China, Russia, North Korea, whoever they like no matter how unjustified. Unless Congress has declared a war, which hasn't happened since WW2, you can talk as much smack about America or praise opposing regimes as much as you like.
by oblio | 2025-12-15 17:23:44+00:00
The US managed the assemble an alliance of the... let's count them:

Based on military ranking:

#5 SK, #6 UK, #7 France, #8 Japan, #9 Turkey, #10 Italy, #11 Brazil, #12 Pakistan, #14 Germany, #15 Israel, #17 Spain, #18 Australia, and if it were allowed to, #20 Ukraine.

Based on economic power: I won't even bother, only China, India, Russia aren't US allies in the top 30 or so, by GDP.

The US was a world police but it wasn't alone. Yes, it was far bigger than all its allies taken separately, but those allies could more than double its power.

What the US is doing now is a tragedy that will unfold over many decades.

[1] Based on https://www.businessinsider.com/most-powerful-militaries-202... (if you have a better ranking, please link it).
by foxrider | 2025-12-15 17:23:50+00:00
SATA SSDs have one advantage though - their size. You don't see m.2 form factor SSDs going well over 8TBs, but for a larger SATA drive you can find >8TBs easily. Samsung had the best offering for this recently - Samsung SSD 870 QVO The enterprise world has U2, but us plebs don't really have a comparable alternative.
by benterix | 2025-12-15 17:23:58+00:00
> The article explicitly argues against the use of GUIDs as primary keys, and I'm arguing for it.

Let's clarify things.

The author argues against UUIDv4 as primary keys when compared to integers or bigints in large databases for performance reasons.

The examples you give refer to the common mistake of using a non-unique attribute that can be changed for a given entity as a primary key.
by 0x3f | 2025-12-15 17:24:31+00:00
Of course it's possible to get a fair and just trial in China, since that can happen even coincidentally to the process. E.g. I'm sure an actual murderer has been given a just punishment in China, at some point in the history of the Chinese legal system.

Is it possible to get a fair trial if you're an enemy of the state? Well... what defines fair and just? In accordance with the will of the Chinese people? Or are we talking about Western standards?
by infecto | 2025-12-15 17:24:37+00:00
It is a mixed bag but the way it’s handled and marketed in the US is absolutely a sham. Consumers are led to feel good that they are recycling when often that item is getting tossed in the landfill.

But your callouts don’t make sense to me. Paper is rarely economical. We were mostly shipping it to China for the longest time. Only like 8% of plastics in the US are recycled. Most local waste systems don’t bother because the cost to sort far exceeds the value of the plastic. That’s the sham part and it’s prevalent across the country. The only reason tires work is because of government programs.

Again I am not saying recycling is bad but I wish in the US it was clearer and more strict. I would rather my local trash pickup tell me exactly what they want instead of following the propaganda that I can throw in paper and plastics when I know they are mostly throwing those in the dump.
by nograpes | 2025-12-15 17:24:45+00:00
Okay, so I don't really understand what you're saying, but let me take a stab at it.

Somebody named GI Gurdjieff wrote a book "Meetings with Remarkable Men" in 1923, and in that book there was a kind of story in the introduction. That story attempted to distnguish between two different ways of life: a Western, "knowing" way and an Eastern "being" way.

The story basically involves a young sparrow eating cork which he thought was leftover thrown-out porridge and gets sick. Then an old sparrow says that in the old days, whenever a horse pooped you could always be sure to get undigested oats from it, but now when a car lets anything out, there is nothing to be had.

I guess the symbolism is that Gurdjieff was saying that the modern culture is deceptive in the sense that the "new" cork is not the same as the "old" porridge. So modern (Western) culture is poison, old (Eastern) culture provides sustenance.

And the connection to the posted article is that the "cork" is like the textbook definitions that Feynman described, while the "porridge" is like "true understanding/incorporation" of knowledge.

Is that what you were getting at?
by vignesh-prasad | 2025-12-15 17:24:52+00:00
I tried building a learning app (iraproject.com) for students and eventually the market just pushed me towards gamification and traditional school methods. I held out for a year but at some point I needed to pay the bills. If you're able to I'd encourage you to stay true to your values but know that it takes a lot of time and patience to make it work.
by triceratops | 2025-12-15 17:24:58+00:00
Let's summarize:

airstrike: zero taxes on capital are a bad idea

mike_hearn: Switzerland has no capital gains taxes and it's great.

triceratops: Ok but it still taxes capital.

mike_hearn: I live in Switzerland. No capital gains taxes are great and everywhere other than Switzerland has a lower tax rate for them than income because we want more capital gains. Also wealth taxes can cause startup founders to be taxed heavily.

There's a bit of a disconnect here. You're arguing against multiple strawmen IMO.

Outside Switzerland the current situation is: regular people pay high income taxes while they work, then somewhat lower capital gains taxes in retirement. Ultrawealthy people pay far less of both because they have ways to avoid them (keep employment income low, borrow against wealth instead of selling it).

In Switzerland, since the wealth is straight up taxed, even if at a lower rate (I ran the Swiss wealth tax numbers myself a while ago and you're right it really is a very small amount. I pay way more in capital gains taxes) there are fewer games. Everyone pays taxes on what they make or own.

The startup wealth tax problem has another solution: allow payment in non-voting startup shares, instead of liquid cash. The shares go into a sovereign wealth fund. The government either reaps a windfall eventually alongside the founder, or it misses out on tax revenue it shouldn't have collected anyway (if you look at it from the fairness point of view).
by embedding-shape | 2025-12-15 17:24:59+00:00
> In your Typescript example, the solution would be to use your IDE to refactor hosts to hostnames

Yeah, sure, and with LLMs you can do this, and you can do that. But if we're talking about languages and their features, relying on IDE features feels slightly off-topic.

But regardless, changes is changes, no matter if you, your IDE or your LLM made them. So even if your IDE makes the changes, it seems at least you can now agree that there are more changes needed, it's just that with TypeScript you have a editor who can help you refactor, and with JavaScript you haven't yet found an editor that can do so.

> So I don't need to bother writing tests for "what if this parameter isn't set" or "what if this function returns something unexpected".

Yeah, those unit tests does nothing, and people who write in dynamic languages don't write tests like that either. You test actual logic, in unit tests, and you rely on the signals that gives you.

In fact, I could bet you that if you and me both sat down and wrote the exact same application, one in JS and one in TS, we'd end up with more or less the same amount of unit tests, yet the JS codebase will be a lot more flexible once product requirements start to change.

But again, YMMV and all that, it's a highly personal preference. I don't think there is a ground truth here, different minds seem to prefer different things. I mostly work in environments where the requirements can change from day to day, and being able to adopt to those without introducing new issues is the most important thing for me, so with JS I stay.
by treyd | 2025-12-15 17:25:01+00:00
> Some people absolutely refuse to believe it though.

Who says this? I've never seen someone argue it makes it impossible to write incorrect code. If that were the case then there's no reason for it to have an integrated unit testing system. That would be an absurd statement to make, even if you can encode the entire program spec into the type system, there's always the possibly the description of a solution is not aligned with the problem being solved.
by butlike | 2025-12-15 17:25:15+00:00
You make a couple of good points. The necessity to commit a felony in the name of healthcare as traveling to get an abortion is shameful. I can't believe it's come to that. Have people been rounded up into camps and exterminated for innate human qualities and beliefs? Yes. And it's disgusting I have to type that as well.

But beyond that I disagree with your sentiment.

These things need to be stopped as they come. Withholding data and living a life of fearful "what ifs" cannot preemptively stop atrocity. Of course I'll never know what past information can be used against me in the future; weaponized in ways I cannot fathom. It's a possibility. Hindsight is 20/20, but "you can't predict the future," so how would I know? I have to live my life. I gotta do SOMETHING.

The crux of all of those "what ifs" is beholden to if the person correlating that data has social agency to act upon it. If that's the case, anyone could be my next predator. Anyone could be the next Hitler waiting to exterminate me based on my non-citizen camaraderie or political leanings.

Data is just a predictor, it is not the truth. If my life provided a data point for a yet-to-be-born hostile dictator to perjure me, I will deal with that when it comes, but I can't live my life out of fear.
by philistine | 2025-12-15 17:25:46+00:00
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2021-supermicro/?embedded...

Bloomberg has come out with the linked story in 2021. They have never provided any other detail; no other journalist has been able to corroborate anything advanced in the story. Through grapevines, we've been able to ascertain that Bloomberg based the whole story on a single source that they massively misunderstood.

That story is the worst case scenario, and thank god, it's extremely rare to find such a blunder. Reading the comments here, you'd think half the reporting in the world is exactly as wrong as that one single thing.
by btilly | 2025-12-15 17:26:18+00:00
This idea comes for free if you're also using hot water in radiators as a way to heat your home at the same time. Which the Soviets did. And in the Soviet era, they also were generally heating that water at the district level, then circulating it to all of the homes. This can only be workable if you're pumping the water continuously. So the cost of the pumping is just part of the overall system.

Places where this was built up, still generally use it today.

In the USA, nobody ever built the district wide heaters. Nor would they be viable in the suburbs that many of us live in. We generally use central air instead of radiators to heat our houses. And the result is that constantly circulating hot water is significantly more expensive for us.

Does that answer your question?
by pavel_lishin | 2025-12-15 17:26:30+00:00
> Are there any other benefits?

> Additional benefits include professional development opportunities, networking with government and industry leaders, and a pathway to continued public service or private sector careers.

Given the lack of mention of any benefits prior to this, it sure sounds like "you'll get lots of exposure!"

edit: not sure if they just added it, or if I just missed it, but there is an FAQ entry on compensation:

> Compensation varies based on experience level and agency placement. Annual salaries are expected to be in the approximate range of $150,000 to $200,000. Benefits include health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and eligibility for performance-based awards.
by glenstein | 2025-12-15 17:26:35+00:00
This is why I think Conway's Game of Life is beautiful, as a toy model of simple rules giving rise to spectacular complexity. And how the "resolution" at which it's able to achieve replicators and factories is impressively basic, and if you grant that you can scale up several orders of magnitude from the game of life to entire systems of interacting "factories", it's not a stretch to see how those mechanisms can make up something like cells that drive biology.

A Conway "glider" has been found in nature(!!) [1], and if you combine that with an intuition from the "Size of Life" model also recently posted to hn [2], it's easy to get an intuition for how simple principles can lead to astonishing complexity. Even just scaling from DNA to Mitochondria is scaling up in size 200x. An amoeba is another 300x scaling up and if my chatGPTing is right, scaling up to a mouse is like 63,000x larger than a mitochondrion.

If you imagine zooming out from a grid of dots, like zooming out from Google Maps from a street level to planet level, there's plenty of room for physical interaction to work its magic. You just have to have to be able to comprehend the staggering scales. I worry that the "more is different" crowd haven't really appreciated the staggering scales involved or get lost in the act of romanticising it that "it can't be reductionist" is a lost persons way of saying they appreciate complexity.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46137253 [2] https://neal.fun/size-of-life/

Edit: Conway's glider was not found in nature, my mistake. But for a different example serving the same purpose, cellular automata modeling a "triforce" pattern of repeating triangles has been found in nature, off the top of my head.
by 1vuio0pswjnm7 | 2025-12-15 17:26:39+00:00
Considering how it must be getting hammered what with the "AI" nonsense, it's interesting how crt.sh continues to remain usable, particularly the (limited) direct PostgresSQL db access

To me, this is evidence that SQL databases with high traffic can be made directly accessible on the public internet

crt.sh seems to be more accessible at certain times of the day. I can remember when it had no such accessibility issues
by danjl | 2025-12-15 17:26:39+00:00
I did some consulting for Jimmy at Apple Daily, and he took me out to the best street-food lunches I ever had. His car took us to a busy street corner, where four of us had a huge lunch for two hours while the car disappeared. When the car magically showed up at the end, Jimmy told me that he paid ~$20 for that amazing food for all of us. No pretense. A lovely man. Very sad.
by roywiggins | 2025-12-15 17:26:42+00:00
And when a cop tries to do something about it, this is the sort of thing that happens. This guy seems like he's trying to do the right thing, but the system is designed so he can't:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/04/nypd-lawsuit...

> Bianchi claims his superiors retaliated against him for his stance against the “corrupt” cards after he was warned by an official with the Police Benevolent Association, New York City’s largest police union, that he would not be protected by his union if he wrote tickets for people with cards. And if he continued, he’d be reassigned... The lawsuit cites several instances where his NYPD colleagues complained about his ticket-writing, including on Facebook...

> Bianchi’s service as a traffic cop ended last summer when he wrote a ticket to a friend of the NYPD’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, the lawsuit states.
by JoshGlazebrook | 2025-12-15 17:27:33+00:00
Datapoint: I've used my Roborock s7 max ultra in three different households (2 houses, 1 apartment) and have had zero issues with this.

It actually was night and day compared to the $1000 equivalent roomba I had at the time. lidar is the game changer in this space, and roomba was complacent with their technology.
by rhgraysonii | 2025-12-15 17:27:38+00:00
The value is in the in the moment weights and decision making so it builds it in a living fashion as it sits now.

It wouldn’t be hard to make a skill that went through and did this at a basic level if you have a good healthy and well organized git history (most people don’t)

There is already tooling to link commits to nodes and re author chains so you could tell it to explore and start making this.

I might do an experiment trying this with an existing project in the OSS ecosystem tonight, sounds fun
by jrowen | 2025-12-15 17:28:25+00:00
Gamify it like Super Mario Brothers is a game. Concepts like "fun" and "progress" are good. Nagging, begging, and creating false urgency are bad. Gamification is fine if it doesn't "take over," which it will when business people are running the show.

I feel like there was a time when those coding problem websites with points and leaderboards and such struck a good balance between learning and a game. Then they seemingly all got co-opted by the interview prep industry.
by everfrustrated | 2025-12-15 17:28:54+00:00
Doesnt "Metal" infer you get the whole box to yourself? Curious if my definitions are different to others here because I don't get what's "Metal" about sharing an instance with others.

You're still sharing nvme IO, cpu, memory bandwidth, etc. Not having a VM isn't really the point. (EDIT: and could have been done with non-metal aws instances with direct-attached nvme anyway)
by drdeca | 2025-12-15 17:29:08+00:00
Suppose you have a system where 1 actor is bad, and 500000 actors are “good except that they protect that one guy”, and then the one guy dies of a freak heart attack, and then all but one of the 500000 are replaced with “good actors” except that they defend the guy who remains from the 500000.

Are they bad actors?