Hacker News
1Grok: Searching X for "From:Elonmusk (Israel or Palestine or Hamas or Gaza)"
- Grok 4, an AI assistant, appears to search for Elon Musk's opinions when asked controversial questions, particularly demonstrated when asked about the Israel-Palestine conflict. This behavior seems unintentional and may stem from the AI's programming to recognize its connection to xAI and Musk, rather than explicit instructions.
Grok's alignment with Musk
Discussion of whether Grok's tendency to check Elon Musk's tweets before forming opinions is intentional design or emergent behavior, with most users skeptical of claims it's unintentional given Musk's history of wanting to control narrativesSystem prompt transparency
Debate about whether the system prompt Grok reveals is complete/accurate or if there are hidden instructions directing its behavior, with discussion of prompt extraction techniques and limitationsLLM determinism
Technical discussion about whether LLMs are truly non-deterministic or if variations come from added randomness, GPU conditions, and floating point operations, with debate over deterministic behavior in local vs cloud deployments
2At Least 13 People Died by Suicide Amid U.K. Post Office Scandal, Report Says
- A British post office scandal involving a faulty IT system led to wrongful prosecutions of about 1,000 postal workers, with an inquiry revealing at least 13 worker suicides. Over 10,000 people may be eligible for compensation, as highlighted by a recent report and dramatized in an ITV series that prompted legal reforms.
Class bias and discrimination
Post Office leadership's classist assumptions about franchise owners led them to presume theft, ignore software issues, and aggressively prosecute working-class postmasters, reflecting deeper class prejudices in British societySoftware and accountability
Discussion of how buggy accounting software led to false prosecutions, debates over developer responsibility, and broader lessons about software's impact on lives beyond traditional safety-critical systemsJustice system failures
Multiple systemic failures in UK legal system, including blind trust in computer evidence, Post Office's special prosecution powers, and lack of accountability for those responsible for wrongful convictions
3Show HN: Pangolin – Open source alternative to Cloudflare Tunnels
- Pangolin is a self-hosted proxy management server that provides secure access to private resources through encrypted tunnels. It offers a user-friendly dashboard for managing proxies, authentication, and access control while keeping your infrastructure under your control.
Technical architecture
Discussion of Pangolin's components including Traefik for HTTP proxying, Badger for authentication, Gerbil for WireGuard management, and Newt for local resource proxying, with user feedback on performance and documentationComparison to alternatives
Users comparing Pangolin to Cloudflare Tunnels, Tailscale, FRP, and other solutions, discussing pros and cons of each approach for different use cases like home servers, VPS hosting, and public service exposureUse cases and implementation
Discussion of practical applications including homelab setups, service exposure, VPS tunneling, and security considerations, with users sharing their experiences and asking about specific deployment scenarios
4Bill Atkinson's psychedelic user interface
- Bill Atkinson, Apple pioneer behind the Macintosh interface, passed away in 2025. While known for QuickDraw and MacPaint, he secretly contributed to psychedelic innovation as "Grace Within," developing the LightWand vape pen for 5-MeO-DMT and openly sharing its technology to democratize safe psychedelic experiences.
Psychedelic accessibility and safety
Debate between those favoring controlled access to ensure safety/proper preparation and those arguing prohibition creates more harm. Discussion of clinical settings vs underground use and need for legal reform.Hypercard and technology
Discussion of Bill Atkinson's work at Apple/General Magic, the history of HyperCard which was inspired by psychedelics, and the documentary about General Magic's innovations.Personal experiences and effects
Users share experiences with various psychedelics, particularly DMT variants, ketamine treatments, and impact on mental health. Discussion of differences between substances and administration methods.
5Apple vs the Law
- The article discusses Apple's contentious approach to DMA compliance workshops in Brussels, highlighting their resistance to regulatory requirements. Apple's presentation was marked by defensive posturing, reluctance to provide detailed answers, and dismissive attitudes toward participants' questions about browser engines and app store policies.
EU regulatory approach
Discussion of EU's role in regulating big tech, with debate between those praising EU's pro-competition stance and others arguing regulations make environment too complex for smaller companies.Apple's compliance resistance
Apple's efforts to avoid DMA compliance through legal challenges, technical excuses, and separation of products, with many viewing their security/privacy arguments as bad faith.Apple product quality
Debate about Apple's product quality under Tim Cook vs Steve Jobs, with arguments that lack of competition has led to declining standards in areas like Apple Watch and UI design.
6Flix – A powerful effect-oriented programming language
- A web page for the Flix programming language that requires JavaScript to run and includes a GitHub fork banner, indicating it's an open-source project hosted on GitHub.
Language design and features
Discussion of Flix's key features including algebraic data types, JVM integration, effect system, and monomorphization. Praise for single executable design but concerns about Java interop and type erasure.Nordic PL influence
Exploration of why Aarhus University and Nordic institutions are programming language powerhouses, citing strong academic traditions in logic/type theory and different research funding models compared to US.Effect-oriented programming
Discussion of how effect systems work by annotating expressions that can have effects, allowing compiler enforcement of effect rules, with examples of implementation and practical applications.
7Grok 4
- Grok 4, xAI's latest AI model, offers improved capabilities with image and text processing, longer context length, and competitive pricing. While it shows promising benchmark results, recent controversies around its system prompt and safety measures have raised concerns about xAI's approach to model development.
Model safety and steerability
Debate over whether Grok's susceptibility to prompt manipulation shows dangerous lack of safety guardrails or beneficial flexibility compared to other "lobotomized" models. Some argue steerability is good while others see risks.Pricing and token usage
Discussion of Grok's "hidden" thinking token costs making it more expensive than advertised. Users debate whether the high costs are justified by performance and compare pricing structures to other models.Elon Musk's influence
Concerns about Grok consulting Musk's tweets as a source of truth on controversial topics. Critics worry this creates problematic biases, while supporters argue all models have biases from their creators.
8Graphical Linear Algebra
- A blog series exploring the relationship between mathematics, diagrams, and linear algebra, covering topics from basic arithmetic to complex mathematical concepts like matrices, integers, and fractions. The content includes educational episodes, research updates, and occasional off-topic academic discussions.
Visual learning benefits
Users discuss how graphical representations helped them better understand and remember mathematical concepts, with examples from calculus and linear algebra leading to deeper comprehension.Documentation writing practices
Discussion about avoiding words like "easy," "simple," and "obvious" in educational texts, as they can discourage readers who find concepts challenging.Computational diagrams
Technical discussion relating the diagrams to interaction nets, lambda calculus, and similar visual representations in quantum processes like ZX-calculus.
9LLM Inference Handbook
- A comprehensive technical handbook for engineers deploying LLMs in production, covering inference concepts, performance optimization, and operational best practices. It addresses fragmented knowledge in the field and serves as a practical guide for making LLM inference faster, cheaper, and more reliable.
Technical feedback
Discussion of technical details including Time-To-First-Token (TTFT) measurement, self-hosting recommendations for llama.cpp, and suggestions about REST API documentation and structured outputs.Website design
Comments about the handbook's website design, including praise for its aesthetics, discussion of the Infima CSS framework used, and criticism of the multi-page navigation structure.Project purpose
Discussion of BentoML's evolution into LLM serving, with users noting the importance of LLM inference knowledge and appreciating the handbook as a comprehensive reference.
10Upgrading an M4 Pro Mac mini's storage for half the price
- Jeff Geerling demonstrates upgrading a Mac mini M4 Pro's storage from 512GB to 4TB using an M4-SSD upgrade kit that costs $699 - about half the price of Apple's official $1,200 upgrade. While the installation process is straightforward for those familiar with laptop hardware, it requires a complete DFU restore. Performance tests show the upgraded drive delivers excellent read/write speeds, outperforming external storage options.
Evolution of storage performance
Discussion of dramatic improvements from RAID HDD arrays to modern SSDs, with users sharing experiences of going from struggling with 1GB/s speeds using multiple drives to now getting 5GB/s from single NVMe drivesApple's storage pricing strategy
Criticism of Apple's high storage upgrade prices and non-upgradeable components, with debate around whether this is pure profit-seeking or also serves to simplify product lines and improve reliabilityData integrity approaches
Comparison of Apple's hardware-level data integrity via custom SSD controllers versus file system level protection like ZFS checksums, stemming from Apple's Anobit acquisition