Hacker News
1Owls in Towels
- Wildlife rehabilitators use towels to wrap owls during weighing, treatment, and feeding to keep them calm and prevent agitation, leading to many photos shared online with the hashtag #owlsintowels.
Simple passion projects
Discussion celebrates this website as a delightful example of passionate "old web" content about niche interests, contrasting with modern social media and highlighting how tech skills can support causes we care about.Bird rescue techniques
Users share experiences and tips about rescuing injured birds, including using towels for handling, placing stunned birds in boxes to recover, and washing oil-covered seabirds. Special emphasis on owl handling.Word choice debates
Discussion about using "cheap" vs alternatives like "inexpensive" or "cost-effective", including cross-language comparisons with German terms "günstig" and "billig" and their different connotations.
2GitHub MCP exploited: Accessing private repositories via MCP
Access control and permissions
Discussion centered on proper scope of GitHub access tokens given to LLMs, with many arguing for fine-grained permissions and others noting users often opt for broad access due to convenience despite security risks.Cardinal rule of agent design
Debate around principle that LLMs should only have access to 2 of 3 elements: attacker-controlled data, sensitive information, and data exfiltration capability. Some argue this is overly complex vs simple security practices.Security conscious design
Discussion of whether AI companies should build better security into core products vs relying on third-party guardrails, and challenges of training LLMs to safely handle untrusted input while maintaining functionality.
3Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine
- The article discusses growing anti-AI sentiment, particularly in creative and educational spheres, drawing parallels to Dune's Butlerian Jihad. It focuses heavily on AI's impact on education, where students increasingly use tools like ChatGPT for homework, creating challenges for teachers and potentially undermining genuine learning.
Value of education
Discussion of how AI/LLM use in education risks making degrees worthless as proof of learning, with some arguing degrees were already low value and others suggesting schools must adapt assessment methodsTeaching methods
Debate around moving back to in-person paper exams vs remote learning, with tension between maintaining academic standards and universities' desire to expand online enrollment for revenueAI as learning tool
Mixed views on AI's potential - some see it as valuable tutor/learning aid when used responsibly, others worry it enables shortcuts and prevents real understanding, especially for unmotivated students
4Square Theory
- The article explores the concept of "square theory" in wordplay, which originated from a Discord server discussion about crossword puzzles. It examines how pairs of related words can form satisfying linguistic squares, where words at the corners are connected by meaningful relationships, appearing in crossword clues, brand names, jokes, and puzzle themes.
Word games
Discussion of various car trip word games including rhyming puzzles, "Match Three", and "Hink Pink". Users share variations, rules and personal experiences with these games, plus recommendations for similar games like Codenames.Linguistic squares
Analysis of double meanings and wordplay in jokes and phrases, like the "outstanding scarecrow" joke and preposition variations ("down for" vs "down with"). Discussion extends to crossword construction and word patterns.Translation humor
Amusing examples of translation errors and language mix-ups by non-native English speakers, particularly around unintentionally suggestive phrases.
5TIL: timeout in Bash scripts
- A developer discovered that using the timeout command with until (a shell built-in) doesn't work directly when monitoring web server startup. The solution involves wrapping the until command in a bash process or separate script to effectively implement a timeout feature and prevent infinite loops.
Fault injection with strace
Discussion of using strace for system call fault injection testing, with alternatives shared for Windows (Application Verifier, DTrace) and recommendations for testing failure branches in codeTimeout implementations
Various approaches to implementing command timeouts in shell scripts, from using built-in commands to custom implementations. Focus on POSIX compatibility and handling edge cases.Health check configuration
Best practices for implementing service health checks, including setting maximum retries and timeouts, with examples using curl and shell scripts in container environments like Kubernetes and Docker
6Lossless video compression using Bloom filters
Technical implementation
Bloom filter is used to track pixel changes between frames by creating a bitmap and hashing changed pixel positions, allowing reconstruction of next frame by storing raw data only for changed pixelsComparison to existing codecs
Performance appears worse than GZIP in tests, and approach lacks motion compensation unlike modern codecs like H.264. Questions raised about real advantages over existing solutions.Input data considerations
Method may work better on pre-compressed videos than raw input due to noise levels. Best suited for animation/screen recordings where fewer pixels change between frames.
7How a hawk learned to use traffic signals to hunt more successfully
- A zoologist observed a Cooper's hawk using traffic signals to hunt prey in an urban setting. The hawk learned to time its attacks when cars lined up at a red light, using the queue as cover to approach its target after being alerted by a pedestrian crossing signal. This demonstrates the remarkable adaptability of these raptors to city life.
Birds learning human infrastructure
Discussion of how birds learn to use roads, railways and urban features for navigation, and adapt their behavior to human infrastructure patterns including traffic lights and crosswalksUrban raptors
Exploration of how birds of prey like Cooper's hawks and peregrine falcons have adapted to city life, their hunting behaviors, and the challenges they face in urban environmentsUnusual bird encounters
Personal anecdotes about memorable interactions with birds, including stories about hawking, airport encounters, and observations of bird behavior around vehicles
8Ask HN: Anyone struggling to get value out of coding LLMs?
- Developer finds LLMs helpful for quick tasks like debugging, writing simple queries, and solving knowledge-based problems, but struggles with using them for core development work due to the need for extensive supervision to meet code quality standards and maintainability requirements.
LLM effectiveness for different tasks
Strong for greenfield/boilerplate work and simple features, but struggles with complex tasks, legacy code maintenance, and business domain specifics. Productivity claims of "100x" are exaggerated.Code quality and maintenance
Debate between accepting lower code quality standards with "vibe coding" vs maintaining high standards. LLM-generated code often requires extensive review and may accumulate technical debt.Learning and productivity tools
LLMs excel as learning aids, documentation interpreters, and for automating repetitive tasks, but aren't suited for core engineering work like architecture, debugging, and performance optimization.
9The Myth of Developer Obsolescence
- This piece discusses how new technologies, from NoCode to AI, don't actually replace developers but transform their roles. While these innovations promise to eliminate coding jobs, they typically create new specializations and higher-paying positions, highlighting that system architecture skills remain irreplaceable.
Quality vs profit tradeoff
Debate over whether businesses/customers truly value software quality. Some argue only engineers care about quality, while others point to successful products built on quality. Discussion of how AI may impact quality standards.Architects' role and value
Contention around whether AI can replace software architects. Some claim AI already outperforms mediocre architects, while others argue true architecture requires human context and problem-solving abilities.Code as liability
Discussion of how code represents maintenance burden rather than asset. Concerns that AI-generated code increases this liability by producing more code than necessary without natural constraints.
10GitHub issues is almost the best notebook in the world
- GitHub Issues serves as an excellent note-taking platform, offering free unlimited storage, comprehensive Markdown support, powerful interlinking capabilities, excellent search functionality, and API integration. While lacking offline synchronization, it provides robust features for organizing, backing up, and scaling notes across repositories.
Privacy concerns
Debate around Microsoft/GitHub's handling of private data, with some users worried about training LLMs on private repos while others trust GitHub's enterprise security given their business model depends on protecting sensitive corporate data.Note-taking tools
Discussion comparing GitHub Issues to other note-taking solutions, especially markdown files in git repos and Obsidian. Users debate tradeoffs between automatic sync, version control, and platform lock-in.GitHub Issues features
Users discuss GitHub Issues' strengths and limitations as a ticketing system, with some praising its simplicity while others note missing enterprise features like access control and separate issue summaries.