MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by herbertl | 2025-12-29 15:49:15+00:00
While this is a super interesting post, and worth contemplating, I do not think it is a useful story for the majority of aspiring writers, who often are very good at thinking themselves into a creative block. (Aspiring writer being someone who wants to write, but isn't writing yet)

> Programs like NaNoWriMo mislead aspiring writers. "Write every day" is great advice, but the first 90% of writing a book is often not writing -- it's thinking/planning/researching. There are other golf clubs in that bag. Many writers only start "writing" once their ball is very nearly in the hole.

To use the author's analogy, NaNoWriMo is useful for encouraging the aspiring writer to actually show up tothe golf course or the rowboat, because most people who want to write have talked themselves out of it.

(I would be curious to learn more about the "many writers" claim.)

It's also worth considering how writing a book/post/whatever contributes to an overarching body of work. Two quotes come to mind:

“Every novelist spends their life writing the same story over and over.” Danielle Chelosky https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/writer-and-music-j...

“My subject matter doesn’t vary so much from book to book. Just the surface does. The settings, etc. I tend to write the same book over and over, or at least, I take the same subject I took last time out and refine it, or do a slightly different take on it,” Kazuo Ishiguro says to The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/live/2015/jan/16/kazuo-ish...

I think it's more useful to see writing literally as part of the thinking/planning/researching process, not as separate from it and thus soil for a creative block.
by NickC25 | 2025-12-29 15:49:36+00:00
Thing is though, the more you play, the more expectations you have (or don't have depending on your seriousness).

I used to play frequently, and would be constantly unhappy with my round because I put effort into the game. Due to costs increasing, job being more demanding, and just having other things to do, I've golfed very little this year.

I've played 2 full rounds this year, spent very little time on the range (much more on the putting green, as my residential building has a small turf green that I can just noodle around on at any time) and expected zero from each round.

Ironically, those two rounds have been by and far the best rounds I've ever played in my life. For one of those rounds, I actually took a small-ish but still decently sized dose of magic mushrooms. 2 of my playing group were serious golfers and completely sober, and they were blown away by how relaxed i was when i was tripping. I was calm, relaxed, and enjoying my golf but still completely locked in and focused, and still tripping. I was like +6 through the front 9 from back tees, which in my book is fucking amazing as I generally shoot low 90s.
by jeffbee | 2025-12-29 15:49:51+00:00
There's no contradiction, no missing link in the facts of the story. They have a huge program, it is 2GiB minus epsilon of .text, and a much larger amount of DWARF stuff. The article is about how to use different code models to potentially go beyond 2GiB of text, and the size of the DWARF sections is irrelevant trivia.
by ncallaway | 2025-12-29 15:50:14+00:00
> People keep asking AI coding tools to be something other than what they currently are.

I think it's for a very reasonable reason: the AI coding tool salespeople are often selling the tools as something other than what they currently are.

I think you're right, that if you calibrate your expectations to what the tools are capable of, there's definitely. It would be nice if the marketing around AI also did the same thing.
by hdgvhicv | 2025-12-29 15:50:15+00:00
That jhst highlights the difference. In Europe people are concerned about whether something is available. They aren’t interested if the book was banned by a federal government or a school librarian, it’s still banned.

American view is that private companies banning something or spying on someone is fine as long as it’s not the government doing it.

It comes down to the accountability. Europeans tend to believe in the ability to hold large organisation to account via the ballot box, Americans prefer the free market.

What we see in the U.K. is a view shared by most people that incitement to violence, glorifying terror etc is illegal. Americans are happy to have Musk or Zuck do the censorship instead, with them being able to use their wallets to hold them accountable.
by the_af | 2025-12-29 15:50:21+00:00
Wow.

From one of the comments there:

> When people take a picture on the moon, they want a cool looking picture of the moon, and every time I have take a picture of the moon, on what is a couple of year old phone which had the best camera set up at the time, it looks awful, because the dynamic range and zoom level required is just not at all what smart phones are good at.

> Hence they solved the problem and gave you your picture of the moon. Which is what you wanted, not a scientifically accurate representation of the light being hit by the camera sensor. We had that, it is called 2010.

Where does one draw the line though? This is a kind of lying, regardless of the whole discussion about filters and photos always being an interpretation of raw sensor data and whatnot.

Again, where does one draw the line? The person taking a snapshot of the moon expects a correlation between the data captured by the sensor and whatever they end up showing their friends. What if the camera only acknowledged "ok, this user is trying to photograph the moon" and replaced ALL of the sensor data with a library image of the moon it has stored in its memory? Would this be authentic or fake? It's certainly A photo of the moon, just not a photo taken with the current camera. But the user believes it's taken with their camera.

I think this is lying.
by phkx | 2025-12-29 15:50:47+00:00
It appears that the ruling regarding the rapes was not so straight forward [1], certainly not something that you can use as a one-line argument. There are also other articles describing what presumably happened there in 2020. Regarding the case of 'Maja R.', here's a summary [2] (e.g. she didn't show up for the first two hearings [3] - that would certainly raise the anger of the righteous if somebody not in their favor did that).
I'm in doubt whether this one case (it was also brought up in context of migration here on HN recently) is sufficient to prove the downward spiral that some people claim to perceive.

[1]: https://www.mopo.de/hamburg/details-aus-dem-prozess-darum-ka...
[2]: https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/a/57113
[3]: https://www.mopo.de/hamburg/ehrloses-vergewaltigerschwein-20...
by dboreham | 2025-12-29 15:50:47+00:00
This comment is wrong in two ways:

1. Current LLMs do much better than produce "small programs that already exist in multiple forms in the training data". Of course the knowledge they use does need to exist somewhere in training data, but they operate at a higher level of abstraction than simply spitting out programs they've already seen whole cloth. Way higher.

2. Inventing a new compression algorithm is beyond the expectations of all but the the most wild-eyed LLM proponents, today.
by boplicity | 2025-12-29 15:51:14+00:00
To be clear, I see a lot of "magical thinking" among people who promote AI. They imagine a "perfect" AI tool that can basically do everything better than a human can.

Maybe this is possible. Maybe not.

However, it's a fantasy. Granted, it is a compelling fantasy. But its not one based on reality.

A good example:

"AI will probably be smarter than any single human next year. By 2029, AI is probably smarter than all humans combined.” -- Elon Musk

This is, of course, ridiculous. But, why should we let reality get in the way of a good fantasy?
by vmurthy | 2025-12-29 15:51:43+00:00
You’ve gone from corruption (which I agree with) to something about dominant religion thinking of truth and morality as subjective ( which is debatable as you have cited nothing - infact seems like it’s your opinion and nothing else) to low trust ( which I agree with). What’s the logical link to cities being unlivable? The article says that mayors and councillors lack powers which is the major problem.
by MrMember | 2025-12-29 15:52:16+00:00
I'm a big fan of Garmin watches, it's really impressive what they've built. They're responsive, they have the smart features I want without the bloat I don't want, the battery lasts forever (if I don't use GPS at all it lasts something ridiculous like three weeks, with GPS it's still around a week). And they're so good I don't feel any urge to upgrade to a newer model even though the one I currently have came out in 2019. I bought it "renewed" 2.5 years ago at a significant discount and I could see myself happily using it for at least another 4-5 years.
by matrss | 2025-12-29 15:52:21+00:00
The DB AG has been specifically founded to be "market-oriented" and profit-making, so yes, it is true.

I am sure the state could try to do _something_ about it, but I am also sure that a very strong car lobby here in Germany is working against that. BTW, the road network, which I would consider to conceptually be the same kind of infrastructure as the rail network, is to my understanding mostly built and maintained by state organizations, so it is possible to do it that way.

I guess it is also harder to market "let's subsidize this private company with tax payer money so they can continue to offer mediocre service" to voters, compared to "let's use tax payer money to build and maintain one-of-a-kind critical infrastructure from which everyone (with a car, which due to the less-than-great alternatives is a lot of people) can profit".

Again, having it organized as a private company adds indirection, diffuses power and responsibility, and adds a certain more or less implicit expectation of what private companies are supposed to do. That's my main issue with it. Private companies aren't supposed to run critical infrastructure as a monopoly for profit. It's the states job to provide and maintain critical infrastructure in the interest of all.
by Kim_Bruning | 2025-12-29 15:53:32+00:00
Every country is different and you need to learn slightly different ways of dealing with them in each. On a bad day it can be pretty exhausting.

It turns out, people everywhere want the same things, in the end. They just go about them differently.

In Germany, it often helps frame it as both of you trying to work with the rules together; as a framework to build within and on, rather than a cage to hold you in.

Doesn't always work. Nothing works all the time, (especially if the other person is having a bad day themselves and just wants it to be over). But if it helps even once eh?
by MrDarcy | 2025-12-29 15:53:41+00:00
This comment sparked curiosity about the distribution of support needs among autistic people. My hypothesis is those people with high support needs are in the minority and those without are the plurality.

After digging into it, the hypothesis holds. Most autistic people win this lottery you speak of.

Roughly 25–35% of diagnosed autistic people require substantial, ongoing support (e.g., daily assistance, supervised living, or full-time caregiving).

About 30–40% have co-occurring intellectual disability, which strongly correlates with higher support needs.

Roughly 60–75% do not have intellectual disability. Many in this group: Live independently or semi-independently. Work (often underemployed). Mask heavily and are diagnosed late—or never diagnosed.
by MontyCarloHall | 2025-12-29 15:53:54+00:00
Might the creator of Claude Code have some … incentives … to develop like that, or at least claim that he does?

As someone who frequently uses Claude Code, I cannot say that a year's worth of features/improvements have been added in the last month. It bears repeating: if AI is truly a 10x force multiplier, you should expect to see a ~year's worth of progress in a month.
by elAhmo | 2025-12-29 15:54:08+00:00
Hah! We had the same situation taking a train from Marseille to Paris. Looked at the seats, entered the proper carriage, sit down, and at the next stop someone came and told us we took their seats. I was like 'this is 74B' (or whatever), 'the ticket is for that seat', until someone managed to tell us that we got in the wrong part of the train, and we need to move forward.

Now, the train itself was two trains connected together, and at the next stop we literally had to run like 100 meters or so to make it on time to enter the front part, because there was engine near the end/stop.

Not sure would the 2nd half of the train depart, but it was super stressful experience.
by sailingparrot | 2025-12-29 15:54:20+00:00
The author is talking about progress within one game/set/race not over the long term. In lifting during your first rep you can notice that your stance was slightly too wide and adjust it for the other 4 reps. Just like in rowing if your first paddle is a bit out of sync you can fix it.

The point is those are activities with highly repetitive efforts and you can adjust after each one with feedback.

Golfing is not like this, if you miss your first swing, you can’t micro adjust for the second one, because it’s going to take place in a completely different condition.
by cube2222 | 2025-12-29 15:54:27+00:00
> If AI coding is so great and is going to take us to 10x or 100x productivity

That seems to be a strawman here, no? Sure, there exist people/companies claiming 10x-100x productivity improvements. I agree it's bullshit.

But the article doesn't seem to be claiming anything like this - it's showing the use of vibe-coding for a small personalized side-project, something that's completely valid, sensible, and a perfect use-case for vibe-coding.
by the_af | 2025-12-29 15:54:50+00:00
Sidestepping the whole discussion about "fake" and "real" images, I think what matters is what degree of correlation is there, if any, between the raw sensor data and the final photo you show your friends.

Raw data requires interpretation, no argument there.

But when AI starts making stuff up out of nowhere, it becomes a problem. Again, some degree of making up stuff is ok, but AI often crosses the line. When it diverges enough from what was captured by the sensor, it crosses firmly into "made up" territory.
by daveguy | 2025-12-29 15:54:57+00:00
You can explain it away all you want. Those sources are garbage. They pay for stories, don't confirm sources, or do anything else required of journalism. I get you may be GenZ and have been fed garbage soup your whole life about how "all news bad", but fyi there are still some publications with journalistic standards. You might as well add the National Enquirer from the US. Your sources are such sensationalist rags that they were selling attention long before the internet.

It's not ad-hominem it's ad-practices. For all you know every single one of those articles is based on the same half-baked rumor.
by cmehdy | 2025-12-29 15:55:10+00:00
I'm French and I used to have some proficiency in Japanese (lived there).

When I bought a laptop in Japan it came with a QWERTY and kana keyboard, with a sane way to write in three languages on any OS that turned out to be US international with a quick switch for kana.
Immediately got used to it and never looked back.

AZERTY used to cause problems with software that assumes QWERTY with no way to remap keys. Hardware availability is also maximal for QWERTY, for example when trying to buy a laptop on sale.

These days I only speak English and French so I dropped the kana. I'm not sure I can even be comfortable on AZERTY anymore these days.
by commandersaki | 2025-12-29 15:55:35+00:00
I don't have any data either, but I don't think DNS is perceptible as something that is fast or slow, considering that the vast amount of recursive servers which is what clients connect to, aggressively cache. Add to this that most have a low latency connection to their DNS server whether it be their last mile ISP or an anycast provider which is virtually all public resolvers.
by apexalpha | 2025-12-29 15:55:37+00:00
>The DB AG has been specifically founded to be "market-oriented" and profit-making, so yes, it is true.

Again, if the shareholders decide this is the reason: yes.

But shareholders can just as easily set other targets or incentives.

>I guess it is also harder to market "let's subsidize this private company with tax payer money so they can continue to offer mediocre service" to voters,

The government owns DB AG, it is not a private company. It is a public company.
by MisterTea | 2025-12-29 15:55:55+00:00
> "It sure would be a shame to miss that photo! ... And so I did"

Sometimes it's just for you. While walking with a friend last night I passed a home I've probably passed a hundred million times. Though this time, I noticed something, the second floor had a Christmas tree peaking out of a window. At that moment I realized that someone in the folds of Queens NYC took their time to put up this tree leaving the curtains drawn so someone on the street below might look up will and see their tree. It was such a weird little thought that I had to snap a picture even though my first thought was "nah." Will I ever share it? No. There's no reason to. But I have that little snapshot of that scene and the thoughts that came with it.
by howcutend | 2025-12-29 15:55:56+00:00
How cute that you’re “puzzled”. Cool story bro.

Have YOU ever tried interacting with the developers? No?

* They made incredibly poorly designed software — the firmware and the mobile apps — and then yell at you for “using it wrong”
* The refuse to admit they made a mistake with the 7 hop limit and call you an idiot for not believing in their garbage “simulator”
* They write nasty responses to app reviews and GitHub issues because they’re petulant children. Just go read the responses, and look at the hissyfit the of the primary app developer in discord.
* They’ve taken down multiple community groups because they decided they needed to be a business rather than an open-source project. Seriously just go look at the history in their discord #trademark channel. They’re on the verge of evil.

All this stuff is available and just because YOU choose to put your head in the sand doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
by krisoft | 2025-12-29 15:56:24+00:00
> trains should never(TM) stop without a platform if they'd have stopped the train on both sides and some old lady tripped and fell and broke her nose on the rail.

Yes. That is a good reason to not stop without a platform. But I tell you one even better. Look at the layout of the Troisdorf station. There are tracks with platforms, and there are through tracks. The trough tracks are surrounded by live tracks on both sides. If the train stops there, unlocks the doors, and somehow coaxes the people to climb down those people are immediately on a live track. To get off of it they have to cross the track and climb up a raised platform. And who knows when is a train coming on that track. The risk here is not breaking the nose of one old lady (which by the way, can easily kill an old person) but forcing hundreds of passengers into a meat grinder. But go on with your snark.

Dumping people on the tracks is not the solution here. Going beyond the station and stopping there (which is always safe in the "other trains are not going to run into yours" sense, that is what signals are for) then letting the signallers set the points for you to reverse back into the station is the solution.
by zellyn | 2025-12-29 15:56:40+00:00
trifling.org is an entire Python coding site, offline first (localstorage after first load), with docs, turtle graphics, canvas, and avatar editor, vibe coded from start to finish, with all conversations in the GitHub repo here: https://github.com/zellyn/trifling/tree/main/docs/sessions

This is going to destroy my home network, since I never moved it off the little Lenovo box sitting in my laundry room beside the Eero waypoint, but I’m out of town for three days, so

Granted, the seed of the idea was someone posting about how they wired pyiodide to Ace in 400 lines of JavaScript, so I can’t truly argue it’s non-trivial.

As a light troll to hackernews, only AI-written contributions are accepted

[Edit: the true inception of this project was my kid learning Python at school and trinket.io inexplicably putting Python 3 but not 2 behind the paywall. Alas, Securely will not let him and his classmates actually access it ]
by croes | 2025-12-29 15:57:23+00:00
What if one person dies because of this call, what if other peoplre follow your example and more people die?

How about that? The driver asks for you to sacrifice your life then he will stop the train an let 100 people off the train. According to your logic a good choice.

There is a huge difference between wasted time and being dead escpecially for the relarives of the dead. Maybe you should tell your logic to someone who last someone because EMS was late.
by thomastjeffery | 2025-12-29 15:57:32+00:00
Only difficult because the criteria are misaligned. We diagnose school children more consistently, because we subject school children to strict measured criteria (school), and can point to the data (grades/homework) as objective evidence.

Why do we care so much about objective evidence? Because of prohibition. Prescribing stimulants isn't illegal because it is difficult to diagnose ADHD. It's difficult to diagnose ADHD for the very same reason it's illegal to prescribe stimulants: our society values prohibition of drugs over actual healthcare. An ADHD diagnosis implies a compromise of prohibition, so our society has structured the means to that diagnosis accordingly.

Experts in the field estimate a very high incidence of undiagnosed ADHD in adults. During the height of the COVID-19 epidemic, telehealth services were made significantly more available, which lead to a huge spike in adult ADHD diagnoses. Instead of reacting to that by making healthcare more ADHD accessible, our society backslid; lamenting telehealth providers as "pill mills", and generating a medication shortage out of thin air.
by tdullien | 2025-12-29 15:57:33+00:00
The privatization of the train system in Germany was a particularly insane disaster that is only now, 30 years later, being undone/repaired.

If you look at an org chart of the DB these days, the most fascinating part is that DB consists of almost 600 separate corporate entities that are all supposed to invoice each other.

Speaking with insiders, it appears that when the privatization happened, the new corporate structure took what was essentially every mid-size branch of the org chart and created a separate corporate entity, with cross-invoicing for what would normally normal intra-company cooperation. I think the (misguided) goal was to obtain some form of accountability inside a large organisation that had been state-funded and not good at internal accounting.

This fragmentation lead to insane inflexibility, as each of the 600 entities has a separate PnL and is loathe to do anything that doesn’t look good on their books.

Add to this a history of incompetent leadership (Mehdorn, who also ran AirBerlin into the ground, and who was also responsible for the disastrous BER airport build-out), repeated rounds of cost-cutting that prioritized “efficiency” over “resiliency of the network” etc. etc.

DB is currently undergoing a massive corporate restructuring to simplify the 600+ entity structure, but there has been a massive loss of expertise, underinvestment in infrastructure, poor IT (if you see a job ad for a Windows NT4 admin, it’s likely DB), etc. etc. — it’ll take a decade or more to dig the org out of the hole it is in.
by dent9 | 2025-12-29 15:58:10+00:00
This is why you DON'T write system tools in Python in the first place. Use a real language that compiles to a native self contained binary that doesn't need dependency installing. Or you use a container. This has been a solved problem for decades. Python users have been trying to drag the entire computing world backwards this whole time because their insistence on using a toy language invented to be the JavaScript of the server, as an actual production grade bare metal system language