ASCII characters are not pixels: a deep dive into ASCII rendering

827 alexharri 2026-01-17 11:15:26 UTC alexharri.com Llama Share 102

The user built an image-to-ASCII renderer that utilizes shape to achieve sharp, high-quality ASCII rendering by picking characters based on their shape and applying contrast enhancement effects. The renderer uses a 6D shape vector to capture the shape of ASCII characters and a directional contrast enhancement technique to eliminate staircasing effects and improve readability.

US electricity demand surged in 2025 – solar handled 61% of it

325 doener 2026-01-17 10:28:06 UTC electrek.co Llama Share 292

Solar power accounted for 61% of US electricity demand growth in 2025, meeting 81% of demand growth in Texas and the Midwest. Solar generation increased by 83 TWh, a 27% rise from 2024, covering most of the new electricity demand nationwide.

The recurring dream of replacing developers

281 glimshe 2026-01-17 14:31:33 UTC caimito.net Llama Share 232

Business leaders and developers are stuck in a 50-year cycle where new tools promise to make software development simpler, but ultimately, specialized knowledge and intense focus remain essential. The recurring pattern reveals that software development is constrained by intellectual complexity, not mechanical tasks.

PCs refuse to shut down after Microsoft patch

228 smurda 2026-01-17 10:51:19 UTC theregister.com Llama Share 254

Microsoft's January Patch Tuesday update caused some Windows 11 PCs to refuse shutdown or hibernation due to a bug tied to Secure Launch. Users can force shutdown with the command "shutdown /s /t 0" until a fix is released in a future update.

Map To Poster – Create Art of your favourite city

224 originalankur 2026-01-17 10:13:57 UTC github.com/originalankur Llama Share 58

The user runs a Python script to create map posters for various cities with different grid patterns and themes. The script uses the Overpass API to fetch data and plot roads, buildings, and amenities on the map.

ClickHouse acquires Langfuse

195 tin7in 2026-01-17 09:15:45 UTC langfuse.com Llama Share 91

Langfuse's roadmap remains the same, focusing on building the best LLM engineering platform with open source and self-hosting. The team joins ClickHouse to invest in performance, reliability, and user experience.

After 25 years, Wikipedia has proved that news doesn't need to look like news

187 giuliomagnifico 2026-01-17 10:29:35 UTC niemanlab.org Llama Share 209

The Weeklypedia newsletter highlights Wikipedia's most edited articles, revealing volunteer labor and subcategories like sports, reality TV, and news. Wikipedia's success lies in its culture of accountability, transparency, and standards that guide editors and make it a reliable source of information.

2025 was the third hottest year on record

182 andsoitis 2026-01-17 17:29:31 UTC economist.com Llama Share 178

2025 was one of the hottest years on record despite initial expectations of a relatively cool year. Climate reports from Europe and America show an acceleration in global warming.

Eight European countries face 10% tariff for opposing US control of Greenland

170 2OEH8eoCRo0 2026-01-17 17:03:33 UTC apnews.com Llama Share 223

US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 10% import tax on eight European nations, including Denmark, over their opposition to the US buying Greenland. The move escalated tensions between the US and NATO allies, with thousands of people in Greenland and Denmark protesting against the US plans.

What life is like in Minneapolis now

157 _tk_ 2026-01-17 14:13:11 UTC donmoynihan.substack.com Llama Share 48

A Minneapolis resident reports the federal government is terrorizing citizens through ICE raids and abductions, mostly targeting people of color. Local communities are organizing to support affected families and document the incidents.

Ask HN: Is it still worth pursuing a software startup?

153 newbebee 2026-01-17 02:29:07 UTC news.ycombinator.com Llama Share 174

Startups solve human problems, and software remains vital despite AI making it easier to replicate. Successful apps fill genuine needs, stand out, and provide simple solutions that save energy and time.

Canada's deal with China signals it is serious about shift from US

146 breve 2026-01-17 19:29:04 UTC bbc.com Llama Share 160

Canada has made a significant shift in its policy on China by easing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for lower retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural products. The deal is seen as a recognition by Prime Minister Mark Carney that the future of North American free trade remains unclear and Canada needs to be prepared.

The 'untouchable hacker god' behind Finland's biggest crime

145 c420 2026-01-17 07:29:18 UTC theguardian.com Llama Share 148

Tiina Parikka, a Finnish headteacher, received a ransom email demanding €200 in bitcoin after her therapy notes were hacked from Vastaamo, a Finnish psychotherapy platform. The hacker, later identified as Julius Kivimäki, was arrested in 2023 after a two-year investigation.

Light Mode InFFFFFFlation

141 Fudgel 2026-01-17 22:19:25 UTC willhbr.net Llama Share 102

The author analyzed MacOS screenshots from 2009 to 2025 and found that the brightness of the UI has increased steadily over the years, with light mode becoming significantly brighter. The author prefers dark mode to avoid eye strain and suggests a medium grey UI as a compromise.

You have three minutes to escape the perpetual underclass

136 mefengl 2026-01-17 08:23:44 UTC geohot.github.io Llama Share 227

The writer is warning tech company employees about the dangers of a neofeudal future where labor is marginalized and capital rules. They argue that accumulating wealth won't save you, as the system will find ways to make your possessions worthless.

Show HN: Streaming gigabyte medical images from S3 without downloading them

135 el_pa_b 2026-01-17 08:46:08 UTC github.com/pabannier Llama Share 44

WSI Streamer is a cloud-native tile server for Whole Slide Images that serves tiles directly from S3 with one command. It supports various features including authentication, signed URLs, and slide metadata retrieval.

Drone Hacking Part 1: Dumping Firmware and Bruteforcing ECC

131 tripdout 2026-01-17 02:35:28 UTC neodyme.io Llama Share 25

Researchers from Neodyme disassembled the Potensic Atom 2 drone and dumped its firmware from the NAND chip using SPI communication, but encountered issues with bit flips and ECC layout. They eventually found the correct ECC algorithm and parameters by bruteforcing possible combinations, allowing them to reconstruct the pure user data flash content and extract a working UBIFS image.

If you put Apple icons in reverse it looks like someone getting good at design

128 lateforwork 2026-01-17 23:47:16 UTC threads.com Llama Share 55

User praises Apple's new icon design for being simple and clear, reminiscent of the Macintosh philosophy. They also appreciate unique and identifiable icons, but dislike overly similar flat designs.

A programming language based on grammatical cases of Turkish

119 nhatcher 2026-01-17 20:44:52 UTC github.com/kip-dili Llama Share 40

Kip is an experimental programming language that uses Turkish grammatical cases in its type system. It integrates natural language morphology into programming language design for research and educational purposes.

Raising money fucked me up

118 yakkomajuri 2026-01-17 18:29:00 UTC blog.yakkomajuri.com Llama Share 38

The author quit their job to start their own business with a co-founder, Pedrique, after realizing they had enough signal to determine he was someone they wanted to start a business with. They initially wanted to work on their idea without raising VC funding, but due to Pedrique's financial constraints, they decided to raise money from angels and an early-stage fund.

An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

113 Tachyooon 2026-01-17 16:53:24 UTC bbc.com Llama Share 131

Hardwick Hall's design, built during the Little Ice Age, uses clever techniques to keep warm, such as orientation and thermal mass, which can be applied to modern homes. These Elizabethan building secrets can help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and create more efficient heating and cooling systems.

Earth is warming faster. Scientists are closing in on why (2024)

108 andsoitis 2026-01-17 17:48:06 UTC economist.com Llama Share 122

Climate modeller Gavin Schmidt was humbled by 2023's unexpectedly hot temperature. He confessed in Nature that his team struggled to understand the anomaly.

Justice Dept. launches criminal investigation of Minnesota governor

108 perihelions 2026-01-17 02:28:08 UTC washingtonpost.com Full Share 57

Italy investigates Activision Blizzard for pushing in-game purchases

102 7777777phil 2026-01-17 13:44:02 UTC techcrunch.com Llama Share 39

Italy's competition regulator AGCM investigates Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile for exploiting children with in-game purchases and misleading parental controls. The regulator also looks into data harvesting and consent process for both games.

The 600-year-old origins of the word 'hello'

90 1659447091 2026-01-17 11:51:44 UTC bbc.com Llama Share 63

The word "hello" has a short history, first appearing in print in 1826 in a Connecticut newspaper, and has since become a ubiquitous greeting in the English-speaking world. Its meaning can vary depending on the tone, inflection, and form used, conveying different emotions and intentions.

Crypto grifters are recruiting open-source AI developers

86 lalitmaganti 2026-01-17 03:07:08 UTC seangoedecke.com Llama Share 27

Software engineers Geoff Huntley and Steve Yegge were targeted by a cryptocurrency scammer who created coins $RALPH and $GAS, which have no technical connection to their projects. The scammer used Bags to airdrop coins to Yegge and Huntley, then convinced them to promote the coins, which is a form of cryptocurrency pump-and-dump scheme.

Germany's shut down of nuclear plants a 'huge mistake', says Merz

85 walterbell 2026-01-17 04:10:15 UTC brusselssignal.eu Llama Share 2

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called shutting down nuclear power plants a "huge mistake" due to energy generation capacity issues. He believes Germany should have retained its last remaining nuclear capacity during the energy crisis.

The Risks of AI in Schools Outweigh the Benefits, Report Says

83 backpackerBMW 2026-01-17 12:59:35 UTC npr.org Llama Share 85

A new study by the Brookings Institution warns that generative AI in education can undermine children's development and cause significant harm. The report recommends using AI to supplement, not replace, human teachers and addressing existing divides in access to accurate and reliable AI tools.

Every data centre is a U.S. military base

81 HotGarbage 2026-01-17 07:43:21 UTC policyalternatives.ca Llama Share 51

Canada's dependence on US tech companies has left it vulnerable to US pressure and hindered its ability to regulate the industry. To regain digital sovereignty, Canada must develop its own tech infrastructure and prioritize the public good over shareholder value.

OpenAI to test ads in ChatGPT as it burns through billions

76 Terretta 2026-01-17 19:31:15 UTC arstechnica.com Llama Share 79

OpenAI will test ads in ChatGPT for some US users, appearing at the bottom of answers in the free and $8 per month versions. The ads will be labeled and separated from the conversation history, with no influence on ChatGPT's conversational responses.

There's no single best way to store information

75 7777777phil 2026-01-17 16:17:58 UTC quantamagazine.org Llama Share 43

Computer scientists design data structures like hash tables and heaps to balance insertion and retrieval times, and space usage. These data structures help manage information efficiently, but each has its trade-offs and limitations.

Escaping the trap of US tech dependence

75 laurex 2026-01-17 16:15:32 UTC disconnect.blog Llama Share 86

Canada's dependence on US tech companies threatens its digital sovereignty and economic benefits, prompting a need for bold action to reclaim autonomy. The country must prioritize building its own digital infrastructure and services to reduce reliance on US companies and promote the public good.

Congress Wants to Hand Your Parenting to Big Tech

74 hn_acker 2026-01-17 21:54:52 UTC eff.org Llama Share 50

Lawmakers are pushing the Kids Off Social Media Act, which would ban kids under 13 from social media and hand control to Big Tech. The bill would force platforms to police families, overriding parental decisions and potentially locking accounts.

OpenAI could reportedly run out of cash by mid-2027

63 thenaturalist 2026-01-17 23:47:45 UTC tomshardware.com Llama Share 47

An economist predicts OpenAI will be destitute in 18 months due to its high spending and lack of profitability. The AI industry faces a $800 billion financial gap, with many companies burning cash faster than generating income.

Keifu – A TUI for navigating commit graphs with color and clarity

62 indigodaddy 2026-01-17 00:32:24 UTC github.com/trasta298 Llama Share 11

Keifu is a terminal UI tool that visualizes Git commit graphs and allows basic branch operations. It provides a cleaner, color-coded graph and quick branch switching with AI-assisted coding.

The thing that brought me joy

61 monooso 2026-01-17 18:42:39 UTC stephenlewis.me Llama Share 24

User has spent 20 years in the terminal, but feels their knowledge narrowed and wants to learn fundamentals. They're hesitant to rely on AI coding agents despite their improvement, fearing loss of personal satisfaction and skill.

Office app has changed to copilot and now I can't open files

61 csmantle 2026-01-17 08:48:26 UTC old.reddit.com Llama Share 12

User needs to register or sign in with developer credentials and ensure a unique User-Agent string to access the application. Alternatively, try resetting to default User-Agent or file a ticket for assistance.

Counterfactual evaluation for recommendation systems

61 kurinikku 2026-01-17 05:20:20 UTC eugeneyan.com Llama Share 4

The author discusses the limitations of offline evaluation in recommendation systems, treating recommendations as observational problems when they are actually interventional problems.

AV1 Image File Format Specification Gets an Upgrade with AVIF v1.2.0

60 breve 2026-01-17 11:09:36 UTC aomedia.org Llama Share 4

AOMedia released AVIF v1.2.0, refining the AV1 Image File Format with support for sample transforms and higher bit depths. This update enables superior image quality and flexibility in high-fidelity imaging workflows while maintaining backward compatibility.

Show HN: What if your menu bar was a keyboard-controlled command center?

58 pugdogdev 2026-01-17 17:31:21 UTC extrabar.app Full Share 40

ExtraBar brings Mac users a customizable menu bar with instant access to apps, deep links, and custom actions. Requiring zero permissions to work.

Architecture for Disposable Systems

52 tuananh 2026-01-17 11:18:49 UTC tuananh.net Llama Share 26

Software is becoming disposable due to cheap coding agents, shifting quality expectations, and the rise of "vibe coding". To survive this shift, systems must have a durable core, immutable contracts, and disposable peripherals.

Whistleblower drops 'largest ever' ICE leak to unmask agents

51 GeorgeWoff25 2026-01-17 13:02:12 UTC vechron.com Llama Share 21

A Department of Homeland Security whistleblower leaked 4,500 ICE and Border Patrol employee identities, citing the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent as the trigger. The leak aims to promote accountability, with many employees still working for DHS despite the breach.

Plunging US Birth Rate Leaves Too Many Colleges with Too Few Kids

51 toomuchtodo 2026-01-17 02:30:28 UTC bloomberg.com Full Share 45

Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our and .

A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT's drug advice. He died from an overdose

48 freediver 2026-01-17 03:50:43 UTC sfgate.com Full Share 52

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Show HN: ChunkHound, a local-first tool for understanding large codebases

46 NadavBenItzhak 2026-01-17 21:03:52 UTC github.com/chunkhound Llama Share 5

ChunkHound extracts codebase knowledge and integrates via MCP, supporting 30 languages with structured parsing. It can be installed with uv tool and used with LLMs like Claude or Codex without API keys.

Docker.how – Docker command cheat sheet

44 anagogistis 2026-01-17 20:17:49 UTC docker.how Llama Share 12

Docker is a containerization platform for building, shipping, and running applications with ease, offering various commands for managing containers, images, volumes, networks, and more. Docker provides a comprehensive set of tools for developers to create, deploy, and manage applications in a consistent and efficient manner.

The Resonant Computing Manifesto

44 sinak 2026-01-17 16:43:59 UTC resonantcomputing.org Llama Share 14

Technology can either expand our capacity or alienate us, and we're at a crossroads with AI. To build a resonant future, we must resist hyper-scale and prioritize individual and collective flourishing through principles like privacy, dedication, and adaptability.

Texas A&M university is banning Plato, citing his "gender ideology"

43 Geekette 2026-01-17 22:47:55 UTC lithub.com Llama Share 15

Texas A&M University has restricted classroom discussions of race and gender due to a new policy requiring syllabus approval. 200 courses have been cancelled or revised, including philosophy, literature, and ethnic studies classes.

Why Twenty Years of DevOps Has Failed to Do It

41 mooreds 2026-01-17 19:21:38 UTC honeycomb.io Llama Share 76

The DevOps movement aimed to connect developers with production consequences, but failed due to inadequate technology, resulting in lengthy and laborious feedback loops. AI has now made it possible to create a single feedback loop between developers and production systems, enabling swift and confident shipping with the ability to understand and validate code in production.

For me, Hacker News is probably the best community on the internet

35 DenisDolya 2026-01-17 17:41:11 UTC news.ycombinator.com Llama Share 31

Hacker News is a unique community where beginners can easily participate and contribute without limitations. It remains true to itself, free from artificial promotion and subscribers, thanks to its dedicated users.

Gut micro-organisms associated with health, nutrition and dietary intervention

34 lonelyasacloud 2026-01-17 11:14:55 UTC nature.com Llama Share 4

Researchers identified gut microbiome species associated with diet and health markers in a large-scale study of 34,000 participants. The study developed a ranking system, called the 'ZOE Microbiome Health Ranking 2025', which can be used to inform future studies on the relationship between diet, microbiome, and health.

Show HN: I built a tool to assist AI agents to know when a PR is good to go

34 dsifry 2026-01-17 09:55:56 UTC dsifry.github.io Llama Share 29

AI coding agents struggle with determining completion due to unclear review comments and unresolved threads. A tool like gtg helps by combining CI and commit statuses into a single state, distinguishing between unresolved discussions and addressed issues.

The death of software development

31 andrewdb 2026-01-17 20:49:15 UTC mike.tech Llama Share 23

Michael Arnaldi, Effectful Technologies founder, claims AI power users are working with refined techniques, cloning entire companies in hours, and that the average developer is unaware of this change. He's building an open-source project to demonstrate this capability.

Show HN: Minikv – Distributed key-value and object store in Rust (Raft, S3 API)

31 whispem 2026-01-17 19:39:36 UTC github.com/whispem Llama Share 31

minikv is a Rust-based distributed key-value store with strong consistency, durability, and observability, suitable for learning and experimenting with distributed systems. It's a reference implementation for engineers learning Rust and distributed systems.

Artisanal Code

22 sunnyam 2026-01-17 03:27:31 UTC sunnyamrat.com Llama Share 7

The author discusses the rise of AI in software engineering, arguing that it's not replacing code but rather augmenting it. They believe AI-generated code can be valuable for simple tasks but becomes problematic when used for complex projects.

Apples, Trees, and Quasimodes

18 entaloneralie 2026-01-17 16:44:45 UTC systemstack.dev Llama Share 2

Jef Raskin's humane computing vision aimed to create machines that were simpler, kinder, and more aligned with human thought. His designs, such as the Canon Cat, embodied humane ideals but also narrowed them, raising questions about the balance between protection and openness.

Meditation and Unconscious: A Buddhist Monk and a Neuroscientist (2022)

18 arunc 2026-01-17 05:49:23 UTC thereader.mitpress.mit.edu Full Share 7

You don't have permission to access "http://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/meditation-and-the-unconscious-buddhism-neuroscience-conversation/" on this server.

Fitdrop: Personal exploration of fashion from 1980 to 2025

17 num42 2026-01-17 11:28:47 UTC fitdrop.cc Llama Share 4

You used Nano Banana to create specific fashion image prompts and successfully built a Fashion Expert agent. This achievement helped you gain confidence in using physics engines like matter.js.

AI industry insiders launch site to poison the data that feeds them

14 Teever 2026-01-17 20:29:26 UTC theregister.com Llama Share 2

Industry insiders are calling for a mass data poisoning effort to undermine AI technology through the Poison Fountain project. They aim to make people aware of AI's vulnerability to poisoning and encourage others to create information weapons to counter the technology.

If writing the code is the easy part, why would I want someone else to write it?

11 todsacerdoti 2026-01-17 21:40:58 UTC tldraw.dev Llama Share 3

The author of tldraw is considering shutting down external contributions due to an influx of low-quality AI-generated pull requests. They argue that code is now easy to write with AI tools, making external contributions less valuable.

Kagi Small Web

11 susam 2026-01-17 20:02:38 UTC kagi.com Llama Share 1

Kagi aims to humanize the web by surfacing people behind online posts and stories. It amplifies genuine voices on the "small web" through its search results.

An explanation of cheating in Doom2 Deathmatch (1999)

11 Lammy 2026-01-17 10:29:05 UTC doom2.net Llama Share 1

This page explains various cheats in Doom2 that provide an unfair advantage, affecting movement, vision, sound, aim, and opponent location, and provides tools to detect and prove their use. The goal is to keep netparties and tournaments fair, especially those with cash prizes, by making cheat detection information widely available.