Hacker NewsTuesday, April 14

This paper discovers that a single binary operator eml(x,y)=exp(x)-ln(y) combined with the constant 1 can generate all standard mathematical functions found on scientific calculators, including trigonometric, logarithmic, and arithmetic operations. This creates a uniform computational structure that enables new approaches to symbolic regression and mathematical expression discovery.

In 2020, the author began making homemade soft drinks including sugar-free, caffeine-free cola using essential oils, gum arabic as an emulsifier, and artificial sweeteners. They documented their experimental process through multiple batches, tweaking recipes for cola, orange soda, and almond-flavored drinks, eventually creating their own versions they preferred over commercial brands like Coca-Cola.

A massive WordPress plugin supply chain attack affected 30+ plugins from Essential Plugin after the company was sold on Flippa to a buyer who planted backdoors in the code. The malware used sophisticated techniques including hiding spam content visible only to Google crawlers and using Ethereum smart contracts to control command servers. WordPress.org closed all affected plugins permanently, but the attack demonstrates how legitimate plugin businesses can be weaponized after acquisition.

Serenity Forge posted a statement on Bluesky regarding the removal of Doki Doki Literature Club from the Google Play Store on April 9, 2026.

A developer created boringBar, a macOS taskbar replacement that shows only windows from the current Space instead of mixing everything like the Dock. It allows Space switching via scrolling, includes a desktop switcher, window previews, and app launching. Designed for users wanting GNOME/Windows-like window management on macOS.

The author argues that programmer "laziness" - the drive to create efficient abstractions and simple systems - is a crucial virtue being undermined by LLMs and "brogrammer" culture that prioritizes code quantity over quality. While LLMs are useful tools, they lack the human constraint of finite time that forces good design decisions and meaningful abstractions.

The Servo team released v0.1.0 of the servo crate, marking their first crates.io release that allows Servo to be used as a library. They also introduced a long-term support version for users who prefer scheduled upgrades over monthly releases with breaking changes.

Intelligence is becoming commoditized as AI models improve rapidly and become accessible on local devices. While companies like OpenAI burn massive amounts of cash on infrastructure and face unsustainable costs, Apple benefits by leveraging existing user context and efficient hardware architecture without major AI investments, positioning them advantageously as the scarce resource shifts from raw intelligence to personalized context and on-device capabilities.

This post examines the financial logic of software teams, revealing that an 8-engineer team costs €87,000 monthly but most teams lack visibility into their true costs or required returns. It argues teams need 3-5x their cost in value generation to be viable, yet organizations typically measure activity proxies rather than financial outcomes. The arrival of LLMs threatens this model by potentially making large engineering headcount less valuable.

FontAwesome is experiencing email deliverability issues with Gmail, despite having excellent reputation scores elsewhere. Gmail's unique system marks their emails as spam when they send infrequently, creating a catch-22 where companies must choose between respecting customers' inboxes or maintaining deliverability. They're working to fix the issue while promoting their new Build Awesome Kickstarter campaign.