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Apple Notes to Support Markdown Export: A Controversial Upgrade?

2025-06-05

Apple Notes to Support Markdown Export: A Controversial Upgrade?

9to5Mac reports that Apple is adding Markdown export to Apple Notes. John Gruber, creator of Markdown, has mixed feelings. He argues Markdown is ideal for web writing and plain text storage, not the core function of a note-taking app. Apple Notes' excellent WYSIWYG editor and streamlined formatting better fit the Macintosh philosophy. While Markdown export is an improvement, Gruber worries turning Notes into a Markdown editor would be counterproductive, harming its ease of use and simplicity. He prefers Apple Notes focus on core improvements rather than chasing the 'Markdown trend'.

(daringfireball.net)

Development

libobscura: Tackling the Challenges of Camera Programming on Linux

2024-12-28

libobscura: Tackling the Challenges of Camera Programming on Linux

Using cameras on Linux isn't easy, leading to the creation of libobscura. This project aims to simplify the Video4Linux interface, providing a user-friendly point-and-shoot API. Born from experience developing the camera stack for the Librem 5 and addressing the complexities of libcamera, the talk dives into the intricate details of modern camera control. From pixel formats and depths to media entities, sensitivity, denoising, and more, the challenges are numerous. Funded by the Prototype Fund, libobscura seeks to navigate these complexities, ultimately creating a more accessible camera API for Linux users.

(media.ccc.de)

Development camera

Developing iOS Apps on Non-Apple Devices: Legal Minefield

2025-05-11

Developing iOS Apps on Non-Apple Devices: Legal Minefield

The possibility of building iOS apps on non-Apple devices has long been debated. This post highlights that the primary challenge is legal and licensing, not technical. Apple's Developer Program License Agreement explicitly forbids installing, using, or running iOS SDKs or other Apple software on non-Apple devices. While the Oracle v. Google case altered the copyright landscape regarding reverse engineering for compatibility, the author argues that deploying apps built on non-Apple devices directly to the App Store carries significant legal risk, with Apple retaining the right to terminate violating developer accounts.

(forums.swift.org)

Development Apple Developer Agreement

Is Dark Energy Weakening? 2087 'Vampire' Stars Offer New Clues

2025-07-25

Is Dark Energy Weakening? 2087 'Vampire' Stars Offer New Clues

A study using 2,087 Type Ia supernovae ('vampire' stars) provides new evidence that dark energy, the mysterious force accelerating the universe's expansion, is weakening. This contradicts the standard cosmological model, which predicts dark energy should remain constant. Using a supernova dataset called Union3, the study corroborates, through two independent lines of investigation, that dark energy may be weakening over time, which would have implications for the ultimate fate of the universe. Future data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will further test this finding.

(www.space.com)

Tech

Clearview AI: A Tech Company Fueled by the Far Right, Weaponizing Surveillance

2025-04-07

Clearview AI: A Tech Company Fueled by the Far Right, Weaponizing Surveillance

Clearview AI, a powerful facial recognition technology company, was founded by Hoan Ton-That, a figure with strong far-right ties and close connections to neoreactionaries and white nationalists. The company built a massive biometric database using billions of images scraped from the internet, offering facial recognition services to law enforcement and corporations, raising enormous privacy concerns. Clearview AI actively pursued partnerships with border patrol and is accused of using its technology to surveil protesters and political opponents. Despite facing multiple lawsuits and hefty fines, Clearview AI thrived under the Trump administration, forging close relationships with agencies like ICE, raising the specter of its technology being used for mass surveillance and deportation. The company's new leadership, openly embracing a MAGA agenda, suggests a continued threat to privacy and democratic institutions.

(www.motherjones.com)

Tech far-right

LearnLM Team Acknowledgements: The Minds Behind the Model

2025-09-19

LearnLM Team Acknowledgements: The Minds Behind the Model

The Google Research LearnLM team published an acknowledgement post, expressing gratitude to everyone who contributed to their work. The post lists numerous contributors, ranging from researchers to executive sponsors, highlighting the collaborative nature of the project's success. The progress made on LearnLM is a testament to the collective effort of these individuals.

(research.google)

AI

Securely Manage Environment Variables with GPG-Encrypted Files

2025-04-17

Securely Manage Environment Variables with GPG-Encrypted Files

This shell tool provides a secure way to manage environment variables using GPG-encrypted files. It addresses the common issue of command-line tools needing environment variables containing sensitive information stored in unencrypted shell files. The tool allows users to read secrets from encrypted files and easily switch between different accounts. It supports nested logins, updates the `SECRET_LOGIN` environment variable, and modifies the shell prompt to display the current login. Autocomplete for available filenames is also included.

(github.com)

Development Shell tool GPG encryption

Slime: The Forgotten Wonder at the Heart of Life

2025-05-23

Slime: The Forgotten Wonder at the Heart of Life

This article recounts the author's quest to find a specimen of 'primordial slime' collected by the HMS Challenger, leading to a profound exploration of slime itself. Far from being mere filth, slime is revealed as a crucial component of life's evolution, underpinning the functions of organisms from microbes to humans. The article delves into slime's vital roles in biology, physics, environmental science, and medicine, alongside humanity's complex emotional relationship with it, ranging from disgust to awe. The author ultimately locates the Challenger specimen at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, only to find it largely decomposed—a symbolic end to the 'primordial slime' theory, yet a highlight of slime's understated importance in nature.

(granta.com)

Tech slime life's origin

CHM Releases Xerox Alto Source Code: A Glimpse into Computing History

2025-01-31

CHM Releases Xerox Alto Source Code: A Glimpse into Computing History

The Computer History Museum (CHM) has released the source code for the Xerox Alto, a groundbreaking personal computer that pioneered many features we take for granted today, including bitmapped displays, the mouse, and WYSIWYG word processing. The article recounts the evolution of personal computing, from mainframes to early homebrew computers and finally the Xerox Alto, showcasing the rapid advancements in technology and Alto's lasting influence. The released source code includes the Alto's operating system, applications, and Ethernet networking software, offering invaluable resources for researchers and enthusiasts.

(computerhistory.org)

Tech

arXivLabs: Experimenting with Community Collaboration

2025-07-04

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Individuals and organizations working with arXivLabs share our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only partners with those who adhere to them. Have an idea to improve the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Tech

Air India Boeing 787 Crash: Preliminary Report Points to Fuel Switches

2025-07-12

Air India Boeing 787 Crash: Preliminary Report Points to Fuel Switches

A preliminary report into the crash of Air India Flight 171 reveals that fuel switches controlling engine fuel supply were inexplicably turned to the 'cutoff' position three seconds after takeoff. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 260 people. The report states that flight recorder data shows the two fuel control switches were switched from 'run' to 'cutoff' shortly after takeoff. Although the switches were subsequently restored, the plane had already begun losing thrust and altitude, ultimately leading to the crash. Investigators have ruled out mechanical failure and bird strike, and are now focusing on the pilots' actions.

(www.npr.org)

Tech Boeing 787

Bitcoin Mining: Dead for Individuals? Mega-Corporations Dominate, Leaving Solo Miners in the Dust

2025-04-29

Bitcoin Mining: Dead for Individuals? Mega-Corporations Dominate, Leaving Solo Miners in the Dust

From the early days of individual Bitcoin mining to the current era of corporate domination, the economic viability of Bitcoin mining has drastically shifted. The cost of mining a single Bitcoin now significantly exceeds its market value, making solo mining virtually unprofitable even in regions with cheap electricity. The article highlights that even large public mining companies face costs exceeding $82,000 per Bitcoin, rendering it impossible for individuals to compete. The future of mining may lie in its use by large corporations for general computation, while for individual users, gaming remains a far more practical application of their hardware.

(www.pcgamer.com)

Tech Mining

America's Food Safety: A Battle Against Lies and History

2025-04-30

America's Food Safety: A Battle Against Lies and History

This article interviews science journalist Deborah Blum, exploring the current state and history of food safety in the US. Blum points out that amidst rampant misinformation and government deregulation, American citizens face food safety risks, with issues similar to 19th-century food adulteration resurfacing. She uses her book, "The Poison Squad," to illustrate the birth of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and how chemist Harvey Wiley exposed food safety problems through a 'poison squad' experiment. Blum calls for public attention to food safety and criticizes the individualistic approach that blames consumers for foodborne illnesses, emphasizing the government's responsibility to guarantee basic rights.

(buttondown.com)

Tech science journalism

arXivLabs: Experimental Projects with Community Collaborators

2025-08-31

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

(arxiv.org)

Development

Exploiting a Type Confusion Vulnerability in macOS's coreaudiod Daemon

2025-05-14

Exploiting a Type Confusion Vulnerability in macOS's coreaudiod Daemon

This blog post details the author's journey in discovering and exploiting a high-risk type confusion vulnerability in macOS's coreaudiod system daemon. Using a custom fuzzing harness, dynamic instrumentation, and static analysis, the author, a security engineer at Google Project Zero, uncovered a sandbox escape vulnerability. The research employed a knowledge-driven fuzzing approach, combining automated fuzzing with targeted manual reverse engineering. The vulnerability, CVE-2024-54529, has since been patched by Apple.

(googleprojectzero.blogspot.com)

Development macOS security type confusion

Glass Coffins and the Eternal Rest: A Century of Failed Attempts at Corpse Preservation

2025-05-05

Glass Coffins and the Eternal Rest: A Century of Failed Attempts at Corpse Preservation

In 1903, Joseph Karwowski patented a "Method of Preserving the Dead" involving encasing corpses in glass, a radical attempt to combat the anxieties surrounding bodily decay. His vision, using sodium silicate and molten glass, aimed for indefinite preservation in a lifelike state. While unsuccessful, Karwowski's invention, along with early 20th-century glass caskets and other methods like airtight iron coffins and electroplating corpses into statues, highlight humanity's enduring resistance to death. These approaches, however, overlooked the internal autolysis of the body, often leading to gruesome consequences. The Corning Museum of Glass's exhibit, "Curious and Curiouser," showcases these inventive, ultimately flawed attempts, prompting reflection on death and decomposition.

(hyperallergic.com)

Misc corpse preservation glass coffins

New Lower Bound on Ultralight Bosonic Dark Matter Mass

2025-05-15

New Lower Bound on Ultralight Bosonic Dark Matter Mass

A new study in Physical Review Letters establishes a new lower bound on the mass of ultralight bosonic dark matter particles. By analyzing stellar kinematics in the Leo II dwarf galaxy, researchers reconstructed the dark matter wave function density. They found that dark matter particles lighter than 2.2 × 10⁻²¹ electron volts cannot reproduce the observed dark matter density distribution. This significantly improves the lower bound on dark matter mass and challenges popular fuzzy dark matter models.

(phys.org)

Tech bosons

US Regulator Moves to Protect In-Game Currencies

2025-01-11

US Regulator Moves to Protect In-Game Currencies

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a rule to extend protections similar to those for real-world bank accounts to virtual in-game currencies. This move addresses the rise of in-game currency transactions and fraud. The proposal aims to safeguard players from unauthorized transactions, scams, and account theft, holding game companies accountable for financial issues reported by customers. Platforms like Roblox, with its Robux currency, are highlighted due to past complaints. The rule interpretation expands the Electronic Fund Transfer Act's coverage, providing greater legal recourse for gamers.

(www.yahoo.com)

Game virtual currency game regulation

From Bash to Go: A Practical Guide to Building CLI Tools

2025-09-10

From Bash to Go: A Practical Guide to Building CLI Tools

This article is the second part of a series introducing Bash programmers to Go, focusing on building command-line tools. Starting with a simple "hello world" example, it progressively covers writing tests, handling input/output, using the io.Writer interface, avoiding global variable pitfalls, and leveraging option patterns and the `flag` package to handle command-line arguments and flags. The article culminates in a more practical CLI tool: counting duplicate lines in input text.

(github.com)

Development

OS Yamato: A Zen-Inspired Ephemeral Digital Space

2025-08-20

OS Yamato: A Zen-Inspired Ephemeral Digital Space

OS Yamato, a newly launched operating system, challenges the conventional notion of infinite digital storage. It embraces a philosophy of impermanence, where data (notes, photos, messages) gently fades and eventually disappears, encouraging mindful presence and appreciation for fleeting moments. Built with Vue 3 and AWS Amplify, it poetically integrates weather into the user experience, making digital memories more evocative.

(github.com)

Development Zen Design Ephemeral

type-machine: Simulating Structural Subtyping in Haskell

2025-08-20

Haskell programmers often struggle with data modeling, especially when dealing with record types with many fields. This blog post introduces type-machine, a Haskell library that leverages Template Haskell to simulate structural subtyping using type transformers and Is typeclasses. This simplifies record type manipulation and improves code efficiency. The library provides functions like pick, omit, and record, allowing for easy manipulation of record fields. Benchmarks demonstrate its performance advantages over alternative approaches.

(arthi-chaud.github.io)

Development Structural Subtyping

P vs. PSPACE: Is Space Computationally More Powerful Than Time?

2025-05-21

P vs. PSPACE: Is Space Computationally More Powerful Than Time?

A central question in complexity theory is the relationship between the complexity classes P and PSPACE. P encompasses problems solvable in reasonable time, while PSPACE deals with space complexity. The prevailing belief is that PSPACE is larger than P, due to space's reusability unlike time. Proving this requires demonstrating problems in PSPACE unsolvable in polynomial time. The article recounts the 1975 breakthrough by Hopcroft, Paul, and Valiant, showing space's slight advantage over time, but progress stalled. Ryan Williams' work finally broke the deadlock, offering fresh insights into resolving the P vs. PSPACE problem.

(www.quantamagazine.org)

Development

Ukraine's War: The Shadowy Trade in Internet Addresses

2025-06-06

Since the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, nearly one-fifth of Ukraine's internet address space has fallen under Russian control or been sold to internet address brokers. A new study reveals that large chunks of Ukrainian IP address space are now in the hands of shadowy proxy and anonymity services nested within major US ISPs. Desperate to stay afloat, Ukrainian ISPs have sold off valuable IPv4 addresses. These addresses have ended up in proxy services globally, many of which are used for cyberattacks against Ukraine and Russia's enemies. Some were even used in DDoS attacks and spear-phishing attempts by Russian state-sponsored hacking groups. AT&T, a major US telecom, has changed its policy to prevent the use of static routes with IPs they don't provide, likely forcing many proxy services to migrate to other providers.

(krebsonsecurity.com)

Tech IPv4 Addresses

UK Cracks Down on Fake Online Reviews and Hidden Fees

2025-04-07

UK Cracks Down on Fake Online Reviews and Hidden Fees

The UK has implemented new legislation to combat fake online reviews and the deceptive practice of 'drip pricing,' where additional fees are added during checkout. The Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumer Act 2024 mandates that all mandatory fees, such as booking or admin charges, be included in the advertised price. This applies to services like food delivery and ticket booking platforms. Businesses are also prohibited from using or commissioning fake reviews. Platforms are responsible for removing and preventing them, facing potential fines up to 10% of global annual turnover for non-compliance. The aim is to protect consumers and ensure fair competition.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech fake reviews drip pricing

Microsoft Responds to CrowdStrike Meltdown: Enhanced Windows Security, Goodbye Blue Screen?

2025-06-27

Microsoft Responds to CrowdStrike Meltdown: Enhanced Windows Security, Goodbye Blue Screen?

Last summer's CrowdStrike meltdown caused widespread network outages and billions of dollars in damage. To prevent similar incidents, Microsoft convened a security summit and launched the Windows Resiliency Initiative. A core change involves moving third-party security drivers out of the kernel to user space, reducing the risk of system crashes. A preview of this new Windows security platform is coming soon. While companies like Bitdefender and CrowdStrike support the initiative, others like Sophos express concerns about losing kernel access. Additionally, Windows 11 24H2 will improve crash reporting, simplify the Blue Screen of Death, and introduce Quick Machine Recovery for faster system restoration.

(www.zdnet.com)

Tech

DeepSeek: A Chinese AI Dark Horse Emerges

2025-01-31

DeepSeek: A Chinese AI Dark Horse Emerges

DeepSeek, an AI company incubated by Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer, has taken the world by storm with its highly efficient models, DeepSeek V3 and R1. DeepSeek V3 boasts low training costs (significantly higher than the publicized $6 million) and powerful performance, along with innovative Multi-head Latent Attention technology, resulting in substantial advantages in inference costs. While DeepSeek's success is tied to its massive GPU investment (around 50,000 Hopper GPUs) and emphasis on talent, its low-pricing strategy raises questions about cost sustainability. Google's Gemini Flash 2.0 Thinking also presents a challenge to DeepSeek's leading position. DeepSeek's rise reflects the growing strength of Chinese AI technology, while also prompting reflection on international tech competition and export controls.

(semianalysis.com)

AI Chinese AI

The Evolution of Tunnel Boring Machines: From Manual Labor to Automated Factories

2025-01-05

The Evolution of Tunnel Boring Machines: From Manual Labor to Automated Factories

This article chronicles the century-long evolution of Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs). Starting with Brunel's manual shield in 1825, through Greathead's improvements, Price's mechanized excavation, and culminating in modern slurry and earth pressure balance TBMs, the article details breakthroughs in both soft ground and hard rock tunneling. The article also explores compressed air and slurry support technologies, the advantages and disadvantages of different TBM types, and analyzes Elon Musk's Boring Company and its ambitious—yet currently slow—progress. The Boring Company's vertically integrated structure may ultimately revolutionize the industry.

(www.construction-physics.com)

Tech Tunnel Boring Machines Civil Engineering Technological Advancement

The 152-Year-Old's Secret: Unraveling Parr's Longevity and Sudden Demise

2025-05-25

The 152-Year-Old's Secret: Unraveling Parr's Longevity and Sudden Demise

Thomas Parr, who lived to be 152, sparked intense curiosity about his longevity. Instead of debating his birthdate, focus shifted to his remarkable lifespan and sudden death. Contemporary accounts emphasized the 'six non-naturals' (air, environment, diet, exercise, sleep, excretion, and emotions) as key factors in health. Physicians attributed Parr's longevity to his clean environment, simple lifestyle, wholesome diet (brown bread, unripened cheese, onions), avoidance of alcohol and stress, and adequate sleep.

(publicdomainreview.org)

Misc longevity healthy living

The Double-Edged Sword of AI in Coding: A High Schooler's Perspective

2025-02-20

The Double-Edged Sword of AI in Coding: A High Schooler's Perspective

A high school programmer reflects on their coding journey, contrasting the learning experience before and after the advent of AI-powered coding tools like Cursor. While initially struggling with syntax and type errors, they gained a deep understanding of programming principles. Now, AI tools boost efficiency but potentially hinder the learning process by reducing hands-on experience. The author advocates for minimizing AI reliance during initial learning stages to build a strong foundation.

(blog.shivs.me)

Development learning to code coding tools

Google's Browser Monopoly: A Looming Internet Crisis

2025-05-01

Google funds over 80% of the development budgets for the four major web browsers: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. The US Department of Justice is moving to force Google to cut off funding for its competitors and divest from Chrome. This would cripple the development of all major browsers, severely impacting the internet ecosystem. Google's search engine deals with Mozilla and Apple provide massive payments, accounting for 83% of Mozilla's revenue and a significant portion of Apple's R&D budget. Edge is essentially a white-label version of Google's Chromium open-source project, with Google contributing the vast majority of its code. While the DOJ's action aims to combat Google's anti-competitive practices, the potential consequence is the destabilization of the browser market and the internet's foundational infrastructure.

(danfabulich.medium.com)

Tech

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