Hacker News
1Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac view-only conversion
- Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac will convert to view-only mode on July 13, 2026, when a license validation certificate expires. Users can open and view files but cannot edit or save them. This affects Mac, iPhone, and iPad versions, with no fix available for Office 2019. Microsoft originally promised the apps would "continue to function" after support ended in 2023, but later removed this assurance from their documentation.
Alternatives to Microsoft Office
Users strongly advocate for LibreOffice as a free, open-source alternative that "just works" for most needs. Some mention OnlyOffice, Calligra, and Apple's iWork suite. Discussion includes compatibility issues with business file exchanges and specific limitations like Excel add-on dependencies.Legal implications and consumer rights
Multiple comments highlight potential violations of Australian consumer law, where products must remain fit for purpose. Users argue this practice shouldn't be legal as Office 2019 was marketed as a perpetual license, not a time-limited product.Microsoft's business model shift
Discussion centers on Microsoft's transition from selling products to extracting ongoing value through subscriptions and forced upgrades. Users express frustration with the broader trend of companies moving away from ownership models toward rental/subscription services.
2Domain expertise has always been the real moat
- AI agents can now write code without understanding the domain, breaking the traditional link between domain knowledge and coding ability. This shifts value from technical skills to domain expertise - those who can judge whether AI-generated solutions are actually correct within their field. Engineers should focus on acquiring deep domain knowledge rather than just coding skills, as the ability to verify correctness in specific industries becomes the scarce and valuable skill.
Domain expertise vs specification ability
Discussion centers on the critical difference between being able to verify correct output versus being able to specify detailed rules for systems. Domain experts often struggle to articulate the tacit knowledge they've gained through years of experience, making them less effective at directing AI systems despite their deep understanding.The value of programming skills in an AI world
Debate over whether programming expertise remains valuable as AI tools become more capable. Some argue that software engineers actively democratize their field through tools and frameworks, while others contend that true programming skill involves understanding complex systems, scalability, and architecture.AI's limitations in understanding context
Discussion of how AI often misses obvious solutions and lacks practical problem-solving intuition. Examples include AI suggesting complex software fixes when the issue is simply plugging cables into the wrong ports, highlighting the gap between AI knowledge and real-world troubleshooting.
3Cloudflare Turnstile requiring fingerprintable WebGL
- Cloudflare Turnstile has been blocking WebKit-based browsers for about a week due to WebGL fingerprinting requirements. The system demands device fingerprints for verification, which WebKit blocks for privacy protection. Firefox allows this tracking and passes verification, while WebKitGTK users are effectively banned from accessing Cloudflare-protected sites.
Cloudflare's fingerprinting and blocking practices
Cloudflare uses extensive fingerprinting techniques like JA3 to detect scrapers, blocking privacy-conscious browsers like Cromite. Users report being gated out of websites despite being legitimate visitors, with many concerned about outsourcing web access control to one company.Privacy protection breaking website functionality
Firefox's privacy.resistfingerprinting setting breaks Cloudflare Turnstile and other websites, causing timezone issues and general site breakage. Mozilla doesn't enable it by default even in strict mode due to widespread compatibility problems.Alternatives to current bot protection methods
Discussion of proof-of-work captchas, rate limiting, and behavioral signals as alternatives to fingerprinting. However, each solution has drawbacks - PoW can be slow on low-end devices and doesn't truly stop determined bots.
4Openrsync: An implementation of rsync, by the OpenBSD team
- openrsync is a BSD-licensed implementation of rsync that's compatible with modern rsync versions but accepts only a subset of command-line arguments. It was developed as part of the rpki-client project for OpenBSD and funded by NetNod, IIS.SE, SUNET and 6connect. The system has been merged into OpenBSD base and uses a client-server architecture with sender and receiver components that share file lists and exchange blocks to synchronize files efficiently.
Rsync compatibility and behavioral differences
Users discuss differences between openrsync and regular rsync, particularly around file/directory handling with trailing slashes. Some report openrsync creates nested directories unexpectedly, while others note this matches standard rsync behavior. Apple switched to openrsync in macOS 15.4.AI-generated code concerns in rsync
Discussion about recent "vibe-coded" commits to rsync codebase introducing regressions and bugs. Users express concern about AI-generated code quality, copyright issues, and some consider switching to openrsync to avoid AI-tainted code in the original rsync project.Security and portability limitations
Openrsync relies on OpenBSD's pledge/unveil security features for proper sandboxing. Without these (unavailable on Linux), the security benefits are reduced. Users debate whether this limits its usefulness outside OpenBSD environments.
5Please Do Not Vibe Fuck Up This Software
Ai-assisted development criticism
Users express concern about AI being used to modify stable, critical software like rsync. Many argue mature tools shouldn't need experimental AI assistance, questioning why maintainers would risk introducing bugs in well-functioning software that millions depend on.Inappropriate issue reporting behavior
Discussion centers on how users filed complaints - posting screenshots from social media instead of proper bug reports. Many condemn this "brigading" behavior as abusive toward open source maintainers, while others defend users' right to voice concerns.Open source maintainer rights vs user expectations
Debate over whether maintainers can use whatever tools they want versus users' expectations for stable software. Covers the balance between developer freedom, user trust, and the responsibilities that come with maintaining critical infrastructure.
6OpenRouter raises $113M Series B
- OpenRouter announced a $113M Series B funding round led by CapitalG with participation from NVentures, ServiceNow Ventures, and other strategic investors. The AI infrastructure company has grown from processing 5 trillion to 25 trillion tokens weekly over six months, serving 8M+ developers across 400+ models. The funding will support scaling infrastructure, enterprise capabilities, and intelligent routing as organizations transition from AI experimentation to production systems.
OpenRouter's value proposition and benefits
Users praise OpenRouter for low-friction model experimentation, billing caps, consolidated billing across providers, and rankings data. Key advantages include trying all models easily, hard spending limits for public deployments, and seamless provider switching for better uptime and cost optimization.Business model concerns and long-term viability
Discussions about OpenRouter's 5% markup sustainability, lack of technical moat, and whether large enterprises will bypass them for direct provider APIs. Questions raised about investor expectations and whether they can justify billion-dollar valuations as a middleman service.Funding rationale and company direction
OpenRouter's COO explains the $100M raise as risk mitigation for large spend volumes, validation for employees/partners, and preparation for inference becoming companies' second-largest expense after headcount. Plans to expand into adjacent AI governance areas.
7Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study
- Tens of millions take creatine for muscle building, unaware it crosses the blood-brain barrier and affects cognitive function. New research shows creatine supplementation can slow Alzheimer's cognitive decline by 30%, improve processing speed in healthy adults, help with sleep deprivation effects, and potentially treat depression by providing energy buffers to neurons during high-demand tasks.
Study methodology concerns
Commenters criticized the lack of placebo controls in the pilot study and questioned the claimed 30% cognitive improvement figure, noting it appears fabricated. The study had only 19-20 participants over 8 weeks with no blinding, making results unreliable.Personal experiences with creatine
Users shared mixed experiences: some reported improved focus, reduced brain fog, and better performance under stress, while others experienced hair loss, heart palpitations, sleep issues, or feeling worse. Dosages ranged from 5-25g daily.Safety and dosage considerations
Discussion covered kidney safety (generally safe for healthy individuals), typical 5g daily dosing vs higher 15-25g doses for cognitive benefits, water retention effects, and quality differences between Chinese vs German-made creatine products.
8Pandoc Templates
- This is a collection of journal templates created by Michael Sachs for pandoc, covering major statistical and data science journals including JASA, Biometrics, Journal of Statistical Software, The R Journal, and many others in statistics, biostatistics, and related fields.
Pandoc vs alternatives
Users discuss experiences with Pandoc, Quarto, and Typst for document conversion and creation. Some praise Quarto's improved experience over raw Pandoc, while others recommend Typst for better PDF generation capabilities.PDF generation challenges
Discussion of technical difficulties with Pandoc's PDF output, including broken table layouts, Unicode font fallback issues, and page break control problems. Some suggest alternative solutions like Typst or HTML/CSS approaches.Markdown vs WYSIWYG debate
Users debate whether markdown-based workflows can replace traditional word processors for most people, with some arguing WYSIWYG is better for non-technical users while others prefer markdown's control and consistency.
9The Website Specification
- A comprehensive, platform-agnostic specification outlining technical features every decent website should have, covering ten key areas from HTML basics and SEO to accessibility, security, and AI readiness. Built openly with standards-based guidelines that link to authoritative sources like W3C and WCAG, designed for auditing, learning, and improving websites regardless of the technology stack used.
Criticism of modern web complexity and nostalgia for simple HTML
Users express frustration with over-engineered websites using unnecessary JavaScript frameworks, preferring the simplicity of 2000s-era plain HTML and CSS. However, others counter that the 2000s had significant issues like IE6 incompatibility and table-based layouts.Skepticism about "Agent Readiness" as a web standard
Discussion centers on whether preparing websites for AI agents is worthwhile, with critics comparing it to failed trends like "Web 4.0 Blockchain Integration" and arguing it may enable bad actors to show different content to agents versus humans.AI-generated content and quality concerns
Multiple users identify the website as likely AI-generated "slop," criticizing its promotional language, design patterns, and the irony of an SEO expert creating content about web standards using LLMs.
10Dav2d
Server overload from traffic
The original blog post about dav2d became inaccessible due to exceeding bandwidth limits, likely from Hacker News traffic (the "hug of death"). Users shared archived versions and discussed whether HN alone could cause such high traffic loads.AV2 performance tradeoffs
AV2 offers 25% better compression than AV1 but requires 5x more computational complexity for decoding. Discussion covered whether this tradeoff is worthwhile and concerns about obsoleting existing AV1 hardware decoders.Name confusion with Dave2D
Multiple users initially thought "dav2d" referred to Dave2D, a popular tech YouTuber, rather than the AV2 decoder. The naming similarity caused confusion despite being unrelated projects.