Hacker News
1The Fed says this is a cube of $1M. They're off by half a million
- A visitor to Chicago's Federal Reserve Money Museum investigates a cube display claiming to contain $1 million in cash. Using a self-created counting tool, they discover the cube actually contains $1.55 million, revealing a 50% discrepancy that raises questions about the exhibit's accuracy.
Cube construction theory
Discussion about how the cube was likely built with only $1M and padding/structural support inside, rather than actually containing $1.5M. Debate around whether it's misleading if hollow or non-uniform.Fed money handling
Discussion of how the Federal Reserve rigorously tracks all bills, even retired ones, making it unlikely they would casually approve extra money. Debate about whether these are real or decommissioned bills.Money visualization
Discussion about how different social classes visualize $1M differently, from large piles to small stacks of $100s, and how this affects perception of physical money amounts in various contexts.
2Xfinity using WiFi signals in your house to detect motion
- WiFi Motion is a feature of Xfinity Internet services that detects movement through WiFi signals between your gateway and connected devices. It's not a security service and requires specific equipment and settings. Users can customize sensitivity levels, exclude pet movements, and manage notifications through the Xfinity app, though performance depends on home layout and signal strength.
Privacy and legal concerns
Debate over whether privacy protection should be technical or legal, with some arguing for legal regulation of ISPs and others advocating for technical solutions like using personal hardware to prevent surveillanceTechnical implementation
Discussion of WiFi motion sensing technology evolution from research papers to commercial implementation, including details about how it works through signal disruption and its capabilitiesHardware control
Users sharing strategies to maintain privacy by using their own modems/routers instead of ISP equipment, with debate about data caps and limitations when using personal hardware
3Proton joins suit against Apple for practices that harm developers and consumers
- Proton is joining a class-action lawsuit against Apple over anti-competitive App Store policies, citing privacy concerns, censorship issues, and excessive fees. The company aims to end monopolistic practices and improve consumer choice, with any monetary damages being donated to organizations supporting democracy and human rights.
Privacy-first business models
Discussion of how Apple's App Store policies disproportionately hurt privacy-focused companies charging subscriptions, while favoring ad/surveillance-based free apps, creating barriers for privacy-respecting business modelsPlatform control rights
Debate over whether Apple has the right to control its platform after selling devices to users, with arguments about monopoly power, consumer rights, and whether platform restrictions benefit or harm usersiMessage platform lock-in
Criticism of Apple's iMessage strategy as deliberately creating social pressure and exclusion to lock users into iOS, particularly affecting teenagers and group chats through the "green bubble" stigma
4Cloudflare to introduce pay-per-crawl for AI bots
- Cloudflare introduces pay per crawl, a system allowing content creators to monetize AI crawler access to their content. Instead of simply blocking or allowing AI crawlers, publishers can now charge for access using HTTP response code 402, with Cloudflare managing the payment infrastructure and settlements.
Micropayments and web monetization
Discussion of using micropayments for web content, with debate around Coinbase's x402 protocol, implementation challenges, and whether bundling subscriptions are better than per-piece payments for content monetization.Cloudflare's centralization concerns
Concerns about Cloudflare becoming too powerful a gatekeeper, with some arguing it creates unhealthy centralization while others defend CF's track record of working for the open web's benefit.Impact on web crawling
Debate about whether paid crawling would improve the web ecosystem or just add costs without benefits, with focus on how it affects AI companies, search engines and content creators.
5I write type-safe generic data structures in C
- The article discusses implementing type-safe generic data structures in C using unions to associate type information. It presents different approaches to creating generic linked lists, progressing from basic implementations to more sophisticated solutions that provide type checking at compile time, ultimately offering a clean and safe way to handle different data types.
Type safety implementation
Debate around proper type safety in C generics, focusing on function pointer casting, aliasing analysis, and alternative approaches using type witnesses and unions to maintain type checking without undefined behaviorC++ vs C generics
Discussion of whether using C++ templates would be simpler than implementing generics in C, with responses noting regulatory/legacy constraints and cases where C remains preferableTechnical implementation details
Analysis of specific code issues like alignment, padding, function declarations, and compiler-specific behaviors across different C versions and implementations
6Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house
- A Melbourne homeowner discovered an extensive model train network beneath his newly purchased house, built by the previous owner in the 1960s. Coincidentally, the new owner is a train enthusiast and engineer who plans to restore and upgrade the elaborate setup for future generations to enjoy.
Missing home inspection
Discussion of how a basement train set was missed during home purchase, revealing issues with Australian housing market practices and rushed sales without proper inspections due to competitive market conditionsHoarding and obsessions
Stories about extreme collecting habits, from dense model train layouts to the tragic Collyer brothers case, debating whether intense hobbies reflect neurodivergence or normal passionate interestsSecret hobbies
Examples of people hiding their model train enthusiasm from partners, including a man who spent £250k secretly building UK's largest model railway, fearing judgment about his hobby
7Claude Code now supports hooks
- Claude Code hooks are customizable shell commands that execute at specific points in the application's lifecycle, allowing users to automate tasks like notifications, code formatting, logging, and permissions. These hooks provide deterministic control over behavior rather than relying on LLM decisions, with various event types including PreToolUse, PostToolUse, Notification, and Stop.
Hooks implementation and usage
Discussion of technical details around Claude Code's new hooks feature, including JSON configuration, automation possibilities, and potential use cases like code formatting, linting and directory-specific actions.AI impact on coding jobs
Debate about whether AI will eliminate programming jobs, with analogies to power tools and photography. Most agree AI will change the nature of work rather than eliminate it, though may reduce entry-level positions.Code quality concerns
Worries that AI-generated code could lead to lower quality "mass-produced" software lacking craftsmanship, similar to how power tools led to prefab furniture replacing hand-carved pieces.
8Show HN: Spegel, a Terminal Browser That Uses LLMs to Rewrite Webpages
- Spegel is a terminal-based web browser that uses AI language models to transform and customize web content into markdown format. It allows users to create personalized views of websites through custom prompts, making it easier to extract essential information like recipes while removing unnecessary clutter.
Recipe parsing and accuracy
Discussion about using LLMs to extract recipes from websites, with concerns about accuracy after discovering the tool changed ingredients/amounts. Debate between using LLMs vs existing structured data solutions like schema.org.Alternative browsing paradigm
Exploration of using LLMs as intermediaries for web browsing, with suggestions for multi-tab analysis and fact-checking. Includes discussion of making browsing more personalized and handling various content types.SEO and content filtering
Debate about using LLMs to combat SEO-optimized content and remove "cruft" from websites, though with concerns about costs and reliability. Discussion of potential future applications in content filtering.
9OpenFLOW – Quickly make beautiful infrastructure diagrams local to your machine
- OpenFLOW is an open-source web application for creating isometric diagrams. It features auto-saving, offline support, and privacy-focused local storage. Users can create, customize, and share technical diagrams through a drag-and-drop interface, with tools for adding components, connecting items, and managing saved work.
Integration opportunities
Discussion about potential integrations with Markdown, static site generators, and desire for Mermaid.js alternatives due to its syntax complexity and instability in tools like GitLab.Project attribution
Debate about how the project presents itself in relation to Isoflow, with some users suggesting the documentation should more clearly acknowledge Isoflow's substantial contribution.Export capabilities
Users expressing interest in additional export formats beyond JSON, particularly for image formats like PNG/JPG and vector graphics, as well as potential Terraform state visualization.
10Donkey Kong Country 2 and Open Bus
- A bug in the SNES emulator ZSNES affects spinning barrels in Donkey Kong Country 2, causing them to rotate continuously when players tap left or right, instead of only spinning while holding the direction. This makes certain stages significantly more difficult than intended, especially in areas with hazards like spikes.
6502 assembly programming challenges
Common mistake of forgetting # for immediate values, with devs sharing experiences of tracking down related bugs. Discussion of how this affects execution timing and how different systems/emulators handle it.Memory types in early computers
Detailed discussion of DRAM vs SRAM usage in 6502-based systems, with examples from Apple II, Commodore 64, and other machines. Focus on how refresh cycles were handled and cost considerations.Open bus behavior
Technical explanation of how unmapped memory reads work in early systems, floating bus lines, and parasitic capacitance. Impact on game behavior and emulation accuracy.