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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.

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.

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.

The article explores how Wikipedia has challenged the traditional news model by providing an open, collaboratively-edited online encyclopedia that does not need to adhere to the conventional news format. It highlights how Wikipedia has become a trusted source of information over the past 25 years, despite not following the traditional news reporting structure.

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 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 reports that Italian authorities are investigating Activision Blizzard for allegedly pushing in-game purchases, particularly in their popular game Call of Duty. The investigation aims to determine if the company's practices violate consumer protection laws.

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.

The article discusses the ongoing diplomatic tensions between the United States and Denmark over the potential purchase of Greenland. It highlights the surprise expressed by Danish officials and the subsequent cancellation of a planned visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to Denmark.

The article describes the author's firsthand experience of participating in the ongoing occupation protests in Ottawa, Canada, providing a detailed account of the protesters' motivations, tactics, and interactions with law enforcement.

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 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.

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 latest upgrade to the AV1 image file format, known as AVIF (AV1 Image File Format). AVIF offers improved compression and quality compared to existing image formats, making it a promising alternative for web and digital media applications.

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.

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 discusses the growing dependence of the United States on foreign-owned technology companies and the potential risks and implications of this trend, including national security concerns and the loss of domestic control over critical infrastructure.

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

FitDrop is a fitness and wellness platform that provides personalized workout routines, nutrition plans, and lifestyle guidance to help users achieve their health and fitness goals.

The article discusses the challenges and limitations of multiagent systems, highlighting the need for advancements in areas such as coordination, trust, and communication to further develop these systems for real-world applications.