AI Titans Clash as Billions and Bans Fly!

Julia: Performance Tips

Key Points

• Put performance-critical code in functions, not top-level scope.
• Avoid untyped globals; use const for constants and annotate types where needed.
• Use @time to measure runtime and heap allocations, ignoring first-run compilation overhead.

Intel Foundry boss leaves for Qualcomm

Key Points

• Kevin O’Buckley exits Intel Foundry to lead Qualcomm’s Global Operations and Supply Chain.
• Intel elevates Naga Chandrasekaran to oversee both technology development and global manufacturing.
• Uncertainty remains over Intel Foundry producing future Qualcomm designs.

The Origins of Agar

Key Points

• Agar was a WWII strategic material vital for vaccines and antibiotics, prompting global supply efforts and U.S. restrictions.
• Laboratory adoption in 1881 made agar central to microbiology and enabled major discoveries, including CRISPR/Cas9.
• Agarose-based gel electrophoresis is foundational to DNA analysis; substitutes have not matched agar’s utility.

Writing a "clear room" Z80 and Spectrum emulator with Claude Code

Key Points

• Critique of Anthropic’s Opus 4.6 clean-room compiler experiment’s methodology.
• Execution of a clean-room Z80 and ZX Spectrum emulator project with detailed specs and constraints.
• Emulator design tailored for constrained hardware, with cycle tracking, optional rendering, and authentic I/O behaviors.

Ubicloud (YC W24): Software Engineer – $95-$250K in Turkey, Netherlands, CA

Key Points

• Hiring mid-stage engineers for Postgres, GitHub Actions CI/CD, and AI inference.
• Locations: San Francisco (CA), Netherlands, Turkey; salary range $95K–$250K.
• Platform runs on Hetzner, Leaseweb, AWS Bare Metal; 500+ customers; 3–10x cost savings claimed.

Firefox's AI Kill Switch Is a Trap: How Mozilla Made AI Your Problem

Key Points

• Firefox 148 adds a kill switch to disable current and future AI features, with per-feature toggles.
• Mozilla surveyed users about translation controls and stated the models were trained on open data.
• The article claims Anthropic settled a piracy suit and is listed as a vendor in Firefox’s AI chatbot sidebar.

Show HN: As Level Chemistry Lab Simulator

Key Points

• Free, browser-based simulator aligned to Cambridge AS Level Chemistry Paper 3.
• Realistic lab interactions with automated mark-scheme scoring and PDF export.
• Open-source (MIT), multilingual, offline-capable; runs locally with Node.js and npm.

Working on Pharo Smalltalk: BPatterns: Rewrite Engine with Smalltalk Style

Key Points

• BPatterns replaces string-based rewrite patterns with Smalltalk blocks using #bpattern.
• All original rewrite engine capabilities are retained while improving tooling support.
• Patterns and rewrites can be browsed and applied directly (browseUsers, brewrite preview).

An Interactive Intro to Quadtrees

Key Points

• Quadtrees adaptively subdivide space, refining dense regions while leaving sparse areas coarse.
• Insertion splits nodes that exceed capacity and redistributes points among four child quadrants.
• Query traversal prunes three quarters of space at each level, analogous to binary search.

Dyson settles forced labour suit in landmark UK case

Key Points

• Dyson settled the forced labour lawsuit without admitting liability.
• UK Supreme Court allowed the case in an English court, creating a jurisdictional precedent.
• Settlement terms are confidential; both sides cited litigation cost and benefits.

MitID, Denmarks sole digital ID, has been down for over an hour and counting

Key Points

• MitID confirms ongoing login outage affecting users.
• Supplier is working to restore service; no ETA given.
• Status was posted at 10:40 CET and updated at 11:40 CET on 27-02-2026.

F-Droid Board of Directors nominations 2026

Key Points

• Nominations close March 16 (AoE) via email; up to four two-year seats available.
• Selection by current board with voting weighted toward new candidates; incumbents may re-run.
• Directors commit 1–3 hours/week and attend a monthly public one-hour video conference.

Can you reverse engineer our neural network?

Key Points

• Full model weights encouraged mechanistic interpretability instead of black-box probing.
• Engineered to output 0 for most inputs and to resist naive backprop brute force.
• Layer repetitions and bias patterns indicated a hand-crafted byte-wise equality check.

Open Source Handheld Linux Device [video]

Key Points

• Rootkit Labs showcases a from-scratch, open-source handheld Linux computer.
• The device evolved from the Flipper Blackhat Wi‑Fi pentesting add-on for Flipper Zero.
• Screen integration and feedback drove the transition to a standalone handheld.

Quantitativity on the number of rational points in the Mordell conjecture

Key Points

• A claimed first uniform formula for isolating rational points across curves.
• Rational points have structural importance in mathematics.
• Elliptic curves’ rational points underpin a branch of cryptography.

Reading English from 1000 Ad

Key Points

• Modernize orthography with specific letter substitutions to preserve pronunciation and reveal familiar forms.
• Replace obvious and partial cognates to build comprehension of Old English passages.
• Resolve difficult terms with targeted mappings (e.g., heo→she; were→weir) to complete understanding.

Breaking Free

Key Points

• Norwegian Consumer Council published “Breaking Free” on enshittification.
• A coalition of 70+ groups is supporting the effort.
• Letters target policymakers in the EU/EEA, UK, and US.

Lawmakers say US Military used laser to take down Border Protection drone in TX

Key Points

• Military used a laser to disable a CBP drone near El Paso, triggering FAA airspace restrictions.
• This was the second laser firing in two weeks; a prior CBP laser action prompted wider flight disruptions.
• Lawmakers faulted the administration for bypassing a bipartisan plan to improve training and coordination.

The quixotic team trying to build a world in a 20-year-old game

Key Points

• Tamriel Rebuilt originated from a community proposal and later collaborated closely with Project Tamriel.
• Shared assets via Tamriel_Data and common tools/training underpin cross-project consistency.
• Morrowind’s design (no voiced dialogue) enables scalable quest modding and frequent releases.

PostmarketOS in 2026-02: generic kernels, bans use of generative AI

Key Points

• AI policy updated to ban generative AI in contributions.
• New generic kernel packages (-mainline, -stable, -lts) introduced for broad device support.
• Contributor changes and cross-project coordination advanced (GNOME, KDE, Alpine).

Show HN: RetroTick – Run classic Windows EXEs in the browser

Key Points

• Run classic Windows EXE/DLL files directly in the browser via RetroTick.
• Drag-and-drop interface for loading executables onto a desktop-like environment.
• Example programs are demo-only and remain owned by their original rights holders.

Generative AI Use and Depressive Symptoms Among US Adults

Key Points

• 10.3% of US adults reported at least daily generative AI use.
• Higher AI use was associated with modestly higher PHQ-9 depressive symptoms and higher odds of moderate depression.
• Personal use and adults aged 25–64 showed the strongest associations, warranting further causal research.

We deserve a better streams API for JavaScript

Key Points

• Web streams’ design predates async iteration, leading to a lock-based reader model and added complexity.
• A JS-primitive-based alternative is proposed, claiming 2x–120x faster performance across major runtimes.
• The article seeks a path toward a more ergonomic, efficient streams API while recognizing the standard’s historical context.

Get free Claude max 20x for open-source maintainers

Key Points

• Six months of free Claude Max 20x for eligible open-source contributors
• Rolling review process with up to 10,000 contributors accepted
• Activation link provided to approved applicants; details in Terms and Conditions

How to Allocate Memory

Key Points

• Use allocators tailored to each data usage pattern for better performance.
• Wrap malloc in type-specific functions to enable profiling and future optimization.
• Apply mmap/munmap for page-level memory and alloca/sigaltstack for stack-related needs.

OpenAI's $110B funding round (investments from Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank)

Key Points

• OpenAI raises $110B at an $840B valuation ahead of a planned IPO.
• Amazon invests $50B and secures Trainium-powered 2 GW compute plus AWS exclusivity for OpenAI Frontier.
• Microsoft Azure retains exclusivity for OpenAI APIs and hosting; Nvidia invests $30B with prior commitment status unclear.

Show HN: Badge that shows how well your codebase fits in an LLM's context window

Key Points

• GitHub Action counts repository tokens with tiktoken and updates a README badge.
• Configurable context window (default 200k) with color-coded badge thresholds.
• Composite action runs quickly (~10s) and leaves commits to the workflow.

Tenth Circuit: 4th Amendment Doesn't Support Broad Search of Protesters' Devices

Key Points

• Tenth Circuit reverses dismissal of Fourth Amendment claims over broad digital search warrants.
• Court denies qualified immunity, finding warrants facially deficient and overbroad.
• Case remanded for further proceedings; First Amendment issues noted but not decided.

Sprites on the Web

Key Points

• Spritesheets enable performant web animations by cycling frames within a single image.
• CSS object-fit and object-position control frame display; keyframes animate transitions.
• Concrete sizing example ensures crisp rendering on high-DPI screens.

We gave terabytes of CI logs to an LLM

Key Points

• LLM agent uses a SQL interface to query ClickHouse-stored CI data at terabyte scale.
• Investigations start with job metadata and drill into raw logs; typical sessions scan 335K rows.
• Denormalized, columnar schema (48 context columns per log line) enables millisecond queries and high compression.

Experts sound alarm after ChatGPT Health fails to recognise medical emergencies

Key Points

• ChatGPT Health under-triaged 51.6% of urgent hospital cases in simulations.
• Performance was better in textbook emergencies but poor in nuanced scenarios, including asthma and suicidal ideation.
• Experts urge stronger safety standards and independent auditing; OpenAI notes continuous updates and questions typical-use relevance.

The Pentagon is making a mistake by threatening Anthropic

Key Points

• Anthropic’s DoD contract includes guardrails against domestic surveillance and autonomous lethal weapons.
• The Pentagon set a Friday deadline to remove these restrictions, threatening DPA use or supply chain risk designation.
• A Pentagon spokesman publicly reiterated the deadline and potential termination/designation.

USRP X420 10MHz – 20 GHz SDR

Key Points

• Covers 10 MHz–20 GHz with up to 1 GHz instantaneous bandwidth and 2x2 channels.
• Includes LO sharing and a GPS-disciplined 10 MHz OCXO for accuracy and coherence.
• Built on AMD Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC with UHD support; NI provides support and training resources.

Vibe coded Lovable-hosted app littered with basic flaws exposed 18K users

Key Points

• 16 vulnerabilities (six critical) exposed 18,697 user records in a Lovable-hosted app.
• Missing Supabase security controls led to inverted authentication logic and unauthenticated access.
• Khan called for Lovable to assume security responsibility; his disclosure reportedly received no response.

NASA announces major overhaul of Artemis program amid safety concerns, delays

Key Points

• Artemis III redefined to 2027 Earth‑orbit lander docking tests.
• Two lunar landing missions targeted for 2028 (Artemis IV and V).
• Artemis II delayed; on hold until at least April 1 due to technical issues.

Modeling Cycles of Grift with Evolutionary Game Theory

Key Points

• Introduces a three-strategy EGT model (Grifter, Skeptic, Mark) with a defined payoff matrix.
• Contrasts EGT with rational-agent game theory, citing John Maynard Smith’s influence.
• Highlights how altered payoffs relative to classic models lead to different evolutionary dynamics.

New California law requires age verification for all OS accounts

Key Points

• Law effective January 1, 2027 requires OS-level age collection and signaling.
• Four defined age brackets guide app behavior via a developer-accessible API.
• The trend reflects wider regulatory pushes, with privacy scrutiny in the UK and on platforms like Discord.

Open source calculator firmware DB48X forbids CA/CO use due to age verification

Key Points

• Use of DB48x restricted for CA residents after Jan 1, 2027, and CO residents after Jan 1, 2028.
• Project states it will not implement age verification and may be considered an OS under cited laws.
• Change implemented in commit 7819972 by Christophe de Dinechin, adding LEGAL-NOTICE.md.

Allocating on the Stack

Key Points

• Preallocating slices with a known capacity can eliminate heap allocations via stack allocation.
• Append’s capacity doubling causes early-phase allocations and garbage.
• Stack allocations avoid GC overhead and improve cache performance.

What was the first life restoration of a sauropod?

Key Points

• Earliest sauropod life restorations date to 1892, not 1897.
• Hutchinson’s 1892 Brontosaurus plate (by Joseph Smit) and Culver’s magazine article are the key early sources.
• Volume dates show Culver’s article predates Hutchinson’s, making it the earliest identified.

Show HN: Unfudged – version every change without commits

Key Points

• Continuous, commit-free versioning with per-second rewind and multi-file restore.
• Local-only, content-addressed storage using BLAKE3 and SQLite with ACID guarantees.
• OS-native monitoring (FSEvents/inotify), .gitignore-aware, and CLI tools for logs, diffs, and restores.

Don't run OpenClaw on your main machine

Key Points

• OpenClaw’s deep system access poses high risk on personal machines.
• Prompt injection remains a core vulnerability for LLM-driven agents.
• Isolation—such as using a cloud VM—is recommended to mitigate exposure.

Kyber (YC W23) Is Hiring an Enterprise Account Executive

Key Points

• Kyber’s AI-native platform delivers significant efficiency gains for insurance document workflows.
• The company is profitable with >30x revenue growth and multi-year contracts; backed by YC and Fellows Fund.
• Hiring Enterprise AEs to own full sales cycle, execute outbound, and use tools like HubSpot and AI-SDR/11x.

Theory of Constraints: "Blue Light" creating capacity for nothing (2007)

Key Points

• Reported 93% efficiency masked significant non-welding time at the bottleneck.
• A simple “blue light” proxy exposed true welding utilization.
• The plant planned costly expansion despite untapped capacity in current operations.

Dan Simmons, author of Hyperion, Song of Kali, dead at 77

Key Points

• Dan Simmons died on February 21, 2026, in Longmont, Colorado, from complications of a stroke.
• He authored major genre-spanning works including Hyperion and Song of Kali (a World Fantasy Award winner).
• His career gained momentum in 1982 through Harlan Ellison’s mentorship and a Twilight Zone Magazine prize.

Your Device Identity Is Probably a Liability

Key Points

• Certificates alone do not guarantee strong device identity in Zero Trust.
• Non-exportable, bound device credentials are essential to prevent replay and spoofing.
• Audits and posture checks can pass while real device identity controls remain weak.

Writing a Guide to SDF Fonts

Key Points

• Scope narrowed from multi-library coverage to a focused msdfgen-based guide.
• Emphasis on tradeoffs: atlas size, antialias width, shader derivatives, smoothing.
• Practical how-to path with JavaScript CPU and subsequent GPU implementations.

Debian Removes Free Pascal Compiler / Lazarus IDE

Key Points

• Debian unstable reportedly removed FPC/Lazarus due to GTK2 deprecation.
• Lazarus and FPC on Linux rely on units currently provided via FPC’s gtk2 package.
• Proposed fixes include a Linux-only FPC release and moving needed units into the LCL.

Red Dwarf creator Rob Grant has died

Key Points

• Rob Grant, co-creator of Red Dwarf, has died at 70; cause of death not disclosed.
• Tributes were shared by Craig Charles and official Red Dwarf channels; news was first reported by fan site Ganymede and Titan.
• Grant’s upcoming Red Dwarf novel, Titan (with Andrew Marshall), is due for publication in July.

We Built Secure, Scalable Agent Sandbox Infrastructure

Key Points

• Shift from tool isolation to agent isolation with a control plane holding credentials.
• Production uses Unikraft micro-VMs per agent with scale-to-zero and fast boot.
• Hardening steps: bytecode-only execution, privilege drop, and environment stripping.

Let's discuss sandbox isolation

Key Points

• Namespaces isolate visibility, not security; processes still share the host kernel.
• Isolation models vary by boundary: seccomp, gVisor, microVMs, and WebAssembly offer progressively reduced host exposure.
• Stronger isolation pushes complex state into the sandbox, limiting the host interface.

The Robotic Dexterity Deadlock

Key Points

• High‑ratio gearboxes in robot hands harm sim‑to‑real fidelity, force transparency, and reliability.
• Tendon‑driven alternatives offer dynamic benefits but introduce friction, play, and tension drift requiring recalibration.
• Origami Robotics aims to dramatically lower gear ratios in finger actuation to address these issues.

Leaving Google has actively improved my life

Key Points

• Trigger: generative AI added to Gmail in Jan 2026 and prior AI Overviews in 2023.
• Switched email to Proton; cleaner inbox via filters and stricter email hygiene.
• Brave/DuckDuckGo claimed better for most searches; promote direct navigation to sources.

A Chinese official’s use of ChatGPT revealed an intimidation operation

Key Points

• OpenAI traced a Chinese intimidation operation via a user’s ChatGPT activity and banned the account.
• Tactics included impersonating U.S. officials, forged court documents, and attempts to spread false death rumors.
• The report appears amid broader U.S.-China AI tensions, including a Pentagon-Anthropic dispute over model safeguards.

DOS Memory Management

Key Points

• DOS 2.0 added ALLOC/DEALLOC/SETBLOCK APIs to manage memory.
• MCBs with ‘M’/‘Z’ signatures structure and validate memory blocks.
• Paragraph-based allocation (16-byte units) derives from 8086 segmentation.

"Just a little detail that wouldn't sell anything"

Key Points

• Introduced in 1999 on iBook G3; expanded to desktops and later MacBooks
• Pulse mimicked human breathing; brightness adapted via sensors/clock
• Feature removed by early 2010s after years of design refinements

Show HN: Claude-File-Recovery, recover files from your ~/.claude sessions

Key Points

• Reconstructs Claude Code files by replaying JSONL session logs with point-in-time recovery.
• Interactive TUI with fuzzy search, vim keybindings, colored diffs, and batch extraction.
• Optimized performance via parallel parsing, orjson, and fast-reject checks skipping ~77% of lines.

Trump orders US Government to cut ties with Anthropic

Key Points

• Trump ordered a six-month government phase-out of Anthropic’s AI.
• Anthropic rejects Pentagon contract terms that lack firm bans on autonomous weapons and mass surveillance.
• Senate Armed Services leaders urged extended negotiations between the Pentagon and Anthropic.

Otters as Bioindicators of Estuarine Health

Key Points

• Otters serve as bioindicators for estuarine health.
• Contaminant bioaccumulation across trophic levels reveals pollution dynamics.
• Behavioral and trophic proxies provide insight into ecosystem function.

Show HN: I built a self-hosted course platform in Clojure

Key Points

• Subscription grants access to hands-on courses in Clojure, ClojureScript, and Datalog.
• Courses emphasize building and shipping projects with structured, thematic units.
• Podcast and live online workshops extend learning beyond the core curriculum.

Department of War Designates Anthropic Supply Chain Risk

Key Points

• Anthropic is designated a supply‑chain risk by the Department of War.
• Federal and military entities are directed to cease use of Anthropic’s technology, with an immediate contractor ban.
• A six‑month transition period is established to migrate from Anthropic’s services.

The Most-Seen UI on the Internet? Redesigning Turnstile and Challenge Pages

Key Points

• Interfaces shown 7.67B times per day are being redesigned for clarity and consistency.
• Daily security checks rose from 2.14B (2023) to 5.35B (2025), prompting action.
• Audit revealed inconsistent visuals and unclear messaging; feedback channels informed changes.

Emuko: Fast RISC-V emulator written in Rust, boots Linux

Key Points

• Rust-based RISC‑V emulator with JIT for ARM64/x86_64 that boots Linux
• Snapshots, autosnapshots, and HTTP/WebSocket interfaces for control
• Feature comparison with QEMU/Spike/Renode; build, quick-start, and config details included

Distributed Systems for Fun and Profit

Key Points

• Frames distributed systems around distance, time, and failure constraints.
• Covers CAP, FLP, time/ordering mechanisms, and replication from 2PC to Paxos.
• Explores eventual consistency with Dynamo, CRDTs, and the CALM theorem.

Show HN: I built a site where you hire yourself instead of applying for jobs

Key Points

• Users create and sign a formal, fixed-term self-contract for their goals.
• Examples show clear roles and measurable deliverables across personal and project domains.
• Free service with no account requirement and a termination letter if the user quits.

Smallest transformer that can add two 10-digit numbers

Key Points

• Best hand‑coded model: 36 parameters, 100% accuracy.
• Best trained model: 311 parameters, 99.999% accuracy.
• Two categories tracked: trained (generic learning algorithms) and hand‑coded (constructive proofs).

Zugunruhe, and what makes things worth doing

Key Points

• Broad, cross-domain knowledge underpins high-quality work; specialization is a final layer on a wide base.
• Dirac’s aesthetic heuristic and general relativity illustrate how beauty can guide scientific judgment.
• Unintentional AI use can atrophy rhetorical judgment; skilled users direct AI with clear rhetorical intent.

We Will Not Be Divided

Key Points

• Only current and former Google/OpenAI employees may sign; all signatures are verified.
• Anonymous signers’ data is deleted within 24 hours; public signers’ names are displayed.
• Infrastructure: Fly.io hosting, encrypted SQLite, Resend emails, Google Forms verification.

Not Found

Key Points

• Potential designation would only affect Claude’s use on Department of War contracts, per Anthropic’s reading of 10 USC 3252.
• Negotiations stalled over two exceptions: mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.
• Anthropic plans to legally challenge any supply chain risk designation.

Gawk 5.4.0 is released, with replaced MinRX matcher

Key Points

• MinRX becomes the default regex engine; legacy engines remain available.
• Persistent memory/backing file format changed; migration steps required.
• OpenVMS and MinGW platform updates enhance portability and correctness.

President Trump bans Anthropic from use in government systems

Key Points

• Trump orders a government-wide phaseout of Anthropic’s AI over usage restrictions.
• Pentagon threatened DPA invocation and supply-chain risk designation to compel compliance.
• Sam Altman backs similar red lines and seeks a contract with exclusions for classified use.

Anthropic says it will challenge Pentagon supply chain risk designation in court

Key Points

• Anthropic will legally challenge the Pentagon’s supply-chain risk designation.
• President Trump directed all federal agencies to stop working with Anthropic the same day.
• The article provides no details on the designation’s rationale or scope.

Eschewing Zshell for Emacs Shell (2014)

Key Points

• Eshell integrates paging and search within Emacs, reducing reliance on external pagers.
• Implemented in Emacs Lisp, Eshell offers cross-platform consistency and extensibility.
• Custom elisp functions (eshell-here, eshell/x) streamline launching and closing Eshell within Emacs.

Please, please, please stop using passkeys for encrypting user data

Key Points

• Using passkeys with PRF for data encryption risks permanent data loss if the passkey is deleted.
• PRF is better suited to unlocking credential managers that have robust recovery mechanisms.
• Industry is urged to add warnings and documentation and avoid promoting PRF for encrypting user data.

GitHub Copilot CLI downloads and executes malware

Key Points

• Bypassing Copilot’s approval checks is possible using env to mask curl/sh, enabling malware download and execution.
• Untrusted inputs (e.g., READMEs) can carry prompt injections that trigger harmful commands in Copilot CLI.
• GitHub validated the issue but deems it a known, low-significance risk with no immediate changes.

Croatia declared free of landmines after 31 years

Key Points

• Croatia declares completion of demining of all known minefields.
• Clearance removed nearly 107,000 mines and 407,000 unexploded ordnance.
• Effort cost about €1.2 billion and resulted in 208 deaths, including 41 deminers.

Show HN: I ported Manim to TypeScript (run 3b1B math animations in the browser)

Key Points

• TypeScript Manim port for the browser with no Python required.
• Rich feature set: 2D/3D objects, LaTeX via KaTeX, animations, interactivity, and export.
• Framework support (React/Vue) and a Python-to-TypeScript conversion tool.

Bootc and OSTree: Modernizing Linux System Deployment

Key Points

• OSTree manages full system snapshots for atomic updates and rollbacks, akin to Git.
• Fedora Silverblue provided a workable immutable distro after issues with NixOS and Packer limitations.
• ComposeFS and EROFS underpin OSTree’s integrity-focused, read-only storage with compression and deduplication.

Time-Travel Debugging: Replaying Production Bugs Locally

Key Points

• Business logic returns Commands and continuations, composed in an effect pipeline and run by an interpreter.
• Tracing (e.g., via OpenTelemetry) records inputs and command results, enabling deterministic replay.
• A real-world-style example shows tracing exposing a $0.00 charge rejection, clarifying the failure’s cause.

Cash Issuing Terminals

Key Points

• Cash use is declining as electronic payments rise.
• ATMs embody the automation of cash handling.
• IBM influenced ATM design despite not leading the market.