<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Hacker News: octagons</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=octagons</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2026 23:27:07 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=octagons" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Identity verification on Claude"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I’ve only seen vague suggestions of what is actually being gated through this verification. Is there a more definitive explanation of what will require the verification?<p>Either way, the moment I encounter this, I’ll be canceling. It’s a complete deal breaker.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 21 Jun 2026 20:31:06 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48622335</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48622335</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48622335</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Build a radio wave detector with balls of aluminum foil"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Mehdi is such a wonderful educator! I wish I’d had him as a professor for whatever topic he’d be interested in teaching.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2026 16:47:45 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48182137</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48182137</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48182137</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Your hex editor should color-code bytes"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>ImHex++. I also can’t help but shill for 010 Editor, a commercial alternative that one might describe as a little less opinionated.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2026 14:10:29 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47875963</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47875963</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47875963</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I developed a font with a similar resolution that was not nearly as legible for my Pi Zero with an e-ink screen many years ago. It allowed for similar tooling such as the flipper zero and esp32 marauder projects. I should fire that project up and implement this font…</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:49:20 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47867654</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47867654</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47867654</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "I’m spending months coding the old way"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I’m not a software engineer. Most of my work these days focuses on microcontroller exploitation. I have 15 years of professional experience as a security consultant/contractor.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:33:04 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47816692</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47816692</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47816692</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "I’m spending months coding the old way"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I mean this genuinely and in good faith in case you didn’t already know it: the term for “non-blank, non-comment…” in programming is usually “Significant Lines Of Code” or SLOC.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 18 Apr 2026 12:52:41 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47815525</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47815525</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47815525</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "I’m spending months coding the old way"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I think the author’s intent is well-placed, but it does feel a bit sad that this subject is blog-worthy.<p>I’ve spent a lifetime teaching myself programming, computers, and engineering. I have no formal education in these disciplines and find that I excel due to the self-taught nature of my background.<p>I take a very metered approach to AI and use it for autocomplete while still scrutinizing every token (not the AI kind) as well as an augment to my self-pedagogy. It’s great to be able to “query” or get a summary from a set of technical documents on demand.<p>However, I don’t understand the desire to remove oneself from the process with AI. I simply don’t do anything that won’t teach me something new or improve my existing skills.<p>There’s more to engineering than simply programming. Both the engineer and the intended user base must also understand the system. The value lost is greater than the sum of all the parts when an LLM produces most or all of the code.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 18 Apr 2026 12:45:29 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47815487</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47815487</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47815487</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Backpacks got worse on purpose"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Terry Pratchett wrote an excellent metaphor for this concept: 
<a href="https://terrypratchett.com/explore-discworld/sam-vimes-boots-theory-of-socio-economic-unfairness/" rel="nofollow">https://terrypratchett.com/explore-discworld/sam-vimes-boots...</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:21:35 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47782190</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47782190</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47782190</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Filing the corners off my MacBooks"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>> Don't be scared. Fuck around a bit.<p>Damn good advice.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 11 Apr 2026 01:03:31 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47726070</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47726070</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47726070</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>They’re still in step 2 of their general game plan: embrace, extend, extinguish.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 15:44:31 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47616010</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47616010</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47616010</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I’ve had a good experience running Arch Linux on my “gaming” PC in the living room. It helps that I’m very comfortable with Linux internals, but I’d say I have no issues or issues that can be fixed with 2-3 clicks about 95% of the time.<p>My setup is basically Arch Linux, ProtonUp-Qt (to easily install specific versions of Proton, the compatibility layer), Steam, and the proprietary Nvidia drivers/Vulkan. I generally have no issues with Easy Anti-Cheat games like Arc Raiders, but obviously anything that requires secure boot attestation like Arena Breakout Infinite won’t play. I’ve not bothered to try setting up full secure boot as the games that require it aren’t typically in my wheelhouse.<p>I hope Linux adoption continues for my own, very self-serving, interests. I get the sense that those who primarily use their computer for gaming are the frogs slowly being boiled by Microsoft who continues to back their these customers into uncomfortable, unnecessary corners.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 15:40:38 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47615956</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47615956</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47615956</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "OpenTitan Shipping in Production"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Are there any generally available microcontrollers with this block inside?<p>“Open source” has a very different meaning when it comes to silicon.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:05:29 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47268976</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47268976</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47268976</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "OpenTitan Shipping in Production"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>This is the general premise behind Ken Thompson’s “Reflections on Trusting Trust” and I highly recommend you read it if this is something that interests you.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:04:03 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47268955</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47268955</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47268955</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Number Research Inc"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Oddly, “7070” seems to always return a Database Error for me. Other numbers work fine.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2026 06:07:01 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47243726</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47243726</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47243726</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "California's new bill requires DOJ-approved 3D printers that report themselves"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Is there evidence that shows a trend in increased violent crime committed using 3D-printed weapons?<p>I’ve certainly seen projects and models demonstrating the ability to create firearms with the help of a 3D printer, but I’m not aware of anyone using one to commit a crime…</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:09:32 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47081743</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47081743</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47081743</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Our investigation into the suspicious pressure on Archive.today"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The wording and tone of the emails sent to Adguard reads just like phishing emails with a hint of political SMS spam. Glad to see the people behind there thinking critically and acting rationally despite such language.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 15 Nov 2025 14:14:15 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45937605</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45937605</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45937605</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Incus-OS: Immutable Linux OS to run Incus as a hypervisor"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I’ve been running an Incus cluster of 3 fairly beefy servers for about a year now. It’s my go-to recommendation for anyone wanting to setup a new virtualized environment.<p>One of my favorite features is how you can tag different cluster members for different architectures. In the same cluster, I can have traditional dual-socket x86 servers with a dozen DIMM slots as well as Raspberry Pis. The architecture tagging lets me strategize execution of ARM-based container workloads to be only on the Pis, or opt to run them via QEMU on the x86 platforms if that makes more sense in a particular scenario. Since I deal with a lot of embedded firmware, this offers a nice, flexible platform.<p>Stephen Graeber is also a long time contributor to the LXC project and his reasoning behind this fork and other changes are quite sound. I hope the project sees continued success. Stephen’s business model of offering consulting services for Incus systems also seems quite sound.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 14 Nov 2025 17:49:07 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929437</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929437</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929437</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Incus-OS: Immutable Linux OS to run Incus as a hypervisor"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Yes, it can do both. The image server will build for both options if possible, so you have to specify “—vm” on the command line creating the domain.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 14 Nov 2025 17:39:08 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929299</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929299</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929299</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "How First Wap tracks phones around the world"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>SS7 strikes again!</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 23:23:48 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45599552</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45599552</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45599552</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by octagons in "Acrobat is intrusive, slow and non-customizable"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>In my experience, anyone running Wayland is very much used to some number of applications that depend on Xwayland. Does Zathura + MuPDF not work with it?<p>Either way, if you want to show off a project, just do so…</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 23:19:50 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45599526</link><dc:creator>octagons</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45599526</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45599526</guid></item></channel></rss>