Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you get some rest and can spend time with people who are dear to you and get to focus on what's important rather than getting lost in stressing about everything having to be perfect.
Also much love to everyone who cannot spend their Christmas with dear people.
To make sure this post meets the relevancy criteria, here is a Wikipedia article about some Christmas (more precisely advent) tradition which I personally really like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_market
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`"""` `I wouldn't be surprised if someone comes up with obfuscated C code that looks like a christmas tree and prints out wishes by the end of the day/season.
Merry Christmas!
https://oldcompcz.github.io/jgs/joan_stark/xmas.html#treewit...
And of course, the BBS Documentary: Artscene episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQrBbm5ZMlo&list=PL7nj3G6Jpv...
Merry Christmas and happy new years everyone!
https://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc says:
> Text after a blank line that is indented by two or more spaces is reproduced verbatim. (This is intended for code.)
I assume that's how the top level comment posted the tree which is in a <pre><code> structure.
May your glühwein be hot and your cats purring :)
Ask HN: Who needs holiday help? (Follow up thread) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38706167 - Dec 2023 (9 comments)
Ask HN: Who needs help this holidays? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38492378 - Dec 2023 (210 comments)
Tell HN: Thank You - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34140096 - Dec 2022 (42 comments)
Tell HN: Everyone should have a holiday dinner this year - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34122118 - Dec 2022 (58 comments)
Unfortunately, Alex died a few months after his last round of holiday giving, about 1½ years ago now.
Tell HN: In Memory of Alexander Thomas Drummond - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40508725 - May 2024 (5 comments)
If you read the comments in that last thread, know that @toomuchtodo followed through last year and kept the tradition alive. Amazing and magnificent.
Ask HN: Who needs help this holidays? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42291246 - Dec 2024 (46 comments)
Thank you for posting this.
Ahh. I was not aware of his passing, but I do recall his threads & being appreciative of them at the time.
Thanks for informing us.
___
Edit:
In trying to find an obituary, & after seeing a lot of very strange “groyper” related posts on his colitis fundraiser page, I came across this via google results:
“ Fans of white nationalist Nick Fuentes have been mourning the death of "AT Drummond", who they identify as Alexander Thomas Drummond. He has donated to Fuentes to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, even bankrolling a fundraising event for Fuentes last year for $50k”
https://x.com/jaredlholt/status/1757799398707188046
Certainly threw me for a bit of a loop… people, uh – contain multitudes I guess. I will choose to try not to let this impact my memories of his goodwill here.
This would appear to be his account – and for whatever it’s worth, he perhaps seems to hold some of my views on wondering why we’re sending so much money to Israel so they can genocide who ever they deem as lesser/non-humans.
__
Final edit:
Ahh, alright – I’ve lost my respect.
https://x.com/ATDrummond/status/1754657354082029669
Lauren was a dear friend of mine who was suffering greatly. Drummond apparently died of leukemia + crohns, so I don’t know why he’d make such a statement. Such is life
There was so much bad blood between him and the Oxford University that Oxford students had to take a pledge never to reconcile with Henry Symeonis upon ther Bc graduation. This tradition stuck for 550 years.
https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/culture/bizarre-stor...
And we are still aware of him today. Neither an important king, nor a great artist, just a guy who triggered a petty revenge from some long-dead academicians who are, ironically, likely completely forgotten, name and all.
Adding my opinion: Especially if he's done so much good and especially if he's calling out Israel.
Being a non-Christian and it being Christmas time, I am sharing one verse from the New Testament that is, in my opinion, useful - or at the very least, insightful - to anyone, regardless of religion.
Luke 16:10: He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
For anyone interested in approaching the Bible this season, perhaps as part of a New Year's resolution, there are many wonderful free and paid resources to do so. It's easy to get bogged down in a comparison of translations and tools, or to ambitiously pick a Bible in a Year reading plan and get waylaid in the pentateuch. Instead, I'd recommend starting with the Berean Standard Bible (a modern, public domain translation with good footnotes) and Mark (Matthew is my favorite, but it starts with a genealogy and requires some Old Testament knowledge to fully enjoy.)
Here's a link: https://biblehub.com/bsb/mark/1.htm
Thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas to you.
"keep the big bang until later for your children, the bible is really a great set of fairy tales"
Im not religious at all, actually "implicitly fighting against it", though I have to admit: This sentence made sense and Im thinking still until today about it, because actually I think its quite true - for smaller children, the storylines in the bible are much more "real" and understandable than the story of: "hey, there was a big bang, all molecules were created then and you are consisting today of these molecules"
Modern Christians know that religion and science can go together. Science researches _how_ something works. Religion answers _who_ created it. The Big Bang theory is actually accepted by them today.
There's a German term for that 'Uboot Christen' - submarine Christians. They only emerge twice a year.
Easter also not pagan. But pophistory thinks that as well. Scholarship doesn’t line up.
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/..O\
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/...o.\
/..O..o.\
^^^[_]^^^ o
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o o
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o o
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o o
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o o o
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o o o
o
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o
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o
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o
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o
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o
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o (()(()((())((())(()()))))) h
_____|______
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r t
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e . i a
/ \ / \ / \ / \
M r y C r s m s .-^-.
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/_/_/_/Merry Christmas HackerNews__/_/\_\
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_|||||||||||||||_ DOOM BSP (XMAS) TREE :p
. * .
(IDKFA)
---\ | /---
\|/
( ROOT NODE )
( Partition )
/`--...___...-`\
/ \
/ \
o--( Node 1 )--o o--( Node 2 )--o
/ Front \ / Back \
/ | \ / | \
/ o \ / o \
[SUBSECTOR] ( Node 3 ) [SUBSECTOR]
| (Leaf A)| / \ | (Leaf B)|
|_________| / \ |_________|
[SEGS] / \ [SEGS]
( Gift ) [SUBSECTOR] [SUBSECTOR] ( Gift )
| (Leaf C)| | (Leaf D)|
|_________| |_________|
[SEGS] [SEGS] @
***
*****
*******
*********
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***************
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This really is a job for a LLM.
With apologies to screen reader users: "space tab space space asterisk new line space space tab space new line space space space tab pipe new line ... forward slash o full stop full stop backslash ..."
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/* *\
/+@o* \
/o*+*o+*\
/* @+*o@+*\
/+*o*+@*o*+*\
/@o+*o@+*o+@o*\
/*+@o*+@*o+*o@+*\
/o*+@o*+@o*+@o*+o*\
/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@\
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|||Hell - mine one is crashed! Claude didnt work properly :-D
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[ROOT]
n=25000
/ | \
[N] [I] [C]
.33 .51 .94 <-- UCB1 winner
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[OH] [MEH] [E] [E]
coal socks NICE NICE
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:/ :) :)
MCTS: Monte Carlo Tree Santa
"in the limit, all children converge
to the nice list" - S. Claus
` _\/_ .
- /\
/|\ `
. / /*|O\. .
/*/|\*\
/X/O|*\X\
/*/X/|\X\*\ .
/O/*/X|*\O\X\
/*/O/X/|\X\O\*\
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|X|
|X|
Merry Christmas!
[0] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AluminumChristma...
Love seeing the custom HN theme every year. Sometimes after Christmas, I avoid refreshing an HN tab, so I get to see the theme just a little bit longer :)
This year is a bit special to me. I recently moved countries for a new job, but I moved a bit too soon. Now I am spending the holiday season alone for the first time in my life. Learned a lot of lessons the hard way over the past week.
There's always browser extensions/scripts.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46266496
https://github.com/FreedomBen/hacker-news-christmas-colors-b...
Thanks for continuing such an awesome tradition :-D
I was a bit eager to start work after three months of waiting for the HSP 1b visa. Tried to keep myself busy with side projects, and got quite far with embedded Rust. But the lack of a "regular schedule" from a job was making me eager to start "proper work" again.
So far, it has been a mixed bag of trade-offs. Made it in time for various events, got to see a few friends for the first time in a while, etc. However, nothing beats the comfort and security of one's parents home, especially during the holiday season.
Probably obvious to everybody, but seriously do not schedule a move in December. If it is feasible, spend the time to make memories with your family and loved ones.
A bit morbid, but reminds me of this passage by John Quincy Adams:
> Everything about the house is the same. I was not fully sensible of the change till I entered his bedchamber [...] That moment was inexpressibly painful, and struck me as if it had been an arrow to my heart. My father and mother have departed. The charm which has always made this house to me an abode of enchantment is dissolved; and yet my attachment to it, and to the whole region around, is stronger than I ever felt it before.
Hope you get to spend the next Christmas with your family!
A relevant verse about a sometimes stressful day:
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.
- Matthew 6:34
Merry Christmas, HN!
Also, I had to turn off firefox's enhanced tracking protection for the font to load. Before that it was unicode tofu.
Side note: I assume you can’t call it ASCII art if it uses non-ASCII characters, but Unicode art doesn’t have the same ring.
Thanks
Merry Christmas!
https://share.cleanshot.com/vJZv6k03 (restarting the server)
https://share.cleanshot.com/qFyM347P (online but temporarily readonly)
https://share.cleanshot.com/kW8kY7mp (back online!)
Is it the convenience utilities for building and running container images?
https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/oci-containers-on-freebsd...
However, I still can't pinpoint what the value proposition is compared to using jails. Is there anybody around here able and willing to shed some light? I know I didn't use Cunningham's Law to start the conversation like a clever netizen but maybe, just this once, a good faith response to a good faith question is possible.
ouch
For stuff like HN, I like the peek behind the scenes it provides. It's all just software written by some humans and way too often people take themselves and their shitty software way too serious.
99.999999 is so overated.
It only affects traffic for about 10 seconds.
Hope everyone enjoy the break and start 2026 with energy to keep improving yourself and the world.
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| | | |Merry Christmas everyone.
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||||||Merry Christmat!
In case you didn’t know, you can check if Santa has reached out your location ;)
I will continuing trying to give back in a small way, what the HN community has given me. Happy holidays.
[14] “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.”
That was fun! I read that verse earlier today and I didn't know about the version with genitive case.
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Ⓜerry
©hr®istmas ‼ ⁉
⭕
↙▫⬇↘
↙▫↙⬇↘↘
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↙▫↙↙⬇↘↘▫↘↘
↙↙↙▫↙↙⬇↘▫↘↘↘↘
♟♨⬛#⃣#⃣♨♟
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〰㊗〰
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This not so little corner of the internet keeps delivering year after year, thank you all for the quality of the submissions and discussions!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NORAD_Tracks_Santa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Nicholas_Church,_Demre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Christmas_Spider
https://github.com/bradly/christmas-lights.js
You can see it in action at https://bradlyfeeley.com and https://birdymusic.com
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| |<3 happy holidays, folks.
Merry Christmas to all!
"An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”"
-Luke 2
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
- Luke 2:10-11
Fun tidbit: The Charlie Brown Christmas animators had Linus drop his security blanket when he said, "fear not".
(I'm an atheist, but as an official GenXer™, I could almost recite this speech from memory.)
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|___|If you’d fancy a little holiday-themed adventure game - https://gricha.dev/happyholidays/terminal
Best of luck with this. Back (and neck) pain really, truly sucks. Very under-treated in the U.S. as well. IME, completely stifles the ability to enter a “flow” state of cognitive function.
This is the Trinity College Choir’s advent concert - really puts me in the mood for the season, a remarkable performance and service: https://www.youtube.com/live/MsUd-twzG2U?si=1HMiaD2-Le70-fch
I wish you all a Merry Christmas full of joy, and I hope you can all appreciate, share, and express love for those around you, be it family, friends, or strangers on the internet. We are all very lucky to be part of the HN site and community. I have been here for about 15 years (at least that is what it feels like) with my other accounts that I don't want to dox.
Glory to God. For believers in Jesus, may the light of Christ guide you as it does me in difficult times. Wishing you all His peace and joy.
It is strange and sad to be alone this morning.
If you are in the same situation, know that you are not alone: I'm thinking of you.
Merry Christmas.
That reminds me I have to update my HN theme to have the Christmas theme
Merry Christmas to everyone.
(this is an old pg tradition btw)
Thanks HN for all the thoughtful comments and interesting articles.
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including not the original Rolf Harris version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQVEZLcBfS8
Favorite Christmas movie?
And probably a hundred others.
Anyways, in case anyone needs to stumble upon something similar, I couldn't find something so perfect but...
hearing it now it's not as amazing as it was that night I needed to not be alone in grief, but here it is:
https://www.npr.org/2016/12/25/506715971/amy-grant-on-faith-...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LOqLV6Om4A
Merry Christmas to you!
Here’s a quad tree:
11
11
—
0110
0110
1111
0110
—
00000000
00011000
00011000
00111100
01111110
11111111
00011000
00011000
Christus natus est
O Χριστός γεννιέται
Христос раждается
המשיח נולד
ابن الله يولد اليوم
Vrolijk Kerstmis
Merry Christmas to all!
Happy Yalda (Yuletide)
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▲▲
>single html file, no frameworks, images or webgl
Happy Holidays https://xe.dev/xmas 2 points by jFriedensreich 15 hours ago
I'm not saying this as a bad thing; I'm not and have never been religious but I still love Christmas.
Wir Frässähn bis die Schwarte kracht!
All icey were the Reindeer hooves, moody and unlikely they were to play.
Then Christmas Eve did come about and, Santa, mounted slay he did.
Present bag taken firm in hand, one for each and every kid.
Down-down-down chimney stacks around each and every town.
Milk and cookies, warmth and hearth.
Every present for every home. Boys and girls light and dark.
Good or bad, used to matter. But Santa had a change of heart.
We all mess up sometimes. And, sometimes, we need a brand new start.
Enjoy the gifts! Santa yelled, as the reindeer took off once again.
Be kind to one another all, and try to make new friends.
Merry Christmas!
Answer: Here’s an ASCII Christmas tree that is also a Merkle tree (Each parent node is the hash of its two children; leaves are the “data blocks”.)
MERKLE TREE
H(ROOT)
/ \
H(0-1) H(2-3)
/ \ / \
H(0) H(1) H(2) H(3)
/ \ / \ / \ / \
D0 D0 D1 D1 D2 D2 D3 D3
H(ROOT)
/ \
H(0-1) H(2-3)
/ \ / \
H(0) H(1) H(2) H(3)
/ \ / \ / \ / \
D0 D0 D1 D1 D2 D2 D3 D3
(leaf)(leaf)(leaf) (leaf)(leaf)(leaf)
D0–D3 = data blocks (your “presents” )
H(0) = hash(D0 || D0) (duplicated leaf for balance, common in Merkle trees)
H(0-1) = hash(H(0) || H(1))
H(ROOT) = hash(H(0-1) || H(2-3))
If you want, I can:
generate a bigger tree (8, 16, 32 leaves),
make the hashes look like real hash strings,
or format it like a perfect triangular Christmas tree silhouette while keeping the Merkle parent/child layout.
-- Prompt: format it like a perfect triangular Christmas tree silhouette while keeping the Merkle parent/child layout.
Answer: You got it — here’s a perfect triangular Christmas tree silhouette that still preserves the Merkle parent/child layout (parents directly above their two children, leaves at the base).
H(ROOT)
/ \
┌────────H(0-3)────────┐
/ \
┌────H(0-1)────┐ ┌────H(2-3)────┐
/ \ / \
┌─H(0)─┐ ┌─H(1)─┐ ┌─H(2)─┐ ┌─H(3)─┐
/ \ / \ / \ / \
D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7
Here’s a slightly more “filled” version while keeping the structure valid:
H(ROOT)
/ \
──────H(0-3)──────
/ \
─────H(0-1)───── ─────H(2-3)─────
/ \ / \
───H(0)─── ───H(1)─── ───H(2)─── ───H(3)───
/ \ / \ / \ / \
D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7
Either way, merry Saturnalia to you! (Off-by-one day :D)