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The article discusses the importance of digital privacy and the need for strong encryption to protect individual rights and freedoms. It highlights the challenges posed by government attempts to undermine encryption, and emphasizes the role of civil society in defending secure communications.

The article explores the author's journey of building a Linux-based gaming desktop, highlighting the challenges and benefits encountered along the way, as well as the overall performance and customization capabilities of the system.

The article discusses the author's experience of switching from Windows 11 to Linux, highlighting the perceived benefits of the Linux operating system, such as better performance, security, and customization options, and encourages readers to consider making the same transition.

The article discusses the challenges of resizing windows on macOS Tahoe, highlighting the problems users face with the new window resizing behavior and the lack of control over window size and position.

The article discusses a memory leak issue in the Ghostty terminal emulator and provides a solution to fix it. It explains the root cause of the problem and the steps to resolve the memory leak, allowing users to maintain a stable Ghostty application.

The article discusses the challenges and lessons Salvatore Sanfilippo, the creator of the open-source database Redis, has faced in managing and growing a successful open-source project. It highlights the importance of maintaining a healthy community, balancing commercial and open-source interests, and the personal toll of running a popular project.

I think LLMs are overused to summarise and underused to help us read deeper.

I built a system for Claude Code to browse 100 non-fiction books and find interesting connections between them.

I started out with a pipeline in stages, chaining together LLM calls to build up a context of the library. I was mainly getting back the insight that I was baking into the prompts, and the results weren't particularly surprising.

On a whim, I gave CC access to my debug CLI tools and found that it wiped the floor with that approach. It gave actually interesting results and required very little orchestration in comparison.

One of my favourite trail of excerpts goes from Jobs’ reality distortion field to Theranos’ fake demos, to Thiel on startup cults, to Hoffer on mass movement charlatans (https://trails.pieterma.es/trail/useful-lies/). A fun tendency is that Claude kept getting distracted by topics of secrecy, conspiracy, and hidden systems - as if the task itself summoned a Foucault’s Pendulum mindset.

Details:

* The books are picked from HN’s favourites (which I collected before: https://hnbooks.pieterma.es/).

* Chunks are indexed by topic using Gemini Flash Lite. The whole library cost about £10.

* Topics are organised into a tree structure using recursive Leiden partitioning and LLM labels. This gives a high-level sense of the themes.

* There are several ways to browse. The most useful are embedding similarity, topic tree siblings, and topics cooccurring within a chunk window.

* Everything is stored in SQLite and manipulated using a set of CLI tools.

I wrote more about the process here: https://pieterma.es/syntopic-reading-claude/

I’m curious if this way of reading resonates for anyone else - LLM-mediated or not.

The article explores the Dark Sky weather data visualization tool, which provides detailed and hyperlocal weather information through interactive maps and charts. It highlights the tool's capabilities in analyzing weather patterns, temperature fluctuations, and precipitation levels to help users make informed decisions about their daily activities.

OpenChaos is a new open-source project that aims to provide a decentralized, community-driven platform for building and managing complex systems. The project focuses on enabling collaboration, transparency, and self-governance through the use of blockchain technology.

The article suggests that Microsoft may have created the slowest version of Windows in 25 years with Windows 11, citing performance issues and compatibility problems with older hardware.

The article discusses how AI can act as a stress test for business models, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges that AI presents for companies. It emphasizes the need for businesses to carefully evaluate the impact of AI on their operations, customer experience, and overall strategy.

The article provides an introduction to the Z shell (zsh), a powerful and versatile alternative to the default Bash shell. It discusses the key features and benefits of zsh, including its extensibility, customization options, and improved command-line experience.

The article examines newly released Snowden documents that shed light on the NSA's mass surveillance programs, including details on how the agency monitored global internet traffic and targeted specific individuals for surveillance.

The article examines the growing trend of private equity firms investing in autism treatment centers, raising concerns about the potential impact on accessibility and quality of care for individuals with autism.

iCloud Photos Downloader is an open-source tool that allows users to download their entire iCloud Photo Library to their local device, providing a convenient way to backup and access their photos offline.

The article discusses the use of Org mode, a markup language, as a standalone markup format without the need for a full-fledged Emacs environment. It highlights the flexibility and simplicity of Org mode as a general-purpose markup language that can be used for a variety of purposes beyond its traditional use in Emacs.

The article discusses the phenomenon of fiber disintegration, which can occur during the processing of plant-based materials. It explores the factors that contribute to this issue and highlights potential solutions to mitigate the problem.

Meta (Facebook) is investing in nuclear energy projects to power its artificial intelligence and machine learning efforts, aiming to maintain American leadership in these technologies.

Ferrite: Fast Markdown/Text/Code editor in Rust with native Mermaid diagrams

Built a Markdown editor using Rust + egui. v0.2.1 just dropped with major Mermaid improvements:

→ Native Mermaid diagrams - Flowcharts, sequence, state, ER, git graphs - pure Rust, no JS

→ Split view - Raw + rendered side-by-side with sync scrolling

→ Syntax highlighting - 40+ languages with large file optimization

→ JSON/YAML/TOML tree viewer - Structured editing with expand/collapse

→ Git integration - File tree shows modified/staged/untracked status

Also: minimap, zen mode, auto-save, session restore, code folding indicators.

~15MB binary, instant startup. Windows/Linux/macOS.

GitHub: https://github.com/OlaProeis/Ferrite

v0.2.2 coming soon with performance improvements for large files. Looking for feedback!

The article discusses the benefits and challenges of self-hosting, focusing on factors like privacy, security, and cost management. It explores the process of setting up a self-hosted server and the technical considerations involved, providing a comprehensive overview for individuals interested in taking control of their digital infrastructure.

The article provides a comprehensive guide to TypeScript, covering its key features, benefits, and practical examples. It serves as a valuable resource for both beginners and experienced developers looking to enhance their understanding and usage of the TypeScript programming language.

After years of steady increases, overdose deaths in the United States have started to decline, driven by a drop in opioid-related fatalities. This trend is attributed to improved access to addiction treatment, harm reduction measures, and shifts in the illicit drug supply.

The article discusses the recent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space telescope ever built, which is set to revolutionize our understanding of the universe by observing the earliest galaxies and studying the atmospheric composition of exoplanets.

An Instagram data breach reportedly exposed the personal information of 175 million users, including email addresses and phone numbers. The breach was discovered by a security researcher and highlights the importance of robust cybersecurity measures to protect user privacy on social media platforms.

Voltair is a startup that is developing an AI-powered platform to help companies make better strategic decisions. The platform uses machine learning to analyze large amounts of data and provide insights to guide decision-making.