skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
His first sentence is:

> In the span of just weeks, the US government has experienced what may be the most consequential security breach in its history

Which is a ridiculous level of hyperbole and just factually not even close to accurate. Solarwinds, the 2014 OPM breach, snowden leaks, chelsea manning leaks, the DNC email leak, moonlight maze - there's a massive list of real, consequential security incidents that are nowhere nearly as bad as Elon and whatever his dumb team are doing.
Motivation comes from visualizing the end product of an activity. If your team lacks motivation, it is either because your product lacks value or because they have lost emotional contact with what that value is. That's where you should focus your attention. Either improve the value of your product or expose your workers to the problem that you are trying to fix so they can identify with the issue and the benefits of fixing it. You are following a false trail that will lead you nowhere.

Good luck!
"It's very inefficient to devote all those resources to auditing billionaires, so we've decided to refocus those people on clawing back $15 from people earning under $20k who made minor mistakes on their taxes."
To characterize this as a "department [getting] hit with 10% layoffs" is completely disingenuous. This isn't a department cutting staff; it's an unelected body going around and firing people out of the government for reasons spanning malice, cronyism, and corruption.
A key difference is that twitter has (had) users, and users can move to e.g. bluesky once twitter's CEO decides to wreck it. The US has citizens instead, not users, not customers, but citizens, and citizens can't move if they don't like what Elon is doing. There is no Bluesky equivalent of the USA, and citizenship is not a free market.

A country is not a private company in a free market. For some this is hard to understand.
Two HUGE roadblocks were self-inflicted: adopting a hardware platform that doesn't care about external development (Apple silicon) and a programming language that has almost zero support in the Linux kernel (being the first ever to try to achieve multilanguage Linux kernel development).

The odds were set against the Asahi Linux project from the beginning.
The challenge is that he is following his values and not the values of the country.

The Twitter analogy is that racist and disinformation posts are perfectly fine to Musk so after gutting all of the teams looking after these things, he was perfectly fine with the large increase in both.*

We shouldn't expect a different outcome with his changes to the government. We should expect large increases in abuses by banks (because regulation was gutted), large increases in racism and disparity in Alabama public schools (because the Department of Education was gutted), etc. etc.

* https://english.elpais.com/technology/2025-02-13/hate-speech...
You know what job is safer than a SWE? A barber.

Think about it -- what's the ROI on creating a robot so sophisticated that it can handle all the intricacies and special customer requests of hair cutting/styling? You're unlikely to save any money over hiring humans.
Yes, I think the blacksmith metaphor is also an excellent one because a single die stamping machine can produce thousands (if not tens or hundreds of thousands) of times the same output as a single blacksmith.

You still need people, but you need them to: 1) operate and maintain the machine, 2) check for quality, 3) do some fine, detailed work, 4) do the things that the machine is not good at. The skillsets are just different now and you need less people while producing significantly more output.

Whereas a 4'10", 100lb woman probably wouldn't have been a productive blacksmith, she can be adept at building fine metal parts with the industrial tools.
I think there may be a false dichotomy in some people’s minds between a new emphasis on detecting fraud, and existing emphasis on maintaining the security of sensitive data and mission-critical systems.

This article shows at least some evidence that Treasury is actually trying to do both. And that existing security professionals have been involved in the process.
I’ve been using this for a bit more than a week already, I would say this is a great feature for iteration and interactive queries. Here’s my review:

Doing data exploration, analysis, and cleaning, this is way more productive than just SQL. As an example, fusing the aggregate functions with the group by keys creates a much faster workflow. I like that it unifies WHERE/HAVING/QUALIFY, and the set/extend/drop functions help (though Snowflake still wins for being able to declare a column and use it in the same select). Ultimately this gives me a one liner for situations where I’m creating hard to name intermediate CTEs, and that’s awesome!

Iterating on array columns or parsing non-trivial JSON is much better with this syntax too.

This is a shift back to the data frame API of a few years ago, but we’re still missing typing helpers and support that data frame APIs could provide. It would be nice to have a system like this which plugs into language servers, or can list fields at each step with a mouse over/cursor hover, and getting editor completions (the BQ console does an okay job).

This syntax is great for DBT macros. You can just drop in entire transforms without worrying about polluting the query namespace or working around existing columns on your reference tables.

There’s a dark side to this syntax. The imperative coding style this comes with a tradeoff that the reader needs to track internal state through many steps. It’s the same reason why SELECT * is often not recommended.

As a best practice I like to throw a `|> SELECT X,Y,Z` at the end of these pipe blocks to reinforce to the reader what the output looks like.

I should mention that it’s not as portable, but frankly all the major DBs aren’t portable, and other DBs also now support this syntax.

tl;dr: I like this feature, but use it sparingly. Avoid overuse in model files, definitely lean on it in analyses.
And the federal workforce outside of the military is only like 4.5% of the federal budget
Yes. Reproducibility also makes it possible to aggregate information about the links in dependency trees and distribute trust on that basis.

That stuff is useful to humans, but it is also really useful for cold hard automated logical reasoning about dependency trees.
If you have specifics about these fraud cases you're alleging, please add the details. You shouldn't let the people you're accusing of this specific crime go unpunished because you won't make their details public.
> The author writes as if part of his drive was that Linus himself showed enthusiasm for getting Linux on Apple Silicon.

Perhaps the author jumped to conclusions after Linus himself started using Asahi Linux on his own laptop for Linux kernel development[0]. Note the praise for the Asahi team in the commit message.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32311150
I think it's working as intended in terms of HN not being a place for partisan issues and discussion in the vast majority of cases. There's literally an automatic downvoting of submissions where the comment to vote ratio is too high. It's not the type of discussion HN wants or is intended for.
I've subscribed to the CDC MMWR for years, such a tragedy.

People don't seem to realize how much their lives are going to change living under authoritarianism. Make no mistake of what is happening.
I'm a software developer. I've been trying to replace myself with code since I started writing code in the early 80s.
Hi again! I have updated the pricing info on the landing page https://ChefVoiceAI.com now
I mean, it won't be nothing; there will be craters where the government used to be. People will be studying exactly what the hell happened here for decades to come.
I don't question the need for an audit. I do question having a ketamine fueled oligarch and a rag-tag group of 20 year old software developers doing an audit, pretending audits take days, and somehow only finding things conservatives hate as waste/fraud.
I gave those three just as examples from many possible. The swedish quality of life is due to the similar caliber swedish innovators of the past hundred years. At least we agree in ending the conversation :)
DOGE has shown how screwed up the balance between the 3 branches has gotten.

The executive should have the power to fire/remove executive associated departments/employees, obviously.

The executive should not be able to authorize drone strikes/war without congressional hearings (which has been occurring for decades at this point)

etc.
I already addressed the distinction and that I think there's both fraud and things we don't like.

On USAID being independent from State:

I personally would like our taxpayer-funded dollars, even if some insist on sending them overseas, to at least serve our national interest.

I know we set up USAID to counteract Communist aid from the USSR, but what do you think is the ongoing rationale for its independence from State? State is stuck fielding lots of questions from angry nations over USAID activity.
I can only speak from my experience but I've worked for two companies where the RSU's are structured as a pseudo-option.

Essentially, their price is set at FMV at the time of issuance. Since your net is zero at the time of issuance, you pay no taxes until there is a liquidity event and you can pay to cover.

Since this happened to me at two unrelated companies, I imagine it's a very common structure because it follows common sense and it works out great for everyone.
Illumos is based on Solaris, not BSD.
Weird, it works perfectly on my desktop and laptop (I don't check FB on my phone).
I mean, it's not really a valid case of Chesterton's Fence if you're doing it _maliciously_. I don't _really_ buy the "they are merely terribly incompetent and demolishing a lot of Chesterton's fences", at this point.
Marcan Resigns as Asahi Linux project lead
The link between the "trans opera in Colombia" and USAID seems tenuous at best.

https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/02/05/usaid-spending-list-t...

Still seems weird to threaten the lives of over 20 million people over this.
This executive branch department is cutting staff on the orders of the chief executive who is taking advice from a body he put together to find places to cut. They may have ulterior motives for giving that advice, but what is happening is technically perfectly legal because Trump is (unfortunately) the elected chief executive and is ultimately all of these people's boss.

I don't like Trump any more than you do, but mischaracterizing what is happening isn't helping the situation. The people who are pro-Trump or in the middle see through it, and the people who are already anti-Trump already agree with you.
Things don’t improve without competition. Roads have to be a monopoly because they take up so much space but we should endeavor to have as few monopolies as possible because they breed complacency every single time. At least here in Chicago the roads are horribly mismanaged but we just have to put up with it.
That's why we should ban all large training runs without trying to distinguish good ones from bad ones. People will have to be satisfied with the foundation models we have now.
μApp?
Technically, napkin is a diminutive of "nape" with the suffix "kin" meaning small[0]. So really the title probably ought to be "An Infinitely Large Nape". Unless the author is going for an oxymoronic use of napkin like "jumbo shrimp".

[0] https://www.etymonline.com/word/napkin
Russian Seashell Blizzard Hackers Have Access to Critical Infrastructure
well good thing we have inspectors general to make sure that people in the government are acting correctly!

oh wait

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_dismissals_of_inspectors_...
But those are insignificant portions of the federal budget and nothing indicates that the repercussions of the wanton tear-thru of federal agencies is going to be a net-gain for the US.
AI is an existential threat to tech companies not software engineers.

In many domains, the scope and complexity of software systems goes beyond the ability of a single software engineer to manage. A coordination layer becomes necessary when the number of engineers required goes beyond a threshold (say 5 or so). When the development effort must be coordinated over extended periods (say several months or years), mechanisms to raise capital and manage risk become necessary. These functions are why companies exist.

Consider that a massive increase in software engineer productivity will make coordination unnecessary for many kinds of software. In the market that opens up, companies with expensive executives, middle management and coordination inefficiencies will not be competitive. Smaller shops with a solo engineer or a team of less than 5 will outcompete larger players because their costs will be significantly lower. Massive one-size-fits-all products will be harder to justify when a small dev shop can quickly build or customise software for the unique requirements of a business or niche.

Before the CEOs stop needing engineers, engineers will stop needing CEOs and managers to coordinate their efforts and raise capital.
Until and unless storing data locally is your USP, it can create issues as well for the developer

- They might have less control over the algorithms deployed on client side vs them being on the server. In case of android apps it is a hassle to get the users to upgrade the app.
- In case there is a bug in the data I can't easily see the shape of the data and debug faster.

Probably in this case developer might be ambitious and would be thinking about adding extra features to their stack which would be potentially easy if algorithms and data is under their control.
Ask HN: What have you done to boost your programming career?
I've known > 10 people who have died from this cancer. It is my #1 fear (cancer wise). My best friend died 3 months to the day after being diagnosed. It is both a blessing and a curse how quickly this kills you. The day before he found out we went on a long walk. Within a couple of weeks we'd walk around the block, then just sit in his living room and talk for hours. The bad times lasted about 1 week and the last 2-3 days he was not really there.

I really hope this test becomes a reality and is OTC and not too expensive.
It's fine, it won't hurt Musk himself. All these wild experiments are perfectly okay from his perspective because, to him, there's basically zero risk.
He can call for that all day, its not going to matter. A major reason they are relying on executive fiat protected by a passive Congress is that even a Republican Congress doesn't want recorded votes on most of their agenda, good luck getting their political retaliation through a process that takes a majority in the House followed by a supermajority that would require substantial Democratic support in the Senate.
What do you mean 'hidden away'? The post was seen by hundreds, thousands maybe. Upvoted a bunch and commented on a bunch before being flagged. Not to mention, it's a dupe/syndicated content from another site, which isn't flagged. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43021873

So it's not nothing. There is some engagement, the discussion maybe then devolved and that's it. Stuff moves fast round here, and there's been a particularly heavy influx of headlines lately, but amidst any influx of attempt to flag things to hell, all is not lost, there's still engagement and sharing.
https://theshovel.com.au/2020/06/04/nra-accidentally-forgets...
Given the track record of Trump's cabinet picks, it seems fitting that the Secretary of Health and Human Services would follow the same trend of 'unique' qualifications. Consistency is key, right?
This is a White America thing and it is why we are in the situation we are in as a country but people want to pretend that race and culture doesn't play any role in anything. It does. You don't need to feel bad about it. Just acknowledge that it is a thing.
seconded. even if it was completely true criticism, which it categorically is not, putting up a half-page banner is extremely gauche and immature.

saying things like "an organized attempt to destroy lives, including of developers in our communities" is patently not true. trolls get flagged. honest nice people who don't agree with you aren't trying to destroy anything and nor do they hate you.
Good example is the CFPB. If they destroy it return all the money to taxpayers as Elon is saying he is doing, it's about 2 dollars to each of us. In return, we have a largely unregulated banking system that can do things like charge structuring for credit cards and checking account to maximize fees or overdrafts in a frankly fraudulent manner. It will cost us billions of dollars as a society to not have those protections anymore. Not to mention things like forced subscriptions that are impossible to cancel that the CFPB has been working against.

I'm pretty sure I would pay 2 dollars to not have to deal with any of those consequences.
Browser WebTransport – Consider Removing ServerCertificateHashes
FA Cup to use semi-automated offsides for first time
hey Ali - I love your post. Have you considered cofounder matching via YC? I am doing healthcare AI and have found collaborating with physicians is very helpful.

https://www.ycombinator.com/cofounder-matching
My perspective is it might be a chicken-or-egg problem. I would willingly donate to the Asahi project...if/when I were to buy a Macbook for the purpose of running Asahi Linux on it.

And I've been watching from the sidelines, waiting for Asahi Linux to become "stable" enough to consider buying a Macbook and putting Asahi Linux on it.
The solution will be to rewrite the kernel in Zig!
Translators, transcriptionists, bookkeepers, CAD draft engineers, studio musicians -- that's just off the top of my head.

Hasn't eliminated those professions completely, but greatly reduced the need for them.
It does not throw away the Wasm sandbox. Sandboxing means two things: memory sandboxing and system sandboxing. It retains the former. For the latter you can apply the same kinds of sandboxing policies as native processes and achieve the same effect, or even do it more efficiently in-process by the engine, and do interposition and whitelist/blacklisting more robustly than, e.g. seccomp.
I think this case is excused by the fact that you have no way of explaining why the medicine is important.
I would hope HN is one of the few places where people can set aside the political partisan wars and talk about the information security aspects of what the new administration is doing.
Had to vouch for this because it was flagged within minutes. Just the latest example of the manipulation of Hacker News to fit the new fascist agenda.
Define "backdoor". US authorities being able to demand data service providers have access to (eg. your gmail account) is nowhere comparable to an encryption backdoor, which is what's proposed here.
Paying users can be incredibly entitled, sometimes even more than people who don’t pay you a dime. The problem is the moment you accept a cent people expect you to do work for them, regardless of whether the money is actually “worth” how much effort needs to go into a feature. The open source projects I’ve worked on get donations but sometimes people will put up like $10 for their pet feature which takes a week to write. Like, thanks for your contribution, but this actually doesn’t affect my priorities at all.
> If you "fix" these things they lose their predictive power. Similarly if everyone tries to modify their parenting behavior so that the children can pass a hypothetical marshmallow test, then you will find that the test is no longer predictive of success.

Maybe in the end nurture has no impact and the result is 100% due to nature. But what's the point in being a parent if that's the case? At that point is a philosophical debate akin to determinism vs free will. Maybe everything is pre-determined. And if it is, then why bother do anything?

I think the moral of the article is that children will do as you do. So probably better to do virtuous things. Maybe in the end it won't matter, but nothing really matters in the end.
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43036904
Okay, one more question. When I have multiple terminal tabs open with processes running, I get an alert window with three options: Review Windows, Terminate Processes, Cancel:

https://imgur.com/a/mNQNRaI

I can cancel with CMD + (period), but I can't seem to select Terminate Processes with anything except the mouse, since it isn't the default option and it isn't cancel.

Any idea if this one is possible without turning on the keyboard navigation accessibility option?
> was not offered 83b election

The 83b election mechanism is a mess, and plenty of startups don’t explain it well to their employees, but I wasn’t aware that an employer had any particular say in it. Generally, the employee makes the election by mailing the appropriate documents to the IRS.

(I’m not a lawyer. Do your own research.)
OpenAI o3 ranks above 99.8% of competitive programmers with their new model
IMO, I'd ignore the AI part.

The really scary thing is FedRAMP is part of the TTS (the affected agency).

FedRAMP is the program used to procure Cloud and Cybersecurity services for federal agencies.

With TTS in flux, that means FedRAMP is in flux as well - which means tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in Cloud and Cybersecurity spend is on the line.

I have significant qualms about FedRAMP, but it was at least better than nothing.

FedRAMP was also one of the last tethers for the Cloud and Cybersecurity industry to remain in the US. Otherwise, the entire center of gravity is in Israel, India, and Eastern Europe (as I have mentioned multiple times).
Chrome's font rendering issue on Windows has been known for more than a decade. Turns out all you need to do is reading proper gamma/contrast values from register.

But they didn't fix it in Skia, so most Skia based projects still have shitty font rendering on Windows.

Here is the meta issue tracker:

https://issues.chromium.org/issues/40037626
Marcan brings up plenty of good points regarding contributing to kernel.org being stuck in the 1990s.

However, he's got no social skills nor does he have what it takes to man up and understand he won't get his way.

Additionally I doubt that he really is dealing with stalkers to the degree that he is implying; real people don't talk about their stalkers so much. When I was stalked and harassed I kept the details light and didn't provide much in the way of actual community details because I went to the FBI and local police to deal with it. And yes a few people not only got no contact orders, but lost jobs, families, and more over their exposure.

Marcan is extremely talented, but talent doesn't equal "I get to get my way." All the time. This idea that conflicts need to be resolved quickly and in the favor of a golden boy is a millennial/zoomer issue.
"TCNs are orders that require a company to build new capabilities that assist law enforcement agencies in accessing encrypted data. The Attorney-General must approve a TCN by confirming it is reasonable, proportionate, practical, and technically feasible."

It's a step above a warrant, as an order, when building a new capability. But yes, its focused in on one case. As to "reasonable" - our current AG is a strong supporter of expanding government powers as a way to fix any new problem that appears. He's done some good. And some bad. It isn't hard to see him rubber-stamping these, if someone across the hall needs it done.

Also... If a TCN order comes through, you're not permitted to tell the business that you've been ordered to create a backdoor in them. And they can order random anyone in the company to comply - it doesn't have to go to the C-level.
reread the quote
The biggest problem for people like you is that there are plenty governments and companies that are being led by competent leaders that don’t need to wield an axe to effect change. To the people wielding the axe, every problem looks like a tree.
Said nobody ever.