Sly Stone has died (go.com | comments) Sly Stone, the iconic leader of the funk band Sly and the Family Stone, has passed away at the age of 82, as confirmed by his family. Stone was instrumental in popularizing funk music and leaves behind a lasting musical legacy.

• For someone not familiar with this culture, i for a moment thought the thread was talking about Sylvester Stallone. RIP. Was sly involved in the song superstition?
• Everyone should go watch Sly Lives! - The Burden of Black Genius
• I became a fan of base ever since "Dance to the Music". Thank you, Sly, for the great music!

Las Vegas is embracing a simple climate solution: More trees (npr.org | comments) Amid escalating summer heat that reached 120 degrees, Las Vegas is adopting a straightforward climate strategy: planting thousands of trees. This initiative aims to cool its hottest neighborhoods and mitigate the effects of climate change, making the city a greener and healthier place for its residents.

• I was in Vegas for the first time this weekend and also noticed that it’s mostly a concrete jungle. There were some small olive trees planted near Park MGM, but everything else we saw was concrete. Vegas is depressing man, I don’t think I wanna go back.

Marines being mobilized in response to LA protests (cnn.com | comments) In response to protests in Los Angeles, the U.S. Marines are being deployed to support local law enforcement. This mobilization aims to maintain order during heightened tensions, reflecting ongoing national discussions about public safety and military involvement in domestic affairs.

• This is terrifying and unconscionable. Hard to believe this is the USA today. I don’t really see this de-escalating given the ongoing rhetoric but I hope I’m wrong.
• Let’s just hope Neil doesn’t have to update his lyrics. But, given as that’s probably the point of the exercise…

A bit more on Twitter/X's new encrypted messaging (cryptographyengineering.com | comments) Twitter/X has introduced new encrypted messaging features aimed at improving user privacy. The update incorporates end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only the intended recipients can access the messages, mitigating risks of unauthorized access. This move aligns with growing demands for enhanced security in digital communications.

• > User private keys are stored at X And I'm out. I don't want every thread about X to degenerate into another debate about Musk but at this point they're kind of inseparable. Do I trust that if Musk decided some day that he doesn't like me for whatever reason that he wouldn't grab that private key and publish my DMs? I can't.

Bruteforcing the phone number of any Google user (brutecat.com | comments) The article reveals vulnerabilities in Google's account recovery system, explaining how disabling JavaScript on browsers can expose the user recovery form. It details the HTTP requests used to check if a phone number or recovery email is linked to an account and discusses attempts to bypass rate limits using IPv6 addresses for brute-forcing phone numbers.

• This article highlights something interesting... it is quite common to get at least one /64 IPv6 block from a hosting provider or ISP. Yet most of the rate-limiting and IP blocking is done for a single IP. Sounds like when dealing with IPv6, an entire block of /64 should be rate-limited or blocked.

Enterprises are getting stuck in AI pilot hell, say Chatterbox Labs execs (theregister.com | comments) Chatterbox Labs executives claim that enterprises are facing significant obstacles in AI adoption, primarily due to security concerns rather than issues with model performance. They discuss how these security worries contribute to organizations being stalled in their AI pilot projects, leading to a phenomenon described as 'AI pilot hell.'

• Who in their right mind would intentionally deploy non-deterministic, unreviewable and unprovable software to critical systems?
• Doesn't this mean: There's room for disruption/land grab? If the big corporations can't move fast enough and 100 startups gamble on getting there, eventually one of them will be successful.

Kagi Reaches 50k Users (kagi.com | comments) Kagi, a paid search engine focusing on ad-free results, has reached a significant milestone with over 50,000 users. The platform emphasizes user empowerment, boasting features that improve search experiences, showing promising engagement through metrics like nearly 760,600 queries processed in a single day.

• I feel like I'm the only person who doesn't really see the appeal. I have subscribed multiple times in the past, including a free trial for three months that recently ended. It wasn't bad, but when the trial ended I just switched back to DDG and kind of... didn't think about it again?

Riding high in Germany on the world's oldest suspended railway (theguardian.com | comments) The Schwebebahn, the world's oldest suspended railway, continues to enchant riders in Wuppertal, Germany, over 125 years after its construction. This unique mode of transport, gliding above the town, showcases the charm and enduring appeal of historical engineering while offering scenic views and a reminder of innovative public transit solutions.

• I will never forget when I saw this the first time. I woke up early in the morning on a sleeper train to Düsseldorf. The train had stopped so I looked out the window: at A-frames straddling a river. My first thought was: "That's a weird-looking roller coaster".

Why agents are bad pair programmers (searls.co | comments) Large language model (LLM) agents like GitHub Copilot's agent mode code faster than humans can think, creating challenges in pair programming scenarios. While using the agent can be enjoyable, its speed can hinder collaborative programming dynamics, leading to communication breakdowns between human and machine.

• LLM agents don't know how to shut up and always think they're right about everything. They also lack the ability to be brief. Sometimes things can be solved with a single character or line, but no they write a full page. And, they write paragraphs of comments for even the most minuscule of changes. They talk at you, are overbearing and arrogant.

Go is a good fit for agents (hatchet.run | comments) Go programming language offers features that make it highly suitable for developing agent-based applications. Its concurrency model and performance optimize the management and communication of agents, enhancing their efficiency. By leveraging Go's strengths, developers can build robust systems with easier scalability and maintenance.

• Following the article's logic, Elixir is a better fit for agents. Ideal I would say.
• AI engineers will literally invent a new universe before they touch JavaScript. The death knell for variety in AI languages was when Google rug-pulled TensorFlow for Swift.

Why quadratic funding is not optimal (jonathanwarden.com | comments) Quadratic funding (QF) is often seen as an optimal way to finance public goods, particularly in the cryptocurrency realm. However, underlying assumptions about QF rarely align with real-world scenarios, leading to potentially detrimental implementations. Critics caution against applying QF without acknowledging its theoretical limitations.

• It sounds like a kooky idea and neglects the fact that “the government” isn’t some magical source of money; it got that money from its citizens somehow (taxes or inflation). It’s a much simpler idea to just have citizens vote for what they want their tax money spent on, by voting for candidates who will represent their interests.

LLMs are cheap (snellman.net | comments) The post argues that many still believe Large Language Models (LLMs) are costly to operate, ignoring a drastic reduction in prices (approximately 1000x over two years). The author addresses misconceptions stemming from initial high costs and compares LLM pricing to web search services to clarify affordability.

• Some anecdotal data, but we recently estimated the cost of running a LLM at $WORK by looking at power usage over a bursty period of requests from our internal users and it was on the order of $10s/mil tokens. And we arent a big place, nor were our servers at max load, so I can see the cost being much lower at scale

AI Angst (tbray.org | comments) Tim Bray addresses the prevalent 'AI angst' surrounding generative AI, highlighting concerns over financial investments, environmental impacts, and its implications on coding and education. He points to significant venture capital funding and rising operational costs while expressing a mix of skepticism and acknowledgment of AI's utility among developers.

• Poor HN. Is there a glimpse of the next hype train we can prepare to board once AI gets dulled down? This has basically made the site unusable.
• This is probably the best opinion piece I've read so far on GenAI
• > I really don’t think there’s a coherent pro-genAI case to be made in the education context I use ChatGPT as an RNG of math problems to work through with my kid sometimes.

Web designs are getting too complicated (websmith.studio | comments) A critique of modern web designs highlights excessive complexity and slow load times, urging designers to prioritize functionality over aesthetics. The text advocates for a more problem-solving approach in web design, suggesting that the need for simple, efficient sites has been overshadowed by trends that prioritize visual flair.

• I remember when doing web development in 2001 in a company with massive traffic we had a total size limit imposed in each landing page or site, kind of what it's still required for ad networks. It wasn't unusual to reject some designs due to weight. 500 Kb tops at the begging, so degraded backgrounds were a no-go.

FSE meets the FBI (freespeechextremist.com | comments) In a detailed blog post, the author discusses the interaction between FSE and the FBI, revealing how the FBI engages in data scraping from various platforms to monitor activities. Central to this narrative is the issue of inappropriate content like child pornography appearing on FSE, prompting the author to take measures to protect the platform and its users from both legal repercussions and harmful behaviors.

• >I'd like to also thank fediblock for never fact-checking anything ever, giving the false impression that things that FSE has never permitted were allowed. Proceeds to link to a website whose source code is hosted by kiwifarms. If you are blocked, that's because most of us don't want to interact with the "free speech" crowd, that's pretty much it.

What happens when people don't understand how AI works (theatlantic.com | comments) Large language models, despite their advanced capabilities, lack true human-like intelligence, a fact overlooked by many due to misconceptions propagated by tech leaders. This misunderstanding can lead to detrimental societal effects, emphasizing the necessity of addressing AI literacy to mitigate such issues.

• Everyone, it's just "statistics". Numbers can't hurt you. Don't worry
• Someone said, "The AI you use today is the worst AI that you will ever use."
• Imagine thinking that brains aren't making statistically informed guesses about sequential information.

Containerization is a Swift package for running Linux containers on macOS (github.com/apple | comments) A new Swift package supports running Linux containers on macOS, streamlining cross-platform development. This tool enables developers to leverage containerization technology, essential for deploying applications consistently across different environments. It enhances macOS users' capabilities for software development involving Linux systems.

• Forget Linux containers on Mac, as far as I’m concerned that’s already a solved problem. What about Mac containers? We still don’t have a way to run a macOS app with its own process namespace/filesystem in 2025. And with all this AI stuff, there’s a need to minimise blast radius of a rogue app more than ever.

Show HN: Munal OS: a graphical experimental OS with WASM sandboxing (github.com/askannz | comments) Munal OS is an experimental graphical operating system featuring WebAssembly (WASM) sandboxing, highlighting a progressive approach to enhance security and performance in web applications. The OS aims to provide a unique user experience while utilizing WASM for improved execution of applications within a secure environment.

• This is incredible. I wonder if this will be the future of OSes. This readme is really, really interesting to read through. Why did you use wasmi instead of wasmtime? I might actually try to use this OS inside a VM. Half of me wants to port my own reactive GUI lib to Munal.

Apple announces Foundation Models and Containerization frameworks, etc (apple.com | comments) Apple has introduced new frameworks including Foundation Models and Containerization aimed at enhancing developer tools. These features are designed to streamline the integration of machine learning and improve software deployment, allowing developers to leverage advanced models and manage applications in a more efficient manner.

• I hope they don't turn Liquid Glass into Aqua... which I hated. The only time I started to like the iOS interface was iOS 7 with flat design. I hope they don't turn this into old, skeuomorphic, Aqua-like UI by time.
• Does this mean we will longer need Docker Desktop or colima?

Apple introduces a universal design across platforms (apple.com | comments) Apple has unveiled a new universal design approach aimed at enhancing user experience across all its platforms. This redesign aims to create a cohesive visual identity and streamline interactions, improving accessibility and usability for all users, aligning with modern design principles.

• I wonder how much of this transparent/glass design language is setting Apple up for AR interfaces where UI is overlaid on what you're looking at. Since you literally cannot have fully opaque elements with AR glasses this would be a smart way to ensure overall design is unified across platforms.

Show HN: Let’s Bend – Open-Source Harmonica Bending Trainer (letsbend.de | comments) The 'Let's Bend' app offers a free, open-source harmonica bending trainer suitable for beginners and advanced players, featuring real-time note visualization and compatibility across devices including Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux. Users can access the app through various platforms, including Google Play and Amazon.

• I love seeing projects that shed a little vignette on a wide world I had no idea about! Thanks for posting!
• This is great. Would have loved it when I used to have fun with the harmonica. Here is a suggestion. Display a graph of played-frequency vs time. Then I can compare visually how my bending performance improves over time.

Endangered classic Mac plastic color returns as 3D-printer filament (arstechnica.com | comments) A new 3D-printing filament has been introduced that replicates the classic 'Platinum' color used in 1980s Apple computers. This product comes after a dedicated fan paid $900 to color match the iconic beige-gray hue, allowing enthusiasts to recreate original parts for retro computing projects.

• If Woz were still in Apple there would be Apple-run makerspaces, with Apple branded 3d printers and all the types of filament you could dream of. Too bad Jobs turned the company into a boring locked-down anti-consumer appliance factory.
• Not gonna lie, I was expecting to see something in translucent bondi blue.

How Compiler Explorer Works in 2025 (xania.org | comments) Compiler Explorer, which processes 92 million compilations annually, utilizes a sophisticated system involving over 3000 compiler versions across 81 languages. Key steps include a user interface powered by the Monaco editor and a robust backend using AWS infrastructure. The process involves isolation techniques to prevent security breaches from arbitrary user code execution.

• I wonder how many compiler crashes they experience. That's a lot of test cases.
• The tool is called Compiler Explorer, but is hosted at godbolt.org. There's also compliler-explorer.com, which is the same thing. Why not retire the first domain? Just redirect to the namesake domain to prevent link rot.

Forests offset warming more than thought: study (ucr.edu | comments) A new study reveals that replanting forests could mitigate climate change effects more effectively than previously thought, particularly in tropical regions. However, the research indicates that even if all trees lost since the mid-19th century were replanted, the total cooling effect would not fully offset human-induced global warming.

• > restoring forests to their preindustrial extent could lower global average temperatures by 0.34 degrees Celsius
• Restoring forests is clearly valuable, especially in the tropics, but it's not a get-out-of-jail-free card for emissions. The fact that even replanting all lost trees would only offset about 0.34°C puts things in perspective.

What methylene blue can (and can’t) do for the brain (neurofrontiers.blog | comments) Research on methylene blue indicates potential cognitive benefits, such as enhancing mitochondrial function and memory retention, while also highlighting limitations in its effectiveness. This compound, often used in dyes and treatments, has garnered attention for its neuroprotective properties, though its usage requires cautious evaluation.

• Sounds like something you should only consume in Heisenberg quality.
• Didn’t Mel Gibson say it cures cancer? On jre