The best Hacker News stories from Show from the past day
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Show HN: Meow – An Image File Format I made because PNGs and JPEGs suck for AI
One of the biggest context AI LLMs can get from images is their metadata, but it's extremely underutilized. and while PNG and JPEG both offer metadata, it gets stripped way too easily when sharing and is extremely limited for AI based workflows and offer minimal metadata entries for things that are actually useful. Plus, these formats are ancient (1995 and 1992) - it's about time we get an upgrade for our AI era.
Meet MEOW (Metadata-Encoded Optimized Webfile) - an Open Source Image file format which is basically PNG on steroids and what I also like to call the purr-fect file format.<p>Instead of storing metadata alongside the image where it can be lost, MEOW ENCODES it directly inside the image pixels using LSB steganography - hiding data in the least significant bits where your eyes can't tell the difference, this also doesn't increase the image size significantly. So if you use any form of lossless compression, it stays.<p>What I noticed was, Most "innovative" image file formats died because of lack of adoption, but MEOW is completely CROSS COMPATIBLE WITH PNGs You can quite literally rename a .MEOW file to a .PNG and open it in a normal image viewer.<p>Here's what gets baked right into every pixel:<p>- Edge Detection Maps - pre-computed boundaries so AI doesn't waste time figuring out where objects start and end.<p>- Texture Analysis Data - surface patterns, roughness, material properties already mapped out.<p>- Complexity Scores - tells AI models how much processing power different regions need.<p>- Attention Weight Maps - highlights where models should focus their compute (like faces, text, important objects)<p>- Object Relationship Data - spatial connections between detected elements.<p>- Future Proofing Space - reserved bits for whatever AI wants to add (or comments for training LORAs or labelling)<p>Of course, all of these are editable and configurable while surviving compression, sharing, even screenshot-and-repost cycles :p<p>When you convert ANY image format to .meow, it automatically generates most AI-specific features and data from what it sees in the image, which makes it work way better.<p>Would love thoughts, suggestions or ideas you all have for it :)
Show HN: Shelly, terminal assistant that translates natural language into shell
Describe what you want in plain English, and Shelly will figure out the right commands, explain what they do, and run them for you, with guardrails to ensure that you only run commands you feel safe running.
Show HN: Tail Lens – Tailwind editor in browser
Hey HN - I built Tail Lens, a browser devtool that lets you click any element and tweak its Tailwind classes right on the page.<p>Changes appear instantly, so you can see results as you edit.
Smart class suggestions, Tailwind v3/v4 + JIT support, and quick element navigation and many more.<p>Based on early feedback, I am working on a feature to live sync changes to React/HTML files, so tweaks persist after a full reload.<p>Link -> <a href="https://taillens.io" rel="nofollow">https://taillens.io</a>. Happy to hear any feedbacks
Show HN: Qrkey – Offline private key backup on paper
Show HN: Qrkey – Offline private key backup on paper
Show HN: Qrkey – Offline private key backup on paper
Show HN: Eyesite – Experimental website combining computer vision and web design
I wanted Apple Vision Pros, but I don’t have $3,500 in my back pocket. So I made Apple Vision Pros at home.<p>This was just a fun little project I made. Currently, the website doesn't work on screens less than 1200x728 (Sorry mobile users!) It also might struggle on lower end devices.<p>For best results, have a webcam pointing right at you. I tested my website with a MacBook camera.<p>Any comments, questions, or suggestions are greatly appreciated!<p>blog: <a href="https://blog.andykhau.com/blog/eyesite" rel="nofollow">https://blog.andykhau.com/blog/eyesite</a><p>check it out: <a href="https://eyesite.andykhau.com/" rel="nofollow">https://eyesite.andykhau.com/</a><p>github: <a href="https://github.com/akchro/eyesite">https://github.com/akchro/eyesite</a>
Show HN: Eyesite – Experimental website combining computer vision and web design
I wanted Apple Vision Pros, but I don’t have $3,500 in my back pocket. So I made Apple Vision Pros at home.<p>This was just a fun little project I made. Currently, the website doesn't work on screens less than 1200x728 (Sorry mobile users!) It also might struggle on lower end devices.<p>For best results, have a webcam pointing right at you. I tested my website with a MacBook camera.<p>Any comments, questions, or suggestions are greatly appreciated!<p>blog: <a href="https://blog.andykhau.com/blog/eyesite" rel="nofollow">https://blog.andykhau.com/blog/eyesite</a><p>check it out: <a href="https://eyesite.andykhau.com/" rel="nofollow">https://eyesite.andykhau.com/</a><p>github: <a href="https://github.com/akchro/eyesite">https://github.com/akchro/eyesite</a>
Show HN: Eyesite – Experimental website combining computer vision and web design
I wanted Apple Vision Pros, but I don’t have $3,500 in my back pocket. So I made Apple Vision Pros at home.<p>This was just a fun little project I made. Currently, the website doesn't work on screens less than 1200x728 (Sorry mobile users!) It also might struggle on lower end devices.<p>For best results, have a webcam pointing right at you. I tested my website with a MacBook camera.<p>Any comments, questions, or suggestions are greatly appreciated!<p>blog: <a href="https://blog.andykhau.com/blog/eyesite" rel="nofollow">https://blog.andykhau.com/blog/eyesite</a><p>check it out: <a href="https://eyesite.andykhau.com/" rel="nofollow">https://eyesite.andykhau.com/</a><p>github: <a href="https://github.com/akchro/eyesite">https://github.com/akchro/eyesite</a>
Show HN: McWig – A modal, Vim-like text editor written in Go
Hey! Check out my "toy" text editor which I use as my daily driver.<p>Features
LSP autocomplete, goto definition, hover info<p>Tree-sitter support<p>Color themes (borrowed from the Helix text editor)<p>Lots of bugs<p>Macro support<p>Something like Emacs org-mode: Open test.txt, place the cursor at line 15, and press "Ctrl-C Ctrl-C".<p>This project was written as a "speed run" — not for speed in terms of time, but rather as an exercise to explore the text editor problem space without overthinking or planning ahead. It’s a quick and "dirty" implementation, so to speak.<p><a href="https://github.com/firstrow/mcwig">https://github.com/firstrow/mcwig</a>
Show HN: McWig – A modal, Vim-like text editor written in Go
Hey! Check out my "toy" text editor which I use as my daily driver.<p>Features
LSP autocomplete, goto definition, hover info<p>Tree-sitter support<p>Color themes (borrowed from the Helix text editor)<p>Lots of bugs<p>Macro support<p>Something like Emacs org-mode: Open test.txt, place the cursor at line 15, and press "Ctrl-C Ctrl-C".<p>This project was written as a "speed run" — not for speed in terms of time, but rather as an exercise to explore the text editor problem space without overthinking or planning ahead. It’s a quick and "dirty" implementation, so to speak.<p><a href="https://github.com/firstrow/mcwig">https://github.com/firstrow/mcwig</a>
Show HN: McWig – A modal, Vim-like text editor written in Go
Hey! Check out my "toy" text editor which I use as my daily driver.<p>Features
LSP autocomplete, goto definition, hover info<p>Tree-sitter support<p>Color themes (borrowed from the Helix text editor)<p>Lots of bugs<p>Macro support<p>Something like Emacs org-mode: Open test.txt, place the cursor at line 15, and press "Ctrl-C Ctrl-C".<p>This project was written as a "speed run" — not for speed in terms of time, but rather as an exercise to explore the text editor problem space without overthinking or planning ahead. It’s a quick and "dirty" implementation, so to speak.<p><a href="https://github.com/firstrow/mcwig">https://github.com/firstrow/mcwig</a>
Show HN: McWig – A modal, Vim-like text editor written in Go
Hey! Check out my "toy" text editor which I use as my daily driver.<p>Features
LSP autocomplete, goto definition, hover info<p>Tree-sitter support<p>Color themes (borrowed from the Helix text editor)<p>Lots of bugs<p>Macro support<p>Something like Emacs org-mode: Open test.txt, place the cursor at line 15, and press "Ctrl-C Ctrl-C".<p>This project was written as a "speed run" — not for speed in terms of time, but rather as an exercise to explore the text editor problem space without overthinking or planning ahead. It’s a quick and "dirty" implementation, so to speak.<p><a href="https://github.com/firstrow/mcwig">https://github.com/firstrow/mcwig</a>
Show HN: Tool-Assisted Speedrunning the Boring Parts of Animal Crossing (GCN)
I recently dug my Nintendo GameCube out of storage to revisit the first Animal Crossing game. Things were mostly as I remembered, but the game's heavy reliance on a clunky on-screen keyboard quickly wore my patience thin.<p>Unwilling to accept this subpar experience, I did what any rational person would do and ordered a rare, Japan-exclusive, keyboard/controller hybrid on eBay, then used a Raspberry Pi Pico to 1. listen for keypresses and 2. send simulated controller events to the GameCube, automating typing in Animal Crossing at a Tool-Assisted Speedrun level.<p>Of course, this oddball controller's keycaps didn't map perfectly to Animal Crossing's in-game character set, so I watched a 10 hour FreeCAD tutorial at 2x speed, then modeled the 7 keycap profiles to create 81 custom, 3D printed keycaps, taking care to include even the most esoteric Greek and Old English characters that Nintendo chose to include in the game.<p>And then, having solved my original problem, I decided to sniff out some new ones.
I used my homemade TAS device to automate the entry of customizable "Town Tune" melodies, took advantage of a cracked encryption algorithm to give on-demand access to (almost) every item in the game, and, in a Club-Mate-fueled haze, whipped up a Python script to convert arbitrary images to the game's 32x32 pixel custom design format.<p>Even at superhuman speed, those 1024 pixels took about 3 minutes to input, but that didn't stop me from extending the concept to video - playing Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up", Bad Apple!, Shrek, and even a short gameplay video of DOOM very, veryyyy slowly (about 7.5 hours to render 30 seconds of footage at 5fps).<p>Then, realizing that DOOM at 0.0056fps probably wouldn't be the most "playable" thing in the world, I set out to get some kind of video game running within Animal Crossing, and ultimately landed on Snake.<p>Since it only needs to update 1 pixel for every frame of animation, I was able to get Snake running at around 1ish* frames per second (for technical reasons, it runs at a variable framerate).
Maybe not the most primo experience the modern gaming world has to offer, but without a doubt, <i>technically</i> a video game. It even has its own, in-memory high score ranking (so far I'm undefeated).<p>The code and design files are distributed for free on GitHub[0], and a build/demonstration video[1] is out now on Youtube.<p>[0] - <a href="https://github.com/hunterirving/pico-crossing">https://github.com/hunterirving/pico-crossing</a><p>[1] - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw8Alf_lolA" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw8Alf_lolA</a><p>It started as a "quick, simple project", then quickly ballooned into 7 or 8 "quick, simple projects", but I had a ton of fun putting it all together. Thanks for checking it out!
Show HN: Tool-Assisted Speedrunning the Boring Parts of Animal Crossing (GCN)
I recently dug my Nintendo GameCube out of storage to revisit the first Animal Crossing game. Things were mostly as I remembered, but the game's heavy reliance on a clunky on-screen keyboard quickly wore my patience thin.<p>Unwilling to accept this subpar experience, I did what any rational person would do and ordered a rare, Japan-exclusive, keyboard/controller hybrid on eBay, then used a Raspberry Pi Pico to 1. listen for keypresses and 2. send simulated controller events to the GameCube, automating typing in Animal Crossing at a Tool-Assisted Speedrun level.<p>Of course, this oddball controller's keycaps didn't map perfectly to Animal Crossing's in-game character set, so I watched a 10 hour FreeCAD tutorial at 2x speed, then modeled the 7 keycap profiles to create 81 custom, 3D printed keycaps, taking care to include even the most esoteric Greek and Old English characters that Nintendo chose to include in the game.<p>And then, having solved my original problem, I decided to sniff out some new ones.
I used my homemade TAS device to automate the entry of customizable "Town Tune" melodies, took advantage of a cracked encryption algorithm to give on-demand access to (almost) every item in the game, and, in a Club-Mate-fueled haze, whipped up a Python script to convert arbitrary images to the game's 32x32 pixel custom design format.<p>Even at superhuman speed, those 1024 pixels took about 3 minutes to input, but that didn't stop me from extending the concept to video - playing Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up", Bad Apple!, Shrek, and even a short gameplay video of DOOM very, veryyyy slowly (about 7.5 hours to render 30 seconds of footage at 5fps).<p>Then, realizing that DOOM at 0.0056fps probably wouldn't be the most "playable" thing in the world, I set out to get some kind of video game running within Animal Crossing, and ultimately landed on Snake.<p>Since it only needs to update 1 pixel for every frame of animation, I was able to get Snake running at around 1ish* frames per second (for technical reasons, it runs at a variable framerate).
Maybe not the most primo experience the modern gaming world has to offer, but without a doubt, <i>technically</i> a video game. It even has its own, in-memory high score ranking (so far I'm undefeated).<p>The code and design files are distributed for free on GitHub[0], and a build/demonstration video[1] is out now on Youtube.<p>[0] - <a href="https://github.com/hunterirving/pico-crossing">https://github.com/hunterirving/pico-crossing</a><p>[1] - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw8Alf_lolA" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw8Alf_lolA</a><p>It started as a "quick, simple project", then quickly ballooned into 7 or 8 "quick, simple projects", but I had a ton of fun putting it all together. Thanks for checking it out!
Show HN: I wrote a BitTorrent Client from scratch
I picked up programming in late 2023 and been enjoying it now. Wanted to challenge myself and set a stretch goal, so set out to build a bittorrent client.
Show HN: I wrote a BitTorrent Client from scratch
I picked up programming in late 2023 and been enjoying it now. Wanted to challenge myself and set a stretch goal, so set out to build a bittorrent client.
Show HN: I wrote a BitTorrent Client from scratch
I picked up programming in late 2023 and been enjoying it now. Wanted to challenge myself and set a stretch goal, so set out to build a bittorrent client.
Show HN: Tattoy – a text-based terminal compositor
Whereas this is mostly a terminal eye-candy project to get you street cred, it does have some serious aspects.<p>Firstly it solves the age-old problem of low-contrast text, like when you `ls` a broken symlink and the red background colour is too near your current theme's foreground colour. Tattoy solves this by using none other than the web's WCAG 2.1 contrast algorithm for accessible text.<p>Secondly, an explicit design goal is that Tattoy should be able to polyfill new terminal protocols, the `xwayland` of the TTY if you will. Say if we want to experiment with completely deprecating ANSI codes, then any application that uses a new protocol can be run in Tattoy which itself runs in any ANSI-standard terminal emulator as normal. You can read more about this idea here: <a href="https://tattoy.sh/news/an-end-to-terminal-ansi-codes/" rel="nofollow">https://tattoy.sh/news/an-end-to-terminal-ansi-codes/</a><p>But ultimately this has been something more akin to an art project, something to enjoy for the sheer aesthetic pleasure.
Show HN: Tattoy – a text-based terminal compositor
Whereas this is mostly a terminal eye-candy project to get you street cred, it does have some serious aspects.<p>Firstly it solves the age-old problem of low-contrast text, like when you `ls` a broken symlink and the red background colour is too near your current theme's foreground colour. Tattoy solves this by using none other than the web's WCAG 2.1 contrast algorithm for accessible text.<p>Secondly, an explicit design goal is that Tattoy should be able to polyfill new terminal protocols, the `xwayland` of the TTY if you will. Say if we want to experiment with completely deprecating ANSI codes, then any application that uses a new protocol can be run in Tattoy which itself runs in any ANSI-standard terminal emulator as normal. You can read more about this idea here: <a href="https://tattoy.sh/news/an-end-to-terminal-ansi-codes/" rel="nofollow">https://tattoy.sh/news/an-end-to-terminal-ansi-codes/</a><p>But ultimately this has been something more akin to an art project, something to enjoy for the sheer aesthetic pleasure.