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The article explores the creation of ASCII art, a technique that converts images into text-based representations using various ASCII characters. It provides a step-by-step guide on how to create and customize ASCII art, highlighting the creative potential of this unique digital art form.

The article discusses the use of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effectiveness of products and interventions in the technology industry. It highlights the benefits of RCTs, such as their ability to provide reliable and unbiased data, and discusses the practical implementation of RCTs in the context of tech companies.

The article explores the engineering feats of an Elizabethan mansion, Barsham Hall, which used innovative heating and ventilation systems to maintain a comfortable temperature, even in the harsh winters of 16th-century England. The article highlights how the mansion's design and construction techniques provided a model for modern energy-efficient buildings.

Hi HN,

I’m releasing minikv, a distributed key-value and object store in Rust.

What is minikv? minikv is an open-source, distributed storage engine built for learning, experimentation, and self-hosted setups. It combines a strongly-consistent key-value database (Raft), S3-compatible object storage, and basic multi-tenancy. I started minikv as a learning project about distributed systems, and it grew into something production-ready and fun to extend.

Features/highlights:

- Raft consensus with automatic failover and sharding - S3-compatible HTTP API (plus REST/gRPC APIs) - Pluggable storage backends: in-memory, RocksDB, Sled - Multi-tenant: per-tenant namespaces, role-based access, quotas, and audit - Metrics (Prometheus), TLS, JWT-based API keys - Easy to deploy (single binary, works with Docker/Kubernetes)

Quick demo (single node):

git clone https://github.com/whispem/minikv.git cd minikv cargo run --release -- --config config.example.toml curl localhost:8080/health/ready # S3 upload + read curl -X PUT localhost:8080/s3/mybucket/hello -d "hi HN" curl localhost:8080/s3/mybucket/hello

Docs, cluster setup, and architecture details are in the repo. I’d love to hear feedback, questions, ideas, or your stories running distributed infra in Rust!

Repo: https://github.com/whispem/minikv Crate: https://crates.io/crates/minikv

The article discusses the recurring dream of replacing developers with artificial intelligence and automation, highlighting the challenges and limitations of such efforts, while emphasizing the continued need for human expertise and creativity in software development.

The article explores the rise and fall of the Olivetti Company, a pioneering Italian electronics and typewriter manufacturer. It delves into the company's innovative design, global expansion, and ultimate decline due to various factors, including changing market dynamics and organizational challenges.

The article explores the fundamental differences between various information storage media, including DNA, magnetic tape, and optical discs, highlighting their unique strengths and limitations in terms of storage capacity, access speed, energy efficiency, and longevity.

OpenAI plans to start testing ads within its popular ChatGPT chatbot as a way to generate revenue and offset the platform's high operational costs. The move comes as OpenAI faces pressure to find ways to monetize ChatGPT, which has become a major resource drain for the company as it works to improve the AI system.

The article discusses the use of counterfactual evaluation, a technique to assess the impact of changes to machine learning models, and highlights its importance in real-world applications where the consequences of model changes can have significant implications.

The article discusses common misconceptions about large software companies, such as the belief that they are slow, bureaucratic, and unresponsive to customer needs. It argues that these perceptions are often inaccurate and that large companies can be agile and innovative when they prioritize customer satisfaction.

The article discusses the potential impact of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot, on various industries, including education, creative fields, and customer service. It explores both the benefits and concerns surrounding the technology's growing capabilities and usage.

The article discusses the escape attempts of East German citizens across the border to West Germany using hot air balloons, highlighting the risks and challenges they faced in their pursuit of freedom during the Cold War era.

The article explores the complex life and legacy of Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip. It delves into the controversies and criticisms surrounding Adams' political and social commentaries, and examines how his work has evolved and endured over time.

Hey Hacker News The ones that know me here know that I am a productivity geek.

After DockFlow to manage my Dock and ExtraDock, which gives me more space to manage my apps and files, I decided to tackle the macOS big boss: the menu bar.

I spend ~40% of my day context-switching between apps — Zoom meetings, Slack channels, Code projects, and Figma designs. My macOS menu bar has too many useless icons I almost never use.

So I thought to myself, how can I use this area to improve my workflows?

Most solutions (Bartender, Ice) require screen recording permissions, and did not really solve my issues. I wanted custom menus in the apps, not the ones that the developers decided for me.

After a few iterations and exploring different solutions, ExtraBar was created. Instead of just hiding icons, what if the menu bar became a keyboard-controlled command center that has the actions I need? No permissions. No telemetry. Just local actions.

This is ExtraBar: Set up the menu with the apps and actions YOU need, and use a hotkey to bring it up with full keyboard navigation built in.

What you can do: - Jump into your next Zoom call with a keystroke - Open specific Slack channels instantly (no menu clicking) - Launch VS Code projects directly - Trigger Apple Shortcuts workflows - Integrate with Raycast for advanced automation - Custom deep links to Figma, Spotify, or any URL

Real-world example: I've removed my menu bar icons. Everything is keyboard- controlled: cmd+B → 2 (Zoom) → 4 (my personal meeting) → I'm in.

Why it's different: Bartender and Ice hide icons. ExtraBar uses your menu bar to do things. Bartender requires screen recording permissions. Ice requires accessibility permissions. ExtraBar works offline with zero permissions - (Enhance functionality with only accessibility permissions, not a must)

Technical: - Written in SwiftUI; native on Apple Silicon and Intel - Zero OS permissions required (optional accessibility for enhanced keyboard nav) - All data stored locally (no cloud, no telemetry) - Very Customizable with custom configuration built in for popular apps + fully customizable configuration actions. - Import/export action configurations

The app is improving weekly based on community feedback. We're also building configuration sharing so users can share setups.

Already got some great feedback from Reddit and Producthunt, and I can't wait to get yours!

Check out the website: https://extrabar.app ProductHunt: https://www.producthunt.com/products/extrabar

The article discusses the integration of ClickHouse, a fast and efficient open-source analytical database, with other tools and systems. It highlights the benefits of using ClickHouse for data processing and analysis, and provides guidance on how to set up and configure ClickHouse in various environments.

The article outlines 16 best practices for managing Dependabot notifications and reducing 'noise' in the development workflow. It provides guidance on configuring Dependabot, setting appropriate thresholds, and automating the review and update process to streamline dependency management.

The article explores how the ways we greet each other reflect cultural differences and change over time, examining how greetings like 'hello', 'hiya', and 'aloha' have evolved and carry varying connotations in different contexts.

The article discusses the concept of 'humane computing', which aims to create technologies that enhance and empower humans rather than replace or control them. It explores the challenges and principles of developing technologies that are ethical, user-centric, and aligned with human values and well-being.

WSIStreamer is an open-source platform for real-time whole-slide image (WSI) visualization and analysis. It enables the streaming and exploration of large-scale pathology slides, allowing users to view, annotate, and analyze digital histology samples remotely.

This article describes a tool called 'maptoposter' that allows users to convert maps into high-quality posters. The tool offers features such as customizable design options, support for various map formats, and the ability to print the resulting posters.

Resonant Computing explores the frontiers of quantum computing, exploring topics like quantum algorithms, hardware, and the societal implications of this emerging technology. The site provides educational resources and insights into the latest developments in this rapidly evolving field.

The article explores the author's personal journey of finding joy in a simple act of kindness, highlighting the transformative power of small, meaningful gestures in our daily lives.

The article discusses the Vastaamo data breach in Finland, where the private information and therapy notes of thousands of patients were stolen and held for ransom. The incident highlights the importance of healthcare data security and the need for robust privacy protections in the digital age.

Related: Scaling long-running autonomous coding - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46624541 - Jan 2026 (174 comments)

According to the article, 2025 was the third hottest year on record, highlighting the ongoing trend of global temperature rise and the need for continued action to address climate change.

I've been using Claude Code heavily, and kept hitting the same issue: the agent would push changes, respond to reviews, wait for CI... but never really know when it was done.

It would poll CI in loops. Miss actionable comments buried among 15 CodeRabbit suggestions. Or declare victory while threads were still unresolved.

The core problem: no deterministic way for an agent to know a PR is ready to merge.

So I built gtg (Good To Go). One command, one answer:

$ gtg 123 OK PR #123: READY CI: success (5/5 passed) Threads: 3/3 resolved

It aggregates CI status, classifies review comments (actionable vs. noise), and tracks thread resolution. Returns JSON for agents or human-readable text.

The comment classification is the interesting part — it understands CodeRabbit severity markers, Greptile patterns, Claude's blocking/approval language. "Critical: SQL injection" gets flagged; "Nice refactor!" doesn't.

MIT licensed, pure Python. I use this daily in a larger agent orchestration system — would love feedback from others building similar workflows.

Let's Encrypt announces the upcoming general availability of its 6-day and IP-based certificates, providing users with more flexible and accessible options for HTTPS encryption on their websites.

In 2025, the US experienced a surge in electricity demand, which was primarily met by a significant increase in solar power generation, accounting for 61% of the total electricity supply.