The HackerNoon Newsletter: Should You Trust Your VPN Location? (1/11/2026)

How are you, hacker?

🪐 What’s happening in tech today, January 11, 2026?

The HackerNoon Newsletter brings the HackerNoon homepage straight to your inbox. On this day, Insulin was first used to treat diabetes in humans in 1922, The oldest known living organism was discovered in 2013, Grand Canyon was declared a national monument in 1908, and we present you with these top quality stories. From Back to Basics: Database Design as Storytelling to How Supercell Powers its Massive Social Network with ScyllaDB, let’s dive right in.

How Supercell Powers its Massive Social Network with ScyllaDB

By @scylladb [ 6 Min read ] Supercell powers real-time cross-game chat, presence, and notifications for millions using ScyllaDB Cloud, enabling low-latency, scalable events. Read More.

Designing API Contracts for Legacy System Modernization

By @jamescaron [ 6 Min read ] A practical look at designing API contracts during legacy system modernization, focusing on real production failures and strategies to prevent silent regression Read More.

The Hidden Cost of AI: Why It’s Making Workers Smarter, but Organisations Dumber

By @yuliiaharkusha [ 8 Min read ] AI boosts individual performance but weakens organisational thinking. Why smarter workers and faster tools can leave companies less intelligent than before. Read More.

ISO 27001 Compliance Tools in 2026: A Comparative Overview of 7 Leading Platforms

By @stevebeyatte [ 7 Min read ] Breaking down the best ISO 27001 Compliance tools in the market for 2026. Read More.

IPv6 and CTV: The Measurement Challenge From the Fastest-Growing Ad Channel

By @ipinfo [ 7 Min read ] IPv6 breaks digital ad measurement. Learn how IPinfo’s research-driven, active-measurement model restores accuracy across CTV and all channels. Read More.

Back to Basics: Database Design as Storytelling

By @dataops [ 3 Min read ] Why great database design is really storytelling—and why ignoring relational fundamentals leads to poor performance AI can’t fix. Read More.

Should You Trust Your VPN Location?

By @ipinfo [ 9 Min read ] IPinfo reveals how most VPNs misrepresent locations and why real IP geolocation requires active measurement, not claims. Read More.

Secury Wallet Unveils Next-Generation Multichain Crypto Wallet With Chat to Pay, Opens $SEC Presale

By @btcwire [ 2 Min read ] The project has opened the $SEC token presale, including early staking opportunities offering up to 100% APY during the presale phase. Chat to Pay is an instant Read More.

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We hope you enjoy this worth of free reading material. Feel free to forward this email to a nerdy friend who'll love you for it.See you on Planet Internet! With love, The HackerNoon Team ✌️