MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by qwertox | 2026-01-28 20:00:11+00:00
Past week I got to know about InputActions [0] so I installed Kubuntu 25.10 to test it, and it is very promising. Linux never had a proper mouse gesture support, and I won't go into details, but this was one of the three dealbreakers for me. The other one was a Windows-only app which ran so sluggishly on all previous tests I've made over the years, but with Wine 11 the app is just as good and fast as on Windows. Though I first need to populate the registry with an icon set. But now with AI this can be easily automated (letting it write a script I then run). The third is some custom electron-based launcher which is heavily Windows-customized, which I will need to migrate to Linux, but also this should be easy with AI.

For the first time I feel like there is a real path for me to switch to Linux, and it's about time!

[0] https://github.com/taj-ny/InputActions
by clort | 2026-01-28 20:00:13+00:00
they probably do, I've seen that kind of thing (a logo) placed throughout the text before now, but more of a fancy print rather than cheap paperbacks. In the old days it would have cost more, but since DTP took over then I don't see why that would be a problem. perhaps just "paragraph divider", eg https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/12217904-collection-set-...
by austinvhuang | 2026-01-28 20:00:48+00:00
My first implementation of gemma.cpp was kind of like this.

There's such a massive performance differential vs. SIMD though that I learned to appreciate SIMD (via highway) as one sweet spot of low-dependency portability that sits between C loops and the messy world of GPUs + their fat tree of dependencies.

If anyone want to learn the basics - whip out your favorite LLM pair programmer and ask it to help you study the kernels in the ops/ library of gemma.cpp:

https://github.com/google/gemma.cpp/tree/main/ops
by bigbadfeline | 2026-01-28 20:00:58+00:00
> Retail banking in general makes boatloads of money, and deposits are central to this now that we're out of zero-interest-rate-land.

Talking about banking in general is generally a huge mistake. While deposits may be central, retail deposits are irrelevant for the banks that do > 70% of banking.

> now that we're out of zero-interest-rate-land.

Doesn't matter to them.
by kamselig | 2026-01-28 20:01:01+00:00
OP here.

I wrote this because the current "AI as productivity" is completely missing individual/consumer motivations.

My argument is that we are seeing a Jevons Paradox event for creativity. Similar to how making coal efficient in the 1800s didn't "save" coal but opened up new industries, applying a similar lens of “efficiency” to creative work (coding, writing, art) will allow it to boom. This is a stark contrast to both the narrative that AI will kill creativity and that productivity is its most valuable application.

Happy to discuss.
by Draiken | 2026-01-28 20:02:20+00:00
If it ever gets there, then anyone can use it and there's no "skill" to be learned at all.

Either it will continue to be this very flawed non-deterministic tool that requires a lot of effort to get useful code out of it, or it will be so good it'll just work.

That's why I'm not gonna heavily invest my time into it.
by plagiarist | 2026-01-28 20:02:26+00:00
I don't need a full range. I would just like to run podman under a non-root user using regular system services. Especially where a persistent volume or bind mount is involved.

Let's say Home Assistant. It would be nice to have a have some system user "homeassistant" with no home directory that owns the process and owns its /var/whereever/config.conf . It would be nice to have the isolation on host in addition to the isolation via container. But I don't want to be rebuilding any containers to get that, unless I am misunderstanding something on nsresourced.

I'd be really pleased with that setup. MQTT could be its own system user. And HA could depend on MQTT so I have nice startup behavior. Etc.

IDK how to have system users like this run a container without the subuid range. Even when I create the users with ranges in the file, there seems to be problems with informing systemd (as a non-root user) that the running process is different from the one it started.
by craftkiller | 2026-01-28 20:03:12+00:00
> If a customer bought a game that says it runs on linux, they should be able to play it on linux well

None of those games say they run on Linux.

- Starcraft 2 is available for windows/mac: https://starcraft2.blizzard.com/en-us/
- Anno 1800 is available for windows: https://store.steampowered.com/app/916440/Anno_1800/
- Hogwarts Legacy is available for windows: https://www.hogwartslegacy.com/en-us/pc-specs

The fact that you can play most games on Linux these days is due to the Wine developers, Valve, and CodeWeavers. But those efforts are completely unrelated to the developers of those three games. Buying Starcraft 2 is not, in any way, purchasing a Linux game or transferring money to anyone working on Linux support.

Every game I've purchased that actually says it runs on Linux, has worked beautifully on Linux (stellaris and factorio come to mind). Most windows games work beautifully on Linux too, but Blizzard isn't lifting any fingers to make it that way.
by godelski | 2026-01-28 20:03:13+00:00
> Signal's messages are encrypted at rest though? Because Android and iOS are both full disk encrypted.

So just a point for people to be aware of, and that this isn't unique to Signal. Android and iOS can read your Signal messages under 1 of 2 conditions:

1) Toast notifications include messages
2) Keyboard

The first one is obvious as the OS has to see the message. So someone *with access to your phone* (already compromised) might be able to read messages (or at least partial) through this mechanism. Signal allows you to turn this off and if you're concerned, you should do so.

The second is less obvious and unfortunately with iOS I don't think there's a solution. Under Android, by default, Signal uses the incognito keyboard. Android promises not to use typing patterns for its learning but like Apple you ultimately have to trust them. But unlike Apple you can install 3rd party keyboards from Fdroid which are entirely local (some even have learning capabilities and plenty have local STT).

But again, neither of these are actual issues with Signal or any other E2EE app. The problem is the smartphone.

> I do agree with that when you can't hide from the company, you can't hide from the US government either.

Nitpick:

I don't think you can hide from targeted government surveillance. Or at least you have to go to some serious lengths to. But I do strongly believe that apps like Signal help you avoid dragnet operations and mass government surveillance. We should differentiate these types of things. I'm no doing anything nefarious so I'm not concerned with the former targeted surveillance (though I still dislike it in principle), but mass government surveillance is, in my view, a violation of my constitutional rights and everyone should take steps to fight against it.

Truth is, most mass surveillance can be avoided fairly easily: use an E2EE communication app like Signal (cross platform) or iMessage (security only with your Apple friends), install an ad blocker, set "do not track" in your browser, get a cookie destroyer (or use incognito/private), and disable tracking in each and every app (annoying...). This isn't a perfect defense from mass surveillance but it sure does get rid of like 80+% of it and that's a really good step in the right direction. There's no such thing as perfect privacy or perfect security, there's only speedbumps and walls. The intention is to make it hard and costly.

I nitpick because people do not differentiate these two and become apathetic. Acting as if it is pointless to make these changes. But mass surveillance (and surveillance capitalism) is where the disinformation campaigns and manipulation comes from. Unless you're some elite criminal then framing the conversation as "you can't hide from the government" is naive. Besides, I'm not trying to hide from the government. I have nothing to hide. But the checks and balances are that they have to have a reason to look. Get a warrant or GTFO. That's what making these types of changes is the equivalent of.
by pcthrowaway | 2026-01-28 20:03:30+00:00
> Even including ICE in this statistic, you will never even meet someone who knows someone who was murdered by a cop.

Uh.. I know someone who was murdered by cops while having a bad LSD trip (not violent, just incoherent). He was restrained too tightly despite protests of his family, loaded into a vehicle, and suffocated to death.

> Police encounters that turn deadly, not even blatant murder, are on the order of 1 in 50,000.

Oh I see, you don't consider this murder.
by lateforwork | 2026-01-28 20:03:34+00:00
Doesn't matter. You can't suspend constitutional protections when they are inconvenient. And it isn't just violations of the constitution, it is also destroying our relationships with European allies, destroying the planet by ignoring climate change, destroying the environment, destroying our health, destroying American competitiveness by defunding research, destroying consumer protections, etc. And what you were asking, did you ask how bad it is, objectively?
by jcylim21 | 2026-01-28 20:03:48+00:00
thanks for the feedback @al_borland! this is helpful.

the app worked for my friends since they just thought of it as a game where they could earn bananas and do something with them. I guess I need to figure out a way to keep this "game" interesting for them to keep using it though!

I totally agree that the lack of intrinsic motivation plays a big part in getting things done. Just wondering, how do you usually work on tasks that you find boring?

thanks for sharing your personal experience. It can be frustrating when the AI doesn't provide the information without much context. Which AI has been the most useful to you in your opinion?
by mindslight | 2026-01-28 20:04:19+00:00
> So why does (if the press is to be believed) an authoritarian, fascist, ultra-right-wing regime allow them to operate?

So why does (if the service manual is to be believed) not changing my car's oil still allow my car to keep operating?

(does this kind of ignore-any-sort-of-abstract-model "insight" sway anybody who is not extremely stoned?)
by jcgl | 2026-01-28 20:04:45+00:00
> If you try to install a different operating system, your computer will not boot.

That does not follow. That would only very specifically happen when all of these are true:

1. Secure Boot cannot be disabled

2. You cannot provision your own Secure Boot keys

3. Your desired operating system is not signed by the computer's trusted Secure Boot keys

"Starting in a verified state and stay[ing] trusted over time" sounds more like using measured boot. Which is basically its own thing and most certainly does not preclude booting whatever OS you choose.

Although if your comment was meant in a cynical way rather than approaching things technically, than I don't think my reply helps much.
by ceejayoz | 2026-01-28 20:04:53+00:00
> Why would Trump be so unpopular to boost Biden in 2020, then do so much better in 2024?

1. He was President at the time, and people blame the President for what's happening (COVID then, recession now). Same deal now.

2. It didn't wind up being Trump/Biden in 2024 at all.
by iggldiggl | 2026-01-28 20:05:02+00:00
> I vaguely recall it not being compatible with either 25kV electrification or high-speed rail in general, and most modern tracks therefore using axle counters instead.

Track circuits aren't incompatible with that per se, but axle counters are simply easier to install and much more maintenance-friendly – no longer having to worry about

- mixing track circuit currents and traction return currents together

- having to keep the rails sufficiently isolated from the ground and each other to prevent the track circuits from falsely showing occupied

- insulated block joints

- having to use each bit of track once every twenty-four hours to prevent rust from falsely showing a track as clear

- extreme leaf fall and/or sanding potentially causing false clears, too

- length restrictions on the maximum length of a single track circuit, although that's only really a problem on more sparse trafficked lines with long block sections

In return, axle counters have the drawback that they

- don't detect broken rails (although it needs to be said that track circuits very much aren't perfect broken rail detectors, either)

- can be falsely reset (with more or less protections, depending on local operating practices)

- don't detect maintenance vehicles freshly placed upon a track until they enter the next axle counter section

but since most to almost all new installations seem to use axle counters, the trade-offs are apparently worth it to infrastructure operators.
by brandonmb | 2026-01-28 20:05:25+00:00
Turn off all notifications except SMS and phone. Change email to pull, not push. Delete all social media apps, use the phone browser for it. Remove all work applications from your phone. Either you’re working or you’re not, no in between where you get pulled in against your will (I have a work phone provided by my company, so it’s easier).

I did this 8 years ago and I can’t recall anything important that I have missed. I can still look at email/social media/whatever in the browser or I sit down at my tablet/laptop. I still have Spotify and YouTube on my phone, but I try to limit entertainment apps on it.
by AngryData | 2026-01-28 20:05:32+00:00
If they didn't know they shouldn't have been firing at him. Soldiers in active warzones wouldn't be given such considerations and allowed to just blast people that they don't even know are armed. There is no excuse.

I would like to see any situation where an average citizen could kill somebody in a similar manner and be given the benefit of the doubt. Because "He may or may not have been armed, I don't really know because I couldn't see" would not fly in any US court for any other random civilian.
by embedding-shape | 2026-01-28 20:05:36+00:00
Is "Facebook Chat" not the same as "Facebook Messenger", the separate chat client? Because I seem to remember a lot of people using the chat built-in into Facebook (not Messenger) a lot earlier than the standalone app/client, maybe I misrecall.

> paying for “N text messages per month” is precisely what people refer to as paying per message

Maybe I said it wrong, "N text messages per month" for me means "Pay us 10 EUR per month, send up to 5000 messages" for example. Doesn't matter how many you send, you pay the same.

While "pay per message" is "Every text message you send, costs 0.01 EUR". Maybe I'm using the wrong words, but that's how I understand it.

Most of the people who were "texters" (in my circles) were on plans offering the first way of paying, while hardly anyone was doing it the second.

Another important part, was that most telecom's had free SMS and calls if you were with the same company (and still do, AFAIK), so constant bickering about what plan people are on and why they don't change so it's free and yadda yadda.

Many people were already mostly texting for free at this point.
by jjkaczor | 2026-01-28 20:05:42+00:00
That is the reality of pretty much every "luxury product/brand"...

It is convincing people to pay a premium for what is still at the end of the day a stitched leather bag, watch, computer or smartphone made in factories like everything else.

People pay for names, to project their luxury lifestyle.

It is very rare that the actual quality/performance of a "luxury item" is dramatically above a high-quality equivalent. Does a Rolex tell time and look better than a Breitling? Or a Tag Heur? Or a Seiko? Each of those represents a different price/style point - and ultimately it is subjective to a consumer - who wants to project a certain style/look.
by ssalka | 2026-01-28 20:05:57+00:00
Personally, I would not run LM Studio anywhere outside of my local network as it still doesn't support adding an SSL cert. I guess you can just layer a proxy server on top of it, but if it's meant to be easy to set up, it seems like a quick win that I don't see any reason not to build support for.

https://github.com/lmstudio-ai/lmstudio-bug-tracker/issues/1...
by frabonacci | 2026-01-28 20:06:22+00:00
Thanks - trajectory export was key for us since most teams want both eval and training data.

On non-determinism: we actually handle this in two ways. For our simulated environments (HTML/JS apps like the Slack/CRM clones), we control the full render state so there's no variance from animations or loading states. For native OS environments, we use explicit state verification before scoring - the reward function waits for expected elements rather than racing against UI timing. Still not perfect, but it filters out most flaky failures.

Windows Arena specifically - we're focusing on common productivity flows (file management, browser tasks, Office workflows) rather than the edge cases you mentioned. UAC prompts and driver dialogs are exactly the hard mode scenarios that break most agents today. We're not claiming to solve those yet, but that's part of why we're open-sourcing this - want to build out more adversarial tasks with the community.
by kevstev | 2026-01-28 20:06:23+00:00
No, Walmart. Their drivers were actually quite nice as well, at least the ones I met. The standards were high, I have mixed feelings about Walmart overall with respect to their line level employees, but in general everyone meant well. This was quite a long time ago though, and we were still in "startup" mode and focused on gaining market share, as opposed to focusing on squeezing out as much profit as possible.
by hparadiz | 2026-01-28 20:06:29+00:00
Secureboot is something else. It verifies the boot loader at the BIOS. This can be broken by the system itself (like if it's hacked). So it's protecting you against modifications to the boot loader. This is where kernel modules can be injected.

TPM 2.0 is something else. It's typically soldered onto the motherboard as a physical device and the key can be generated and then used to encrypt the disk. The private key can not be extracted. Only the signature and you can ask the TPM to sign a binary blob with the private key while providing you the public key to verify. This protects you against physical access to your device. No one can take your disk and decrypt it.
by jackfranklyn | 2026-01-28 20:06:43+00:00
The http:// thing is what stands out to me. Someone had to actively choose to serve content over http in 2026. Even if the original template was ancient, any security review would have caught that - unless they skipped that step entirely, which honestly tracks.

I work with banking data day to day and the internal systems are often just as rough. CSV exports with inconsistent date formats between the same bank's own products. Transaction descriptions that are random truncated strings with no standardisation. Every bank formats their statements differently and some of them can't even stay consistent between their own account types.

You'd think with the regulatory pressure around data accuracy this stuff would be sorted by now. But the reality is most banks treat their digital infrastructure like legacy plumbing - it works well enough that nobody wants to risk touching it.
by kreetx | 2026-01-28 20:07:53+00:00
I'm sure it will be known soon-ish where the first shot came from. It's just that the first one likely caused the rest of it as the surrounding officers didn't know who was shooting.

Say it turned out that the first shot was fired due to an officer misinterpreting something for a gun, because "gun" was yelled, would that turn this into anything else than an accident?

The best way to appear not to have a gun, nor appear dangerous at all, is not bring a gun to a protest.
by palata | 2026-01-28 20:07:56+00:00
This isn't quite true. The Google Pixels allow me to unlock the bootloader, install my own system, and relock the bootloader. As a result, I run an alternative OS called GrapheneOS which is more secure than Android.

The fact that I can unlock and relock the bootloader is not a security issue or a risk. People who don't know what that means cannot possibly do it by mistake.

Now allowing root access to users on Android, that's a security risk because a user can be tricked into giving root access to some evil app. I don't have root access on my GrapheneOS, even though I chose to install it myself. Because it is more secure like this.

So it sounds like a fair compromise to me: they make Android the way they want, and if I don't like it I can install an alternative OS. Just like I can install Linux if I don't like Windows. What I don't like is that most Android manufacturers actively try to prevent me from doing that, and I don't like it.
by striking | 2026-01-28 20:07:57+00:00
My apartment has been here for years and will be here for many more. I don't love paying rent on it but it certainly does get maintained without my having to do anything. And the rest of the infrastructure of my life is similarly banal. I ride Muni, eat food from Trader Joe's, and so on. These things are not going away and they don't require me to rewire my brain constantly in order to make use of them. The city infrastructure isn't stealing my ability to do my work, it just fills in some gaps that genuinely cannot be filled when working alone and I can trust it to keep doing that basically forever.
by wholinator2 | 2026-01-28 20:08:28+00:00
I can't speak to gaming but i was warned about printer issues as well. However after a hasty switch from win10 to xubuntu to save my phd work i was able to get the office printer working on ubuntu that i could never print to on windows. Sure, i installed a driver but the dialogue literally directed me to do so. My jaw hit the floor when the test page came out flawless.
by advael | 2026-01-28 20:08:37+00:00
I can't parse what distinction you're trying to draw here. When I say "collective action" I mean exactly things like exerting political pressure toward objectives like expanding rather than reducing healthcare coverage provided by governments, such as medicaid. The notion that solutions that involve changing the policy of governments "require[s] Washington's permission" seems to reject the notion that we exert power collectively via democracy, but your proposed example of what someone shouldn't accept suggests that this is an issue of how people fail to see the value in exerting said power, for which the prescription would presumably be doing so? I don't understand what you're driving at or even why you think we're in disagreement
by vrn21 | 2026-01-28 20:09:06+00:00
When I started to design the system, I thought of creating a way for an agent on the cloud to have access to a filesystem, such that they can read, write files and run commands. I can't really say that the startups in the space's main source of income is this, most of them rely on sdks for other platforms. I could adjust the core to work as a sdk as well, but right now the main interface is just a mcp server that a client can use
by JCattheATM | 2026-01-28 20:09:15+00:00
I think it's similar. We have a big powerful company pushing their solution, pushing more and more software to depend on that solution, so people who want to exercise their choice not to have an increasingly uphill battle to do so.

That doesn't seem so different from what Microsoft used to do, as even back then there was always choice if people decided to get together and exercise it, but practically in both cases it's an uphill battle.