The best Hacker News stories from Show from the past day
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Show HN: Card game where players write their own cards that get parsed into code
Wordbots is a long-running side project I've been working on on-and-off for the past ~7 years that I finally feel comfortable enough with to share with the HN community.<p>It's an online tactical card game (inspired by games like Hearthstone and Magic: the Gathering), where players write their own cards in natural language, that gets parsed down to JavaScript. The English-to-JavaScript translation is handled by a semantic parser operating on a hand-crafted CCG grammar – kind of an “old-school” approach in this age of LLMs but one that performs quite well on the very constrained language of Wordbots cards.<p>The resulting game gets pretty wacky as players can create all sorts of cards, though there are some game formats that try to produce more balanced gameplay as well (e.g. one format in which both players shuffle their decks together, and various draft formats).<p>If you're curious about how it all works, I made a write-up about it here: <a href="https://app.wordbots.io/how-it-works" rel="nofollow">https://app.wordbots.io/how-it-works</a><p>And if you want to chat about Wordbots beyond this thread, please don't hesitate to join our discord at <a href="https://discord.wordbots.io/" rel="nofollow">https://discord.wordbots.io/</a> . I'd love to hear any and all feedback.<p>-Alex
Show HN: Engineering Book Club
An online community that enjoys reading and discussing engineering books together.
Show HN: Engineering Book Club
An online community that enjoys reading and discussing engineering books together.
Show HN: Engineering Book Club
An online community that enjoys reading and discussing engineering books together.
Show HN: Automatic Domain Verification
This is a project I've been working on for a little while and I'm interested in your feedback and point of view.<p>The Domain Verification protocol stores a DNS TXT record at a DNS name derived from a hashed "verifiable identifier" (email, telephone, DID), enabling anyone that can prove control over the verifiable identifier to prove authority for the domain name, whilst preserving the privacy of the authorised party.<p>Once setup, the record enables automatic domain verification for any service provider.<p>This record could be automatically setup by domain registrars upon domain registration (with registrant opt-in) creating a fast lane for verification with service providers many new small businesses use (eg Google Ads, Facebook, Office365, Dropbox, etc).<p>=====<p>Many of us would have verified a domain name by pasting a string into a DNS TXT record. These methods are currently being discussed and standardised at the IETF [2].<p>Let's Encrypt's DNS-01 method [3] is probably considered the state of the art. The differences between DNS-01 and Domain Verification protocol are:<p>- DNS-01 requires a new TXT record for each service provider. With Domain Verification Protocol, multiple service providers can use the same record.<p>- Instructions to setup a DNS-01 TXT record are instigated by the service provider, whereas a Domain Verification Protocol record can be setup independently by a user or a domain registrar. They could even pre-populated by a registrar upon domain registration (with registrant opt-in)<p>- There’s no concept of permissions in DNS-01, the act of creating the record gives the user full access for the domain with the service provider. With Domain Verification protocol multiple records can be setup, limited permissions could be setup for different third parties. For example give a marketing agency authentication to claim the domain on social media but nowhere else.<p>I'm still working on licensing but creating these records will always be free. I hope to find service providers that see significant upside in reducing friction for user onboarding that are willing to pay to license it.<p>Worked example: Let's say you want to authenticate the user with the email user@example.com with the domain dvexample.com, these are the steps:<p>a. HASH(user@example.com) -> 4i7ozur385y5nsqoo0mg0mxv6t9333s2rarxrtvlpag1gsk8pg<p>b. Store Domain Verification record at: 4i7ozur385y5nsqoo0mg0mxv6t9333s2rarxrtvlpag1gsk8pg._dv.dvexample.com<p>c. TXT record determines permissions and time limit:<p>@dv=1;d=Example user email;e=2025-01-01;s=[seo;email];h=4i7ozur385y5nsqoo0mg0mxv6t9333s2rarxrtvlpag1gsk8pg<p>Thanks for taking a look,<p>Elliott<p>1. <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35827952" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35827952</a><p>2. <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-dnsop-domain-verification-techniques/" rel="nofollow">https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-dnsop-domain-ver...</a><p>3. <a href="https://letsencrypt.org/docs/challenge-types/" rel="nofollow">https://letsencrypt.org/docs/challenge-types/</a><p>=====<p>Quick sidebar:<p>This was originally submitted to HN under the title "Show HN: Make domain verification as easy as verifying an email or phone number" 3 days ago [1]. It was doing really well (#3 on front page) then totally disappeared from front page and went to bottom of page 1 of Show HN.<p>After an email exchange with dang (incredibly helpful as always), he explained that it got flagged with the "overheated discussion detector" and it turned out I caused this by diligently responding to every comment as fast as my fingers would type because I wanted to keep engagement going. Helpfully dang took the flag off it about 12 hours later after our email exchange, but understandably the momentum was lost.<p>So I feel like it kinda got killed, just as it was picking up pace and as the US west coast was waking up. So I am humbly reposting it with a modified description based on the comments of the last post.
Show HN: Automatic Domain Verification
This is a project I've been working on for a little while and I'm interested in your feedback and point of view.<p>The Domain Verification protocol stores a DNS TXT record at a DNS name derived from a hashed "verifiable identifier" (email, telephone, DID), enabling anyone that can prove control over the verifiable identifier to prove authority for the domain name, whilst preserving the privacy of the authorised party.<p>Once setup, the record enables automatic domain verification for any service provider.<p>This record could be automatically setup by domain registrars upon domain registration (with registrant opt-in) creating a fast lane for verification with service providers many new small businesses use (eg Google Ads, Facebook, Office365, Dropbox, etc).<p>=====<p>Many of us would have verified a domain name by pasting a string into a DNS TXT record. These methods are currently being discussed and standardised at the IETF [2].<p>Let's Encrypt's DNS-01 method [3] is probably considered the state of the art. The differences between DNS-01 and Domain Verification protocol are:<p>- DNS-01 requires a new TXT record for each service provider. With Domain Verification Protocol, multiple service providers can use the same record.<p>- Instructions to setup a DNS-01 TXT record are instigated by the service provider, whereas a Domain Verification Protocol record can be setup independently by a user or a domain registrar. They could even pre-populated by a registrar upon domain registration (with registrant opt-in)<p>- There’s no concept of permissions in DNS-01, the act of creating the record gives the user full access for the domain with the service provider. With Domain Verification protocol multiple records can be setup, limited permissions could be setup for different third parties. For example give a marketing agency authentication to claim the domain on social media but nowhere else.<p>I'm still working on licensing but creating these records will always be free. I hope to find service providers that see significant upside in reducing friction for user onboarding that are willing to pay to license it.<p>Worked example: Let's say you want to authenticate the user with the email user@example.com with the domain dvexample.com, these are the steps:<p>a. HASH(user@example.com) -> 4i7ozur385y5nsqoo0mg0mxv6t9333s2rarxrtvlpag1gsk8pg<p>b. Store Domain Verification record at: 4i7ozur385y5nsqoo0mg0mxv6t9333s2rarxrtvlpag1gsk8pg._dv.dvexample.com<p>c. TXT record determines permissions and time limit:<p>@dv=1;d=Example user email;e=2025-01-01;s=[seo;email];h=4i7ozur385y5nsqoo0mg0mxv6t9333s2rarxrtvlpag1gsk8pg<p>Thanks for taking a look,<p>Elliott<p>1. <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35827952" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35827952</a><p>2. <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-dnsop-domain-verification-techniques/" rel="nofollow">https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-dnsop-domain-ver...</a><p>3. <a href="https://letsencrypt.org/docs/challenge-types/" rel="nofollow">https://letsencrypt.org/docs/challenge-types/</a><p>=====<p>Quick sidebar:<p>This was originally submitted to HN under the title "Show HN: Make domain verification as easy as verifying an email or phone number" 3 days ago [1]. It was doing really well (#3 on front page) then totally disappeared from front page and went to bottom of page 1 of Show HN.<p>After an email exchange with dang (incredibly helpful as always), he explained that it got flagged with the "overheated discussion detector" and it turned out I caused this by diligently responding to every comment as fast as my fingers would type because I wanted to keep engagement going. Helpfully dang took the flag off it about 12 hours later after our email exchange, but understandably the momentum was lost.<p>So I feel like it kinda got killed, just as it was picking up pace and as the US west coast was waking up. So I am humbly reposting it with a modified description based on the comments of the last post.
Show HN: Cptn.io – open-source integration platform
Hi, I am Krishna Thota. I am building an open source integration and data platform(<a href="https://cptn.io" rel="nofollow">https://cptn.io</a>). The product is MIT licensed and the repo is at <a href="https://github.com/cptn-io/el-cptn">https://github.com/cptn-io/el-cptn</a>.<p>I have started on my startup journey an year ago and launched a monitoring platform called DevRaven. Unfortunately the product did not takeoff as expected. That story is for another day.<p>But during the course of building the product, I have built several integrations leveraging MQs and Cloud Functions. While building and deploying Cloud Functions for happy paths is easy, I had to monitor logs for failures, build retry mechanisms or manually process failed events, keep instances running to prevent cold start timeouts. It can also get expensive with charges for MQs, server time for running cloud functions etc and costs can be unpredictable.<p>I thought of building a platform where I can build integrations quickly, have the ability to look at incoming/outgoing events, look at logs, retry any failed events etc. And finally, predictable costs for running the infrastructure. cptn.io provides all these capabilities and more. You can build pipelines to integrate with any cloud services, send data from your backend to data warehouses, listen to web hook events etc. The platform can be integrated into any stack by sending events to HTTP end points.<p>Instead of trying to build a business first or launch an open source product under restrictive licenses, the platform will be available under MIT license so any user or customer can use it. There is no ee folder or complex dual licensing and I am also committing to releasing SSO under MIT. The plan is to offer a managed service in the cloud at a later time, accept sponsors for prioritizing features for enterprise customers and charge for enterprise support.<p>It should take less than 5 minutes to get the platform running on your machine. Welcome any feedback, feature requests, PRs and bug reports.
Show HN: Cptn.io – open-source integration platform
Hi, I am Krishna Thota. I am building an open source integration and data platform(<a href="https://cptn.io" rel="nofollow">https://cptn.io</a>). The product is MIT licensed and the repo is at <a href="https://github.com/cptn-io/el-cptn">https://github.com/cptn-io/el-cptn</a>.<p>I have started on my startup journey an year ago and launched a monitoring platform called DevRaven. Unfortunately the product did not takeoff as expected. That story is for another day.<p>But during the course of building the product, I have built several integrations leveraging MQs and Cloud Functions. While building and deploying Cloud Functions for happy paths is easy, I had to monitor logs for failures, build retry mechanisms or manually process failed events, keep instances running to prevent cold start timeouts. It can also get expensive with charges for MQs, server time for running cloud functions etc and costs can be unpredictable.<p>I thought of building a platform where I can build integrations quickly, have the ability to look at incoming/outgoing events, look at logs, retry any failed events etc. And finally, predictable costs for running the infrastructure. cptn.io provides all these capabilities and more. You can build pipelines to integrate with any cloud services, send data from your backend to data warehouses, listen to web hook events etc. The platform can be integrated into any stack by sending events to HTTP end points.<p>Instead of trying to build a business first or launch an open source product under restrictive licenses, the platform will be available under MIT license so any user or customer can use it. There is no ee folder or complex dual licensing and I am also committing to releasing SSO under MIT. The plan is to offer a managed service in the cloud at a later time, accept sponsors for prioritizing features for enterprise customers and charge for enterprise support.<p>It should take less than 5 minutes to get the platform running on your machine. Welcome any feedback, feature requests, PRs and bug reports.
Show HN: Cptn.io – open-source integration platform
Hi, I am Krishna Thota. I am building an open source integration and data platform(<a href="https://cptn.io" rel="nofollow">https://cptn.io</a>). The product is MIT licensed and the repo is at <a href="https://github.com/cptn-io/el-cptn">https://github.com/cptn-io/el-cptn</a>.<p>I have started on my startup journey an year ago and launched a monitoring platform called DevRaven. Unfortunately the product did not takeoff as expected. That story is for another day.<p>But during the course of building the product, I have built several integrations leveraging MQs and Cloud Functions. While building and deploying Cloud Functions for happy paths is easy, I had to monitor logs for failures, build retry mechanisms or manually process failed events, keep instances running to prevent cold start timeouts. It can also get expensive with charges for MQs, server time for running cloud functions etc and costs can be unpredictable.<p>I thought of building a platform where I can build integrations quickly, have the ability to look at incoming/outgoing events, look at logs, retry any failed events etc. And finally, predictable costs for running the infrastructure. cptn.io provides all these capabilities and more. You can build pipelines to integrate with any cloud services, send data from your backend to data warehouses, listen to web hook events etc. The platform can be integrated into any stack by sending events to HTTP end points.<p>Instead of trying to build a business first or launch an open source product under restrictive licenses, the platform will be available under MIT license so any user or customer can use it. There is no ee folder or complex dual licensing and I am also committing to releasing SSO under MIT. The plan is to offer a managed service in the cloud at a later time, accept sponsors for prioritizing features for enterprise customers and charge for enterprise support.<p>It should take less than 5 minutes to get the platform running on your machine. Welcome any feedback, feature requests, PRs and bug reports.
Show HN: SineRider, a math puzzle game
Messing with your TI-84 graphing calculator is a rite of passage for every teenager who has ever been bored in a math class. In 2013 I was that teenager, and it gave me an idea for a tiny game about sledding on graphs. This project grew into my white whale, and I spent my twenties trying and failing to finish it alone. I shelved the game when I started working for Hack Club in 2018—until last May, when a few community members took it off the shelf. The project took on a life of its own, and turned into a year of nights and weekends from a global team of 20+ teens in 8+ countries. Today SineRider enters public beta!<p>SineRider is literally an infinite universe of function composition puzzles, each with infinite solutions, that range from welcoming for 9th graders to difficult for even the most serious matlab user. And every day we tweet out a fresh one to be solved with your morning coffee.<p>We hope you enjoy playing SineRider as much as we’ve enjoyed making it. And we’re not done! Mobile support, polar coordinates, and a level editor are all on the roadmap. SineRider is a living project, to be continuously built and maintained as free OSS by the Hack Club community: <a href="https://github.com/hackclub/sinerider">https://github.com/hackclub/sinerider</a><p>The team that built the game will try to be in the comments today between high school classes and AP tests.<p>—chris walker, creative director<p>Watch the trailer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35nDYoIwiA8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35nDYoIwiA8</a><p>Play now: <a href="https://sinerider.com" rel="nofollow">https://sinerider.com</a>
Show HN: SineRider, a math puzzle game
Messing with your TI-84 graphing calculator is a rite of passage for every teenager who has ever been bored in a math class. In 2013 I was that teenager, and it gave me an idea for a tiny game about sledding on graphs. This project grew into my white whale, and I spent my twenties trying and failing to finish it alone. I shelved the game when I started working for Hack Club in 2018—until last May, when a few community members took it off the shelf. The project took on a life of its own, and turned into a year of nights and weekends from a global team of 20+ teens in 8+ countries. Today SineRider enters public beta!<p>SineRider is literally an infinite universe of function composition puzzles, each with infinite solutions, that range from welcoming for 9th graders to difficult for even the most serious matlab user. And every day we tweet out a fresh one to be solved with your morning coffee.<p>We hope you enjoy playing SineRider as much as we’ve enjoyed making it. And we’re not done! Mobile support, polar coordinates, and a level editor are all on the roadmap. SineRider is a living project, to be continuously built and maintained as free OSS by the Hack Club community: <a href="https://github.com/hackclub/sinerider">https://github.com/hackclub/sinerider</a><p>The team that built the game will try to be in the comments today between high school classes and AP tests.<p>—chris walker, creative director<p>Watch the trailer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35nDYoIwiA8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35nDYoIwiA8</a><p>Play now: <a href="https://sinerider.com" rel="nofollow">https://sinerider.com</a>
Show HN: SineRider, a math puzzle game
Messing with your TI-84 graphing calculator is a rite of passage for every teenager who has ever been bored in a math class. In 2013 I was that teenager, and it gave me an idea for a tiny game about sledding on graphs. This project grew into my white whale, and I spent my twenties trying and failing to finish it alone. I shelved the game when I started working for Hack Club in 2018—until last May, when a few community members took it off the shelf. The project took on a life of its own, and turned into a year of nights and weekends from a global team of 20+ teens in 8+ countries. Today SineRider enters public beta!<p>SineRider is literally an infinite universe of function composition puzzles, each with infinite solutions, that range from welcoming for 9th graders to difficult for even the most serious matlab user. And every day we tweet out a fresh one to be solved with your morning coffee.<p>We hope you enjoy playing SineRider as much as we’ve enjoyed making it. And we’re not done! Mobile support, polar coordinates, and a level editor are all on the roadmap. SineRider is a living project, to be continuously built and maintained as free OSS by the Hack Club community: <a href="https://github.com/hackclub/sinerider">https://github.com/hackclub/sinerider</a><p>The team that built the game will try to be in the comments today between high school classes and AP tests.<p>—chris walker, creative director<p>Watch the trailer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35nDYoIwiA8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35nDYoIwiA8</a><p>Play now: <a href="https://sinerider.com" rel="nofollow">https://sinerider.com</a>
Show HN: SpiderSuite: Advance GUI web security crawler
Show HN: SpiderSuite: Advance GUI web security crawler
Show HN: MoodFood – AI Chef Assistant for Personalized Meals and Mood Dining
Show HN: MoodFood – AI Chef Assistant for Personalized Meals and Mood Dining
Show HN: What do you think about my metasearch engine?
Show HN: What do you think about my metasearch engine?
Show HN: What do you think about my metasearch engine?
Show HN: Devil Mode: A twisted Emacs key translator for modifier-free editing