Popular：
Virtualization DNS security formal verification reachability analysis compiler errors macro conflict web extension development framework Bitmap Graphics API inconsistencies All Tags

Programmer Focus Indicator: The Birth of FlowLight

2024-12-15

Inspired by a research paper on the impact of work interruptions, programmer Shae Erisson DIYed a system called FlowLight to indicate whether a programmer is in a focused "flow" state. The system monitors idle time in the Emacs editor; when the programmer is inactive for a period, an Adafruit MagTag board's LED changes color (green for idle, red for busy). Erisson also wrote an HTTP server in CircuitPython to remotely control the LED color and display status. While the system has room for improvement, such as more granular idle time monitoring and a more visually appealing display, it effectively helps programmers avoid interruptions and improve productivity.

Read more
(www.scannedinavian.com)
Development programmer focus flow

GNU Make's New --shuffle Mode: Uncovering Hidden Bugs in Parallel Builds

2024-12-16

For eleven years, elusive bugs plagued parallel builds in GNU Make. Inspired by this, a new `--shuffle` mode was developed to randomly reorder Makefile targets, simulating non-deterministic build order. This effectively revealed hidden bugs in over 30 packages, including gcc, vim, and ghc. Now part of GNU Make 4.4, this mode is accessible via `make --shuffle` or the `GNUMAKEFLAGS=--shuffle` environment variable. This powerful feature helps developers identify and resolve parallel build issues, highlighting the continuous improvement of software development tools.

Read more
(trofi.github.io)
Development parallel build bug fixing

M87 Supermassive Black Hole Emits Astonishing Gamma-Ray Flare

2024-12-16

In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope captured the first-ever image of a supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy M87. Now, an international team, including researchers from UCLA, has observed a teraelectronvolt gamma-ray flare from this black hole, tens of millions of times larger than its event horizon. This rare, decade-defining flare provides crucial insights into particle acceleration near black holes and could help solve the mystery of cosmic ray origins. UCLA played a significant role in the construction and data analysis of the VERITAS telescope, instrumental in detecting this event.

Read more
(newsroom.ucla.edu)
2 black hole gamma-ray flare cosmic rays

Vim: A Programming Language Beyond an Editor

2024-12-15

Vim is more than just a text editor; it's a language for interacting with your computer. Its concise and efficient command structure is easy to learn and remember, and also easy for a computer to interpret. While Vim itself is powerful, its core strength lies in the fact that its mode has been integrated into almost every mainstream code editor, allowing developers to flexibly choose their preferred editor interface while retaining Vim's efficient command language. Therefore, NeoVim, as the most complete and consistent implementation of the Vim language, is valuable for providing this efficient editing language, not just the editor itself.

Read more
(blog.jonas.foo)
Development editor

Raspberry Pi 500 Modder Successfully Adds M.2 Slot

2024-12-15

A Raspberry Pi enthusiast successfully added an M.2 slot to the Raspberry Pi 500! While the Pi 500 has the header, the slot itself is absent, leading to some controversy. The modder soldered on four tiny capacitors and used a bench power supply to power a bottom pad, enabling the use of NVMe SSDs and other PCIe devices. This modification requires excellent SMD soldering skills and has sparked discussion about the Pi 500's design choices; speculation includes reserving the feature for a future premium model.

Read more
(www.jeffgeerling.com)
Hardware Raspberry Pi 500 M.2 slot Hardware Mod

Unraveling the PPG Wave 2.2 & 2.3: An 8-bit vs. 12-bit DAC Mystery

2024-12-15

This article delves into the subtle yet significant differences between the PPG Wave 2.2 and 2.3 synthesizers. While the 2.3 utilizes 12-bit DACs, wavetable playback remains 8-bit; only samples imported via external devices fully leverage the 12-bit precision. Oscilloscope measurements reveal a unique audio processing method: two oscillators send data interleaved, resulting in a DAC output frequency double the individual oscillator sample rate. This creates a distinctive timbre and high-frequency aliasing beyond human hearing. The article also notes the relatively slow CV update rate, yet the sound retains its character.

Read more
(till-kopper.de)
Hardware synthesizer digital audio

The Secret to High-Performing Teams: Transactive Memory Systems

2024-12-15

This article explores the cornerstone of high-performing teams: Transactive Memory Systems (TMS). It's not about individual memory strength, but how teams effectively share and leverage members' knowledge and skills. Three types of team memory are introduced: working, long-term, and transactive memory, with a focus on how TMS enhances team performance. TMS comprises two elements: collaborative patterns and individual expertise. By building a TMS, teams unlock collective intelligence and overcome the impact of member changes. The article recommends methods like the Capability Comb, Team Manual, and deliberate practice to help teams quickly establish and improve their TMS.

Read more
(emilywebber.co.uk)
Development knowledge sharing transactive memory system

MacOS GPU Optimization: Wasting Resources for Speed

2024-12-15

Anukari's developer encountered a bottleneck while optimizing GPU performance on MacOS. Due to limited system control over GPU performance, Apple's GPU performance regulation mechanism performed poorly in Anukari's use case, resulting in audio glitches. The developer implemented a workaround: dedicating a GPU threadgroup warp to useless computation to 'trick' the system into increasing GPU clock speed, significantly reducing audio latency and improving performance. While crude, this method proved effective in resolving MacOS performance issues. However, performance improvements varied significantly between different DAWs (Ableton and GarageBand), requiring further optimization.

Read more
(anukari.com)
Development GPU optimization performance bottleneck

macOS 15.2 Update Breaks System Replication: Users Face Data Backup Nightmare

2024-12-14

A critical bug in macOS 15.2 has broken the system replication feature, causing data backups to fail with a 'Resource Busy' error, specifically when attempting to copy Preboot or Recovery partitions. Developer Dave Nanian explains that the problem stems from Apple's own code and currently has no easy fix. Users are forced to rely on third-party backup solutions, utilizing a 'Backup - all files' method with a Smart Update to restore their data after a clean system install. This issue is causing significant user frustration, particularly as the holiday season approaches.

Read more
(www.shirtpocket.com)
Development system failure data backup

Ada Lovelace's Program: A Legacy of Computing

2024-12-16

This article delves into Ada Lovelace's program for Babbage's Analytical Engine, designed to calculate Bernoulli numbers. It explains the mathematical background of Bernoulli numbers and the mechanics of Babbage's Analytical Engine. While never executed, Lovelace's program, with its rigorous approach, loops, and variable tracking, is considered the world's first complex program, foreshadowing many aspects of modern programming. The article analyzes bugs found within the program and discusses Lovelace's place in computing history, highlighting her contributions extending beyond mere calculation; she foresaw the computer's vast potential, surpassing her contemporaries.

Read more
(twobithistory.org)
AI Ada Lovelace Babbage Analytical Engine Bernoulli Numbers

Springfield Weekend Weather Forecast: Sunny and Warm

2024-12-16

Springfield weather today is sunny with a temperature of 72°F, humidity at 55%, dew point of 65°F, barometric pressure of 12 PPI, north wind at 6 mph, and visibility of 35 miles. July precipitation is 1 inch. The weekend forecast predicts sunny skies and warm temperatures throughout, along with moderate humidity. Clark St. pool is back open, come on down!

Read more
(unworld.neocities.org)
Misc weather forecast Springfield weekend weather

TSMC Unveils Nanosheet Transistors: A New Era for Chips

2024-12-15

TSMC showcased its next-generation N2 (2-nanometer) process at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting, marking its first foray into nanosheet transistors. Compared to its N3 process, N2 boasts up to a 15 percent speed increase, 30 percent better energy efficiency, and a 15 percent density boost. This new architecture offers greater flexibility, allowing for the creation of nanosheets with varying widths on the same chip, optimizing performance for different logic units, especially SRAM. Intel's research further validated the scalability of nanosheet architecture, demonstrating a high-performing 6-nanometer gate-length transistor, pointing the way towards continued advancement in chip technology and suggesting a potential extension of Moore's Law.

Read more
(spectrum.ieee.org)
Hardware TSMC Nanosheet Transistors 2nm Process

Efficient Cloud-Native Raster Data Access: An Alternative to Rasterio/GDAL

2024-12-15

The exponential growth of Earth observation data in cloud storage necessitates efficient access and analysis of satellite imagery. This article introduces an alternative cloud-native raster data access approach to Rasterio/GDAL. Traditional GeoTIFFs are inefficient, while Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFFs (COGs) improve efficiency through tiling and multi-resolution access. However, even with COGs, tasks like time-series NDVI analysis suffer from latency. The authors leverage STAC GeoParquet, combined with pre-calculated byte ranges, to reduce HTTP requests, significantly speeding up data access. Initial tests show this approach drastically reduces time-to-first-tile for Sentinel-2 data and lowers costs. A future open-source library, "Rasteret," will implement these techniques.

Read more
(blog.terrafloww.com)
Tech Cloud-native Raster data

Railgun Labs Unveils High-Performance Unicode Algorithm Library: Unicorn

2024-12-15

Railgun Labs has released Unicorn, a high-velocity Unicode algorithm library known for its speed, embeddability, cross-platform compatibility, and security. Unicorn supports numerous Unicode algorithms, including normalization, case conversion, collation, and segmentation, and provides decoders, encoders, and validators for UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 encodings. The library is fully customizable and extensively tested for accuracy and reliability. It's MISRA C:2012 compliant and largely thread-safe.

Read more
(railgunlabs.com)
Development Unicode algorithms software library high-performance

The Illusion of Intelligence: AI, Interaction, and the Clever Hans Effect

2024-12-15

This paper explores the nature of intelligence in AI, particularly large language models (LLMs). It argues that the apparent intelligence of LLMs isn't due to independent reasoning but rather emerges from interaction with users. Drawing parallels between Socratic questioning, the Clever Hans effect, and iterative prompting of LLMs, the author demonstrates that intelligence is a relational phenomenon arising from collaboration, not isolated cognition. LLMs generate responses based on probabilistic relationships within their training data, responding to user prompts like Clever Hans responded to his handler's cues. The value of AI, therefore, lies not in its inherent 'knowledge' but in its ability to facilitate insightful questions and collaborative exploration, ultimately augmenting human creativity and problem-solving.

Read more
(aalokbhattacharya.substack.com)
AI Emergent Intelligence

Million-Dollar Prize for Open-Source AI Coding Competition

2024-12-16

Andy Konwinski launched the K Prize, a $1 million competition to advance open-source AI coding capabilities. The competition uses a revamped version of the SWE-bench benchmark, eliminating test set contamination for a more accurate assessment of AI models' real-world coding skills. Inspired by the Netflix Prize, Konwinski believes the competition will spur AI research and attract top talent globally.

Read more
(andykonwinski.com)
AI AI competition open-source

Starting a Business at 62: A Father's Inspiring Journey

2024-12-15

At 62, after retirement, the author's father bravely started his own business, breaking free from a lifetime of self-imposed limitations stemming from a challenging childhood. He overcame his ingrained fear of risk, growing his business from humble beginnings to a thriving small shop. This isn't just a story of entrepreneurship; it's a testament to the power of pursuing dreams at any age, a beacon of inspiration showing that it's never too late to achieve your goals.

Read more
(thoughts.jatintiwari.com)
Startup entrepreneurship late-in-life career inspiration

Librebooting a ThinkPad T480: A Challenging Open-Source Journey

2024-12-13

This blog post details the author's experience librebooting a ThinkPad T480, a process fraught with challenges. From updating the BIOS and backing up the original firmware, to using a Raspberry Pi Pico W and SOIC-8 clip to read and write the BIOS chip, and finally compiling the Libreboot firmware (encountering numerous compilation errors and seeking help from the IRC community), the author documents the entire process. The post also shares post-libreboot experiences, including performance improvements, hardware compatibility issues, and troubleshooting tips, along with recommendations for screen, RAM, and storage upgrades.

Read more
(ezntek.com)
1
Hardware Open-Source Firmware

Exploring Climate Classification Systems: Beyond Köppen-Geiger

2024-12-14

This article delves into climate classification systems for Earth and beyond. It begins by introducing the widely used Köppen-Geiger system and its limitations. The author then analyzes various modifications and alternatives, including Trewartha, FAO, and Holdridge systems, comparing their differences in parameter selection, seasonality representation, and applicability. Ultimately, the author highlights the Prentice et al. BIOME1 model as a superior option due to its parameter choices and predictive accuracy, offering valuable insights for building more versatile climate classification systems.

Read more
(worldbuildingpasta.blogspot.com)
Tech climate classification Köppen-Geiger BIOME1 model

XFCE 4.20 Released: Experimental Wayland Support and Numerous Improvements

2024-12-15

After nearly two years of development, XFCE 4.20 has been officially released! This version focuses on preparing the codebase for Wayland, now offering experimental Wayland support for most components, though it's still in its early stages and recommended for advanced users. XFCE 4.20 also boasts numerous new features, bug fixes, and improvements, including improved icon scaling, a performance-enhanced icon view, and an upgraded Thunar file manager. Importantly, Wayland support is incomplete, with some components and features yet to be ported.

Read more
(alexxcons.github.io)
Development Desktop Environment

Tailscale Subnet Routers: A Simple Solution for Complex Network Connections

2024-12-14

Tailscale typically requires installing a client on every device, but this isn't always feasible for embedded devices or existing VPCs. That's where subnet routers come in. They enable devices to communicate using Tailscale's powerful NAT traversal technology, regardless of whether they're running Tailscale. This article explains how Tailscale subnet routers work, including installation and configuration on Windows and Linux. For large network migrations or connecting AWS VPCs, subnet routers offer a fast and easy way to get started. Personal use is free and doesn't count against device limits.

Read more
(tailscale.com)
Development Subnet Router NAT Traversal

Crystal Ball Challenge: Knowing the Future Isn't Enough to Guarantee Riches

2024-12-15

Elm Partners conducted an experiment called the "Crystal Ball Challenge," where 118 finance students traded stocks and bonds using the Wall Street Journal's front page from one day in the future (with price data blacked out) over 15 days. The results were surprising: despite having future information, most participants didn't profit, averaging a mere 3.2% gain. Experienced traders, however, performed exceptionally well, averaging a 130% gain. The experiment demonstrated that even with 'future' knowledge, successful investing requires sensible position sizing. This research highlights the importance of decision-making under uncertainty and position sizing, offering valuable lessons for financial education.

Read more
(elmwealth.com)
Startup investment strategy risk management market prediction

Century-Scale Digital Storage: A Race Against Time

2024-12-14

This article explores the challenge of storing digital data for 100 years. From the invention of IBM's first hard drive-equipped computer, RAMAC, to the prevalence of cloud storage today, the author analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of various storage methods, including hard drives, cloud storage, removable media, and physical imprinting or printing. The article highlights the threats to long-term data preservation, such as physical damage to hardware, software updates, institutional changes, and market fluctuations. Ultimately, the author argues that the key to century-scale digital storage lies in establishing a culture that values maintenance and preservation, requiring a collective effort from all sectors of society to combat the erosion of time and safeguard humanity's digital heritage.

Read more
(lil.law.harvard.edu)
Tech data storage digital archive long-term preservation

18th-Century Dental Horror Stories: When Tooth Extraction Could Mean Losing Your Jaw

2024-12-14

This article recounts cases from Thomas Berdmore's 1768 treatise on dental disorders, painting a grim picture of 18th-century dentistry. Patients suffered immensely from oral ulcers, tartar buildup, and the often disastrous consequences of unqualified practitioners. One case describes a barber-surgeon removing a tooth along with a walnut-sized piece of jawbone! These stories highlight the primitive techniques and significant risks of the time, contrasting sharply with modern dentistry. While progress has been made, the article serves as a reminder of the ongoing challenges of access and affordability in dental care.

Read more
(thequackdoctor.substack.com)
Misc 18th-century dentistry medical history dental treatment

The 1955 Le Mans Disaster: A Day of Speed and Death

2024-12-14

The 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans ended in tragedy when a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, driven by Pierre Levegh, crashed into the spectators after colliding with a slower car. Mike Hawthorn's reckless pit maneuver triggered the chain of events, leading to over 80 deaths and numerous injuries. The disaster, a shocking display of the sport's inadequate safety standards, prompted sweeping changes in motorsport safety regulations and marked a turning point in the history of racing.

Read more
(www.essesmag.com)
Game Le Mans 24 Hours racing accident motorsport safety

HDMI 2.2 to Debut at CES 2025 with Higher Resolutions and Refresh Rates

2024-12-14

The HDMI Forum will unveil the new HDMI 2.2 standard at CES 2025 in January. This next-generation standard promises higher bandwidths, resolutions (potentially including 8K at 120Hz and beyond), and refresh rates. The timing coincides with anticipated releases from Nvidia (RTX 50-series) and AMD (Radeon RX 8000-series), suggesting compatibility. A new cable may be required to fully utilize the advancements. This upgrade is poised to significantly enhance consumer experiences with ultra-high-definition media and gaming.

Read more
(www.tomshardware.com)
Hardware

WhatsApp: A Global Cultural Phenomenon

2024-12-14

WhatsApp has transcended its origins as a simple messaging app to become a global cultural force. The article uses Nigerian actress Etinosa Idemudia as an example, showcasing how WhatsApp is used for film promotion, fan engagement, and personal branding. From matchmaking in Bangladesh to news dissemination in India and religious activities in Indonesia, WhatsApp is ubiquitous, connecting people across the globe and becoming an indispensable part of daily life, even used for education and medical appointments. WhatsApp's success lies not only in Meta's business strategy but also in the diverse functionalities and cultural significance its users have imbued it with, transforming it into a platform that connects the world and reshapes how people communicate and live.

Read more
(restofworld.org)
Misc social media global culture
1 2 … 12 13 14 16 18 19 20 21 22