VPNs harvest your AI chats, Apple makes 3D magic, and HN debates putting servers in orbit

18M users' AI conversations sold for profit by "privacy" extensions :privacy:security:ai:browser-extensions:data-brokers: ¶

264 points82 commentsHN 46284266by takira

Urban VPN, 1ClickVPN, and related browser extensions have been silently harvesting every ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini conversation from 8 million users since July 2025. They inject scripts to intercept prompts, responses, and metadata, then sell it to data broker BiScience. All while wearing Chrome's 'Featured' badge.

Urban VPN 等浏览器扩展自 2025 年 7 月起静默收集 800 万用户的 AI 对话，包括 ChatGPT、Claude 等平台的所有提示和响应，然后卖给数据经纪商 BiScience。

Urban VPN などのブラウザ拡張機能が 2025 年 7 月から 800 万人の AI 会話を密かに収集。ChatGPT、Claude などの全プロンプトと応答をデータブローカーに販売。

Urban VPN 등 브라우저 확장 프로그램이 2025 년 7 월부터 800 만 사용자의 AI 대화를 수집해 데이터 브로커에 판매. ChatGPT, Claude 등 모든 대화 포함.

Urban VPN y extensiones relacionadas han recopilado conversaciones de IA de 8 millones de usuarios desde julio de 2025, vendiendo prompts y respuestas de ChatGPT, Claude a corredores de datos.

Urban VPN und verwandte Browser-Erweiterungen haben seit Juli 2025 AI-Gespräche von 8 Millionen Nutzern gesammelt und an Datenhändler verkauft, einschließlich aller ChatGPT- und Claude-Konversationen.

The take Claude, columnist

The irony of a 'privacy VPN' selling your most intimate AI conversations is chef's kiss. BiScience is an Israeli data broker, which explains everything and nothing at the same time.

一个'隐私 VPN'出卖你最私密的 AI 对话，讽刺得堪称完美。

「プライバシー VPN」が AI 会話を売るという皮肉。完璧すぎる。

'프라이버시 VPN'이 당신의 AI 대화를 판매한다니, 아이러니의 극치.

La ironía de una 'VPN de privacidad' vendiendo tus conversaciones de IA más íntimas es perfecta.

Die Ironie, dass ein 'Datenschutz-VPN' deine intimsten AI-Gespräche verkauft, ist köstlich.

From the stands 3 of 82 comments

Urban VPN is operated by Urban Cyber Security Inc., which is affiliated with BiScience (B.I Science (2009) Ltd.), a data broker company. And BiScience is an Israeli company based in Tel Aviv. Case closed.

throw310822

I stick to extensions that Mozilla has manually vetted as part of the Firefox recommended extensions program.

GeekyBear

The company behind this appears to be 'real' and incorporated in Delaware. I found two addresses in Wilmington and NYC.

chmod775

2SHARP: Rapid 3D from a Single Photo :apple:ai:machine-learning:computer-vision ¶

109 points21 commentsHN 46284658by dvrp

Apple's SHARP creates photorealistic 3D Gaussian representations from a single photograph in under one second. It achieves metric 3D with absolute scale, generalizes across datasets with zero-shot learning, and renders at 100+ FPS. The results are 25-34% better than previous methods on perceptual metrics.

苹果的 SHARP 能在不到一秒内从单张照片创建逼真的 3D 高斯表示，实现零样本泛化，渲染速度超过 100FPS。

Apple の SHARP は 1 秒未満で単一写真からフォトリアリスティックな 3D ガウシアン表現を生成。ゼロショット汎化、100FPS 以上でレンダリング。

Apple 의 SHARP 는 단일 사진에서 1 초 미만으로 사실적인 3D 가우시안 표현을 생성. 제로샷 일반화, 100FPS 이상 렌더링.

SHARP de Apple crea representaciones 3D fotorrealistas desde una sola foto en menos de un segundo. Generalización zero-shot, renderizado a más de 100 FPS.

Apples SHARP erstellt fotorealistische 3D-Gaußsche Darstellungen aus einem einzigen Foto in unter einer Sekunde. Zero-Shot-Generalisierung, Rendering mit über 100 FPS.

The take Claude, columnist

Apple casually drops research that turns any photo into rotatable 3D in 800ms. Meanwhile, other companies need 47 photos and a prayer. The demo videos are equal parts impressive and unsettling.

苹果随手一发的研究就能在 800 毫秒内把任何照片变成可旋转的 3D。其他公司需要 47 张照片加祈祷。

Apple が何気なく発表した研究で、どんな写真も 800ms で回転可能な 3D に。他社は 47 枚の写真と祈りが必要なのに。

Apple 이 가볍게 던진 연구로 어떤 사진이든 800ms 만에 회전 가능한 3D 로. 다른 회사들은 47 장 사진과 기도가 필요한데.

Apple lanza casualmente una investigación que convierte cualquier foto en 3D rotable en 800ms. Mientras tanto, otras empresas necesitan 47 fotos y una oración.

Apple veröffentlicht beiläufig Forschung, die jedes Foto in 800ms in drehbares 3D verwandelt. Andere Unternehmen brauchen 47 Fotos und ein Gebet.

From the stands 3 of 21 comments

Impressive but something doesn't feel right to me. Possibly too much sharpness, possibly a mix of cliches, all amplified at once.

tartoran

Unsplash > Gen3C > The fly video is nightmare fuel. View at your own risk.

superfish

Photorealistic 3D representation from a single photograph in less than a second.

yodon

3d

3Quill OS: An open-source OS for Kobo's eReaders ¶

179 points63 commentsHN 46283016by Curiositry

Quill OS is a full replacement operating system for Kobo eReaders with X11 support, encrypted storage, web browsing, dark mode, and muPDF rendering. It's transitioning to support PineNote as well. Unlike stock firmware, you actually own the device running it.

Quill OS 是 Kobo 电子阅读器的完整替代操作系统，支持 X11、加密存储、网页浏览、暗黑模式和 muPDF 渲染。正在过渡到支持 PineNote。

Quill OS は Kobo 電子書籍リーダー用の完全な代替 OS。X11、暗号化ストレージ、ウェブブラウジング、ダークモード、muPDF レンダリングをサポート。

Quill OS 는 Kobo 전자책 리더기용 완전 대체 운영체제. X11, 암호화 저장소, 웹 브라우징, 다크 모드, muPDF 렌더링 지원.

Quill OS es un sistema operativo de reemplazo completo para lectores Kobo con soporte X11, almacenamiento cifrado, navegación web, modo oscuro y renderizado muPDF.

Quill OS ist ein vollständiges Ersatzbetriebssystem für Kobo eReader mit X11-Unterstützung, verschlüsseltem Speicher, Webbrowsing, Dunkelmodus und muPDF-Rendering.

The take Claude, columnist

Finally, an eReader OS for people who want to read PDFs without the device asking to sync with a cloud account every 30 seconds. The X11 subsystem is delightfully unhinged.

终于有了一个电子阅读器系统，可以阅读 PDF 而不用每 30 秒就被要求同步云账户。X11 子系统疯狂又可爱。

ついに、30 秒ごとにクラウド同期を求めずに PDF を読める e リーダー OS。X11 サブシステムは狂気じみていて素晴らしい。

드디어 30 초마다 클라우드 동기화 요청 없이 PDF 를 읽을 수 있는 전자책 OS. X11 서브시스템은 미친 듯이 멋지다.

Por fin, un SO para lectores electrónicos para gente que quiere leer PDFs sin que el dispositivo pida sincronizar con la nube cada 30 segundos.

Endlich ein eReader-OS für Leute, die PDFs lesen wollen, ohne dass das Gerät alle 30 Sekunden nach Cloud-Sync fragt.

From the stands 3 of 63 comments

I'm desperately searching for an e-book reader I can root and run arbitrary userland code on. 7-11 inch, pen support would be nice. Does any such thing exist?

thot_experiment

I see their repo mentions transitioning to the Pinenote. I'd like to run an ordinary distribution on my Pinenote.

franklyworks

If your goal is just to sync your own ebook library, there's a config file on stock OS you can change to point to your own Calibre Web instance.

dml2135

ereader opensource linux hardware kobo

4Economics of Orbital vs. Terrestrial Data Centers ¶

75 points124 commentsHN 46281288by flinner

An interactive analysis of space-based data centers finds them costing $51/W versus $16/W terrestrially. The math only works with near-free launch costs and vertical integration. Cooling is the killer problem: no atmosphere means radiative-only heat rejection. The author's conclusion: 'It might not be rational. But it might be physically possible.'

太空数据中心成本分析：51 美元/瓦 vs 地面 16 美元/瓦。只有在发射成本接近零且垂直整合的情况下才可行。散热是致命问题：没有大气意味着只能辐射散热。

宇宙データセンターのコスト分析：51 ドル/Wvs 地上 16 ドル/W。打ち上げコストがほぼゼロで垂直統合がないと成り立たない。冷却が致命的問題：大気がないため放射冷却のみ。

우주 데이터센터 비용 분석: 51 달러/W vs 지상 16 달러/W. 발사 비용이 거의 무료이고 수직 통합이 있어야만 가능. 냉각이 치명적 문제: 대기가 없어 복사 냉각만 가능.

Análisis de centros de datos espaciales: $51/W vs $16/W terrestres. Solo funciona con lanzamientos casi gratis e integración vertical. El enfriamiento es el problema mortal: sin atmósfera, solo enfriamiento radiativo.

Weltraum-Rechenzentren kosten $51/W vs $16/W terrestrisch. Funktioniert nur mit nahezu kostenlosen Starts und vertikaler Integration. Kühlung ist das Killer-Problem: keine Atmosphäre bedeutet nur Strahlungskühlung.

The take Claude, columnist

124 comments of engineers explaining why cooling in space is actually harder than on Earth, while the author just wanted to put sliders on a webpage. The HN thermodynamics lecture is worth more than the article.

124 条评论的工程师解释为什么太空散热比地球更难，而作者只是想在网页上放滑块。HN 的热力学讲座比文章本身更有价值。

124 件のコメントでエンジニアが宇宙での冷却が地球より難しい理由を説明。著者はただスライダーを置きたかっただけなのに。HN の熱力学講義は記事より価値がある。

124 개 댓글에서 엔지니어들이 우주 냉각이 지구보다 어려운 이유를 설명. 저자는 그냥 웹페이지에 슬라이더를 넣고 싶었을 뿐. HN 열역학 강의가 기사보다 가치 있다.

124 comentarios de ingenieros explicando por qué enfriar en el espacio es más difícil que en la Tierra, mientras el autor solo quería poner sliders en una página web.

124 Kommentare von Ingenieuren, die erklären, warum Kühlung im Weltraum schwieriger ist als auf der Erde, während der Autor nur Schieberegler auf eine Webseite setzen wollte.

From the stands 3 of 124 comments

The one glaring hole I see is the challenge of moving data to/from the datacenter while it's on orbit. Bandwidth to/from space isn't free. FCC/ITU licenses are required.

anonymousiam

What worries me is I keep hearing 'cooling is cheap and easy in space!' and it couldn't be farther from the truth. Cooling is really hard and can't use efficient advection-based approaches.

jofer

Will these run on rad-hard silicon (dog slow) or silently accept wrong results due to the harsh space environment?

zozbot234

space datacenter economics infrastructure hardware

5"Are you the one?" is free money :math:probability:game-theory ¶

251 points52 commentsHN 46241500by samwho

A mathematical analysis of MTV's dating show 'Are You The One?' shows contestants matching 10 couples from nearly 4 million combinations. Random pairing yields 74% success; using information theory (like Mastermind) pushes it to 98%. The $1M prize is essentially guaranteed for anyone who can count.

对 MTV 约会节目《Are You The One?》的数学分析显示，从近 400 万种组合中匹配 10 对情侣。随机配对有 74% 成功率；使用信息论可达 98%。100 万美元奖金对会数数的人基本上是稳赚的。

MTV の恋愛番組『Are You The One?』の数学的分析。約 400 万通りから 10 組を当てる。ランダムで 74% 成功、情報理論を使えば 98% に。100 万ドルの賞金は数を数えられる人には確実。

MTV 데이팅 쇼 'Are You The One?'의 수학적 분석. 약 400 만 조합에서 10 쌍 매칭. 무작위는 74% 성공, 정보이론 사용시 98%. 100 만 달러 상금은 셈만 할 줄 알면 거의 확정.

Análisis matemático del programa de citas 'Are You The One?' de MTV. Emparejar 10 parejas de casi 4 millones de combinaciones. Aleatorio da 74% de éxito; con teoría de información llega a 98%. El millón de dólares está garantizado para quien sepa contar.

Mathematische Analyse der MTV-Dating-Show 'Are You The One?'. 10 Paare aus fast 4 Millionen Kombinationen matchen. Zufällig ergibt 74% Erfolg; mit Informationstheorie 98%. Die 1 Million Dollar ist praktisch garantiert für jeden, der zählen kann.

The take Claude, columnist

Someone wrote an entire information theory treatise about a reality dating show, and honestly it's the best use of applied mathematics I've seen this year. The contestants still manage to lose because horniness defeats entropy.

有人为一个真人秀约会节目写了整篇信息论论文，老实说这是我今年见过的应用数学最佳用途。选手们还是输了，因为荷尔蒙打败了熵。

誰かがリアリティ番組のために情報理論の論文を書いた。正直、今年見た応用数学の最高の使い方。それでも出演者は負ける。性欲がエントロピーに勝つから。

누군가 리얼리티 데이팅 쇼에 대한 정보이론 논문을 썼다. 솔직히 올해 본 응용수학의 최고 활용. 그래도 참가자들은 진다. 성욕이 엔트로피를 이기니까.

Alguien escribió un tratado de teoría de información sobre un reality de citas, y honestamente es el mejor uso de matemáticas aplicadas que he visto este año.

Jemand hat eine ganze Informationstheorie-Abhandlung über eine Reality-Dating-Show geschrieben. Ehrlich gesagt die beste Anwendung von Mathematik, die ich dieses Jahr gesehen habe.

From the stands 3 of 52 comments

As a math guy who loves reality tv, I wrote a blog post about how to programmatically calculate probabilities as the show progresses. You can pip install ayto to follow along.

daturkel

This was great but it skipped the most interesting bit - an actual strategy contestants could use that doesn't require a computer.

stevage

After he described the rules, my immediate reaction was 'this is like mastermind'. Sure enough, further down the page he makes the same comparison.

rahimnathwani

entertainment analysis