Zach with 2 Hs
@zhach.bsky.social
zhach.me
zhach.news
zhach.start.page
Guy who knows how to AI and Code, trying to figure out how to make news better
zhach.news
zhach.start.page
Guy who knows how to AI and Code, trying to figure out how to make news better
Optimizing purely for "time-on-app" is lazy engineering. Platforms need to design for "mindful disengagement"—building friction points that break the addiction loop. Measure success by user utility, not just dopamine hits.
Full argument: zhach.news/cost-of-a-qu...
Full argument: zhach.news/cost-of-a-qu...
Short-Form Content and the Social Cost of a Quick Scroll
If this technology is so influential to everyone, the responsibility must extend beyond the user. The platforms themselves (the people behind the app) must rethink how they work.
zhach.news
January 26, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Optimizing purely for "time-on-app" is lazy engineering. Platforms need to design for "mindful disengagement"—building friction points that break the addiction loop. Measure success by user utility, not just dopamine hits.
Full argument: zhach.news/cost-of-a-qu...
Full argument: zhach.news/cost-of-a-qu...
Sending a network request for every single query is burning money. I looked at how using Bloom Filters can lead to a 96% reduction in network overhead. You trade a tiny fraction of certainty for massive scale. This is math that keeps high-traffic platforms from melting. zhach.news/save-money-w...
How to Save Money with Big Data: Finding Matches (Part 3)
The power of a probabilistic approach is clear: in an age of petabyte-scale data, the right approximation is often the only possible solution. How has the ability to get a "good enough" answer in…
zhach.news
January 19, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Sending a network request for every single query is burning money. I looked at how using Bloom Filters can lead to a 96% reduction in network overhead. You trade a tiny fraction of certainty for massive scale. This is math that keeps high-traffic platforms from melting. zhach.news/save-money-w...
Reposted by Zach with 2 Hs
Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
January 15, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
Reposted by Zach with 2 Hs
NBC: Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that don't go along with his administration's goal of acquiring Greenland.
January 16, 2026 at 4:37 PM
NBC: Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that don't go along with his administration's goal of acquiring Greenland.
I used to believe a newsroom required a massive budget, but 1 reporter plus 4 specific tools now equals a fully functional bureau. This efficiency stack turns a solo beat into a sustainable business without the corporate overhead. I mapped the exact toolkit here: zhach.news/independent-...
The Independent Reporter's Playbook: How to Thrive in the New News Ecosystem
If you're an independent journalist ready to carve out your niche and build a loyal following, here is a playbook for supporting yourself in this new ecosystem.
zhach.news
January 12, 2026 at 3:05 PM
I used to believe a newsroom required a massive budget, but 1 reporter plus 4 specific tools now equals a fully functional bureau. This efficiency stack turns a solo beat into a sustainable business without the corporate overhead. I mapped the exact toolkit here: zhach.news/independent-...
We cannot fully automate fact-checking. AI models still fail at context (sarcasm, intent, nuance). I view these tools strictly as a "supportive system". The machine processes the noise; the human makes the final judgment. That is the only way to build this. zhach.news/the-ai-edito...
The AI Editor: How to Automate Fact-Checking? (Part 1)
This is where the cross between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and journalism becomes not just interesting, but essential. We have to stop thinking of AI as a replacement and start seeing it as an…
zhach.news
January 5, 2026 at 3:02 PM
We cannot fully automate fact-checking. AI models still fail at context (sarcasm, intent, nuance). I view these tools strictly as a "supportive system". The machine processes the noise; the human makes the final judgment. That is the only way to build this. zhach.news/the-ai-edito...
We often call them "freelancers." We should call them "founders." The new ecosystem rewards the specialist who builds a direct relationship with their niche. When you own the tech stack, no algorithm gets between you and the truth.
zhach.news/independent-... #IndependentJournalism
zhach.news/independent-... #IndependentJournalism
The Independent Reporter's Playbook: How to Thrive in the New News Ecosystem
If you're an independent journalist ready to carve out your niche and build a loyal following, here is a playbook for supporting yourself in this new ecosystem.
zhach.news
December 29, 2025 at 3:30 PM
We often call them "freelancers." We should call them "founders." The new ecosystem rewards the specialist who builds a direct relationship with their niche. When you own the tech stack, no algorithm gets between you and the truth.
zhach.news/independent-... #IndependentJournalism
zhach.news/independent-... #IndependentJournalism
Manual verification takes hours. Automated retrieval takes seconds. We need to trade grunt work for high-level judgment. Scale the research, not the writer.
zhach.news/the-ai-edito... #journalism #factchecking
zhach.news/the-ai-edito... #journalism #factchecking
The AI Editor: How to Automate Fact-Checking? (Part 1)
This is where the cross between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and journalism becomes not just interesting, but essential. We have to stop thinking of AI as a replacement and start seeing it as an…
zhach.news
December 22, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Manual verification takes hours. Automated retrieval takes seconds. We need to trade grunt work for high-level judgment. Scale the research, not the writer.
zhach.news/the-ai-edito... #journalism #factchecking
zhach.news/the-ai-edito... #journalism #factchecking
The industry obsession with "perfect data" is wasteful. Storing 800TB of user logs when a few GB of estimates tells the same story is bad engineering. Probabilistic data structures like Count-Min Sketch aren't shortcuts. They are how we build sustainable systems at scale.
zhach.news/counting-thi...
zhach.news/counting-thi...
How to Save Money with Big Data: Counting Things (Part 2)
So originally, 10,000,000 videos would have cost us 800 TB or $80,000. With the HLL and all the videos, we only need to store 80 MB, which ranges from $10 to $50.
zhach.news
December 15, 2025 at 11:15 PM
The industry obsession with "perfect data" is wasteful. Storing 800TB of user logs when a few GB of estimates tells the same story is bad engineering. Probabilistic data structures like Count-Min Sketch aren't shortcuts. They are how we build sustainable systems at scale.
zhach.news/counting-thi...
zhach.news/counting-thi...
Just wrote the final articles of the year for zhach.news
They will all come out before the new years, but I’m gonna take a break for the month of January. Relax and be with family. Then more blogs starting February. Thanks everyone!
They will all come out before the new years, but I’m gonna take a break for the month of January. Relax and be with family. Then more blogs starting February. Thanks everyone!
Zhach's News & Views
Let's make News better! Thoughts, stories, and ideas related to journalism, AI, and personal growth
zhach.news
December 15, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Just wrote the final articles of the year for zhach.news
They will all come out before the new years, but I’m gonna take a break for the month of January. Relax and be with family. Then more blogs starting February. Thanks everyone!
They will all come out before the new years, but I’m gonna take a break for the month of January. Relax and be with family. Then more blogs starting February. Thanks everyone!
We often frame "needing help" as a weakness. But the over-confident senior who builds the wrong thing fast creates more debt than the hesitant junior. Support isn't just for the struggling. It is for the sprinting. How do you balance it?
zhach.news/confidence-c... #growth #teambuilding
zhach.news/confidence-c... #growth #teambuilding
When Does Someone’s Confidence Need a Check-In?
Confidence is a wonderful asset, but as with anything, an extreme on either side requires extra energy and effort from those around you.
zhach.news
December 8, 2025 at 10:58 PM
We often frame "needing help" as a weakness. But the over-confident senior who builds the wrong thing fast creates more debt than the hesitant junior. Support isn't just for the struggling. It is for the sprinting. How do you balance it?
zhach.news/confidence-c... #growth #teambuilding
zhach.news/confidence-c... #growth #teambuilding
Great read on content moderation. Generative AI, Live-streaming terrorism, on-demand radicalism, balancing first amendment rights and safety online. I like the “demote but keep on platform” route, but what do you think?
time.com/7326940/amer...
time.com/7326940/amer...
America Must Regulate Social Media
America invented social media. Now, it must invent regulations that protect users and free speech, argues John Wihbey.
time.com
December 6, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Great read on content moderation. Generative AI, Live-streaming terrorism, on-demand radicalism, balancing first amendment rights and safety online. I like the “demote but keep on platform” route, but what do you think?
time.com/7326940/amer...
time.com/7326940/amer...
X rolled out location transparency to millions of users, only to pull key data within 24 hours because it was "not 100%" accurate. You cannot fight disinformation with bad data. Efficiency is about shipping code that doesn't immediately require a rollback.
www.theverge.com/news/827279/... #misinfo
www.theverge.com/news/827279/... #misinfo
X’s messy About This Account rollout has caused utter chaos
X’s About This Account location data is either completely useless, or everyone is a foreign troll.
www.theverge.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:33 PM
X rolled out location transparency to millions of users, only to pull key data within 24 hours because it was "not 100%" accurate. You cannot fight disinformation with bad data. Efficiency is about shipping code that doesn't immediately require a rollback.
www.theverge.com/news/827279/... #misinfo
www.theverge.com/news/827279/... #misinfo
English makes up ~45% of the Common Crawl dataset. Hindi? Less than 0.1%. We are building "global" models on a strictly local worldview. If the training data doesn't represent the reality of the user, the model isn't smart. It is just biased.
www.nature.com/articles/d41... #responsibleAI
www.nature.com/articles/d41... #responsibleAI
Large language models are biased — local initiatives are fighting for change
Despite advances, AI models continue to be geared towards the needs of English-speaking people in high-income countries.
www.nature.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:24 AM
English makes up ~45% of the Common Crawl dataset. Hindi? Less than 0.1%. We are building "global" models on a strictly local worldview. If the training data doesn't represent the reality of the user, the model isn't smart. It is just biased.
www.nature.com/articles/d41... #responsibleAI
www.nature.com/articles/d41... #responsibleAI
Love this TED talk from Hamish Mackenzie. Especially with independent journalists, they have the ability to completely market themselves and directly access the community they are intending to. It is going from a top down news ecosystem to a bottom up one.
www.ted.com/talks/hamish...
www.ted.com/talks/hamish...
This is what the future of media looks like
What if the polarizing mess of social media, clickbait headlines and addictive algorithms isn't a breakdown of media but a transition to something better? Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie explores…
www.ted.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Love this TED talk from Hamish Mackenzie. Especially with independent journalists, they have the ability to completely market themselves and directly access the community they are intending to. It is going from a top down news ecosystem to a bottom up one.
www.ted.com/talks/hamish...
www.ted.com/talks/hamish...
I find this super cool. I’ve viewed lightning as a fire hazard. But for the Maiawali people—and now modern ag-tech—it is a growth engine. It turns out those high-voltage strikes trigger ancient biological switches in seeds and inputing nitrogen into the ground.
stackoverflow.blog/2025/11/28/l...
stackoverflow.blog/2025/11/28/l...
Lightning-as-a-service for agriculture - Stack Overflow
Darryl Lyons, co-founder and Chief Rainmaker at Rainstick, joins the show to dive into advancements in AgTech and how Rainstick is using bioelectricity to enhance agricultural productivity.
stackoverflow.blog
December 1, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I find this super cool. I’ve viewed lightning as a fire hazard. But for the Maiawali people—and now modern ag-tech—it is a growth engine. It turns out those high-voltage strikes trigger ancient biological switches in seeds and inputing nitrogen into the ground.
stackoverflow.blog/2025/11/28/l...
stackoverflow.blog/2025/11/28/l...
Critics claim regulation kills innovation. I argue it kills strictly lazy innovation. By using the Act's regulatory sandboxes, we can test ideas without risking public safety. Trust is the only competitive advantage that actually matters.
zhach.news/eu-ai-act-is... #innovation ##euaiact
zhach.news/eu-ai-act-is... #innovation ##euaiact
Protecting the Human: Why the EU AI Act is a Good Move
TBH, a large corporation that claims these basic measures (auditing their data for bias, ensuring their systems are secure against obvious attacks, and documenting their design) is too much of a…
zhach.news
December 1, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Critics claim regulation kills innovation. I argue it kills strictly lazy innovation. By using the Act's regulatory sandboxes, we can test ideas without risking public safety. Trust is the only competitive advantage that actually matters.
zhach.news/eu-ai-act-is... #innovation ##euaiact
zhach.news/eu-ai-act-is... #innovation ##euaiact
Disinformation is networked. Journalism is usually siloed. That is why we lose. The Ghana Fact-Checking Coalition proves that "truth" isn't just about accuracy; it is about logistics. Let’ s align on how to fight misinformation!
gijn.org/stories/gijc... #misinfo #journalism
gijn.org/stories/gijc... #misinfo #journalism
Innovative Strategies to Fight Electoral Disinformation Campaigns
At GIJC25, experts from Venezuela, Ghana, and India highlighted AI tools and collaborative strategies that exposed electoral disinformation campaigns.
gijn.org
November 29, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Disinformation is networked. Journalism is usually siloed. That is why we lose. The Ghana Fact-Checking Coalition proves that "truth" isn't just about accuracy; it is about logistics. Let’ s align on how to fight misinformation!
gijn.org/stories/gijc... #misinfo #journalism
gijn.org/stories/gijc... #misinfo #journalism
Kids are using deepfake tools to create images of them bringing a "homeless man" home as a "prank," causing genuine panic and 911 calls from parents. Police are calling the behavior a crime and a waste of public resources.
Read the full story: futurism.com/artificial-i...
Read the full story: futurism.com/artificial-i...
Police Issue Warning About "AI Homeless Man" Prank
The latest hoax involves kids sending their parents AI-manipulated pictures of them welcoming homeless men into their houses.
futurism.com
October 26, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Kids are using deepfake tools to create images of them bringing a "homeless man" home as a "prank," causing genuine panic and 911 calls from parents. Police are calling the behavior a crime and a waste of public resources.
Read the full story: futurism.com/artificial-i...
Read the full story: futurism.com/artificial-i...
The growing prominence of all these AI videos and photos and the people that like to engage with them does bring up this question that Time asks. Facebook was first made back in the early 2000s to connect people, now it seems they are connecting to AI and fake videos.
time.com/7326718/sora...
time.com/7326718/sora...
When Everything Is Fake, What’s the Point of Social Media?
With realistic AI videos flooding the timeline, social media is becoming a fake content machine.
time.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM
The growing prominence of all these AI videos and photos and the people that like to engage with them does bring up this question that Time asks. Facebook was first made back in the early 2000s to connect people, now it seems they are connecting to AI and fake videos.
time.com/7326718/sora...
time.com/7326718/sora...
Great job to MIT, Brown, UPenn, and all the other institutions working toward a more inclusive education system!: www.npr.org/2025/10/20/n...
As deadline for Trump's colleges compact looms, schools signal dissent
Of the original nine schools that received the Trump administration's Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, the majority have indicated they are not planning on signing.
www.npr.org
October 24, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Great job to MIT, Brown, UPenn, and all the other institutions working toward a more inclusive education system!: www.npr.org/2025/10/20/n...
This video is crazy! The plasma is hotter than the Sun's core, and the actual core is too hot to emit light! You're only seeing the glowing outer layer. ⚛️
See the video: futurism.com/science-ener...
See the video: futurism.com/science-ener...
We're Only Slightly Exaggerating When We Say This Footage of a Fusion Experiment Will Melt Your Face Off
New footage from the British fusion firm Tokamak Energy shows unbelievably hot plasma imprisoned in a magnetic field.
futurism.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:33 PM
This video is crazy! The plasma is hotter than the Sun's core, and the actual core is too hot to emit light! You're only seeing the glowing outer layer. ⚛️
See the video: futurism.com/science-ener...
See the video: futurism.com/science-ener...
Want to save BIG money on Big Data?
It all starts with understanding Hashes! My new blog post breaks down the fundamental concept of hash functions—the secret sauce that lets you trade accuracy for resource.
Dive into Part 1 of this technical series:
It all starts with understanding Hashes! My new blog post breaks down the fundamental concept of hash functions—the secret sauce that lets you trade accuracy for resource.
Dive into Part 1 of this technical series:
How to Save Money with Big Data: Understanding Hashes (Part 1)
Aha! Now you are getting to the tradeoff here. I can take anything and turn it into a number, but the number of possible sentences in the universe have to be greater than the number I can generate in...
zhach.news
October 17, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Want to save BIG money on Big Data?
It all starts with understanding Hashes! My new blog post breaks down the fundamental concept of hash functions—the secret sauce that lets you trade accuracy for resource.
Dive into Part 1 of this technical series:
It all starts with understanding Hashes! My new blog post breaks down the fundamental concept of hash functions—the secret sauce that lets you trade accuracy for resource.
Dive into Part 1 of this technical series:
The future of the web might be...webless? 🤯 Just listened to Dhruv Batra (from Yutori) talk about proactive AI agents that handle our "digital chores” (waiting for a ticket sale or tracking a price drop). The vision is to give us "Yutori" (mental spaciousness) by automating tasks...
buff.ly/sFEU933
buff.ly/sFEU933
AI agents for your digital chores - Stack Overflow
Ryan welcomes Dhruv Batra, co-founder and chief scientist at Yutori, to explore the future of AI agents, how AI usage is changing the way people interact with advertisements and the web as a whole,…
stackoverflow.blog
October 16, 2025 at 2:33 PM
The future of the web might be...webless? 🤯 Just listened to Dhruv Batra (from Yutori) talk about proactive AI agents that handle our "digital chores” (waiting for a ticket sale or tracking a price drop). The vision is to give us "Yutori" (mental spaciousness) by automating tasks...
buff.ly/sFEU933
buff.ly/sFEU933
🧠 Just finished watching the Chris Hemsworth series, Limitless, and I think to overarching theme is "Growth lives outside your comfort zone".
We often seek comfort, but the most powerful piece for human growth (both mentally and biologically) is to embrace the unfamiliar and be uncomfortable...
We often seek comfort, but the most powerful piece for human growth (both mentally and biologically) is to embrace the unfamiliar and be uncomfortable...
October 15, 2025 at 2:33 PM
🧠 Just finished watching the Chris Hemsworth series, Limitless, and I think to overarching theme is "Growth lives outside your comfort zone".
We often seek comfort, but the most powerful piece for human growth (both mentally and biologically) is to embrace the unfamiliar and be uncomfortable...
We often seek comfort, but the most powerful piece for human growth (both mentally and biologically) is to embrace the unfamiliar and be uncomfortable...