hackernews

1. A minimax chess engine in regular expressions Total comment counts : 35 Summary Summary: Nicholas Carlini, in a playful departure from his usual serious content, introduces “Regex Chess,” a chess program that uses a sequence of 84,688 regular expressions to make moves on a chessboard. The program takes input in the form of source and destination square coordinates (e.g., e2e4). Here’s how it works: Execution: The program uses a single string to represent both the program’s stack and all variables....

1. Doom, the Gallery Experience Total comment counts : 32 Summary DOOM: The Gallery Experience is an interactive art piece that parodies the pretentious atmosphere of art gallery openings. Set within the first level (E1M1) of the classic 1993 game DOOM, this experience allows players to explore an art gallery while enjoying typical gallery amenities like wine and hors d’oeuvres. Here are the key points: Gameplay: Players can move around using WASD or arrow keys, interact with objects, drink beverages, and navigate menus....

1. Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately Total comment counts : 39 Summary Engineers at the University of Waterloo have developed a groundbreaking wearable technology designed to monitor glucose levels in diabetics more accurately and non-invasively than current methods. This device uses miniaturized radar technology, similar to that used in weather satellites, to detect changes in glucose levels through the skin without the need for invasive procedures like finger pricking or micro-needle patches....

1. Show HN: I completed shipping my desktop app Total comment counts : 73 Summary The article describes Pimosa, a versatile application that integrates over 20 simple yet powerful tools for editing, converting, and enhancing media files. Here are the key points: Functionality: Pimosa offers tools for video, audio, and image manipulation including compression, conversion, resizing, merging, flipping, rotating, speed adjustment, GIF creation, audio extraction, and metadata editing. It supports batch editing for efficiency....

1. Can LLMs write better code if you keep asking them to “write better code”? Total comment counts : 63 Summary The article discusses a trend where users of ChatGPT, after integrating DALL-E 3 for image generation, engaged in a meme where they iteratively modified images to become more extreme versions of a given attribute (e.g., making Santa Claus more serious). This trend, although short-lived and considered “AI slop,” showed an interesting convergence in the images towards something cosmic regardless of the initial prompt....

1. The GPU, not the TPM, is the root of hardware DRM Total comment counts : 26 Summary The article is a notification to the user that they have been chosen to complete a CAPTCHA to verify their requests. It provides instructions to complete the CAPTCHA and submit it. Additionally, it includes a copyright notice from Dreamwidth Studios, LLC, covering the years 2009 to 2024, with some rights reserved. Top 1 Comment Summary The article discusses concerns about the future of digital rights management (DRM) and its potential implications for personal computing freedom....

1. Happy New Year 2025 Total comment counts : 153 Summary error Top 1 Comment Summary error Top 2 Comment Summary error 2. Static search trees: faster than binary search Total comment counts : 26 Summary error Top 1 Comment Summary error Top 2 Comment Summary error 3. I Reversed a Drone and Landed It with My PC Total comment counts : 8 Summary error Top 1 Comment Summary error...

1. I keep turning my Google Sheets into phone-friendly webapps Total comment counts : 46 Summary The article details how the author used spreadsheets and the no-code platform Glide to manage their takeout food orders during the pandemic. Faced with the desire to support local restaurants without relying on third-party delivery apps, the author created a system to track and diversify their food choices: Problem Identification: The couple wanted to avoid repetitive takeout choices and support local eateries directly, avoiding high fees from services like DoorDash....

1. From Pegasus to Predator – The evolution of commercial spyware on iOS [video] Total comment counts : 14 Summary Matthias Frielingsdorf’s talk traces the evolution of iOS spyware from the discovery of Pegasus in 2016 to current threats in 2024. Here are the key points: Spyware Evolution (2016-2024): The presentation details how spyware has become more sophisticated, focusing on changes in exploits, infection vectors, and indicators of compromise (IOCs)....

1. Apple Photos phones home on iOS 18 and macOS 15 Total comment counts : 82 Summary The article discusses the author’s discovery of a new, automatically enabled feature in Apple’s Photos app called “Enhanced Visual Search,” which allows for advanced image recognition. This feature was found in both iOS and macOS but was not widely publicized by Apple or the media. The author expresses concerns over privacy, noting that:...