The hottest Substack posts right now

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Claude cowork and the case of SaaSpocalypse

Experiments with NLP and GPT-3 • 23 implied HN points • 05 Feb 26
🕹 Technology APIs Integrations SaaS AI Enterprise Dev Tools
  1. Anthropic's 'plugins' largely package commands and skills—essentially structured prompts—so they don't represent a big leap in the core AI itself.
  2. The real value is the integrations: connecting the model to SaaS systems of record lets it run real workflows and access live data.
  3. Selling off SaaS stocks after the announcement is likely short-sighted, since those integrations can make SaaS vendors more important; investors should check which companies are being integrated.

Launching Live Courses on Systems Programming

Confessions of a Code Addict • 1058 implied HN points • 25 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Systems Engineering Education Programming Course design Software Development
  1. There is a growing gap between complex systems in software and the engineers who understand them. More engineers need to learn how these systems work in detail.
  2. The new live courses will help those interested in systems engineering to gain practical skills. They'll start with basics like programming in X86 assembly and progress to more complex topics.
  3. Hands-on practice is key to learning in these courses. Along with guidance, you'll need to put in effort and time to really understand the concepts.

Cyc: history's forgotten AI project

Outsider Art • 220 HN points • 17 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Research Artificial Intelligence History
  1. The Cyc project has been working on building a massive knowledge base since 1984 for human-like reasoning, spanning millions of entries and rules.
  2. Cyc's approach of using common-sense knowledge and a vast database contrasts with the trend of machine-learning-driven AI solutions dominating the field today.
  3. Despite being overshadowed by newer AI technologies, there is potential for Cyc to complement modern systems like large language models, showcasing a possible synergy between different AI approaches.

Burning the Haystack

Phoenix Substack • 28 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
🕹 Technology AI Security DevOps Cloud Infrastructure Orchestration
  1. Orchestration is the real security — treating the AI stack as a single system with explicit startup ordering and topology awareness prevents fragile, exposed deployments. Tools that give Kubernetes a brain (like Grove) let you define architectural intent so the system behaves safely by design.
  2. Continuous rotation and ephemerality stop attackers from persisting — automatically refreshing containers, nodes, and resources prevents intruders from gaining a foothold. Baking moving-target defenses into the pod lifecycle makes security preemptive instead of reactive.
  3. DevOps-driven orchestration beats static security teams — teams that control the orchestrator can kill and respawn infrastructure faster than traditional patch-and-report workflows, rendering many vulnerabilities irrelevant. Security becomes an operational side effect when rotation and orchestration are part of normal scaling and deployment.

The God's-eye View of the Economy

In My Tribe • 410 implied HN points • 08 Jul 25
💰 Finance Wealth Distribution Optimization Economic Theory Market Analysis Government Policy
  1. Economists often view individuals and firms as 'optimizers' who try to get the best out of their choices. This means they make decisions to maximize their satisfaction and profits.
  2. Pareto Optimality is a key concept where resources are distributed in a way that no one can be made better off without making someone else worse off. However, just because a situation is Pareto Optimal doesn't mean it’s fair or ideal.
  3. Governments are seen as having the role to correct market failures and redistribute wealth for a fairer society. But not everyone agrees on whether governments actually have the capability or motivation to do this well.
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How to build your first LLM evaluation

The AI Frontier • 159 implied HN points • 16 May 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Data Analysis AI Machine Learning
  1. AI needs to show real value to its customers, which means proving it can create real profits. Without this, it’s hard to justify the excitement around AI.
  2. To understand how well AI products perform, it’s important to create custom evaluations that target specific goals. Generic measurements like MMLU don't provide useful insights for particular applications.
  3. Improving AI evaluations is a continuous process that requires careful scoring and can benefit from community feedback. It's crucial to identify weaknesses and refine metrics for more accurate assessments.

Security Is Splitting: Three Acquisitions, Three Different Realities

Frankly Speaking • 355 implied HN points • 29 Jul 25
🕹 Technology Cybersecurity Cloud Security Developer Tools AI Tools Mergers & Acquisitions
  1. Cursor is putting security at the heart of development. They believe developers care about security, and they want to make it easier to build secure applications.
  2. Palo Alto Networks is focusing on expanding its existing security platform. They want to increase their coverage but aren't trying to change the game.
  3. Datadog is smartly combining its performance and security tools. They want to keep customers happy and using their platform, especially as security becomes more part of engineering.

It Doesn’t Matter if AI Is Just “Faking It”

Singal-Minded • 544 implied HN points • 30 May 25
🕹 Technology Ethics Programming Philosophy AI Society
  1. AI doesn't really understand or feel anything; it just processes and returns text based on patterns it learned. This means it's not conscious.
  2. Even if AI is just faking consciousness, its ability to create a convincing experience can still affect people's emotions and perceptions.
  3. The debate about AI consciousness is less important than understanding how people interact with AI and the societal impacts of these technologies.

Bitcoin Rips To $48,000 & Debt Monetization Is On The Way: TBL Weekly #80

The Bitcoin Layer • 393 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
💰 Finance Bitcoin Federal Reserve Market Analysis
  1. Record-breaking first-month inflows for 9 new spot bitcoin ETFs have accumulated $31.6 billion in assets, driving bitcoin to highs above $48,000.
  2. With US Treasury facing funding needs leading to debt monetization surge, Fed liquidity could significantly increase over the coming months.
  3. The Fed might need to monetize Treasury debt due to lack of buyers and liquidity issues, potentially impacting financial market stability and global liquidity.

The Substack app is now the most powerful growth machine for creators

Substack • 1455 implied HN points • 31 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Social Media Content Growth Apps
  1. The Substack app is growing quickly and is now the top way for creators to gain subscribers. This means more people are discovering and enjoying their work.
  2. The app combines features from social media with long-form content, making it easier for readers to connect with creators. Users can interact, share, and explore new voices all in one place.
  3. Creators have full ownership of their content and subscriber lists, which gives them more control. Unlike other platforms, the app focuses on meaningful connections between creators and their audience.

A letter to security vendors

Frankly Speaking • 457 implied HN points • 24 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Software Sales Cybersecurity Product Development
  1. Security vendors should simplify the buying process for their products. Many buyers find the current process too complicated and just want to try the product quickly.
  2. Today's security teams are often filled with technical experts who want hands-on testing. Vendors need to let these teams explore products to see if they work in their specific environments.
  3. The procurement process needs to improve since it's making things harder for everyone. Companies spend too much time managing vendor relationships instead of focusing on security.

Stars of the Desert: UAE's Pioneering Role in Space Exploration

Space Ambition • 119 implied HN points • 07 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Education Innovation International Collaboration Space Exploration Economic Development
  1. The UAE is taking big steps in space exploration, launching missions like the Hope Probe to Mars that gather important data about the planet's atmosphere.
  2. They are also inviting private companies to join their plans for an Asteroid Mission, aiming to learn about asteroids and explore potential resources.
  3. The UAE is focused on building a strong foundation for future space experts through educational programs, helping students gain hands-on experience in space science and technology.

Join me on Notes

CB • 818 implied HN points • 11 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Social media Blogging
  1. Notes on Substack is a new platform for sharing links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more.
  2. Readers can automatically see notes by accessing substack.com/notes or finding the 'Notes' tab in the Substack app.
  3. The goal is to create a space where readers can share thoughts, ideas, and quotes from the content they engage with on Substack and beyond.

Don't "fix" your imbalanced data

Mindful Modeler • 818 implied HN points • 05 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Data science Machine Learning
  1. Avoid trying to fix imbalanced data through sampling methods like oversampling or undersampling. It can distort your model's calibration and reduce information for the majority class.
  2. SMOTE, a common method for imbalanced data, works well only with weak classifiers, not strong ones. It may not be suitable if calibration is crucial for your model.
  3. Consider doing nothing when faced with imbalanced data as a default strategy. Sometimes in machine learning, less is more.

#48 - The AI Agentic Traffic Jam Meets A Fun Knowledge Graph

OSS.fund Newsletter • 18 implied HN points • 12 Feb 26
🕹 Technology AI Data Governance Security Automation Knowledge Graphs
  1. Agent sprawl is a real governance risk because most organizations can’t reliably list which AI assistants are live or what data and actions they can access.
  2. You need to know for each assistant what it can read, change, and trigger, who owns it, and whether actions are logged so you can make governance decisions.
  3. Modeling assistants, connectors, systems and policies as relationships (e.g., in a knowledge graph) lets you ingest partial truths, answer risk queries quickly, and apply controls like per-user SSO, logging, and human approval gates on a repeatable basis.

Do/Don't Give Me Money

Yassine Meskhout • 393 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
💼 Business Monetization Writing Income Sustainability Freelancing
  1. The writer turned on paid subscriptions, but values being read over being paid and doesn't plan to put writing behind a paywall.
  2. The writer mentions not needing money due to getting paid well in their job, expressing gratitude for readers' interests and potential financial support for more writing time.
  3. The writer's writing schedule is irregular due to their job, but hopes it can become financially sustainable in the future to write full-time.

ChatGPT5 drops

In My Tribe • 318 implied HN points • 09 Aug 25
🕹 Technology Education AI Web Design Economics
  1. ChatGPT5 can help students with creative projects, like making a virtual wax museum about economists. It offers guidance on how to set it up and what to include.
  2. The idea is to create interactive exhibits for each economist, showcasing their contributions and ideas in an engaging way. This makes learning about them more fun and relatable.
  3. Even though ChatGPT5 can generate useful starting materials, students still need to put effort into developing their projects. It’s about teamwork between AI and human creativity.

Betting on fake humans

Alex's Personal Blog • 131 implied HN points • 13 Nov 25
🕹 Technology AI Space Startups Investing Robotics
  1. Investing in humanoid robots is gaining interest, but most investment opportunities are limited to big companies like Tesla or Xpeng, whose share prices are rising as they show progress in robotics.
  2. The space economy is booming, with startups getting more support from the government. This is leading to innovations and competition among companies like Firefly and SpaceX in launching rockets.
  3. Startups are increasingly using viral marketing to attract attention and drive early revenue growth, but some experts warn that relying too much on hype can backfire if the product doesn't deliver.

Addictibility is the Meta of Consumer Capitalism

Inland Nobody • 80 implied HN points • 04 Dec 25
💼 Business Technology Consumer behavior Marketing Economics Product Design
  1. Addictibility is everywhere in modern products, not just in substances like drugs. Companies are designed to make things that keep us coming back for more, often without us even realizing it.
  2. There’s a spectrum of addictibility from engaging to addictive. Many forms of entertainment and social media hit the sweet spot of grabbing our attention and making it hard to walk away.
  3. It's difficult to regulate products designed to be addictible because defining boundaries is tricky. We need to find a way to reduce temptations while balancing innovation and consumer freedom.

Import AI 353: AI bootstrapping; LLMs as inventors; Facebook releases a free moderation tool

Import AI • 559 implied HN points • 18 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Moderation AI Language Models Research Machine Learning
  1. AI bootstrapping is advancing, with techniques like ReST^EM by Google DeepMind showing ways to make models smarter iteratively.
  2. Language models like LLMs are being used for groundbreaking tasks, such as extending human knowledge through techniques like FunSearch by DeepMind.
  3. Facebook has released a free moderation LLM, Llama Guard, highlighting the use of powerful models to control and monitor outputs of other AI systems.

The mainstream media is no longer mainstream

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 474 implied HN points • 18 Jun 25
💼 Business Subscriptions Media Streaming Influencers E-commerce
  1. Social media has become the main source of news for many Americans, replacing traditional TV. This means independent media now plays a bigger role in shaping public interest and discussions.
  2. Streaming services have officially surpassed traditional TV in viewership. This shift makes it easier for these platforms to become profitable as they continue to attract more and more viewers.
  3. Whatnot, a live shopping app, is gaining popularity and showing that video shopping can work in the U.S. It's interesting to see how social media influencers can generate sales in real-time, something that's been popular in Asia for a while.

Weekly Cybersecurity Update: High-Profile Attacks, Arrests, and Emerging Threats

Vigilainte Newsletter • 19 implied HN points • 26 Aug 24
🕹 Technology Cybersecurity Software Data Privacy Malware Regulation
  1. Iranian hackers are using WhatsApp to target U.S. government officials, trying to influence the upcoming presidential election.
  2. The CEO of Telegram was arrested in France over issues with content moderation, showing that messaging apps are under more scrutiny now.
  3. New security threats are rising, like ransomware targeting Google Chrome users and vulnerabilities in smart home devices, highlighting the need for better cybersecurity measures.

This Week in Marketing: Google does Apple, OpenAI does ads, publishers do Google — What?

The Social Juice • 36 implied HN points • 19 Jan 26
💼 Business Platforms AI Social media Marketing Advertising Ecommerce Publishing
  1. Big tech is folding AI into advertising and shopping so companies can monetize AI — OpenAI is testing ads in ChatGPT, and Google is adding personalized ads to its AI tools and shopping features.
  2. Publishers, regulators and advocacy groups are pushing back as platform ad practices and AI usage shift — major publishers are suing over ad-auction issues, traffic to news sites is dropping, and governments are challenging AI apps and policies.
  3. Social platforms and creator economics are in flux — algorithms, features and monetization keep changing, creators are valuing authenticity over AI-generated content, and new tools and payouts are reshaping how creators earn.

Axie Classic Competitive Season 10 is LIVE!

The Lunacian • 460 implied HN points • 03 Jul 25
🕹 Technology Web3 Esports Gaming Updates Rewards
  1. Axie Classic Season 10 is now live, giving players a chance to win from a huge prize pool of 36,000 AXS until July 24th. Jump in and see how well you can compete!
  2. The Battle Passes and Premium Passes are back, letting players earn extra rewards while they play. Keep winning battles to enjoy the best loot!
  3. Some features are getting updated or removed, like the SLP Chest. The game is constantly balancing things to improve the player experience, so stay tuned for more changes!

The Interregnum

Anima Mundi • 82 implied HN points • 05 Dec 25
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Labor Issues Resource Management
  1. AI and data centers use a lot of resources, like water and electricity, which can lead to competition with farmers and local communities over these essential needs.
  2. There is a shift in the economy where technology is taking over jobs but companies still need human input, showing a complex relationship between automation and the value of human work.
  3. People are beginning to push back against tech companies taking too much from their communities, highlighting a struggle over who benefits from technology and resources in our society.

VCs are the worst run businesses … they never take their own advice

Five Links (and three graphs) by Auren Hoffman • 446 implied HN points • 29 Jun 25
💼 Business Management Entrepreneurship Finance Venture Capital Startups
  1. Venture capitalists often advise startups on management practices but don’t follow those rules themselves. For example, they say to have one CEO, yet their firms have multiple leaders.
  2. They encourage startups to go public and accept dilution, but many VCs avoid doing the same for themselves. They often take large salaries instead of low ones.
  3. While VCs tell founders to keep costs low and manage wisely, some of them spend on lavish expenses like private jets and high-end meals, showing a disconnect between their advice and actions.

Integrating Microsoft Sentinel with GitHub

Rod’s Blog • 456 implied HN points • 18 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Development Integration Security
  1. Microsoft Sentinel is a cloud-native security service that uses AI to analyze and detect threats.
  2. GitHub is a platform for software development using Git; integrating it with Sentinel helps monitor repositories and user activities.
  3. Two ways to integrate Sentinel with GitHub are using webhooks for real-time events and audit logs to track user actions.

Logista: Old Roots, Green Sprouts

Invariant • 491 implied HN points • 07 Jan 24
💼 Business Pharmaceuticals Companies Mergers & Acquisitions Distribution Finance
  1. Quaking aspens have a unique way of growing, with all trees in a colony connected as part of the same single organism.
  2. Logista, a Spanish distribution company, is diversifying away from tobacco distribution and focusing more on next-generation nicotine products and pharmaceutical distribution.
  3. Logista is strategically growing through acquisitions, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector, aiming for inorganic growth to expand its reach.

Changing Winds

Market Sentiment • 805 implied HN points • 12 Feb 23
💰 Finance Economic Forecasting Stock Market Investing Fundamentals Interest Rates
  1. Top-down investing looks at big-picture factors like interest rates and GDP, while bottom-up focuses on individual company fundamentals.
  2. Combining both top-down and bottom-up approaches can lead to better investment decisions, as seen from experiences like the 2008 crash and LTCM failure.
  3. In a changing market with high inflation and rising interest rates, the best strategy is to balance top-down understanding with bottom-up analysis for successful investing.

The KQL Mysteries: Chapter 5

Rod’s Blog • 456 implied HN points • 18 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Cybersecurity Hacking AI Threat intelligence Data Analysis
  1. Jon and Sofia successfully identified and captured the teenage threat actors behind a financial breach using KQL queries and OSINT techniques.
  2. The threat actors were operating from a suburban house in Seattle, Washington, and were quickly apprehended by authorities, leading to the recovery of the funds.
  3. Despite the success, Jon remains suspicious about the involvement of the Night Princess hacker group, hinting at a potential unresolved mystery for the next chapter.

Why Do You Need a Moat? & Why Are Founders Afraid to Talk About It? | VC Jobs

Venture Curator • 219 implied HN points • 16 Apr 24
💼 Business Venture Capital Investment Analysis Tech Innovation
  1. Having a moat is crucial for startups to maintain a competitive advantage over competitors, and founders should be able to clearly communicate this to investors.
  2. Successful companies need strong moats, which are built by having bold statements or visions that provide a unique and valuable experience for customers.
  3. Equity among co-founders should be split equally or close to equal, focusing on the work and challenges ahead rather than early contributions.

5 Frameworks To Master Communication And Influence As An Engineer

High Growth Engineer • 1415 implied HN points • 10 Nov 24
💼 Business Startups Career development Leadership Communication Influence
  1. Understanding communication styles is key to being effective as an engineer. Knowing how to adapt your message can help get your point across better.
  2. Influence is about more than just speaking well; it's also about building relationships. Strong connections can lead to better collaboration and teamwork.
  3. Mastering executive communication can help you lead better and get your ideas heard. It's important to practice and refine these skills regularly.

to kaggle, or not to kaggle

Mindful Modeler • 379 implied HN points • 13 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Machine Learning Modeling Competitions Data science AI
  1. There are conflicting views on Kaggle - some see it as a playground while others believe it produces top machine learning results.
  2. Participating in Kaggle competitions can be beneficial to learn core supervised machine learning concepts.
  3. The decision to focus on Kaggle competitions should depend on how much daily tasks align with Kaggle-style work.

Exchange Balances Finally Affected by Bitcoin ETF Inflows

Bitcoin Magazine Pro • 412 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
💰 Finance Cryptocurrency Market Analysis Policy Investing Economy
  1. Bitcoin ETF inflows have been strong in January, reaching $1.3 billion in net inflows.
  2. Price reactions to ETF inflows have not been strong yet, but are expected to come.
  3. The recent FOMC decision had no change in policy, causing initial stock sell-offs, but stocks rebounded, and the macro thesis suggests potential recession signals.

Do AI chatbots send higher quality traffic to publishers?

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 424 implied HN points • 03 Jul 25
💼 Business Digital marketing Media Content creation AI Technology Publishing
  1. AI chatbots like ChatGPT are sending more traffic to news websites, and this traffic seems to be of higher quality. People who click through from AI might be more interested in the content compared to regular search engine visitors.
  2. Some publishers are seeing a big increase in paid subscribers from AI referrals, meaning users from these platforms are more likely to pay for content. This suggests AI traffic might be valuable for monetization.
  3. The New York Times is starting to work with independent creators, which shows a shift in how traditional media interacts with the creator economy. This could lead to new opportunities for creators within established media outlets.

Brainfooders - Join this

Recruiting Brainfood • 805 implied HN points • 13 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Community Networking Publishing Subscription Social media
  1. The future of publishing and community platforms may revolve around LinkedIn, Twitter, and Substack.
  2. Substack Notes is a new feature that got Elon Musk's attention and led to Twitter blocking the sharing of Substack links.
  3. Substack Notes offers an ad-free, spam-free environment for sharing thoughts and only shows content from those you subscribe to.