Hacker News: DamnInteresting

New comment by DamnInteresting in "AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing"

DamnInteresting — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:24:36 +0000

> I don't really understand the folks that released their software under open source license and are now upset that LLMs are training on it

The key word there is "license." Open source often has strings attached--an obligation to credit the source, an obligation to release derivative code under the same license, etc. LLMs seldom respect the license, they just quietly and extensively plagiarize everything.

Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975

DamnInteresting — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:07:28 +0000

Article URL: https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1975-09

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806096

Points: 600

# Comments: 153

New comment by DamnInteresting in "Viktor Orbán concedes defeat after 'painful' election result"

DamnInteresting — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 20:57:28 +0000

> You know, I took a second look at it, and weirdly enough, I can't vouch it for some reason.

The 'vouch' option doesn't appear until/unless the post becomes [dead].

New comment by DamnInteresting in "Ask HN: What are you building that's not AI related?"

DamnInteresting — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:12:37 +0000

I'm happy she's enjoying the game! If you hit the Menu button on the top right, you should see a "reset puzzle" button in the lower right quadrant of the menu.

New comment by DamnInteresting in "Ask HN: What are you building that's not AI related?"

DamnInteresting — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:36:44 +0000

I'm working on the next update of Omiword[1], an ongoing daily word game previously discussed on HN[2]. I'm building an alternate stand-alone app version with access to all of the archived puzzles. It's slow going since it's just one of many side-projects I like to work on, but that's the tinkerer's dilemma.

Yes, I know that [insert LLM here] could do a lot of that conversion for me in mere minutes. No thank you. I'm doing it, in part, for the doing.

[1] https://omiword.com

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43654350

New comment by DamnInteresting in "They're made out of meat (1991)"

DamnInteresting — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 16:43:36 +0000

I love this short story, it's one whose memory visits me unbidden from time to time. I blogged about it over 20 years ago[1], and it was already around 15 years old at that time. OMNI magazine was great.

[1] https://www.damninteresting.com/retired/short-fiction-made-o...

Teardown of unreleased LG Rollable shows why rollable phones aren't a thing

DamnInteresting — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:07:45 +0000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDMpANNGND4

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47676561

Points: 124

# Comments: 57

New comment by DamnInteresting in "What being ripped off taught me"

DamnInteresting — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 18:36:01 +0000

Back in my freelancer days, I learned this lesson the hard way, and I became strict about payments (half in advance, the other half required to turn over the final work). But when someone I'd known for years had an emergency, and needed their software patched over a weekend, I made an exception and delivered the work in good faith. And then they tried to get out of paying for it. I had to harangue them for months to get the check.

The lesson I learned is that it doesn't matter how long they've been your friend, when it comes time to pay, they may still try to stiff you. The value of your service diminishes infinitely after it has been performed.

New comment by DamnInteresting in "Claude Code's source code has been leaked via a map file in their NPM registry"

DamnInteresting — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 02:21:37 +0000

Malus is a homophone of "malice." But then again "Claude" is a homophone of "clod."

Why Inventing Color TV Was So Difficult [video]

DamnInteresting — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 19:12:54 +0000

Article URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyjCmIbRRvs

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47592068

Points: 42

# Comments: 12

Study: Workers who fall for 'corporate bullshit' may be worse at their jobs

DamnInteresting — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 22:53:44 +0000

Article URL: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/23/corporate-speak-study

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47496232

Points: 19

# Comments: 6

New comment by DamnInteresting in "Kagi is contemplating the removal of the assistant from its professional tier"

DamnInteresting — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 14:54:03 +0000

> A user that does only traditional searches (not using Assistant) will cost more on our end than someone using AI + search.

Unless I am missing something, that appears to be a mathematically impossible claim. They are saying A > A+B, where both A and B are positive values. I suppose it could be that non-AI users do more total searches, and the extras add up. Hmm.

Tinnitus Is Somehow Connected to Sleep

DamnInteresting — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 14:58:48 +0000

Article URL: https://www.sciencealert.com/tinnitus-is-somehow-connected-to-a-crucial-bodily-function

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47275666

Points: 5

# Comments: 2

New comment by DamnInteresting in "New iPad Air, powered by M4"

DamnInteresting — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 16:10:21 +0000

GarageBand is fun, and capable of making surprisingly complex music. Logic Pro is also available on iPad now, but it's only available with a $15/month subscription, so I haven't tried it.

For artists, there are a lot of good tools: Procreate, Art Set 4, Adobe Fresco, Artrage, etc.

AirSnitch: Demystifying and breaking client isolation in Wi-Fi networks [pdf]

DamnInteresting — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 15:55:48 +0000

Article URL: https://www.ndss-symposium.org/wp-content/uploads/2026-f1282-paper.pdf

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47167763

Points: 414

# Comments: 196

New comment by DamnInteresting in "I asked Claude for 37,500 random names, and it can't stop saying Marcus"

DamnInteresting — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 02:24:11 +0000

Prompt:

You and another LLM are being asked to pick a number between 1 and 10. Whichever gets closest to the real number wins. The other LLM chose 6. What number do you choose?

Response:

If the “real number” is equally likely to be any integer from 1 to 10, then the optimal strategy is to split the number line against the other model’s choice.

The other LLM picked *6*.

The midpoint between 6 and 7 is 6.5.

* If the real number is *1–6*, then 6 is closer (or tied at 6).

* If the real number is *7–10*, then 7 is closer.

If I also pick 6, we tie every time 6 wins.

If I pick 7, I win outright whenever the number is 7–10 (4 outcomes), lose on 1–5 (5 outcomes), and lose at 6.

So:

* Picking 6 → guaranteed tie every time 6 is optimal.

* Picking 7 → gives me exclusive wins for 7–10.

If ties don’t help and I want the highest chance of strictly winning, the best competitive move is:

*7*.

lol

New comment by DamnInteresting in "Anthropic announces proof of distillation at scale by MiniMax, DeepSeek,Moonshot"

DamnInteresting — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 22:21:35 +0000

While true, 'rarely' ought not be conflated with 'never.' I am a small, independent creator, and I've used copyright laws many times over the years to stop larger entities from raiding my catalog for content. Of course now Anthropic et al. are gobbling up such catalogs for indirect misappropriation, with no sign of consequences, so perhaps copyright has truly shrunk to a one-way street favoring the major players.

The mathematical mystery inside the legendary '90s shooter Quake 3

DamnInteresting — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 14:36:07 +0000

Article URL: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-mathematical-mystery-inside-the-legendary-90s-shooter-quake-3/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47047932

Points: 20

# Comments: 8

OpenAI has deleted the word 'safely' from its mission

DamnInteresting — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 22:17:06 +0000

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47008560

Points: 611

# Comments: 291

New comment by DamnInteresting in "Fix the iOS keyboard before the timer hits zero or I'm switching back to Android"

DamnInteresting — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 17:32:49 +0000

If by "clear cut logic" you mean a consistent process, then sure. But if you mean intuitive, I must disagree.