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The article discusses the development of a miniature, low-cost telescope called the 'Miniscope', which is designed to be affordable and accessible to amateur astronomers and educators. It highlights the Miniscope's compact design, its ability to capture high-quality images, and its potential applications in astronomy education and outreach.

The article explores the challenges of managing complex software systems with a large number of conditional statements, and discusses potential strategies for improving code organization and maintainability, such as refactoring and using design patterns.

https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/latest-model

System card: https://cdn.openai.com/pdf/3a4153c8-c748-4b71-8e31-aecbde944...

The article explores the revival of the Nokia N900 smartphone, a pioneering device that has gained a dedicated following years after its discontinuation. It delves into the efforts of enthusiasts to keep the N900 alive and functional through software modifications and customizations.

This article discusses strategies for protecting AI-powered web scrapers from being blocked or banned by online platforms, including the use of proxy networks, rotating IP addresses, and mimicking human browsing behavior.

This article discusses the author's experience with Google de-indexing their entire Bear Blog without explanation, highlighting the challenges faced by website owners when search engines make unexpected decisions that significantly impact their online presence and traffic.

The article explores the concept of a smartphone without a battery, discussing how it could be powered by ambient energy harvesting and wireless charging to provide a sustainable and always-on device experience.

The article discusses the development of a new drought-tolerant maize variety by researchers in Kenya, which is expected to help smallholder farmers improve their yields and food security in the face of climate change and unpredictable weather patterns.

The article profiles British explorer Karl Bushby, who is attempting to walk around the world, a journey he started in 1998 and expects to complete in 2035. It details the challenges and progress of his unprecedented expedition, which has taken him through dozens of countries over the past two decades.

Rivian unveils its custom silicon R2 LiDAR, a roadmap for universal hands-free driving, and details on its next-generation autonomy platform. The article highlights Rivian's advancements in developing in-house technology to enhance the safety and capabilities of its electric vehicles.

The article discusses strategies for maintaining a high-quality codebase, including embracing refactoring, prioritizing technical debt, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. It emphasizes the importance of balancing feature delivery with sustainable code practices to ensure the long-term health and success of a software project.

Octo is an open-source assembly language interpreter for creating and running retro-style games and programs. It provides a platform for developers to write and execute code in a compact, efficient, and customizable environment inspired by classic 8-bit systems.

The article discusses the importance of choosing effective and memorable names for products, companies, and other entities. It explores the factors to consider, such as meaning, emotion, memorability, and uniqueness, in order to create impactful and successful names.

The article describes how to build a simple drawing machine using everyday materials. It provides step-by-step instructions and diagrams to create a device that can produce intricate patterns and drawings using a pen or marker.

The article explores the versatility of SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) by demonstrating how it can be used to create complex visual effects and animations without relying on external libraries or frameworks. It showcases the power and flexibility of SVG as a standalone solution for web development tasks.

See also: https://blog.cloudflare.com/react2shell-rsc-vulnerabilities-..., https://nextjs.org/blog/security-update-2025-12-11

The article discusses Litestream, a lightweight, open-source database replication tool that provides a virtual file system (VFS) layer for SQLite databases. Litestream enables easy backup and restore of SQLite databases, making it a convenient solution for managing and maintaining SQLite-powered applications.

Stoolap is an open-source, self-hosted application platform that simplifies the process of deploying and managing web applications. It provides a unified interface for managing multiple applications, databases, and other services, making it easier to develop and maintain complex software projects.

Related from yesterday: Show HN: Gemini Pro 3 imagines the HN front page 10 years from now - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46205632

Hey HN, Waleed here. We're building Sim (https://sim.ai/), an open-source visual editor to build agentic workflows. Repo here: https://github.com/simstudioai/sim/. Docs here: https://docs.sim.ai.

You can run Sim locally using Docker, with no execution limits or other restrictions.

We started building Sim almost a year ago after repeatedly troubleshooting why our agents failed in production. Code-first frameworks felt hard to debug because of implicit control flow, and workflow platforms added more overhead than they removed. We wanted granular control and easy observability without piecing everything together ourselves.

We launched Sim [1][2] as a drag-and-drop canvas around 6 months ago. Since then, we've added:

- 138 blocks: Slack, GitHub, Linear, Notion, Supabase, SSH, TTS, SFTP, MongoDB, S3, Pinecone, ...

- Tool calling with granular control: forced, auto

- Agent memory: conversation memory with sliding window support (by last n messages or tokens)

- Trace spans: detailed logging and observability for nested workflows and tool calling

- Native RAG: upload documents, we chunk, embed with pgvector, and expose vector search to agents

- Workflow deployment versioning with rollbacks

- MCP support, Human-in-the-loop block

- Copilot to build workflows using natural language (just shipped a new version that also acts as a superagent and can call into any of your connected services directly, not just build workflows)

Under the hood, the workflow is a DAG with concurrent execution by default. Nodes run as soon as their dependencies (upstream blocks) are satisfied. Loops (for, forEach, while, do-while) and parallel fan-out/join are also first-class primitives.

Agent blocks are pass-through to the provider. You pick your model (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Ollama, vLLM), and and we pass through prompts, tools, and response format directly to the provider API. We normalize response shapes for block interoperability, but we're not adding layers that obscure what's happening.

We're currently working on our own MCP server and the ability to deploy workflows as MCP servers. Would love to hear your thoughts and where we should take it next :)

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43823096

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44052766

The article explores how Craft, a software company, aims to create products that evoke emotions and meaningful experiences for users, rather than solely focusing on features or efficiency. It emphasizes Craft's mission to craft software that makes people feel something.

The article explores the rise of '404 Media', a zine that celebrates the affinity between Linux and creative communities. It examines how the zine serves as a platform for showcasing the diverse applications of Linux in art, music, and other creative endeavors.

The article explores the architectural design and decision-making process behind the 'Not Bad' podcast, delving into the technical aspects, creative considerations, and the goal of crafting an engaging listening experience for the audience.

This repository contains a collection of projects related to Albert Einstein, including simulations, visualizations, and educational resources. The projects cover various aspects of Einstein's life, work, and scientific contributions, providing a comprehensive understanding of his legacy.

Got this scam email about an opportunity to earn passive income by acting as the front for an employment fraud scheme.

How does the scammer benefit from this operation?

I can think of 2 ways:

- Personal / private data mining, but this seems quite work intensive for that purpose - Actually going through with the whole scam and disappearing after first salary payments come through

Any other ideas? Anyone have experience or insight about this?

---

Full email below:

"Hi <name>, I hope you’re doing well.

My name is <sender>, and I’ve been a software developer for over 7 years — mainly full stack, with a strong focus on frontend. I’m reaching out because I’m looking for someone to collaborate with, and I think you're the best one whom I'm looking for.

I used to partner with my friend Jim, and we worked really well together. Sadly, he was diagnosed with cancer about a month ago, and he advised me to find someone new to team up with. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.

Here’s the idea: I’ll handle sending proposals to companies, and you would take care of the interviews with recruiters. My English isn’t strong enough for U.S. interviews, so I’m looking for someone who is confident in English and also has strong technical knowledge. If we land a position, you’d receive a share of the monthly salary, while I would take care of the actual development work.

My initial suggestion is a 50/50 split of the salary after tax. For example, if a job pays $10K per month and taxes are 30% ($3K), the remaining $7K would be split evenly — $3.5K each.

I will manage all the proposals and keep you informed about interview schedules. If things work out and we join a team, I’ll handle the project development. Then you'll get profit every month without any work.

If this sounds interesting to you, please let me know — I’d really like the chance to work together.

Thank you, Best regards, <sender>"

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/11/disney-openai-sora-character...

The article discusses the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including its effect on the economy, travel, and daily life, as well as the efforts made by governments and individuals to combat the spread of the virus and mitigate its consequences.

Almond, an artificial intelligence company, is hiring for various roles including machine learning engineers, data scientists, and full-stack engineers to help develop their conversational AI platform.