Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment order4856507896573978293098418946942861377074420873513579240196520736686985134010472374469687974399261175109737777010274475280490588313840375497099879096539552270117121570259746669932402268345966196060348517424977358468518855674570257125474999648219418465571008411908625971694797079915200486670997592359606132072597379799361886063169144735883002453369727818139147979555133999493948828998469178361001825978901031601961835034344895687053845208538045842415654824889333804747587112833959896852232544608408971119771276941207958624…
There are several past threads of this article but this comment about how the DeCSS illegal prime was created seemed the most interesting: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1045394 This might be thought of as a human version of a covert channel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_channel E.g. publicizing the number and expiration date of Bill Gates' credit-card is illegal but what if we wrote a text commentary about Shakespeare's Hamlet that when SHA-1 hashed, it gives you that same information? Yes, it would…
[ Ignoring the morality of making ideas illegal... ] This demonstrates the difference between data (i.e. the number itself) and information (the interpretation of data and use cases derived from that interpretation). What is "illegal" here is certain kinds of encryption and security software. A prime number is not the same thing as encryption and security software. But you can specify processes which allow encryption and security software to be uniquely identified by a prime number. The interpretation combined with…
Y'all totally missed what's going on here. Primepages (http://primes.utm.edu/) lists the largest known primes of various forms. One of the categories is primes that have no special form, which are the hardest to prove prime. Chris Caldwell, the primepages maintainer, called up Phil Carmody and said, "Phil, if you can turn DeCSS into a 'general prime' that's big enough for the top 20 ever discovered, I'll be happy to host it on primepages." (Just as he would host any prime…
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 4
- Total points
- 949
- Total comments
- 490
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-01-11 | Illegal primeFirst breakout | niyazpk | 152 | 76 |
| 2013-10-17 | Illegal Prime Numbers | epenn | 178 | 58 |
| 2013-10-29 | Illegal Prime | sanketsaurav | 1 | 0 |
| 2014-07-30 | Illegal prime number | thisjepisje | 59 | 30 |
| 2014-10-24 | Illegal prime | getdavidhiggins | 5 | 0 |
| 2014-11-30 | Illegal Primes | Ramp_ | 9 | 0 |
| 2014-12-22 | Illegal Prime Numbers | xyby | 2 | 0 |
| 2015-07-30 | Illegal prime | ramanan | 9 | 0 |
| 2015-12-11 | Illegal primes | spdionis | 2 | 0 |
| 2016-04-08 | Illegal Prime | vdfs | 1 | 0 |
| 2016-11-22 | Illegal prime | avinassh | 39 | 26 |
| 2018-04-27 | Illegal primeHall induction · Best thread | deadghost | 267 | 192 |
| 2019-09-10 | Illegal Primes | personjerry | 3 | 1 |
| 2020-10-23 | Illegal Prime | hawkoy | 2 | 0 |
| 2020-11-20 | Illegal prime | input_sh | 2 | 0 |
| 2021-04-12 | Illegal Prime NumbersLatest 20+ point return | neatze | 218 | 107 |