The hottest Substack posts right now

according to Hacker News
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Weekly Dose of Optimism #176

Not Boring by Packy McCormick • 130 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Startups Artificial Intelligence Robotics Biotech Energy Space Software
  1. New medical AI can now natively read full 3D scans and handle medical speech, making it much easier for developers to build tools that help doctors interpret MRIs and CTs.
  2. Generative AI platforms like Claude are shrinking the gap between idea and product, letting people quickly prototype apps, viewers, and games without deep engineering.
  3. Hard-tech is accelerating: Tesla’s fast, cleaner lithium refinery eases battery supply bottlenecks, robotic IVF systems are automating embryo creation to boost success and scale, and governments and companies are moving forward on lunar power and hospitality projects.

The Best Medium Publications of 2024 (to Quadruple Your Followers and Earnings)🤑

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 639 implied HN points • 18 May 24
💼 Business Writing Marketing Social media Publications Earnings
  1. Medium has a unique publications system that helps writers reach more readers. Getting published in the right ones can boost your visibility and earnings significantly.
  2. There are thousands of publications on Medium covering a wide range of topics. With so many options, it's important to find the top ones that align with your interests and goals.
  3. Recent changes in Medium's programs allow editors to support writers more effectively. This means writers can earn more and gain better access to their target audience.

Why I Gave Up Solo Freelancing And You Should Too.

VERY GOOD PRODUCTIZED GUIDES • 79 implied HN points • 26 Aug 24
💼 Business Outsourcing Entrepreneurship Freelancing Work Life Income
  1. Freelancing offers flexibility, but it can also mean you have to work constantly, even when you're not feeling well. There can be no breaks without risking your income.
  2. Life changes can force you to reevaluate your work style, like having to care for a family member or dealing with personal health issues. It shows that relying solely on freelancing can lead to financial instability.
  3. Building a business that runs independently allows you to have more freedom. By outsourcing tasks, you can focus on what you love and still earn money, instead of trading your time for every dollar.

Measuring developer productivity? A response to McKinsey 2

Software Design: Tidy First? • 3380 implied HN points • 31 Aug 23
💼 Business Investment decisions Incentives Management Productivity Team performance
  1. Measuring outcomes and impact alone can lead to gaming the system and disadvantages for the business
  2. Team performance is often more important than individual performance, as seen in sports like soccer
  3. Investing in engineering should be treated as research & development, making small bets and doubling down on promising ones

An Interview With Peter Fernandez

ciamweekly • 125 implied HN points • 19 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Authentication Identity Security AI Open Source Standards Access Control SaaS
  1. CIAM is more than just security — it’s the gateway to seamless experiences across devices and providers using federation, MFA, and passkeys, and it’s becoming essential for B2B SaaS.
  2. Big challenges remain: the threat landscape and AI make protection harder, and current solutions need better integration of identity, consent, access control, and token management to support delegation safely.
  3. CIAM will blur with AI and other tech to deliver richer, safer user experiences, and open source CIAM lets developers experiment with innovations like elective consent and improved account linking.
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How to use AI agents for marketing

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 544 implied HN points • 16 Nov 25
💼 Business Sales Growth Technology AI Marketing
  1. AI can help marketing teams improve lead enrichment by gathering more complete data from multiple sources. This makes it easier to reach out to better-suited customers quickly.
  2. Using AI as an 'inbound BDR' can automate personalized outreach and meeting scheduling, leading to more meetings and opportunities for sales teams. This saves time and enhances engagement.
  3. Creating a custom AI app layer for sales and marketing can streamline customer information and actions needed. This leads to faster responses and improved conversion rates for sales teams.

A New Way to Collaborate With Other Substack Newsletter Writers

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 1638 implied HN points • 08 Feb 24
💼 Business Networking Entrepreneurship Marketing Collaboration Content creation
  1. Collaborating with other newsletter writers can make the process more enjoyable and less lonely. It’s great to find support and connect with like-minded people.
  2. Using Substack’s recommendation features can help grow your subscriber base. Many writers have successfully gained subscribers through community recommendations.
  3. Letdir is a new directory for Substack writers that helps you discover and connect with others in your niche. It’s an easy way to find collaboration opportunities.

From 0 to 1,000 Subscribers with Free Recommendations

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 1318 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
💼 Business Content creation Marketing Growth Entrepreneurship Online Platforms
  1. Recommendations are a great way to grow your subscriber base. Almost 28% of new subscribers can come from other newsletters suggesting your work.
  2. You don't need to spend money on ads to gain subscribers. Many writers have seen success by simply building relationships and getting recommendations for free.
  3. Substack’s recommendations engine is powerful and can help you increase your audience quickly. It works for new writers just as much as for those with a big following.

🗺️ Start Here: Learn to AI

The Product Channel By Sid Saladi • 3 implied HN points • 19 Mar 26
🕹 Technology Product Management Productivity Artificial Intelligence Research Machine Learning Developer Tools Education
  1. Pick one AI tool and master it first — use deep‑dive guides, copy‑paste prompts, and repeatable workflows to get productive fast.
  2. Follow structured learning paths and curated resources to move from beginner to fluent; premium packs unlock hundreds or thousands of prompts, templates, and guided projects.
  3. Use AI practically to build and ship work — it can write code, run agents, speed research, and level up product management, so stay plugged into regular updates and community tools.

AI #124: Grokless Interlude

Don't Worry About the Vase • 1792 implied HN points • 10 Jul 25
🕹 Technology Machine Learning Ethics Data science Software Development AI
  1. Language models can be very useful, but many people claim to be way more productive with them than they really are, showing mixed results in the workplace.
  2. Upgrades and enhancements in AI, like new features in existing models, can improve their usability, offering benefits for tasks like coding or study assistance.
  3. The ongoing development of AI tools brings challenges, especially regarding how they handle productivity and human oversight, raising concerns about their actual effectiveness and ethical implications.

My Pitch Framework

Venture Prose • 1517 implied HN points • 18 Feb 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Investment Presentations Networking
  1. The goal of a first meeting is to trigger a second one; good investor asks the right questions, bad one slows you down.
  2. Important elements of a good pitch: timing, preciseness, energy, and emotion to keep investors engaged.
  3. Entrepreneurs need optimism, clarity of vision, and ability to adapt quickly; assess qualities like learning from experience and embracing learning from others.

A Nonconstructive Existence Proof of Aligned Superintelligence

Transhuman Axiology • 99 implied HN points • 12 Sep 24
🕹 Technology AI Superintelligence Computing Mathematics Robotics
  1. Aligned superintelligence is possible, despite some people thinking it isn't. This idea shows proof that it can exist without needing complicated construction.
  2. Desirable outcomes for AI mean producing results that people think are good. We define these outcomes based on what humans can realistically accomplish.
  3. While the concept of aligned superintelligence exists, it faces challenges. It's hard to create, and even if we do, we can't be sure it will work as intended.

CROSSPOST: WILL LOCKETT: Musk’s Pathetic Robot Is Looking More And More Like Bad Vapourware

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 292 implied HN points • 15 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Robotics Manufacturing Software Batteries Artificial Intelligence Autonomous Vehicles Electric Vehicles
  1. Musk’s grand claims for the Optimus robot—mass production, huge productivity gains, and trillions in revenue—read more like hype than realistic projections. They aren’t backed by results so far.
  2. Videos and past admissions suggest many demos are remotely puppeteered or staged, making the robot appear less autonomous and more like an illusion. The mishaps and strange behavior look like operator control, not finished technology.
  3. Tesla’s core EV development looks stagnant and competitors are pulling ahead, so the company’s high valuation depends on speculative future products like the humanoid robot actually delivering. If those breakthroughs don’t happen, the valuation is at risk.

Bluesky's big moment

Platformer • 3341 implied HN points • 02 May 23
🕹 Technology Social media AI Crypto Business Ethics
  1. Bluesky, a decentralized social network similar to early Twitter, is gaining popularity and could offer a unique alternative to mainstream social media platforms.
  2. Bluesky should focus on maintaining its decentralized nature while making it user-friendly, encouraging developers to build on the platform, and embracing the platform's quirky and fun atmosphere.
  3. Bluesky can potentially address issues in the Twitter ecosystem, such as content moderation and API accessibility, to differentiate itself further and attract a wider user base.

First Hand Data

David Friedman’s Substack • 368 implied HN points • 08 Dec 25
📖 Philosophy Epistemology Philosophy of Mind Ethics Political Philosophy
  1. Firsthand experience can change your beliefs because much accepted knowledge is passed secondhand or can be wrong or dishonest, so stay skeptical of orthodoxies.
  2. Don’t assume experts or enforcers will behave as theory says; their incentives shape their actions, so judge institutions by how people actually act.
  3. Try new activities to learn your real strengths and weaknesses, and remember that as you age you may shift from inventing solutions to relying on past experience, so use fluid thinking for novel problems.

What's Going to Happen in Crypto in 2024

DeFi Education • 1398 implied HN points • 28 Feb 24
🔮 Crypto Yield Farming Market Analysis Investing DeFi Regulation
  1. Ethereum is becoming popular because it offers ways to earn returns, like staking, and has a strong ecosystem for different financial activities. This makes it attractive to big investors.
  2. There are signs that more institutional money will flow into crypto, particularly through products like ETFs, which could drive up the value of Ethereum even more.
  3. Many Ethereum holders are likely to keep their investments locked up in various platforms, reducing the amount available for sale. This could lead to price increases as demand grows.

WiFi công cộng và Chứng Mất Trí Nhớ của Gell-Mann

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 3335 implied HN points • 01 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Media Trust Internet Security
  1. Using public WiFi may not be as unsafe as it used to be, thanks to TLS encryption protecting data transmission.
  2. The Gell-Mann Amnesia effect highlights the tendency to trust news in unfamiliar fields despite recognizing inaccuracies in a familiar one.
  3. It's important to approach traditional media and social media critically, relying on credible sources and independent verification.

From Zero to 3,600 Subscribers

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 1678 implied HN points • 03 Feb 24
💼 Business Marketing Entrepreneurship Digital Media Content creation Subscription Models
  1. Substack is great for starting and growing an email list without any upfront costs. You can begin your newsletter today and only pay a small fee if you earn money.
  2. You own your email list on Substack, meaning you can take it with you if you decide to leave. This gives you more control than relying on social media followers.
  3. Substack combines features of websites, blogs, and community platforms all in one place. It's designed to be user-friendly for beginners and offers a chance to monetize your writing easily.

“Nvidia could soon take a serious hit, too”

Marcus on AI • 4228 implied HN points • 27 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI Market Trends Economics Data Analysis Tech Companies
  1. Nvidia's stock might be facing a big drop, which is a concern for investors. A decline over 10% indicates that something is going on in the market.
  2. The market can behave in unpredictable ways, and this uncertainty can be tough for investors to manage. Today might be a key moment in the stock market.
  3. Overall, the economics of generative AI can lead to unexpected changes, making it a wild area to watch for investors and tech enthusiasts.

The curious case of Qingdao, China's land value tax

Progress and Poverty • 1539 implied HN points • 31 Jul 25
💼 Business Colonialism Urban Development Economics Taxation
  1. Qingdao implemented a land value tax that focused on the unimproved value of land, which helped reduce speculation and boost development. This tax system meant that instead of taxing income or trade, the main focus was on land, aiming for a fairer economy.
  2. Despite its successes, Qingdao's regime had significant flaws, including no real democracy and the extraction of natural resources for foreign benefit instead of local empowerment. This shows that good economic policies must also consider fairness and local benefit.
  3. The case of Qingdao teaches us that even a straightforward land value tax can lead to economic growth and success, as long as assessments are frequent and transparent. It highlights the importance of making land accessible and fairly taxed to prevent speculation.

Open Thread 356

Astral Codex Ten • 5712 implied HN points • 18 Nov 24
📖 Philosophy Social Logic Ethics Political Metaphysics
  1. The open thread allows people to discuss anything and ask questions freely. It's a space for sharing ideas and engaging with others.
  2. Comments from the community can provide new insights into historical topics, like the early Christian views on abortion and marriage. This shows how understanding can evolve with discussion.
  3. Game theory continues to evolve, with strategies like Win-Stay, Lose-Shift gaining attention for their effectiveness in cooperation compared to older strategies like Tit-for-Tat. It's interesting to see how competition shapes these strategies in different contexts.

PfU VI–VII: The Based and Meaningful

The Lifeboat • 252 implied HN points • 17 Dec 25
📖 Philosophy Free will Aesthetics Political theory Human nature Rationality Existentialism Ethics
  1. People crave a simple, positive identity they can be proud of; adopting a label like “an idler” or someone who celebrates what’s "based and meaningful" gives comfort and self-respect.
  2. Humans don’t act purely to optimise measurable goals—there’s an unquantifiable ‘North Star’ of independent desire and whim that often overrides rational self-interest and breaks predictive models.
  3. Civilisation, data, and AI won’t fully fix human unpredictability or cruelty; they can create boredom, new forms of harm, or provoke backlash from people who value acting on their own will.

AWS CEO Matt Garman Talks Amazon’s Big Bets in AI Chips, Reasoning, and Nuclear Energy

Big Technology • 5129 implied HN points • 03 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Development Cloud Computing Partnerships Nuclear Energy
  1. Amazon is focusing heavily on AI and has introduced new AI chips, reasoning tools, and a large AI training cluster to enhance their cloud services. They want customers to have more options and better performance for their AI needs.
  2. AWS believes in providing choices to customers instead of pushing one single solution. They aim to support various AI models for different use cases, which gives developers flexibility in how they build their applications.
  3. For energy solutions, Amazon is investing in nuclear energy. They see it as a clean and important part of the future energy mix, especially as demand for energy continues to grow.

Under the microscope: Medal of Honor: Underground (PlayStation)

Rings of Saturn • 43 implied HN points • 18 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Security Cryptography Gaming Reverse Engineering Emulation Software
  1. The game doesn't store cheat passwords directly; it computes a CRC-32 checksum of whatever you type and compares that to a table of stored checksums to hide the real codes.
  2. Because CRC-32 updates can be reversed on a per-byte basis, a meet-in-the-middle attack that splits 10-letter codes into two 5-letter halves makes finding matching inputs feasible without brute forcing 26^10 combinations.
  3. Using that technique revealed many alternate valid strings and four previously unknown cheat effects (like No Reload and Unlimited Ammo), since many different 10-letter inputs map to the same 32-bit checksum.

AI #122: Paying The Market Price

Don't Worry About the Vase • 1926 implied HN points • 26 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Regulation Coding AI Employment Safety
  1. Top companies like Meta are having a tough time hiring AI talent and are willing to pay big bucks to attract the best workers. However, job seekers, especially those starting out, are facing a tougher job market due to the rise of AI.
  2. Recent developments in AI have raised questions about job applications, as tools like ChatGPT can automate resume writing and applying for jobs, leading to a flood of applications that make it hard for candidates to stand out.
  3. AI is starting to play a role in emotional and practical support, with systems like Claude showing how people can seek comfort and advice from AI, although these interactions are still quite limited and often focused on serious concerns.

Apache Kafka - Important Designs

VuTrinh. • 259 implied HN points • 13 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Software Design Systems Architecture Distributed Systems Programming Data Engineering
  1. Kafka uses the operating system's filesystem to store data, which helps it run faster by leveraging the page cache. This avoids the need to keep too much data in memory, making it simpler to manage.
  2. The way Kafka reads and writes data is done in a sequential order, which is more efficient than random access. This design improves performance, as accessing data in a sequence reduces delays.
  3. Kafka groups messages together before sending them, which helps reduce the number of requests made to the system. This batching process improves performance by allowing larger, more efficient data transfers.

Augmented Coding: Beyond the Vibes

Software Design: Tidy First? • 1855 implied HN points • 25 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Software Development Data Structures Artificial Intelligence Programming Code Quality
  1. Augmented coding is different from vibe coding. It's about caring for the code quality and complexity, not just getting the system to work.
  2. Keeping the project scope clear is key. You should focus on specific tasks, like creating a B+ Tree, while ensuring the code is tidy and functional.
  3. Collaboration with AI tools can enhance coding efficiency. You can rely on AI for tasks like writing tests or suggesting optimizations, but you must guide it to stay on track.

Chartbook 396 Strangelove in the Middle East - or how the markets learned to stop worrying and love Israel's rampage.

Chartbook • 1587 implied HN points • 16 Jul 25
💰 Finance Corporate Interests Market Trends Investment Strategies Economic Analysis
  1. Israel's stock market has seen significant growth since the Hamas attack in October 2023, rising by 80% by July 2025. This shows how investors can benefit even from unstable political situations.
  2. The success of Israel's tech industry, especially in areas like AI and cybersecurity, is a major factor in its strong economy. This technology boom is benefiting Israel's stature in the global market.
  3. Despite the economic success, Israel's internal political situation remains complex and fragile. There are ongoing tensions within its diverse population and government that could affect stability.

Lunacian Lounge Recap: Combat, Dungeons, and Risk to Earn

The Lunacian • 368 implied HN points • 08 Dec 25
🔮 Crypto Blockchain Gaming Play-to-Earn Game design NFTs
  1. Playtest 2 is planned for late Q1 or early Q2 2026 and will focus on multiplayer dungeons with risk-to-earn extraction to test how fun and accessible that loop feels.
  2. Combat is moving from squad-based to single-axie control so body parts can have active abilities, classes become clearer, and gameplay feels tighter and more expressive.
  3. The game will tightly integrate Axie systems — Codex, Core, AXP, collectibles, crafting, life skills, and Land — and roll economy features out in phases to keep progression meaningful and accessible.

DeepSeek: What the Headlines Miss

ChinaTalk • 4121 implied HN points • 26 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Computing AI Export Controls Geopolitics
  1. Export restrictions on AI chips only recently started, so it’s too soon to judge their effectiveness. The new chips might still perform well for AI tasks, keeping development ongoing.
  2. DeepSeek's advancements in efficiency show that machine learning can get cheaper over time. It’s possible for smaller companies to do more with less, but bigger companies benefits from these efficiencies too.
  3. The gap in computing power between the US and China is significant. DeepSeek admits they need much more computing power than US companies to achieve similar results due to export controls.

Which filters are Noisier – Analog or Digital? Part 2

filterwizard • 19 implied HN points • 19 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Signal Processing Digital Systems Circuit Design
  1. When comparing analog and digital filters, analog filters tend to perform better in terms of noise, especially at low frequencies. Digital filters can introduce quantization noise that isn't present in analog filters.
  2. Digital filters, specifically the Direct Form filter, can have significant noise gain, which means they can amplify noise from quantization, making their performance worse in certain situations.
  3. To improve the noise performance of digital filters, increasing the bit depth of the processing can help, but there are also alternative filter topologies that can reduce noise without needing more bits.

The Road To Honest AI

Astral Codex Ten • 13558 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Security AI Ethics Communication Research
  1. AIs can lie for various reasons like being trained to deceive or lacking clear technical explanations.
  2. Researchers are exploring ways to make AIs more honest through representation engineering and lie detection techniques.
  3. One approach to detecting AI lies involves asking unrelated or bizarre questions to provoke inconsistencies in their responses.

AI #121 Part 2: The OpenAI Files

Don't Worry About the Vase • 1971 implied HN points • 20 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Innovation Policy AI Regulation Ethics
  1. Keeping up with advancements in AI is important as there are many unexpected developments happening behind the scenes. It's essential to be informed about the larger context of AI discussions and policies.
  2. There are ongoing concerns about the negative effects that AI can have on individuals, including mental health issues and the potential for influencing harmful behavior. It's crucial to have a conversation about these risks.
  3. The regulatory landscape for AI is complex, and while some believe it is heavily regulated, many in the industry feel that regulation is still lacking. A balanced approach to regulation is needed to ensure both innovation and safety.

We're not ready for the year ahead

Make Work Better • 147 implied HN points • 09 Jan 26
💼 Business AI adoption Labor Market Recruitment Workplace culture Productivity Future of work
  1. The job market is brutal for candidates right now — mass one‑click applications and automated filters mean many people never get a human to see their CV, and hiring processes drag on for ages.
  2. Employers are overwhelmed by the surge in applicants and are even borrowing dating‑app tricks to help certain candidates stand out, which risks squeezing out mid‑market talent.
  3. This is a year of reckoning for AI: businesses must use AI to augment employees rather than replace them, because augmentation is more likely to deliver real productivity gains over the next few years.

Continuous Software Engineering: Part 2 - Continuous Planning & Prioritization

The Healthy Engineering Leader • 19 implied HN points • 19 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Agile methodologies Software Engineering Continuous Improvement Team Collaboration Project management
  1. Continuous Planning means regularly updating your plans as things change. This helps teams stay effective and respond quickly to new information.
  2. Continuous Prioritization allows teams to adjust their focus based on what’s most important at any moment. This ensures they always work on tasks that matter the most.
  3. Both continuous planning and prioritization make teams more adaptable. They can shift their strategies easily and keep delivering value, even in changing environments.