Developer Community 3 Hours

Last updated: August 20, 2026, 3:47 PM ET

Engineering History

Optimizing things in the USSR explores how Soviet planners used linear programming to allocate resources across the planned economy. The article examines the mathematical frameworks developed to solve massive optimization problems involving thousands of variables and constraints.

Project Cybersyn details Chile's 1970s cybernetic economic experiment that used early computers to manage national production. The system connected factories through telecommunications networks to enable real-time economic coordination, representing one of the earliest attempts at algorithmic governance.

Developer Tools

URL shortener links stored in your ATProto PDS provides a guide for implementing personal URL shortening services within the ATProtocol decentralized social network. The approach leverages individual PDS storage rather than centralized services, giving users control over their link data.

Startup Engineering

Sixtyfour (YC P25) is hiring software engineering interns to work on their developer tooling platform. The YC-backed company focuses on infrastructure automation and workflow optimization tools.

Hardware Projects

Chasing a weather balloon across Montana documents an ambitious tracking mission to follow a high-altitude balloon payload called UpLink. The team launched the balloon to collect atmospheric data but lost contact during the descent phase, highlighting challenges in radio telemetry and recovery operations.

Defense Technology

The Defense-Tech Bubble Is Headed for Consolidation analyzes how venture capital investment in military technology startups is driving market saturation. The report suggests that smaller companies will face acquisition pressure as defense contractors consolidate their positions in the sector.

Biology Education

I should have loved biology reflects on the gap between how biology is taught and how it is actually practiced by working scientists. The essay argues that traditional biology education emphasizes rote memorization over scientific inquiry and experimental design, leaving students unprepared for real research challenges.