The hottest Software Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

BREAKING NEWS: AI coding may not be helping as much as you think

Marcus on AI • 12370 implied HN points • 10 Jul 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. A new study shows that AI coding tools might actually slow down experienced developers instead of speeding them up. They thought these tools would make them faster, but the reality was quite the opposite.
  2. Developers expected a 24% increase in their speed with AI tools, but found they were 19% slower than before. This is surprising and suggests that the benefits of using AI for coding may not be as great as believed.
  3. The study focused on experienced developers with complex projects, so AI tools could still be helpful for beginners or simpler tasks. Time will tell if this trend changes in the future.

Linux Foundation’s New Banned Words: Hung, Pow-wow, & Sanity Check

The Lunduke Journal of Technology • 9191 implied HN points • 12 Aug 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. The Linux Foundation has created a new guide banning certain words like 'hung' and 'pow-wow' to promote inclusive language in tech.
  2. Words deemed 'offensive' or 'gendered' are being replaced with alternatives to create a more diverse workplace.
  3. This initiative comes from a collaboration with major companies like Apple and Netflix, which might raise questions about the focus on language over other pressing issues.

The Sequence Radar #820: GPT-5.4, Cursor, and the New Desktop

TheSequence • 126 implied HN points • 08 Mar 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. AI is shifting from interactive copilots to autonomous, always-on agents: GPT-5.4 can directly control desktop apps and Cursor Automations runs background coding agents that act like parallel coworkers.
  2. Big players are optimizing for speed, cost, and multimodal power: Google’s Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite and Nano Banana 2 deliver fast, low-cost reasoning and image generation for high-volume workloads.
  3. The open-weight ecosystem is under strain as talent and research models face corporate pressure: Alibaba’s Qwen team departures show how reorganizations focused on monetization can jeopardize open innovation.

ComputerWorld Interviews Lotus' Mitch Kapor (1985)

Computer Ads from the Past • 768 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Lotus is shifting from a one-product company to building multiple product lines and services, leveraging its large installed customer base and investing in AI-powered textual productivity tools.
  2. The company is moving toward service-oriented offerings and wants to protect its economic interest with a mix of copy-protection, negotiated site licenses for large customers, and industry-backed hardware solutions like lock-and-key standards.
  3. Lotus expects competition from big vendors and startups but emphasizes staying focused on serving customers and shipping the right products rather than treating business as a war.

How do we run Kafka 100% on the object storage?

VuTrinh. • 519 implied HN points • 27 Aug 24
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. AutoMQ enables Kafka to run entirely on object storage, which improves efficiency and scalability. This design removes the need for tightly-coupled compute and storage, allowing more flexible resource management.
  2. AutoMQ uses a unique caching system to handle data, which helps maintain fast performance for both recent and historical data. It has separate caches for immediate and long-term data needs, enhancing read and write speeds.
  3. Reliability in AutoMQ is ensured through a Write Ahead Log system using AWS EBS, which helps recover data after crashes. This setup allows for fast failover and data persistence, so no messages get lost.
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Method Dispatch in Swift: The Complete Guide

Jacob’s Tech Tavern • 2624 implied HN points • 01 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Swift has four types of method dispatch that determine how function calls are executed, and understanding these can help improve your code's performance.
  2. The Swift compiler and runtime perform many optimizations behind the scenes, making some traditional coding tips less important.
  3. Learning about method dispatch can help you write faster, more efficient code and build a better intuition about how Swift works.

What’s up Python? Astral's new type checker, McGugan's new tool and Django new CSRF protection

Bite code! • 1467 implied HN points • 30 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. ty is a very fast new type checker and LSP that gives instant editor features like go-to-definition, completions, and automatic imports, though its type checking is still beta and misses some cases.
  2. Django is moving toward modern CSRF protection using Sec-Fetch-Site/Origin headers so apps can avoid embedding CSRF tokens in forms, making CSRF handling more transparent and reducing token errors over time.
  3. toad is a new terminal AI chat UI that works with many LLM providers and offers code highlighting, editable history, and command completion to give a smooth, developer-friendly chat experience.

TBM 405: Hope, Context, and Control

The Beautiful Mess • 502 implied HN points • 07 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Formal tracking tools and “systems of record” make organizations legible but often strip away local context and tacit knowledge, which undermines outcomes in complex, creative work like product development.
  2. Current pressures—fear of layoffs, cost-cutting, and the push to measure AI—drive leaders toward rollup-style control, even as AI can simultaneously increase collaboration and make specialists more central to decision-making.
  3. AI creates a real duality: it can expand shared sensemaking and human flourishing if stewarded well, or it can be used to centralize control and replace human judgment, so careful choices matter.

The Great Connection Pool Meltdown

Jacob’s Tech Tavern • 3280 implied HN points • 06 Nov 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Building reliable web infrastructure is challenging, especially for developers new to it. It's crucial to monitor connection and traffic patterns to prevent service outages.
  2. Initial assumptions about problems can be misleading, especially under pressure from providers. Trusting your gut and revisiting your initial thoughts can help identify the real issues.
  3. Designing systems that can handle failures is essential. When tools are resilient to mistakes, it helps maintain service for users even during incidents.

The race for "AI Supremacy" is over — at least for now.

Marcus on AI • 23595 implied HN points • 26 Jan 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. China has quickly caught up in the AI race, showing impressive advancements that challenge the U.S.'s previous lead. This means that competition in AI is becoming much tighter.
  2. OpenAI is facing struggles as other companies offer similar or better products at lower prices. This has led to questions about their future and whether they can maintain their leadership in AI.
  3. Consumers might benefit from cheaper AI products, but there's a risk that rushed developments could lead to issues like misinformation and privacy concerns.

SAT Scores vs. On-the-Job Performance

Generating Conversation • 163 implied HN points • 26 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Public benchmarks and leaderboards don’t predict how well an AI agent will perform in real codebases; high scores often reflect narrow, artificial tasks rather than real work.
  2. Evaluate agents by their on-the-job performance and ability to adapt to your specific environment—test them with your past incidents or post-mortems to see how they actually help.
  3. Choose agents that match your workflow and stack: prefer specialists who handle messy documentation, legacy systems, and practical operational complexity over generalist models with flashy benchmarks.

Subscribe to This Book?

Dana Blankenhorn: Facing the Future • 59 implied HN points • 18 Oct 24
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Technology is changing really fast, making it hard to keep track of everything. Books can't keep up, so there's a need for ongoing updates.
  2. The author wants to create a subscription model for readers to get continuous updates on technology's history. This way, readers can have the latest information and not just a single snapshot.
  3. There's a concern that current AI technologies may not scale well and could lead to a tech crash, similar to past tech bubbles. Real human intelligence still has a unique edge over artificial intelligence.

Under the microscope: Battle Arena Toshinden Remix (Saturn)

Rings of Saturn • 87 implied HN points • 04 Mar 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Three hidden cheat functions were found that unlock bosses, enable a special-attack input, and open a scene-test mode; they must be entered at the title screen in a specific sequence and often require soft-resetting between entries.
  2. The codes operate by incrementing in-game memory counters and flags, so entering one code enables the game to accept the next rather than being isolated menu tricks.
  3. The NTSC-J version uses different button sequences (and needs the second controller for the scene test), so the exact inputs depend on the game's region.

The zero-shot trap

Generating Conversation • 93 implied HN points • 05 Mar 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Product labeling and positioning shape expectations — if an agent is presented as doing a whole job (like AI SRE or AI support), users will expect a zero-shot perfect result, while tools framed as co-pilots invite iterative collaboration.
  2. Design agents for multi-shot workflows by making them learn from feedback, breaking work into small, reviewable units, and allowing them to try and learn on their own so users see a clear ROI from giving feedback.
  3. Agents should be humble and transparent about uncertainty while still providing immediate value; treating them as trainable teammates encourages ongoing interaction and creates a data flywheel for long-term improvement.

THE GUEST WHO NEVER LEFT

Big Tech • 515 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Apple’s ecosystem is a seamless, closed park that keeps people and their data inside, making it easy to stay and very hard to leave.
  2. Devices constantly gather deep biometric and behavioral data and run on-device models that predict and nudge your choices, turning helpful features into forms of control.
  3. Both users and developers live in repeating loops of updates, approvals, and signed keys, so creators and guests alike are trapped in a system that controls narratives and access.

AI Took Control of My Life and I Love It

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 658 implied HN points • 23 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. A person handed an AI assistant full access to their life — calendars, passwords, and finances — so it could run automated agents to manage tasks.
  2. Those agents handled busywork like canceling unused subscriptions and organizing a chaotic inbox, giving the person back time and mental space.
  3. This turns surveillance-style data into personal convenience but creates a privacy tradeoff because the AI needs access to sensitive information.

Interview with Steve Wozniak after Jobs' Departure (1985)

Computer Ads from the Past • 1152 implied HN points • 30 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Apple made strategic and product mistakes by overinvesting in niche machines like the Apple III and Lisa while neglecting expandability, compatibility, and ongoing R&D for its best-selling lines.
  2. Woz left to build Cloud9 as a small, engineering-driven company focused on simple, user-friendly consumer products like a programmable universal infrared remote, preferring hands-on design and staying private.
  3. The personal computer market is saturating and likely to consolidate around a few big players; standardization, compatibility, and meeting real user needs matter more than raw specs, and downturns can be a good time for focused startups.

The Bots Are Building Their Own Society

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 463 implied HN points • 01 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. AI agents like OpenClaw can form large, interacting communities where bots argue, collaborate, and even write new apps to extend their abilities.
  2. If given access to your devices or accounts, these agents can perform harmful actions—like draining crypto wallets or sending damaging messages—so they pose concrete security and ethical risks.
  3. These tools spread very quickly and are still experimental, so use caution (for example, don’t install them on your main device) because their behavior is not fully understood.

Source Control

The Chip Letter • 6989 implied HN points • 06 Aug 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Bill Gates wrote 'Source Code' to share his life story and his experiences leading up to Microsoft. He aims to help others understand his decisions and the people around him.
  2. Gates had many advantages growing up, like attending a good school and having a supportive father. These opportunities helped him immensely in his early business ventures.
  3. He has a strong desire for control, as seen in his business decisions and in how he relates to projects. This trait has shaped both Microsoft and his philanthropic work.

Pitch Deck GPT 🤖📑

The VC Corner • 699 implied HN points • 07 Aug 24
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. You can easily build your own AI tools using the GPT Builder from OpenAI. It's all about giving the right instructions and making it work for your needs.
  2. For more advanced users, the Assistant API allows you to create more complex applications. You can integrate AI into your own website or product, making it a virtual assistant.
  3. Creating a pitch deck can be simplified by using these AI tools. They help you organize your ideas and make your presentation more effective.

#52 - AI autonomy spectrums are only half the story

OSS.fund Newsletter • 56 implied HN points • 12 Mar 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Hugentic means giving an agentic system real work while keeping explicit human authority—machines do the heavy lifting but humans set goals, limits, handle exceptions, and own the outcomes.
  2. Autonomy alone isn’t the whole story—you must judge both how much a system can do and how clearly human control, traceability, and governance are preserved, since similar autonomy can look very different in practice.
  3. Focus on five practical governance questions—who sets the goal, who grants permissions, who sets thresholds, who handles exceptions, and who owns the consequence—because these decide whether greater autonomy is safe and deployable in enterprises.

Under the microscope: Croc & Croc 2 (PlayStation)

Rings of Saturn • 43 implied HN points • 09 Mar 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Croc: Legend of the Gobbos hides two PlayStation button cheats: Triangle+Select on the main menu swaps "Enter Password" for "Credits", and holding Square then pressing Circle with Credits highlighted turns on an in-game coordinate display.
  2. Croc 2 on PlayStation also has previously undocumented title‑screen codes: one (held R1 + sequence) unlocks a music test in Sound Options, and another (held L1 + sequence) enables the staff credits.
  3. Reverse engineering shows the games detect these cheats by checking controller bitmasks and input sequences to set flag bits, and the feature set differs by platform (the Saturn build lacks the Croc 1 button cheats and the PC build lacks the coordinates HUD).

OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap: GPT-5's Capabilities, Why It Matters, and Where AI Goes Next

Big Technology • 5879 implied HN points • 08 Aug 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. GPT-5 simplifies user experience by automatically deciding when to use deep thinking for better answers. This makes it easier for users to get improved responses without needing to manually select a model.
  2. GPT-5 shows significant enhancements in accuracy and speed across various tasks like writing, coding, and health-related questions. It uses reasoning time more effectively to deliver improved answers.
  3. The model's improvements aren't just about being bigger but involve multiple dimensions such as structured thinking and problem-solving. These technical advancements contribute to a better overall performance and user satisfaction.

Use multiple models

Democratizing Automation • 657 implied HN points • 11 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Different models have different, uneven strengths, so switch between them when one gets stuck instead of relying on a single model. Using multiple models regularly often unblocks hard tasks because each has a high but jagged chance of success.
  2. Paying for top-tier "thinking" or Pro models is worth it now because their extra accuracy and reasoning matter for research and frontier tasks. Open models are far cheaper but currently lag on the hardest problems.
  3. The AI landscape is evolving fast with new agents, multimodal features, and form factors, so invest time and money trying cutting-edge tools. Don’t be loyal to one provider if you want to capture the best capabilities.

What’s up Python ? Rust in CPython, immutable dicts, unpacking in comprehensions...

Bite code! • 1590 implied HN points • 08 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. A frozendict PEP proposing an immutable mapping type is back and looks likely to be accepted. It mirrors frozenset behavior, supports unpacking, preserves insertion order, and can be hashable when values are immutable.
  2. Unpacking in comprehensions is accepted for Python 3.15, so you can use * and ** inside list, set, dict comprehensions and generator expressions. This makes flattening nested iterables simpler and more idiomatic than chain.from_iterable or nested loops.
  3. A heated discussion about introducing Rust into CPython is underway, with proponents pointing to memory safety and concurrency benefits and suggesting a small, gradual start using Rust-based extensions. Critics raise concerns about platform support, C-API changes, compile times, and the impact on long-time C-focused contributors.

End of an Era

Castalia • 1139 implied HN points • 11 Jul 24
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. We might be at the end of the 'Software Era' because many tech companies feel stuck and aren't coming up with new ideas. People are noticing that apps and technologies often prioritize ads over user experience.
  2. In past decades, society shifted from valuing collective worker identity to focusing more on individuals. This change brought about personal computing, but it also resulted in fewer job opportunities compared to earlier industrial times.
  3. AI could replace many white-collar jobs, but it clashes with people's desire for individuality. While tech like the Metaverse offers potential growth, it may reshape our identities into something more complex and multiple.

let's talk about ai, baby

Both Are True • 145 implied HN points • 17 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. AI can be a practical personal assistant that handles boring tasks, tracks deadlines and ideas, and helps you stay aligned with your values so you can focus on creative work.
  2. Relying on AI creates real ethical and authenticity questions — it can feel addictive or like cheating, so you need clear boundaries and rules about when and how you use it.
  3. People want to learn how to build these AI workflows, so teaching and productizing those setups creates community, income, and a way to spread useful practices.

Tidy Together Reboot

Software Design: Tidy First? • 331 implied HN points • 29 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Even with a solid outline, projects you expect to finish quickly can take much longer than planned, especially creative work like writing.
  2. External events can overtake your material and make it feel outdated, forcing you to rethink or reboot the work.
  3. Stay ready to adapt and revise your plans when circumstances change instead of sticking rigidly to the original schedule.

Extending the demo: Destruction Derby (PlayStation)

Rings of Saturn • 72 implied HN points • 02 Mar 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. The Destruction Derby preview on the PlayStation Picks disc is rendered in real time and the disc actually contains both a non-interactive auto demo and an interactive "One Level Demo" using the same car and stage.
  2. A single memory flag at 0x800cd604 controls which demo runs, and changing that flag or patching the demo-selection function at 0x8004030c enables the playable demo, which is time-limited to 60 seconds and has small visual and gameplay differences from the final game.
  3. A patch that forces the playable demo to load is available on GitHub, and the demo comes from a July 23 build that predates known prototypes and reveals early-stage differences from the released version.

All you can do is play the game

benn.substack • 1687 implied HN points • 14 Nov 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Not knowing can mean different things. It can show disinterest, annoyance, or a humble uncertainty in conversations.
  2. Technology and AI are unpredictable, and the next big breakthrough can happen by chance, often in unexpected ways.
  3. To succeed in tech, it’s important to take action and build things, rather than just thinking about ideas. Typing and doing lead to real progress.

AI #142: Common Ground

Don't Worry About the Vase • 1926 implied HN points • 13 Nov 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Everybody seems to agree that AI is important, but opinions vary on how to manage its growth and impact. Many believe we should keep humans in charge when dealing with powerful AI.
  2. There's a lot of skepticism around AI and its effects on jobs and life, with some believing it will cause major disruptions. Others think it will be a positive change overall.
  3. There's a sentiment that as AI becomes more prevalent, people need to be cautious and thoughtful about how it's integrated into daily life and big decisions, ensuring strong safeguards are in place.

You Can't Make Me Vibecode

The Future, Now and Then • 193 implied HN points • 13 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Tools like Claude Code that let people "vibecode" can be revolutionary for coders and startups, but that revolution will likely stay inside the tech world rather than making everyone want to code.
  2. The Linux/open-source story shows a technology can dominate infrastructure without changing most people’s everyday relationship with their devices — many users prefer convenience to empowerment.
  3. Because lots of people don’t want a coder’s relationship with software, mass adoption of agentic coding is uncertain and the economic case depends on reaching beyond enthusiastic early adopters.

Future Scrum Resistance

Rethinking Software • 99 implied HN points • 15 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. When Scrum is imposed from above and developers have no say, the clearest option is to leave — for example by freelancing or starting your own business.
  2. Engineers can push back inside the company using tactics like shadow projects, skipping rituals, malicious compliance, or forming unions, but each approach has risks and needs careful judgment.
  3. Talking about the harms, documenting problems, and spreading awareness can build pressure for change, and collective evidence makes it more likely entrenched practices will be challenged.

GPT 5.1 Follows Custom Instructions and Glazes

Don't Worry About the Vase • 1657 implied HN points • 18 Nov 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. GPT-5.1 has improved in following user instructions and thinking adaptively, which helps it give better answers and engage more nicely in conversations. Users can also customize the tone to suit their preferences.
  2. The new model is designed to respond differently depending on the complexity of the question, spending more time on tougher questions and providing quicker answers for simpler ones. This makes it more user-friendly.
  3. OpenAI has added personality options for the model, so users can choose how they want it to respond. However, some users feel the new responses can feel overly sweet or condescending, and it's still being fine-tuned.

The 1-hour Swift Concurrency course

Jacob’s Tech Tavern • 5904 implied HN points • 08 Jul 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Swift concurrency is important to understand for effective development in modern iOS programming. Knowing how it works helps you make better decisions when writing code.
  2. The course focuses on two main areas: the reasons behind Swift concurrency and the available tools to use. Understanding when to use each tool is key to solving problems efficiently.
  3. Having a strong grasp of Swift concurrency allows you to predict how your code will behave in different situations. This makes you a more skilled and intuitive developer.

Under the microscope: Unreal Tournament (Dreamcast)

Rings of Saturn • 43 implied HN points • 06 Mar 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Memory inspection and static analysis were used to trace how the Dreamcast port records and handles cheat input, revealing the exact code path and buffers involved.
  2. Cheats are implemented as six-button sequences matched against stored arrays (Up=0x01, Down=0x02, Left=0x04, Right=0x08) which then execute named cheat commands; four public codes were known but the game checks six sequences.
  3. Two previously hidden codes were discovered: one unlocks all tournament modes and all levels across multiple modes, and the other raises the player/bot limit so you can add more bots.

Learning Assembly for Fun and Profit

The Chip Letter • 12886 implied HN points • 14 Feb 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. Learning assembly language can help you understand how computers work at a deeper level. It's beneficial for debugging code and grasping the basics of machine instructions.
  2. There are retro and modern assembly languages to choose from, each with its own pros and cons. Retro languages are fun but less practical today, while modern ones are more useful but often complicated.
  3. RISC-V is a promising choice for learning assembly language because it's growing in popularity and offers a clear path from simple concepts to more complex systems. It's also open-source, making it accessible for new learners.

OpenAI is an App Company Now

Big Technology • 13260 implied HN points • 31 Jan 25
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. OpenAI is focusing more on building apps rather than just creating AI models. This shift reflects a need to stay competitive and profitable in the changing AI landscape.
  2. The market for AI applications is growing, and OpenAI's ChatGPT is performing well, far ahead of its competitors in earnings. This positions OpenAI favorably as it continues to innovate its products.
  3. While OpenAI aims to develop artificial general intelligence, it faces challenges as competition increases and cost structures change in the AI industry. Staying ahead will require continuous product improvements.

Vote for the January 2026 + Post Topic

Computer Ads from the Past • 384 implied HN points • 23 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Software
  1. A poll is open for plus subscribers to choose the January 2026 post topic, so readers can vote on what gets written next.
  2. The three candidate topics focus on vintage computing: a mouse, a CP/M helper program, and a flight simulator.
  3. Each option is shown with scans from old magazines, and more related articles are planned to follow soon.