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Show HN: I built an MCP with my friend to share our knowledge with X Ads

https://www.diingdiing.com/

Me and my friend (Fred) made 3x profit ($400 on ads and $1200 in profit) with X Ads this month and surprisingly, we did it well starting from very first week - we just didn't have enough money (we still don't have) to spend more in early steps. Many founders / builders asked as how we managed to be profitable from day one with ads. So, we decided why not to put all our knowledge in a structured...

( Read More... | no comments | 3 points | on HN )

Ask HN: Anyone figured out paid trials with Stripe?

Anyone cracked the mystery behind Stripe making paid trials (not free ones!) so painfully hard—or outright impossible—to set up? Their checkout session page keeps defaulting to 'free days' no matter what I try. Is this a bug, docs issue, or intentional? Devs who've fought this beast, what's the workaround?

( Read More... | no comments | on HN )
I understand the need for restrictions in industries like defense, space, or healthcare, where compliance is crucial. However, I’m curious because this requirement seems to appear even for more general roles, like front-end positions at SaaS startups. What’s the logic behind applying such a restriction in those cases?
Making the company US-based makes perfect sense, especially given the regulatory landscape. I had a similar experience when one of the top accelerators required us to register the company in the US in order to secure investment. My question is about hiring:)
Re:Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (October 2025) on Sunday October 12, 2025 @04:42PM (#45561710)
My partner and I are working on Supabird.io (https://supabird.io), a tool to help people grow on X in a more consistent and structured way. It analyzes viral posts within specific communities so users can learn what works and apply those insights to their own content.

My partner shares our journey on X (@hustle_fred), while I’ve been focused on building the product (yep, the techie here :). We’re excited to have onboarded 43 users in our first month, and we're looking forward to getting feedback from the HN community!

Ask HN: What Are the Main Principles That Make You Appreciate Someone's Content?

Hey everyone!I'm doing a small research project for my studies to better understand what makes certain accounts go viral. What actually makes them stand out? Is it mostly about the content itself, or does the creator’s background/personality play a big role?I know this is a broad question, but I’d really appreciate it if you could share a few things that make you enjoy someone’s content — and...

( Read More... | 10 comments | 2 points | on HN )

Ask HN: Do coding assistants "see" attached images?

I've been using Cursor and I'm genuinely curious about something.When you paste a screenshot of a broken UI and it immediately spots the misaligned div or padding issue—is it actually doing visual analysis, or just pattern-matching against common UI bugs from training data?The speed feels almost too fast for real vision processing. And it seems to understand spatial relationships and layout in...

( Read More... | 12 comments | 2 points | on HN )
Re:Don't Become a Scientist on Tuesday September 30, 2025 @03:58AM (#45423042)
Here's what nobody talks about: the author was RIGHT about the structural problems.

But completely wrong about the solution.

The PhD glut? Real. The postdoc treadmill? Absolutely real. The funding crisis? Still here.

But here's what changed:

The same skills that make you survive a PhD—deep research, systems thinking, hypothesis testing, data analysis—became the EXACT skills the market desperately needs.

2025 reality: - AI companies hiring PhDs at $300K+ base - Biotech startups led by former academics - Data science roles requiring scientific rigor - Deep tech ventures solving real problems

The trap wasn't the PhD. The trap was assuming the ONLY path was tenure-track academia.

The researchers who thrived? They took their training and built different careers: → Industry R&D leadership → Technical founding teams → Quantitative roles in finance → Policy and strategy positions → Scientific consulting

The irony: that essay discouraged a generation from science right before scientific thinking became the most valuable skill set in the economy.

The lesson isn't "don't get a PhD."

It's "don't limit yourself to one narrow definition of what a scientist does."

The best training for solving hard problems is still solving hard problems.

You just get to choose which ones.

Re:Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2025) on Tuesday September 30, 2025 @03:46AM (#45422976)
Building SupaBird.io - reverse-engineering viral X content so you don't have to guess what works.

Here's the catch: most creators study top accounts but can't replicate their success. They miss the patterns.

Analyzed 1M+ tweets from top performers and built AI that doesn't just copy - it adapts their winning frameworks to your voice and niche.

One user went from inconsistent posting to systematic growth. The content quality jumped. The engagement followed.

Not promising follower counts. Promising you'll finally understand what actually converts on this platform.

Ask HN: Why LLMs confidently hallucinate instead of admitting knowledge cutoff?

I asked Claude about a library released in March 2025 (after its January cutoff). Instead of saying smth like "I don't know, that's after my cutoff," it fabricated a detailed technical explanation - architecture, API design, use cases. Completely made up, but internally consistent and plausible.What's confusing: the model clearly "knows" its cutoff date when asked directly, and can express...

( Read More... | 5 comments | 2 points | on HN )
The tip about replying quickly to early comments is key—having conversations early on seems like the best way to get your post seen imo.

Ask HN: Any Mobile Annotation Apps?

I have primarily worked with web applications, and tools like JustBeepIt or Superglow have been invaluable for creating tasks and gathering feedback on live websites. Recently, however, I’ve been involved in mobile application development and am finding it challenging to find similar tools or alternatives.

( Read More... | no comments | on HN )

Ask HN: I Need JustBeepIt but for Mobile. Any Suggestions?

Since my workflow was entirely web-based until now, JustBeepIt (https://justbeepit.com) was a perfect task management platform for me and my clients to create and manage tasks. Recently, I've started working on native mobile apps as well, but unfortunately, JustBeepIt isn’t supported on phones yet (I reached out to their team, and they mentioned future support). If you know of any alternatives,...

( Read More... | no comments | 2 points | on HN )
Wow! Such a detailed response. That makes everything much clear. Thanks for sharing and the references!
Thank you all for the insightful comments. I appreciate how this community shares its thoughts with such care and knowledge. I agree that while GPTs handle simpler tasks effectively, complex questions have never been Stack Overflow's strong suit.

A project I’ve been working on started as a web annotation tool and has evolved into a visual task manager called JustBeepIt (https://justbeepit.com). Considering many of our users are developers, we observed that Stack Overflow wasn’t among the sites where users create tasks. This led me to question why it seems to be losing its prominence.

Re:Ask HN: What are you working on (August 2024)? on Tuesday August 27, 2024 @01:13PM (#41370070)
https://www.justbeepit.com/ started as a web annotation tool that I hacked together with a friend. Now, it’s a full-fledged visual task management platform with over 2,000 users.

In 2022, I wondered what it would be like if my manager could leave comments directly on the live website for all the edits, rather than sending a bunch of screenshots and videos. That’s how I came up with the idea for a "simple" browser extension that lets you leave comments on any site, anywhere on the screen.

There were several challenges along the way:

Attaching Comments to the Correct HTML Element: I initially struggled with ensuring comments were attached to the right element, as relying on X/Y coordinates would not be responsive. Now, I use a combination of element IDs, classes, outer HTML, and attributes. This approach works correctly 95% of the time. Do you know of any other methods to find the correct element in the DOM?

No Third-Party Libraries: Extension development only allows pure HTML, CSS, and JS, with no external scripts from CDNs. Building a text editor from scratch was one of the most challenging parts.

Real-Time Functionality: Keeping the extension's background page active was tough because it deactivates when not in use, making it almost impossible to maintain a socket connection. I wrote code to wake up the background page and reconnect the socket whenever it goes to sleep.

I stopped all my freelance projects, and now three other people and I work on this tool full-time. We recently became #1 on Product Hunt: JustBeepIt.com

There are still many issues we're working on, such as using it with iFrames or inside scrollable objects, but we're tackling these challenges one by one.

Why Is Stack Overflow Fading Away? Any Thoughts from the Community?

Stack Overflow has been a cornerstone of developer communities for years, but recently, it seems to be losing its prominence. I’m curious about your thoughts on why this might be happening and what the future holds for this platform. Is it just AI or there're specific issues contributing to its decline?

( Read More... | 145 comments | 3 points | on HN )

Balancing SaaS and Electronics Skills – Tips and Experiences Needed

Hi HN, I’m a software engineer with 10 years of experience who’s recently started learning hardware through a 4-month electronics course. I’d love to hear how others have combined software and hardware skills, both for professional growth and personal enjoyment. Any advice or experiences to share?

( Read More... | no comments | 2 points | on HN )
Hey! I’m not an electronics expert myself, and unfortunately, the course I’m taking isn’t available online. However, designing a custom PCB can definitely help you avoid soldering between separate boards. If you’re new to PCB design, tools like KiCad or Eagle are great for creating your layout. There are plenty of tutorials available that cover integrating modules and designing PCBs that could be really helpful for your project.
I can see how having real-time updates right on your desk could be both motivating and practical :D Thanks for sharing this idea

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