AI Agents Surge, Oxy Launches, Rails Go Electric!

CLI to manage your SQL database schemas and migrations

Key Points

• CLI uses SQLModel and Alembic to manage schemas and migrations.
• Exports JSON Schemas from Pydantic v2 models.
• Scaffolds projects with env-specific configs (SQLite local, PostgreSQL prod).

Yes, you should understand backprop (2016)

Key Points

• Backprop is a leaky abstraction; understanding it prevents misinterpretation of training behavior.
• Saturating activations (sigmoid/tanh) with large weights or poor preprocessing cause vanishing gradients.
• Sigmoid’s gradient ≤0.25 ensures gradient shrinkage across layers, slowing learning with basic SGD.

The Naked Man Problem and the Secret to Never Forgetting Numbers

Key Points

• Turn digits into images and link them into a short, vivid story for fast recall.
• Use a consistent personal 0–9 symbol dictionary to make the method reliable.
• Vivid, unusual imagery significantly improves memorability of number sequences.

Notes by djb on using Fil-C (2025)

Key Points

• Toolchain install script builds Fil‑C+glibc+binutils on Debian 13 in ~86 minutes.
• Microbenchmarks show Fil‑C typically uses 1x–4x more cycles than clang on crypto code.
• Alternative unprivileged installation via Filnix enables running Fil‑C‑compiled applications.

FlightAware Map Design

Key Points

• All-vector map with in-house dataset using Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap.
• Airport-focused detail and overlays, optimized for low-bandwidth environments.
• Built on Apache Baremaps with automated style generation.

Hyperbolic Non-Euclidean World (2007)

Key Points

• Covers hyperbolic models (Poincaré disk, upper half-plane) and non-Euclidean metrics.
• Includes curvature on the pseudosphere and practical paper-craft constructions.
• Extends to projective/topological topics: Möbius strip, cross-cap, Klein bottle, cross ratio, Erlangen Programme.

Why do AI models use so many em-dashes?

Key Points

• Em-dashes are a notable and hard-to-avoid feature of AI-generated prose.
• OpenAI tokenizer tests suggest em-dashes are not inherently more token-efficient.
• Corpus data undermines the theory that African English via RLHF drives em-dash prevalence.

When O3 is 2x slower than O2

Key Points

• O3 was ~2.15 µs per insert, +123% slower than O2 at ~963 ns.
• Hotspots shifted heavily to binary_search_by and the float-based comparator in O3.
• Targeting Haswell with RUSTFLAGS showed similar behavior on AMD and Intel CPUs.

Context engineering

Key Points

• Context engineering manages every token in the context window to guide LLMs.
• Chat framing and system messages improve control without changing model architecture.
• Prompt engineering’s limitations motivate a broader, structured approach.

We reduced a container image from 800GB to 2GB

Key Points

• Containerd sustained >100MB/s writes indicated container-level root cause.
• Repeated 11GB /var/log/btmp files across overlayfs snapshots drove image bloat.
• Custom tool image-manip squashed OCI layers and removed oversized files.

Mock – An API creation and testing utility: Examples

Key Points

• Delay entire APIs or specific endpoints using --delay and middleware.
• Define multilingual route handlers via --route and --exec.
• Maintain simple request state with a temp file, bc, and sponge.

Welcome to hell; please drive carefully

Key Points

• Belisha beacons’ operation is defined by BS 8442:2022+A1:2023 (40±4 FPM; 50–60% on-time).
• UK moved from Pelican to sensor-based Puffin crossings in 2016.
• Pedestrian fatalities have fallen markedly since 1935 despite major growth in vehicle numbers.

Your URL Is Your State

Key Points

• URLs can serve as first-class state containers, enabling shareable and recoverable configurations.
• Different URL components (paths, queries, fragments, text fragments) encode distinct types of application state.
• Real-world examples include PrismJS configuration links and GitHub line highlighting via fragment identifiers.

Go Primitive in Java, or Go in a Box

Key Points

• Java lacks primitive collection types, requiring boxing for collections.
• Eclipse Collections offers extensive primitive containers, many with mutable/immutable variants.
• Boolean-keyed primitive maps are intentionally excluded in Eclipse Collections.

How the US is preparing a Caribbean staging ground near Venezuela

Key Points

• U.S. upgrades at Puerto Rico’s Roosevelt Roads and nearby airports suggest staging for Venezuela-related operations.
• At least 14 recent U.S. strikes on alleged drug vessels have killed 61, heightening regional tensions.
• Major assets, including the Ford carrier strike group, are deploying; official comment is limited.

Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

Key Points

• Add x-ms-reactions: disallow to block Outlook reactions.
• Implement server-wide via Postfix header_checks (PCRE).
• Client behavior varies; server-side still blocks reactions.

Show HN: Open data reveals “100% renewable” UK energy isn’t really 100%

Key Points

• Certificate rules allow temporal mismatches between renewable claims and actual consumption.
• The Index provides hourly renewable matching scores using public UK energy data.
• Some '100% renewable' tariffs are only 55% matched in real-time.

Tongyi DeepResearch – open-source 30B MoE Model that rivals OpenAI DeepResearch

Key Points

• Open-source agent with benchmark results comparable to OpenAI’s DeepResearch
• Synthetic data-driven pipeline across CPT, SFT, and full-stack RL
• Inference modes: vanilla ReAct and Heavy Mode (test-time scaling)

Autodesk's John Walker Explained HP and IBM in 1991

Key Points

• Walker’s 1991 analysis is used to critique HP and IBM’s responses to industry shifts.
• Leadership by mission, not competitor imitation, is presented as essential.
• Listening to employees and clear strategic communication are highlighted as critical.

"Why don't you use dependent types?"

Key Points

• Isabelle favors an LCF proof-kernel approach over proof objects and dependent types.
• AUTOMATH served as a logical framework using dependent types but not Curry–Howard.
• Community preference for HOL led to Isabelle/HOL’s prominence.

A man who changes the time on Big Ben

Key Points

• Custodian since 2023 maintains Big Ben’s Great Clock and 3,300 Westminster clocks.
• Time changes require manual updates across heritage, quartz, and centralized systems.
• Big Ben’s bell is cracked from a heavy hammer (1862), creating its signature tone.

Writing FreeDOS Programs in C

Key Points

• Teaches C for FreeDOS from command-line basics to a turn-based game.
• Originated as a YouTube series, funded via Patreon with extras for higher-tier patrons.
• Licensed under CC BY 4.0; content will migrate to the updated FreeDOS Wiki.

X.org Security Advisory: multiple security issues X.Org X server and Xwayland

Key Points

• Upgrade to xorg-server 21.1.19 and xwayland 24.1.9 to fix three CVEs.
• Two use-after-free bugs (Present extension, Xkb resource removal) and one value overflow (XkbSetCompatMap) are addressed.
• Vulnerabilities trace back to Xorg 1.15 and X11R6; commits are linked for each fix.

New South Korean national law will turn large parking lots into solar farms

Key Points

• South Korea mandates solar canopies for parking lots with 80+ spaces, including existing lots.
• Policy takes effect this month after late-September approval; installations to start immediately.
• U.S. examples in Arizona and New York illustrate feasibility and enabling policies for parking-lot solar.

At the end you use Git bisect

Key Points

• Git bisect uses binary search to isolate the first bad commit.
• Automated tests and a scripting wrapper enable unattended bisect runs.
• A Python/pytest demo shows the workflow and output identifying the bad commit.

A prison of my own making

Key Points

• Overuse of declarative, immutable, and automated practices made the homelab cumbersome.
• Immutable OS choices like Fedora Silverblue added friction to routine installs (Flatpak, distrobox, layering).
• Planned simplification includes dropping CI/CD for cron scripts and favoring easy installs over purity.

OpenBSD 7.8 Highlights

Key Points

• Networking: softnet and TCP stack parallelism (up to 8 threads).
• Graphics: DRM updated to Linux 6.12.50 with new Qualcomm drivers.
• Toolchain and system: C++ libraries to 19.1.7; new security-compatible profiling; LLDP daemon added.

A once-in-a-generation discovery is transforming a Michigan dairy farm

Key Points

• High-oleic soybeans increased milk fat and protein within three days at Preston Farms.
• Purchased feed costs dropped by ~20% per month, saving tens of thousands of dollars.
• MSU research shows roasting soybeans enhances benefits; demand for seed is rising.

Anti-cybercrime laws are being weaponized to repress journalism

Key Points

• Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act, especially Section 24, is used against journalists despite a 2024 amendment.
• Press freedom groups report ongoing prosecutions and warn of vague legal language enabling censorship.
• Similar laws in multiple countries (e.g., Niger, Jordan) have led to criminal penalties for online speech.

Show HN: Anki-LLM – Bulk process and generate Anki flashcards with LLMs

Key Points

• Two processing modes: file-based (CSV/YAML) and direct via AnkiConnect.
• Supports OpenAI and Google Gemini models with environment-based API keys.
• Features include custom prompts, concurrency, retries, incremental saves, and resume.

Preserving Digital Memory at the Festival of Floppies

Key Points

• Hands-on workstation building used Greaseweazle controllers and diverse floppy drives.
• Public imaging recovered files from Amstrad, DOS, and early Windows formats.
• The Floppy Disk Guide, open for comments, provided the workflow framework.

Lisp: Notes on its Past and Future (1980)

Key Points

• LISP persisted as a local optimum among programming languages.
• Remove accumulated complexities and improve cooperative maintenance.
• Enable formal verification for pure LISP; expand with more theory and language smoothing.

Using FreeBSD to make self-hosting fun again

Key Points

• FreeBSD selected for multi-purpose self-hosting with jails and VMs.
• Setup used BastilleBSD for jails and vm-bhyve for virtualization on a Hetzner server.
• FreeBSD praised for documentation, simplicity, and long-term compatibility.

Linux gamers on Steam cross over the 3% mark

Key Points

• Linux share on Steam hit 3.05% in October 2025.
• SteamOS/Steam Deck heavily influences Linux usage and is a top seller.
• Valve’s last MAU implies >4 million monthly Linux users; no updated MAU yet.

Y Combinator Interview Practice Simulation

Key Points

• YC interviews are 10 minutes, rapid-fire, and interruption-heavy.
• Practice focuses on handling objections and concise, confident answers.
• Time management and repeated rehearsal are emphasized, with a testimonial citing acceptance into YC W24 after 18 practice sessions.

Is Your Bluetooth Chip Leaking Secrets via RF Signals?

Key Points

• ML-assisted RF side-channel attack recovers full AES key from a Bluetooth chip.
• Approximately 90,000 traces collected at ~1 meter enable successful key recovery.
• Affected chips are deployed across wearables, smart home, and industrial IoT devices.

Reproducing the AWS Outage Race Condition with a Model Checker

Key Points

• Simplified Spin/Promela model reproduces the AWS-described race condition.
• Concurrent Enactor clean-up can delete an active plan, simulating DNS failure.
• Model checking explores interleavings and validates invariants to expose bugs.

Printed circuit board substrates derived from lignocellulose nanofibrils

Key Points

• LCNF substrates were fabricated from lignin-rich cellulose pulp and consolidated via thermal and pressure treatment.
• Comprehensive testing covered mechanical, electrical, dimensional, surface, and thermal properties.
• A functional computer mouse with an inkjet-printed LCNF PCB and Wood-PLA housing demonstrated practical feasibility.

'This is the big one' – tech firms bet on electrifying rail

Key Points

• Direct-to-rail solar pilot at Aldershot demonstrates renewable traction power.
• Network Rail seeking suppliers for rail-side renewables; startups plan to bid.
• Software and new power conversion devices aim to lower costs and integrate solar with AC overhead lines.

React-Native-Godot

Key Points

• Embeds Godot Engine into React Native on iOS and Android with lifecycle control and separate-thread execution.
• Full Godot API accessible from TypeScript/JavaScript; windows can be embedded within RN screens.
• Available on NPM; example app and setup scripts provided, with prebuilt LibGodot binaries from GitHub.

Solar-powered QR reading postboxes being rolled out across UK

Key Points

• 3,500 solar-powered postboxes to roll out across UK after pilot trials.
• Barcode scanner and app-enabled drawer accept small parcels up to shoebox size.
• Rollout begins in cities including Edinburgh, Nottingham, Sheffield, and Manchester.

MTurk is 20 years old today – what did you create with it?

Key Points

• MTurk launched Nov 2, 2005, built by two small AWS teams.
• At launch: AWS ~100 employees; S3 in private beta; EC2 was a whitepaper.
• The post invites users to share what they created with MTurk.

Alleged Jabber Zeus Coder 'MrICQ' in U.S. Custody

Key Points

• Rybtsov (“MrICQ”) extradited from Italy to U.S.; now in Nebraska custody under FBI warrant.
• 2012 indictment alleges role as Jabber Zeus developer using ZeuS trojan and Jabber to target U.S. businesses.
• Investigative links tie Rybtsov to Jabber Zeus leadership; leader Penchukov received 18-year sentence and $73M restitution.

Paris Had a Moving Sidewalk in 1900, and a Thomas Edison Film Captured It

Key Points

• Edison’s team filmed the 1900 Paris moving sidewalk with improved motion techniques.
• The system used three platforms with the fastest belt around six miles per hour.
• Earlier attempts included Speer’s 1871 patent and Chicago’s unreliable 1893 installation.

FurtherAI (Series A – A16Z, YC) Is Hiring Across Software and AI

Key Points

• $25M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz; >10× revenue growth and rapid seed-to-Series A timeline.
• Hiring software, AI, and forward-deployed engineers in San Francisco for AI agents in insurance.
• Small, founder-heavy team with top-tier tech backgrounds; direct CTO contact and $10k referral bonus.

Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

Key Points

• Propionibacteria produce CO2 during fermentation, creating Swiss cheese holes.
• Aging in warm rooms shapes eye formation and preserves texture and flavor.
• USDA regulates the size, number, and distribution of Swiss cheese “eyes.”

"You Don't Need Kafka, Just Use Postgres" Considered Harmful

Key Points

• Kafka and Postgres target different problem domains; choose based on use case.
• Postgres-based queues have operational pitfalls (MVCC, WAL, vacuum) requiring thorough testing.
• Kafka’s queue support (KIP-932) is in progress but not production-ready; Kafka suits pipelines and stream processing.

Amazon Rivian Electric Delivery Vans Arrive in Canada

Key Points

• Amazon and Rivian launched 50 EDVs in Vancouver, the first Canadian deployment.
• Amazon targets 100,000 Rivian EDVs by 2030 and currently runs over 35,000 globally.
• Rivian’s EDVs feature 360-degree cameras and patented microclimate seats, with Canadian support infrastructure in multiple cities.

Ralf Brown's Files (The x86 Interrupt List)

Key Points

• Release 61 of the x86/MS-DOS Interrupt List is available in multi-part ASCII downloads with supplemental tools.
• Download guidance is provided for IE, Firefox, Lynx, with FTP as a fallback method.
• Additional projects span machine translation, archive recovery, language-aware text utilities, LMS API access, and memory-efficient process spawning.

The foods that make you smell more attractive

Key Points

• Diet affects body odour via gut and skin pathways.
• Sulfur-rich foods (cruciferous, alliums) intensify odour; garlic can increase armpit scent attractiveness.
• Sweat is odourless; bacteria and food-derived compounds produce smell.

Facts About Throwing Good Parties

Key Points

• Prioritize host serenity and early momentum via pre-invites to close friends.
• Use guest list–visible apps and clustered invites to leverage social proof.
• Maintain gender balance and plan for flake rates to stabilize attendance.

How Archaeology Is Reviving the Smell of History

Key Points

• Researchers are using chemical and biomolecular analyses to reconstruct historical scents.
• Smell’s neural links to the amygdala and hippocampus underscore its role in memory and emotion.
• Findings inform areas such as medicine, perfumery, cosmetics, trade, and identity in the past.

OKLCH color picker and converter

Key Points

• Converts HEX/RGB/HSL inputs to OKLCH with controls for L, C, H, and Alpha.
• Includes 3D/graph visualizations and gamut toggles for sRGB, P3, and Rec.2020.
• Created by Evil Martians, with resources on OKLCH benefits and APCA-based palette building.

How the Mayans were able to accurately predict solar eclipses for centuries

Key Points

• The 405-month eclipse table was a lunar calendar aligned to the 260-day divinatory calendar.
• Overlapping resets at 223 or 358 months preserved predictive accuracy for centuries.
• Validation against historical eclipses (350–1150 CE) confirmed comprehensive coverage.

Amazon to start blocking sideloaded piracy apps on Fire TVs

Key Points

• Amazon will block piracy apps on Fire TV using an ACE-maintained list with a two-step notification and block process.
• The policy covers both Appstore and sideloaded apps across Fire OS and Vega OS devices.
• Sideloading of non-piracy apps remains allowed; the blocked app list has not been disclosed.

I ****Ing Hate Science

Key Points

• The IBM ISSI bug-cost chart is reported as having no verifiable primary study behind it.
• Secondary sources often distort foundational research (e.g., Boehm/COCOMO from the 1970s).
• A practical, iterative citation-chasing method is proposed to find reliable primary literature.

The Great Decoupling of Labor and Capital

Key Points

• Mega-cap tech firms are generating additional $100B revenue with far fewer new employees than in the past.
• Recent figures for Alphabet, Microsoft, and Apple show pronounced declines in headcount needed per revenue increment.
• Amazon’s CEO signals AI-driven efficiency gains; the author projects $1T revenue with modest headcount growth.

Collatz-Weyl Generators: Pseudorandom Number Generators

Key Points

• New PRNG family based on generalized Collatz mappings and Weyl sequences.
• Passes stringent randomness tests used by research and standardization communities.
• Designed for high throughput, low latency, small implementations, and multiple streams, with potential cryptographic use.

Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength

Key Points

• Android flag KEY_INFLATE_SIGNAL_STRENGTH_BOOL can add one bar to displayed signal strength.
• The flag is in Android source but absent from official documentation.
• AT&T and Verizon reportedly have this flag enabled in their CarrierConfig.

When Models Manipulate Manifolds: The Geometry of a Counting Task

Key Points

• Claude 3.5 Haiku learns positional representations enabling fixed-width linebreaking.
• Representations and computations have dual discrete and geometric interpretations.
• Prior gradient clustering work found newline prediction as a distinct skill in the Pythia 70M model.

Oxy is Cloudflare's Rust-based next generation proxy framework

Key Points

• Cloudflare introduces Oxy, a Rust-based next-generation proxy framework.
• Oxy powers multiple Cloudflare services and integrates tightly with infrastructure.
• Extensible hooks enable HTTP and L4 firewalls, authentication, and advanced routing.

Syllabi – Open-source agentic AI with tools, RAG, and multi-channel deploy

Key Points

• Open-source, agentic AI chatbots with RAG-based knowledge and citations
• Multi-channel deployment: web embeds, Slack, Discord, and REST API
• Extensible via APIs/webhooks, plus Mermaid diagrams and in-browser Python/R execution

Terahertz Tech Sets Stage for "Wireless Wired" Chips

Key Points

• Thin-film HgTe converted inputs to terahertz at room temperature with record efficiency.
• Study advances on-chip THz sources and potential short-range “wireless-wire” links.
• Current efficiency is ~2%, with prospects to improve via thicker or multilayer HgTe.

New Prompt Injection Papers: Agents Rule of Two and the Attacker Moves Second

Key Points

• Meta AI proposes the Agents Rule of Two to limit AI agent risk per session.
• If all three properties are required, agents should be supervised and not autonomous.
• An arXiv paper by researchers from major AI labs evaluates defenses using adaptive attacks.