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Pgbackrest is no longer being maintained

https://github.com/pgbackrest/pgbackrest
160•c0l0•2h ago•68 comments

Show HN: OSS Agent I built topped the TerminalBench on Gemini-3-flash-preview

https://github.com/dirac-run/dirac
18•GodelNumbering•26m ago•1 comments

Fully Featured Audio DSP Firmware for the Raspberry Pi Pico

https://github.com/WeebLabs/DSPi
87•BoingBoomTschak•1d ago•11 comments

Flipdiscs

https://flipdisc.io
364•skogstokig•3d ago•63 comments

I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

https://ca98am79.medium.com/i-bought-friendster-for-30k-heres-what-i-m-doing-with-it-d5e8ddb3991d
903•ca98am79•16h ago•459 comments

AI should elevate your thinking, not replace it

https://www.koshyjohn.com/blog/ai-should-elevate-your-thinking-not-replace-it/
610•koshyjohn•16h ago•444 comments

TurboQuant: A first-principles walkthrough

https://arkaung.github.io/interactive-turboquant/
209•kweezar•11h ago•45 comments

Self-updating screenshots

https://interblah.net/self-updating-screenshots
362•bjhess•1d ago•59 comments

Branimir Lambov from IBM on Cassandra

https://theconsensus.dev/p/2026/04/26/branimir-lambov-from-ibm-on-cassandra.html
19•eatonphil•23h ago•1 comments

The Prompt API

https://developer.chrome.com/docs/ai/prompt-api
180•gslin•10h ago•94 comments

Show HN: A terminal spreadsheet editor with Vim keybindings

https://github.com/garritfra/cell
11•garritfra•1h ago•1 comments

Quarkdown – Markdown with Superpowers

https://quarkdown.com/
28•amai•4h ago•5 comments

It's OK to abandon your side-project (2024)

https://robbowen.digital/wrote-about/abandoned-side-projects/
120•hisamafahri•4h ago•58 comments

Men Who Stare at Walls

https://www.alexselimov.com/posts/men_who_stare_at_walls/
9•aselimov3•1h ago•1 comments

Electrostatics and High Voltage Links

http://amasci.com/static/electrostatic1.html
18•ludicrousdispla•3d ago•2 comments

Rust Memory Management: Ownership vs. Reference Counting

https://slicker.me/rust/ownership_and_borrowing_vs_reference_counting.html
41•vinhnx•2d ago•20 comments

Fast16: High-precision software sabotage 5 years before Stuxnet

https://www.sentinelone.com/labs/fast16-mystery-shadowbrokers-reference-reveals-high-precision-so...
283•dd23•16h ago•59 comments

Three constraints before I build anything

https://jordanlord.co.uk/blog/3-constraints/
251•nervous_north•1d ago•43 comments

A Guide to CubeSat Mission and Bus Design

https://pressbooks-dev.oer.hawaii.edu/epet302/
48•o4c•1d ago•3 comments

France's Mistral Built a $14B AI Empire by Not Being American

https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2026/04/16/how-frances-mistral-built-a-14-billion-ai-empi...
67•rzk•2h ago•28 comments

SWE-bench Verified no longer measures frontier coding capabilities

https://openai.com/index/why-we-no-longer-evaluate-swe-bench-verified/
325•kmdupree•23h ago•171 comments

Box to save memory in Rust

https://dystroy.org/blog/box-to-save-memory/
149•emschwartz•3d ago•43 comments

Bob Odenkirk would like to remind you that life is a meaningless farce

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/magazine/bob-odenkirk-interview.html
98•wslh•1d ago•95 comments

Getting my daily news from a dot matrix printer 2024

https://aschmelyun.com/blog/getting-my-daily-news-from-a-dot-matrix-printer/
11•xupybd•2d ago•1 comments

FDA Approves First-Ever Gene Therapy for Treatment of Genetic Hearing Loss

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-ever-gene-therapy-treatmen...
5•JeanKage•2h ago•0 comments

Show HN: I built a dual crossword puzzle where two crosswords share one grid

https://forkle.co.uk/
7•daveoshawrus•2h ago•0 comments

Moleskine's AI Lord of the Rings collection can only mock

https://cjleo.com/blog/moleskine-ai-lord-of-the-rings-collection-can-only-mock/
57•lentil_soup•3h ago•56 comments

FreeBSD Device Drivers Book

https://github.com/ebrandi/FDD-book
104•myth_drannon•14h ago•21 comments

When the cheap one is the cool one

https://arun.is/blog/cheap-cool/
145•ddrmaxgt37•1d ago•83 comments

Mystery Cpuid Bit

http://www.os2museum.com/wp/mystery-cpuid-bit/
25•userbinator•2d ago•2 comments
Open in hackernews

Moleskine's AI Lord of the Rings collection can only mock

https://cjleo.com/blog/moleskine-ai-lord-of-the-rings-collection-can-only-mock/
57•lentil_soup•3h ago

Comments

numlocked•1h ago
Doesn’t it seem more plausible that the marketing shots are AI (where the “generated by AI” note appears) rather than the cover designs themselves?
limbero•1h ago
Turns out it is exactly that, the OP's post has an update from them:

> Thank you for your comments. We just wanted to confirm that all Moleskine notebook covers are created by our designers, while AI was used to enhance the background of these images. We hope The Lord of the Rings inspires you!

securicat•1h ago
Yeah I just really don’t see the issue in that (not saying you do or don’t either). If it were me and I were them I would have contracted with artists because it’s only a few images and it would avoid controversy. However I also use image generation tools for fun non-commercial pieces that I never would have done without the tools.

Does that make me more creative or less? I’m not sure.

oneeyedpigeon•40m ago
I've seen people speculate along the lines of "all Moleskine notebook covers are created by our designers" doesn't necessarily mean "without AI".
buescher•5m ago
That’s exactly what a clanker would say, isn’t it?
gilrain•1h ago
This doesn’t explain the cover (seemingly not used in the final collection) with a hallucinated map on it. Maybe they only used generative art for mockups, but they did use it on a cover design.
HWR_14•1h ago
Does it matter? If you are opposed to buying AI art wouldn't you also be opposed to buying art from an AI ad?
sheiyei•33m ago
Not from principle. Marketing is hateful work and almost necessarily anti-art, so I don't care. Of course you can do it badly (for example, unironically advertise to an artist audience with terrible slop illustrations).
oneeyedpigeon•41m ago
Shouldn't it be against some kind of law for marketing shots to not actually be of the product? I know there has to be some leeway, but a hallucinated image is clearly nothing to do with the actual product.
wincy•1h ago
These look nice. It seems it’s been confirmed these aren’t AI generated. But want to say even if they were, I’d have no problem with them being AI at all. This is one of those wedge issues that people get all activated about (it felt like the conversation was more nuanced when the models were more of toys and had too many fingers like Stable Diffusion) but to me it feels analogous to someone being mad that someone isn’t being carried via palanquin through the market after the motorized scooter has been invented. Sure, the scooter isn’t quite as maneuverable and you lose a certain majesty, but it’ll get most of the job done in most of the cases.

A new tool exists that reduces labor and makes something previously out of reach accessible to everyone. I don’t really care about the unemployed palanquin operators, I just care about achieving my goals.

The market will definitely make the decision here and just like photoshop was just too good to pass up, more and more art you interact with is going to be AI generated. The smart artists will just lie about it, because why wouldn’t they?

suddenlybananas•55m ago
Do you think art is a simple commodity?
ModernMech•52m ago
I think that "art" and "graphics on a book meant to sell merchandise to a fanbase" are different things and we have to start making that distinction more clear these days.
AlecSchueler•51m ago
A big franchise tie-in for mass produced notebooks is definitely on the commodity end of the artistic spectrum.
bb123•41m ago
If you're asking me to pay for it, then yes.
wincy•29m ago
In this specific example, this art is mimicking the artwork on the fronts of the Lord of the Rings novels. The imitation itself is what makes it evocative and nostalgic. Often people want more of the same. So this is precisely the kind of art that is a commodity. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

A lot of things used to be hand crafted. The care and raising of horses was a respected profession, each horse has a different personality, but we use cars instead now. That doesn’t mean nobody raises horses, if anything the profession has become more prestigious and less of a commodity because the only people raising horses are people who really want to raise horses. Regardless, I’m going to ride my bike (if I can), or drive my car to the store when I’m getting groceries. I’m not thinking about the horse breeders every time I use my cargo bike to get groceries.

Similarly, we’re all free to go out and spend $8,000 on artisanal resin river flow tabletop carved from a single old growth tree. They’re beautiful and I’ve certainly dreamed about it. But a very nice wooden IKEA kitchen table built to exacting specifications and fit for purpose is a mere $899. What we lose when commoditizing these things we gain in access and affordability. This is a good thing, even if there are fewer people making these things.

One last example, since it was one of the biggest catalysts of the Industrial Revolution, while we still have people making couture outfits for specifically for Kim Kardashian, but it’s a good thing that we all have access to textiles that would have been considered impossibly high quality (literally, the thread density and uniformity of the fabrics are so high) 300 years ago.

In retrospect these things are all pretty great, in my opinion.

mpalmer•50m ago
> it feels analogous to someone being mad that someone isn’t being carried via palanquin through the market after the motorized scooter has been invented.

It would be more accurate if for the entire journey, the scooter driver also extolled the virtues of slow, luxurious, human-powered travel.

voidUpdate•36m ago
And the scooter was also stolen
Peritract•47m ago
> it’ll get most of the job done in most of the cases

This is not a very high standard for art.

Particularly not in this case, when the current art is a reference to, and for fans of, art that was all about authenticity. It's also art on a product that is very much not aiming for the 'just get it done' market.

If all I care about is the destination, then sure: use the most resource-efficient method. In this and in every other situation where there are other considerations, reducing everything to efficiency is absurdly reductionist.

sokoloff•43m ago
How many people have a print of “Starry Night” or “Girl with a Pearl Earring” in their house vs how many have a hand-painted on canvas edition (original or copy)?

At some point, a significant increase in resource efficiency improves certain aspects of many things, even art.

Peritract•24m ago
> At some point, a significant increase in resource efficiency improves certain aspects of many things, even art.

I'll agree with that incredibly-hedged claim, sure. I'm not against efficiency at all.

As before though, it's not the only consideration. It would have been even more efficient to give all the people with a copy of Girl with a Pearl Earring a blank canvas, or even nothing at all, but that would be missing the point.

dpcx•22m ago
Thinking that an AI generated image is somehow more efficient to make than a high res photo followed by a print is a bit odd to me.
wincy•17m ago
People watch The Simpsons despite it being farmed out to animators in Korea and using digital tools for the composition of the frames. Nobody is complaining that Matt Groening isn’t hand animating every frame.

I used ChatGPT to make myself a picture based on a concept of a story I’ve been kicking around in my head for awhile. That picture made me so happy. It just wouldn’t exist twenty years ago.

The efficiency we’re seeing now is in moving from idea to execution. I think that’s a good thing. The thing we’ll see now is curation of taste. People with good taste are going to be the ones to succeed in a market where there are no barriers to entry. I can understand why that would upset people who spent years cultivating a skill.

bcjdjsndon•38m ago
> when the current art is a reference to, and for fans of, art that was all about authenticity

Was it? Was the reason you enjoyed it because a human wrote it? Highly doubtful

Peritract•26m ago
I think you've misunderstood me. The Lord of the Rings has authenticity as one of its main themes. This is part of the work itself, not to do with its provenance.
bcjdjsndon•24m ago
But an AI can create that same authenticity, if it doesn't matter about the actual provenance then
Peritract•23m ago
We're still not talking about provenance. Where something comes from is not the same as what it is.

The people who want LotR merchandise do so because they care about LotR.

LastTrain•46m ago
“The market” isn’t being honest, robbing is of the ability to decide.
oneeyedpigeon•37m ago
> it feels analogous to someone being mad that someone isn’t being carried via palanquin through the market after the motorized scooter has been invented

If I ordered a taxi and a palanquin arrived, I would at least be asking questions. Although I would still have an issue buying any AI-generated artwork, it would matter a lot less if it were clearly labelled as such from the outset.

libertine•37m ago
Because of everything that behavior represents, and the normalization of lying and deceit as a virtue.

I think it's important for a product with a design to have part of the value linked to a human, but the reality is quite different: the vast majority doesn't care.

Just go on Amazon a watch the volume of slop there, and people buy it - it's like our standards for taste are so low at the moment, it's a bit sad because it will only get worse.

wincy•10m ago
I mean, love it or hate it, the masses have never been known for their highbrow taste. Those Calvin pissing on something bumper stickers and truck nuts come to mind. I had to almost beg my wife to not buy a sign that said “we don’t go skinny dipping, we go chunky dunking!”.
wccrawford•1h ago
"There is also this notebook that features a map, which is included in the Instagram post but is nowhere to be found on the website. The map is too blurry to make out properly, but the geography looks inconsistent with other maps of Middle-earth."

Absolutely unconscionable.

Ads need to be truthful. They can't just make things up that aren't actually in the product. It's literally false advertising.

I'm not against AI, but I am against deceiving people. If you can't be bothered to actually check your AI's output, you shouldn't be using it.

DougBTX•1h ago
Here's the page for the notebooks-with-maps: https://www.moleskine.com/en-us/shop/limited-editions/the-lo...
mpalmer•48m ago
Clicking the image expands it. Looks like the real thing to me (and easy enough when you've got the rights; to use AI for this would have been idiotic)
bcjdjsndon•41m ago
If you can't even tell it's AI and need to be told... then what's the problem? Personal preference? It's like only enjoying paintings if the artist used horse hair and horse hair alone for their paintbrush.... A very arbitrary constraint
breezybottom•27m ago
You really underestimate the LOTR fandom if you think they can't tell that the map is wrong.
pigpop•2m ago
Which part of the map is incorrect? It matches the other ones I can find.

https://www.moleskine.com/en-us/shop/limited-editions/the-lo...

nkrisc•22m ago
Because the existing cultural understanding of art is that someone took the time to create what you’re experiencing. AI generated “art” subverts that expectation. It feels deceptive. Honestly it reminds of Duchamp’s Fountain and similar works, which some people hated for more or less the same reason.

I am not equating AI slop with Marcel Duchamp, however. His work and what he did was very much intentional to evoke the sort of reactions it did.

ludicrousdispla•11m ago
You could even say that AI generated art is an experience that artists chose to not create.
Kye•20m ago
Look at the names on the map. You don't need to be a LOTR superfan to tell something is off.
boxed•16m ago
So it's not actually about AI at all? It's about it being incorrect?
iLoveOncall•39m ago
I can't imagine getting such a famous IP as The Lord of the Rings and doing AI slop for it.
WillAdams•26m ago
Given that many of the images look to be derived from Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond Lord of the Rings set without attribution, I'd expect them to be getting a strongly-worded letter from Hasbro's lawyers any moment now (and for once, I'd support that).
bb123•37m ago
I don't really have a problem with this - the designs look nice and don't have any of the hallmarks of AI slop. My issue is when the AI generated product is just bad, not merely the fact it was AI generated.
adhoc_slime•31m ago
moleskine doesn't even make good notebooks anymore. for a premium price you can get a notebook with paper that bleeds with a ballpoint pen. they've spent any goodwill they may've generated at one point or another and now its a dead brand.
goolz•18m ago
Hard agree. There was a time when I really enjoyed these packs of tan, grid moleskins that had covers you could also sketch on. Really convenient. But the pricing was too much. Paying a premium for what is essentially a designer notebook.
armitron•12m ago
They never made good notebooks. Compared to German and Japanese notebooks that even cost less, moleskine is terrible.
dude250711•24m ago
Temu/Etsy notebooks.
semiquaver•23m ago
I find this post baffling. Would one normally demand angrily to find out whether someone used photoshop when making a product mockup? If not, why is this different? It only makes sense if you’ve made a political decision that anything associated with AI is bad, regardless of whether you would otherwise like it.
f6v•18m ago
There're a strong disdain agains any AI among the artists. I've seen these kind of comments many times, like people getting upset someone uses AI-generated profile pic in Discord.

I get that they're scared. They should be: it was difficult to make a living for many artists even before AI. The market was already oversaturated and they had to accept low-paying irregular jobs. But now there's literally no light in the end of the tunnel for 99.9% of artists.

That being said, boycotting AI use will get them nowhere.

anonymars•17m ago
How can you trust the product itself is faithful and doesn't have a map full of gibberish slop?

Isn't (wasn't) moleskine a premium brand?

breezybottom•15m ago
No, but if they relabeled Belfalas as "DEI Rarmorth", I might question whether they have a head injury.
CamouflagedKiwi•7m ago
Quite a lot of people out there have made that decision. There's some sense of solidarity with artists, which makes sense, but I've seen plenty of angry messages about personal projects that were never going to pay an artist where they're still getting harangued with ridiculous sentiments like "just pick up a pencil yourself".
postalcoder•15m ago
If you do want a good reason to make fun of moleskine and not buy their products, it's because they're all extremely poorly made. I don't have a single moleskine where the pages haven't separated from the cover/spine after a few years.
vova_hn2•8m ago
> Moleskine have not provided evidence of completely human-made artwork for the covers

> but they also have not credited an artist or provided any proof of human creation

What kind of "evidence" or "proof" would satisfy the poster?

futune•6m ago
I always assumed that any output from a generative model would be uncopyrightable.

And hence, if a company produced, say, notebooks whose only distinguishing feature was being decorated with a generated image, then anyone else would be within their legal rights to copy it wholesale and put the exact same image on their own notebooks.

Therefore, if a company wants to manufacture actual intellectual property, then they need to hire an actual human to produce it.

I'd love to hear if anyone knows: a) Is this interpretation accurate in any relevant jurisdictions? b) Has it ever been tested in court?