Hey buddy,

Man, you gotta check out some of the stuff that was popping off on Hacker News yesterday, Sunday. I was skimming through it and saw a few things that were pretty interesting.

Plain Vanilla Web

First off, there was this thing called "Plain Vanilla Web". It's basically talking about how maybe we should chill out with all the crazy complex web tech and go back to simpler stuff. Like, just basic HTML, CSS, maybe a little JavaScript. But get this, one of the comments points out that even what we call "vanilla" web now is still way more complicated than the old days like Gopher or FIDO. Another guy in the comments was saying that even when people try to build "static" sites with modern tools like React, they often end up with dynamic stuff anyway. So yeah, the comments were kind of like, "Yeah, simpler web sounds nice, but is it even possible anymore?"

Leaving Google

Then there was this post from someone "Leaving Google". People were talking about how different the tech world was back in the early 2000s before all the huge "Big Tech" companies were fully formed. There was also this weird thread in the comments about whether smart people from top schools get laid off or put on performance plans at these big companies, and the difference between people who are "builders" versus "workers". Someone else randomly brought up a new Google AI thing for Go, which was a bit out of left field for that post.

Asus Driver Security Bug

Okay, this next one is a bit scary. Someone found a "One-Click RCE in Asus's Preinstalled Driver Software". Yeah, like, remote code execution just by clicking something because of their driver software. The comments had people talking about how updating your computer's firmware via a USB stick is way safer than letting the motherboard software try to download it from the internet. Someone was also surprised the article was on a personal blog and not some big security site. There was a debate too, about whether Microsoft should make it harder for companies to ship drivers outside of Windows Update, or if we just need more open-source drivers.

Car Software Wars

Saw a piece talking about how "Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war". Basically, cars are turning into computers on wheels, and the traditional car makers are struggling because they usually buy parts from lots of different vendors, while companies like Tesla build more of their own tech. A few comments were really worried about the quality of code going into cars these days, saying developers are just rewarded for getting stuff done fast, not necessarily writing good, safe code. Also, the whole "right to repair" thing came up, especially about being able to mess with your car's software.

Pure C Todo App

This one's pretty cool for the nerds. A 16-year-old apparently built a "native Windows Todo app in pure C". Like, no big frameworks, just C code, and the app is super tiny, only 278 KB. People in the comments thought that was awesome, getting that "warm and fuzzy" feeling doing low-level C development on Windows. They were comparing it to macOS development which is all ObjectiveC objects. Some defended using standard C file functions like fopen for a simple app, saying it's fine because it doesn't have much security risk.

VCs Facing Reality?

There was an article titled "In 2025, venture capital can't pretend everything is fine any more". But a lot of people in the comments were pretty skeptical of the author. They said he just complains about crypto and AI and doesn't seem to know what he's talking about, especially when real data sources like Pitchbook show that VC deals are actually doing pretty well right now, almost back to the crazy 2021 levels. Someone else chimed in saying people are always resistant to new tech waves, like cell phones or the internet, and maybe AI is just the same thing happening again.

Klarna and AI Customer Service

Finally, saw something about how "Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service". Remember how they were all hyped about replacing a bunch of jobs with AI? Well, looks like they're bringing some humans back. The top comment basically said the secret rule for companies trying to use AI for customer service is that AI should be a helper, not the whole solution. Some other comments in that thread went off on weird tangents about China or credit card fees, so the main takeaway there was really just that first point.

Anyway, yeah, just thought I'd give you the heads-up on some of that stuff. Talk later!