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Your 'App' Could Have Been a Webpage (so I fixed it for you)
2 days ago
- The author is frustrated by being forced to install the 'Travelbound' app for a school trip itinerary, arguing it should be a webpage instead.
- He reverse-engineers the Android app by intercepting traffic, finding it fetches JSON data from a simple URL using username and password.
- He creates a Ruby script to pull the JSON and build a better HTML page, removing ads and tracking, and hosts it with the same password.
- The author criticizes 'app culture' for being unnecessary, more expensive, and offering fewer features and accessibility than webpages.
- Comments and replies show widespread support for avoiding apps, citing privacy, storage, battery life, and accessibility concerns.
Show HN: Make images render brighter than white by abusing Rec.2100 PQ profiles
a day ago
- SDR white (about 200 nits) is not a display's maximum brightness; HDR-capable panels can output 1,000–1,600 nits, leaving headroom.
- A Rec.2100 PQ color profile embedded in an 8-bit JPEG tricks color-managed renderers into displaying bright values in this headroom, making images glow brighter than the interface.
- Platforms like LinkedIn preserve ICC profiles through re-encoding, allowing the technique to work, though it fails with screenshots, re-saving, or compression.
- Superwhite properly processes images per pixel: decoding sRGB to linear light, converting primaries, masking white regions, boosting brightness, and encoding with PQ.
- The technique is a novelty with limited lifespan, as platforms may clamp brightness like they did for HDR video; subtle use is recommended for best effect.
Claude Code May–July 2026 weekly limits promotion
2 hours ago
- Weekly usage limits in Claude Code are increased by 50% from May 13, 2026 through July 19, 2026.
- Promotion applies automatically to Pro, Max, Team plans, and legacy seat-based Enterprise users; Free plans and consumption-based Enterprise seats are excluded.
- Increase applies to Claude Code usage across CLI, IDE extensions, desktop, and web; 5-hour usage limits remain unchanged.
- No action is required to participate; users can check updated limits via the CLI /usage command.
- After July 19, 2026, weekly usage limits return to standard levels with no changes to plan or billing.
Taliban Declares War on Smartphones
2 hours ago
- The Taliban's smartphone ban, effective June 16, prohibits government employees, military, police, and judges from using smartphones, with threats of device confiscation and punishment.
- Smartphones are vital in Afghanistan for remote healthcare, education coordination, family communication, and documenting abuses, forming a fragile support system now under threat.
- The ban has extended to universities and schools, disrupting student access to lessons, emergency family contact, and educational resources, particularly affecting girls and women barred from in-person schooling.
- Healthcare access is severely impacted, as smartphones enable remote consultations, photo sharing for diagnoses, and urgent coordination for maternal and newborn care in remote areas.
- The ban followed protests in Herat over hijab enforcement, and Taliban leaders frame smartphones as threats to Islamic values and future generations, though citizens use them for advocacy and accountability.
Why write code in 2026
2 days ago
- The role of software engineers is to build the 'software factory', including the infrastructure that enables agents to successfully prompt for changes and ship immediately.
- Proactive measures like prompts (skills, AGENTS.md, knowledge bases) and reactive protections through automated evaluation (tests, linting, type systems, evals) keep agents on track, allowing even simple models to produce good-enough changes.
- While AI-generated code is prevalent, writing code remains valuable for direct thinking in the execution environment, fostering attention, understanding, and ownership, rather than passively observing agents.
- Writing code helps experience system fragility and architectural principles, enabling cleanup, documentation, and debugging to improve the software factory and prevent sloppy code accumulation.
- Agents are compared to freshly onboarded interns, not compilers, as they work with partial or sloppy code and imprecise change descriptions, making human oversight crucial to avoid amplifying bad decisions.
- Hands-on coding allows humans to guide agents, delete unnecessary code, and explore better architectures, enhancing authorship and the ability to shape the software factory.
- Details matter in building a software factory, from architectural patterns to algorithms and performance; agents encourage evaluation, measurement, and early CI integration, improving software practices.
- Like in a car factory, occasionally dissecting the assembly line or delving into details (e.g., internal combustion engines or brake pads) is necessary to address weaknesses and connect minute details to the big picture without arbitrary boundaries.
LARP – Revenue infrastructure for serious founders
3 hours ago
- LARP enables founders to exchange $10,000 in revenue transactions without actual cash movement, creating balanced books.
- The system works by pairing founders, allowing them to agree on a revenue number and count each leg as revenue, simulating growth like $10k/month becoming $120k ARR.
- LARP mirrors structures in ledgers where capital and credits circulate among companies, with all figures being real and sourced from reported deals.
- Controllers and CFOs use it to reduce settlement friction, enabling revenue growth without cash position changes and quick quarter closures with perfectly reconciled entries.
- LARP facilitates mutual service agreements with genuine deliverables under ASC 606, but customers are responsible for compliance with accounting standards and laws.
- The service distinguishes itself from sham round-tripping by requiring real deliverables and avoids charging fees to maintain its principles, positioning itself as a joke about securities fraud.
Against Usefulness
3 hours ago
- A demonstration of Folk Computer in Brooklyn showed physical programming using paper and interactive tags, where programming becomes a whole-body, collaborative experience.
- Folk Computer is an open-source physical computing system developed by Omar Rizwan and Andrés Cuervo, evolving from research at Dynamicland and the lineage of Xerox PARC and CDG.
- The history of computing's paradigm shifts highlights the importance of 'useless' research, often funded by patrons, as seen in Xerox PARC, CDG (funded by SAP), and Dynamicland (a nonprofit).
- The author argues that independent thinkers, who focus on unfashionable questions and work openly with long time horizons, are essential for creating future paradigms, rather than just optimizing existing ones.
- A 'Request for Independent Thinkers' is proposed to identify and support individuals who are obsessed with deep, unconventional questions, build openly, and resist hype, with offers of various forms of support.
- The ACM's current focus on convergent topics like agents contrasts with the need for diverse, strange questions to drive the next computing paradigm, as embodied by Folk Computer's innovative approach.
Paris is harnessing the Seine to replace air-con
8 hours ago
- Paris developed a district cooling network using chilled water distributed through underground pipes to buildings, reducing reliance on individual AC units.
- The system uses cold Seine river water to absorb heat from building water via heat exchangers, returning warmer water to the river with minimal ecological impact.
- Initiated in the 1990s by Engie, the network is now operated by Fraîcheur de Paris, with plans to triple its size by 2042 to cover more buildings across the city.
- District cooling improves energy efficiency and reduces urban heat island effects compared to traditional air conditioning, though it requires high initial investment.
- Similar systems exist in cities like Stockholm and Toronto, but replication depends on factors like cooling demand density, infrastructure, geography, and costs.
Rebuilding My Homelab with Compose, Ruby, IPv6, and No Kubernetes
a day ago
- The author's homelab had issues with a machine called 'nibbler' that was unreliable and likely defective, purchased as refurbished.
- Kubernetes was abandoned due to complexity and maintenance difficulties; the author reverted to using Docker Compose as a simpler solution.
- Current homelab setup includes: 'lrrr' (Proxmox host), 'morbo' (TrueNAS SCALE for storage), 'nibbler' (revamped as the main non-critical service machine), and an external VM 'ord-router' for public ingress.
- The deployment system uses Docker Compose stacks enhanced with Ruby libraries, Rake, and YAML for features like cron jobs, secrets management, ingress via Caddy, IPv6 networking, and cross-stack dependencies.
- Networking relies on deterministic IPv6 addressing with ULAs for isolation and security, and Caddy handles ingress with optional public exposure and authentication.
- Tailscale is used for secure backhaul traffic between hosts and for external access, though it causes battery drain on mobile devices.
- The architecture emphasizes failure domain separation: critical services on 'lrrr' and non-critical on 'nibbler' to minimize impact of failures.
- Full control over the system allows custom implementations (e.g., static sites via ingress, IPv6 setup) without relying on outdated external solutions.
- The author acknowledges that this setup may not suit everyone and validates alternatives like Kubernetes or other Docker Compose managers.
Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, has died
a day ago
- Martha Lillard, the last U.S. polio patient using an iron lung, died at age 78 in Oklahoma on June 26.
- She contracted polio at age 5 and relied on an iron lung for breathing, defying early predictions of a short lifespan.
- Her death is attributed to long-haul COVID-19, with causes listed as chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome.
- Despite paralysis from the neck down, she lived independently, attended school via intercom, traveled, and even drove.
- Lillard married her long-term online partner in February after over 20 years of communication, describing them as soulmates.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, she contracted the virus twice, worsening her lung capacity and confining her to home.
- She was artistic, writing poems and songs, volunteering with animal rescue, and composing her own obituary.
- Polio was eliminated in the U.S. in 1979 due to vaccines, but Lillard remained dependent on increasingly rare iron lungs.
A Visual Catalog of Retro Macintosh Software
20 hours ago
- Icons are used to explore retro apps.
- Hover over icons to see file name, country of origin, and media name.
- Go to the about page for links to original media on Macintosh Garden.
Britain's biggest community solar farm forced to shut over grid overload fears
4 hours ago
- Britain's largest community solar project in north Devon was forced to shut down during its first summer to prevent overloading the local grid with renewable energy.
- The shutdown, ordered by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) due to concerns of thermal overload from rooftop solar, will cost the cooperative's nearly 10,000 members about £2m in lost revenue.
- The shutdown was unexpected and enforced with no warning, occurring just before a heatwave, and will substantially impact the scheme's finances and near-term member payments.
- The problem arises from managing voltage surges from rooftop solar during sunny summer days; necessary equipment upgrades, delayed since 2023, are now due to be completed in September 2024.
- The project does not expect compensation for the lost revenue; it was funded by £20m from cooperative members and a £22m bank loan.
- Originally launched through Ripple Energy, which aimed to create a blueprint for consumer-owned solar parks, the project faced delays and Ripple's bankruptcy before being revived under a volunteer board.
- National Grid confirmed curtailing generation to keep the system secure after Neso's directive and is working with Neso on solutions for temporary constraints.
Welcome to the Era of the Forever Layoff
3 hours ago
- Microsoft and other tech companies like Amazon, Meta, and Cisco are conducting layoffs despite profitability, often linked to AI investment shifts and cost-cutting.
- Layoffs are becoming a regular feature in tech, driven by AI advancement, competitive pressures, and 'continuous tuning' rather than just recession concerns.
- Companies face uncertainty in AI implementation, with few achieving significant workforce reduction through AI; instead, they seek productivity gains without high spending.
- AI talent is scarce and expensive, prompting companies to upskill existing employees rather than replace them entirely with new hires.
- Recurring layoffs can be costly, damaging organizational knowledge, morale, and efficiency, while companies may need more contextual experts as AI evolves.
Agent Harness Engineering
6 hours ago
- Agent harness engineering focuses on the scaffolding built around AI models to create effective coding agents.
- A harness includes system prompts, tools, infrastructure, orchestration logic, hooks, and observability components.
- Harness engineering treats agent mistakes as signals to improve the system, adding constraints to prevent recurrence.
- Key harness components include filesystem and Git for state, bash and code execution as general-purpose tools, and sandboxes for safe execution.
- Memory and search mechanisms enable continual learning, while context management techniques combat context rot.
- Long-horizon execution is supported through loops like Ralph Loops, planning, verification, and planner/generator/evaluator splits.
- Hooks enforce rules and provide feedback, while AGENTS.md serves as a concise rulebook injected into prompts.
- Harnesses evolve with models; as models improve, harness components shift to address new capabilities and failure modes.
- The model-harness training loop shows that models become co-trained with specific harnesses, affecting performance.
- Harness-as-a-Service frameworks simplify agent development by providing pre-built runtime components for customization.
- Industry trends show convergence in harness patterns across top coding agents, indicating shared best practices.
- Future directions include multi-agent orchestration, self-improving harnesses, and dynamic tool assembly for tasks.
An orbiting disco ball gave Einstein's theory its most precise test yet
3 hours ago
- The Earth's rotation drags spacetime around it, a phenomenon known as frame dragging or the Lense-Thirring effect.
- Measuring Earth's frame dragging is challenging due to its small mass and slow rotation compared to black holes.
- A team led by Ignazio Ciufolini achieved the most accurate measurement to date, reducing uncertainty to 0.2%.
- They used the LARES-2 satellite, a dense sphere covered with retroreflectors, with the lowest area-to-mass ratio in its orbit.
- This design minimized non-gravitational forces, enabling precise measurements of the Lense-Thirring effect.
How Ukraine Built a War Fighting State
3 hours ago
- Ukraine has shifted war momentum despite Russia's larger population and economy through improved productivity, effective resource allocation, and leveraging Western support.
- Military reforms included restructuring brigades into corps, allowing effective commanders to lead more troops, and creating a marketplace ('Brave') for units to purchase drones based on combat performance.
- Ukraine excelled in drone warfare, producing diverse models like FPVs, octocopter bombers, interceptors, and mid-strike drones, with innovations driven by competition and specialized manufacturing.
- Starlink satellite communications became crucial for drone control, coordination, and logistics, with Ukraine gaining an advantage by blocking Russian access in early 2026.
- Tactics evolved to drone-centric defense, replacing trenches with dispersed hiding spots, while unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and sea drones (USVs) enhanced logistics and naval warfare.
- Ukraine's defense industry growth and dual-use production have economic benefits, but ultimate victory may depend on Russian collapse, as Ukraine currently lacks capacity for large-scale offensive operations.
Website is served from a 200KB binary
3 hours ago
- AOT systems language that compiles directly to x86-64 with a philosophy of treating world failures as data and bugs as fatal errors.
- Original garbage collector had critical flaws: it moved live objects on macOS/Windows, reclaimed almost no memory, and caused server crashes after 828 requests; rewriting it enabled stable handling of 20,000 requests.
- Many bugs existed unnoticed due to structural issues like untestable heap size, which was fixed by making heap size a compile-time knob, revealing multiple backend and memory management errors.
- Language design prioritized immediate error detection, catching mistakes quickly (e.g., miscompilations, uninitialized stack reads) and enshrining the thesis that 'bugs are fatal' and 'world failures are data'.
- Claude (the AI) contributed significantly to compiler improvements, including garbage collector rewrite, first-class op references, and HTTP stack, highlighting effectiveness in fixing implementation flaws over philosophy changes.
Abject Praise
5 days ago
- Apple's Safari/WebKit engine lags behind competitors like Chrome and Firefox in Web Platform Tests (WPT) pass rates, feature implementation, and improvement speed, despite Apple's massive revenue from web-related deals.
- Safari's slow release cycle and underfunding contribute to persistent bugs, fewer features, and lower conformance, forcing web developers to work around limitations and driving users toward Apple's App Store for a 30% cut.
- Apple's anti-competitive practices, including blocking more capable browsers on iOS, socialize costs across the ecosystem, extract profits, and hinder web progress, while marketing efforts distract from these issues.
- Blink/Chromium's development process emphasizes developer feedback, quality, and public iteration (e.g., via Origin Trials), aiming for interoperability and solving real problems, despite criticism and leading in features.
- The gap between Safari and competitors is evident in areas like CSS, HTML, networking, and new features (e.g., Temporal API), with WebKit having thousands of unique test failures and slower improvement rates.
- Apple's behavior mirrors past monopolistic tactics (e.g., Microsoft's IE), prioritizing control and profit over investment, which harms users, developers, and overall web innovation.
Theo de Raadt: "You've been smoking something mind altering" (2007)
4 hours ago
- Virtualization adds another kernel layer with potential new bugs.
- It relies on x86 architecture that has poor page protection.
- Claims that virtualization provides security benefits are misguided.
- Software engineers struggle with secure OS and application development.
- Expecting flawless virtualization layers is unrealistic.
Automation Without Understanding
3 hours ago
- AI systems are now capable of producing genuine research-level mathematics.
- The U.S. is weakening the human pipeline that can understand and verify such AI-generated mathematics.
- Mathematical capacity—the ability to verify, interpret, and challenge reasoning—is a strategic infrastructure built over generations.
- The essay argues this combination constitutes a strategic error, akin to neglecting semiconductor capability.
- It cites the May 2026 AI disproof of an Erdős conjecture on the planar unit distance problem as an example.
- Proposes that AI systems expose decision-critical claims in formal, machine-checkable form for auditability.

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Hasty Briefsbeta

Your 'App' Could Have Been a Webpage (so I fixed it for you)

Show HN: Make images render brighter than white by abusing Rec.2100 PQ profiles

Claude Code May–July 2026 weekly limits promotion

Taliban Declares War on Smartphones

Why write code in 2026

LARP – Revenue infrastructure for serious founders

Against Usefulness

Paris is harnessing the Seine to replace air-con

Rebuilding My Homelab with Compose, Ruby, IPv6, and No Kubernetes

Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, has died

A Visual Catalog of Retro Macintosh Software

Britain's biggest community solar farm forced to shut over grid overload fears

Welcome to the Era of the Forever Layoff

Agent Harness Engineering

An orbiting disco ball gave Einstein's theory its most precise test yet

How Ukraine Built a War Fighting State

Website is served from a 200KB binary

Abject Praise

Theo de Raadt: "You've been smoking something mind altering" (2007)

Automation Without Understanding