Show HN: I built a hardware processor that runs Python
914 by hwpythonner | 241 comments on Hacker News. Hi everyone, I built PyXL — a hardware processor that executes a custom assembly generated from Python programs, without using a traditional interpreter or virtual machine. It compiles Python -> CPython Bytecode -> Instruction set designed for direct hardware execution. I’m sharing an early benchmark: a GPIO test where PyXL achieves a 480ns round-trip toggle — compared to 14-25 micro seconds on a MicroPython Pyboard - even though PyXL runs at a lower clock (100MHz vs. 168MHz). The design is stack-based, fully pipelined, and preserves Python's dynamic typing without static type restrictions. I independently developed the full stack — toolchain (compiler, linker, codegen), and hardware — to validate the core idea. Full technical details will be presented at PyCon 2025. Demo and explanation here: https://ift.tt/ebyFC6f Happy to answer any questions
Widespread power outage in Spain and Portugal
910 by lleims | 753 comments on Hacker News. All of Spain is without energy. All systems have shut down immediately and are not coming back. Apparently the same has happened in Portugal.
Cursor IDE support hallucinates lockout policy, causes user cancellations
773 by scaredpelican | 263 comments on Hacker News. Earlier today Cursor, the magical AI-powered IDE started kicking users off when they logged in from multiple machines. Like,you’d be working on your desktop, switch to your laptop, and all of a sudden you're forcibly logged out. No warning, no notification, just gone. Naturally, people thought this was a new policy. So they asked support. And here’s where it gets batshit: Cursor has a support email, so users emailed them to find out. The support peson told everyone this was “expected behavior” under their new login policy. One problem. There was no support team, it was an AI designed to 'mimic human responses' That answer, totally made up by the bot, spread like wildfire. Users assumed it was real (because why wouldn’t they? It's their own support system lol), and within hours the community was in revolt. Dozens of users publicly canceled their subscriptions, myself included. Multi-device workflows are table stakes for devs, and if you're going to pull something that disruptive, you'd at least expect a changelog entry or smth. Nope. And just as people started comparing notes and figuring out that the story didn’t quite add up… the main Reddit thread got locked. Then deleted. Like, no public resolution, no real response, just silence. To be clear: this wasn’t an actual policy change, just a backend session bug, and a hallucinated excuse from a support bot that somehow did more damage than the bug itself. But at that point, it didn’t matter. People were already gone. Honestly one of the most surreal product screwups I’ve seen in a while. Not because they made a mistake, but because the AI support system invented a lie, and nobody caught it until the userbase imploded.
Tell HN: Announcing tomhow as a public moderator
988 by dang | 307 comments on Hacker News. Hi all, Tom Howard is going public as HN moderator today. He has been doing HN moderation work for years already and knows the site and its practices inside-out, so the only new thing you'll see is mod comments from Tom showing up in the threads the way mine do. I'm not going anywhere, so you'll have two of us to put up with going forward :) I've known Tom since he was sctb's and my batchmate back in YC W09. Many of you know him as the kind and thoughtful community member tomhoward ( https://ift.tt/ghUxPoI ). He's still kind and thoughtful, but he's going to post as tomhow from now on ( https://ift.tt/Te9lyfg ), the same way I switched to dang when I went through this rite of passage years ago. Below is a bit from Tom about himself. Please join me in welcoming him to this new status which he was crazy enough to say yes to! --- YC and HN have been a huge part of my life for nearly two decades. I read pg's essay How to Start a Startup in 2005 after my friend (and later, co-founder) Fenn found it on Slashdot, and it opened our eyes as to how to go about building products and companies. I first signed up in late 2007, and since then HN has been the place I come to find interesting news and discussions. Hacker News gave me a window into the big wide world of technology and startups, that had previously seemed so remote and opaque from where I lived (and still live) in Australia. We were lucky enough to be accepted into the W09 batch of YC, and since then HN has been a place where we could share announcements about the startup, but also where I could share the challenges and struggles I experienced in the startup journey and other aspects of life, particularly to do with health and wellbeing. From the discussions that have happened about these topics I've ended up making enduring friendships with people all over the world, and have been able to learn many things that have improved my life in profound ways. I love HN's ethos - of being a place people come to engage their curiosity. That's what it's always been for me and what I hope I can help it to be for everyone! --Tom