MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by mrob | 2026-02-14 04:04:29+00:00
Advertising causes great harm. Banning advertising, or better yet, making it economically nonviable without restricting freedom of speech, solves this problem. As already pointed out by several other posts in this thread, the purported benefits of advertising are already available through non-harmful means.

But I acknowledge that there may be edge cases. My point is that the existence of edge cases does not mean we should permit the harm to continue. Those specific edge cases can be identified and patched. My suggestion is a hypothetical example of a potential such patch, one that might possibly be a net benefit. Maybe it would actually be a net harm, and the restriction should be absolute. The specifics don't matter, it's merely an example to illustrate how edge cases might be patched.

Your objections to this hypothetical example are nit-picking the edge cases of an edge case. They're so insignificant in comparison to the potential harm reduction of preventing advertising that they can be safely ignored.
by bioneuralnet | 2026-02-14 04:04:38+00:00
Exactly, that's all his PR had to be. The history of finding the issue could be an interesting story (I bet it involves Elixir!), but in places it reads as almost malicious. If I received a PR anything like that on something I maintained, it would be received very poorly. The author comes off as overly aggressive toward the maintainers and far too sensitive to their response.
by sk1pper | 2026-02-14 04:05:21+00:00
I haven't been on HN in years and wandered here to the Ask section with something similar on my mind.

I really, really love programming. I love learning about computers. I'm so lucky to get to do this for work and get paid pretty well to do it. It engages left and right brain. Yes, it's logic, math, all that; but writing code is creative, too. There are endless ways to solve a given problem, and you get to decide what approach is going to be cleanest, and readable, and maintainable, and just _feels_ right.

Honestly though, doing code reviews isn't my favorite part of the job. It's fine, but the fun part for me is actually _doing_ it. Understanding the problem space in front of me and the constraints and all the other factors, and then generating _my own_ ideas and putting them into the editor, and iterating.

So yeah, if the job becomes essentially reviewing AI code.. I don't know if I will still enjoy doing this. I mean, I'll do what I have to, I have a family, but it's not an exciting prospect.

I'm not anti-AI at all and I use it to speed me up in plenty of ways. I'll have it give me snippets of code here and there for stuff I need, I'm using Claude Code here when the use case is right, that's all fine. I haven't had much luck with it implementing entire features or doing anything at ~medium complexity or higher. I don't _want_ it to do that anyway. I want to do that stuff. That's the fun part.

I am concerned about its energy consumption too, and the hype is quite irritating as well. On both of those fronts, there's an opportunity for us to step back and consider what LLMs are actually good at, and use them where appropriate, instead of trying to infuse everything with AI.

I'm probably just getting old and grumpy. But yeah, it's a little depressing.
by SubjectToChange | 2026-02-14 04:06:22+00:00
I'm not "playing a game". "Feld" purports to be a FreeBSD ports committer. Someone with commit rights on a major project would know how to properly file issues and work with other maintainers. But "feld" doesn't seem to know how to do that. Perhaps "feld" had a bad day, or maybe him and the rest of the FreeBSD ports contributors/maintainers just operate in this way, I don't know.

>Where did they say you did?

They said it in the part where you got all confused and responded to me.
by estearum | 2026-02-14 04:06:40+00:00
Everything you think you "know" is information just put in front of you (most of it indirect, much of it several dozen or thousands of layers of indirection deep)

To the extent you have a grasp on reality, it's credit primarily to the information environment you found yourself in and not because you're an extra special intellectual powerhouse.

This is not an insult, but an observation of how brains obviously have to work.
by hedora | 2026-02-14 04:07:25+00:00
Drywall is terrible vs. modern plaster.

Modern plaster has backing boards that are similar to drywall, so you get most of the construction advantages (except for the labor intensive step of plastering), and can hand pictures / toggle bolts in the same way.
Unlike plaster, drywall gets moldy + needs to be replaced after water damage. I think this is why films with old buildings set in Europe often show peeling paint / water damaged plaster, but people are still living in them, and it seems fine. In the US, buildings with that level of wear would be so moldy they'd need to be gutted to studs, at minimum.

The article touches on mold resistant drywall, but I'll believe it when I see it. Also, apparently, it is much easier to create long-lasting patches for plaster than drywall.
by darkhorse222 | 2026-02-14 04:07:33+00:00
Rather than picking at the examples like other commenters, I very much agree with the diagnosis, which is that you do not want to pick someone who will protect your baby. That is a babysitter. You want someone who will become a parent of their own.

Ownership is one of the leadership principles. That doesn't just mean owing the things that exist, it means owning the conceptual direction of the company.
by mh2266 | 2026-02-14 04:07:45+00:00
I still don't understand. If TikTok simply showed the user every single TikTok ever created, strictly in reverse chronological order, it would still be an infinite scrolling UI.

The sorting algorithm that they choose isn't what makes a UI infinite scrolling or not, they're completely orthogonal. In MVC architecture terms they're model and view respectively...
by hedora | 2026-02-14 04:09:10+00:00
Modern plaster has the same properties, and works well with stud finders.

On a related note, if you can find a strong rare earth magnet, you can use it as a stud finder. It'll be attracted to the nails used to hold up the drywall / plaster backer boards. They sell purpose built ones with felt backs + built in bubble levels if you want to get fancy.
by JohnnyMarcone | 2026-02-14 04:09:13+00:00
> 100% of today’s SWE tasks are done by the models.

I do think he was overstating the current state of the models by a bit, but this is taken out of context. He is not saying this is where the models are at today.

He gives a spectrum [18:30] of the models taking over the SWE jobs:

- Model writes 90% of code (today)

- Model writes 100% of code

- Model does 90% of today's SWE tasks (end-to-end)

- Model does 100% of today's SWE tasks

- The SWE job creates new tasks that didn't exist before

- Model does the new SWE tasks as well (90% reduction in demand for SWE)
Ask HN: My OpenClaw doesn't respond. Anybody met with the same problem?
by Fendy1 | 2026-02-14 04:09:29+00:00
Problem: I installed OpenClaw multiple times on several Macs. It just didn't respond to me. Some of my friends met with the same problem.

I suspect that it might be the failure of calling Claude Code through setup-token because I use its subscription plan.

The official doc says it supports calling Claude Code through subscription, and I just need to generate a setup token. But it turns out it never worked. Openclaw just didn;t respond at all.

I changed to calling the OpenAI API key. It worked.

So has anyone met with the same problem and solved it? Is it really because Anthropic banned us from calling Claude code through the subscription plan?

Can somebody please share your experience? Thanks
by jeffbee | 2026-02-14 04:09:34+00:00
I fail to see how the application will even be aware of unknown data. Explain what practical problem could possibly arise if you think a message has 4 fields and I send you a fifth one.

Edited to reply to your edits: People who are just bozos with computers will never be kept from bozotry by any interchange format. If they lack any semblance of foresight then maybe they simply should get a different line of work. Postel's law is in force here. If you start sending me emails with extra headers my email program is never going to care. Protobufs are the same way.
by beacon294 | 2026-02-14 04:09:51+00:00
I considered starting a similar tweet to Tim Cook today but decided it would do nothing.

I tried adding swifter, i tried vtt, they filed that up to.

If true wondering, this message is typed on my apple phone.

*Edit: Just figured out I can delete the apple keyboard from the enabled list. They can put that in their metrics and smoke it.*
by CyberDildonics | 2026-02-14 04:10:11+00:00
Not sure where you are getting this information. Where there are trains, people take the trains far more.

In Tokyo, the vast majority of passengers rely on the extensive and efficient train system, which is often considered the best in the world. Cars are less commonly used due to high parking costs, traffic congestion, and the convenience of public transportation options like trains and subways.

Transportation Options in Tokyo
Train Passengers

Rail Network: Tokyo has the most extensive urban railway network in the world, with 40 million passengers daily.
Frequency: Trains run every two to three minutes during rush hours, ensuring minimal wait times.
Accessibility: Major stations are equipped with elevators and clear signage in multiple languages, making it easy for tourists to navigate.

Car Usage

Driving Conditions: Driving in Tokyo can be challenging due to narrow roads, heavy traffic, and limited parking availability.
Parking Costs: Finding parking can be difficult and expensive, with many areas lacking sufficient parking lots.
Rental Considerations: Renting a car may incur additional costs such as tolls and drop-off fees, especially if returning the car to a different location.*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Greater_Tokyo
by ffsm8 | 2026-02-14 04:10:13+00:00
While I don't subscribe to the idea that you shouldn't look at the code - it's a lot more plausible for devs because you do actually have ways to validate the code without looking at it.

E.g you technically don't need to look at the code if it's frontend code and part of the product is a e2e test which produces a video of the correct/full behavior via playwright or similar.

Same with backend implementations which have instrumentation which expose enough tracing information to determine if the expected modules were encountered etc

I wouldn't want to work with coworkers which actually think that's a good idea though
by bediger4000 | 2026-02-14 04:10:25+00:00
This would have been interesting news, 2021-2024, or before 2016. Now, we have to look at news reports and try to decide if the FTC is really doing this, or if it's Trump trying to shake down Microsoft, or if a Trump crony is freelancing, and either trying to wring a few BTC out of Microsoft, or is actually doing something righteous.
by lobf | 2026-02-14 04:11:00+00:00
> They are mediocre at best, always have been.

Come on. OSX was a paradigm shift in desktop usability and intuitive design.

My 85 year old grandpa asked me about 20 years ago how he should go about learning how to use computers. We were a windows family at home but I was using Macs in school and OSX was relatively new and I thought it blew Windows out of the water as far as usability.

Didn’t take long for my grandpa to be sending me emails and news links, and becoming an overall competent and comfortable computer user, in his late 80s, and I credit that to Apple’s fantastic design.

I think maybe we forget how using Windows 98 and XP was day-to-day.
by xx123122 | 2026-02-14 04:11:47+00:00
Hi HN, OP here!

I'm currently a Master's student at USTC (University of Science and Technology of China). I've been diving deep into Data Engineering, especially in the context of Large Language Models (LLMs).

The Problem:
I found that learning resources for modern data engineering are often fragmented and scattered across hundreds of medium articles or disjointed tutorials. It's hard to piece everything together into a coherent system.

The Solution:
I decided to open-source my learning notes and build them into a structured book. My goal is to help developers fast-track their learning curve.

Key Features:

LLM-Centric: Focuses on data pipelines specifically designed for LLM training and RAG systems.

Scenario-Based: Instead of just listing tools, I compare different methods/architectures based on specific business scenarios (e.g., "When to use Vector DB vs. Keyword Search").

Hands-on Projects: Includes full code for real-world implementations, not just "Hello World" examples.

This is a work in progress, and I'm treating it as "Book-as-Code". I would love to hear your feedback on the roadmap or any "anti-patterns" I might have included!

Check it out:

Online: https://datascale-ai.github.io/data_engineering_book/

GitHub: https://github.com/datascale-ai/data_engineering_book
by hedora | 2026-02-14 04:12:19+00:00
Noise barriers are incredibly cheap. They're a tiny fraction of the cost of putting up a drywall or plaster wall. Codes say how far apart the studs should be, so you just buy a roll of batting, and unroll it into the gap between the two walls. You have to cut it to fit, but that's not a big deal.

It costs a few thousand bucks to do a whole house (during construction), even in areas with high labor costs. You can usually tack it on to the cost of insulating the exterior walls (which is basically the same process, but with a more expensive material).
by phyzix5761 | 2026-02-14 04:14:26+00:00
If these companies fail because their quality isn't good enough to support paid subscribers isn't that effectively the same thing as people choosing to not use their platform?

Those of us who dislike these practices already have a choice. We can simply not use the service. So why remove that choice from others who don't mind ads and are willing to use the free version?

Also, forcing a paid only model raises the barrier to entry. Most of the world lives on less than $10 a day, so a subscription would effectively limit access to relatively wealthy people by global standards.
by dankebitte | 2026-02-14 04:14:30+00:00
It's simply bizarre to claim that a blatantly partisan circuit court issuing capricious restrictions on their political opposition and having them vacated by SCOTUS is evidence of "the courts" erring against "the government" generally. The decision was overturned because the plaintiffs' case was a baseless fiction that the Biden administration was ever even implicitly compelling those third parties to do anything. The plaintiffs' standing was so plainly nonexistent that even 3/6 of the majority from Kennedy v. Bremerton School District couldn't pretend there was a case. The only example that case serves is of the most Republican-allied circuit court consistently issuing garbage opinions to empower Republican administrations and reconsolidate partisan policymaking to itself during Democratic administrations.
by Retric | 2026-02-14 04:15:16+00:00
> If there is not a significant influx of new marriageable people then over time the marriageability of the pool will decline

That seems to be extremely unlikely, people have finite lifespans and are only in the marriage pool for a small fraction of that. More importantly your website could easily be targeted to an even smaller pool say 25-45 and ignoring deaths and divorce your already ~10% turnover per year if you own 100% of the market. Actual numbers depends on what percentage of the pool starts married, becomes a widow etc but their’s plenty of new people to make up for any couples. Further, happily married couples are great advertising.
by Tadpole9181 | 2026-02-14 04:16:27+00:00
Historically, the US has intentionally created barriers of entry to voting for the purpose of preventing minorities or political opponents from participating in Democracy.

Furthermore, you do need to be registered to vote. Which requires proof in and of itself, then a form of photo ID at the booth to prove that you are that registered person. As a result, we have virtually zero voting fraud.

So voter ID would do absolutely nothing while making the process harder, and it's pushed extremely disproportionately by Republicans - who openly advocate against civil voting rights. It's beyond obvious they just want a way to make it harder for brown people, women, and students to vote - all of which skew away from their party.

Then you get into the US having no national IDs (historical and cultural reasons, mostly) and that almost nobody is advocating for free voting IDs, which is a poll tax, which is blatantly unconstitutional.
by molsongolden | 2026-02-14 04:16:44+00:00
Another component or view of this is that automating the rote work is "eliminating the boring parts" (I love this and have worked extensively on this) but it is also eliminating the less cognitively demanding work.

Once you have automated extensively, all of the remaining work is cognitively demanding and doing 8 hours of that work every day is exhausting.
by nickradford | 2026-02-14 04:16:53+00:00
It is really annoying if you have a package that is relatively new to the platform, and you type in the exact package name, that package is not reliably the first result.

Minor edge case, but infuriating if you want to check your own packages quickly (without needing to navigate menu > packages > YOUR_PACKAGE).

Still agree with you though, who is npmx actually for?
by hedora | 2026-02-14 04:17:16+00:00
We've had great luck with the removable 3M velcro picture hangers. (Each corner is held with two pieces of velcro that face each other. The velcro has double back tape on the back, which affixes to the wall and the picture. The double back tape is stretchy, and can be removed by pulling a tab. The tape is single use.

No damage to paint so far, though we've only had them on the walls for about a year.
by firecall | 2026-02-14 04:17:25+00:00
Recent versions of iOS make me feel like it wont let me type spaces anymore, I'm always adding full stops instead!

I've given up bothering to correct it now.

So I just search for why.is.ios.keyboard.broken and google seems to know!

Sure, I can consciously and deliberately hit the spacebar, but for a decade or more I had zero issues with causally typing and not looking.

Is it a result of moving to Pro Max sized phones? It could be, and maybe the spacebar is just now further away. I'm willing to concede it could be that.

But then there are many reports of other people with issues....
by raw_anon_1111 | 2026-02-14 04:19:14+00:00
So before the gate keeping starts, my first crack at optimizations was in 1987 on a 1 MHz Apple //e

1. I wrote the code in BASIC

2. I wrote the code in assembly

3. I got more improvement because storing and reading from the first page of memory took two clock cycles instead of 3.

But this isn’t 1986, this is 2026. I “vibe coded” my first project this year. I designed the AWS architecture from the an empty account using IAC, I chose every service to use, I verified every permission, I chose and designed the orchestration, the concurrency model, I gathered requirements. What I didn’t do is look at a line of Python code or infrastructure code aside from the permissions that Codex generated.

Now to answer your questions :

How did I validate the correctness? Just like if I had written it myself. I had Codex to create a shell script to do end to end tests of all of the scenarios I cared about and when one broke, I went back to Codex to fix it. I was very detailed about the scenarios.

The web front end that I used was built by another developer. I haven’t touched web dev in a decade. I told Codex what changes I needed and I verified the changes by deploying it and testing it manually.

How did I validate the performance? Again just like I would do on something I wrote. I tested it first with a few hundred transactions to verify the functionality and then I stress tested it with a real world amount a transactions. The first iteration broke horribly. Not because of Claude code. It was a bad design.

But here’s the beauty. It took me a day to do the bad implementation that would have taken me three or four days. I then redesigned it, didn’t use the AWS service and did I designed that was much more scalable and it took a day. I knew in theory how it worked under the hood. But not in practice. Again I tested for scalability by testing the result.

The architectural quality? I validated it by synthesizing real world traffic. ChatGPT in thinking mode did find a subtle concurrency bug. That was my fault though. I designed the concurrency implementation, Codex just did what I told it to do.

Subtle bugs happen whether people write it or an agent writes it. You do the best you can with your tests and when they come up you fix it?

How do I prevent technical debt? All large implementations have technical debt. Again just like when I lead a team - I componenitize everything with clean interfaces. It makes it easier for coding agents and people.
by leodler | 2026-02-14 04:19:29+00:00
Doesn't seem nearly as black and white when you consider the Mayans were themselves way ahead of all of Europe with their use of elastomers, effectively creating vulcanized rubber over a thousand years before Charles Goodyear.

Hard to consider this that sophisticated in the twenty-first century but their use of the number zero also predates Europe by hundreds of years.

The Palenque also contains both aqueducts and arches (though not used together in the Roman style): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palenque#Palace
by jayers | 2026-02-14 04:20:01+00:00
Of course not everybody is systematically hurt nor did I claim that. About 11% of porn users are addicts. Porn addiction is real and incredibly difficult. But even when you are not addicted, regular porn usage has negative effects on mental health (lower impulse control, higher rates of depression and anxiety). It stands to reason that this effect would be exaggerated in children and teenagers.

At best, pornography is akin to alcohol and cigarettes. We regulate the ability of minors to access these things for obvious reasons. I see no reason why internet pornography is different.
by rich_sasha | 2026-02-14 04:20:40+00:00
With my Hanlon Razor hat on, how much is this deliberate vs. natural emergent behaviour?

It if course true that the incentives on the platform are to prevent permanent relationships. But can they really tell "these two would make a very good match so let's keep them apart, this match here is at best adequate, let's do this one instead"? My gut feeling would be that they cannot tell.

But then of course the whole design of the platform prevents deep connection. About 70-80% of the information is encoded in a photo that is not even guaranteed to be realistic. And the point of the platform is to be a rich marketplace where you keep trying. That's the USP before you get into any further design choices.

Platforms like Harmony Online existed for a long time and IIUC they were optimising for long term matches, and for whatever reason they were not as popular as eg Tinder.
by OsrsNeedsf2P | 2026-02-14 04:20:53+00:00
> Take the legend of Lake Lagunita Island. In the early 1990s, the Kappa Alpha fraternity decided to embark on an audacious plan. One fraternity brother rented a commercial bulldozer, another cleared sand from around the house, and a third charmed Stanford’s head groundskeeper to sneak the equipment across university land to reach the lake. A Cabo-themed island was constructed in the middle of the lake overnight. They later rigged a zipline from their roof to the sandbar.

This hits close for me. I have immense respect for the students who pulled this off. 2 years ago, a much (much) smaller stunt got me nearly fired at $FAANG, and all I could think was "where has the culture gone?"