Just scrolled through Hacker News for a bit, saw some interesting stuff today, September 16th. Thought I’d give you the quick rundown.

Big Malware Attack

First off, there was this big scary one: a new malware attack called "Shai-Hulud" hit a bunch of NPM packages, like over 40 of them, including "Tinycolor." It’s a supply chain attack, which means someone slipped bad code into a popular tool that a lot of other projects use. People in the comments were pretty annoyed, saying the Node.js community is way too chill about adding tons of packages, which just makes it easier for these kinds of attacks to happen. Someone even mentioned that some developers make a living out of pushing out tiny packages, which increases the attack surface.

Check out the details: Shai-Hulud malware attack

Tor Node Guy Jailed

Then there was this wild story about a guy who got jailed for parole violations because he refused to decrypt his Tor node for the FBI. Apparently, they couldn't get into it, so they just hit him with the parole violation. The comments were deep into the legal weeds, talking about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and what constitutes proper authorization. Pretty intense stuff around privacy and legal battles.

Read about it here: Man jailed for parole violations

Cool Stuff with Software Defined Radio

On a lighter note, there was a super cool article with 50 things you can do with a Software Defined Radio. People were sharing their own projects in the comments, like one dude used it to detect a water leak by sniffing his smart water meter's radio signal, and another remembered tuning into police radio with an old TV! Seriously, some wild and useful applications for those things.

Linux Phones: More Important Now?

Someone posted an article arguing that Linux phones are more important now than ever. The comments were a mixed bag. Some agreed, but others pointed out that things like getting bank apps to work are still a huge hurdle. One person even said they’d probably just switch to an iPhone despite their usual gripes with Apple, just for reliability. It’s still a tough battle against the established ecosystems.

Denmark Almost Wiping Out HPV

This was some good news: Denmark is close to completely wiping out cancer-causing HPV strains thanks to their vaccine rollout. It's a huge public health win. In the comments, people were discussing how it was a "stupid decision" to only vaccinate girls initially and not boys, since HPV spreads sexually. Definitely a lesson learned there.

Waymo at SFO

Big news for self-driving cars: Waymo got its pilot permit for commercial operations at SFO. So, you might start seeing more of their robotaxis around the airport. The comments were all over the place, talking about whether these cars actually solve traffic, the noise pollution from tires (even on EVs!), and how public transport is often a much better alternative anyway. It's a big step, but a lot of people are still skeptical about the bigger picture.

Apple Losing Its Way?

Finally, there was this article called "I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers." A lot of people in the comments totally agreed, saying their stuff doesn't last as long, or things like AirPods aren't actually "technology marvels" as some claim. Just a general sense that Apple isn't quite what it used to be for the loyal crowd.

Anyway, thought you'd wanna hear about that. Gotta run!