The best Hacker News stories from Show from the past week
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Show HN: Companies use AI to take your calls. I built AI to make them for you
We're living in this weird asymmetry where companies use AI to talk to us, but we're still manually dialing them. Companies everywhere are adopting AI voice agents lately. Big retail, family dentist clinics, local pharmacy. This year, I've been in a few calls where it's super natural sounding AI, which has been pretty cool to experience. But then it got me thinking - why are we, the consumers, still the ones making calls if they're using robots for theirs?<p>So I built Piper: basically AI that makes phone calls for you. You tell it what you need (book appointment, check on an order, dispute some charge, whatever), and it handles the entire conversation while you do actual work. Right now it's a web app, Chrome extension is pending approval but soon you'll be able to click any phone number anywhere and just let Piper handle it.<p>Technical stuff that was harder than expected:<p>Latency - every millisecond counts in conversation, had to optimize around kv cache, got it down to ~1000ms to first word over PSTN for telephony, which feels pretty natural<p>Keeping the voice agents on track - built custom context engineering logic that constantly updates the agent's situational awareness, so it knows when it's been transferred, when it's on hold, etc<p>Done ~50 successful calls with early testers so far. Main failures are when they need complex verification or documents. Also had to take down our IVR navigation temporarily :/, found some edge cases that were causing unnecessary transfers but working on fixing that.<p>I really think we're heading toward this world where AI talks to AI for most routine things, and phone calls might be the first real example of this happening at scale!<p>you can check out the a voice demo on our website. <a href="https://pipervoice.com" rel="nofollow">https://pipervoice.com</a>
Show HN: Use Their ID – Use your local UK MP’s ID for the Online Safety Act
Hi HN -
I made a site that takes a UK postcode, grabs the local MP's information and generates an AI mockup of what their ID might look like.<p>It's a small, silly protest at the stupidity of the Online Safety Act that just came into force.<p>edit - My open AI credits got hugged to death, please use a known postcode (like one from Kier Starmer's constituency, WC2B6NH) in the meantime.
Show HN: Use Their ID – Use your local UK MP’s ID for the Online Safety Act
Hi HN -
I made a site that takes a UK postcode, grabs the local MP's information and generates an AI mockup of what their ID might look like.<p>It's a small, silly protest at the stupidity of the Online Safety Act that just came into force.<p>edit - My open AI credits got hugged to death, please use a known postcode (like one from Kier Starmer's constituency, WC2B6NH) in the meantime.
Show HN: Windows 7 GUI for the web
Show HN: Windows 7 GUI for the web
Show HN: Windows 7 GUI for the web
Show HN: Apple Health MCP Server
Hey HN,<p>This is an MCP server to chat with Apple Health data. I built it because I'm working on (yet another) personal trainer tool that keeps track of my workout goals, etc. and does scheduling for me. Part of that is weekly check-ins. I thought pairing those check-ins with sensor data could be useful, so here we are.<p>It seems there isn't a way to automate access to Apple Health data, so this relies on an iOS app that can quickly/easily export key data to CSV. So the process at the moment is to export the data every Sunday before doing a check-in. More steps than I'd like, but in practice isn't a big lift.<p>Under the hood this is mostly a thin wrapper around duckdb.<p>There's a video of it in action here: <a href="https://x.com/realtron/status/1947710791521591514" rel="nofollow">https://x.com/realtron/status/1947710791521591514</a>
Show HN: Apple Health MCP Server
Hey HN,<p>This is an MCP server to chat with Apple Health data. I built it because I'm working on (yet another) personal trainer tool that keeps track of my workout goals, etc. and does scheduling for me. Part of that is weekly check-ins. I thought pairing those check-ins with sensor data could be useful, so here we are.<p>It seems there isn't a way to automate access to Apple Health data, so this relies on an iOS app that can quickly/easily export key data to CSV. So the process at the moment is to export the data every Sunday before doing a check-in. More steps than I'd like, but in practice isn't a big lift.<p>Under the hood this is mostly a thin wrapper around duckdb.<p>There's a video of it in action here: <a href="https://x.com/realtron/status/1947710791521591514" rel="nofollow">https://x.com/realtron/status/1947710791521591514</a>
Show HN: Price Per Token – LLM API Pricing Data
The LLM providers are constantly adding new models and updating their API prices. Anyone building AI applications knows that these prices are very important to their bottom line. The only place I am aware of is going to these provider's individual website pages to check the price per token.<p>To solve this inconvenience I spent a few hours making pricepertoken.com which has the latest model's up-to-date prices all in one place.<p>Thinking about adding image models too especially since you have multiple options (fal, replicate) to use the same model and the prices are not always the same.
Show HN: Price Per Token – LLM API Pricing Data
The LLM providers are constantly adding new models and updating their API prices. Anyone building AI applications knows that these prices are very important to their bottom line. The only place I am aware of is going to these provider's individual website pages to check the price per token.<p>To solve this inconvenience I spent a few hours making pricepertoken.com which has the latest model's up-to-date prices all in one place.<p>Thinking about adding image models too especially since you have multiple options (fal, replicate) to use the same model and the prices are not always the same.
Show HN: Price Per Token – LLM API Pricing Data
The LLM providers are constantly adding new models and updating their API prices. Anyone building AI applications knows that these prices are very important to their bottom line. The only place I am aware of is going to these provider's individual website pages to check the price per token.<p>To solve this inconvenience I spent a few hours making pricepertoken.com which has the latest model's up-to-date prices all in one place.<p>Thinking about adding image models too especially since you have multiple options (fal, replicate) to use the same model and the prices are not always the same.
Show HN: TheProtector – Linux Bash script for the paranoid admin on a budget
Hi HN,<p>I spent the past year building this in my spare time because I got tired of enterprise security tools that cost $50K/year and don't understand Linux.<p>TheProtector is a comprehensive security monitoring tool that actually runs on the systems we use (Linux) instead of being a Windows-first afterthought. Built it entirely on a $500 laptop because I believe good security shouldn't require unlimited budgets.<p>Features:
- Real-time process, network, and file monitoring
- YARA malware detection with custom rules
- eBPF kernel monitoring (when available)
- Behavioral baseline establishment and anomaly detection
- Active threat response (blocks IPs, kills processes, quarantines files)
- Anti-evasion detection for rootkits and advanced threats
- Honeypots for attack detection
- Web dashboard for monitoring
- Single bash script, no complex installation<p>The tagline is "not perfect but better than most" because I'm tired of security vendors claiming their tools are flawless. This actually works, costs $0, and you can read every line of code.<p>I know bash isn't the sexy choice for security tools, but it runs everywhere, has zero dependencies, and most Linux admins can read/modify it. Sometimes boring technology that works is better than fancy technology that doesn't.<p>It's designed for the intersection of "paranoid about security" and "don't have enterprise budgets" - which describes most of us actually running Linux systems.<p>GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/IHATEGIVINGAUSERNAME/theProtector">https://github.com/IHATEGIVINGAUSERNAME/theProtector</a><p>Been running it on my own systems for months. Catches the stuff that matters and doesn't flood you with false positives. If you hate expensive security theater as much as I do, might be worth a look.<p>Open to feedback, especially from folks who know more about this stuff than I do.<p>Thanks,
IHATEGIVINGAUSERNAME (yes, I really do hate giving usernames)
Show HN: Tinder but it's only pictures of my wife and I can only swipe right
Show HN: Tinder but it's only pictures of my wife and I can only swipe right
Show HN: Any-LLM – Lightweight router to access any LLM Provider
We built any-llm because we needed a lightweight router for LLM providers with minimal overhead. Switching between models is just a string change : update "openai/gpt-4" to "anthropic/claude-3" and you're done.<p>It uses official provider SDKs when available, which helps since providers handle their own compatibility updates. No proxy or gateway service needed either, so getting started is pretty straightforward - just pip install and import.<p>Currently supports 20+ providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, and AWS Bedrock. Would love to hear what you think!
Show HN: Compass CNC – Open-source handheld CNC router
Hey HN,<p>I am Cam, and for the past two years I have been working on Compass, an open-source handheld CNC router that brings computer precision to woodworking while keeping the user directly involved in the process.<p>The idea started as my senior design project at UC Berkeley, with the goal of making a more approachable CNC machine—standard CNC machines are expensive, bulky, and remove you from the tactile “maker” experience. Compass solves that by combining a handheld router with real-time robotic assistance. You move the router roughly along a design path, and Compass uses four optical flow sensors (like in computer mice) and a 3-axis motion system to auto-correct for precision cuts.<p>What is different about Compass:
- Open source: All plans, firmware, and CAD files are available on GitHub.
- Affordable: The DIY build costs ~$600 in parts, and I am selling kits for <$800.
- No external markers: The sensing technology allows for positioning without external markers, so no setup or consumables required.
- Portable: Fits in a backpack and is not limited by a fixed work envelope.<p>We recently completed our first beta program and have just launched V1 kits for pre-order. You can find more info and the launch video at the listed URL.<p>GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/camchaney/handheld-cnc">https://github.com/camchaney/handheld-cnc</a>
Show HN: Compass CNC – Open-source handheld CNC router
Hey HN,<p>I am Cam, and for the past two years I have been working on Compass, an open-source handheld CNC router that brings computer precision to woodworking while keeping the user directly involved in the process.<p>The idea started as my senior design project at UC Berkeley, with the goal of making a more approachable CNC machine—standard CNC machines are expensive, bulky, and remove you from the tactile “maker” experience. Compass solves that by combining a handheld router with real-time robotic assistance. You move the router roughly along a design path, and Compass uses four optical flow sensors (like in computer mice) and a 3-axis motion system to auto-correct for precision cuts.<p>What is different about Compass:
- Open source: All plans, firmware, and CAD files are available on GitHub.
- Affordable: The DIY build costs ~$600 in parts, and I am selling kits for <$800.
- No external markers: The sensing technology allows for positioning without external markers, so no setup or consumables required.
- Portable: Fits in a backpack and is not limited by a fixed work envelope.<p>We recently completed our first beta program and have just launched V1 kits for pre-order. You can find more info and the launch video at the listed URL.<p>GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/camchaney/handheld-cnc">https://github.com/camchaney/handheld-cnc</a>
Show HN: X11 desktop widget that shows location of your network peers on a map
Show HN: X11 desktop widget that shows location of your network peers on a map
Show HN: MCP server for Blender that builds 3D scenes via natural language
Hi HN!<p>I built a custom MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects Blender to LLMs like ChatGPT, Claude, and any other llm supporting tool calling and mcps, enabling the AI to understand and control 3D scenes using natural language.<p>You can describe an entire environment like:<p>> “Create a small village with 5 huts arranged around a central bonfire, add a river flowing on the left, place a wooden bridge across it, and scatter trees randomly.”<p>And the system parses that, reasons about the scene, and builds it inside Blender — no manual modeling or scripting needed.<p>What it can do:
- Generate multi-object scenes like villages, landscapes, from a single prompt
- Understand spatial relations — e.g., “place the bridge over the river” or “add trees behind the huts”
- Create camera animations and lighting setups: “orbit around the scene at sunset lighting”
- Respond to iterative changes like: “replace all huts with stone houses” or “make the river narrower”
- Maintain object hierarchy and labels for later editing<p>Tech Stack:
- Blender Python scripting
- Node.js server running MCP
- LLM backend (OpenAI / Claude, easily swappable)<p>Demo:
<a href="https://blender-mcp-psi.vercel.app/" rel="nofollow">https://blender-mcp-psi.vercel.app/</a><p>GitHub:
<a href="https://github.com/pranav-deshmukh/blender-mcp-demo/">https://github.com/pranav-deshmukh/blender-mcp-demo/</a><p>Curious to hear thoughts from folks in 3D tooling, AI-assisted design, or dev interface design. Would you find this useful as a Blender plugin? I’m open to expanding it!<p>Please try it and give it a star on github