Hatchet News

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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)

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.

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     /.o..o\
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    ^^^[_]^^^

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.

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!

https://share.cleanshot.com/vJZv6k03 (restarting the server)

https://share.cleanshot.com/qFyM347P (online but temporarily readonly)

https://share.cleanshot.com/kW8kY7mp (back online!)

Hope everyone enjoy the break and start 2026 with energy to keep improving yourself and the world.

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In case you didn’t know, you can check if Santa has reached out your location ;)

https://www.flightradar24.com/R3DN053/3d9fb50a

Merry Christmas everyone.

    [14] “Glory to God in the highest,
        and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

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I will continuing trying to give back in a small way, what the HN community has given me. Happy holidays.

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Merry Christmas to all!

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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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A4vle_goat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer

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://github.com/bradly/christmas-lights.js

You can see it in action at https://bradlyfeeley.com and https://birdymusic.com

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             Ⓜerry    
                           
           ©hr®istmas ‼ ⁉

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      ♟♨⬛#⃣#⃣♨♟
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"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

<3 happy holidays, folks.

“At the very moment that Augustus is making decrees as the ruler of the known world, and Herod is seething in his palace, God enters stage right. Not on the clouds, asserting his power and dominance, not with all the strength and might he rightly has. But in humility. Doing so with a profound statement that he is turning all our preconceived notions completely upside down.

One of the most beautiful, yet often overlooked, components to this story is Mary’s reaction to the news of her Son. In church tradition we call her carol The Magnificat:

“My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has begun to rejoice in God my Savior, because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant.

For from now on all generations will call me blessed, because he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name; from generation to generation he is merciful to those who fear him.

He has demonstrated power with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance of their hearts.

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; he has filled the hungry with good things, and has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” (Luke 1:46-55)

Amidst all the interpretations of Christmas that we hear at this time of year from clergy, advertisers, politicians, and journalists, we might benefit from listening to the mother who sits at the centre of it all. According to Mary, Christmas is about God scattering the proud, bringing down unjust rulers, lifting up the humble. It’s about God turning things upside down— which ironically is the right way up to begin with.

And God accomplishes all of this not “from on high,” like the decree of Augustus, or the brutality of Herod; instead, God achieves his purposes from below in the lowliness of a manger. With shepherds, livestock, and foreign magi as the first witnesses.

Christmas is about God turning things upside down—which ironically is the right way up to begin with.

Every detail about the Christmas story (and the subsequent life of Jesus as well), states that God will reverse the mess and do so by first getting his own hands dirty. God conquers by humbling himself, he will heal by being wounded, he will save us by sacrificing himself. The manger is a throne, and works as a beacon of how God intends to turn everything upside down.

Grace triumphs over dominance, mercy over force, and Mary’s song will be the world’s song.

Joy will pierce through the sorrow and sadness, fully and forever.”

- Wes Huff

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.

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

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If you’d fancy a little holiday-themed adventure game - https://gricha.dev/happyholidays/terminal

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

Merry Christmas to everyone.

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

Thanks HN for all the thoughtful comments and interesting articles.

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I hope everyone has a wonderful, relaxing, and joyous time.

including not the original Rolf Harris version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQVEZLcBfS8

Favorite Christmas movie?

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

Happy Yalda (Yuletide)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalda_Night

Merry Christmas to all!

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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

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46374804

Wir Frässähn bis die Schwarte kracht!

https://xkcd.com/835/

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