hackernews

1. Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon Total comment counts : 170 Summary error Top 1 Comment Summary The article recounts a coincidental experience where the author was reading a Wired magazine piece about the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, the alleged operator of the Silk Road online black market, in a public library. Interestingly, the author was sitting near the exact location where Ulbricht was apprehended years earlier. The author reflects on the surreal experience of reading about the arrest while being in the same spot, noting details like the FBI’s preparation at a nearby coffee shop and the setup of the arrest scene directly in front of him....

1. Reverse engineering Call of Duty anti-cheat Total comment counts : 21 Summary The article details a reverse engineer’s analysis of the anti-cheat system in “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War,” referred to as TAC (Treyarch Anti-Cheat). Here are the key points: Anti-Cheat Overview: Unlike newer Call of Duty titles, Black Ops Cold War uses a user-mode anti-cheat system (TAC) without kernel-mode components. TAC is integrated directly into the game’s executable and does not utilize kernel drivers....

1. UK’s hardware talent is being wasted Total comment counts : 80 Summary The article by Josef Chen discusses the underutilization of engineering talent in the UK, particularly in hardware engineering, despite the presence of world-class graduates from universities like Imperial, Oxford, and Cambridge. Here are the key points: Salary Disparity: UK hardware engineers earn significantly less than their Silicon Valley counterparts, with starting salaries in London being much lower than in the US tech hubs....

1. TikTok goes dark in the US Total comment counts : 206 Summary Summary: A new federal law in the U.S. led to TikTok being temporarily unavailable on Saturday night, with the app disappearing from app stores and displaying a message about the ban. However, by Sunday midday, TikTok began restoring service. The law, which requires TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the app or face a ban due to national security concerns, was passed with bipartisan support and signed by President Joe Biden....

1. Can you read this cursive handwriting? The National Archives wants your help Total comment counts : 38 Summary The National Archives is seeking volunteers through its Citizen Archivist program to help transcribe and tag its vast collection of historical documents, many of which are in cursive and date back over 200 years. This initiative aims to make these documents more accessible online, as traditional methods like optical character recognition are not always effective....

1. Canon wants us to pay for using our own camera as a webcam Total comment counts : 94 Summary The article discusses the author’s experience with Canon’s software intended to convert their Canon G5 X II camera into a webcam for use with a MacBook. Here are the key points: Camera Choice and Cost: The author bought a Canon G5 X II for concerts, costing around $900, not the $6300 mentioned in the article title....

1. No Calls Total comment counts : 87 Summary Zeke Gabrielse, the founder of Keygen, initially set up his company with a strict “no calls” policy due to his aversion to sales calls as an introvert. He found calls inefficient and awkward, particularly when trying to engage with larger, enterprise-level customers. Initially, he attempted to facilitate sales by adding a ‘book a call’ button on his pricing page, but this strategy was unsuccessful and frustrating....

1. Why the weak nuclear force is short range Total comment counts : 20 Summary The article discusses the concept of “range” in physics, specifically how different forces vary in their effective distance: Long-Range Forces: Forces like gravity, electric, and magnetic forces have a vast range, impacting objects across significant distances like rooms, planets, or even galaxies. Short-Range Forces: In contrast, forces like the weak nuclear force have a very limited range, effective only at distances far smaller than an atom, making their effects rare and slow....

1. Snyk security researcher deploys malicious NPM packages targeting cursor.com Total comment counts : 36 Summary The article discusses a cybersecurity incident involving malicious NPM packages targeting Cursor, a company specializing in AI coding solutions. Here are the key points: Detection: The author routinely checks for malicious packages and discovered several suspicious packages deployed by an NPM user named “sn4k-s3c”. These packages had names suggesting they were aimed at Cursor....

1. Why I Chose Common Lisp Total comment counts : 30 Summary The article details the author’s journey from Clojure to Common Lisp. Here are the key points: Discontent with Clojure: The author was frustrated with Clojure’s slow startup times for CLI applications, and despite attempts to use native-image for faster execution, he was unsuccessful. Search for a New Lisp: After deciding Clojure was no longer suitable for his needs, the author explored other Lisp dialects:...