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Windows Security Update Creates Vulnerability: 'inetpub' Folder Blocks Future Updates

2025-04-27

Windows Security Update Creates Vulnerability: 'inetpub' Folder Blocks Future Updates

A recent Windows security update introduced a new vulnerability. The update creates an 'inetpub' folder, intended to fix CVE-2025-21204. However, security researcher Kevin Beaumont discovered that this folder can be abused. By creating a junction pointing to another file, attackers can prevent future Windows updates from installing, resulting in a 0x800F081F error. Microsoft is aware of the issue but currently rates it as medium severity and doesn't plan to immediately fix it.

(www.bleepingcomputer.com)

Tech Windows security update

AI's Energy Hunger: Data Center Power Consumption to Double by 2030

2025-04-10

AI's Energy Hunger: Data Center Power Consumption to Double by 2030

A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) reveals that data center electricity consumption is projected to more than double by 2030, primarily driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The report forecasts data centers will consume 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2030, roughly equivalent to Japan's current annual electricity consumption. AI servers already accounted for 15% of total data center energy demand in 2024. While developing economies are projected to account for only 5% of future growth, advanced economies will contribute over 20%. The IEA estimates that 20% of planned data centers might face grid connection delays. Experts suggest the energy consumption of AI might be underestimated, highlighting the need to address the surge in global electricity demand.

(www.nature.com)

Tech

Building JavaScript Views the Hard Way

2025-04-19

Building JavaScript Views the Hard Way

This article introduces a pattern for building views in plain JavaScript, emphasizing maintainability, performance, and fun, while avoiding the complexities of frameworks like React, Vue, or lit-html. This approach uses direct imperative code for high performance, requires zero dependencies, boasts excellent portability and maintainability, and supports all browsers. The article details the structure of a view component, including template, clone function, init function, DOM variables, DOM views, state variables, DOM update functions, and state update functions, along with naming conventions and best practices to ensure code readability and maintainability.

(github.com)

Development Views

Zev: Find Terminal Commands with Natural Language

2025-04-24

Zev: Find Terminal Commands with Natural Language

Zev is a tool built on top of the OpenAI API that lets you find or remember terminal commands using natural language. For example, you can type 'show all running python processes' to find the relevant command. Zev supports various operations including file operations, system information, network commands, and Git operations. You can also use Ollama as a local alternative to avoid relying on the OpenAI API. The project is open-source and contributions are welcome.

(github.com)

Development terminal commands natural language

Football Match in Dzaleka Refugee Camp: An Unusual Sunday

2025-04-08

Football Match in Dzaleka Refugee Camp: An Unusual Sunday

In Dzaleka, a Malawian refugee camp housing refugees from central African wars since 1994, a football match disrupts the usual Sunday calm. Thousands gather on a dusty field to watch the game, contrasting sharply with the churchgoers leaving nearby. This scene highlights the unique aspect of life in the camp: even amidst hardship, people pursue entertainment and social connection.

(www.economist.com)

Misc refugees football Malawi

Computational Proof of the Optimal 4x4 Boggle Board

2025-04-23

A programmer spent months using a branch and bound algorithm and custom data structures to computationally prove the highest-scoring board in a 4x4 game of Boggle. This solves a nearly 40-year-old problem, demonstrating that even seemingly impossible exhaustive searches can be achieved with deep enough search. The project used a 192-core CPU, took 5 days, and cost around $1200. While not using AI, it showcases the power of classic algorithms and data structures, and the role of cloud computing in tackling computationally intensive problems.

(www.danvk.org)

Game computational proof

Is Another AI Winter Coming?

2025-05-19

This article explores the current state of artificial intelligence, arguing that current expectations are overly optimistic. From the failed machine translation projects of the 1960s to the limitations of Large Language Models (LLMs) today, the author contends that while AI finds application in specific areas like medical image recognition, it remains far from a true 'thinking machine'. LLMs suffer from 'hallucinations,' frequently generating false information requiring extensive human fact-checking, a significant gap between reality and hype. Current AI applications in customer service and code assistance show promise but their profitability and broad applicability remain unproven. The author suggests that given the changing economic climate and inherent limitations of the technology, the AI field may face another 'winter'.

(www.datagubbe.se)

AI AI Winter

Ghostty's Embeddable Terminal Emulator Library, libghostty, Launches

2025-09-24

The Ghostty project has released libghostty, an embeddable library for any application to integrate a modern, fast terminal emulator. The first release, libghostty-vt, is a zero-dependency library (not even libc!) providing an API for parsing terminal sequences and maintaining terminal state, directly extracted from Ghostty's core. A Zig API is available for testing now, with a C API coming soon. libghostty aims to solve the common shortcomings of existing terminal emulator implementations—incompleteness, bugs, and slow speed—offering developers a stable, reusable solution. Future plans include expanding functionality with input handling, GPU rendering, and more.

(mitchellh.com)

Development embeddable library

BQN Matrix Multiplication Performance Optimization: Cache Blocking and Divide and Conquer

2025-06-27

This article explores optimizing large matrix multiplication performance using the BQN language. The author first uses a simple square partitioning method to effectively utilize cache, achieving a speedup of about six times. Then, a Strassen algorithm based on a divide-and-conquer strategy is introduced and experimentally shown to achieve up to a 9x speedup on large matrices. The article also compares the performance impact of different block sizes and nested tiling strategies, concluding that the performance limit of a pure, single-threaded BQN implementation has essentially been reached.

(panadestein.github.io)

Development

Optimizing JS Config Objects with BigInts: An Experiment

2025-09-25

Optimizing JS Config Objects with BigInts: An Experiment

To optimize serialization, comparison, and update operations on a large number of configuration objects, the author experimented with using JavaScript's BigInt type to store configuration data. By packing multiple configuration fields into a single BigInt and using bitwise operations for efficient read and write operations, the author achieved a compact memory representation and fast serialization/deserialization. However, this approach also has some drawbacks, such as the need to manually manage field bit widths and offsets, and the performance issues of BigInt bitwise operations. The author is currently still evaluating the practical effect of this method and plans to update the article in the future.

(jonathan-frere.com)

Development

FreeBSD: Not Dead, Just Quietly Powering the Internet

2025-05-26

Recent discussions have questioned whether FreeBSD is dying. Analyzing Google Trends data, the author shows a steady upward trend for FreeBSD searches, contrasting with a flatline for Linux. This misconception, the author argues, stems from the availability heuristic; people focus on the more discussed Linux, overlooking FreeBSD's silent power behind countless internet services. FreeBSD's permissive BSD license, while making it a great foundation for commercial products, discourages companies from contributing back. The author calls on FreeBSD users to share their experiences and challenges, allowing the FreeBSD Foundation to bridge the gap between industry and software/hardware vendors, fostering FreeBSD's growth.

(freebsdfoundation.org)

Development BSD license

Stack Overflow Dev Survey 2024: AI's Impact on Developer Happiness and Salaries

2025-06-01

Stack Overflow Dev Survey 2024: AI's Impact on Developer Happiness and Salaries

Stack Overflow's 15th annual developer survey reveals a mixed bag for developers in the age of AI. While AI tool adoption is soaring (76% using or planning to use them), overall developer happiness remains low (80% unhappy or complacent). Salary, not remote work, is the key driver of satisfaction, with significant salary variations across roles and regions. Concerns around AI accuracy and misinformation are also surfacing. The survey dives deep into salary trends, finding pay cuts in many roles in 2024, and explores how AI is changing workflows and developer community dynamics. It's a must-read for anyone interested in the current state of the tech workforce.

(stackoverflow.blog)

Development developer survey developer satisfaction

arXivLabs: Experimenting with Community Collaboration

2025-04-28

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Individuals and organizations involved uphold arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and partners only with those who share them. Got an idea for a project that will benefit the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

Intuit's Lobbying Power Kills IRS Free Tax Filing Program

2025-04-18

Intuit's Lobbying Power Kills IRS Free Tax Filing Program

A decades-long battle culminated in the Trump administration shutting down the IRS's free tax filing program, Direct File, thanks to Intuit (maker of TurboTax)'s massive lobbying efforts and political donations. Despite high user satisfaction, Intuit relentlessly lobbied against Direct File, viewing it as a competitor. Their strategy involved substantial campaign contributions to politicians and hiring lobbying firms to pressure lawmakers. This resulted in the demise of a public service designed to simplify tax filing and save taxpayers money. The incident highlights the influence of money in politics and how corporations leverage their financial power to shape public policy, harming ordinary citizens.

(prospect.org)

Tech Political Donations Taxation

Bonobo Syntax Challenges the Uniqueness of Human Language

2025-04-11

Bonobo Syntax Challenges the Uniqueness of Human Language

A new study reveals that bonobos combine calls in complex ways to form distinct phrases, suggesting that this type of syntax is more evolutionarily ancient than previously thought. Researchers, by observing and analyzing bonobo vocalizations and using semantic methods, discovered non-trivial compositionality in bonobo call combinations, meaning the meaning of the combination differs from the meanings of its individual parts. This finding challenges the uniqueness of human language, suggesting that the complex syntax of human language may have originated from older ancestors.

(www.newscientist.com)

AI

Five Easy Mentalism Tricks to Amaze Your Friends

2025-04-22

Five Easy Mentalism Tricks to Amaze Your Friends

This article unveils five simple yet impressive mentalism tricks, leveraging psychology and mathematical principles to astound your audience. From the probability-based 'Gray Elephant in Denmark' to the subconscious priming of 'The Red Hammer', the subtle suggestion of 'Triangle Inside Circle', the clever selection method of 'P.A.T.E.O Force', and the mathematical mystery of '1089 Trick', each trick is explained with detailed steps and helpful tips, making them accessible even for beginners. Prepare to become the life of the party!

(www.vanishingincmagic.com)

Misc magic mentalism

Urtext: A Revolutionary Plaintext Writing Tool

2025-05-05

Urtext is an open-source library for plaintext writing that goes beyond a simple notepad. It combines writing, research, documentation management, knowledge base building, note-taking, Zettelkasten, and more. Using a plaintext format, it's cross-platform compatible, easily version-controlled, and extensible with Python code for custom functionality. Urtext prioritizes a local-first approach and a minimal UI, with almost all operations performed within the text buffer, eliminating menus and popups. It cleverly combines content, structure, and instructions within its syntax, and supports inter-file linking and organization, making it ideal for managing large projects.

(urtext.co)

Development plaintext writing

Football Manager 2024 Skips a Season: A Surprisingly Smart Move

2025-02-07

Football Manager 2024 Skips a Season: A Surprisingly Smart Move

Football Manager 2024 has been delayed, foregoing an update with the new season's player data and issuing refunds to pre-order customers. While disappointing for fans eager for updated rosters, this decision showcases Sports Interactive's boldness and long-term vision. Annual sports game releases are often criticized for their lack of innovation and prevalence of microtransactions. Football Manager's delay represents a thoughtful departure from this trend, prioritizing quality over rushed deadlines. This unexpected move could signal a refreshing change in the sports game landscape, promising future improvements and innovation.

(arstechnica.com)

Game sports game football manager

Betelgeuse: The Upcoming Cosmic Fireworks Show?

2025-03-17

Betelgeuse: The Upcoming Cosmic Fireworks Show?

Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star about 500 light-years from Earth, is nearing the end of its life. It could go supernova at any time, resulting in a spectacle visible even during the day, slightly dimmer than a full moon and lasting for months. Despite its incredible brightness, the vast distance and the inverse square law will protect Earth from harmful radiation, leaving us to enjoy a breathtaking cosmic fireworks display.

(www.universetoday.com)

Tech Betelgeuse

Improving Newton's Method for the Mollweide Projection Equation

2025-09-25

This article explores using Newton's method to solve a crucial equation in the Mollweide map projection. Near high latitudes (approaching π/2), the equation presents a double root, causing Newton's method to slow down or diverge. The article proposes a modified Newton's method, adjusting parameter 'm' to improve convergence speed and accuracy near the double root. However, challenges remain very close to the double root, leading the author to suggest combining it with other methods like power series inversion for a complete solution.

(www.johndcook.com)

Development Mollweide projection

Flexport: Streamlining Global Supply Chains

2025-04-16

Flexport: Streamlining Global Supply Chains

Flexport offers a comprehensive suite of supply chain solutions, encompassing ocean and air freight, trucking, and fulfillment. Their technology platform provides SKU-level visibility, enabling real-time tracking and cost management. From startups to large enterprises, Flexport leverages its global network and expert teams to optimize speed and cost, boosting efficiency for businesses of all sizes.

(flexport.com)

Tech logistics

Strange Traffic on IXPs: An Admin's Observations

2025-09-25

Strange Traffic on IXPs: An Admin's Observations

The author, operating one of the largest IXP networks on the internet, uses bgp.tools to monitor and reveal a surprising amount of unexpected traffic on IXPs. This includes various routing protocols (OSPF, IS-IS, RIP), auto-addressing protocols (DHCP, IPv6 RA), and vendor-specific protocols (LLDP, CDP, MNDP), all posing security risks like information disclosure and traffic hijacking, even causing outages. The author also highlights bizarre traffic like home networking protocols (UPnP), printer discovery protocols (MDNS), and erroneous broadcast DNS queries stemming from misconfigurations. The author calls for increased traffic monitoring and access controls on IXPs to enhance network security.

(blog.benjojo.co.uk)

Tech traffic monitoring

Conquering Insomnia: The Healing Power of Creation

2025-02-08

Conquering Insomnia: The Healing Power of Creation

The author, a former chronic insomniac, developed a series of quirky rules to combat his sleeplessness, even including avoiding the thought of a particular car air freshener. However, he ultimately discovered that the most effective method was to relinquish control over his sleep, allowing himself to create – writing, drawing, sculpting – whenever inspiration struck in the late hours. This creative process not only dispelled the anxiety of insomnia but also brought unexpected ease and satisfaction. The author encourages readers to try letting go of perfectionism and allow themselves to create, even if they're not good at it, to find healing and release.

(untested.sonnet.io)

Misc

Recursive Magic: Defining e^x and Trig Functions with Infinite Python Generators

2025-04-21

Recursive Magic: Defining e^x and Trig Functions with Infinite Python Generators

This post showcases a clever trick using infinite Python generators to recursively define mathematical functions. By recursively defining a generator for positive integers and leveraging Taylor series expansions, the author demonstrates how to generate the Taylor series coefficients for e^x, sin x, and cos x recursively, relying only on their integral relationships without predefining their expressions. The post also includes an optimization using a memoize decorator to improve performance and avoid recursion depth limits.

(unnamed.website)

Development Infinite Generators

PlanetMath: A Collaborative Math Encyclopedia

2025-04-21

PlanetMath is an online community dedicated to making mathematical knowledge more accessible. Its core is a collaboratively written and reviewed mathematics encyclopedia, using LaTeX for writing and LaTeXML for web rendering. Since 2018, its source code is hosted on GitHub, and Gitter channels facilitate real-time discussions, replacing the legacy forums. PlanetMath is hosted by the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Mathematics and operated by PlanetMath.org, Ltd., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

(planetmath.org)

Misc Encyclopedia

Trump's Shifting Tariffs Weaken US Customs Enforcement

2025-04-27

Trump's Shifting Tariffs Weaken US Customs Enforcement

President Trump's fluctuating tariff policies have overwhelmed US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), significantly hindering their efforts to combat forced labor. The agency's staff, responsible for both tariff enforcement and forced labor prevention, are stretched thin, leading to a dramatic decrease in the number of reviewed shipments suspected of forced labor ties. The uncertainty surrounding tariffs also incentivizes tariff evasion, further complicating enforcement. While the administration maintains that forced labor enforcement remains a priority, the reality is that the inconsistent policies have significantly weakened US enforcement capabilities.

(timesofsandiego.com)

Tech forced labor

Will OAuth Save MCP? A Look at Security in Model Context Protocols

2025-04-20

Will OAuth Save MCP? A Look at Security in Model Context Protocols

Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) offers a simple way to integrate models, tools, and APIs, but its security is a concern. This article explores whether using OAuth as an identity layer for MCP is sufficient. While OAuth provides tokens, identifying clients and accessed resources, it doesn't solve all security problems, such as strong authentication, preventing credential theft, device identification, attribute-based access control, etc. The author argues that relying solely on OAuth is insufficient to address the new security risks posed by MCP. Infosec teams need to delve deeper into identity proxies and access policies to address the internal and external attack surfaces introduced by MCP.

(defensiblesystems.substack.com)

Tech

Severance's Retro-Futuristic Design: A Dystopian World Built Through Aesthetics

2025-04-11

Severance's Retro-Futuristic Design: A Dystopian World Built Through Aesthetics

Apple TV+'s *Severance* masterfully crafts a disturbing retro-futuristic world through its meticulous design. Lumon Industries' headquarters, the Bell Works, warps mid-century modernism into a sinister corporate labyrinth. From the sterile, symmetrical corridors to the curated domestic spaces, every element reinforces Lumon's eerie duality. Dieter Rams' minimalist designs heighten the unsettling atmosphere, while color, typography, and art shape this hypnotic world. The contrasting architectural styles—mid-century modern juxtaposed with organic architecture—further emphasize the dystopian setting. Even artwork serves as a tool of psychological control, reinforcing a cult-like reverence for the company founder. The show cleverly uses design language to create a world both familiar and alien, prompting reflection on power, control, and the nature of humanity.

(www.designboom.com)

Design dystopia

Convex Geometry Cracks Decades-Old Sphere Packing Problem

2025-07-08

Convex Geometry Cracks Decades-Old Sphere Packing Problem

A decades-old problem in mathematics, the efficient packing of spheres in high-dimensional space, has been significantly advanced. Professor Boaz Klartag, using a novel approach from convex geometry, cleverly improved an existing method, achieving a substantial increase in packing efficiency. By using a random process to adjust an ellipsoid, he found a more efficient way to pack spheres than any previous method, improving efficiency by hundreds or even millions of times in high dimensions. This breakthrough not only sets a new record for sphere packing but also reignites the debate on the optimal sphere packing in high-dimensional space, offering new insights for cryptography and communications.

(www.quantamagazine.org)

Misc

OpenAI's Top Safety Officer Steps Down Amidst Safety Concerns

2025-04-17

OpenAI's Top Safety Officer Steps Down Amidst Safety Concerns

OpenAI's head of preparedness, Joaquin Quiñonero Candela, recently stepped down from his role and transitioned to an internal internship. This follows a series of high-profile departures from OpenAI's safety teams, restructuring of the safety organization, and reports of reduced safety testing times. The events raise concerns about OpenAI's commitment to AI safety, particularly given the company's recent release of GPT-4.1 without a safety report and reports of shortened safety testing periods. The situation highlights a potential prioritization of product release over safety considerations, contrasting with OpenAI's previous public commitments and sparking broader discussions about AI safety regulation.

(garrisonlovely.substack.com)

AI

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