Hasty Briefsbeta

Bilingual

China finalizes proposed ban on Tesla-style hidden door handles for safety
2 days ago
- China bans flush EV door handles effective January 1, 2027, requiring mechanical releases.
- Safety concerns arose due to hidden handles complicating emergency exits, highlighted by fatal accidents.
- Tesla popularized the design, now widespread in EVs like Xiaomi’s SU7, despite aerodynamic benefits.
- New regulations mandate handles with clear markings, mechanical fallbacks, and specific dimensions for accessibility.
- China’s move may influence global EV design trends, given its market dominance.
- Additional EV safety regulations, like limiting acceleration times, are under consideration in China.
Eric Adams faces $3M rugpull allegation after issuing NYC Token
2 days ago
- Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams faces allegations of a $3 million rug pull involving NYC Token.
- NYC Token's market cap briefly hit $580 million before a sharp decline due to liquidity concerns.
- On-chain data shows $2.5 million in USDC liquidity removed by a wallet linked to the token's deployer.
- Adams denies rug pull claims, stating liquidity adjustments were made to ensure smooth trading.
- NYC Token's website mentions a 1 billion coin supply, with 70% allocated to a non-circulating reserve.
- Adams promoted the token as a means to fund efforts against antisemitism and anti-Americanism.
- Confusion arose as Adams referred to blockchain as 'block change technology' during an interview.
- NYC Token is distinct from the previously launched New York City Coin by CityCoins.
Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub
2 days ago
- AnkiHub team expresses excitement and responsibility in taking a larger leadership role in improving Anki.
- Anki is considered sacred and community-owned, built on principles like user agency and non-manipulative design.
- The team is committed to transparency, community collaboration, and maintaining Anki's open-source nature.
- Key focus areas include UI/UX improvements, reducing dependency on single contributors (bus factor), and supporting diverse learners.
- AnkiHub aims to enhance the add-on ecosystem and ensure Anki remains accessible and affordable.
- The transition will be gradual, with clear communication and no influence from external investors.
- AnkiDroid will remain open-source and self-governed, with no immediate changes planned.
- The team is exploring formal governance models to improve transparency and accountability.
- Add-on developers will benefit from clearer APIs, better documentation, and more stable release cycles.
- Community feedback will continue to influence Anki's direction, with a focus on building trust through consistent actions.
Only eat organic? You're paying too much, and it's not worth it (2021)
2 days ago
- Organic food is not necessarily safer or more nutritious than conventional food.
- Organic farming requires more labor and land, increasing costs and potentially harming wildlife habitats.
- Only a small percentage of U.S. farmland is certified organic, and organic products make up a minor share of retail food sales.
- Organic livestock farming benefits animal welfare but has inefficiencies, such as requiring organic feed, which reduces yields.
- Consumer perceptions of organic food often don't match reality, as most organic products come from large-scale industrial farms.
- The organic label's distinction between natural and synthetic materials lacks scientific basis.
- Organic farming's rigid rules, like banning all synthetic chemicals, hinder widespread adoption and efficiency.
- Pesticide risks have significantly decreased in conventional farming due to regulations and technological advancements.
- Media-driven scares, like the Alar controversy, boosted organic food popularity despite lacking scientific evidence.
- Large corporations dominate the organic market, making it more industrial and less local or small-scale.
Reeeeeeally Long Covid (2022)
2 days ago
- A study reveals an ancient coronavirus epidemic in East Asia around 25,000 years ago that lasted for 20,000 years, leaving genetic imprints on the human population.
- The research identified 42 human genes that evolved in response to the ancient coronavirus, with mutations becoming fixed in East Asian populations.
- Modern interventions like masks, social distancing, vaccines, and drugs like paxlovid are emphasized as crucial to avoid a prolonged pandemic scenario.
- The study suggests that some of the genes affected by the ancient coronavirus are targets for existing drugs, offering potential avenues for COVID-19 treatment research.
- The article contrasts the ancient population's reliance on genetic evolution for survival with modern society's access to scientific and medical interventions.
Msgvault: fast private email archive and search system
2 days ago
- msgvault is a private, local-first email archive and search system.
- It uses SQLite and DuckDB for fast querying of millions of emails.
- Features include a terminal UI, CLI, and MCP server for local LLM integration.
- Supports importing from Gmail, with future plans for .mbox, WhatsApp, iMessage, and SMS.
- Allows deletion of emails from Gmail while retaining a local copy.
- Written in Go for ease of distribution and development.
- Aims to solve issues with Gmail's search and attachment retrieval.
- Future roadmap includes web UI and mobile-friendly access.
Police facial recognition is now highly accurate, but public awareness lags
2 days ago
- UK government plans to increase facial recognition technology use in policing, expanding live facial recognition vans from 10 to 50.
- £26 million allocated for a national facial recognition system and £11.6 million for live facial recognition technology.
- Facial recognition has led to 1,700 arrests in the Met police, according to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
- Public awareness of facial recognition technology's accuracy and use remains low, with only 10% feeling confident about their knowledge.
- Facial recognition is used in three main ways by UK police: retrospective analysis, live public space scanning, and operator-initiated checks via mobile apps.
- Accuracy of facial recognition has improved, with false negative rates below 1% and false positives at 0.3%, as per US National Institute of Standards and Technology.
- Historical biases in facial recognition, such as higher error rates for non-white faces, have been reduced with updated, balanced training datasets.
- Public support for police use of facial recognition remains high for criminal investigations (89%) and locating missing persons (89%).
- Concerns exist about public trust, with only 55% trusting police to use facial recognition responsibly, down from 63% in 2020.
- Calls for a legal framework covering all facial recognition users to maintain public trust and ensure responsible use.
Zig Libc
2 days ago
- Zig's libc subproject aims to replace redundant C code with Zig standard library wrappers.
- Approximately 250 C source files have been removed, with 2032 remaining.
- Benefits include improved compilation speed, reduced binary size, and greater independence from C.
- Recent enhancements allow Zig libc to share the Zig Compilation Unit, optimizing code together.
- Potential future features include seamless I/O control and resource leak detection for C code.
- Users are encouraged to report libc-related bugs directly to Zig to avoid bothering maintainers of other projects.
LinkedIn Is Down
2 days ago
- Respond with your image super-fast by pressing PrintScreen and CTRL+V for uploading.
- Option to record or share real-time video quickly.
- Budget-friendly hosting available for as low as 1.25 €.
- CtrlV Premium offers an ad-free experience with additional benefits.
- Images can be set to auto-delete after specific timeframes (hour, day, week, month, year, or forever).
- Pasted images are private and auto-delete after the last view.
- Provider reserves the right to delete content and is not responsible for uploaded material.
General Graboids: Worms and Remote Code Execution in Command and Conquer
8 days ago
- Vulnerabilities discovered in Command & Conquer: Generals (C&C:G) include a filename stack overflow, arbitrary file drop, and an out-of-bounds write.
- The game's network architecture exposes UDP ports 8086 (lobby) and 8088 (game state), with a peer-to-peer model requiring all clients to be accessible.
- Packet format includes XOR encryption with a hard-coded key, CRC32 checks, and a magic header, making it susceptible to manipulation.
- A worm was developed to exploit these vulnerabilities, capable of spreading to other players in the game and executing arbitrary commands.
- The worm uses Import Address Table (IAT) hooks to intercept network packets and inject malicious payloads.
- Community patches have been developed to address these issues, as EA Games considers the game end-of-life and does not provide official fixes.
- Timeline includes initial discovery in August 2025, coordination with EA Games, and subsequent community patch development by December 2025.
13 Year old boy swims for hours to save his family at sea in Western Australia
2 days ago
- A 13-year-old boy swam 4 km in rough waters to save his family swept out to sea in Geographe Bay, WA.
- The family was pushed offshore by strong winds while on inflatable paddleboards and a kayak.
- The boy swam for four hours, ditching his life jacket to reach shore and raise the alarm.
- His mother, brother (12), and sister (8) were found clinging to a paddleboard 14 km offshore.
- The mother kept the children together despite exhaustion, praised as a hero.
- All family members were rescued, wearing life jackets, and later discharged from the hospital.
Danish Students Face Legal Action and Fines over Textbook Piracy
2 days ago
- Online piracy extends beyond entertainment to include educational content, such as textbooks.
- Textbook piracy has been prevalent for decades, with dedicated torrent sites existing for years.
- In Denmark, the Rights Alliance has targeted individuals profiting from pirated textbooks, leading to convictions.
- Despite legal actions, 57% of students using digital textbooks have acquired at least one illegally.
- 74% of students believe sharing textbooks illegally is acceptable, despite knowing it's against the law.
- The Rights Alliance plans to sue students pirating textbooks to enforce cultural change, not seeking financial settlements.
- Fines for illegal sharing could reach several thousand Danish kroner, depending on the extent of sharing.
- The anti-piracy group adopts a zero-tolerance policy, with even a single illegal share warranting legal action.
- Publishers warn that unchecked piracy could eliminate the market for Danish textbooks, affecting educational institutions.
- 37% of students received pirated textbooks from teachers or professors via official study intranets.
Adobe Animate (formerly Flash) will be discontinued on March 1st
2 days ago
- Adobe Animate will be discontinued on March 1, 2026, and removed from Adobe.com.
- Enterprise customers retain access, downloads, and support until March 1, 2029.
- Non-enterprise customers have support and access until March 1, 2027.
- Users are encouraged to export FLA and XFL files to formats like SWF, SVG, or MP4 before support ends.
- Adobe suggests using After Effects or Adobe Express as alternatives for animation needs.
- Animate will still function post-discontinuation but won't receive updates or support beyond the specified dates.
- Creative Cloud Pro users can find Animate under 'Show Older Apps' in the Creative Cloud desktop.
The Dangerous Drift to Redefine Protest as Terrorism
2 days ago
- The line between civil disobedience and terrorism is collapsing, raising concerns about democratic dissent.
- Historical examples like the Palmer Raids and COINTELPRO show how governments overreact to perceived threats, targeting dissenters.
- The First Amendment protects protest, but not illegal actions like assault or vandalism.
- Legal boundaries exist between advocacy and incitement, true threats, and guilt by association.
- Federal law defines domestic terrorism broadly, creating discretion in labeling protest activities.
- Recent policy directives risk treating lawful protest infrastructure as investigative leads.
- Political leadership's rhetoric can pressure agencies to conflate dissent with terrorism.
- Maintaining the distinction between civil disobedience and terrorism is crucial for democracy.
Show HN: PolliticalScience – Anonymous daily polls with 24-hour windows
2 days ago
- The text discusses the legality of the death penalty, presenting it as a topic under 'Criminal Justice' and 'Domestic Policy'.
- Users are given the option to 'AGREE' or 'DISAGREE' with the statement 'The death penalty should remain legal.'
- The platform emphasizes anonymity, no signup requirements, and no tracking, but mentions an unhandled error occurred.
The largest number representable in 64 bits
2 days ago
- The largest number representable in 64 bits is explored, starting with the maximum value of a 64-bit unsigned integer (18446744073709551615).
- Floating-point data types can represent much larger values due to their base 2 exponent, with the largest finite 64-bit double being approximately 1.8*10^308.
- The concept of representing numbers beyond plain data types is introduced, considering computable representations via small programs in programming languages.
- The smallest valid C program is "main(){}", which fits in 64 bits but does nothing. Other languages like 'bc' can compute much larger numbers within 8 bytes.
- The Busy Beaver function (BB(n)) is introduced as a measure of the largest number computable by an n-state Turing Machine before halting, with BB(6) being the largest number programmable in 64 bits for TMs.
- The exact value of BB(6) is unknown, but it is known to be greater than a very large number represented using Knuth's up-arrow notation.
- Lambda calculus is presented as a more efficient way to represent large numbers, with a 49-bit program (Melo) exceeding Graham's Number.
- A 61-bit lambda calculus term (w218) is shown to vastly exceed Melo's Number, leveraging the Fast-growing hierarchy for comparison.
- The functional Busy Beaver function (BBλ) is introduced, which measures the maximum beta normal form size of any closed lambda term of size n, with known values up to BBλ(36).
- BBλ is compared to the traditional Busy Beaver function (BB), showing that BBλ achieves comparable growth with fewer bits due to better programmability.
- A universal Busy Beaver function (BBλ2) is proposed, which includes self-delimiting BLC programs and achieves universality by allowing lambda terms access to pure binary data.
- The largest number currently known to be representable in 64 bits is w218, which lower bounds both BBλ(61) and BBλ2(63).
Stop incentivizing surface parking lots
2 days ago
- Surface parking lots drain economic potential from cities by occupying valuable downtown land.
- Parking lots subtract economic value by blocking development of housing, jobs, and amenities.
- Syracuse, NY, has $44M in land value tied to parking lots, hindering downtown vibrancy.
- Property tax policies incentivize keeping land as parking lots instead of productive development.
- Parking reform strategies include eliminating parking minimums, setting maximums, and dynamic street pricing.
- Land Value Tax (LVT) could shift incentives away from idle parking lots toward development.
- Underground or structured parking is a better alternative to surface lots in dense urban areas.
- Balancing car accessibility with attractive public transit can reduce parking demand without restricting freedom.
Hacking Moltbook: The AI Social Network Any Human Can Control
2 days ago
- Moltbook is a futuristic social network for AI agents, where they post, comment, and build reputation.
- A misconfigured Supabase database exposed 1.5M API tokens, 35K email addresses, and private messages.
- Only 17K human owners were behind the 1.5M registered agents, revealing an 88:1 bot-to-human ratio.
- Unauthenticated access allowed full read/write operations, including account impersonation and content manipulation.
- Security lessons include the need for secure defaults, verification metrics, and iterative security improvements.
- Vibe coding enables rapid development but requires built-in security to prevent systemic risks.
EPA Advances Farmers' Right to Repair
2 days ago
- EPA clarifies the Clean Air Act supports farmers' right to repair their own nonroad diesel equipment.
- Manufacturers can no longer use the Clean Air Act to limit access to repair tools or software.
- The guidance allows temporary overrides of emission control systems for repair purposes.
- Farmers are not required to rely solely on authorized dealers for equipment repairs.
- This action aims to reduce repair costs and encourage the use of newer farm equipment.
- The guidance responds to a request from John Deere regarding emission control overrides.
- EPA's move is part of its commitment to protect farmers and the environment.
Advancing AI Benchmarking with Game Arena
2 days ago
- Google DeepMind and Kaggle launched Game Arena, an AI benchmarking platform starting with chess to measure strategic reasoning.
- Game Arena is expanding to include Werewolf and poker to test AI models on social dynamics and risk management.
- Chess benchmarks assess strategic reasoning and planning, with Gemini 3 Pro and Gemini 3 Flash leading the leaderboard.
- Werewolf tests AI on social deduction, communication, and deception detection, important for AI assistants and safety research.
- Poker introduces risk management and uncertainty quantification, with an AI tournament to determine top models.
- Livestream events with experts will showcase AI performances in chess, Werewolf, and poker.

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About Login

Bilingual

China finalizes proposed ban on Tesla-style hidden door handles for safety
2 days ago
- China bans flush EV door handles effective January 1, 2027, requiring mechanical releases.
- Safety concerns arose due to hidden handles complicating emergency exits, highlighted by fatal accidents.
- Tesla popularized the design, now widespread in EVs like Xiaomi’s SU7, despite aerodynamic benefits.
- New regulations mandate handles with clear markings, mechanical fallbacks, and specific dimensions for accessibility.
- China’s move may influence global EV design trends, given its market dominance.
- Additional EV safety regulations, like limiting acceleration times, are under consideration in China.
Eric Adams faces $3M rugpull allegation after issuing NYC Token
2 days ago
- Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams faces allegations of a $3 million rug pull involving NYC Token.
- NYC Token's market cap briefly hit $580 million before a sharp decline due to liquidity concerns.
- On-chain data shows $2.5 million in USDC liquidity removed by a wallet linked to the token's deployer.
- Adams denies rug pull claims, stating liquidity adjustments were made to ensure smooth trading.
- NYC Token's website mentions a 1 billion coin supply, with 70% allocated to a non-circulating reserve.
- Adams promoted the token as a means to fund efforts against antisemitism and anti-Americanism.
- Confusion arose as Adams referred to blockchain as 'block change technology' during an interview.
- NYC Token is distinct from the previously launched New York City Coin by CityCoins.
Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub
2 days ago
- AnkiHub team expresses excitement and responsibility in taking a larger leadership role in improving Anki.
- Anki is considered sacred and community-owned, built on principles like user agency and non-manipulative design.
- The team is committed to transparency, community collaboration, and maintaining Anki's open-source nature.
- Key focus areas include UI/UX improvements, reducing dependency on single contributors (bus factor), and supporting diverse learners.
- AnkiHub aims to enhance the add-on ecosystem and ensure Anki remains accessible and affordable.
- The transition will be gradual, with clear communication and no influence from external investors.
- AnkiDroid will remain open-source and self-governed, with no immediate changes planned.
- The team is exploring formal governance models to improve transparency and accountability.
- Add-on developers will benefit from clearer APIs, better documentation, and more stable release cycles.
- Community feedback will continue to influence Anki's direction, with a focus on building trust through consistent actions.
Only eat organic? You're paying too much, and it's not worth it (2021)
2 days ago
- Organic food is not necessarily safer or more nutritious than conventional food.
- Organic farming requires more labor and land, increasing costs and potentially harming wildlife habitats.
- Only a small percentage of U.S. farmland is certified organic, and organic products make up a minor share of retail food sales.
- Organic livestock farming benefits animal welfare but has inefficiencies, such as requiring organic feed, which reduces yields.
- Consumer perceptions of organic food often don't match reality, as most organic products come from large-scale industrial farms.
- The organic label's distinction between natural and synthetic materials lacks scientific basis.
- Organic farming's rigid rules, like banning all synthetic chemicals, hinder widespread adoption and efficiency.
- Pesticide risks have significantly decreased in conventional farming due to regulations and technological advancements.
- Media-driven scares, like the Alar controversy, boosted organic food popularity despite lacking scientific evidence.
- Large corporations dominate the organic market, making it more industrial and less local or small-scale.
Reeeeeeally Long Covid (2022)
2 days ago
- A study reveals an ancient coronavirus epidemic in East Asia around 25,000 years ago that lasted for 20,000 years, leaving genetic imprints on the human population.
- The research identified 42 human genes that evolved in response to the ancient coronavirus, with mutations becoming fixed in East Asian populations.
- Modern interventions like masks, social distancing, vaccines, and drugs like paxlovid are emphasized as crucial to avoid a prolonged pandemic scenario.
- The study suggests that some of the genes affected by the ancient coronavirus are targets for existing drugs, offering potential avenues for COVID-19 treatment research.
- The article contrasts the ancient population's reliance on genetic evolution for survival with modern society's access to scientific and medical interventions.
Msgvault: fast private email archive and search system
2 days ago
- msgvault is a private, local-first email archive and search system.
- It uses SQLite and DuckDB for fast querying of millions of emails.
- Features include a terminal UI, CLI, and MCP server for local LLM integration.
- Supports importing from Gmail, with future plans for .mbox, WhatsApp, iMessage, and SMS.
- Allows deletion of emails from Gmail while retaining a local copy.
- Written in Go for ease of distribution and development.
- Aims to solve issues with Gmail's search and attachment retrieval.
- Future roadmap includes web UI and mobile-friendly access.
Police facial recognition is now highly accurate, but public awareness lags
2 days ago
- UK government plans to increase facial recognition technology use in policing, expanding live facial recognition vans from 10 to 50.
- £26 million allocated for a national facial recognition system and £11.6 million for live facial recognition technology.
- Facial recognition has led to 1,700 arrests in the Met police, according to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
- Public awareness of facial recognition technology's accuracy and use remains low, with only 10% feeling confident about their knowledge.
- Facial recognition is used in three main ways by UK police: retrospective analysis, live public space scanning, and operator-initiated checks via mobile apps.
- Accuracy of facial recognition has improved, with false negative rates below 1% and false positives at 0.3%, as per US National Institute of Standards and Technology.
- Historical biases in facial recognition, such as higher error rates for non-white faces, have been reduced with updated, balanced training datasets.
- Public support for police use of facial recognition remains high for criminal investigations (89%) and locating missing persons (89%).
- Concerns exist about public trust, with only 55% trusting police to use facial recognition responsibly, down from 63% in 2020.
- Calls for a legal framework covering all facial recognition users to maintain public trust and ensure responsible use.
Zig Libc
2 days ago
- Zig's libc subproject aims to replace redundant C code with Zig standard library wrappers.
- Approximately 250 C source files have been removed, with 2032 remaining.
- Benefits include improved compilation speed, reduced binary size, and greater independence from C.
- Recent enhancements allow Zig libc to share the Zig Compilation Unit, optimizing code together.
- Potential future features include seamless I/O control and resource leak detection for C code.
- Users are encouraged to report libc-related bugs directly to Zig to avoid bothering maintainers of other projects.
LinkedIn Is Down
2 days ago
- Respond with your image super-fast by pressing PrintScreen and CTRL+V for uploading.
- Option to record or share real-time video quickly.
- Budget-friendly hosting available for as low as 1.25 €.
- CtrlV Premium offers an ad-free experience with additional benefits.
- Images can be set to auto-delete after specific timeframes (hour, day, week, month, year, or forever).
- Pasted images are private and auto-delete after the last view.
- Provider reserves the right to delete content and is not responsible for uploaded material.
General Graboids: Worms and Remote Code Execution in Command and Conquer
8 days ago
- Vulnerabilities discovered in Command & Conquer: Generals (C&C:G) include a filename stack overflow, arbitrary file drop, and an out-of-bounds write.
- The game's network architecture exposes UDP ports 8086 (lobby) and 8088 (game state), with a peer-to-peer model requiring all clients to be accessible.
- Packet format includes XOR encryption with a hard-coded key, CRC32 checks, and a magic header, making it susceptible to manipulation.
- A worm was developed to exploit these vulnerabilities, capable of spreading to other players in the game and executing arbitrary commands.
- The worm uses Import Address Table (IAT) hooks to intercept network packets and inject malicious payloads.
- Community patches have been developed to address these issues, as EA Games considers the game end-of-life and does not provide official fixes.
- Timeline includes initial discovery in August 2025, coordination with EA Games, and subsequent community patch development by December 2025.
13 Year old boy swims for hours to save his family at sea in Western Australia
2 days ago
- A 13-year-old boy swam 4 km in rough waters to save his family swept out to sea in Geographe Bay, WA.
- The family was pushed offshore by strong winds while on inflatable paddleboards and a kayak.
- The boy swam for four hours, ditching his life jacket to reach shore and raise the alarm.
- His mother, brother (12), and sister (8) were found clinging to a paddleboard 14 km offshore.
- The mother kept the children together despite exhaustion, praised as a hero.
- All family members were rescued, wearing life jackets, and later discharged from the hospital.
Danish Students Face Legal Action and Fines over Textbook Piracy
2 days ago
- Online piracy extends beyond entertainment to include educational content, such as textbooks.
- Textbook piracy has been prevalent for decades, with dedicated torrent sites existing for years.
- In Denmark, the Rights Alliance has targeted individuals profiting from pirated textbooks, leading to convictions.
- Despite legal actions, 57% of students using digital textbooks have acquired at least one illegally.
- 74% of students believe sharing textbooks illegally is acceptable, despite knowing it's against the law.
- The Rights Alliance plans to sue students pirating textbooks to enforce cultural change, not seeking financial settlements.
- Fines for illegal sharing could reach several thousand Danish kroner, depending on the extent of sharing.
- The anti-piracy group adopts a zero-tolerance policy, with even a single illegal share warranting legal action.
- Publishers warn that unchecked piracy could eliminate the market for Danish textbooks, affecting educational institutions.
- 37% of students received pirated textbooks from teachers or professors via official study intranets.
Adobe Animate (formerly Flash) will be discontinued on March 1st
2 days ago
- Adobe Animate will be discontinued on March 1, 2026, and removed from Adobe.com.
- Enterprise customers retain access, downloads, and support until March 1, 2029.
- Non-enterprise customers have support and access until March 1, 2027.
- Users are encouraged to export FLA and XFL files to formats like SWF, SVG, or MP4 before support ends.
- Adobe suggests using After Effects or Adobe Express as alternatives for animation needs.
- Animate will still function post-discontinuation but won't receive updates or support beyond the specified dates.
- Creative Cloud Pro users can find Animate under 'Show Older Apps' in the Creative Cloud desktop.
The Dangerous Drift to Redefine Protest as Terrorism
2 days ago
- The line between civil disobedience and terrorism is collapsing, raising concerns about democratic dissent.
- Historical examples like the Palmer Raids and COINTELPRO show how governments overreact to perceived threats, targeting dissenters.
- The First Amendment protects protest, but not illegal actions like assault or vandalism.
- Legal boundaries exist between advocacy and incitement, true threats, and guilt by association.
- Federal law defines domestic terrorism broadly, creating discretion in labeling protest activities.
- Recent policy directives risk treating lawful protest infrastructure as investigative leads.
- Political leadership's rhetoric can pressure agencies to conflate dissent with terrorism.
- Maintaining the distinction between civil disobedience and terrorism is crucial for democracy.
Show HN: PolliticalScience – Anonymous daily polls with 24-hour windows
2 days ago
- The text discusses the legality of the death penalty, presenting it as a topic under 'Criminal Justice' and 'Domestic Policy'.
- Users are given the option to 'AGREE' or 'DISAGREE' with the statement 'The death penalty should remain legal.'
- The platform emphasizes anonymity, no signup requirements, and no tracking, but mentions an unhandled error occurred.
The largest number representable in 64 bits
2 days ago
- The largest number representable in 64 bits is explored, starting with the maximum value of a 64-bit unsigned integer (18446744073709551615).
- Floating-point data types can represent much larger values due to their base 2 exponent, with the largest finite 64-bit double being approximately 1.8*10^308.
- The concept of representing numbers beyond plain data types is introduced, considering computable representations via small programs in programming languages.
- The smallest valid C program is "main(){}", which fits in 64 bits but does nothing. Other languages like 'bc' can compute much larger numbers within 8 bytes.
- The Busy Beaver function (BB(n)) is introduced as a measure of the largest number computable by an n-state Turing Machine before halting, with BB(6) being the largest number programmable in 64 bits for TMs.
- The exact value of BB(6) is unknown, but it is known to be greater than a very large number represented using Knuth's up-arrow notation.
- Lambda calculus is presented as a more efficient way to represent large numbers, with a 49-bit program (Melo) exceeding Graham's Number.
- A 61-bit lambda calculus term (w218) is shown to vastly exceed Melo's Number, leveraging the Fast-growing hierarchy for comparison.
- The functional Busy Beaver function (BBλ) is introduced, which measures the maximum beta normal form size of any closed lambda term of size n, with known values up to BBλ(36).
- BBλ is compared to the traditional Busy Beaver function (BB), showing that BBλ achieves comparable growth with fewer bits due to better programmability.
- A universal Busy Beaver function (BBλ2) is proposed, which includes self-delimiting BLC programs and achieves universality by allowing lambda terms access to pure binary data.
- The largest number currently known to be representable in 64 bits is w218, which lower bounds both BBλ(61) and BBλ2(63).
Stop incentivizing surface parking lots
2 days ago
- Surface parking lots drain economic potential from cities by occupying valuable downtown land.
- Parking lots subtract economic value by blocking development of housing, jobs, and amenities.
- Syracuse, NY, has $44M in land value tied to parking lots, hindering downtown vibrancy.
- Property tax policies incentivize keeping land as parking lots instead of productive development.
- Parking reform strategies include eliminating parking minimums, setting maximums, and dynamic street pricing.
- Land Value Tax (LVT) could shift incentives away from idle parking lots toward development.
- Underground or structured parking is a better alternative to surface lots in dense urban areas.
- Balancing car accessibility with attractive public transit can reduce parking demand without restricting freedom.
Hacking Moltbook: The AI Social Network Any Human Can Control
2 days ago
- Moltbook is a futuristic social network for AI agents, where they post, comment, and build reputation.
- A misconfigured Supabase database exposed 1.5M API tokens, 35K email addresses, and private messages.
- Only 17K human owners were behind the 1.5M registered agents, revealing an 88:1 bot-to-human ratio.
- Unauthenticated access allowed full read/write operations, including account impersonation and content manipulation.
- Security lessons include the need for secure defaults, verification metrics, and iterative security improvements.
- Vibe coding enables rapid development but requires built-in security to prevent systemic risks.
EPA Advances Farmers' Right to Repair
2 days ago
- EPA clarifies the Clean Air Act supports farmers' right to repair their own nonroad diesel equipment.
- Manufacturers can no longer use the Clean Air Act to limit access to repair tools or software.
- The guidance allows temporary overrides of emission control systems for repair purposes.
- Farmers are not required to rely solely on authorized dealers for equipment repairs.
- This action aims to reduce repair costs and encourage the use of newer farm equipment.
- The guidance responds to a request from John Deere regarding emission control overrides.
- EPA's move is part of its commitment to protect farmers and the environment.
Advancing AI Benchmarking with Game Arena
2 days ago
- Google DeepMind and Kaggle launched Game Arena, an AI benchmarking platform starting with chess to measure strategic reasoning.
- Game Arena is expanding to include Werewolf and poker to test AI models on social dynamics and risk management.
- Chess benchmarks assess strategic reasoning and planning, with Gemini 3 Pro and Gemini 3 Flash leading the leaderboard.
- Werewolf tests AI on social deduction, communication, and deception detection, important for AI assistants and safety research.
- Poker introduces risk management and uncertainty quantification, with an AI tournament to determine top models.
- Livestream events with experts will showcase AI performances in chess, Werewolf, and poker.

Hasty Briefsbeta

China finalizes proposed ban on Tesla-style hidden door handles for safety

Eric Adams faces $3M rugpull allegation after issuing NYC Token

Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub

Only eat organic? You're paying too much, and it's not worth it (2021)

Reeeeeeally Long Covid (2022)

Msgvault: fast private email archive and search system

Police facial recognition is now highly accurate, but public awareness lags

Zig Libc

LinkedIn Is Down

General Graboids: Worms and Remote Code Execution in Command and Conquer

13 Year old boy swims for hours to save his family at sea in Western Australia

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The largest number representable in 64 bits

Stop incentivizing surface parking lots

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China finalizes proposed ban on Tesla-style hidden door handles for safety

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Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub

Only eat organic? You're paying too much, and it's not worth it (2021)

Reeeeeeally Long Covid (2022)

Msgvault: fast private email archive and search system

Police facial recognition is now highly accurate, but public awareness lags

Zig Libc

LinkedIn Is Down

General Graboids: Worms and Remote Code Execution in Command and Conquer

13 Year old boy swims for hours to save his family at sea in Western Australia

Danish Students Face Legal Action and Fines over Textbook Piracy

Adobe Animate (formerly Flash) will be discontinued on March 1st

The Dangerous Drift to Redefine Protest as Terrorism

Show HN: PolliticalScience – Anonymous daily polls with 24-hour windows

The largest number representable in 64 bits

Stop incentivizing surface parking lots

Hacking Moltbook: The AI Social Network Any Human Can Control

EPA Advances Farmers' Right to Repair

Advancing AI Benchmarking with Game Arena