Hacker News
1How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
- The article explores President Trump's actions during his second term that threaten the five pillars of the First Amendment. It details his administration's efforts to restrict petition rights, limit press freedom, control public assembly, and intimidate legal professionals through executive orders, lawsuits, and policy changes.
Free speech absolutism
Debate over whether "free speech absolutists" are genuine advocates or using it as cover for harmful speech, with discussion of ACLU's historical role and current political dynamics around speech rightsGovernment surveillance
Concerns about deportation of activists and protesters, use of Signal to evade FOIA, and broader government overreach in monitoring and controlling speech and dissentEnlightenment values
Discussion of America's founding enlightenment principles being undermined, with debate over whether post-WWII American leadership truly reflected these values or was circumstantial
2The demoscene as a UNESCO heritage in Sweden
- The demoscene, a creative digital subculture focused on maximizing hardware capabilities through competitive productions, has been recognized as UNESCO heritage in Sweden. It's known for its diverse community, from professional programmers to digital artists, united by their passion for creating unique computer-based content.
Preservation and academic study
Discussion about the importance of preserving demoscene history, artifacts and encouraging academic research into its cultural significance, while noting the scene has done well in self-archiving its heritageModern computing limitations
Debate about how modern locked-down devices limit the hacker mindset that drove demoscene innovation, though some argue GPU capabilities still enable creative explorationUNESCO recognition process
Conversation about the country-by-country approach to UNESCO heritage listings being poorly suited for digital/internet culture, while acknowledging potential benefits for legitimacy and funding
3Oracle attempt to hide cybersecurity incident from customers?
- Oracle faces a significant cybersecurity breach in their cloud services, with a threat actor named rose87168 leaking internal meetings, customer data, and system configurations. Despite Oracle's attempts to deny the breach through specific wording, evidence confirms a serious security incident in Oracle-managed systems.
Oracle's business reputation
Discussion of Oracle's business practices and relationships, with users noting that customers don't choose Oracle for quality but due to lock-in, executive deals, or legacy dependencies.Security incident handling
Oracle's denial and poor handling of the security breach, with commenters noting that transparency would have been better than denial and lying, raising questions about trust and compliance.Legal and regulatory concerns
Discussion of notification requirements, SEC disclosure obligations, and lack of enforcement teeth in current laws, with debate about potential fines and contractual obligations.
4Gemini 2.5 Pro vs. Claude 3.7 Sonnet: Coding Comparison
- The article compares the coding capabilities of Google's new Gemini 2.5 Pro with Claude 3.7 Sonnet through various programming tests. While both models perform well, Gemini 2.5 Pro emerges as the superior choice due to its larger context window, better coding accuracy, and free availability, though Claude 3.7 remains a strong competitor.
Gtk4 port challenge
Discussion around whether LLMs can handle porting a GTK3 codebase to GTK4, with skepticism about AI's real-world coding abilities and debate over presenting this as a potential contest challenge.Gemini 2.5 performance
Mixed experiences with Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro, with some praising its larger context window and ability to admit limitations, while others criticize its tendency to make unwanted code changes and poor performance on complex tasks.LLM coding limitations
Discussion of how LLM coding tests focus too heavily on greenfield projects rather than real-world scenarios involving modifications to existing codebases, which is where most development work actually occurs.
5Honey has now lost 4M Chrome users after shady tactics were revealed
- Chrome extension Honey lost 4 million users after a YouTube video exposed its practice of hijacking affiliate codes without providing benefits. Following a new Chrome policy restricting such behavior, Honey dropped from 20 million to 16 million users and has since updated its practices to comply with the policy.
Attribution and revenue model
Discussion of how Honey injects itself as the last click for affiliate attribution, taking revenue from content creators and raising ethical concerns. Debate over whether this constitutes fraud or legitimate business practice.Alternative solutions
Community discussion of alternatives to Honey, including open-source options, manual coupon collection, and direct retailer email signups. Debate over whether automated coupon systems can work ethically.User numbers impact
Analysis of Honey's user base decline from 20M to 16M users after revelations. Discussion of whether 20% drop is significant enough to force changes in business practices.
6Ask HN: What are you working on? (March 2025)
- A simple question asking about current work projects and any potential new ideas or thoughts under consideration.
Audio classification research
PhD thesis on low-resource audio classification for Arctic wildlife monitoring. Discussion covers challenges of training models with limited labeled data, self-supervised learning approaches, and potential applications for biodiversity tracking.Free invoice generator
Web tool for generating invoices with state stored in URL. Discussion explores need for country-specific templates, integration with accounting systems, and comparison with existing solutions.Social media monitoring tool
Service that alerts users when keywords are mentioned across platforms like HN, Reddit, Bluesky. Discussion focuses on technical challenges of processing high-volume data and pricing strategy for different user segments.
7The <select> element can now be customized with CSS
- Chrome 135 introduces customizable <select> elements with CSS styling capabilities, allowing developers to create rich and accessible dropdown menus with HTML content, custom appearances, and animations while maintaining backward compatibility and standard JavaScript interfaces.
Missing key features in base-select
Discussion around limitations of the new base-select, particularly losing viewport overflow and native mobile OS components, with mixed reactions about trading these features for better styling capabilities.Browser support concerns
Concerns about limited browser support (46% globally) and the need for progressive enhancement to maintain usability across all browsers, while acknowledging this is a significant improvement over current div-based solutions.Need for additional HTML components
Developers discussing the long-overdue need for native HTML components like typeahead, tag selectors, and better date/time inputs, rather than relying on JavaScript libraries with various bugs.
8It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)
- The article explains the different types of white crystals found in cheese, distinguishing them from mold. These crystals, formed from either mineral emulsion or protein breakdown during aging, are desirable features that indicate a well-aged cheese and contribute to texture and sensory experience.
Cheese aging and crystals
Discussion about the formation and enjoyment of cheese crystals, particularly in aged Gouda and cheddar. Debate about artificial crystals and aging methods used by manufacturers.Pre-shredded vs block cheese
Concerns about additives in pre-shredded cheese, including antifungals and anti-caking agents. Users advocate for block cheese as superior in taste, melting properties and value.Swiss and Dutch cheese experiences
Personal experiences with cheese shops in Switzerland and Netherlands, particularly focusing on aged Gouda's unique qualities and the dedicated cheese sections in European markets.
9Installing air filters in classrooms has surprisingly large educational benefits (2020)
- A study found that installing air filters in Los Angeles schools after a gas leak led to significant improvements in student test scores, despite the filters mainly addressing regular air pollution rather than gas-related issues. This suggests air filtration could be a highly cost-effective way to enhance academic performance.
Study methodology concerns
Discussion of limitations in the research, including lack of proper controls, small sample size, and potential confounding factors. Many commenters expressed skepticism about the dramatic test score improvements.Air filtration types and effectiveness
Debate about different filter types (HEPA vs carbon), their capabilities, and real-world performance. Discussion included technical aspects of what pollutants each type can remove and optimal configurations.Health impacts
Conversation about broader health effects of air filtration beyond test scores, including reduced illness rates, cognitive performance benefits, and potential long-term health implications for students.
10AI agents: Less capability, more reliability, please
- The article critiques the trend of AI flight booking demos, arguing that AI should prioritize reliability over flashy features. It highlights how users prefer simple, predictable tools over complex AI systems that may fail unpredictably, using examples from IDE experiences and recent AI projects to emphasize the importance of transparent design.
Reliability over capability
Discussion emphasizes that AI agents should focus on doing fewer tasks reliably rather than attempting many tasks poorly. Examples like flight booking show current AI struggles with reliability, and many existing UIs already solve problems effectively.Workflows vs agents
Consensus that structured workflows are preferable to open-ended AI agents for now. Workflows provide more control, transparency and reliability while agents aren't yet sophisticated enough for truly autonomous operation.Software engineering principles
Debate around whether AI development needs to adopt traditional software engineering practices like error handling, testing, and version control rather than trying to bypass these established best practices.