frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Made with ♥ by @iamnishanth

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

"Ptolemaic Code": software that appears functional but is based on a fundame

https://tldr.nettime.org/@dk/115883067614348534
6•fanf2•1h ago

Comments

Chance-Device•57m ago
Strictly speaking, there is no privileged position here to argue for. If the Ptolemaic model gives the same observable results as the heliocentric model, then it’s just the same system but modelled from our perspective on Earth.

Indeed, this might even be more valuable to you if you wanted to show the motion of the planets and constellations relative to Earth directly, rather than the sun. Here I’m thinking about a physical model than might cycle through the zodiac for example.

If this complexity costs you nothing to build and maintain, and is automatically validated, then the mechanism under the hood probably isn’t something you care about very much.

mac3n•52m ago
it seems like there's some confusion here between the Graeco-Roman astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100 – 160s/170s AD) and the Macedonian General/Pharoah Ptolemy I Soter (c. 369/68 BC – January 282 BC).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_(disambiguation)

ConcurrentCrab•17m ago
Cool terminology, but I don't think this really applies to LLM-generated code.

"Based on a fundamentally incorrect model" is what I would call code by a new coworker or intern who didn't stop to ask questions. The model being fundamentally wrong means it's cognitively taxing to refactor, but you can at least reason about it, and put band-aid fixes if it somehow flows to prod.

With LLM code you're lucky if there's any sort of ostensibly identifiable model underlying the cryptic 10,000 lines PR corresponding to the statistically extrapolated token stream flowing out the matrix multiplication brick. And the person raising that PR tries to create that mental model, instead of taking the easy way out.

Ask HN: Have you managed to switch to Bluesky for tech people?

1•fuegoio•5m ago•3 comments

South Korea launches landmark laws to regulate artificial intelligence

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/01/22/tech/south-korea-ai-startups-law/
2•anigbrowl•6m ago•0 comments

Multiclaude – Lightweight Multiagent Orchestrator

https://github.com/dlorenc/multiclaude
1•curmudgeon22•6m ago•0 comments

Amazon plans thousands more corporate job cuts next week, sources say

https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/amazon-plans-thousands-more-corporate-job-cuts-nex...
5•austinallegro•9m ago•0 comments

FSNotes 7 – Remarkable fast plain text notes

https://fsnot.es/v7/
1•birdculture•10m ago•0 comments

EU Plans to Unfreeze Trade Deal with US and Vote on Ratification

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-22/eu-plans-to-unfreeze-trade-deal-with-us-and-vo...
2•alephnerd•10m ago•1 comments

SVG Path Editor

https://yqnn.github.io/svg-path-editor/
1•gurjeet•10m ago•0 comments

FIPS Dependencies and Prebuilt Binaries

https://www.docker.com/blog/fips-dependencies-and-prebuilt-binaries/
2•LaurentGoderre•12m ago•0 comments

Linum v2 - 2B parameter, Apache 2.0 licensed text-to-video models (360p, 720p)

https://www.linum.ai/field-notes/launch-linum-v2
1•samaysharma•13m ago•0 comments

Car insurance telematics: The privacy trade-off of OBD-II vs. Mobile Apps

https://suretyinsights.com/blog/dongle-vs-app-the-hardware-of-usage-based-insurance
2•insuranceguru•14m ago•0 comments

Joseph Wright of Derby – All Works

https://www.wikiart.org/en/joseph-wright/all-works
2•susam•14m ago•0 comments

Inspired by skin ligament for robotic face covered with living skin

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(24)00335-7
1•wjb3•15m ago•3 comments

Autodesk cuts 7% of workforce to redirect investments to AI, cloud

https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/autodesk-lay-off-about-7-workforce-2026-01-22/
4•austinallegro•15m ago•0 comments

Digital Admin Day

https://matthewquerzoli.com/#/blog/02-01-2026-digital-admin-day
1•Quiza12•17m ago•0 comments

Pervasive Monitoring Is an Attack

https://ctrlaltroute.com/2026/01/15/rfc-7258-pervasive-monitoring-is-an-attack/
2•fosco•18m ago•0 comments

VibeTensor: AI-Generated Deep Learning Tensor Library

https://github.com/NVlabs/vibetensor
2•arjvik•18m ago•0 comments

CliFM: The shell-like, command line terminal file manager

https://github.com/leo-arch/clifm
2•modinfo•19m ago•0 comments

Gastown, and where software is going

https://www.chainguard.dev/unchained/gastown-and-where-software-is-going
1•curmudgeon22•20m ago•0 comments

One of the more meta ways we've used the Roo Code and SlackHQ feature this week

https://twitter.com/roocode/status/2014469239395197214
1•hrudolph•20m ago•0 comments

Brex is joining forces with Capital One

https://twitter.com/pedroh96/status/2014450912497201289
1•joshuawright11•21m ago•0 comments

Claude Code is suddenly everywhere inside Microsoft

https://www.theverge.com/tech/865689/microsoft-claude-code-anthropic-partnership-notepad
3•cebert•21m ago•1 comments

Why Medium's AI Content Policy Is Already Obsolete

https://medium.com/@gp2030/why-mediums-ai-content-policy-is-already-obsolete-bc86f63fcb70
2•light_triad•23m ago•1 comments

Overrun with AI slop, cURL scraps bug bounties to ensure "intact mental health"

https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/01/overrun-with-ai-slop-curl-scraps-bug-bounties-to-ensure-...
6•cratermoon•26m ago•0 comments

Open-source tool to obfuscate Postgres data with deterministic rules

https://github.com/Ofsen/pg-obfuscate
1•ofsen•26m ago•1 comments

75 Years of Mathematical Oncology

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.13.699306v1
1•mathoncbro•28m ago•1 comments

Climate engineering would alter the oceans, reshaping marine life

https://theconversation.com/climate-engineering-would-alter-the-oceans-reshaping-marine-life-new-...
3•PaulHoule•29m ago•0 comments

Community Benchmarks: Evaluating Modern AI on Kaggle

https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/kaggle-community-benchmarks/
1•gmays•31m ago•0 comments

Reminders (BSD Calendar and All)

https://dsl.org/cookbook/cookbook_34.html
2•jrgd•32m ago•1 comments

IPTV Piracy Crackdown in Sweden 'Exposes' 4,886 Subscribers

https://torrentfreak.com/iptv-piracy-crackdown-in-sweden-exposes-4886-subscribers/
3•gslin•33m ago•0 comments

Show HN: OpenSheet – experimenting with how LLMs should work with spreadsheets

https://opensheet.app/
1•aminkhorrami•33m ago•0 comments