1. OnePlus update blocks downgrades and custom ROMs by blowing a fuse
Total comment counts : 19
Summary
On 2026-01-20, OnePlus updated its privacy policy (valid until 2026-02-20). Separately, ColorOS 16.0.3.501 introduced a hardware anti-rollback fuse for OnePlus 13, 15, and Ace 5 series, permanently preventing downgrades or custom ROMs. The Qualcomm QFPROM e-fuses are irreversibly blown during updates; older firmware leads to a hard brick, unrecoverable by software. No official comment yet. Risks may extend to OPPO Find X8, and OnePlus 11/12. Recovery requires motherboard replacement; EDL cannot bypass the fuse. The fuse governs boot by enforcing a minimum supported firmware version.
Overall Comments Summary
- Main point: The thread centers on OnePlus’s use of eFuse-based anti-rollback and remote firmware updates that lock devices and hinder ownership and customization, prompting a broader DRM/ownership rights debate.
- Concern: The main worry is that these measures could permanently disable older software, restrict user control, and potentially enable destructive or exploitative practices against customers.
- Perspectives: Views range from seeing it as an industry-standard security measure to labeling it vandalism and a betrayal of customers, with some hoping for ROM workarounds or a brand switch.
- Overall sentiment: Highly critical
2. First, make me care
Total comment counts : 28
Summary
Nonfiction succeeds with a hook, not early background. Readers often drop off before the core material, so start with a single anomaly or provocative question that makes the topic interesting. Lead with that, then introduce the background once you’ve captured the reader’s attention.
Overall Comments Summary
- Main point: The discussion centers on how writers should engage readers—whether to open with a hook that makes readers care or to present the core argument and evidence upfront—and how different authors and platforms illustrate or critique these approaches.
- Concern: The main worry is that overreliance on hooks and click-driven tactics can cheapen writing, overshadow substance, and turn reading into a transactional, attention-skimming experience, unless the content delivers value.
- Perspectives: The thread covers a spectrum from pro-hook, mystery-driven engagement and attention-economy tactics to anti-hook, fact-first writing and author-centered authenticity, with critiques of Gwern’s style and comparisons to writers like Cegłowski and Graham, plus reflections on platforms like TikTok and the role of LLMs.
- Overall sentiment: Mixed
3. Canada
Total comment counts : 7
Summary
Growing up poor in China, the author credits Canada with shaping who they are: rent subsidies and $500/month until 18; municipal centers taught swimming and skating; public libraries offered free books; charity gifts and discounted tickets made holidays magical and learning affordable; family passes to the science centre fostered lifelong curiosity. In adulthood, Canada continued to help—with EI during the pandemic and a Canadian passport easing trips to the US. The piece expresses deep gratitude for Canada’s generosity, public services, and civic culture.
Overall Comments Summary
- Main point: The discussion centers on evaluating Canada as a home for immigrants, highlighting its benefits and diversity while debating whether the country should strive for greater excellence.
- Concern: The main worry is that Canada may settle for mediocrity (‘go for bronze’) or lose its aspirational identity, risking persistent inequality or stagnation.
- Perspectives: There are multiple viewpoints: grateful immigrants who love Canada’s opportunities and diversity, skeptics who worry Canada is becoming complacent or imperfect, and comparisons with the US that emphasize unequal access and systemic differences.
- Overall sentiment: Mixed
4. A macOS app that blurs your screen when you slouch
Total comment counts : 38
Summary
Posturr is a macOS app that uses Apple’s Vision framework to monitor your posture in real time via the camera. When you slouch, it progressively blurs the screen and clears once you sit up. All processing occurs locally; no images are sent externally. It requires camera access and may be blocked by Gatekeeper since it’s unsigned—grant access once at first launch. The app lives as build/Posturr.app, sits in the menu bar, and provides a file-based control interface at /tmp/posturr-command and /tmp/posturr-response. It offers a Compatibility Mode, is MIT-licensed, and welcomes contributions.
Overall Comments Summary
- Main point: The thread discusses a posture-monitoring AI app (Posturr) and its potential productivity and ergonomic benefits, alongside practical, privacy, and openness concerns.
- Concern: The main worry is privacy and control risks from camera-based monitoring, plus debates over the notion of “good posture,” reliability, and the use of a proprietary stack with verification questions.
- Perspectives: Views range from enthusiastic developers praising cross-platform AI tooling and productivity gains to skeptics worried about privacy, scientific basis, and openness.
- Overall sentiment: Mixed
5. Spanish track was fractured before high-speed train disaster, report finds
Total comment counts : 8
Summary
A CIAF preliminary report says a fracture in a track section occurred before the high-speed Iryo train passed, causing its rear carriages to derail into a Renfe train. Notches in Iryo’s wheels, and grooves on wheels of earlier trains, suggest a cracked track. A 40 cm gap is central to investigation. The crash occurred at 19:45 time; carriages six to eight derailed, with carriage six failing due to track discontinuity. The report is a working hypothesis needing further analysis; if fracture caused it, it could not have been detected in time. Spain’s worst rail crash in over a decade.
Overall Comments Summary
- Main point: The discussion analyzes high-speed rail safety by comparing Spain’s derailment incidents with Japan’s flawless Shinkansen record and examining how track integrity, maintenance, and detection systems affect risk.
- Concern: A core worry is that cost pressures and insufficient monitoring allow hidden track fractures to go undetected, potentially causing future disasters.
- Perspectives: Viewpoints include praise of Japan’s safety and calls for stricter quality control in Spain, skepticism about current maintenance practices, and suggestions for enhanced fracture detection (continuous weld monitoring, sensors, cameras, drones) and safer track designs or barriers.
- Overall sentiment: Mixed
6. I was right about ATProto key management
Total comment counts : 4
Summary
The author attempted a truly decentralized Bluesky experience using a personal data store (PDS) and a did:web identity, but ran into a wall. The setup required on NixOS, flawed tutorials, and undocumented steps; account activation failed; after pulling guidance from a closed GitHub discussion and a problematic endpoint (getRecommendedDidCredentials), the did:web was burned when the account was deleted. Bluesky’s central AppView then blocked access. The author argues that despite ATProto’s talk of decentralization, practical use remains contingent on centralized control, undermining real federation and user-owned PKI.
Overall Comments Summary
- Main point: The discussion centers on frustrations with ATProto and microblog usability, calling for simpler, more accessible design and true data ownership, while remaining hopeful issues will be fixed.
- Concern: If platforms stay complex and hosting remains unaffordable, ordinary users will be shut out and the experience will stay fragmented and frustrating.
- Perspectives: Some participants advocate simplifying interfaces and enabling true data ownership for everyone, while others criticize ATProto’s usability and content ecosystem, likening it to early blockchain apps and a degraded Twitter-like experience.
- Overall sentiment: Mixed with cautious optimism.
7. Using PostgreSQL as a Dead Letter Queue for Event-Driven Systems
Total comment counts : 11
Summary
While building daily business reports from event streams, Wayfair used Kafka to process events, enrich them, and store them in CloudSQL PostgreSQL. When processing failed due to API downtime, crashes, or bad data, they used a Dead Letter Queue. Rather than Kafka DLQ, they stored failed payloads in a PostgreSQL DLQ table with status PENDING/SUCCEEDED for easy inspection and retry. A ShedLock-backed retry scheduler runs on multiple instances; PostgreSQL FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED ensures single processing per row, enabling safe, scalable retries. This improves visibility, resilience, and reduces operational stress.
Overall Comments Summary
- Main point: [There is a debate about using PostgreSQL-based queues (e.g., pgmq) as a default solution for job/event queues across typical business apps, weighing practicality, features, and trade-offs.]
- Concern: [The main worry is reliability and scalability—retries causing DLQ bloat, potential outages, and performance penalties if the system is pushed beyond its intended scale.]
- Perspectives: [Some participants praise PostgreSQL-based queues as viable for low to moderate volumes with useful features like priority handling and easy visibility; others warn it’s the wrong data structure for queues at any significant scale and point to risks and better alternatives.]
- Overall sentiment: [Mixed]
8. Doom has been ported to an earbud
Total comment counts : 22
Summary
An enthusiast claims to run DOOM on the Pinebuds Pro, an internet-connected earbud, via a four-part project: firmware, a low-bandwidth data path, a queue for play, and a display. Since earbuds lack screens, data travels over UART at 2.4 Mbps, not Bluetooth. DOOM’s 320×200 framebuffer (96 KB) streams as MJPEG; 11–13.5 KB JPEG frames yield an optimistic 27 FPS, but ~18 FPS is realistic due to JPEG encoding on a Cortex-M4F at 300 MHz. RAM is tight (768 KB default, up to 992 KB); DOOM needs ~4 MB, mitigated by optimizations and Squashware (1.7 MB). Two repos exist; details later.
Overall Comments Summary
- Main point: The discussion centers on Doom being ported to a wide range of devices (such as PineBuds Pro earbuds) and what that implies about hardware design, software capability, and gaming culture.
- Concern: The main worry is that the Doom-port trend signals a shift away from affordable, purpose-built hardware toward software-centric solutions, potentially wasting resources and diminishing meaningful game design.
- Perspectives: Viewpoints span enthusiastic fascination with hardware-agnostic Doom ports and quirky technical ideas to nostalgic grief over modern games’ scale and a skepticism about the value of continuing to port classic titles.
- Overall sentiment: Mixed
9. A flawed paper in management science has been cited more than 6k times
Total comment counts : 60
Summary
error
Overall Comments Summary
- Main point: The thread critiques scientific credibility and the publication culture, highlighting misrepresentation, non-replication, data-sharing gaps, and ethical concerns, while proposing ideas to improve trust in research.
- Concern: The main worry is that current incentives—relying on citation counts, selective reporting, and prestige—let false or unreplicated findings persist and erode trust.
- Perspectives: Viewpoints span frustration with publish-or-perish dynamics and flawed journals, advocacy for preregistration and data/code sharing, and cautious support for competition and adoption of newer tools.
- Overall sentiment: Mixed
10. AI Tribalism
Total comment counts : 12
Summary
2025 was a turning point: I went from dismissing LLMs as toys to relying on Claude Code for roughly 90% of my code. I write markdown specs, use plan mode, and let the model draft, while I touch up, refactor, or rename. PRs are reviewed by Cursor Bugbot, which uncovers bugs I’d overlook. Debates feel tribal, but I now see the breakthrough already here: no new leap needed, just more tinkering with AI agents building working code. Security, performance, and accessibility remain concerns, but agents can find vulnerabilities, benchmark, and improve with targeted prompts.
Overall Comments Summary
- Main point: The discussion weighs whether to adopt AI agents/LLMs in software work, balancing potential productivity gains and costs against risks to code quality, context, and workplace dynamics.
- Concern: The main worry is that adoption could create new barriers or costs (for those who can’t afford it), worsen bugs and testing overhead due to partial context, and fuel tribalism or pressure to convert.
- Perspectives: There are advocates who see substantial productivity gains and shrinking costs from AI, and skeptics who fear higher costs, diminished quality and attribution issues, and social pressure/hype around AI.
- Overall sentiment: Mixed