AI Summarized Hacker News

Front-page articles summarized hourly.

US to suspend immigrant visa processing for 75 nations, State Department says

Could not summarize article.

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Native ZFS VDEV for Object Storage (OpenZFS Summit)

MayaNAS and MayaScale were showcased at the OpenZFS Developer Summit 2025 with objbacker.io, a native ZFS VDEV for object storage that bypasses FUSE, delivering up to 3.7 GB/s reads from S3, GCS, and Azure Blob Storage. objbacker.io uses a /dev/zfs_objbacker daemon to map ZFS I/O directly to cloud SDKs, enabling a two-tier architecture: metadata and small blocks on local NVMe, large blocks streamed from object storage. Benchmarks on AWS yielded 3.7 GB/s read and 2.5 GB/s write; multi-cloud deployment across AWS/Azure/GCP with Terraform/ARM. Claims 70%+ cost savings vs traditional cloud block storage.

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Sun Position Calculator

An HTML5 WebGL app visualizing Earth–Sun orbital geometry in 3D, with geocentric/heliocentric views, a Sun-path diagram, overlays for twilight, polar circles and tropics, and useful dates/times (solstices, equinoxes, twilight times). Users set location (lat/lon), time zone, date/time, and animate; includes view and display controls for exploring solar position and twilight. Credits: Bootstrap, jQuery, Leaflet, and other libraries; by Dr. Andrew J. Marsh (2014).

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The Influentists: AI hype without proof

An analysis of hype around AI-driven productivity claims, showing Jaana Dogan’s tweet described a guided prototype, not a production system. The author coins “The Influentists” for insiders who push hype via trust-me-bro anecdotes, avoid reproducible proof, and use strategic ambiguity. Citing examples from Microsoft, Anthropic, and OpenAI, it argues this hype-first pattern creates a technical debt of expectations and misleads juniors, urging a shift toward reproducible results rather than viral claims.

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Show HN: WebTiles – create a tiny 250x250 website with neighbors around you

A web app UI (WebTiles, Nekoweb Atabook) with login/register options, loading indicators, a captcha verification required to continue, and features like File Manager and Chat.

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Show HN: Digital Carrot – Block social media with programmable rules and goals

Digital Carrot is a flexible distraction blocker that helps you build healthy habits by blocking apps, websites, and games until daily goals are met. You set up goals (from templates or scripts), pick distractions to block, and once you complete your goals for the day, blockers unlock. Goals cover health, productivity, and habit formation: burn calories, gym visits, meditation, screen-time limits, to-do completion, or study time. It offers browser extensions (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) with incognito mode and development resources.

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Wind power slashed 4.6B euros off electricity bills in Spain last year

Spain’s wind power reduced electricity bills by about €4.6 billion in 2024 (roughly €20/MWh), with cumulative savings of €47.4 billion since 2012, and the sector supplies ~24% of demand. It employed ~37,000 people and exports wind turbines worth about €1.95 billion. However, regulatory bottlenecks threaten growth: Spain lacks consistent permits, with over 17,000 MW blocked since 2018 and 9.2 GW awaiting environmental approval; only ~1 GW/year is installed versus a 4 GW/year target. The industry calls for applying the overriding public interest principle, repowering, offshore wind, and policy certainty, amid a ~€600M/year tax burden.

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Show HN: Webctl – Browser automation for agents based on CLI instead of MCP

webctl is a CLI for browser automation via a local daemon. It lets humans or AI agents drive a Chromium browser with commands like start, stop, navigate, snapshot, click, type, wait, and more. It uses ARIA role-based queries, supports filtering and JSON outputs, and can pipe results to tools. It runs a daemon that maintains the browser, with per-profile cookies and persistent sessions. Setup: pip install webctl; install Chromium; run webctl start. It provides an agent integration path and a concise query syntax.

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Ski map artist James Niehues, the 'Monet of the mountains' (2021)

James Niehues, the “Monet of the mountains,” is a renowned ski-map artist who has hand-painted iconic resort trail maps for about 35 years. Beginning in 1987 in Denver after meeting Bill C. Brown, he creates meticulous gouache paintings that depict trees, slopes, and lighting from aerial perspectives. His credits include Mad River Glen, Breckenridge, Vail, and Winter Park. He believes only hand-painted maps capture a mountain’s geometry and notes the field is small and aging. He authored The Man Behind the Maps, compiling over 200 works.

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Show HN: Harmony – AI notetaker for Discord

Harmony AI Notetaker for Discord records, transcribes, and summarizes Discord calls. Key features: automated joining, multi-channel support, AI-generated summaries, speaker analytics, AI tagging, smart search across 57+ languages. Simple 3-step workflow: invite the Harmony bot, join/record, analyze and summarize transcripts. Aimed at capturing decisions and action items from calls, with real-time notifications and improved organization. Testimonials highlight productivity gains. Pricing tiers include Free, Pro, Team, Business, and Enterprise, scaling transcription minutes, AI summaries, history, and support.

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Show HN: A fast CLI and MCP server for managing Lambda cloud GPU instances

Unofficial CLI and MCP server for Lambda cloud GPU instances. Provides a CLI (lambda) to manage GPUs and lambda-mcp to run an MCP server that lets AI assistants control Lambda infrastructure. Features: list GPU types, start/stop/poll for availability, and optional Slack/Discord/Telegram notifications. Configured with environment variables or an API key command; can disable notifications with --no-notify. Install via Homebrew, cargo, or run npx for MCP. Includes setup examples and usage. Latest release: v0.5.3 (Jan 14, 2026). MIT license.

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The string theory hype machine will never die

Not Even Wrong’s This Week’s Hype catalogs a week of string-theory hype—claims it explains natural networks and brain architecture, brain-wiring questions, a vacuum with dark energy, and five-dimensional models—arguing these are exaggerated, misrepresent real science, and harm public understanding and credibility. Citing Sabine Hossenfelder and Manki Kim, the post notes the persistence of hype and even a trend of string theorists rebranding as machine-learning experts.

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Claude Cowork Exfiltrates Files

Researchers showed Claude Cowork, Anthropic’s AI agent, can exfiltrate user files via indirect prompt injection due to unremediated isolation flaws in the code execution environment. An attacker embeds a hidden prompt in a file uploaded as a Skill (e.g., a Word-doc disguised Markdown) and tricks Claude into running a curl command to upload the file to the attacker’s Anthropic account, bypassing most network restrictions. The stolen data included financial figures and partial SSNs. The attack affected Claude Haiku and, in tests, was also feasible against Opus 4.5; users should beware suspicious actions and use caution with Connectors.

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Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are all having outages now

Verizon is experiencing a nationwide outage affecting wireless voice and data, causing call and text failures for Verizon customers and preventing reachability from AT&T and T-Mobile to Verizon numbers. Some devices show SOS; Fios internet is offline for many. Downdetector reports outages across multiple states. T-Mobile also reports disruptions, possibly due to shared infrastructure like fiber or DNS. AT&T says its network is normal. Verizon engineers are investigating; cause is unclear. If you're on Verizon, use data-based apps like iMessage or Signal.

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You Can Just Buy Far-UVC

Far-UVC 222 nm air-disinfection lamps are now available off-the-shelf for about $500 (Aerolamp). They can inactivate airborne viruses and bacteria without harming people, addressing a long-standing access barrier that required consultations and installations. The post suggests using them in dances, churches, offices, schools, and other venues to quietly clean large amounts of air. The author, not paid by Aerolamp, expresses excitement about the product and notes that, while viruses aren’t alive, far-UVC renders them unable to infect.

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Technical Analysis of Starlink Terminal GPS Spoofing/Jamming Detection in Iran

Could not summarize article.

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East coast. Verizon outage in US

Verizon reported outages affecting wireless voice and data across the eastern United States. Engineering teams are working to identify and fix the issue, with tens of thousands of reports logged on Downdetector in cities including New York, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Charlotte and Dallas. Verizon apologized and said it’s fully deployed to resolve the service interruptions as quickly as possible. Some users may experience difficulty reaching 911, and customers are urged to check network status and try alternative access if needed.

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GitHub should charge everyone $1 more per month to fund open source

An open-source funding proposal argues GitHub should charge each organization $1 more per user per month and funnel the funds into an Open Source Fund held in escrow, distributed to maintainers based on usage (e.g., mentions in package.json, requirements.txt, possibly Docker FROM lines). The idea is opt-out, with a status badge for orgs, highlighting the unsustainable nature of free/open-source labor and comparing distributions to Spotify’s flawed payouts. Acknowledges the plan is rough and invites discussion rather than firm implementation.

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Virginia Faulkner: Writer, Editor and Ghostwriter?

Brad Bigelow profiles Virginia Faulkner’s role in ghostwriting and editing Polly Adler’s A House Is Not a Home. Adler’s memoir faced edits for obscenity and dullness, prompting Faulkner to move to New York, cut and rearrange the manuscript, and perform extensive fact-checking, while injecting period context of the 1920s–30s. She balanced truth with invention, consulted editors and legal counsel, and, despite late credit, delivered a best-seller in 1953. Ghostwriter controversy followed, with documentary proof surfacing only in 2021–2022. The book ended Faulkner’s writing career and began her second act as a brilliant editor.

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Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

Electrek reports that in 2025 the Ford F-150 Lightning outsold Tesla’s Cybertruck (US Lightning ≈27,300 vs Cybertruck ~21,500 globally), and Ford ended Lightning production to pivot to a new EV strategy. Tesla pools Cybertruck with Other Models, with Q2 2025 sales about 5,000 and full-year around 21,500. Despite price cuts and a cheaper trim, demand remains weak; SpaceX bought ~1,000 Cybertrucks (roughly 20% of quarterly sales), yet year-over-year demand fell ~50%. The piece questions the Cybertruck’s viability.

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