TikTok Muzzles Stars As AI Eats Code!

When two years of academic work vanished with a single click

Key Points

• Data-consent deactivation led to irreversible deletion of two years of ChatGPT Plus content.
• OpenAI confirms no recovery is possible via UI, APIs, or support under privacy-by-design.
• The case highlights risks of relying on AI chat histories for critical academic work.

The state of Linux music players in 2026

Key Points

• Own music by purchasing DRM-free content (CDs, iTunes, Bandcamp).
• Rip to FLAC and stream via self-hosted Jellyfin or Navidrome.
• nixpkgs search yielded ~200 music player results; narrowed to non-streaming desktop apps.

The Universal Pattern Popping Up in Math, Physics and Biology (2013)

Key Points

• A universal spacing pattern appears in many systems’ spectra, from nuclear energy levels and zeta zeros to Mexican bus schedules.
• Random matrix theory explains this universality by showing that many classes of large random matrices share the same eigenvalue-spacing statistics.
• Recent mathematical advances are clarifying why universality arises and how it can be used to model complex systems like networks and composite materials.

All In – a small tool to check real buyin after decisions

Key Points

• Tool verifies post-meeting commitment quickly (about 60 seconds).
• Users input the decision concisely (up to 200 characters) to start.
• Designed for immediate use to catch gaps between agreement and commitment.

Celebrities say they are being censored by TikTok after speaking out against ICE

Key Points

• Megan Stalter says TikTok is censoring her anti-ICE videos and plans to delete the app over alleged monitoring under new ownership.
• TechCrunch reports TikTok’s sensitive-data privacy language predates recent events and is largely for compliance with laws like California’s CCPA.
• Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas allege suppression of an anti-ICE video, though the clip later gained significant views and likes, leaving censorship claims unresolved.

Is OpenAI Dead Yet?

Key Points

• OpenAI is reported as "not yet" dead and still active.
• The page states OpenAI has been alive for 3,704 days.
• The article offers no further news or technical/business details beyond this status message.

Velox: A Port of Tauri to Swift by Miguel de Icaza

Key Points

• Velox offers a Swift-first port of Tauri’s desktop app approach with HTML frontends.
• Swift build plugin compiles a Rust FFI crate via Cargo, with offline-by-default builds.
• Velox CLI supports init, dev with HMR/proxy, and production bundling for macOS.

Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II

Key Points

• Begin with a complete BASIC project to learn fundamentals on 6502 systems.
• Use BASIC for logic, then replace time-critical parts with assembly for performance.
• Build knowledge using earlier-era books before advancing to complex techniques.

We Do Not Support Opt-Out Forms (2025)

Key Points

• Conscious Digital favors email-based privacy requests over online opt-out forms.
• Studies show widespread dark patterns and failures in privacy request forms.
• California enforced a $345,178 fine for illegal government ID requirements in opt-out requests.

I made my own Git

Key Points

• tvc replaces Git’s SHA-1 and zlib with SHA-256 and Zstandard (zstd).
• Rust-based implementation demonstrates file listing, hashing, and zstd compression/decompression.
• Commit objects track tree state, parent (HEAD), author, and message, with simplified metadata.

Refinement Without Specification

Key Points

• Refine from boolean is_activated to timestamp activated_at with a mapping that preserves legacy behavior.
• Compute activated_at from event streams to maintain compatibility, but be mindful of constraints.
• Time-dependent activation windows can violate refinement due to state changes without mutations.

Trayd (YC S23) is hiring senior engineers in NYC – scaling after major growth

Key Points

• Trayd is hiring on-site senior engineers in New York City.
• The company reports 57% month-over-month revenue growth.
• Product focus: construction payroll and back-office software with high accuracy and reliability.

Mothers (YC X26, Defense Tech) Is Hiring

Key Points

• Multiple on-site, full-time engineering roles in Austin at Mothers.
• Roles include Applied ML (Acoustic), Computer Vision, DSP (Acoustic), and Systems (Acoustic).
• Salary ranges span $100K–$400K with 0.1%–0.5% equity, depending on role.

Snow Simulation Toy

Key Points

• Showcases a falling snow simulation demo.
• Inspired by an early QBasic snow simulation project.
• Tagged with JavaScript and procedural generation, indicating web-based implementation themes.

The C-Shaped Hole in Package Management

Key Points

• System and language package managers evolved for different goals, leading to friction around C libraries.
• C lacks a ubiquitous registry; pkg-config, Conan, and vcpkg only partially address dependency declaration and distribution.
• Cross-distro naming differences for C libraries complicate consistent dependency management across platforms.

TikTok users can't upload anti-ICE videos. The company blames tech issues

Key Points

• TikTok says a U.S. data center outage caused upload and recommendation delays.
• A new U.S. joint venture now controls TikTok’s U.S. assets; Oracle will store U.S. user data.
• User skepticism grew amid the ownership change, with misinformation about terms of service circulating.

Intel's Panther Lake Chip is its biggest win in years

Key Points

• Core Ultra Series 3 shows major multi-core and integrated GPU gains over prior-gen Lunar Lake.
• X9 388H reportedly beats Apple’s M5 by 33% in multi-core benchmarks.
• Single-core performance still trails Apple; M4 Pro/Max remain ahead.

Xfwl4 – The Roadmap for a Xfce Wayland Compositor

Key Points

• Xfce funds a Rust-based Wayland compositor (xfwl4) aiming for xfwm4 parity.
• Smithay chosen over wlroots for protocol coverage, customization, and documentation.
• Scope includes session-root changes, xdg-session-management, XWayland, and CI upgrades via Meson; first dev release targeted mid-year.

Show HN: We Built the 1. EU-Sovereignty Audit for Websites

Key Points

• The scanner audits hosting, fonts, analytics, CDNs, video, chat, social, and maps for non-EU dependencies.
• It highlights specific services (e.g., Google Analytics, Cloudflare, YouTube) versus EU-friendly alternatives (e.g., OpenStreetMap, self-hosting).
• A 100% EU score is promoted as future-proof amid uncertain EU-US data transfer frameworks.

Ask HN: What's the Point Anymore?

Key Points

• Managers increasingly push AI use, prioritizing product shipping over reliability.
• AI tools and summaries are claimed to reduce engagement with original creative content.
• The author questions how people will earn money if AI replaces most work.

The age of Pump and Dump software

Key Points

• Author outlines a pump-and-dump model linking AI-generated software to crypto tokens.
• Cursor, “gastown,” and Clawdbot/CLAWD coin are cited as illustrative examples.
• The article urges skepticism toward hype and possible astroturfing on social platforms.

The Enchiridion by Epictetus

Key Points

• Second edition reprints the first with minor editorial corrections and added bracketed notes.
• Translated by Thomas W. Higginson; Introduction by Albert Salomon.
• Introduction details the work’s strong influence on modern thinkers and philosophy.

Windows 11 January Update Breaks Notepad

Key Points

• Emergency patch fixes Windows 11 app launch bug affecting apps like Notepad.
• Applications still freeze when saving to OneDrive or other cloud storage.
• Workaround: save locally first, then move files to the cloud.

Trump raises US tariffs on South Korea imports to 25%

Key Points

• US raises tariffs on South Korean imports to 25% due to delayed approval of a trade deal.
• South Korea seeks urgent talks; its Industry Minister will meet the US Commerce Secretary.
• An October deal included a $350bn South Korean investment in the US; approval is under review.

India and EU announce landmark trade deal

Key Points

• EU-India deal cuts tariffs broadly and reduces India’s car duties to 10% under a 250,000-vehicle quota.
• India’s exports gain preferential EU access while sensitive agricultural sectors are safeguarded.
• Includes a joint security partnership and a mobility framework for short-term professional travel.

Amazon Closing Fresh and Go Stores

Key Points

• Amazon is closing Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go, with some sites converting to Whole Foods.
• Most stores close by Sunday; California locations remain open longer due to state notice rules.
• Amazon will continue investing in grocery operations across online and offline channels.

430k-year-old well-preserved wooden tools are the oldest ever found

Key Points

• Oldest handheld wooden tools dated to ~430,000 years found at Marathousa 1 in Greece.
• Preservation due to waterlogged, low-oxygen lakeshore sediments.
• Two shaped tools identified, including an alder digging stick and a new small tool type with unknown function.

Two Twisty Shapes Resolve a Centuries-Old Topology Puzzle

Key Points

• Two closed surfaces share the same metric and mean curvature but differ globally.
• The result challenges the usual uniqueness from Bonnet’s 1867 theorem for compact surfaces.
• Previous exceptions involved only non-compact surfaces.

Handling Long Branches

Key Points

• Toolchains split long-branch handling across compiler, assembler, and linker stages.
• Branch range limits and relocation types vary widely by architecture.
• Linkers insert thunks/veneers; x86-64 rarely needs them thanks to ±2GiB near jumps.

Management as AI superpower: Thriving in a world of agentic AI

Key Points

• AI tools enabled four-day startup prototyping with functioning core features.
• Outputs were significantly further along than traditional semester projects.
• A decision framework guides when to delegate tasks to AI.

Artie (YC S23) Is Hiring a Founding Recruiter

Key Points

• Artie is hiring its first in-house recruiter to lead full-cycle recruiting across EPOD.
• The role emphasizes proactive sourcing of senior technical talent and strong candidate engagement.
• Responsibilities include building recruiting infrastructure and managing external agencies.

SoundCloud Data Breach Now on HaveIBeenPwned

Key Points

• 29.8M SoundCloud accounts affected; data mapped to ~30M email addresses.
• Compromised info includes public profile data plus email addresses; breach added to HIBP on Jan 27, 2026.
• Recommended actions: change passwords and enable two-factor authentication.

A first look at Aperture by Tailscale (private alpha)

Key Points

• Aperture uses Tailscale identity to eliminate local API keys across environments.
• Supports major AI coding tools and providers, including OpenAI v1-compatible endpoints.
• Provides centralized visibility, security monitoring, and S3 export for SIEM integration.

Kash Patel says FBI is investigating Signal chats of Minnesotans tracking ICE

Key Points

• FBI Director Kash Patel said he opened an investigation into Signal group chats in Minnesota.
• The move follows the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers.
• Patel’s comments on firearms at protests and free speech are contrasted with reported actions.

DHS: Critical ICE surveillance footage from abuse case was never recorded

Key Points

• DHS says the disputed surveillance footage was never recorded.
• Plaintiffs allege abusive, unsanitary conditions at ICE’s Broadview facility.
• Government explanations shifted from destruction to system crash to non-recording.

Show HN: LemonSlice – Give your voice agents a face

Key Points

• Lemon Slice 2 enables real-time, infinite-length avatar video at 20fps on a single GPU.
• Causal modeling, sliding window attention, and distilled denoising steps underpin the performance gains.
• API is open with usage-based pricing and a LiveKit integration, plus demos and an HN playground.

Ask HN: How to avoid skill atrophy in LLM-assisted programming era?

Key Points

• The post asks how to avoid skill atrophy when using LLMs for programming assistance.
• It questions whether technical skill will still matter in AI-assisted development.
• It seeks practical strategies from the community rather than providing solutions.

U.S. government has lost more than 10k STEM PhDs since Trump took office

Key Points

• 10,109 STEM/health Ph.D.s departed U.S. federal roles in 2025; 14% of the prior Ph.D. workforce.
• Departures exceeded hires 11:1 across 14 agencies, producing a net loss of 4,224 Ph.D.s.
• Experience loss totaled 106,636 years in 2025 (Jan–Nov), far above 2024 levels.

Hypercubic (YC F25) Is Hiring a Founding SWE and COBOL Engineer

Key Points

• AI-native platform focused on COBOL and mainframe modernization
• Approximately 70% of Fortune 500 rely on legacy systems for core operations
• Hiring founding SWE and COBOL engineer roles (per title)

Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company

Key Points

• Amutable targets verifiable integrity for Linux across build, boot, and runtime.
• Leadership includes notable Linux figures: Poettering, Brauner, and Kühl.
• The company introduces a founding engineering team and signals a 2026 launch window.

Doing the thing is doing the thing

Key Points

• Only direct execution qualifies as “doing the thing”; preparation and discussion do not.
• Imperfect action—failing, doing it badly or timidly, and small steps—still counts as progress.
• Common productivity stand-ins (planning systems, buying tools, consuming content) can hinder real work.

One Human and One Agent = One Browser from Scratch

Key Points

• Single Codex CLI agent built a basic Rust browser in three days (~20k lines).
• Renders HTML/CSS without Rust crate dependencies; uses system frameworks.
• 1MB macOS ARM64 binary tested successfully against simonwillison.net.

AI2: Open Coding Agents

Key Points

• AI2 releases SERA models and open training recipes for repo-adaptive coding agents.
• SERA-32B reports 54.2% on SWE-Bench Verified with ~40 GPU days training.
• NVIDIA-optimized inference achieves up to ~8,600 tokens/sec on Blackwell 4×B200.

Clawdbot Renames to Moltbot

Key Points

• Project renamed from Clawdbot to Moltbot with legacy compatibility.
• 1,839 files changed across sources and configurations.
• Tests under ClawdbotIPCTests retained, indicating preserved legacy naming.

Arm's Cortex A725 Ft. Dell's Pro Max with GB10

Key Points

• GB10 pairs ten A725 with ten X925 cores, with differing L3 cache sizes across clusters.
• A725 is a 5-wide out-of-order core with reorder capacity similar to Skylake/Zen 2, connected via DSU-120.
• Branch prediction: A725 matches A715, regresses vs A710 BTB, and trades wins with Intel Skymont based on workload.

The threat eating away at museum treasures

Key Points

• Dry-loving molds are damaging cultural heritage even in low humidity.
• Institutional stigma hampers open discussion and response to infestations.
• New detection methods are helping identify xerophilic mold outbreaks.

Chuck Klosterman on why we've never actually seen a real football game

Key Points

• Televised football’s form makes it superior to the live experience.
• Football is presented as a uniquely mediated sport best seen via TV.
• Other sports’ live vs TV experiences vary, with hockey better live.

Show HN: One Human + One Agent = One Browser From Scratch in 20K LOC

Key Points

• Built in Rust with no third-party crates; relies on OS libraries.
• Renders HTML/CSS across Linux (X11), macOS, and Windows; no JavaScript.
• Headless testing, screenshot-based regression, scrolling, back button, and CI-enabled release.

Ultraprocessed foods make up to 70% of the US food supply

Key Points

• Up to 70% of the US food supply is ultraprocessed.
• 2019 NIH study found +500 kcal/day intake on ultraprocessed diets.
• New NIH trial tests effects of energy density and hyper-palatability on consumption.

Avoiding duplicate objects in Django querysets

Key Points

• SQL JOINs in relationship filters cause duplicate parent objects in Django querysets.
• distinct() and PostgreSQL DISTINCT ON can deduplicate but have performance and ordering trade-offs.
• An Exists subquery with OuterRef is the preferred, efficient, and clear solution.

TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

Key Points

• TikTok settled; the trial proceeds against Meta and Google after Snapchat’s settlement.
• Case focuses on platform design features rather than third‑party content liability.
• Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify; internal company documents may be presented.

Parametric CAD in Rust

Key Points

• Rust-based vcad enables code-driven CAD using CSG with operator overloads.
• Exports to STL and glTF/GLB with PBR materials defined via TOML.
• Built on manifold for watertight meshes; includes tests, clippy, and AI agent integration via Blender MCP.

Time Station Emulator

Key Points

• Emulates BPC, DCF77, JJY, MSF, and WWVB time stations via browser-based audio.
• Requires WebAssembly and ≥44.1 kHz PCM DAC; Safari iOS and Firefox Android currently unsupported.
• Includes DST and DUT1 handling; typical sync completes in around three minutes.

How many chess games are possible?

Key Points

• Fermi estimate: (typical branching)^(typical length) with 100 half-moves and ≈46 legal moves example gives ≈10^166.
• Short games defined as ≤100 half-moves with end conditions per python-chess; sampling via uniform random legal moves.
• Knuth’s path product estimator applied along sampled paths to refine the estimate beyond the initial Fermi approach.

LLM-as-a-Courtroom

Key Points

• Automated doc updates tied to PRs require contextual judgment, not simple pattern matching.
• Falconer’s agent and infrastructure handle tens of thousands of PRs daily for enterprises.
• Falconer replaced numeric scoring with an “LLM-as-a-Courtroom” framework to produce reasoned decisions.

Try text scaling support in Chrome Canary

Key Points

• Chrome Canary supports the text-scale meta tag behind an experimental flag.
• The tag is part of the CSS Fonts 5 spec and was proposed in 2024.
• It enables web text to respect OS-level text size preferences.

A History of Haggis

Key Points

• Multiple origin theories exist (Roman, Scandinavian, French, or British Isles), none decisive.
• Earliest known written references to haggis-like dishes come from medieval England.
• A 2009 claim of an English origin, based on a 1615 source, sparked renewed debate.

The First Eighteen Lines of the Waste Land (1989)

Key Points

• Eliot’s draft referenced the Königsee, later revised to Starnbergersee.
• Baedeker’s guidebooks extol the Königsee, situating it as a notable setting.
• Valerie Eliot confirms the sledding anecdote came from Eliot’s conversation with Countess Marie Larisch.

Why are we still so afraid of using the grumpy old period?

Key Points

• Digital norms increasingly treat periods as brusque, prompting tone management.
• Alternatives like ‘lol,’ emoji, and question marks are widely used to soften messages.
• Workplace communication reflects and amplifies these tone strategies.

Designing Forms That Don't Get in the Way

Key Points

• Password-less, username-first flow with split-step wizard.
• Email validated on blur; username validated on change.
• Debounced (500ms) API check for username availability after client-side validations.

Arrows to Arrows, Categories to Queries

Key Points

• Catlang compiles to a single SQL SELECT statement using a categorical intermediate language.
• An arrow-style loop example shows iteration and branching that returns 100.
• The generated SQL runs in PostgreSQL 17 and can reveal iterative steps by altering ORDER BY.

Thief of $90M in seized U.S.-controlled crypto is gov't contractor's son

Key Points

• Wallet exposed by “Lick” was linked to about $90M stolen from U.S.-controlled seized crypto wallets.
• zachxbt alleges “Lick” is John Daghita, son of CMDSS owner Dean Daghita.
• CMDSS holds an active U.S. Marshals contract to manage seized crypto assets and scrubbed its online presence after the link.

Rust's Standard Library on the GPU

Key Points

• VectorWare previewed using Rust’s std from GPUs, aiming to enable complex GPU-native applications.
• Rust GPU toolchains currently rely on #![no_std]; enabling std broadens access to common abstractions.
• Emerging GPU IO technologies and CPU/GPU convergence make std-level support on GPUs increasingly feasible.

Go 1.26 Is Around the Corner: Small Changes, Big Impact for Real-World Go System

Key Points

• new(expr) reduces pointer initialization boilerplate.
• Runtime boosts: Green Tea GC default, faster cgo and small-object allocations.
• Tooling: analyzer-based go fix, unified go doc, pprof flame graphs.

Notes on Starting to Use Django

Key Points

• Django’s explicit structure aids maintainability and discoverability of project components.
• Built-in admin enables fast, customizable data management with minimal code.
• ORM relationship traversal and auto migrations streamline database work.

I found the perfect yearly calendar (for me)

Key Points

• Time and Date’s “Multi Month” calendar met the full-year visibility and holiday needs.
• A custom Tampermonkey userscript (generated with Claude) enabled .ics imports from Apple Calendar.
• The final calendar was exported as a PDF and printed in A2 for physical use.

US population growth slows as immigration declines

Key Points

• U.S. population growth slowed to 0.5%, driven mainly by reduced net international migration.
• South Carolina led state growth; several states’ populations declined, including California and West Virginia.
• Florida saw a steep drop in domestic in-migration compared to 2023 and 2022.

Super Monkey Ball ported to a website

Key Points

• Web port includes standard and extra modes/stages for Super Monkey Ball.
• Keyboard and controller inputs are supported with clear control mappings.
• Known bugs are acknowledged and slated for fixes.

Why my Rust benchmarks were wrong, or how to use std:hint:black_box? (2022)

Key Points

• Bencher::iter applies std::hint::black_box to the function’s result during timing loops.
• std::hint::black_box is best-effort, platform-dependent, and not suitable for correctness guarantees.
• Inline assembly versus compiler intrinsic implementations affect how black_box inhibits optimizations.

AI found 12 vulnerabilities in OpenSSL

Key Points

• AISLE’s autonomous analyzer found all 12 CVEs in OpenSSL’s January 2026 release.
• Five AISLE-recommended fixes were incorporated; six more issues were fixed pre-release.
• Some vulnerabilities date back to 1998, highlighting limits of manual review in mature codebases.

Is coding dead because AI has taken over it?

Key Points

• Coding is not obsolete; fundamentals remain essential despite AI.
• Programming taps multiple brain networks and requires practiced mental effort.
• AI is a tool to accelerate work, not a replacement for human thinking.

Ask HN: Why all the sudden people are writing browsers with AI?

Key Points

• The post asks why AI-assisted browser projects are appearing now.
• It seeks motivations behind using AI to build a web browser.
• The article provides no answers or technical specifics; it is a discussion prompt.

The Texas Instruments CC-40 invades Gopherspace (plus TI-74 BASICALC)

Key Points

• CC-40 and TI-74 share a common TI architecture spanning handheld and pocket formats.
• Hexbus enables hobbyist serial ports, allowing assembly-based terminals for Unix shell and Gopher access.
• TI’s Project X and earlier calculator history set the technical groundwork for these devices.