frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Open Source @Github

fp.

Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

https://webiterate.dev/google-removed-extensions-ublock-origin-108/
524•twapi•4h ago•410 comments

Run macOS Software on Linux

https://www.darlinghq.org/
98•Bluestein•3h ago•27 comments

I turned my security cameras into an automatic bird identification system

https://jasontucker.blog/how-i-turned-my-security-cameras-into-an-automatic-bird-identification-s...
364•speckx•9h ago•94 comments

'Mad honey' that can stop your heart is being sold online

https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mad-honey-heart-sold-online.html
137•samizdis•3d ago•83 comments

Playa Phone

https://playaphone.com/
499•cutoff•11h ago•183 comments

A walkable ASCII cyberpunk city in one HTML file [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YtygAx_C6A
213•keithcarolus•7h ago•29 comments

Evidence of Fraud in an Influential Study About Procrastination

https://datacolada.org/138
71•Anon84•2h ago•51 comments

Terence Tao explains 6 essential mathematical concepts [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOMx2BHHWtE
215•matthewsinclair•1d ago•25 comments

Lion-man – the oldest confirmed statue ever discovered

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-man
51•gurjeet•2d ago•21 comments

Carmack: Has early Scratch experience led to fulfilling careers?

https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/2094450188911845827
26•ilamont•2h ago•15 comments

Develop Cross-Platform CLI and GUI Tools with Tcl/Tk

https://cgicoffee.com/blog/2026/04/tcl-tk-develop-cross-platform-cli-gui-tools-tutorial-guide
41•aryonoco•3h ago•28 comments

Dwarf Fortress is getting the mother of all magic updates

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/dwarf-fortress-is-getting-the-mother-of-all-magic-updates-extend...
303•Tomte•4d ago•109 comments

Show HN: Laser Graffiti

https://laser.consti.de
123•con•2d ago•25 comments

Apple caught off guard by AI demand for Mac Mini and Mac Studio

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/30/apple-unexpected-mac-mini-and-studio-demand/
294•thm•13h ago•346 comments

2004 RuneScape fit a multiplayer RPG into 56k dial-up

https://jkm.dev/posts/how-2004-runescape-fit-a-multiplayer-rpg-into-56k-dialup/
6•fagnerbrack•59m ago•2 comments

Autonomous (YC F25) is hiring engineers

1•dkobran•5h ago

Smartphone LED detects hidden cameras with AI

https://www.chosun.com/english/industry-en/2026/08/30/SBFXUIJQYZEARKP5T4FBAY25HQ/
145•geox•1d ago•39 comments

RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source

https://ravynos.com/
166•Bluestein•9h ago•102 comments

Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

https://www.wsj.com/tech/gps-jammers-dead-zones-e76f3261
66•vinnyglennon•1d ago•75 comments

Snakes and Ladders

https://entropicthoughts.com/snakes-and-ladders
17•surprisetalk•5d ago•3 comments

I think the military commissary's freezers were hacked

https://signalandsilence.substack.com/p/i-think-someone-hacked-the-commissary
248•jcurbo•14h ago•151 comments

ChatGPT Work Tool and Skill Reference

https://codex-tool-reference.simonw.chatgpt.site/
183•ijidak•11h ago•51 comments

Visualizing Combos in Judo in R

https://www.r-bloggers.com/2025/05/the-dynamics-of-the-gentle-way-exploring-judo-attack-combinati...
10•asaiacai•5d ago•0 comments

Internet centralization and the original sin of NAT

https://dreamstation.systems/personal/ntppost.html
181•robinpie•23h ago•141 comments

Claude × retrocomputing: emulating a QIC-117 tape drive

https://dmitrybrant.com/2026/08/23/claude-x-retrocomputing-emulating-a-qic-117-tape-drive
22•zdw•1w ago•13 comments

Launch HN: Almanac (YC S26) – AI that knows your company

https://usealmanac.com/
47•kushagrchitkar•10h ago•42 comments

The safest job from AI may be writing

http://muratbuffalo.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-safest-job-from-ai-may-be-writing.html
105•ilreb•7h ago•151 comments

No country for mediocre mathematicians

https://garvvee.substack.com/p/no-country-for-mediocre-mathematicians
156•reasonableklout•1d ago•87 comments

Launch HN: Hebbian Robotics (YC S26) – Build scalable robotics data pipelines

https://github.com/Hebbian-Robotics/hflow
40•kstonekuan•10h ago•10 comments

Show HN: We built the smallest dual-band aircraft tracker

https://pantsforbirds.com/the-worlds-smallest-dual-band-ads-b-receiver-module/
76•CoolNamesAllTkn•5d ago•21 comments
Open in hackernews

Extending a Language – Writing Powerful Macros in Scheme

https://mnieper.github.io/scheme-macros/README.html
92•textread•1y ago

Comments

neilv•1y ago
A few formatting changes might make this advanced example easier to understand:

    (define-syntax trace-let
      (syntax-rules ()
        [(trace-let name ([var expr] ...) body1 ... body2)
         (let f ([depth 0] [var expr] ...)
           (define name
             (lambda (var ...)
               (f (+ depth 1) var ...)))
           (indent depth)
           (display "(")
           (display 'name)
           (begin
             (display " ")
             (display var))
           ...
           (display ")")
           (newline)
           (call-with-values
               (lambda ()
                 body1 ... body2)
             (lambda val*
               (indent depth)
               (fold-left
                (lambda (sep val)
                  (display sep)
                  (display val)
                  " ")
                "" val*)
               (newline)
               (apply values val*))))]))
The biggest one is to make the rule template pattern variables all-uppercase. I also made a few other tweaks, including using indentation a little more, and naming the named-`let` variable as "loop" (I usually name it `loop` or prefix the name with `loop-` if there's more than one):

    (define-syntax trace-let
      (syntax-rules ()
        ((trace-let NAME ((VAR EXPR) ...) BODY1 ... BODY2)
         (let loop ((depth 0)
                    (VAR   EXPR) ...)
           (define NAME
             (lambda (VAR ...)
               (loop (+ depth 1) VAR ...)))
           (indent depth)
           (display "(")
           (display (quote NAME))
           (begin (display " ")
                  (display VAR)) ...
           (display ")")
           (newline)
           (call-with-values (lambda ()
                               BODY1 ... BODY2)
             (lambda val*
               (indent depth)
               (fold-left (lambda (sep val)
                            (display sep)
                            (display val)
                            " ")
                          ""
                          val*)
               (newline)
               (apply values val*)))))))
Incidentally, all-uppercase Scheme pattern variables is one of the all-time best uses of all-uppercase in any language. Second only to all-uppercase for the C preprocessor, where a preprocessor macro can introduce almost arbitrary text. Using all-uppercase for constants in some language that has constants, however, is an abomination.

(My suspicion of why Java did all-caps is that they were developing a language for embedded systems developers who were currently using C and C++, and they wanted to make it superficially look similar, even though it was an entirely different language. And then, ironically, the language ended up being used mostly by the analogue of a very different developer of the time: corporate internal information systems developers, who, as a field, didn't use anything like C. It's too late to save Java, but to all other language and API developers, please stop the insanity of all-caps constants, enum values, etc. It's not the most important thing that needs to jump out from the code above all other things.)

Y_Y•1y ago
FWIW, all-caps makes this look much worse to me. I understand that people like things like Hungarian notation, arrows over vector names, and shouting Common Lisp symbols. I understand the argument that it can make reading easier. I just can't appreciate that benefit, and it seems to me an ugly hack which obscures the abstract and general symbolic manipulation going on.

This is all highly subjective of course, de gustibus non disputandem.

neilv•1y ago
You mean aesthetically, in that interspersed all-caps makes the code visually less soothingly sensual?

I can sympathize, but let me make a non-aesthetic argument...

In large blocks of code, with all-caps, you can see at a glance where all the template substitutions are happening, and also instantly know as you're reading code what are variables and what are template substitutions?

I'm asking because one of my realizations in recent years is that not everyone reads or sees code the same way.

For example, maybe some people are stronger "visual" and some people are stronger "verbal".

For another example of a different in how people perceive and think, some people can visualize an object in their mind almost as if they're looking at it, but other people can only know and describe what it looks like without bringing a visual of it into their head.

With the benefit of the all-caps, I can glance at this and immediately see much of the structure of the template. Without all-caps, I'd have to work harder to find all the pattern variables, and the structure would be obscured.

For a bit kludgy practical matter, as I'm quickly looking at pieces of code in a template, with all-caps, I can look at a fragment of code in isolation and know what are and aren't pattern variables. Without that, I have to go read the top of the template clause (and read through any syntactic scopes of `let-syntax`) and get that in my head, until I get to the fragment of code I originally wanted to look at.

IDE support can make this unnecessary, with a hypothetical great IDE, with familiar syntax coloring. But still, if there is one thing that all-caps should be reserved for, it's something like this.

With all-caps, your code can be sensual, and the jolting all-caps bits are look out, potentially arbitrary code gets pasted into here.

mnemenaut•1y ago
https://github.com/rogerturner/scheme-macros/blob/main/examp... shows stepwise development of a trace-let [the `(example: (fn arg) => result)` forms are tests - see check-examples library]
Y_Y
•
1y ago
Since you asked, my objection is both aesthetic and semantic, though I was really referring to the semantic part above.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with this visual vs. verbal distinction.

I can add a few clarifying details. I don't use IDEs as much as basic text editors maybe with highlighting, and I try not to rely on any fancy features. It does worry me that the allcaps use you describe is (afaik) not known to the editor or interpreter, so if you make a mistake or the symbol gets out of sync with its meaning (re: pattern variables) you may have a false signal. Finally I'll say that in the end I can't suggest a good way to treat these special variables, and so maybe I don't get it, or tastes like mine would be better served by a different formalism for macros.