MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by jmb99 | 2026-01-12 04:33:27+00:00
Fairly frequently, 6kVA UPSs come up for sale locally to me, for dirt cheap (<$400). Yes, they're used, and yes, they'll need ~$500 worth of batteries immediately, but they will run a "normal" homelab for multiple hours. Mine will keep my 2.5kW rack running for at least 15 minutes - if your load is more like 250W (much more "normal" imo) that'll translate to around 2 hours of runtime.

Is it perfect? No, but it's more than enough to cover most brief outages, and also more than enough to allow you to shut down everything you're running gracefully, after you used it for a couple hours.

Major caveat, you'll need a 240V supply, and these guys are 6U, so not exactly tiny. If you're willing to spend a bit more money though, a smaller UPS with external battery packs is the easy plug-and-play option.

> How bottomless of a pit it becomes depends on a lot of things. It CAN become a bottomless pit if you need perfect uptime.

At the end of the day, it's very hard to argue you need perfect uptime in an extended outage (and I say this as someone with a 10kW generator and said 6kVA UPS). I need power to run my sump pumps, but that's about it - if power's been out for 12-18 hours, you better believe I'm shutting down the rack, because it's costing me a crap ton of money to keep running on fossil fuels. And in the two instances of extended power outages I've dealt with, I haven't missed it - believe it or not, there's usually more important things to worry about than your Nextcloud uptime when your power's been out for 48 hours. Like "huh, that ice-covered tree limb is really starting to get close to my roof."
by consumer451 | 2026-01-12 04:35:05+00:00
I have a few computers. Win, MacOS, Fedora, and iOS for mobile.

Out of all the things, the UX I cannot forgive is:

1. Hold Siri button

2. say "Create appointment at 3PM tomorrow."

The result is that no alert/notification/warning of this appointment occurs, unless I open the appointment and create the alert manually, at least at time of event. I cannot imagine any use case where one would create an appointment that required no reminder.

If I had created this appointment via Gmail or even MS, and synced... then there are notifications.

My point here is that the UX rot at Apple is not new. I am curious as to how this rot begins at BigOrg, and how it can be cured, if it can be addressed. I have never worked at BigOrg, so I really don't get it. Is there some missing UX role in the c-suite? How does my gripe, or Tahoe... ever happen? I understand how it happens at MSFT, but is this just what happens at all BigOrgs, eventually?
by Aurornis | 2026-01-12 04:35:35+00:00
I thought I was smart because I invested in UPS backup from the start.

Then 5 years later there was a power outage and the UPS lasted for about 10 seconds before the batteries failed. That's how I learned about UPS battery maintenance schedules and the importance of testing.

I have a calendar alert to test the UPS. I groan whenever it comes up because I know there's a chance I'm going to discover the batteries won't hold up under load any more, which means I not only have to deal with the server losing power but I have to do the next round of guessing which replacement batteries are coming from a good brand this time. Using the same vendor doesn't even guarantee you're going to get the same quality when you only buy every several years.

Backup generators have their own maintenance schedule.

I think the future situation should be better with lithium chemistry UPS, but every time I look the available options are either exorbitantly expensive or they're cobbled together from parts in a way that kind of works but has a lot of limitations and up-front work.
by cal_dent | 2026-01-12 04:35:40+00:00
For me, the key lies in the "We know they lie. They know we know they lie.". I'd argue that the transparency of lies is a fairly immature theme, relative to the long arc of history. Probably post-Iraq WMD is where I think it really started to ramp up and the emergence of virality/segmentation aspect of social media has really revved it up.
by eyberg | 2026-01-12 04:36:23+00:00
A lot of these "ai sandbox" conversations target code that is already running in a public cloud. Running firecracker doesn't give you magical isolation properties vs running an application in ec2 - it's the same boundary. If you're trying to compare to running multi-tenant workloads in containers on the same vm vs different tenants on different vms - sure that's an improvement but no one said you had to run containers to begin with.

Furthermore, running lots of random 3rd party programs in the same instance, be it a container, or an ec2 vm, or a firecracker vm all have the same issues - it is inherently totally unsafe. If you want to "sandbox" something you need to detail what exactly you are wanting to isolate.

A lot of people might suggest not being able to write to the filesystem, read env vars, or talk over the network but these are table stakes for a lot of the workloads that people want to "isolate" to begin with.

So not only is there this incorrect view that you are isolating anything at all, but I'm not convinced that the most important things, like being able to run arbitrary 3rd party programs, is even being considered.
by eru | 2026-01-12 04:36:34+00:00
Writing software is actually one of the domains where hallucinations are easiest to fix: you can easily check whether it builds and passes tests.

If you want to go further, you can even require the LLM to produce a machine checkable proof that the software is correct. That's beyond the state of the art at the moment, but it's far from 'unsolvable'.

If you hallucinate such a proof, it'll just not work. Feed back the error message from the proof checker to your coding assistant, and the hallucination goes away / isn't a problem.
by Aurornis | 2026-01-12 04:37:08+00:00
UPS batteries don't last forever.

So now you need to test them regularly. And order new ones when they're not holding a charge any more. Then power down the server, unplug it, pull the UPS out, swap batteries, etc.

Then even when I think I've got the UPS automatic shutdown scripts and drivers finally working just right under linux, a routine version upgrade breaks it all for some reason and I'm spending another 30 minutes reading through obscure docs and running tests until it works again.
by sastrophy | 2026-01-12 04:37:56+00:00
I have been building SiteIQ : comprehensive website analysis and security testing platform featuring security testing, SEO analysis, and LLM security testing.

https://github.com/sastrophy/siteiq

I am a student and fascinated by physics and cybersecurity. So to understand more about the field of cybersecurity and web-development, I started this project few months back. Any feedback from all of you will be really helpful in taking this project forward.
by artyom | 2026-01-12 04:38:57+00:00
May rampant depression everywhere be caused by not the lack of exercise, but because of life becoming overly sedentary?

30 years ago moving your body wasn't going to the gym, it was part of everyday life. Staying 2 hours nonstop in front on the screen was to watch a movie, and maybe done a couple times a week, tops.

Now we just deliver 3 tomatoes to our doorstep to avoid going out.
by AndyNemmity | 2026-01-12 04:39:24+00:00
I use Hacker News commenters.

There was someone a while ago who made a funny post about the type of Hacker News commenters. So I have 5 of them that will review things, and ended up being way more effective than I ever imagined they'd be.

│ contrarian-provocateur-roaster │ Challenge premises, explore alternatives │ "Have you considered..."

│ enthusiastic-newcomer-roaster │ Accessibility, onboarding friction │ "Wait, how do I even..."

│ pragmatic-builder-roaster │ Operational reality, production concerns │ "This won't survive 3AM pages" │

│ skeptical-senior-roaster │ Long-term maintenance, sustainability │ "Who maintains this in 2 years?" │

│ well-actually-pedant-roaster │ Terminology precision, verifiability │ "Technically, that's not..." │
by Aurornis | 2026-01-12 04:39:41+00:00
This is a great example of how the homelab bottomless pit becomes normalized.

Rewiring the house for 240V supply and spending $400+500 to refurbish a second-hand UPS to keep the 2500W rack running for 15 minutes?

And then there's the electricity costs of running a 2.5kW load, and then cooling costs associated with getting that much heat out of the house constantly. That's like a space heater and a half running constantly.
by chii | 2026-01-12 04:40:40+00:00
> Huh, although, how does it do that without using Windows API?

without knowing anything, i am going to guess that they could either directly import the same code that the windows api uses (either via knowing where the implementation code resides and load that), or even statically link the library! After all, regedit doesn't need to obey cleanliness rules that other non-first-party programs would need to - presumably, because if those registry editing api/format changes, regedit would get updated along with it!
by simonw | 2026-01-12 04:41:52+00:00
But that's not how most products work.

If you buy a table saw and can't figure out how to cut a straight line in a piece of wood with it - or keep cutting your fingers off - but didn't take any time at all to learn how to use it, that's on you.

Likewise a car, you have to take lessons and a test before you can use those!

Why should LLMs be any different?
by ocdtrekkie | 2026-01-12 04:42:23+00:00
This is really, really cool. I think telling me how many moves I have to go back in the hint was absolutely a must-do, and shouldn't cost two hints... Second-guessing every single move I made would be insane, but knowing I had to go back seven, and pick something different than the last thing I restored, that worked fine.

It's easy to assume making a word disappear is always the right choice, but you forget it changes the word it leaves behind as well. Very clever.

It does have the same quirk Wordle had that bugged me: Treating browser storage as useful in our multidevice world.
by mbreese | 2026-01-12 04:43:08+00:00
I’m sympathetic to this idea, but there is no LLM training data for how to access random data like this using a filesystem through a FUSE interface.

Yes, it should be able to generically use a filesystem, but there has to be a better way to find an email than greping through each email as a file.

So, I see merit in the idea in theory, I’m just skeptical in practice.
by rmunn | 2026-01-12 04:43:51+00:00
Some 30 years ago, someone challenged me to tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke in a blind taste test. After taking several sips, I could eventually tell that one tasted just a little bit sweeter, more sugary, and the other one tasted just a tiny bit more... "dark" is how I put it at the time. (Note that I was using that word to describe a flavor, not a color. I do not have synesthesia, that's just the best word I could find to describe the subtle taste difference). I guessed that the slightly-sweeter one was Pepsi, and I turned out to be right.

Thing is, since doing that taste comparison where I alternated sips several times between the two, I've consistently been able to tell if a drink was Pepsi or Coke. So while they are very very close, they are distinguishable to some people, if those people have trained their taste buds. (Or at least they were up to about 10 years ago, I don't know if they've changed the flavor in the past decade because I practically quit drinking soda at all once I got serious about maintaining a healthy weight.)
by lymanli | 2026-01-12 04:44:02+00:00
I’ve been working on Palix AI, a simple all in one platform for generating images, music, and videos with AI.

The main idea is to reduce the friction of using multiple tools by putting everything into a single workflow. You can create visuals from text, generate background music by mood or style, and turn ideas into short videos without switching platforms.

It’s still early, but I’m actively improving the product and adding more creative features.

If you’re curious, feel free to check it out
https://palix.ai/
by tjwebbnorfolk | 2026-01-12 04:44:20+00:00
We're on hackernews. Half of us in here probably joke about being autistic ourselves. That doesn't mean we need to give Pfizer and Blackstone billions of dollars for pills and treatment.

Not all of us are convinced that each and every component of human diversity needs to be treated as an ailment and medicated. Autism, as the name implies, is a spectrum. But we've widened the spectrum so far that its become meaningless. There are profoundly autistic people who can't speak who would not recognize my diagnosis of autism simply because I have trouble looking people in the eye.

You mention gender, and that's a perfect example: we've widened it to include every possible thing. And when it comes to the over-diagnosis/overmedication question: You can be just fine with the idea that gender is a spectrum, but also believe that giving hormones and surgery to teenagers is utterly insane.
by habosa | 2026-01-12 04:45:55+00:00
Everyone on both sides of this argument seems like they won’t be satisfied until everyone comes to their side. The maximalists want us to submit to the AI godhead. The doomers want us to go back to writing assembly longhand on paper.

I’m starting to think of AI use more like a dietary choice. Most people are omnivores. Some people are vegans. Others are maxing protein. All of them can coexist in society and while they might annoy each other if the topic comes up, for the most part it’s a personal choice.
by george87 | 2026-01-12 04:46:37+00:00
Location: Macedonia
Remote: Yes
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Technologies: Java (Spring, Swing, FX), JavaScript (Node, React, D3), Python, various SQL & NoSQL data stores, ETL platforms, UI/UX design tools, AI/LLM tools, Git, AWS, etc.
Résumé/CV: www.linkedin.com/in/georgetanev/
Email: geotanjazz@gmail.com

Multifaceted software engineer with a master's degree in computer science and research published with IEEE, OEIS, and Springer. 15+ years of experience developing comprehensive software solutions from design to deployment, from web and desktop applications to data pipelines and interactive visualizations. Interested in consulting gigs or tech co-founder/CTO roles, open to full-time engagements.
by obirunda | 2026-01-12 04:46:44+00:00
The claim that users who don't adopt AI now will pay for it later or some other notion is a contradiction of their position. People who are bullish on AI should support this view wholesale. Opus 4.5 is easier to use than GPT 3.5. It can actually code a full toy project one shot where you couldn't dream of it before. Opus 4.5 isn't perfect, so people have a lot of things they do for a competitive advantage. Though anything you think you're building with all the prompt alchemy and .md rules or whatever will be useless and futile on Opus 10, every "really good practice" is instantly absorbed by labs so when something great is in the wild everyone eventually benefits by the base .md or system prompts. So even if you feel like you have a competitive advantage right now, it will evaporate by either the labs improving their tools or become generally unnecessary in future versions of the models.

The goal of the labs is to continue these leaps will get even bigger with every generation. Unless you secretly believe that some portion of the craft will be left unexplored by the labs or the things that are still relatively borked now will not be worked on or fixed later is a silly notion to me. Future versions will be easier to prompt and the tools will do more of the heavy lifting of following up and re-rolling misinterpretations. I argue that a user sleeping through all of this is likely to use a future version better than someone who is obsessing with all their assumptions on how to coerce these models to work right now, current version hyper users will likely bring unnecessary baggage imo.

For now, even with Opus 4.5 the time horizon for delivering a full-stack project is not significantly different than before, it's still limited by how much you can push it. I'd argue that someone without understanding of how things work is unlikely to succeed in getting production-grade outcomes from these current versions. The point is, if you choose to learn more and get better in understanding and building things that work (with AI or otherwise) you'll be just fine to use the versions that have fully or mostly automated the entire process. Nobody will be left behind, only those who stop building altogether.
by fyredge | 2026-01-12 04:46:55+00:00
This is not a fallacy, simply an opinion you disagree with. But one which I strongly agree with.

I'm not American, and though I may not agree completely with the politicians I voted for, I have not been blindsided yet. The second election of Trump is a symptom of Americans either unable or unwilling to look beyond single issues or sports team politics.

To then turn around and act surprised is just a way to conveniently absolve themselves of the responsibility of electing him to begin with. If this wasn't the case, Trump voters themselves would be calling for his impeachment, not Democrat voters.

Approval rating means nothing if it enforces nothing.
by nsonha | 2026-01-12 04:47:40+00:00
> I have a hard time trusting what I don't understand

Who doesn't? But we have to trust them anyway, otherwise everyone should get a PhD on everything.

Also for people who "has a hard time trusting", they might just give up when encountering things they don't understand. With AI at least there is a path for them to keep digging deeper and actually verify things to whatever level of satisfaction they want.
by sublinear | 2026-01-12 04:48:08+00:00
This doesn't make any sense. If the business can get rid of their engineers, then why can't the user get rid of the business providing the software? Why can't the user use AI to write it themselves?

I think instead the value is in getting a computer to execute domain-specific knowledge organized in a way that makes sense for the business, and in the context of those private computing resources.

It's not about the ability to write code. There are already many businesses running low-code and no-code solutions, yet they still have software engineers writing integration code, debugging and making tweaks, in touch with vendor support, etc. This has been true for at least a decade!

That integration work and domain-specific knowledge is already distilled out at a lot of places, but it's still not trivial. It's actually the opposite. AI doesn't help when you've finally shaved the yak smooth.
by jmalicki | 2026-01-12 04:48:24+00:00
CodeRabbit in particular is gold here. I don't know what they do but it is far better at reviewing than any AI model I've seen. From the deep kinds of things it finds, I highly suspect they have a lot of agents routing code to extremely specialized subagents that can find subtle concurrency bugs, misuse of some deep APIs etc. I often have to do the architecture l/bug picture/how this fits into project vision review myself, but for finding actual bugs in code, or things that would be self evident from reading one file, it is extremely good.
by __MatrixMan__ | 2026-01-12 04:48:25+00:00
I've got claude running amok on a NixOS box and it's pretty impressive how quickly I can get from idea to mostly-there. And then, as always, that last 10% is actually 90% of the work (because I missed something up front when specifying what I need).

Fingers crossed these projects grow up into the sort of things we can replace our companies with.
by tastyfreeze | 2026-01-12 04:49:41+00:00
A contractor manages bridge hardware so I am missing details. They set it up. I troubleshoot and use the data.

AIS is connected to a serial-to-ethernet converter. That allows me to get the AIS stream over TCP/IP. I wrote an application to consume AIS and do what they wanted with it.

The serial-to-ethernet converters are the magic ingredient. It allowed us to have tracking and telemetry regardless of terrestrial VHF stations in the area. The original setup also provided a feed from Transas but we stopped using it. We also use a private AIS VHF recorder as a backup source of AIS messages. We used that a lot more before Starlink due to terrestrial blockage of VSAT links. The backup source was a good compliment to the primary. They had the most infra in areas that were blocked most often.
by tjr | 2026-01-12 04:49:47+00:00
It seems generally agreed that LLMs (currently) do better or worse with different programming languages at least, and maybe with other project logistical differences.

The fact that an LLM works great for one user on one project does not mean it will work equally great for another user on a different project. It might! It might work better. It might work worse.

And both users might be using the tool equally well, with equal skill, insofar as their part goes.
by exidy | 2026-01-12 04:52:24+00:00
Sorry but no. The comment I replied to was specifically referring to running Asahi Linux. This is not "Apple hardware in general" but specifically "Apple Silicon Macs".[0]

Your comments about iPads/iPhones may well be true but not relevant to my point. See also the comment from user Kina upthread.

[0] https://asahilinux.org/
by rvz | 2026-01-12 04:53:33+00:00
> Humans don't have to read or write or undestand it. The goal is to let an LLM express its intent as token-efficiently as possible.

Maybe in the future, humans don't have to verify the spelling, logic or grounding truth either in programs because we all have to give up and assume that the LLM knows everything. /s

Sometimes, I read these blogs from vibe-coders that have become completely complacent with LLM slop, I have to continue to remind others why regulations exist.

Imagine if LLMs should become fully autonomous pilots on commercial planes or planes optimized for AI control and the humans just board the plane and fly for the vibes, maybe call it "Vibe Airlines".

Why didn't anyone think of that great idea? Also completely remove the human from the loop as well?

Good idea isn't it?
by derangedHorse | 2026-01-12 04:54:24+00:00
No one. We should be on a hard money standard. The Fed shouldn't be able to socialize the impact of bad business decisions like what was recently done with Silicon Valley Bank using the BTFP. Sometimes consequences need to be realized, even at the cost of bad downstream impact to those indirectly involved. It's the only way for more resilient systems to arise since our current system interrupts important feedback mechanisms.
by QuiEgo | 2026-01-12 04:54:46+00:00
They don't need to run their own GNSS service (especially, in regards to timekeeping), they just need the satellites to give the ground terminals enough signal to know where to point their antennas. Once it's talking to the satellite it can get synced in time. Horrific SNR is find in the "seek and paring" phrase (think hundreds of bytes of sec, or less, so you have lots of room for timing and position errors), and then once it gets a better idea of where and when it is it can flip to better transmission protocols that need a more precise idea of time.

GNSS is far more accurate than Sarlink needs.
by robertfw | 2026-01-12 04:54:49+00:00
I've been using a `/feedback ...` command with claude code where I give it either positive or negative feedback about some action it just did, and it'll look through the session to make some educated guesses about why it did some thing - notably, checking for "there was guidance for this, but I didn't follow it", or "there was no guidance for this".

the outcome is usually a new or tweaked skill file.

it doesn't always fix the problem, but it's definitely been making some great improvements.