All Topics

The cluster focuses on how non-technical or less tech-savvy users often fail to understand or consider technical concepts that seem obvious to tech-savvy individuals like HN readers.

Commenters express surprise, criticism, embarrassment, and debate over whether a certain area qualifies as an established 'industry' and what this reveals about the tech industry's maturity, direction, and overall health.

Users repeatedly ask commenters or posters to share their mentioned lists of items, resources, or compilations, expressing curiosity and interest in seeing the content. Discussions often involve thanks for provided lists or suggestions to expand them.

Users repeatedly request, discuss, or advise deleting accounts from various platforms, highlighting the lack of a delete option or urging immediate account removal.

Discussions debate security nihilism versus incremental security improvements, questioning threat models, imperfect measures, trade-offs, and alternatives like hardware crypto or encryption.

Comments rejecting false dichotomies by advocating for both options simultaneously, emphasizing that the alternatives are not mutually exclusive.

This cluster debates whether LLMs can replace traditional search engines for factual information retrieval, highlighting LLMs' hallucinations, lack of reliable sources, and the benefits of search-integrated or hybrid approaches.

Discussions focus on the use of directional antennas, phased arrays, yagi, parabolic dishes, and beamforming techniques for focused wireless signal transmission, reception, jamming, or countermeasures, debating feasibility, size, cost, and effectiveness.

The cluster debates the distinction between traditional websites/documents and web applications, with arguments over whether software should be built as web apps, their relevance, and the web's role as an app platform.

Comments focus on identifying and debating whether certain users or posts constitute trolling, distinguishing trolls from genuine disagreement, and advising against feeding trolls to avoid derailing discussions.

Commenters debate job satisfaction, with many advising to quit unhappy roles and seek fulfilling careers instead of enduring them or detaching self-worth from work.

Discussions revolve around distinguishing highways, freeways, and interstates from city streets and side roads, focusing on their scale, traffic types, access restrictions, and infrastructure characteristics.

Users discuss and recommend content blockers and ad blocking apps for iOS Safari like AdGuard, 1Blocker, and Firefox Focus, noting limitations compared to desktop uBlock Origin and mentioning Android options.

The cluster revolves around debates on the validity and appropriate level of skepticism toward unsubstantiated or hyped claims in an AI-related article, particularly OpenAI's achievements like IMO problems, with criticism of both undue acceptance and excessive FUD.

This cluster debates Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) as alternatives to fiat cash, comparing them to decentralized options like blockchain, GNU Taler, and cryptocurrencies, while questioning centralization, use cases, and replacements for physical money.

The cluster debates Twitter's role and reliability as a primary news source, highlighting how journalists and mainstream media heavily rely on it for real-time information, stories, and public opinion despite criticisms of misinformation and addiction.

The cluster centers on debates about YouTube's censorship of content related to pro-democracy anti-China views, COVID discussions, and other topics, contrasted with arguments that as a private platform, YouTube has the right to moderate and host what it chooses.

This cluster critiques reliance on electric vehicles for sustainability, advocating instead for public transportation, biking, walking, and reducing overall car dependency to address environmental and efficiency issues.

Comments focus on the physical risks and potential injuries from humanoid robots, such as being hit, crushed, knocked over, or struck at high speed during interactions or demonstrations.

Commenters express frustration, sarcasm, and skepticism about the US Congress's inaction, incompetence, or involvement in addressing the article's topic, often questioning if Congress has better priorities or will act at all.

The cluster revolves around debates on whether individuals have the right to take personal risks, even when those risks potentially harm others, contrasting with arguments for societal restrictions and public health measures like vaccines or masks.

Comments discuss and list the most mainstream and widely used programming languages like Java, Python, C++, JavaScript, Go, Rust, and C#, often recommending sticking to these for practicality and tooling.

Comments discuss the problems with existing software build systems, the need for new or better ones, and debates over their scope, design, and alternatives like Ninja, Bazel, and CMake.

Discussions center on challenges with slow database queries in large datasets, optimization techniques like indexing and query restructuring, and debates over bottlenecks such as IO limits, CPU usage, and whether computations should be handled inside or outside the database.

Users express thanks and commit to reaching out later via email, ping, or private contact, deferring discussions off the HN thread.

Discussions focus on how cultural differences shape expectations, behaviors, priorities, and societal norms, frequently contrasting non-Western cultures with US or Western perspectives.

Comments primarily recommend Spacemacs and Doom Emacs as pre-configured Emacs distributions with sane defaults, plugins, and Vim-like keybindings for users seeking an easier setup.

The cluster discusses why companies underinvest in cybersecurity, prioritizing profits because breach costs and penalties are lower than prevention expenses, often citing externalities, lack of incentives, and market dynamics like the 'Market for Lemons'.

Users express fondness for Visual Basic 6 (VB6), highlighting its ease of use for rapid desktop app development, compare a featured tool to it, and seek modern clones or alternatives like VB.NET or twinBASIC.

Comments discuss the effects, enforcement, rationale, and impacts of US economic sanctions on countries like Russia and Iran, particularly restricting access to international finance and trade systems.

Discussions revolve around reassuring founders who discover competitors for their startup idea, emphasizing that competition validates the market, provides learning opportunities, and should be embraced through differentiation and superior execution.

Users defend their downvoted or criticized comments by explaining they were jokes, sarcasm, satires, or references to memes/quotes, often providing links for context.

The cluster focuses on users reporting and troubleshooting WiFi connectivity problems on Apple devices, such as frequent disconnections, channel hopping, Bluetooth interference, and unreliable internet access over WiFi.

Comments debate the impossibility of infinite economic growth due to finite resources and advocate for shifting to sustainable, non-growth-based economic models like degrowth or steady-state economies.

This cluster focuses on DeepMind's AlphaZero and its predecessors like AlphaGo, discussing how they master board games such as Go, Chess, and Shogi through self-play without human data, outperforming systems trained on human games.

Users discuss a specific embedded chip (likely a microcontroller or SoC), asking about datasheets, part numbers, availability, specs, and differences from boards, with the author answering questions.

Comments where founders, employees, alumni, and contributors to startups reveal their personal involvement in the discussed companies, share backgrounds, congratulate teams, or promote related projects and tools.

The cluster focuses on debates about whether AI-generated outputs can be copyrighted, if AI can hold copyrights, and the role of human creativity versus AI training on copyrighted material.

Commenters discuss pros and cons of living in expensive tech hubs like the Bay Area, SF, and NYC versus affordable alternatives such as Austin, Denver, Seattle, Portland, and Midwestern cities, weighing cost of living, weather, job opportunities, amenities, and quality of life.

The cluster centers on debates about whether US public schools are underfunded, with most comments arguing that per-student spending is high compared to other countries but poorly allocated due to bureaucracy, local property taxes, and administrative bloat rather than insufficient total funding.

Users recommend and compare screenshot and screen recording tools such as ShareX, Flameshot, CleanShot, Greenshot, and Lightshot, discussing features like annotations, video capture, and advantages over built-in OS tools on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

The cluster discusses the history, ownership (especially AMD's role in x86-64), Intel's failed Itanium push, backwards compatibility, and potential decline or transition away from x86 dominance.

The cluster debates the primacy of building a great, valuable product that people want to buy over relying on marketing, sales, or other strategies, with most arguing that product excellence is essential for success.

The cluster centers on discussions questioning whether a particular action, event, or policy constitutes an act of war or declaration of war, with many arguing it should be treated as such despite not involving a nation-state.

Commenters discuss the risks of powerful lasers causing eye damage and blindness, especially in public spaces, when pointed at aircraft, cameras, or people, along with concerns about power levels, regulations, and countermeasures.

Users discuss, dispute, and share specific prices for hardware items like components and devices, including retail, bulk, and per-unit costs, often expressing surprise or corrections.

The cluster centers on debates about Python's significant whitespace and indentation as a syntax feature, including its pros for readability, cons like issues with copying code or newcomers, and comparisons to braces in languages like C, Java, and JS.

Cluster debates preferences between text messaging and phone calls (or voice/video) for communication, highlighting pros like convenience and control of texts versus speed and nuance of real-time talk.

Comments in this cluster repeatedly note that shared articles, posts, or resources are outdated, several years old, or no longer relevant due to their age.

Comments discuss and debate whether CEOs and leaders exhibit sociopathic or psychopathic traits, such as lack of empathy, with references to studies linking psychopathy to business success.

Comments discuss the complexities of USB-C power delivery, including negotiation protocols, cable capabilities for different wattages, and compatibility issues between chargers, cables, and devices that prevent simple plug-and-play charging.

Comments discuss differences in spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and conventions between British and American English, such as 'math' vs 'maths' or regional orthography.

Discussions center on the merits, criticisms, energy waste, and alternatives to Proof of Work (PoW) consensus in blockchain and cryptocurrency systems, including ideas for making PoW perform useful computations.

Commenters discuss the tradeoffs between pursuing wealth and prioritizing happiness, free time, and personal fulfillment after achieving financial security or independence.

The cluster focuses on criticisms of Apple's policies that restrict third-party repairs by withholding parts, specifications, and support, while designing devices to be difficult to fix and pushing users toward expensive official services or new purchases amid the right-to-repair movement.

Discussions center on the Steam Deck as a Linux-based handheld gaming device, including comparisons to other options, compatibility questions, support for games and software, and its role in advancing Linux gaming.

The cluster focuses on debates about why niche hardware products are expensive to produce despite simple designs, highlighting low-volume manufacturing challenges, tooling costs, R&D expenses, and lack of economies of scale.

Discussions center on professors delivering poor lectures, prioritizing research over effective teaching, and struggling with pedagogy, shared through student complaints, instructor anecdotes, and suggestions like flipped classrooms.

Discussions center on the F-35 Lightning II's capabilities, criticisms of its high costs, maintenance issues, dogfighting performance, and development delays, alongside defenses highlighting its stealth, sensors, avionics superiority, and role in modern air combat compared to planes like the F-16 and F-22.

Comments revolve around debating whether a featured product, device, or component is truly tiny, small, or smaller than claimed, with users nitpicking size descriptions, making comparisons, and questioning expectations.

The cluster focuses on experiences hiring coding bootcamp graduates, debates on their skill levels versus CS degree holders, and the effectiveness of bootcamps for entering software development jobs.

Users share links to browser-based fractal generators, L-systems implementations, Context Free Art, and other generative art tools, discussing their use for creating spatiotemporal patterns and math art.

Comments express nostalgia for the simple, static design of early internet websites from the 1990s and early 2000s, comparing the discussed site's retro aesthetic to that era.

The cluster discusses microbes, bacteria, fungi, and enzymes that break down plastics, including biodegradability of materials like PLA, environmental concerns, potential risks to in-use plastics, and alternatives to traditional plastics.

Discussions revolve around the financial pros and cons of paying off mortgages early versus maintaining them to invest elsewhere, including comparisons to renting, interest costs, equity buildup, and current low rates.

The cluster focuses on debates over COVID-19 death counts in the US and globally, including comparisons to normal yearly deaths, other diseases like TB or flu, excess mortality projections, and arguments on whether the numbers justify concern or restrictions.

The cluster debates the trade-offs between using managed cloud services like AWS for infrastructure (handling scaling, backups, updates) versus self-managing servers or bare metal, questioning if cloud truly simplifies DevOps or still requires significant expertise and cost.

The cluster centers on discussions about the possibility, process, and implications of hard forking Bitcoin to change rules, rollback transactions, or resolve disputes, with references to historical examples like Bitcoin Cash, SegWit, and Ethereum DAO.

The cluster discusses how founders of tech giants like Google and Facebook use dual-class or super-voting shares to retain majority control despite owning minority economic stakes, limiting the influence of public shareholders.

The cluster discusses evolutionary biology, particularly why natural selection favors reproduction over longevity, leading to aging and death after reproductive years, and corrects misconceptions about species-level vs. individual fitness.

Cluster focuses on recommendations to use private or self-signed Certificate Authorities for internal servers and domains, as alternatives to public CAs like Let's Encrypt which don't support non-public domains.

Discussions center on risks of US citizens or residents being unable to leave the country, placed on no-fly lists, or denied re-entry at borders due to legal issues or government actions.

Users discuss Reddit's outages, growing irrelevance, and various frustrations like censorship and UI changes, with many expressing they have quit or plan to quit the platform.

The cluster centers on debates over the precise meaning of 'open source' software, contrasting the OSI's Open Source Definition (requiring approved licenses) with colloquial uses meaning merely 'source available'. Commenters argue against diluting the term, referencing history, OSI guidelines, and distinctions from 'free software'.

The cluster debates whether large companies, especially big tech firms, blatantly break laws, exploit loopholes, or simply fail to obey regulations, versus expectations that they should strictly follow the law regardless of inconvenience.

Users debate the quality, readability, fidelity, and recommendations for English translations of a French literary work, sharing favorites like Hay's translation and critiquing issues like archaic verbosity.

Discussions center on the safety, health impacts, and societal implications of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in crops, including debates over pesticide resistance, monocultures, Monsanto practices, and comparisons to natural mutations or selective breeding.

Cluster focuses on comparisons between MacBook Air and MacBook Pro regarding portability, weight, screen size, battery life, thickness, price, and performance, with debates on which is preferable for various users.

Discussions center on why promising software projects, especially side projects, were abandoned, with users asking about outcomes, reasons for discontinuation, and sharing personal experiences of giving up on their own projects.

Comments focus on guns, firearms, shooting, and bullets, often debating their dangers, uses, and implications in various scenarios like protection, violence, or conflict resolution.

Cluster focuses on debates criticizing agile methodologies, sprints, standups, and excessive meetings for hindering developer productivity, with suggestions for alternatives like Shape Up, async communication, or no sprints.

This cluster features numerous short, enthusiastic comments congratulating individuals or teams on a significant achievement, milestone, or positive news event.

Comments referencing other Hacker News threads as duplicates, previous discussions, or ongoing conversations on similar topics.

This cluster debates the pros and cons of unionizing tech workers, particularly software developers, discussing high pay, individual leverage, collective bargaining, and why it hasn't gained traction despite efforts.

Commenters criticize Samsung's products, business practices, and reliability, often comparing it to competitors or citing past controversies like lawsuits and hardware failures.

Discussions center on proposals to make Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent, adopt permanent standard time, or eliminate biannual clock changes, debating health impacts, convenience, and historical context.

Users discuss compatibility, limitations, and workarounds for connecting single or multiple external displays to MacBooks, especially M1/M-series models via Thunderbolt, USB-C, and adapters, including specific monitors like LG Ultrafine and resolutions up to 5K.

This cluster features repeated inquiries from commenters asking the original poster to specify their location, city, state, country, or region, driven by curiosity about the context or experiences shared.

Comments focus on why ZFS/OpenZFS isn't more widely used in Linux distros due to GPL licensing incompatibilities, its excellent support on FreeBSD, and comparisons to alternatives like BTRFS.

Discussions center on using put and call options for betting against stocks, shorting alternatives, risks, and profits, often comparing to direct short selling.

The cluster revolves around discussions of accidentally committing secrets, credentials, and keys to GitHub repositories, the risks of exposure in public and private repos, GitHub's secret scanning features, and tools for detection and prevention.

Commenters debate whether the featured item is a serious commercial product or merely a joke, prototype, novelty gimmick, or vanity project.

The cluster centers on discussions of sous vide and alternative cooking techniques like pressure cooking, reverse searing, and precise oven methods for steaks and meat to avoid overcooking and improve results.

Discussions revolve around the finiteness of resources as the fundamental cause of constraints, prioritization needs, and economic realities in various contexts like business, society, and innovation.

The cluster focuses on debates about strategic gamesmanship, referee impartiality, uncalled infractions, penalties, and the human element in sports like soccer, American football, and basketball, questioning whether strict enforcement improves fairness or disrupts the game.

Comments debate the performance, maturity, and advantages of Common Lisp implementations like SBCL, often comparing it favorably to Rust, Clojure, C, and other languages.

Discussions critique the term 'enshittification' as a buzzword or neologism for platform degradation, while referencing the 'euphemism treadmill' and broader misuse of tech/business terminology.

Discussions center on the USPS's financial challenges, including subsidies from junk mail and packages, pension obligations, legal monopoly on letters, and comparisons to private carriers like FedEx and UPS.

Discussions center on the economic struggles of average workers facing poverty, low wages, and undesirable jobs, contrasted with privileged HN tech users viewed as out of touch and dismissive of these realities.

The cluster revolves around debates on environmental pollution from manufacturing and industry, particularly criticisms of outsourcing pollution to countries with lax regulations and hypocrisy in pollution concerns.