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C programmers commit fresh crimes against readability
3 hours ago
- The IOCCC 2025 winners have been announced, featuring 23 unique and creative entries.
- Three participants—Yusuke Endoh, Nick Craig-Wood, and Don Yang—each won three awards.
- Notable highlights include Adrian Cable's Subleq emulator, a 366-byte program for software preservation.
- Nick Craig-Wood's winners include a Nintendo Game Boy emulator and a Commodore 64 emulator in FRACTRAN.
- Yusuke Endoh's entries include a Nixie tube simulator and a self-patching program.
- Jonah Uellenberg created a quine Pong game where each compilation outputs updated source code.
- Other winners feature ambient music generation, roguelike games, and Euler's constant calculation in verse.
Autonomous flying umbrella follows and shields users from rain and sunlight
an hour ago
- Most structural parts were 3D printed.
- The studio extends a two-decade investigation into manufacturing with living systems, from bacterial pigments to biodegradable footwear.
- Researchers at Yonsei University and international collaborators developed a floating device that converts movement into energy for water testing and microbial disinfection.
- Lovefrom designed an EV with clean, sweeping volumes, free from traditional front-mid engine and rear gearbox constraints.
- Audi revived the Auto Union Lucca as a streamlined 1930s record car shaped by aerodynamics and road speed.
Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland
2 hours ago
- Successful trial in Switzerland: 100 meters of solar panels installed on railway tracks produced 16,000 kWh in one year.
- Efficiency and potential: Solar railway panels have only ~10% production loss; covering all Swiss tracks could generate 1 TWh/year, about 2% of national energy consumption.
- Safety measures: Panels are designed with anti-reflection filters, built-in sensors, and cleaning brushes to address risks like cracks, fires, and distractions.
- Expansion plans: Sun-Ways signed contracts in Italy and South Korea, with discussions ongoing in the Netherlands, China, India, and Singapore.
Why DMARC's new "NP" tag can fail with DNSSEC
2 hours ago
- DMARC's new np tag (non-existent subdomain policy) was introduced in RFC 9989 to apply policies to non-existent subdomains.
- RFC 9989 defines non-existent domains by NXDOMAIN response code, but RFC 9824 (Compact Denial of Existence in DNSSEC) uses NOERROR with NXNAME bit for DNSSEC, causing a clash.
- Many DNS providers (e.g., Cloudflare, AWS Route 53) use compact denial, so NXDOMAIN is often not returned, leading np tag failures in DMARC implementations.
- DMARC implementations typically check for NXDOMAIN strictly and don't support DNSSEC or NXNAME bit, so np tag may not work for DNSSEC-signed domains.
- IETF discussions haven't resolved the issue; solutions include DMARC software checking NXNAME or wider adoption of NXDOMAIN restoration via CO flag.
- Domain owners should assume np tag may not work reliably, especially with DNSSEC and major DNS providers using compact denial.
Run Windows 2000 on a DEC Alpha with a new es40 fork
4 hours ago
- A new fork of the es40 Alpha emulator features JIT compiler speedups, S3 graphics port, and ARC support.
- This allows running Windows 2000 on DEC Alpha hardware and improves OpenVMS performance.
- The setup involves updating firmware and using specific VGA BIOS; a guide is available for Windows 2000 and Tru64 Unix.
Spain's cadastre API is SOAP from 2003, so I built a JSON wrapper (+MCP)
6 hours ago
- Predio API provides structured, machine-readable access to Spanish land registry data, converting complex SOAP/XML from the official Catastro into clean JSON.
- Three query methods are available: by 20-character reference code (RC), coordinates (lat/lon), or address (province, municipality, street, number), all returning normalized data like class, use, built area, year, and address breakdown.
- Offers both REST API (versioned /v1 endpoint) and MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for AI agents, with errors returned in JSON and features like serve-stale for resilience when the official source is down.
- Pricing is usage-based with credits: 1 credit per successful response; a free tier provides 250 credits/month without a card, followed by prepaid packs ranging from 5€ (2,500 credits) to 99€ (150,000 credits).
- Covers the common territory of Spain (urban and rural properties), excluding the Basque Country and Navarre due to their own regional registries; data is public and reusable under the DGC license, though Predio is an unofficial service.
Phosh 0.56.0
4 hours ago
- Phosh 0.56.0 released, introducing new features like a top bar load meter plugin and app-grid improvements for immutable distros.
- Updates across components: phoc supports wlroots 0.20.1, stevia adds app-specific keyboard layouts, and phosh-mobile-settings includes new OS updates panel.
- Translation updates across multiple languages and several bug fixes, including crash resolutions and performance enhancements.
U.S. Policies Unintentionally Accelerated China's Open AI Ecosystems
8 hours ago
- U.S. policies aimed at AI leadership raised costs for China's AI development but increased the strategic value of open, adaptable AI systems.
- China integrated open-source AI into national strategy through ecosystem building, standards, and resilient deployment after U.S. export controls.
- Chinese developers increased engagement with open-source LLM repositories more than U.S. developers, shifting toward open infrastructure under constraints.
- Chinese open models spread through open-source communities and research, with U.S. commercial entities using them in open-access research.
- Technological containment policies may unintentionally accelerate open innovation ecosystems as a competitive response, affecting global AI leadership.
Show HN: A live badge that proves your SaaS runs on EU infrastructure
8 hours ago
- EuroSeal scans SaaS infrastructure daily to verify freedom from US-jurisdiction dependencies and provides a badge for passing the scan.
- Free for the first 50 companies with a 12-month free badge, no card required, and a 2-minute setup.
- European sovereign-cloud spending is growing 83% yearly; proof of EU jurisdiction is increasingly required by procurement teams.
- Public callouts occur for services claiming to be EU-hosted but using US hyperscalers; verifiable sovereignty is essential under regulations like the Data Act and AI Act.
- EuroSeal uses a non-intrusive, external mapping method without agents or code changes to check hosting, CDN, DNS, email, analytics, and sub-processors daily.
- The badge links to a public, timestamped report that updates automatically or downgrades if dependencies change, and is exportable for compliance reviews.
- Founding offer includes free scan for the first 50 companies, then €12/month per domain after 12 months, with 50% off for life.
The Lion, The Witch, and the audacity of recruiters
4 hours ago
- Author describes two poor hiring experiences during their job search.
- First story: Hired for a trial week as a Senior Elixir developer but was assigned unrelated frontend browser extension work.
- Second story: Rejected after a lengthy interview process and asked to provide feedback while receiving none.
- Author criticizes recruitment practices like bait-and-switch tasks, long delays, and generic rejection emails.
- Notes a positive experience with a recruiter who gave personalized feedback.
- Concludes that the hiring market is flawed, with excessive demands on candidates.
Cannabis Users Face Substantially Higher Risk of Heart Attack (2025)
5 hours ago
- Cannabis users under 50 face over sixfold increased heart attack risk vs. non-users
- Meta-analysis shows 50% higher heart attack risk for cannabis users
- Studies also link cannabis use to increased stroke, heart failure, and cardiovascular death
- Researchers urge clinicians to screen for cannabis use in cardiovascular risk assessment
- Potential mechanisms include heart rhythm disruption and endothelial dysfunction
- Retrospective study and meta-analysis limitations call for prospective research
- Risk peaks about one hour after cannabis consumption
- Daily marijuana use previously linked to higher coronary artery disease risk
Harvey AI started with a Reddit thread. Now it's worth $11B
7 hours ago
- Two roommates in LA, Winston Weinberg (a securities and antitrust litigator) and Gabriel Pereyra (a research scientist at Google DeepMind), founded the AI legal tech company Harvey after being inspired by the fictional lawyer Harvey Specter from the TV show Suits.
- Harvey's initial test involved using a GPT-3 prompt to generate answers to 100 landlord-tenant legal questions from Reddit; 86 out of 100 answers were deemed send-ready by attorneys, validating the product's potential.
- The company secured early funding from the OpenAI Startup Fund, grew rapidly from $0 revenue in 2022 to over $300 million ARR by May 2026, and reached an $11 billion valuation with clients including major law firms and corporations.
- Harvey's product, developed with input from attorneys from top law firms, performs contract analysis, document review, due diligence, and litigation support with high accuracy and features a Memory function that retains context from previous work.
- In a notable marketing move, Harvey hired actor Gabriel Macht, who played Harvey Specter, to launch its Instagram page, blending the fictional inspiration with real-world technology in the legal industry.
EU Council forces Chat Control via fast-track
6 hours ago
- The EU Council is pushing to reactivate the expired voluntary chat monitoring regulation via a fast-track procedure before the summer break.
- Chat Control 1.0 allowed providers to scan encrypted messages for child abuse content, but expired in April; the Council now proposes a nearly identical new regulation.
- Critics view this as a tactic to circumvent democratic oversight, aiming to rush approval when many Parliament members are absent.
- The new regulation seeks to prevent legal gaps and national fragmentation while maintaining privacy safeguards like data deletion within 12 months if no suspicion is confirmed.
- The proposal is in its 2nd reading, requiring an absolute majority in Parliament to stop or amend, a high hurdle given the timing.
The Engineer in the Half-Space
5 hours ago
- Interview feedback was mixed, but after personally interviewing Mitch, the decision was to hire him.
- Mitch's initial contributions involved onboarding, documenting processes, fixing runbooks, and mapping workflows, which improved team efficiency.
- He excels as a 'gap reader,' identifying missing information, clarifying ambiguities between teams, and preventing issues before they escalate.
- Mitch focuses on reducing coordination costs by addressing systemic problems, such as unclear ownership and fragmented context, rather than seeking visible recognition.
- His work often appears invisible, preventing incidents and streamlining processes, but performance systems may undervalue such contributions.
- Over time, Mitch's role can become a dependency risk if the company relies too heavily on his knowledge without formalizing it.
Introduction to Compilers and Language Design
5 hours ago
- The textbook is a free online resource for learning compiler construction, also available for purchase in paperback and hardcover.
- Authored by Prof. Douglas Thain, it serves as a one-semester introduction for undergraduates with C programming, data structures, and computer architecture experience.
- It guides readers to build a compiler that translates a C-like language into X86 or ARM assembly language.
- The PDFs are freely available for personal and academic use, with commercial distribution prohibited; users are encouraged to link to the official site for updates.
- Chapters cover topics from scanning and parsing to code generation and optimization, with additional resources on GitHub and an errata reporting system.
Trust your compiler: Modern C++
4 days ago
- Modern C++ compilers (like Clang and GCC) can produce optimal code from naive implementations, making many old performance tricks obsolete.
- Fast inverse square root, once a clever optimization for old CPUs, is now comparable to naive implementations thanks to compiler and hardware advances.
- Standard library features like <bit> for popcount, ranges, and algorithms offer clear, portable code that often matches or beats hand-optimized versions.
- Error handling with std::expected outperforms exceptions for expected failures, while exceptions remain suitable for truly exceptional cases.
- Data layout (e.g., using std::variant over virtual pointers) and contiguous storage significantly impact performance more than dispatch mechanisms alone.
- Perfect forwarding preserves caller intent and can avoid unnecessary copies, outperforming const& in forwarding scenarios.
- Compiler optimizations reward clear intent: writing obvious code often leads to better performance through inlining, vectorization, and target-specific lowering.
The Electricity: Why Google may be trying to make intelligence disappear
13 hours ago
- Google's foundational AI paper 'Attention Is All You Need' introduced the transformer architecture that underpins modern AI models like ChatGPT.
- Despite nearly being disrupted by its own technology, Google continues to openly share AI research and models, such as Gemma, rather than locking them down.
- Google's strategy is not to win the 'smartest model' race but to integrate AI as ubiquitous infrastructure, like electricity, across its products and platforms.
- By embedding AI (e.g., Gemini Nano) on-device in Android, Google shifts compute costs to users' devices, reducing its own operational expenses.
- Google dominates key digital access points: Search, Android, Chrome, and Workspace, ensuring AI touches users through existing Google-controlled channels.
- Google is investing in physical infrastructure, like power companies and grid projects, to support its data centers and long-term AI energy needs.
- A potential risk to Google's strategy is the rising cost of memory due to AI demand, which could increase phone prices and affect its on-device AI plans.
- The goal is for AI to become invisible—users won't recall specific models, as AI seamlessly integrates into daily tools and environments.
Nuclear Startups Hit a Big Milestone. Why It Matters–and Why It Doesn't
10 hours ago
- Three startups in a DOE pilot program have achieved criticality, marking a milestone for the 'nuclear renaissance' aimed at next-gen atomic energy.
- The program, spurred by a Trump executive order with a July 4, 2026 deadline, cuts regulations to accelerate development, though experts note reactors are still in testing phases, not commercial.
- Small reactor designs benefit from regulatory easing and national lab support, but face hurdles like licensing, fuel supply chains, and high costs before commercialization.
New Android security setting spots bad networks and fake cell towers
10 hours ago
- ZDNET's recommendations are based on testing, research, and independent sources, with no influence from advertisers.
- Android 17's 'Network notifications' feature alerts users when connecting to unencrypted networks or those recording device/SIM IDs to prevent data breaches.
- Enabling this feature involves turning on a slider in Settings under 'Network & internet' > 'Mobile network security'.
- The feature also includes 'Network generation' to block connections to insecure 2G networks vulnerable to spoofing attacks.
Europe's air conditioning culture wars heat up
6 hours ago
- Record-breaking heatwave hits Europe with temperatures reaching 41.7°C (107°F) in Germany, highlighting the continent's low air conditioning adoption (only 6% of German homes have fixed AC).
- Heat-related deaths remain high in Europe (over 200,000 in the last four years according to WHO), contrasting with the US where 90% of homes use AC and heat mortality is lower.
- Political debates intensify as far-right parties like Germany's AfD and France's National Rally push for more air conditioning, accusing mainstream parties of prioritizing climate ideology over public health.
- Global cooling demand is expected to surge, with AC ownership in Southeast Asia projected to increase ninefold by 2040, raising concerns about energy use and urban heat island effects.
- Adoption varies across Europe: Italy and Spain have over 50% AC penetration, France 24% (with regional disparities), while Germany remains low due to factors like high renting rates and cultural apathy.
- Experts advocate for targeted AC use in vulnerable settings (hospitals, care homes) while promoting long-term solutions like green infrastructure, shade, and cooling centers to protect all citizens.

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Hasty Briefsbeta

C programmers commit fresh crimes against readability

Autonomous flying umbrella follows and shields users from rain and sunlight

Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland

Why DMARC's new "NP" tag can fail with DNSSEC

Run Windows 2000 on a DEC Alpha with a new es40 fork

Spain's cadastre API is SOAP from 2003, so I built a JSON wrapper (+MCP)

Phosh 0.56.0

U.S. Policies Unintentionally Accelerated China's Open AI Ecosystems

Show HN: A live badge that proves your SaaS runs on EU infrastructure

The Lion, The Witch, and the audacity of recruiters

Cannabis Users Face Substantially Higher Risk of Heart Attack (2025)

Harvey AI started with a Reddit thread. Now it's worth $11B

EU Council forces Chat Control via fast-track

The Engineer in the Half-Space

Introduction to Compilers and Language Design

Trust your compiler: Modern C++

The Electricity: Why Google may be trying to make intelligence disappear

Nuclear Startups Hit a Big Milestone. Why It Matters–and Why It Doesn't

New Android security setting spots bad networks and fake cell towers

Europe's air conditioning culture wars heat up