The hottest Substack posts right now

according to Hacker News
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These 7 Software Engineering Skills Give You an Unfair Advantage

Brain Bytes • 119 implied HN points • 17 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Automation Cloud Computing Cybersecurity Software Engineering Version Control
  1. Thinking like a hacker helps in identifying and fixing security flaws before they are exploited, crucial in today's cybersecurity landscape.
  2. Understanding different devices through cross-platform critical thinking gives a competitive edge and promotes reusability of business logic.
  3. Scripting and automation for repetitive tasks enhances productivity by ensuring consistency, accuracy, and freeing up time for more complex work.

Lawler: Early Read on Existing Home Sales in November and Update on Mortgage/MBS Yields and Spreads

CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 19 implied HN points • 17 Dec 25
💰 Finance Market volatility Government Policy Interest Rates Fixed income Mortgages Real Estate
  1. Existing home sales likely ran at a 4.10 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in November, unchanged from October and about 1.7% below last November; median single-family prices were roughly 1.9% higher year-over-year.
  2. Current-coupon MBS spreads to Treasuries are very low — near late‑2022 levels — driven by unusually low interest-rate volatility and speculation that GSEs will keep buying MBS.
  3. There is concern GSEs are ramping up debt‑financed MBS purchases at the FHFA’s direction; those purchases may be politically motivated, not profitable given low spreads, and not in the public’s financial interest.

The Game is About to Start

Mindset Value • 196 implied HN points • 23 Oct 23
💰 Finance Stocks Investing Cannabis Private Equity
  1. The Mindset Value Wellness Fund had a strong performance in Q3, up 27.4% and about 60% for the year.
  2. Potential positive changes in cannabis regulations, like rescheduling, could open up new opportunities for investors.
  3. Investing in companies like Grown Rogue and Glass House with operational excellence and growth potential can lead to significant returns.

Managing Careers.

The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past • 87 implied HN points • 03 Aug 25
💼 Business Future work Personal Growth Work Culture Leadership
  1. Plan your career for the long term, thinking ahead 50 years. This way, you can focus on growth and avoid making hasty decisions based on short-term situations.
  2. Having a job is not the same as having meaningful work. The future will likely offer more ways to find fulfilling work beyond just traditional jobs.
  3. The people you work with are crucial to your career satisfaction. Choose roles that allow you to learn and grow from those around you, not just for higher pay.
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This Substack Writer Accidentally Enabled The Paid Button - Here's What Happened!

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 459 implied HN points • 11 Jan 23
💼 Business Media Entrepreneurship Marketing Publishing Technology
  1. Substack allows anyone to create a newsletter quickly and easily, which can lead to significant earning potential. It's a great way for writers to share their work and connect with readers.
  2. Alicia Kennedy's story shows that even a simple mistake, like accidentally enabling the paid subscription option, can turn a hobby into a source of income. She built a successful newsletter with thousands of subscribers and made over $2,000 a month.
  3. Starting a newsletter can open up many opportunities, like connecting with publishers or getting recognized by major media outlets. Even a small following can lead to financial gain and personal growth in the writing field.

NVIDIA 2025 Q4 Financials

More Than Moore • 233 implied HN points • 27 Feb 25
💼 Business Finance Market Trends Growth Strategy Earnings Technology
  1. NVIDIA is seeing huge success, with its revenue and profits growing significantly. Their Q4 revenue reached $39.3 billion, which is a 78% increase from last year.
  2. Most of NVIDIA's growth comes from their data center business, which accounts for over 90% of their revenue. They are becoming primarily a data center company with strong sales of AI training hardware.
  3. While the gaming sector is struggling a bit, NVIDIA's automotive division is booming, having achieved 103% growth in Q4. Their self-driving technology is driving this success.

Inventions I Like To See

David Friedman’s Substack • 125 implied HN points • 23 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Problem Solving Engineering Innovations Gadgets Design
  1. Ziplock bags with built-in reseals help keep flatbreads fresh after opening. It's a smart design that solves a common problem.
  2. Shower designs that allow users to adjust water temperature safely make for a more comfortable experience. Simple solutions like combined tub and shower setups are very effective.
  3. New kitchen gadgets, like edgeless can openers and color-changing plastic eggs, show how inventiveness can improve everyday tasks. They add convenience and safety while cooking.

OOP in Python: Why is object-oriented programming so important?

Mostly Python • 1257 implied HN points • 06 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Programming
  1. Object-oriented programming (OOP) is important because it stores information and actions in one place.
  2. OOP is powerful for getting work done efficiently, as shown by the ease of creating and working with objects in Python.
  3. Even if you don't write classes often, understanding OOP in Python can make you a better programmer since everything in Python is an object.

Seattle Data Guy In 2024

SeattleDataGuy’s Newsletter • 871 implied HN points • 26 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Data Analysis Consulting Content creation Community Building
  1. Seattle Data Guy's work in 2023 involved filming videos, virtual conferences, and writing articles and newsletters.
  2. Client trends in 2023 showed shifts towards greenfield projects, solution design, marketing, and education.
  3. Popular articles in 2023 covered topics like data modeling, breaking out of tutorial hell, and essential templates for data analytics.

On messing around

Sunday Letters • 79 implied HN points • 10 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Innovation Science Mindset Exploration Discovery
  1. Being a 'happy mutant' means being curious and passionate about your interests, even if others don't understand them. It's about exploring what fascinates you without needing to justify it.
  2. Mistakes and experiments are crucial for innovation and discovery. Sometimes the best inventions come from unexpected errors or just playing around with ideas.
  3. Having a growth mindset helps you embrace exploration. Following your instincts and interests can lead to amazing discoveries you never planned for.

Designing Usable Toggle Switches: Applying UX Research Insights

UX Psychology • 198 implied HN points • 20 Oct 23
🕹 Technology UX Design Design principles Research User Experience
  1. Toggle switches in user interfaces should provide immediate visual feedback when clicked to show the state change.
  2. Clear and familiar labels like 'On/Off' are crucial for toggle switches to avoid confusion. Avoid using unfamiliar terms or questions as labels.
  3. Use color effectively with 'On' typically in green or blue and position it on the right side. Negative or ambiguous toggle text should be avoided.

Datadog, Inc. Investment Thesis

The Wolf of Harcourt Street • 459 implied HN points • 14 Apr 23
💰 Finance Opportunities Risks Management Revenue Investment
  1. Datadog is a leading company in cloud-based monitoring, with a diverse customer base and a focus on R&D for innovation and growth.
  2. The cloud monitoring industry is dynamic, with risks like disruption from new technologies and increased competition, but Datadog's market leadership positions it well to benefit from industry growth.
  3. Datadog utilizes a 'Land and Expand' strategy, showing potential for growth as businesses continue to adopt cloud computing technology, offering opportunities for revenue expansion and market share increase.

AI-generated slop is already clogging the arteries of the web

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 823 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Media industry AI Tech Platforms Content creation Digital Media
  1. Many worry about AI-generated content replicating and stealing audiences, but the impact on publishers is still largely hypothetical.
  2. AI is already degrading the user experience of the web, causing harm and making content resources useless.
  3. Platforms like Amazon, Google News, and ad tech are flooded with AI-generated content, harming users and eroding trust in the information served.

The Carpenter’s Guide To Online Branding: Sell Your SawDust.

Day One • 2456 implied HN points • 05 May 20
💼 Business Marketing Entrepreneurship Creativity Success Content creation
  1. Share your work process, not just the final product. People love stories and want to be informed, educated, and entertained.
  2. Don't hoard your 'sawdust' - share the byproducts of your work. Opportunities come from letting people in on your journey, not just the end result.
  3. Reveal your progress and growth journey. By showcasing your development, you can attract more clients and showcase your expertise.

Results from poll #3 (and updates)

The Counterfactual • 59 implied HN points • 11 Apr 24
🕹 Technology AI Cognition Education Research LLMs
  1. Tokenization won the recent poll, so there will be an in-depth explainer about it soon. This will help people understand how tokenization works in large language models.
  2. The visual reasoning task was a close second, so it might come up in the next poll for more ideas. This shows there is interest in how models think visually.
  3. There are updates about recent publications and discussions on related topics in AI and psychology. These will be shared in upcoming posts, expanding on interesting research topics.

Data Science Weekly - Issue 492

Data Science Weekly Newsletter • 379 implied HN points • 28 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Data Visualization Data science Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Software Engineering
  1. There is a new Slack community for paid subscribers focused on learning new tools and techniques in data science and career growth. It's a good place for support and sharing information.
  2. A/B testing is important for experiments and there are recommended resources to help design and run successful tests. Proper planning and communication are key to making A/B testing effective.
  3. Large Language Models (LLMs) are becoming more useful, and several resources are available for learning how to work with them. Understanding how they operate can help create valuable applications.

LLMs and World Models, Part 1

AI: A Guide for Thinking Humans • 247 implied HN points • 13 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Neural Networks Natural Language Processing Computational Models
  1. In the past, AI systems often used shortcuts to solve problems rather than truly understanding concepts. This led to unreliable performance in different situations.
  2. Today’s large language models are debated to either have learned complex world models or just rely on memorizing and retrieving data from their training. There’s no clear agreement on how they think.
  3. A 'world model' helps systems understand and predict real-world behaviors. Different types of models exist, with some capable of capturing causal relationships, but it's unclear how well AI systems can do this.

What AGI can do for your average enterprise?

Metacritic Capital • 4 implied HN points • 10 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Enterprise Software Artificial Intelligence Regulation Automation
  1. Large companies already run as software-driven hive minds, so AGI will mostly make legacy systems work better instead of radically changing operations for firms like airlines.
  2. LLMs will automate a lot of knowledge work and reduce the need for human coordination, letting individuals oversee many more tasks, but competitors will have access to the same gains so margins won’t necessarily leap upward.
  3. The net effect is far more software and fewer people organizing production, pushing humans toward creative, adversarial, sales, and care roles, while the biggest transformative gains may come in fields like biology rather than mature industries.

Slavoj Zizek and the Case for Compatibilism (UNLOCKED)

Philosophy for the People w/Ben Burgis • 299 implied HN points • 19 Feb 23
📖 Philosophy Free will Moral responsibility Determinism Compatibilism
  1. Compatibilism can feel contradictory at first, but it offers a way to reconcile deep intuitions about control and responsibility with determinism.
  2. The debate around free will and determinism involves conflicting intuitions about moral responsibility, cosmic freedom, and the control condition for responsibility.
  3. The definition of free will can shift from a day-to-day understanding to a radical, cosmic sense when framed within the context of determinism, highlighting the complexity of philosophical concepts.

How I've been using ChatGPT

The Counterfactual • 219 implied HN points • 25 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Research Methods Information Retrieval Programming AI Tools
  1. ChatGPT can help you learn about new topics by suggesting useful resources and references. This can speed up your research by providing relevant information without the hassle of searching through many documents.
  2. Using ChatGPT for recommendations can be helpful, but it shouldn't replace getting suggestions from friends or experts. It can fill in gaps when you don't have access to personal recommendations.
  3. ChatGPT acts as a good reading companion by answering specific questions while you read. This helps you understand the material better and encourages you to ask questions about what you’re learning.

LLM Disruption in Chatbot Development Frameworks

Cobus Greyling on LLMs, NLU, NLP, chatbots & voicebots • 19 implied HN points • 05 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Development AI Chatbots Natural Language Programming
  1. Large Language Models (LLMs) make chatbots act more like humans, making it easier for developers to create smart bots.
  2. Using LLMs reduces the need for complex programming rules, allowing for quicker chatbot setup for different uses.
  3. Despite the benefits, there are still challenges, like keeping chatbots stable and predictable as they become more advanced.

UX Roundup: UX Unicorns | Captcha Must Die | Flow in UX | Dark Design | Avatar Animation

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 114 implied HN points • 07 Jul 25
🕹 Technology User Experience Artificial Intelligence Human-computer interaction Design principles
  1. There are now many 'UX unicorns' – people skilled in various areas of user experience. They are common and help create better products by juggling different tasks like design and coding.
  2. Captchas are a big hassle for users, wasting their time and creating frustration. They don't really work anymore due to advances in AI, so we need better solutions.
  3. When users are in a state of 'flow,' they are more productive and happy. Good design helps achieve this by making tasks easy and seamless, so users don't get distracted.

Tencent CEO Pony Ma's speech at the firm's annual staff meeting

Ginger River Review • 98 implied HN points • 12 Feb 24
💼 Business Management Finance Technology AI Media
  1. Tencent CEO discussed the future of key business segments like WeChat, AI, Platform and Content Group, Cloud and Smart Industries Group, and games.
  2. Internal management and leadership were emphasized, advocating for a return to product experience and detailing strategic approaches for growth.
  3. Focus was placed on global expansion in the gaming industry, the importance of employee morale, signifying revolutionary changes in Tencent's business approach.

Short Attacks and Tobacco Stocks

Tidefall Notes • 98 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
💰 Finance Investing Market Analysis Stocks
  1. Short attacks on tobacco stocks can lead to short-term dips in stock prices, but may not significantly impact a company's overall value or trajectory.
  2. Investing in undervalued sectors like tobacco stocks with strong financials and low valuations can offer potential for growth and profitability.
  3. Understanding industry trends like the shift to next-gen products in tobacco can help investors anticipate stock reratings and capitalize on emerging opportunities.

Passing the Hat

The Commonplace • 809 implied HN points • 24 Jan 24
💼 Business Digital marketing Content creation Monetization Subscription Model
  1. The author aims to have a different approach to monetization by avoiding aggressive sales tactics and simply reminding readers about paid subscription options once a year.
  2. The author values creating a space free from excessive ads and calls to action, focusing more on providing quality content for readers.
  3. The author emphasizes that while money is appreciated, what truly matters to them is the readers enjoying and benefiting from their writing.

Revolutionizing IoT Beyond Earth | Challenges & Innovations in Satellite-Enabled IoT

Space Ambition • 259 implied HN points • 23 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Space Technology IOT Startups Innovation
  1. Satellite technology is changing how we connect and communicate, especially in remote places. Smaller, cheaper satellites help devices send and receive information directly from space.
  2. Using satellites for IoT can improve many areas like farming, disaster response, and environmental monitoring. These systems can gather essential data from hard-to-reach locations and help address big challenges.
  3. While satellite IoT offers great opportunities, it also faces hurdles. Issues like regulations, energy needs, and ensuring data security will be important as this technology grows.

"Mary's Room" Is Not a Case Against Physicalism (But Physicalism Still Fails)

Ethics Under Construction • 15 implied HN points • 28 Dec 25
📖 Philosophy Epistemology Metaphysics Philosophy of Mind Consciousness Ontology
  1. The knowledge argument shows you can know all the physical facts and still not know what an experience is like, so there is an epistemic gap between description and lived experience.
  2. Experiencing something (like red or sweetness) is itself a fact about that property, not an extra mysterious add-on, so leaving out experience misunderstands what those properties are.
  3. Physicalism can reply that the epistemic gap is just a different mode of presentation, but that misses the deeper point that subjective facts are immediate and foundational, so physical explanations are grounded in, rather than fully exhaustive of, experience.

Missionaries vs. Mercenaries

Teaching computers how to talk • 110 implied HN points • 10 Jul 25
🕹 Technology Startups Corporate strategy AI Innovation Investment
  1. OpenAI has a huge ambition to grow like Meta, needing to hit a target of $125 billion in revenue by 2029. This is a really tough goal and they have to compete aggressively.
  2. Sam Altman believes that teams driven by passion and purpose (missionaries) will outperform those just focused on making money (mercenaries). He wants to create an inspiring work culture at OpenAI.
  3. OpenAI has taken on a lot of investment, which means they need to deliver high returns quickly. This pushes them to make bold moves in the AI market.

POV > AI

The Intersection • 118 implied HN points • 16 Jan 24
💼 Business Marketing Cost Analysis Advertising Creativity
  1. A unique point of view can be more valuable than relying solely on AI for creative work, showcasing the importance of human creativity and perspective.
  2. The creative process, involving brainstorming, team collaboration, idea refinement, and client communication, can be greatly expedited by leveraging AI tools.
  3. Creatives with experience have a wealth of ideas and insights stored in their 'drawers' of knowledge, allowing them to quickly adapt and innovate, providing a distinct value compared to AI.

Some interesting new robots just announced!

Robots & Startups • 79 implied HN points • 09 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Robotics Events Startup News AI Ethics
  1. AI learning starting with text may be going backwards for language development, particularly for speech and social interaction.
  2. Human-robot interactions often differ from our collective fantasies, with instances of people mistreating robots in public like playing 'kick the robot dog' or interfering with autonomous cars.
  3. Robots posing as scooters in public encounters negative behaviors due to lack of proper treatment and consideration towards the technology.

The invisible hand screws up your regression

Economic Forces • 19 implied HN points • 18 Dec 25
💼 Business Macroeconomics Public Policy Econometrics Economics Trade Labor
  1. Because prices link firms, workers, and markets, difference-in-differences estimates pick up relative changes across units (the slope) but miss common, economy-wide level shifts that get absorbed by fixed effects — the “missing intercept.”
  2. Treatment spillovers mean control groups are almost never untouched, so naively scaling a micro DiD coefficient up to an aggregate shock can be very misleading; the true aggregate effect could be much smaller or much larger than the naive calculation.
  3. To learn the aggregate or policy-relevant effect you need economic structure or extra identifying assumptions; techniques like synthetic DiD fix pre-trends but cannot recover common, market-wide shocks without a structural model.