MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by giacomoforte | 2026-01-26 11:21:55+00:00
Are there any remaining western countries with strong free speech protections?

UK and Germany weren't ever good in this department but now worst than ever.

US supposedly good but I wouldn't risk it in practice.

Australia I hear is also quite bad.

Canada and NZ I don't know.

I expect Denmark and Sweden to have somewhat weak free speech laws too.

Norway and Finland I expect to be good.

France I expect to be just slightly better than Germany.

Netherlands and Switzerland, I have no idea.

Czech Republic I think has strong protections.

Italy and Spain and Ireland, I heard mixed reports about.

Poland, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal and other unnamed countries I don't know at all.
by vintermann | 2026-01-26 11:21:58+00:00
And one thing Assange used to say over and over again, was that he was inspired by government attempts to suppress WikiLeaks releases, because that was evidence that they feared the information in them could actually change things. This is pretty much also the main thesis of Chomsky, and many other western dissidents (and some others too, e.g. Ai Weiwei): our leaders are as unaccountable and willing to use brutality as any dictatorship, they just have less reason to.
Ask HN: Grok Code Fast 1 removed?
by alexellisuk | 2026-01-26 11:22:20+00:00
Seems like opencode has removed access to grok code fast 1: https://x.com/alexellisuk/status/2015746264508285263?s=20

Since it had zero data retention, and zero claims to IP rights (ask your favourite LLM to take a look at those Z.ai and similar coding plans, their TOS mean they own everything you upload)

Looking for another model or option for non API-based billing. Or API-based that's very low cost.

Review on PR submission.. https://blog.alexellis.io/ai-code-review-bot/

Short list to look at next.. claude haiku, Gemini, or connecting a Claude Max/Codex 200 USD / mo plan to the review bot - assuming that would work, it runs Claude not some other harness.

Thoughts?
by throwaway290 | 2026-01-26 11:22:49+00:00
> See e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46750452.

I see why your post was flagged. You argued that the Good shooting was justified by referencing a video in which "laywer" (who has links to paypal and patreon, I guess his law career is going great) among other things called her in his words "motorist who was blocking traffic" (ignoring that some other SUV easily drove past Good's car in the same video a few seconds before) and where he said the officer was "trying to get from in front of the car" while the officer clearly was trying to block the car's path while approaching the car. If the officer was trying to unblock the road he would not block the car. If the officer was trying to stop the car he could shoot the tires. It's clear he wanted to kill the driver. And that's not a justification

> Activists have a clear incentive to hide that justification.

Don't forget ANY video you see on social media has incentives for something or something else.
Show HN: CSR vs. SSR Detector
by Brosper | 2026-01-26 11:23:04+00:00
Hi HN

After work I built a small Chrome extension that detects whether a webpage is rendered using Server Side Rendering, Client Side Rendering, or a hybrid approach.

As a frontend developer I often wanted a quick way to check how a site is rendered without opening devtools and digging through network and DOM. This started as a personal after hours project and turned into something I use daily, so I decided to share it.

What it does
• Detects SSR, CSR, or hybrid rendering
• Recognizes frameworks like Next.js, React, Nuxt, Gatsby and others
• Shows basic performance timings like DOM ready and FCP
• Keeps last 10 checks in local history
• Works fully locally with no data collection

Accuracy is based on 15 plus indicators and works surprisingly well across modern stacks.

Everything is open source. No tracking. No external servers. Just a lightweight dev tool.

I recently improved React 18 detection, fixed history display, added better error handling, and cleaned up docs and roadmap.

This is very much a side project made for fun and learning. If it helps even a few devs or SEO folks, I will be happy.

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/csr-vs-ssr-detector...

Feedback and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for checking it out
by tlb | 2026-01-26 11:23:28+00:00
All of which is arguably true, but misses the point that uploading your age verification documents to every social media site you might want to look at is very likely to result in them getting hacked and leaked.

Working with startups, I've signed up for 100s of sites. My password manager lists 550. Those signups are currently low-risk: just my email (already widely public) and a random password. But it would put a big chill on my work if I had to upload government age verification docs to each one.
by breezykoi | 2026-01-26 11:23:34+00:00
For distro-packaged FOSS, binary compatibility isn't really a problem. Distributions like Debian already resolve dependencies by building from source and keeping a coherent set of libraries. Security fixes and updates propagate naturally.

Binary compatibility solutions mostly target cases where rebuilding isn't possible, typically closed source software.
Freezing and bundling software dependencies ultimately creates dependency hell rather than avoiding it.
by cztomsik | 2026-01-26 11:23:43+00:00
I'm following Owain Evans on X and some of the papers they've been sharing are much worse. IIRC there was something with fine-tuning a LLM to be bad actor, then letting it spit out some text, and if that response was copy-pasted into the context of the ORIGINAL LLM (no fine-tune) it was also "infected" with this bad behavior.

And it makes a lot of sense, the pre-training is not perfect, it's just the best of what we can do today and the actual meaning leaks through different tokens. Then, QKV lets you rebuild the meaning from user-provided tokens, so if you know which words to use, you can totally change the behavior of your so-far benign LLM.

There was also paper about sleeper agents and I am by no way a doomer but the LLM security is greatly underestimated, and the prompt injection (which is impossible to solve with current generation of LLMs) is just the tip of the iceberg. I am really scared of what hackers will be able to do tomorrow and that we are handing them our keys willingly.
by kubanczyk | 2026-01-26 11:23:44+00:00
> Flying over a war zone with known anti aircraft missiles is quite different to flying over a low level conflict that is using small arms only.

What was in the news at the time, and the news are still linked from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Donbas#Escalation_in_Ma...

2 June 2014: "Luhansk airstrike"

14 June 2014: "A Ukrainian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76MD was shot down"

20 June 2014: "The insurgents [...] shot down a Su-25 bomber."

14 July 2014: "Ukrainian Air Force launched air strikes targeting insurgent positions across Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. The Ukrainian government said that 500 insurgents were killed"

17 July 2014: "DPR forces shot down a civilian passenger jet, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17"
by bayindirh | 2026-01-26 11:24:13+00:00
I use 90CRI LED lights where I study. They are Philips' non-flickering, dimmable, High CRI bulbs, yet my classic 25W halogen table lamp still provides a far better reading experience. The spiky spectra of LED lights are not comfortable for eyes as a full-spectra incandescent light, let it be classic or halogen.
Show HN: ZigZag – Generate Markdown code reports from directories (Zig)
by anzedev | 2026-01-26 11:24:31+00:00
Hi HN,

I built ZigZag, a command-line tool written in Zig that recursively scans source code
directories and generates a single markdown report containing the code and metadata.

It’s designed to be fast on large codebases and uses:
- Parallel directory and file processing
- A persistent on-disk cache to avoid re-reading unchanged files
- Different file reading strategies based on file size (read vs mmap)
- Timezone-aware timestamps in reports

Each directory produces a report.md with a table of contents, syntax-highlighted code
blocks, file sizes, modification times, and detected language.

Repo: https://github.com/LegationPro/zigzag

I built this mainly for auditing and documenting large repositories.
Feedback, critiques, and ideas are welcome.
by squidbeak | 2026-01-26 11:25:23+00:00
> It's not like they have many options, nor the government trying to stay in power and crush a coup [..]

You are joking: a 'coup'? The protest movement was so large, the government's attempt to crush it killed 30,000 people in 48 hours.

https://time.com/7357635/more-than-30000-killed-in-iran-say-...
by gaygum102 | 2026-01-26 11:25:50+00:00
In a previous post, I introduced how Amplift helps indie developers promote their products. Unlike tools that only focus on creating growth plans, Amplift combines planning, execution, and performance feedback into a single workflow. This allows founders to quickly identify where growth is slowing down and where the product should improve next.

In this post, I’ll focus on how to run influencer marketing with Amplift. In real-world use, influencer outreach is simple in concept but highly repetitive. When working with a large number of creators, communication and follow-ups can take up a huge amount of time. With Amplift, you can reach 100 influencers in just 10 minutes, track collaboration progress, and monitor video performance in one place. This makes the entire process significantly more efficient.

How it works:
1.Click the link below to enter the Influencer Marketing module
2.Enter your product page link and budget
3.Receive a list of influencers that match your requirements
4.Add selected influencers to your outreach list
5.Use one-click outreach, either AI-assisted or manual
6.Track collaboration progress and influencer performance in the dashboard 7.Get real-time optimization suggestions for each stage

Click this link: https://amplift.ai/?utm_source=ycombinator&utm_campaign=post...

As always, if you like the product, comment “interested” and I’ll send you a free redemption code so you can fully try it out. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts！
by graemep | 2026-01-26 11:26:07+00:00
Over only the last 12 months, the comparators only include one other western European economy (so if its hitting France harder, for example, it would not be mentioned), its based on what companies say (which may not be accurate, or even honest). The UK and a number of the other economies in the comparison are just as weak, or weaker, and the UK's unemployment rate is rising from very low levels - unemployment in 2022 was the lowest it had been since the 70s. On the other hand Germany's rate is still higher than the UK's (and has been for many years) and had been rising until recent.

The other data is which jobs have seen the greatest falls in advertised vacancies. If you look at the graph it looks compelling with programmers and management consultants at the bottom - but these are also jobs that were likely to do badly in any downturn anyway.

There are also falls in vacancies for jobs completely unrelated to AI - bar staff, vets, vehicle cleaners, boat builders.... look at the graph on Bloomberg:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-26/ai-job-cu...
by jasonkester | 2026-01-26 11:26:09+00:00
I live near Paris, and it's a shame to see this sort of thing on every surface here. It's so easy and effortless to trash the look of a place, and so much effort and pain to get it back to a presentable state. It just seems hopeless trying to stop it.

Sure, you can point to examples of graffiti that don't look all that bad, and I imagine some examples can even be considered to improve the look of a space. But taking this site as a random sample, the "good" ones are a vanishing minority. For every subtle Invader mosaic high on a building, you get dozens of effortless name tags that just wreck the look of a place.

Adding frustration is the fact that there's no way to effectively dissuade people from doing this. You don't want to fine, jail or otherwise ruin the lives of thousands of kids to get them to stop. You just want them to stop spraypainting shit. It's really the only example I can think of where I'd support some form of corporal punishment. Catch kids in the act, 20 lashes in the town square to convince them not to do it again, then set them to work with a wire brush until they can demonstrate that it's back to the state they found it. Even still, I can't imagine it would really do much to dissuade.

It's a shame.
Min Profil På Kitsap WhigDev
by Aksel-Louis | 2026-01-26 11:26:15+00:00
Jeg har opdateret min profil på Kitsap WhigDev, hvor jeg deler tanker og indsigter om mental sundhed, trivsel og relaterede emner. Besøg siden for at følge mine opdateringer og deltage i samtalen.
by moritonal | 2026-01-26 11:26:55+00:00
I don't get why the device changes the blame logic.

If child-services knew a parent was constantly watching/leaving around adult-content near children, that'd be considered the parents fault. If a parent lets a kid watch anything they want on TV and the kid watches adult content, it's the parents fault. But if the parent gives the child a phone, and doesn't manage what apps they use or content they watch, now it's the companies fault?
by Gigachad | 2026-01-26 11:26:58+00:00
I'm probably the minority where I don't mind any graffiti, quality or not. As long as it isn't horribly offensive or impacting the functionality of something (over signs/glass/etc). Think I just prefer the look of a wall covered in even shitty tags and pasted posters over a completely blank slate.

I particularly love seeing peoples stickers about.
by vrighter | 2026-01-26 11:27:11+00:00
so you need someone elso to actually do the real work, so you could build a system that would do a strictly inferior job of it?

The bible was already translated well. The quality of your "work", by your own admission, depends on the "problem" at hand already having been solved and you having access to the solution. So it is literally ensloppifying an already existing better version.

Why?
by OhMeadhbh | 2026-01-26 11:27:13+00:00
I switched after Apple dicked me on the G5 iMac about 20 years ago and haven't looked back. To be fair... all OSes have their plusses and minuses. Immediately after switching to FreeBSD as my daily driver (and then to Leenucks) I was very happy because the things that annoyed me about Apple products weren't problems in the PC world. But over time I noticed other irritants that definitely never came up with iProducts. FreeBSD and Linux give me more control over my daily experience, but at the cost of way more time debugging and administration.

Your plan seems like a good one, but remember, your mileage may always vary.

And there are days I keep thinking I want to go back to my Commodore 64. It didn't really do much, but at least it didn't bug me every 15 minutes to upgrade.
by adrian_b | 2026-01-26 11:27:25+00:00
The article mentions that unlike visible light, which is mostly absorbed by the skin, near infrared light penetrates deep into the body and the lowest frequencies of the Solar spectrum pass through the entire body.

This explains why most mitochondria are exposed to infrared light, even those deep in the body.

The article also mentions an inhibiting effect of blue and violet light upon mitochondria. For that it should be valid what you say, that this effect can happen only in the superficial layer of the body, because both skin and blood strongly absorb such light.
by maxehmookau | 2026-01-26 11:29:58+00:00
I get that this is cool, but I also feel grateful that my life just isn't busy enough to justify this as a thing beyond "oh wow, that's cool tech".

I'm able to juggle the competing priorities in my life without the need of an AI assistant, and I guess I'm just gonna enjoy that for as long as I can because I assume at some point it will become assumed of me.
by schiffern | 2026-01-26 11:30:36+00:00
Scientific Reports is a junk journal fyi. Not conclusive, but indicative.

Despite saying the visible flux component is "small" and that the tungsten lamps "were not expected to [be used] as task lamps," Figure 6 (a) and (c) shows... desk lamps right at the work stations like task lamps! Not only is this experimentally unblinded, but the visible light immediately in front of the test subjects is noticeably brighter and warmer. The effect could simply be due to reduced eye strain.

What would James Randi do? "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof," and unfortunately this isn't it.

This would be more interesting if they add a visible light filter on the lamps so they only emit infrared radiation, and have an identical double-blind control with a 60 watt heater bulb so it emits no SWIR but the same radiant heat (which could confound and/or unblind).
by Xraider72 | 2026-01-26 11:30:57+00:00
In my experience it seems to be an issue caused by optimizations in legacy code that relied on dlopen to implement a plugin system, or help with startup, since you could lazy load said plugins on demand and start faster.

If you forego the requirement of a runtime plugin system, is there anything realistically preventing greenfield projects from just being fully statically linked, assuming their dependencies dont rely on dlopen ?
by RugnirViking | 2026-01-26 11:32:00+00:00
it seems to me like this is very much an artefact of the left-to-right top-down writing method of the program. Once its committed to a token earlier in its response it kinda just has to go with it. Thats why im so interested in those LLM models that work more like stable diffusion, where they can go back and iterate repeatedly on the output.
by teekert | 2026-01-26 11:32:06+00:00
Makes sense, the process is complex, the mixture of micro organisms is complex, and generates many complex molecules giving fermented foods a depth of flavor, a broadness and finesse. Especially when compared to bland, few-ingredients-taken-from-crude-oil "highly processed" foods.

I experience this with my sourdough bread, the smell of the sourdough and the bread vary and are subtle, deep and nice. The bread is dry and stale in a day though, so the bread is the family's favorite, but only when it's fresh. Although freezing it after it has been properly cooled is not half bad.
by OhMeadhbh | 2026-01-26 11:32:29+00:00
Maybe this is just a reminder to put your iProduct down, go outside and touch grass.

(Oh man. That came out super smug. Imagine the non-smug version of that message. Maybe it should have been something like "I went on a project to reduce the amount of screen time over the last couple of years and generally feel healthier and happier. Pick your own level of engagement with tech, but I encourage you to think about if you're spending too much time on your phone (or commenting on threads at ycombinator.com) at least every couple of months.")
by Nursie | 2026-01-26 11:33:54+00:00
Sure, and his treatment has been awful in so many ways.

I'm honestly not trying to defend any action by any state in this thread, I'm not trying to say that the UK is better than any other state. I'm not trying to make any point at all beyond using a specific example in agreeing with the comments above mine that "Everything is the same and comparable never mind how hyperbolic."

But it seems to be construed as if I am, no matter how much I agree that the actions we're talking about are terrible. People come back and tell me the UK is bad and I should feel bad for defending it. I know right! And if I was I would!

I must admit I find the whole thing very frustrating.
by zahirbmirza | 2026-01-26 11:34:04+00:00
The push toward LED seems to be primarily for emission target related reasons. It is very hard to buy incandescent bulbs in the UK; even for those of us that accept the cost implications. Also, many less expensive LEDs flicker at the rate of the frequency supply of the current (ie 240 or 120 Hz). This is very annoying and related to the instantaneous response of LED vs the averaging effect of the alternating current through an actual glowing hot filament. It is interesting to read on the development of blue and white LED technology.
by JamesTRexx | 2026-01-26 11:34:20+00:00
Text is my favourite minimalistic medium. I keep a minimum eye on regular news through teletext and tech news via Slashdot and here because there are barely any distractions from the core content.

It's also very flexible in that I can immediately return to a previous sentence without needing intermediate steps like rewinding a video or audio format. I can copy parts into another document for reasons. It's easier to search.
This is also what makes learning from a book so much better than video (besides not needing batteries for it).
by vintermann | 2026-01-26 11:34:24+00:00
It hasn't worked in changing policy, or meaningfully changing who's in charge. Currently the government is getting its way with this sufficient level of brutality.

I think it's likely they will get still more scared that they won't, and ramp up the brutality accordingly.

The path forward is clear: Reform gets into power, builds their own paramilitary "immigration enforcement" groups a la ICE, and you get the occasional summary execution in the streets, along with arrests based on UKs unmatched surveillance system.
by anonymous908213 | 2026-01-26 11:34:59+00:00
Non-anonymous free speech is a bit of a red herring. If you say something publicly, especially in this era of mass data, you are perpetually liable to be punished for it at some point in the future. If not by the current government, potentially another. Virtually every country in the world has experienced authoritarianism at one point or another, and there is never a guarantee that it won't again. Saying something publicly tied to your identity is signing up to be imprisoned when an authoritarian who doesn't like what you said seizes power. We have many historical examples of dictators rounding up and executing wide classes of people, so we know this threat model is more than just a hypothetical but rather something that can and does realistically happen at various times and places.

Therefore, in practice, anonymity is the only way to safely express oneself in public. Privacy is the true bastion of the freedom of ideas. This is naturally lost when the means to communicate privately are stripped from us, when every word we've ever said is recorded and tied to our identity. Age verification could possibly theoretically be implemented in a way that does not immediately infringe upon privacy, but you surely know that there is no world in which it will ever be implemented in such a way.