Happy New Year, everyone! 2025 was tumultuous but in the end I accomplished my professional goal of the last 10 years: transition from academia to industry. I went through several job rejections (in the hindsight very fortunately so), decided to commit to my research project and a startup idea, endured months-long unemployment and wound up at an up-and-coming industrial R&D AI lab. I feel like I drew a lucky ticket, but this is only a beginning and I need to double down on my goals in 2026. While the locus of my attention was on survival, I drifted away from someone I loved dearly and eventually I lost them. My newfound success has tasted bittersweet.
I also established a sleep schedule with consistent going to bed time at or before 10pm and waking up before 7am; this did wonders for my productivity. I am still affected by anxiety and looking for ways to improve my focus in 2026. I am hoping that it will be my most prolific year.
I could not have done this all without several of my close friends and collaborators, to whom I owe a big thank you.
Happy NYE! Was a big one for me: went sober. Alcohol became my band-aid solution for everything, which ended up with me ignoring things that needed to be done and putting my relationships, job, and health at major risk. I am now 10 months sober and beyond relieved to not be where I was one year ago. I found my dream job in the process, and was able to transition out of an old job that felt stale and holding me back. There is still lot's of progress to be made.
2025: My first full year of running my own business, and things really went well. Also had my second child, a beautiful daughter who is currently not sleeping well at night. I am so tired. I lost my dog suddenly - he was my first dog and my companion for nine years. I love that guy so much.
Still some five hours to go here in Norway, but it has been dark outside for a few hours already.
Dinner is just about ready, friends pouring in the doors as we speak and as for fireworks, seeing as we live quite rurally, a couple of kilos of dynamite is at the ready.
Professionally, 2025 has been kind to me. Got to visit Japan and Libya for the first time and am going back to Japan next week for a scientific cruise down to the Mariana trench or thereabouts; when back, I will start working on the next generation control system for our products, having spent the past few months trying to learn enough about control system architecture to hopefully avoid the most obvious pitfalls.
Oh, and I have learned from painful experience a few of the things NOT to do evaluating the current design...
The perfect square year is now over...next one is 2116. Silly thing to note, but I am thankful for being able to live in such a year. Additionally, 2025 was quite transformative to my life. Where I am today, in terms of career and personal connections, I wouldn't have expected to be here even two years ago.
Happy new year from SF. 2025 was about hanging on, balancing a heavy workload and a new baby, but in ways which I’m confident are the right decisions for our future. I did a lot of Becoming An Adult this year, learning to trust myself and my partner, and prioritizing what matters. 2026 will probably be more of the same..! But I am hopeful things should ease up over time.
Happy new year, this community has given me a lot and I’m grateful for you all.
Congrats on becoming a parent. This is one of the most rewarding and transforming paths in life. Kids are the greatest gift a man or woman can give to themselves, in a manner of speaking. They're beautiful and grow up very fast. Cherish it all!
I’m going into 2026 about 100 pounds down since last new years. I’m excited to see what the future holds when I’m in the best physical shape of my life. GLP-1 inhibitors are a modern miracle (admittedly to solve a modern problem). I realize now I wasn’t active because I was fat, not vice versa. I rode hundreds of miles on my bike this year, towing my wheelchair using daughter along for the ride in a bike trailer. If you’re in a situation where you feel losing weight is hopeless, I strongly encourage you to consider these medications. It could change your life for the better, in strange ways you might not expect. I also paid off all my credit cards (and cancelled them) this year, and I swear it was only possible because losing weight has allowed me to be a better and more cognizant long term planner.
Here’s to a great year of self improvement and refinement. Happy new years everyone!
That's an inspiring improvement. 100 lb is no joke! Should have taken a lot of effort and discipline and I am sure this will reward you in the years to come. A fuller life, with greater confidence and a happier horizon to you in 2026.
Happy new year everyone
Some good stuff in 25 for me
- went to Yellowstone
- dislocated my shoulder for the first time, went to pt and feel better than ever
- switched jobs for higher pay and better wlb
- started getting into game dev with the goal of releasing in summer 26!
Here’s to a great 2026 everyone!!
Just solo, trying to keep my scope small and since I’m making a “casino rougelite” type of game the main focus will be on the depth of the systems and upgrades.
You guys are all truly wonderful, otherwise you wouldn't be here.
As from someone who started my own company last year and decided to dive into a dozen of projects, reached new milestones and a lot of success, but suffered from severe burnout and depression:
Remember - you can do anything, but not everything. Choose what to focus on and what makes you happy and go for it.
Happy 2026!
Thankyou and same to you. Last year for me was rough in many ways, watching a classmate from my high school go on trial for probably the world's most famous triple-murder in recent memory.
It affected me so deeply and of course I didn't understand why, so I went head first into self-discovery to try and understand it. Not sure I 100% have the answer yet but well on the way.
On the bright side, I managed to keep the weight off I had spent 4 years losing (35 kg!) and of course work is as wonderful as ever for me. So all that was good.
Happy new year all - may 2026 be better year for everyone.
This year let’s all act kindly towards others and learn and discuss things in civil tones. In a world where Reddit is the norm, make Hacker News a beacon of hope.
2025 was bad in best way and good in worst way...
Our government is increasingly autocratic in last decade to almost straight dictatorship but last year was year of protests that started cornering government. That led to increased oppression. It's worse for both sides but it's going in good direction albeit slowly.
Spent 2025 in dozens of protests, rode bicycle across the country with students to raise awareness, was surrounded with young, great and positive people.
Breathed tear gas and got beaten by police. But never felt more alive.
2026: I hope this government is done and gone in this year. Freedom is enough to get in a year.
I loved vibe coding in 2026. Would love to learn about your games and play them. My son (toddler) has an interest in visual/spatial/math reasoning and I think a game can help him be better at it.
This year I got my PhD (focused in robotics) and walked the camino del norte (a pilgrimage in Spain).
I am trying to transition from academia to industry without success (for now) and several threads here on HN remind me I am not alone in this.
Amazing work on the PhD. I know a guy who worked on a PhD, then moved on to industry in a research position and then started his own firm. Reach me if you want to connect. He's in SF
- Visited/lived in: Austria, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, UAE
- Started (too many) side-projects
- Managed to grow a number of projects / startups
- Almost back to PRs: deadlift 155k, squat 90k, bench 80k
Ideas for 2026
- Focus on getting things done / releasing stuff rather than starting / release an app (iOS/Android)
- Triple revenue
- Visit 12 countries I haven't visited before (Morocco, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Malta, Cyprus, Brazil, Peru, Chile)
- Deadlift 200k, squat 120k, bench 100k; lose 10k BW
- Learn formatting on HN :)
We started traveling a lot post Covid and after all of the stars aligned for us. But this is the first year that we have done any international travel besides flights Mexico (cruises don’t count).
We went to Costa Rica (Manual Antonio), London with a day trip to France and Canada (landed in Buffalo NY).
We are going to see if Costa Rica is a good Plan B when we retire on paper (I am 51) it looks good. We are staying for a month next year. I work remotely.
As far as side projects? I plan to continue my 30 year next year streak of never doing anything software development outside of work. Between continuing to learn Spanish, exercise, and spending time with family and friends, I’ve got enough on my plate.
I got a stable job! I was unemployed for a few months, we paid a small fortune for health insurance, and I got ulcers from the stress, but things worked out! I enjoy my team, and I'm hopeful about 2026.
I was about to check out the GitHub activity summary like last year, but then I realized that a lot of things weren't actually pushed to GitHub this year. So I used Vibe-coded to take a look:
2025:
- set up new facility for mfg of CVD diamond tech products
- replaced awful old carpets at home with bamboo wood floors
- lost 42 lbs (thanks, tirzepatide)
- secured $ for a new CVD diamond system, build starts in January
- road trip to see friends & family, some for first time in a decade
Wishing happiness, love, accomplishment and adventure to all!
A bunch of devices (laser diodes, microprocessors, high power RF GaN amplifiers) that'll run lots cooler on diamond heat spreaders; diamond Raman lasers (high efficiency & power); large single crystal diamond wafers - nothing most of us would pick up off the sidewalk, but might be very important.
I do have 3 CVD gem brilliants (blue, pink, colorless, 2ct. each) that a local jeweler is putting into a 30th anniversary piece for my wife. That makes me grin in anticipation of the surprise gift - my kind of bling.
I write this from St Thomas’ hospital in London, a few hundred meters from Big Ben, the London Eye and the centre of London’s iconic fireworks, which we watched a few hours ago.
My wife and I are here for the birth of our baby daughter, which will complete our family after being lucky enough to be blessed with two beautiful sons (aged 3 and 5).
My god the NHS in the UK is a miracle. We’ve had two difficult births previously, in Cambridge Addenbrooke’s hospital. We’ve always tried our best to have babies at the best local hospital (within 30 miles or so) with the best staff in the event something goes wrong. We’re at St Thomas’ after recently moving house.
After the two difficult previous births we gathered as much data as we could for this one, using a Data Subject Access Request on my wife and each baby to get huge volumes of data. We analysed this data, got insight from AI, spoke to experts and built our birth plan for our daughter around the data. Since our two previous difficult births were overdue, it was agreed my wife would be induced on the due date, if Labour hadn’t come along naturally.
That due date was yesterday, we spent the previous night in a top London hotel across the road from the hospital enjoying some time just the two of us, going out for dinner and some walks around London to get the oxytocin flowing.
We arrived at the hospital yesterday afternoon ready for induction, and heard the worst news imaginable - the baby had no heartbeat. Scans confirmed we had lost our daughter, most likely in the hours previous.
In the intervening 36-hour gauntlet, my wife has laboured, suffered and successfully given birth to our beautiful daughter’s perfect but lifeless body. My god, women are strong.
We were able to spend precious time together and dress our daughter. The services at UK hospitals for this type of tragedy are truly a wonder to behold. The nurses are some of the kindest and most dedicated people I have had the pleasure to meet.
Before all this, we joked that it would be my wife’s style to give birth to the baby during NYE overlooking the fireworks in a blaze of drama, with everything perfect and finished in time for a glass for champagne.
Instead, after we had created the memories we wanted to (around 23:30 UK time) the nurses invited us to a private darkened hospital room overlooking the London Eye. I carried our daughter to the room and brought my wife separately a few moments later. We watched the fireworks together, just the three of us, and comforted each other.
I know this is a sad story, but its purpose is not to be sad.
My wife is the eldest of three daughters, who were all expecting daughters within six weeks of each other in reverse order. The youngest went first with her first baby. The second sister went second with her second. And the eldest (my wife) went third with her third. Thankfully, the other two baby girls arrived safely and happily around their due date.
The purpose of this story is to raise the question that I can’t get away from in this last 24 hours – is [fate / the universe / the simulation / sod’s law] just forced to create perfect tragedies like this? Where the events would otherwise be so perfect as to be unbelievable, and so you are put back in your place?
It certainly feels like that at the moment.
My wife and I are strong and will get through it, thanks in no small part to the way the fantastic NHS has supported us on this harrowing journey. We will again gather as much data as possible and based on that, decide whether to rebuild our will and faith to try again. Either way, our family will be complete.
I’ve been comforted somewhat thinking of the scene in Only Fools and Horses where Del describes a similar situation to his bereaved brother Rodney as:
“A dropped stitch in life’s tapestry”
I have come to this site daily for ten years to be inspired and intrigued. So, thanks HN.
[I’ve sent this from a newly registered account because it’s too much for me to share publicly, or even discuss with family and friends at the moment, but somehow helpful for me to write words for strangers to read. I’ll email dang my other account to show I’m not some tragedy LLM bot!]
That sounds unimaginably tough, and I admire the strength and mindset both of you share as a couple.
Wishing you and your wife (and your boys) a better 2026 and beyond.
And hopefully the NHS will continue to exist, I read about its struggle and the call for it to be privatized and end up like the system in here the US.
Huge respect to healthcare workers and wish they'd be compensated better.
I'm so sorry for your loss. My wife went through a difficult but successful birth of our first daughter, and I cannot watch or read about births without involuntarily welling up. I pray your family will be comforted and that the new year will bring better tidings!
I'm so sorry for you and your wife's loss. At the same time, I'm struck by how strong your wife and you are navigating this tough situation. From an Internet stranger to another, may the loving memories of your daughter live on.
My wrap includes getting married, travelling to Italy, Slovenia and Germany, finally making a few sales of the app I'm working on, and dealing with residence permit. In 2026 I will continue working on my apps and hopefully make more sales, I hope to do some freelancing, fish more with dad and travel a bit.
In 2025, I have learned Rust by creating a project in it (a web server), and learned a lot about web servers and reverse proxies along the way. I have seriously leveled up as a developer.
I have also created what's now the most popular project I have ever created.
Okay, not unthinkable but I would think it is very difficult. I'm hoping a country who has never won a WC to be champions this year. Croatia and Netherlands have done well in the last few. Cape Verde and Curaçao have also never won.
2025 was a difficult year for me. I am trans, and transitioning at a late age (post-50s). I am confronting a lot of my own self-hatred in the process. It is also a discouraging thing to be trans in this current national (sometimes global) climate. I also had a cardiac episode. There were definite achievements, but it was unabashedly a mix. I'm hoping 2026 will be a better year in most respects where I can build on the good parts of 2025.
It was a crazy year. Spent half of it living in my college building (Read about huge nationwide student protests in Serbia where students blocked all colleges because of the government corruption for almost 9 months).
Hoping to see the start of the AI-powered technological singularity in 2026. The end of humanity is nigh and I can't wait to be melded to the machine. This life was kind of boring anyway.
Happy New Year, everyone. Lots of experimentation at my end this year, especially during the latter part of the year with Claude and code generation tools. Earlier in the year, worked for a promotion, and the past 4 years of diligence paid off. Grateful to wife and boss who supported me in that leg of my professional journey.
Switched to a Mac centric workflow for my personal projects and built many this year thanks to AI coding tools. Among them are Praval (pravalagents.com), Vajra Search (https://github.com/aiexplorations/vajra_bm25) and Todacomm (https://github.com/aiexplorations/todacomm). Open sourced Praval, Vajra Search, Deep Lyapunov and Todacomm on PyPI. Followed a lot of AI models and their development, apps and read a bunch of papers - and at work, built a whole bunch of them around agents with my team. Got rejected from a big tech job after 8 solid interview rounds. But that was a reminder that I have to be a bit more independent and seek professional validation less - something I have known for years but which I haven't been able to execute on. In any case I have seen my work as something that pays the bills and treat it transactionally, while using spare time for things I love learning about - software tech, AI, mathematics, aviation/aerospace engineering, Vedanta, to name a few.
Big challenges this year - personal health and well being. Took exercise more seriously. For a time I did morning runs, especially in the summer and autumn, but as winter has come, have become more sedentary. Diagnosed with severe B12 and D vitamin deficiencies but went on to get treated and get better.
Rejuvenated friendships with buddies I have known since college (20 years ago for me). Found it hard to relate to some of them but made some thick friends as a consequence and trying to build a more independent professional existence as a consequence. The habit of prayer and meditation I had last year (2024) waned a bit this year. I think there's a mental/spiritual center I need to foster there, and perhaps 2026 will be the time for it.
This year, I got engaged to my favorite person on memorial day. Then yesterday, my fiancee said she actually doesn't want to have kids, despite being the only man ever she had considered having a family with. So it was a whole night of turmoil, and tears, and we slept in separate beds for the first time last night. I guess we are parting amicably. She says that I will be a great father someday and I guess we are breaking up, even though we still love each other. I'm not taking this news well.
I lost hope in humanity and decided to retire, and not bother quitting smoking anymore.
I relearned French, and my understanding of category theory doesn’t suck as much, anymore.
I solved a novel problem and had it stolen.
My accuracy shooting has increased.
My doctors no longer think I need medication, and I got a referral to a fertility specialist.
But I finally gave up wanting children.
So, sanity achieved?
2025 I'm proud of my 2025. I lost weight with a slow pace. I launched one of my projects and built on top of it and I'm currently at 99 items sold. Hopefull it will get to 100 by end of the year. Not gonna lie, bad stuff happened too, but I'm not gonna focus on those.
2026 If everything goes as planned, I'm hoping to see my my mother and brother after 4 years. I want live a bit healthier, and I want to grow the same side project. I really hope I scroll less shitty content.
This is the community I feel safe the most in and really helps me keep going everyday.
Happy New Year HN! Grateful for the insights I get every morning from fellow humans through the comments.
This year I sold my company, for a while I thought I will die with it. This year has been brutal in some ways, tackling lots of daemons and getting through them.
Wishing everyone a great new year celebrations with friends and family.
Finally got my first GitHub repo to 100 stars (yesterday!) so that is something I'm really dang proud of. This year, I do have my Cambridge A Level Examinations coming up, hopefully I don't mess it up as bad as I did for my O Level Exams...
Happy New Year! Just finished One year of our startup in the wildlife luxury experiences space. It has been a wild journey coming from building tech startups to doing something so different, yet so similar.
Happy New Year man!
Have very similar goals, even JLPT 5, started a little pet project I've been building https://sharyphil.com/japanese/japanese.html , gym goals too, let's go for it!
Happy New Year, everyone! 2025 was tumultuous but in the end I accomplished my professional goal of the last 10 years: transition from academia to industry. I went through several job rejections (in the hindsight very fortunately so), decided to commit to my research project and a startup idea, endured months-long unemployment and wound up at an up-and-coming industrial R&D AI lab. I feel like I drew a lucky ticket, but this is only a beginning and I need to double down on my goals in 2026. While the locus of my attention was on survival, I drifted away from someone I loved dearly and eventually I lost them. My newfound success has tasted bittersweet.
I also established a sleep schedule with consistent going to bed time at or before 10pm and waking up before 7am; this did wonders for my productivity. I am still affected by anxiety and looking for ways to improve my focus in 2026. I am hoping that it will be my most prolific year.
I could not have done this all without several of my close friends and collaborators, to whom I owe a big thank you.
2025 wrap
Got an internship
Rejected a lowpay job offer
Quit the 9 – 5
Built my own SaaS in 15 days as a self-taught dev
Got 250+ users on my app
Made my first sales before even consuming my 1-month stipend savings
Crossed $100+ in December revenue
Learned coding + marketing
Didn’t skip the gym
Dang, did you see the study posted where apparently load doesn't matter? Just do 400x1lb deadlifts instead :)
Nice work, love seeing self taught devs crushing it.
Do you have a link?
These are my products:
Solo Launches: Product Hunt alternative for solo builders. Get visibility and sales. https://sololaunches.com
List My Site: Get listed on 70+ directories for $49 https://listmy.site
That's a big pull, > 3x BW is beast territory, respect
Betting on myself too
Congrats! Making a Saas app is my dream. Never figured out a market/use case :(
Dont worry mate. Keep on working and building. Build in Public. Show your work on X. Let's connect on X I am @besharan_ on X
Impressive deadlift
Congrats on the PR :)
Thanks mate
good for you big dog, keep it up
happy for you. go go go!
wow keep doing it ;)
Happy NYE! Was a big one for me: went sober. Alcohol became my band-aid solution for everything, which ended up with me ignoring things that needed to be done and putting my relationships, job, and health at major risk. I am now 10 months sober and beyond relieved to not be where I was one year ago. I found my dream job in the process, and was able to transition out of an old job that felt stale and holding me back. There is still lot's of progress to be made.
Way to go, and well done. Just two months to get to a year. Alcohol is pushed everywhere now so what you've done isn't easy.
Learning to adapt to stress without unhealthy vices is a skill.
Finding healthy ways to blow off steam maintains continuity with your most important goals.
Well done!
This is my dads first year sober! I'm super proud of both you and my dad =)
Good for you. Quitting alcohol isn't easy, and you should feel proud.
You landed your dream job because you were sober enough to put in the work. Congrats. Not easy at all.
Happy new year and all the best to you.
Would you mind me asking how you got off alcohol? How much were you consuming?
Well done and happy new year.
well done, that's extremely hard. wishing all the best
2025 highlights
- Got 300+ stars on GitHub for my free, open-source project EasyInvoicePDF https://github.com/VladSez/easy-invoice-pdf
- Received a lot of great and useful feedback about my project on social media
- Moved to a new apartment - better and bigger
- Lost 5+ kg and exercised more than last year
- Visited Hungary, Austria, and Italy for the first time - Hungary and Italy exceeded expectations
- My project was featured in a large startup-related Telegram channel (50k+ subscribers)
Happy New Year
Here you got +1 star on GH project, thanks for sharing. Happy new year !
Thank you =) You too!
Had a pretty bad year. Hoping 2026 will be way better! Happy new year everybody
Same, but I look at it like setting the foundation for a better few years.
Kinda like rewriting a shitty codebase :P
Those happen. Best wishes for 2026
best of luck to you big dog, make sure to work out
Happy New Year, everyone. To the entrepreneurs, may you get sticky customers with negative churn, and may they subscribe to your highest $$ plan.
And to the customers, may you be free to move about between vendors without lock-in and get the best deals for what you need.
Happy New Year!
2025: My first full year of running my own business, and things really went well. Also had my second child, a beautiful daughter who is currently not sleeping well at night. I am so tired. I lost my dog suddenly - he was my first dog and my companion for nine years. I love that guy so much.
I can feel the pain my brother. I too lost my dog (my brother) who was with me from 14 years.
That is terrible - I am really sorry.
best of luck to you big guy, best to you and yours
Happy new year indeed!
Still some five hours to go here in Norway, but it has been dark outside for a few hours already.
Dinner is just about ready, friends pouring in the doors as we speak and as for fireworks, seeing as we live quite rurally, a couple of kilos of dynamite is at the ready.
Professionally, 2025 has been kind to me. Got to visit Japan and Libya for the first time and am going back to Japan next week for a scientific cruise down to the Mariana trench or thereabouts; when back, I will start working on the next generation control system for our products, having spent the past few months trying to learn enough about control system architecture to hopefully avoid the most obvious pitfalls.
Oh, and I have learned from painful experience a few of the things NOT to do evaluating the current design...
Happy New Year from Japan!
The perfect square year is now over...next one is 2116. Silly thing to note, but I am thankful for being able to live in such a year. Additionally, 2025 was quite transformative to my life. Where I am today, in terms of career and personal connections, I wouldn't have expected to be here even two years ago.
Happy new year! I'd love to take a look at some of the side projects you're working on :)
Happy new year from SF. 2025 was about hanging on, balancing a heavy workload and a new baby, but in ways which I’m confident are the right decisions for our future. I did a lot of Becoming An Adult this year, learning to trust myself and my partner, and prioritizing what matters. 2026 will probably be more of the same..! But I am hopeful things should ease up over time.
Happy new year, this community has given me a lot and I’m grateful for you all.
Congrats on becoming a parent. This is one of the most rewarding and transforming paths in life. Kids are the greatest gift a man or woman can give to themselves, in a manner of speaking. They're beautiful and grow up very fast. Cherish it all!
Happy parenting my man. Enjoy what the kid does at each stage, don't rush it, and have a great year!
good for you mike, best to you and yours
Happy New Year everyone. 2025 was a big year for me.
I spent a lot of time writing and sharing technical content, mostly about modern CSS. I didn’t expect much from it at first, but it slowly compounded.
Over the past year:
- On LinkedIn[0], my posts reached ~10M impressions and ~15k people decided to follow along.
- 1,800+ joined my newsletter.
- My blog[1] went from ~1–2 Google clicks/day to ~40/day.
- I published a book[2] about building UI with less JavaScript (185 copies sold so far).
What surprised me most wasn’t the numbers, but how much people care about clear, practical explanations and simple tools.
May 2026 be even better :)
[0]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theosoti/ [1]: https://theosoti.com/ [2]: https://theosoti.com/you-dont-need-js/
Happy new year!
I’m going into 2026 about 100 pounds down since last new years. I’m excited to see what the future holds when I’m in the best physical shape of my life. GLP-1 inhibitors are a modern miracle (admittedly to solve a modern problem). I realize now I wasn’t active because I was fat, not vice versa. I rode hundreds of miles on my bike this year, towing my wheelchair using daughter along for the ride in a bike trailer. If you’re in a situation where you feel losing weight is hopeless, I strongly encourage you to consider these medications. It could change your life for the better, in strange ways you might not expect. I also paid off all my credit cards (and cancelled them) this year, and I swear it was only possible because losing weight has allowed me to be a better and more cognizant long term planner.
Here’s to a great year of self improvement and refinement. Happy new years everyone!
That's an inspiring improvement. 100 lb is no joke! Should have taken a lot of effort and discipline and I am sure this will reward you in the years to come. A fuller life, with greater confidence and a happier horizon to you in 2026.
Congratulations and I hope your article inspires others to consider them as well.
Happy new year everyone Some good stuff in 25 for me - went to Yellowstone - dislocated my shoulder for the first time, went to pt and feel better than ever - switched jobs for higher pay and better wlb - started getting into game dev with the goal of releasing in summer 26! Here’s to a great 2026 everyone!!
Love that. Are you working solo or on a small team for the game?
Just solo, trying to keep my scope small and since I’m making a “casino rougelite” type of game the main focus will be on the depth of the systems and upgrades.
Sounds fun. You never know if you'll hit that Balatro magic.
Happy New Year everyone!
You guys are all truly wonderful, otherwise you wouldn't be here.
As from someone who started my own company last year and decided to dive into a dozen of projects, reached new milestones and a lot of success, but suffered from severe burnout and depression:
Remember - you can do anything, but not everything. Choose what to focus on and what makes you happy and go for it. Happy 2026!
Thankyou and same to you. Last year for me was rough in many ways, watching a classmate from my high school go on trial for probably the world's most famous triple-murder in recent memory.
It affected me so deeply and of course I didn't understand why, so I went head first into self-discovery to try and understand it. Not sure I 100% have the answer yet but well on the way.
On the bright side, I managed to keep the weight off I had spent 4 years losing (35 kg!) and of course work is as wonderful as ever for me. So all that was good.
Happy new year all - may 2026 be better year for everyone.
hell yeah, hope you keep off that weight. Best to you and yours, hope all the best
Happy New Year from Arkansas, USA!
This year let’s all act kindly towards others and learn and discuss things in civil tones. In a world where Reddit is the norm, make Hacker News a beacon of hope.
Happy New Year and the same hope from up here in Vermont
Happy New Year from Serbia.
2025 was bad in best way and good in worst way... Our government is increasingly autocratic in last decade to almost straight dictatorship but last year was year of protests that started cornering government. That led to increased oppression. It's worse for both sides but it's going in good direction albeit slowly. Spent 2025 in dozens of protests, rode bicycle across the country with students to raise awareness, was surrounded with young, great and positive people. Breathed tear gas and got beaten by police. But never felt more alive.
2026: I hope this government is done and gone in this year. Freedom is enough to get in a year.
Well done. Be strong and good luck!
Happy New Year from Shenzhen. Countdown in 1h45m. If anyone in Shenzhen wants to cheers, I shall be at Revolucion Cocktail.
2025 wrap
started committing to healthier habits like going to the gym and jogging.
got some programming work experience under my belt.
started to cook for myself.
learned how to use a multimeter and fixed my house heating.
went to GDC and explored san francisco.
also finishing advent of code is always a highlight in my book :)
Happy New Year from the foothills of the Cascades in Washington state!
Vibe coding helped me build several small games for my daughter and unlocked her interest in programming.
Wishing everyone a wonderful 2026 - it's going to be a great year!
I loved vibe coding in 2026. Would love to learn about your games and play them. My son (toddler) has an interest in visual/spatial/math reasoning and I think a game can help him be better at it.
That's very cool and something I'd love to do for my son! What environment were you working with and are any of your games avail online?
Dear nerd blog, Happy New Year to you!
This year I got my PhD (focused in robotics) and walked the camino del norte (a pilgrimage in Spain). I am trying to transition from academia to industry without success (for now) and several threads here on HN remind me I am not alone in this.
Wish you the best people!
Amazing work on the PhD. I know a guy who worked on a PhD, then moved on to industry in a research position and then started his own firm. Reach me if you want to connect. He's in SF
That's interesting! What was your thesis about?
Happy New Year! A small thank-you gift to start your year right. https://picxstudio.com/share/DF9_t0T_EdciER5p
It's unreal how real this looks. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from Troy, Michigan. I spent much of 2025 recovering from microfracture knee surgery. I’m hopeful for better health in 2026.
Happy New Year everyone!
2025
Ideas for 2026Awesome accomplishments and goals. How do you track your workouts?
Happy NYE!
We started traveling a lot post Covid and after all of the stars aligned for us. But this is the first year that we have done any international travel besides flights Mexico (cruises don’t count).
We went to Costa Rica (Manual Antonio), London with a day trip to France and Canada (landed in Buffalo NY).
We are going to see if Costa Rica is a good Plan B when we retire on paper (I am 51) it looks good. We are staying for a month next year. I work remotely.
As far as side projects? I plan to continue my 30 year next year streak of never doing anything software development outside of work. Between continuing to learn Spanish, exercise, and spending time with family and friends, I’ve got enough on my plate.
Happy New Year!
In 2025 I:
- read 52 books with a total of 17924 pages
- hiked 41 times with a total of 533.1 kilometres
- wrote 225 blog posts --> https://peterspath.net
- moved 2781.2 kilometres by walking, hiking, biking, swimming, running, etc.
Happy new year!
This year turned out to be bad due to burnout, hoping 2026 will be better for everyone!
I got a stable job! I was unemployed for a few months, we paid a small fortune for health insurance, and I got ulcers from the stress, but things worked out! I enjoy my team, and I'm hopeful about 2026.
Happy new year every one.
I was about to check out the GitHub activity summary like last year, but then I realized that a lot of things weren't actually pushed to GitHub this year. So I used Vibe-coded to take a look:
https://github.com/chaosprint/hindsight
I started this year with coding and finished it with coding. In between, I was preparing for and caring for my newborn.
Hope I can release something interesting in 2026.
Happy New Year, hope that everyone is doing well.
Here's to another year of complaining about AI, rewriting things in Rust/Zig, and warning about dangers of social media!
Happy new year from Latvia! Coding highlights:
- Built a website for playing Riichi Mahjong https://online-riichi.com
Happy New Years! I can't believe it's already 2026. Posting from a flight back to the UK. Having wifi in the sky, we really are living in the future.
2025 wrapped: https://duti.dev/blog/2025/2025-in-a-nutshell/
Putting this down as my 2026 goal: At least one commit a day. Stop putting things off.
Exactly one year ago, we started tirreno on New Year’s night at Show HN. Today, we’re nearly at 1k stars and dozens of releases in.
Thanks so much, HN, for this year.
H_N_Y from the Alps!
Product security analytics
https://github.com/tirrenotechnologies/tirreno
Congrats and all the best!
Page isn't optimised for mobile btw.
Thanks! Pure HTML 4.01, NO CSS.
Happy New Year from the Sierra Nevada foothills.
2025: - set up new facility for mfg of CVD diamond tech products - replaced awful old carpets at home with bamboo wood floors - lost 42 lbs (thanks, tirzepatide) - secured $ for a new CVD diamond system, build starts in January - road trip to see friends & family, some for first time in a decade
Wishing happiness, love, accomplishment and adventure to all!
What are you going to bling out?
A bunch of devices (laser diodes, microprocessors, high power RF GaN amplifiers) that'll run lots cooler on diamond heat spreaders; diamond Raman lasers (high efficiency & power); large single crystal diamond wafers - nothing most of us would pick up off the sidewalk, but might be very important.
I do have 3 CVD gem brilliants (blue, pink, colorless, 2ct. each) that a local jeweler is putting into a 30th anniversary piece for my wife. That makes me grin in anticipation of the surprise gift - my kind of bling.
Had to Google CVD, cool stuff!
I wish everyone a gentle start into the new year, and that it may bring you much health, love, and joy!
May 2026 be a much, much better year than this one!
Happy New Year HN.
I write this from St Thomas’ hospital in London, a few hundred meters from Big Ben, the London Eye and the centre of London’s iconic fireworks, which we watched a few hours ago.
My wife and I are here for the birth of our baby daughter, which will complete our family after being lucky enough to be blessed with two beautiful sons (aged 3 and 5).
My god the NHS in the UK is a miracle. We’ve had two difficult births previously, in Cambridge Addenbrooke’s hospital. We’ve always tried our best to have babies at the best local hospital (within 30 miles or so) with the best staff in the event something goes wrong. We’re at St Thomas’ after recently moving house.
After the two difficult previous births we gathered as much data as we could for this one, using a Data Subject Access Request on my wife and each baby to get huge volumes of data. We analysed this data, got insight from AI, spoke to experts and built our birth plan for our daughter around the data. Since our two previous difficult births were overdue, it was agreed my wife would be induced on the due date, if Labour hadn’t come along naturally.
That due date was yesterday, we spent the previous night in a top London hotel across the road from the hospital enjoying some time just the two of us, going out for dinner and some walks around London to get the oxytocin flowing.
We arrived at the hospital yesterday afternoon ready for induction, and heard the worst news imaginable - the baby had no heartbeat. Scans confirmed we had lost our daughter, most likely in the hours previous.
In the intervening 36-hour gauntlet, my wife has laboured, suffered and successfully given birth to our beautiful daughter’s perfect but lifeless body. My god, women are strong.
We were able to spend precious time together and dress our daughter. The services at UK hospitals for this type of tragedy are truly a wonder to behold. The nurses are some of the kindest and most dedicated people I have had the pleasure to meet.
Before all this, we joked that it would be my wife’s style to give birth to the baby during NYE overlooking the fireworks in a blaze of drama, with everything perfect and finished in time for a glass for champagne.
Instead, after we had created the memories we wanted to (around 23:30 UK time) the nurses invited us to a private darkened hospital room overlooking the London Eye. I carried our daughter to the room and brought my wife separately a few moments later. We watched the fireworks together, just the three of us, and comforted each other.
I know this is a sad story, but its purpose is not to be sad.
My wife is the eldest of three daughters, who were all expecting daughters within six weeks of each other in reverse order. The youngest went first with her first baby. The second sister went second with her second. And the eldest (my wife) went third with her third. Thankfully, the other two baby girls arrived safely and happily around their due date.
The purpose of this story is to raise the question that I can’t get away from in this last 24 hours – is [fate / the universe / the simulation / sod’s law] just forced to create perfect tragedies like this? Where the events would otherwise be so perfect as to be unbelievable, and so you are put back in your place?
It certainly feels like that at the moment.
My wife and I are strong and will get through it, thanks in no small part to the way the fantastic NHS has supported us on this harrowing journey. We will again gather as much data as possible and based on that, decide whether to rebuild our will and faith to try again. Either way, our family will be complete.
I’ve been comforted somewhat thinking of the scene in Only Fools and Horses where Del describes a similar situation to his bereaved brother Rodney as:
“A dropped stitch in life’s tapestry”
I have come to this site daily for ten years to be inspired and intrigued. So, thanks HN.
[I’ve sent this from a newly registered account because it’s too much for me to share publicly, or even discuss with family and friends at the moment, but somehow helpful for me to write words for strangers to read. I’ll email dang my other account to show I’m not some tragedy LLM bot!]
That sounds unimaginably tough, and I admire the strength and mindset both of you share as a couple.
Wishing you and your wife (and your boys) a better 2026 and beyond.
And hopefully the NHS will continue to exist, I read about its struggle and the call for it to be privatized and end up like the system in here the US.
Huge respect to healthcare workers and wish they'd be compensated better.
I'm so sorry for your loss. My wife went through a difficult but successful birth of our first daughter, and I cannot watch or read about births without involuntarily welling up. I pray your family will be comforted and that the new year will bring better tidings!
Thinking of you tonight, HN friend :(
I'm so sorry for you and your wife's loss. At the same time, I'm struck by how strong your wife and you are navigating this tough situation. From an Internet stranger to another, may the loving memories of your daughter live on.
So sorry for your loss. Our thoughts and prayers to you and your family.
Happy New Year from Bucharest!
My wrap includes getting married, travelling to Italy, Slovenia and Germany, finally making a few sales of the app I'm working on, and dealing with residence permit. In 2026 I will continue working on my apps and hopefully make more sales, I hope to do some freelancing, fish more with dad and travel a bit.
Happy New Year!
In 2025, I have learned Rust by creating a project in it (a web server), and learned a lot about web servers and reverse proxies along the way. I have seriously leveled up as a developer.
I have also created what's now the most popular project I have ever created.
I think in 2026, I'll go even further!
I wonder what events will transpire that will shape our world by this time next year.
There will be a new FIFA World Cup champion unless Argentina does the unthinkable.
No doubt regime change somewhere. Probably a massive cyber event that cripples critical infra. A magnitude 8+ earthquake in a populated area?
There will be a new FIFA World Cup champion unless Argentina does the unthinkable.
Maybe the hand of God will help them out again. ;)
(For people who aren't familiar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_hand_of_God)
Is it really unthinkable that Argentina could defend successfully?
Okay, not unthinkable but I would think it is very difficult. I'm hoping a country who has never won a WC to be champions this year. Croatia and Netherlands have done well in the last few. Cape Verde and Curaçao have also never won.
Messi was already old 4 years ago, now he's bordering retirement, will probably play half games or pull a lesion.
2025 was a difficult year for me. I am trans, and transitioning at a late age (post-50s). I am confronting a lot of my own self-hatred in the process. It is also a discouraging thing to be trans in this current national (sometimes global) climate. I also had a cardiac episode. There were definite achievements, but it was unabashedly a mix. I'm hoping 2026 will be a better year in most respects where I can build on the good parts of 2025.
Happy New Year from Melbourne! May it be a good one :)
Happy new year from the middle east! May 2026 be a year of peace and compassion <3
It was a crazy year. Spent half of it living in my college building (Read about huge nationwide student protests in Serbia where students blocked all colleges because of the government corruption for almost 9 months).
Happy 2026 from Sydney to your hearts!
For all of our sake I hope it will be better than 2025
Happy New Year's Eve.
Hoping to see the start of the AI-powered technological singularity in 2026. The end of humanity is nigh and I can't wait to be melded to the machine. This life was kind of boring anyway.
Happy New Year, everyone. Lots of experimentation at my end this year, especially during the latter part of the year with Claude and code generation tools. Earlier in the year, worked for a promotion, and the past 4 years of diligence paid off. Grateful to wife and boss who supported me in that leg of my professional journey.
Switched to a Mac centric workflow for my personal projects and built many this year thanks to AI coding tools. Among them are Praval (pravalagents.com), Vajra Search (https://github.com/aiexplorations/vajra_bm25) and Todacomm (https://github.com/aiexplorations/todacomm). Open sourced Praval, Vajra Search, Deep Lyapunov and Todacomm on PyPI. Followed a lot of AI models and their development, apps and read a bunch of papers - and at work, built a whole bunch of them around agents with my team. Got rejected from a big tech job after 8 solid interview rounds. But that was a reminder that I have to be a bit more independent and seek professional validation less - something I have known for years but which I haven't been able to execute on. In any case I have seen my work as something that pays the bills and treat it transactionally, while using spare time for things I love learning about - software tech, AI, mathematics, aviation/aerospace engineering, Vedanta, to name a few.
Big challenges this year - personal health and well being. Took exercise more seriously. For a time I did morning runs, especially in the summer and autumn, but as winter has come, have become more sedentary. Diagnosed with severe B12 and D vitamin deficiencies but went on to get treated and get better.
Rejuvenated friendships with buddies I have known since college (20 years ago for me). Found it hard to relate to some of them but made some thick friends as a consequence and trying to build a more independent professional existence as a consequence. The habit of prayer and meditation I had last year (2024) waned a bit this year. I think there's a mental/spiritual center I need to foster there, and perhaps 2026 will be the time for it.
More here: https://www.rajeshrs.in/blog/ai-explorations/2025-12-27-year...
This year, I got engaged to my favorite person on memorial day. Then yesterday, my fiancee said she actually doesn't want to have kids, despite being the only man ever she had considered having a family with. So it was a whole night of turmoil, and tears, and we slept in separate beds for the first time last night. I guess we are parting amicably. She says that I will be a great father someday and I guess we are breaking up, even though we still love each other. I'm not taking this news well.
I'm sorry to hear. I don't know the reason why your financee don't want kids.
I have been very hesitant to have kids for a long time for many reasons. My wife have been wanting to have kids, so have felt quite conflicted.
Then this year I read the book after the spike which put a lot of this in perspective which made the thought of having kids less daunting somehow.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/after-the-spike-dean-spears...
I wish both of you well in how you navigate the path forwards.
I lost hope in humanity and decided to retire, and not bother quitting smoking anymore. I relearned French, and my understanding of category theory doesn’t suck as much, anymore. I solved a novel problem and had it stolen. My accuracy shooting has increased. My doctors no longer think I need medication, and I got a referral to a fertility specialist. But I finally gave up wanting children. So, sanity achieved?
Happy New Year from Leipzig, Germany!
Eberswalde, Germany joining in the New Years wishes.
Happy New Year!
2025 I'm proud of my 2025. I lost weight with a slow pace. I launched one of my projects and built on top of it and I'm currently at 99 items sold. Hopefull it will get to 100 by end of the year. Not gonna lie, bad stuff happened too, but I'm not gonna focus on those.
2026 If everything goes as planned, I'm hoping to see my my mother and brother after 4 years. I want live a bit healthier, and I want to grow the same side project. I really hope I scroll less shitty content.
This is the community I feel safe the most in and really helps me keep going everyday.
Happy New Year from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada!
Happy New Year HN! Representing sub saharan Africa
Happy new year from Ireland!
Feliz y próspero año para todos desde Colombia!
Happy New Year HN! Grateful for the insights I get every morning from fellow humans through the comments.
This year I sold my company, for a while I thought I will die with it. This year has been brutal in some ways, tackling lots of daemons and getting through them.
Wishing everyone a great new year celebrations with friends and family.
Love you HN.
Happy New Year from Singapore!
Finally got my first GitHub repo to 100 stars (yesterday!) so that is something I'm really dang proud of. This year, I do have my Cambridge A Level Examinations coming up, hopefully I don't mess it up as bad as I did for my O Level Exams...
Happy New Year from Cracow, Poland!
It was difficult, but overall great year. Looking forward what 2026 will bring.
Happy New Year! Just finished One year of our startup in the wildlife luxury experiences space. It has been a wild journey coming from building tech startups to doing something so different, yet so similar.
Happy New Year from Switzerland!
HNY from Xizhou, Yunnan, China
HNY from Sydney, Australia!
Happy new year from Indore, India
https://app.ironcalc.com/?model=OIDKt-KaOnt-52CaU
Happy new year from Brazil! (Still some hours in 2025 to go)
Brazil mentioned!!!
Happy New Year, everyone.
I was laid off back in 2023 from my development job.
I'm hoping to be able to get back to work in the New Year after taking some time off.
Wish me luck!
Happy New year to all! I've set my goals for this year and can't wait to see how it goes.
Happy New Year from Romania! Let there be highways to a good future, and a letter of law for everyone to follow!
Happy New Year from Krasnoyarsk, Russia!
నూతన సంవత్సర శుభాకాంక్షలు from India!
Happy New Year from Zagreb, Croatia!
May The Source Be With You.
Happy New Year from Australia :)
Happy New Year Everyone Wishing Everyone a great a year ahead and great health
Happy New Year from Singapore!
Happy New Year from Argentina
Happy new year from Germany!
Guten Rutsch!
Happy New Year from Toronto!
Happy new year from Estonia!
Happy New Year from Berlin!
Happy new year from Norway!
Happy New year from Albania
Happy New Year from Hungary! An exciting new year ahead for all of us!
Happy New Year from AU
Happy 0x7EA Year!
Happy new year everyone
Hope 2026 I can finish my todo list
- Got at least JLPT N5
- Work abroad
- Start working out again
Happy New Year man! Have very similar goals, even JLPT 5, started a little pet project I've been building https://sharyphil.com/japanese/japanese.html , gym goals too, let's go for it!
Happy New Year - 2026 will be a great one!
Happy New Year from Fort Collins, Colorado USA!
Happy New Year from Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Happy New Year HN, from Manchester in the UK
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from Reykjavík, Iceland!
Happy New Year from Davao, Philippines!
Happy Hogmanay to everyone in HN land.
Happy New Year from Almaty, Kazakhstan!
Happy New Year from New York City!!
Happy New Year from Western NY :-D
Happy New Year from Paris, France!
Happy New Year from Nuneaton, UK!!
Happy New Year from Cairo, Egypt!
Happy new year everyone :)
Happy new year, from invide
Happy New Year from Azerbaijan!
Happy new year from Indonesia!
Happy New Year from Belarus!!
Happy 2026 from Venice, Italy!
Happy new year from Antwerp !
Happy New Year from Budapest!
Happy New Year Everyone
Happy new year from New York!
Happy New year from Cameroon
Happy new year from Canada!!
Happy New Year to everybody!
Happy New Year from Indiana!
Happy new year from China !!
Happy new year from my heart
Happy New Year from Bolivia!
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Happy new year from France !
Happy New Year from Taiwan!
Happy New Year from Canada!
Happy new year from Greece!
Φίλε έχουμε ακόμα κάνα οχτάωρο... Happy new year anyway!
Happy new year from Munich
Happy new year from Nepal!
Happy New Year from India
Happy New Year from Oslo!
Happy New Year from India
Happy New Year! schappim.
Happy new year from ISS!
Just kidding. AU!
Happy new year everyone!
Ethiopia Happy New Year
Happy new year, HN.
Happy new year folks!
happy new year
Happy new year!
Happy New Year!
Happy new year, 2025 was another bummer but here's to 2026.
Another one bites the dust
Ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive, staying alive
May the odds be ever in your favour
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Happy New year fellas
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