The hottest Technology Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

Data Laundering: How Stability AI managed to get millions of copyrighted art works without paying artists [Finance Fridays]

Technology Made Simple • 219 implied HN points • 12 Aug 23
🕹 Technology AI Copyright Tech industry Data Privacy Artificial Intelligence
  1. Data laundering involves converting stolen data to be used illegally or sold as legitimate data.
  2. Tech companies, like Stability AI, can get around artist copyright by using creative methods with AI art.
  3. It's essential to ensure fair compensation for artists and creators whose work is used, and to establish better regulations for copyright protection in data usage.

So... what are RPCs [System Design Sundays]

Technology Made Simple • 219 implied HN points • 25 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Systems Design Communication Distributed Computing APIs Networking
  1. Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) allow for program procedures to execute in a different address space without the programmer having to explicitly write details for the remote interaction.
  2. RPCs are prevalent in modern systems design due to their efficiency, scalability, and flexibility in enabling communication between various services.
  3. RPCs are a powerful tool for building distributed computing systems, offering advantages such as efficiency, scalability, and flexibility in communication between services.

Steve Jobs vs. the Haters

Litverse • 219 implied HN points • 26 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Tech History Product Development User Experience
  1. In 1997, Steve Jobs made strategic decisions for Apple that were heavily criticized, such as discontinuing OpenDoc and embracing a closed system approach.
  2. Jobs believed in prioritizing user experience over technology, leading to the success of Apple products despite criticism from early tech adopters.
  3. The essence of successful products lies in making life better through simplicity and providing a seamless, convenient user experience, as shown by Jobs' approach with Apple.

Evaluating The Quality Of RAG & Long-Context LLM Output

Cobus Greyling on LLMs, NLU, NLP, chatbots & voicebots • 19 implied HN points • 08 Jul 24
🕹 Technology AI NLP Machine Learning Data science Automation
  1. Evaluating the performance of RAG and long-context LLMs is tough because there isn't a common task to compare them on. This makes it hard to know which system works better.
  2. Salesforce created a new way to test these models called SummHay, where they summarize information from large text collections. The results show that even the best models struggle to match human performance.
  3. RAG systems generally do better at citing sources, while long-context LLMs might capture insights more thoroughly but have citation issues. Choosing between them involves trade-offs.

The Social App where you only Post Once a Year

Messy Progress • 35 implied HN points • 15 Nov 25
🕹 Technology Social media App Development AI Tools User Experience Digital Communication
  1. Slowpost is a social app that lets you post just once a year, focusing on simplicity. It helps people stay connected through annual personal newsletters instead of constant updates.
  2. Traditional social media can be overwhelming and anxiety-inducing, but sending a yearly letter can strengthen bonds with friends and family in a more meaningful way.
  3. The app helps you manage who receives your annual letters, making it easier to reconnect with people you care about without feeling intrusive.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

What happens when an AI is your customer?

Generating Conversation • 116 implied HN points • 10 Jul 25
🕹 Technology AI Business Tools Software Automation Customer Support
  1. AI is becoming a key player in business, not just as a tool, but as a customer. Companies need to prepare for this shift.
  2. The interaction between AIs and human support will be different, requiring new approaches in design and efficiency.
  3. Businesses that adapt to AI-driven processes will have an advantage over those that don't, especially in sales and support.

MicroTimes Interviews Apple Newton Devs (1993)

Computer Ads from the Past • 128 implied HN points • 23 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Gadgets Software Innovation Development Devices
  1. The Newton MessagePad was a unique device designed to be a personal and adaptable communication tool. It learned from users and became more helpful the more it was used.
  2. Developers could create applications easily because the Newton had shared data across apps. This made it simpler for users to manage their information and created a powerful tool for convenience.
  3. It aimed to simplify tasks often done on desktop computers, making it easier for users to get things done quickly and intuitively, like tracking expenses on the go.

The Sequence Radar #692: Qwen Unleashed: This Week’s Breakthrough AI Models

TheSequence • 105 implied HN points • 27 Jul 25
🕹 Technology AI Models Software Open Source Machine Learning Data Analysis
  1. Alibaba has released new AI models called Qwen that are breaking records in tasks like coding and translation. These models are designed to help developers work more efficiently.
  2. The new Qwen models include features like better reasoning and reduced memory requirements, making them accessible for more people. This means businesses can use AI without needing expensive hardware.
  3. Alibaba plans to continue expanding these models with more specialized features and improvements in understanding language and images. This shows their commitment to leading in open-source AI technology.

AI and the future of weather forecasting

The PhilaVerse • 123 implied HN points • 02 Jul 25
🕹 Technology AI Weather Forecasting Data science Machine Learning
  1. AI is changing how we predict the weather by offering quicker and more efficient methods compared to traditional forecasting. This helps provide better updates, especially for things like storms and heatwaves.
  2. While AI forecasting models are fast, they currently work at a lower resolution than traditional systems. They still depend on traditional methods for some accurate initial data.
  3. There is growing interest worldwide in using AI for weather forecasting. This technology could improve disaster preparedness, agriculture, and energy management, making it valuable for many industries.

I spent another 8 hours understanding the design of Amazon Redshift. Here's what I found.

VuTrinh. • 79 implied HN points • 16 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Data Engineering Cloud Computing Database Systems Machine Learning Big Data
  1. Amazon Redshift is designed as a massively parallel processing data warehouse in the cloud, making it effective for handling large data sets efficiently. It changes how data is stored and queried compared to traditional systems.
  2. The system uses a unique compilation service that generates specific code for queries, which helps speed up processing by caching compiled code. This means Redshift can reuse code for similar queries, reducing wait times.
  3. Redshift also uses machine learning techniques to optimize operations, such as predicting resource needs and automatically adjusting performance settings. This allows it to scale effectively and maintain high performance during heavy workloads.

One year of Substack Notes—now with video and external embeds

Substack • 702 implied HN points • 16 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Social media Publishing Content creation Digital marketing Online Communities
  1. Substack Notes has grown significantly over the past year, attracting many new subscriptions for writers. This shows how important online conversations are for discovering and sharing content.
  2. Writers can now share their notes outside of Substack by embedding them on other websites. This helps their work reach a bigger audience and gain more recognition.
  3. Substack is focused on empowering creators by giving them control over their content and revenue. Unlike traditional social media, most money earned goes directly to the writers.

Links for 2024-01-25

Axis of Ordinary • 117 implied HN points • 25 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Miscellaneous Ukraine
  1. AI advancements are being made in realistic video generation, orchestration of robotic agents, and text-to-image generation.
  2. CAR T cells could be engineered to combat aging, revealing potential in using them for more than just cancer treatments.
  3. Historical narratives are often shaped by the perspectives of those in power, rather than the marginalized or oppressed.

Accio Insights: The Marauder’s Map of the ML World

The Palindrome • 3 implied HN points • 19 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Natural Language Generative AI Systems Design Data science
  1. Embeddings are learned, dense numerical vectors that capture what words or items mean in context instead of using one‑hot or random encodings.
  2. Similarity in embedding space is measured by the cosine of the angle between vectors, and relationships show up as directions you can add or subtract (for example, king − man + woman ≈ queen), so similar things cluster and outliers stand out.
  3. Embeddings are a core building block across ML systems — powering search, LLMs, image generators, and recommendations — and engineers must design around retrieval, scale, latency, and reliability when using them in production.

GroupBy #31: Migrating a Trillion Entries of Uber’s Ledger Data from DynamoDB to LedgerStore, Grab Experiment Decision Engine

VuTrinh. • 59 implied HN points • 16 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Data Engineering Machine Learning Software Development Cloud Computing
  1. Uber successfully migrated over a trillion entries of its ledger data to a new database called LedgerStore without causing disruptions. This shows how careful planning can make big data moves smooth.
  2. Airbnb has open-sourced a machine learning feature platform called Chronon, which helps manage data and makes it easier for engineers to work with different data sources. This promotes collaboration and innovation in the tech community.
  3. The GrabX Decision Engine boosts experimentation on online platforms by providing tools for better planning and analyzing experiments. This can lead to more informed decisions and improved outcomes in projects.

The Sequence Engineering #681: Building Agents with Amazon Strands

TheSequence • 119 implied HN points • 09 Jul 25
🕹 Technology AI Software Development Systems Engineering
  1. Amazon Strands is an open-source framework that lets AI models work independently to plan and complete tasks. This means developers don’t have to write specific instructions for every single action.
  2. The framework uses three key components: a model, tools, and prompts to build intelligent agents easily. This helps in creating smarter systems with less coding effort.
  3. The essay goes into detail about how Amazon Strands works, including its structure and how it can handle multiple agents, making it a powerful tool for developers.

Unit Testing for Data Engineers.

Data Engineering Central • 216 implied HN points • 13 Feb 23
🕹 Technology Data Engineering Unit Testing SQL Code Refactoring
  1. Data Engineers often struggle with implementing unit tests due to factors like focus on moving fast and historical lack of emphasis on testing.
  2. Unit testable code in data engineering involves keeping functions small, minimizing side effects, and ensuring reusability.
  3. Implementing unit tests can elevate a data team's performance and lead to better software quality and bug control.

Unpredictable Black Boxes are Terrible Interfaces

Maneesh’s Substack • 217 HN points • 30 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Interfaces Conversational AI Generative AI
  1. Generative AI models can produce high-quality content but are terrible interfaces due to unpredictable output based on input controls.
  2. Well-designed interfaces allow users to predict how input controls affect outputs, reducing the need for trial-and-error.
  3. Humans, despite being imperfect interfaces, are still better collaborators than AI due to shared semantics and repair mechanisms in conversations.

2024: The Year the iPhone is Falling Behind

Modern Value Investing • 157 implied HN points • 09 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Smartphones AI Industry Mobile technology Tech competition
  1. Google is making significant advancements in AI with the introduction of Gemini models and targeting Apple's iPhone market.
  2. Apple, despite its strong market presence, may face challenges in the AI race as its lack of innovative AI products could impact its competitive position.
  3. The future of smartphones is being reshaped by advancements in AI technology, with companies like Google and OpenAI aiming to redefine user experiences.

Prompting is Managing

Breaking Smart • 125 implied HN points • 19 Jun 25
🕹 Technology AI Management Education Cognition Research
  1. Using AI tools like chatbots is similar to managing interns. It's not about doing the work yourself but overseeing the process.
  2. Focusing on sameness in writing can help maintain quality, but it may also limit creativity. Good management knows when to stick to the rules and when to encourage originality.
  3. We need to change how we teach writing and management skills for the AI era. It’s important to build skills for overseeing new technologies rather than just avoiding them.

☞ The Humanistic Computation Project

Cabinet of Wonders • 300 implied HN points • 07 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Computation Humanities Science Philosophy Literature
  1. Computation can help us understand many fields, not just programming. It can connect ideas from literature, biology, philosophy, and more.
  2. The study of computation involves looking at how we think and use language. It also explores the limits of mathematics and the nature of reality.
  3. Humanistic computation blends computer science with the humanities and social sciences. This new field encourages us to think deeply about how technology and culture interact.

What's up Python ? Python, the video game, pyodide on the rise, numpy breaks...

Bite code! • 856 implied HN points • 30 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Programming Python WebAssembly Libraries Updates
  1. A new Python video game, JOY OF PROGRAMMING, is available on Steam for learning programming interactively.
  2. Pyodide, a Webassembly CPython port, now has experimental support from urllib3, enabling Python to run in the browser.
  3. Numpy 2 is set to release soon, with changes that may impact compatibility, so users should prepare by checking and updating dependencies.

The Fastest Way to Run a Typescript Script, with Flags

Jake [Building in NYC] • 59 implied HN points • 15 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Software Programming Development Web Tools Open Source
  1. Bun is a simple tool for running Typescript scripts directly, making the process easy.
  2. You can add runtime flags to your scripts using the 'arg' package, allowing for inputs when the script runs.
  3. The setup involves creating a project directory, installing Bun and 'arg', and then running your code easily with flags.

Time to First Token

Kesav’s Lab • 8 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
🕹 Technology AI Infrastructure Cloud Computing Machine Learning Model Deployment Hardware
  1. Using an inference provider gets you serverless endpoints, streaming, and time-to-first-token optimizations fast and is great for experimentation, but it sacrifices control over data residency and token logging. Building your own infra gives maximum control and compliance but is costly, slow to provision, and requires tradeoffs between speed, quality, and price.
  2. Provisioning large GPU instances is as much political and logistical as it is technical — expect weeks of lead time, enterprise support, and close coordination with cloud vendors to get high-end capacity. Tools like managed notebooks speed prototyping, but real deployments involve lots of debugging and operational overhead.
  3. TechBio workloads need specialized compute and tight lab-in-the-loop integration, which opens a market for domain-specific inference platforms that help fine-tune models and evaluate clinical viability. Because downstream clinical validation is slow and expensive, models that focus on toxicology and clinical outcomes are especially valuable for capturing real-world ROI.

Did Claude Code Lose Its Mind, Or Did I Lose Mine?

jonstokes.com • 134 implied HN points • 08 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Software Development Tech Tools Productivity
  1. AI tools can be affected by user habits. If you relax your process, the AI's output can suffer too.
  2. Using checklists or sticking to a defined process helps maintain the quality of your interactions with AI.
  3. Better tools are needed to support detailed, structured interactions with AI, rather than encouraging shortcuts.

Joe's Nerdy Rants #7

Joe Reis • 216 implied HN points • 01 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Data AI Business Startups Events
  1. The data community deserves better events free of vendor influence.
  2. The major data platforms are in an intense competition and push to capture attention.
  3. Attending big-vendor conferences often involves dealing with aggressive selling tactics.

Understanding Large Language Models

Startup Pirate by Alex Alexakis • 216 implied HN points • 12 May 23
🕹 Technology AI Neural Networks Deep Learning Language Models AGI
  1. Large Language Models (LLMs) revolutionized AI by enabling computers to learn language characteristics and generate text.
  2. Neural networks, especially transformers, played a significant role in the development and success of LLMs.
  3. The rapid growth of LLMs has led to innovative applications like autonomous agents, but also raises concerns about the race towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

The Messy Page

Register Spill • 216 implied HN points • 07 May 23
🕹 Technology Software Engineering Programming Debugging AI
  1. The author prefers messy projects over greenfield projects because they provide more certainty and direction.
  2. Having clear product-market fit and defined requirements make a project enjoyable to work on.
  3. The author finds debugging appealing due to its clear requirements and the assurance that efforts won't be wasted.

How to scale yourself

Software Engineering Tidbits • 216 implied HN points • 11 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Software Engineering
  1. One way to scale yourself in a professional setting is to schedule specific office hours for addressing requests.
  2. Another method to scale yourself is to create a comprehensive internal search system to easily access knowledge resources.
  3. Delegating tasks to team members and managers is essential for freeing up time, reducing bottlenecks, and fostering growth opportunities.

Deep Learning Weekly: Issue #293

Deep Learning Weekly • 216 implied HN points • 22 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Industry MLOps Learning Libraries & Code Papers & Publications
  1. This week in deep learning includes Microsoft 365 Copilot and emergent abilities of large language models.
  2. Learn about industry trends like signed parameters for ML model deployments and new AI startups.
  3. Explore informative posts on prompt engineering, computer vision in robotics, and papers on video generation and symbolic regression.

The Absurdity of the Open Letter Calling for a Pause on AI Development

The A.I. Analyst by Ben Parr • 216 implied HN points • 29 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Development Ethics Competition Regulation Collaboration
  1. An open letter calling for a pause on AI development is viewed as flawed by the author.
  2. The approach of trying to pause AI development for safety reasons is considered unrealistic and not well thought out.
  3. The author suggests that collaboration, transparency, and practical solutions are needed to guide AI's development instead of proposing a blanket pause.

This Is The Most Important Thing We Can Build With AI

America 2.0 (by Gary Sheng) • 216 implied HN points • 05 Apr 23
🕹 Technology AI Data Analysis Decision-making
  1. A human-powered, AI-supercharged network is crucial to make collective decisions and bring about positive change.
  2. The bottleneck to effective coordination lies in the quality of input data in attempts to coordinate.
  3. An AI-powered civic information network can revolutionize our ability to understand collective desires and serve the community better.