Predicting tomorrow's front page, one day at a time.
See how our prediction compared to what actually happened on HN.
Analysis | Prediction | HNWhat's driving HN attention right now, based on recent front pages and research.
The recurring dream of replacing developers hit #2 on Jan 17 (544pts, 428 comments!). AI job displacement debate intensifying. Tech writers fired letter (Jan 15 #30, 335pts). Every AI capability announcement sparks replacement anxiety. High comment engagement guaranteed on this topic.
ASCII rendering deep-dive dominated Jan 17 (#1, 1077pts). Well-written technical explainers on visual/graphics topics can explode. Pattern: niche technical content with good writing and visuals performs exceptionally well on weekends.
Claude Code in Rollercoaster Tycoon persisted 6+ days (#3, 497pts). ClickHouse acquires Langfuse (#10, 208pts) for LLM observability. Claude for Healthcare launching. AI agent demos have long tail. LLM infrastructure consolidation accelerating.
Meta cutting 1,500+ from Reality Labs. VR/metaverse dreams fading as company pivots to AI-driven devices and wearables. Three VR game studios closing. Major tech layoff story for Monday coverage.
PCs refusing to shut down after Microsoft patch (Jan 17 #18, 251pts, 293 comments). Windows Secure Launch bug causing IT headaches. Patch rollback guidance needed. IT team pain stories perform well on HN.
RTX 5090 launches January 30 - now 12 days away. $1,999 MSRP, 2X RTX 4090 performance. Pre-order chaos, scalper concerns, availability anxiety building. Hardware enthusiast content ramping up.
FOSDEM January 31-Feb 1 - 13 days away. Schedule released with 979 lectures, 65 devrooms. Open source community travel planning. Featured talks on open source burnout and funding models.
Olivetti Company (#7, 214pts) and M8SBC-486 homebrew computer (#15, 115pts) both in Jan 17 top 30. Computing history and retrocomputing projects consistently perform on weekends. Long persistence for quality historical content.
It's not about exact matches—it's about understanding the themes and trends that drive developer attention.