You Wouldn't Steal a Font
How a 20 year old bug in GTA San Andreas surfaced in Windows 11 24H2
The article discusses a bug in the recent Windows 11 2H2 update that causes issues when launching the classic game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The author provides a step-by-step guide to resolving the problem by enabling compatibility mode for the game.
Teaching LLMs how to solid model
The article explores the potential of using large language models (LLMs) to teach solid modeling, a fundamental skill in computer-aided design (CAD) and engineering. It discusses the challenges and opportunities in training LLMs to understand and generate 3D solid models, highlighting the implications for the future of design and manufacturing workflows.
AI Horseless Carriages
This article explores the early history of the automobile, charting the transition from horse-drawn carriages to the development of self-propelled 'horseless carriages' in the late 19th century. It examines the technological advancements and social implications of this transformative shift in transportation.
Graphics livecoding in Common Lisp
This article explores the author's experience with live-coding in the programming language Clojure. It discusses the benefits and challenges of live-coding, the author's process, and the tools and techniques used to facilitate a smooth live-coding experience.
Sail-Trim Simulator
The article describes a web-based flight simulator that allows users to experience various aircraft and environments. It provides an immersive and realistic simulation experience for aviation enthusiasts and those interested in exploring the world of flight.
C++26: more constexpr in the core language
The article discusses the upcoming changes to the C++26 standard, focusing on improvements to the constexpr language feature. It highlights how these changes will enable more powerful compile-time programming and provide greater flexibility for developers working with C++.
The Cost of AI Coding
The article explores the hidden costs and potential drawbacks of using AI-powered coding tools, such as the environmental impact, job displacement, and the risk of perpetuating biases in software development.
First Successful Lightning Triggering and Guiding Using a Drone
NTT and DOCOMO announce partnership to accelerate 6G development, focusing on ultra-high-speed, high-capacity, and low-latency technologies that will shape the future of communication networks.
Launch HN: Cua (YC X25) – Open-Source Docker Container for Computer-Use Agents
Hey HN, we’re Francesco and Alessandro, the creators of c/ua (https://www.trycua.com), a Docker‑style container runtime that lets AI agents drive full operating systems in lightweight, isolated VMs. Our entire framework is open‑source (https://github.com/trycua/cua), and today we’re thrilled to have our Launch HN!
Check out our demo to see it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee9qf-13gho, and for more examples - including Tableau, Photoshop, CAD workflows - see the demos in our repo: https://github.com/trycua/cua.
For Computer-Use AI agents to be genuinely useful, they must interact with your system's native applications. But giving full access to your host device is risky. What if the agent's process gets compromised, or the LLM hallucinates and leaks your data? And practically speaking, do you really want to give up control of your entire machine just so the agent can do its job?
The idea behind c/ua is simple: let agents operate in a mirror of the user’s system - isolated, secure, and disposable - so users can fire-and-forget complex tasks without needing to dedicate their entire system to the agent. By running in a virtualized environment, agents can carry out their work without interrupting your workflow or risking the integrity of your system.
While exploring this idea, I discovered Apple’s Virtualization.Framework and realized it offered fast and lightweight virtualization on Apple Silicon. This led us to build a high-performance virtualization layer and, eventually, a computer-use interface that allows agents to interact with apps just like a human would - without taking over the entire system.
As we built this, we decided to open-source the virtualization core as a standalone CLI tool called Lume (Show HN here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42908061). c/ua builds on top of Lume, providing a full framework for running agent workflows inside secure macOS or Linux VMs, so your system stays free for you to use while the agent works its magic in the background.
With Cua you can build an AI agent within a virtual environment to: - navigate and interact with any application's interface; - read screen content and perform keyboard/mouse actions; - switch between applications and self-debug when needed; - operate in a secure sandbox with controlled file access. All of this occurs in a fully isolated environment, ensuring your host system, files, and sensitive data remain completely secure, while you continue using your device without interruption.
People are using c/ua to: - Bypass CryptoJS-based encryption and anti-bot measures to interact with modern web apps reliably; - Automate Tableau dashboards and export insights via Claude Desktop; - Drive Photoshop for batch image editing by prompt; - Modify 3D models in Fusion 360 with a CAD Copilot; -Extract data from legacy ERP apps without brittle screen‑scraping scripts.
We’re currently working on multi‑VM orchestration for parallel agentic workflows, Windows and Linux VM support, and episodic and long-term memory for CUA Agents.
On the open‑source side, c/ua is 100 % free under the MIT license - run it locally with any LLM you like. We’re also gearing up a hosted orchestration service for teams who want zero‑ops setup (early access sign‑ups opening soon).
We’d love to hear from you. What desktop or legacy apps do you wish you could automate? Any thoughts, feedback, or horror stories from fragile AI automations are more than welcome!
A Computational Proof of the Highest-Scoring Boggle Board
The article discusses the creation of a computer program that can solve the game of Boggle, a word-search puzzle. The program uses a combination of techniques, including tree-based search algorithms and efficient data structures, to quickly identify all possible words on a Boggle board.
Spring 83: a draft protocol intended to suggest new ways of relating online
The article discusses the development of Spring 83, a new web framework that aims to improve on the shortcomings of existing frameworks by prioritizing simplicity, productivity, and developer experience. It highlights the framework's key features, including its minimal configuration, emphasis on convention over configuration, and focus on rapid prototyping.
The Future of MCPs
The article discusses the increasing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) in the United States, highlighting the growth in EV sales and the factors driving this trend, such as government incentives and improvements in battery technology.
Willy Ley Was a Prophet of Space Travel. His Ashes Were Found in a Basement.
'Bright Circle' and 'Margaret Fuller': The Rise of the Transcendental Woman
The article explores the life and legacy of Margaret Fuller, a prominent figure in the Transcendentalist movement of 19th-century America, and her contributions to the rise of the 'transcendental woman' through her influential writings and advocacy for women's rights and intellectual equality.
Sustain your creative drive in the face of technological change
This article profiles multi-disciplinary artist Jack Rusher, who discusses the importance of maintaining creative drive in the face of technological change, emphasizing the need for artists to continually evolve their practice and adapt to new tools and mediums.
Automated Antenna Design with Evolutionary Algorithms [pdf] (2006)
The article explores the potential of using nano-engineered materials to improve the performance and reliability of space power systems, focusing on the development of high-efficiency solar cells and advanced thermal management technologies.
MinC Is Not Cygwin
The article provides an overview of the Command Line Revolution (MINC), a movement that aims to promote the use of command-line interfaces and empower users to take control of their digital experiences. It highlights the benefits of command-line tools and the ongoing efforts to make them more accessible and user-friendly.
Ninth Circuit Takes a Wrecking Ball to Internet Personal Jurisdiction Law
The article discusses a recent Ninth Circuit court decision that significantly limits the ability of companies to be sued in states where they have minimal contacts, potentially making it more difficult for plaintiffs to bring lawsuits against online businesses in their home states.
How ZGC allocates memory for the Java heap
The article discusses the internals of the Zig programming language's garbage collector, focusing on its heap memory allocation mechanism. It explains how the Zig compiler optimizes memory usage by leveraging the compiler's knowledge of the program's structure to efficiently manage memory allocation and deallocation.
They made computers behave like annoying salesmen
The article discusses an experiment where researchers made computer systems behave like annoying salesmen, revealing how users react to such interactions. The findings suggest that designing AI systems with more empathy and consideration for user experience can lead to better human-computer interactions.
Show HN: Nowrite.fun – If you stop typing, your text disappears
Hey HN,
I built a small experimental writing tool called nowrite.fun.
The concept is brutally simple: You set a timer (e.g. 5 minutes), start writing — and if you stop typing, your text vanishes. No drafts, no recovery, no forgiveness.
Inspired by apps like Write or Die, but rebuilt from scratch with a lightweight stack: Deno + TypeScript, XState, anime.js, and canvas-confetti. Hosted on Deno Deploy.
It’s a tool for short, focused writing sprints — a tweet, a blog paragraph, a newsletter blurb. Keep typing → you win. Hesitate → it’s gone.
It’s minimal, a bit stressful, and surprisingly motivating.
I also posted it on Product Hunt to see if this kind of weird, borderline masochistic UX resonates with anyone: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/no-write If you find it fun or useful, I’d really appreciate an upvote!
Would love your thoughts, feature ideas, or performance roasts.
Try it here: https://nowrite.fun
Lessons learned operating petabyte-scale ClickHouse clusters: Part II
The article discusses the author's experiences operating and maintaining a ClickHouse cluster, highlighting the importance of monitoring, automation, and troubleshooting techniques to ensure the system's reliability and performance.
Samurai Cops: Inside Edo's Police Force During Feudal Japan
The article explores the role of samurai within the police force during Japan's Edo period, revealing how these elite warriors were responsible for maintaining law and order in the feudal society of the time.
The Really Big One (2015)
The article examines the potential for a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami to strike the Pacific Northwest, highlighting the region's vulnerability and the need for better disaster preparedness and resilience planning.
Show HN: Node.js video tutorials where you can edit and run the code
Hey HN,
I'm Sindre, CTO of Scrimba (YC S20). We originally launched Scrimba to make video learning more interactive for aspiring frontend developers. So instead of passively watching videos, you can jump in an experiment with the code directly inside the video player. Since launch, almost two million people have used Scrimba to grow their skills.
However, one limitation is that we've only supported frontend code, as our interactive videos run in the browser, whereas most of our learners want to go fullstack—building APIs, handling auth, working with databases, and so forth.
To fix this, we spent the last 6 months integrating StackBlitz WebContainers into Scrimba. This enables a full Node.js environment—including a terminal, shell, npm access, and a virtual file system—directly inside our video player. Everything runs in the browser.
Here is a 2-minute recorded demo: https://scrimba.com/s08dpq3nom
If you want to see more, feel free to enroll into any of the seven fullstack courses we've launched so far, on subject like Node, Next, Express, SQL, Vite, and more. We've opened them up for Hacker News today so that you don't even need to create an account to watch the content:
https://scrimba.com/fullstack
Other notable highlights about our "IDE videos":
- Based on events (code edits, cursor moves, etc) instead of pixels
- Roughly 100x smaller than traditional videos
- Recording is simple: just talk while you code
- Can be embedded in blogs, docs, or courses, like MDN does here: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/curriculum/core/css-fund...
- Entirely built in Imba, a language I created myself: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28207662
We think this format could be useful for open-source maintainers and API-focused teams looking to create interactive docs or walkthroughs. Our videos are already embedded by MDN, LangChain, and Coursera.
If you maintain a library or SDK and want an interactive video about it, let us know—happy to record one for free that you can use however you like.
Would love to answer any questions or hear people's feedback!
Show HN: Body Controlled 3D Dino Game
Hey HN, I am Niko.
I've built this 3D Dino Game In browser using tech like three.js and MoveNet (tensorflow).
Basically, it's a normal 3D dinosaur game with a twist: you need to actually perform actions irl to avoid obstacles.
Duck to crouch, jump to jump, raise left hand - go left, raise right hand - go right.
Game is using your phone/laptop camera to track your body movements and perform in-game actions.
PS. Game is 100% client side and I don't record/track/use/save any of your data
Hope you find it worth playing. (better play on PC)
It's a 100% FREE browser game with no login! Please feel welcome to DM feedback or reply or anything!
How I blog with Obsidian, Hugo, GitHub, and Cloudflare
This article explains how the author uses Obsidian, a popular note-taking app, to write and publish their blog posts, including the use of Git and GitHub actions for instant deployment.
The Danglepoise
The article discusses the history and design of the iconic Anglepoise lamp, a British industrial design classic known for its distinctive adjustable arm and spring-based counterbalance mechanism. It explores the lamp's enduring popularity and evolution over the decades as a versatile and functional lighting solution.
Collatz's Ant
The article discusses the Collatz conjecture and its connection to the behavior of an ant moving on a grid, exploring the similarities between the two seemingly unrelated concepts and the insights they can provide into complex mathematical problems.