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Battery-Free Energy-Harvesting Holiday Card Unveiled

2024-12-14

In 2024, Jeff Keacher, Sean Beever, and Sophie created a battery-free electronic holiday card. This ingenious card cleverly harvests ambient radio waves and light energy (not from a traditional solar panel) to power its LEDs and is remotely controllable via a 2.4 GHz WiFi network. Designed for maximum power efficiency, it averages just 400 nanowatts of power consumption and can even be powered by the RF energy leaked from a microwave oven.

(www.keacher.com)

Tech energy-harvesting battery-free wireless control

Astonishing Patterns of Prime Numbers in Polar Coordinates

2024-12-16

This article explores the phenomenon of prime numbers plotted on polar coordinates exhibiting spiral or linear patterns. The author uses Python code, employing SymPy to generate prime numbers and Matplotlib for visualization. Results show that as the number of primes increases, the pattern transitions from spirals to straight lines. This isn't unique to primes; it's related to rational approximations of $2pi$. The article explains the underlying mathematics and explores the connection between prime distribution and pattern sparsity.

(jaketae.github.io)

Misc polar coordinates

nCompass: Revolutionizing AI Inference Cost

2024-12-16

nCompass Technologies has developed innovative AI inference serving software that reduces the cost of serving AI models at scale by up to 50%. By utilizing custom AI inference software and a hardware-aware request scheduler with Kubernetes autoscaling, nCompass maintains high-quality service on fewer GPUs, resulting in up to a 4x improvement in response time and significantly reduced GPU infrastructure costs. Users access open-source models via API with no rate limits and receive a $100 signup credit. On-premises solutions are also available for businesses demanding cost-effectiveness and responsiveness.

(www.ncompass.tech)

AI AI inference cost optimization

LLVM C Library Speeds Up GPUs: Running C Code on GPUs

2024-12-14

The LLVM project has released an exciting GPU C library enabling developers to run libc and libm functions directly on the GPU within C/C++ code. The library supports two main modes: as a supplementary library for offloading languages like OpenMP, CUDA, or HIP; and by directly compiling C/C++ code for the GPU. The article details how to use both modes, including compilation options, linking, and specific builds for AMD and NVIDIA GPUs. This library allows developers to leverage the parallel processing power of GPUs, significantly improving performance without needing deep knowledge of complex GPU programming models.

(libc.llvm.org)

Development GPU programming C library

Hacking Physics with a Napkin

2024-12-14

This article explores unconventional approaches to solving physics problems using simple estimation and dimensional analysis. The author demonstrates the power of these methods by calculating the speed of falling raindrops, the length of the E. coli genome, and the mass of a proton, among other examples. The article suggests this napkin-based approach can greatly enhance physics education and learning. Further techniques like Fermi estimation and random walks are introduced and applied to problems like estimating the E. coli genome length and determining the optimal speed for walking or running in the rain, showcasing their practicality.

(hapax.github.io)

Misc dimensional analysis Fermi estimation

Ente Photos: On-Device Machine Learning for Enhanced Privacy

2024-12-15

Ente Photos utilizes a unique on-device machine learning approach, running models locally instead of in the cloud to guarantee end-to-end encryption and user privacy. Overcoming challenges of limited compute, diverse platforms, and restricted access to ML libraries, Ente achieves features like image indexing, clustering, semantic search, and face recognition. While local processing presents technical hurdles, Ente addresses them through model optimization, algorithmic refinements, and meticulous image processing, leveraging open-source tools like ONNX Runtime. The result is a consistent and efficient cross-platform experience, allowing users to securely explore and manage their memories.

(ente.io)

AI on-device machine learning

HTMX v2.0.4 Release Notes: Bug Fixes and Improvements

2024-12-14

The HTMX v2.0.4 release notes detail numerous bug fixes and improvements. This release focuses on stability and compatibility enhancements, including fixes for nested shadow root issues, improved `hx-boost` behavior on forms, better support for Web Components and Shadow DOM, and updated extensions for improved performance and reliability. Adjustments to the `htmx.ajax` function and optimizations to `hx-trigger` event handling are also included.

(github.com)

Development Release Bug Fixes

White House Near Collapse: An Unprecedented Reconstruction

2024-12-14

In 1948, the White House, worn down by war damage and hasty renovations, faced imminent collapse due to structural decay and inadequate foundations. President Truman and his family were relocated, initiating a three-year comprehensive reconstruction. This project not only repaired the critical structural issues but also modernized the White House, adding basements, expanding utility spaces, and nearly doubling the number of rooms. A secret atomic bomb shelter was also constructed, reflecting the anxieties of the Cold War era. While the renovated White House was modernized, the removal of original interior elements altered its historical character.

(en.wikipedia.org)

Misc White House Reconstruction Truman Historic Preservation

Svader: A Svelte Library for GPU-Rendered Components

2024-12-14

Svader is a library for creating GPU-rendered Svelte components using WebGL and WebGPU fragment shaders. Developers can write programs in fragment shaders to customize pixel colors and control rendering effects through parameter passing. Supporting Svelte 4 and 5, it offers WebGL and WebGPU rendering modes with built-in parameters like resolution, scale, and time. Svader simplifies GPU rendering with easy-to-use components and provides fallback rendering in environments lacking WebGL or WebGPU support.

(github.com)

Development

Hugging Face Spaces Launches ZeroGPU: Dynamic GPU Allocation for Enhanced AI Model Efficiency

2024-12-15

Hugging Face Spaces has introduced ZeroGPU, a shared infrastructure that dynamically allocates NVIDIA A100 GPUs to optimize GPU usage for AI models and demos. ZeroGPU offers free GPU access, multi-GPU support, and lowers the barrier to entry for deploying AI models. Users simply select ZeroGPU hardware when creating a Gradio Space and use the `@spaces.GPU` decorator for GPU-dependent functions. ZeroGPU is compatible with PyTorch and optimized for Hugging Face's transformers and diffusers libraries, but currently only works with the Gradio SDK. Personal accounts (PRO users) can create up to 10 ZeroGPU Spaces, while organization accounts (Enterprise Hub) can create up to 50.

(huggingface.co)

AI GPU allocation

Tektronix's 'Unicorn' Graphic Terminals: A Legacy of Low-Cost Color Displays

2024-12-15

In the 1980s, Tektronix launched the 4100/4200 series graphic terminals (nicknamed 'Unicorn') to enter the low-cost color terminal market. The project faced challenges, including the destruction of a crucial prototype, but successfully delivered models like the 4105, 4107, and 4109 ahead of schedule. The 4200 series further reduced costs and improved performance, eventually incorporating networking capabilities. These terminals gained wide adoption due to their cost-effectiveness and compatibility, becoming a significant part of Tektronix's legacy.

(vintagetek.org)

Hardware Graphic Terminals Color Displays

Tenstorrent: An Analysis of the AI Hardware Startup Landscape

2024-12-15

This article delves into a deep dive analysis of Tenstorrent, an AI hardware startup. Initially skeptical, the author, after meeting with the Tenstorrent team and gaining a thorough understanding of their architecture (a mesh topology featuring high-performance RISC-V CPU cores and AI cores) and software stack, revised their opinion. The article details Tenstorrent's technical specifications, including its unique Baby RISC-V cores and efforts to reduce latency. The author argues that Tenstorrent's open-source strategy, strong engineering team, and rational business model give it a unique advantage in the competitive AI hardware market, expressing optimism for its future.

(irrationalanalysis.substack.com)

AI AI hardware

Disruptive Country Ranking: The Baby Money Index (BMI) Emerges

2024-12-15

An economics article introduces a new country ranking metric—the Baby Money Index (BMI), which multiplies per capita Gross National Income by the square of the fertility rate. Unlike the traditional Human Development Index (HDI), the BMI focuses more on the long-term impact of population growth on the economy. The article points out that high income and high fertility are difficult to achieve simultaneously; many oil-rich or tax-haven countries top the list, while some developed countries rank lower due to low fertility rates. The United States outperforms any country with a population over 40 million, including the entire G12, due to its high BMI.

(www.atvbt.com)

Misc country ranking baby money index economics

McKinsey to Pay $650 Million in Opioid Settlement, But Executives Avoid Charges

2024-12-14

Global consulting giant McKinsey & Company agreed to pay $650 million to settle a federal probe into its role in boosting opioid sales. While McKinsey admitted its strategies led to unsafe and unnecessary opioid prescriptions, and a former senior partner pleaded guilty to destroying documents, other executives escaped criminal charges. This highlights the ongoing issue of large corporations paying hefty fines for their role in the opioid crisis while their top executives rarely face consequences, raising concerns about corporate accountability.

(www.npr.org)

Misc opioid crisis McKinsey corporate accountability

Farewell to Endless Meetings: A New Approach to High-Velocity Software Development

2024-12-15

Tired of endless meetings and lengthy planning? This article introduces a high-efficiency software development method: code-centric, rapid iteration. The author uses baking as an example to illustrate the concept of achieving the optimal solution through rapid experimentation, frequent testing, and continuous improvement. This method emphasizes reducing documentation, expressing ideas directly in code, using mock data and hot-reloading tools to speed up development, and improving code readability through concise code style and naming conventions. The author advocates breaking down projects into independently executable files, minimizing restart time, and using default language tools for debugging. Although this method may seem like a "chaotic lab," it can efficiently complete projects and avoid the redundancy and inefficiency of traditional methods.

(mihaiolteanu.me)

Development agile development efficient programming

Luon Programming Language: A Statically Typed Lua

2024-12-14

Luon is a new, statically-typed programming language with a syntax similar to Oberon-based languages, incorporating concepts from Lua and targeting the LuaJIT VM. Essentially a statically-typed version of Lua, it allows for the reuse of existing Lua and C libraries via external procedure declarations. Luon addresses shortcomings in Lua's error handling and code structure, offering a compiler and integrated IDE supporting procedural, generic, and object-oriented programming. The project includes extensive examples and test cases and is under active development.

(github.com)

Development statically typed

Scientists Discover Four New Species of Portuguese Man-of-War

2024-12-14

Recent research has uncovered four new species of the Portuguese man-of-war, challenging our understanding of this venomous creature. Far from being a single organism, the man-of-war is a colony of four or five distinct individuals, each responsible for functions like floating, stinging, digestion, and reproduction. This unique colonial structure is a marvel of natural engineering. Adding to its intrigue, the man-of-war inflates its float using carbon monoxide and reproduces via a mysterious process with poorly understood larval development. Furthermore, a parasitic fish, the bluebottle, feeds on the man-of-war's tentacles and gonads, further highlighting the species' complexity.

(crookedtimber.org)

Tech Portuguese man-of-war new species marine biology

uv: A Blazing-Fast Python Package and Project Manager

2024-12-14

uv, a lightning-fast Python package and project manager written in Rust, replaces pip, pip-tools, pipx, poetry, pyenv, twine, and virtualenv. Boasting a 10-100x speed improvement, uv offers project management, tool management, Python version management, script support, and a pip-compatible interface. Features like global caching and workspace support streamline workflows. From project creation and dependency management to running scripts and building distributables, uv provides efficient and convenient solutions for all your Python development needs.

(docs.astral.sh)

Development package management project management

Building a Simple Object System from Scratch in Ruby

2024-12-15

This blog post details building a basic object system in Ruby without using classes. The author cleverly uses anonymous functions and hash tables to implement core OOP concepts like method lookup, prototypal inheritance, mixins, and metaprogramming. Starting with a constructor function, the post demonstrates simulating private variables and public interfaces, effectively recreating class-like behavior and inheritance. Through clear code examples, readers learn to create objects, define methods, implement inheritance and mixins, and even build a rudimentary `attr_accessor`-like metaprogramming feature. It's a practical guide to understanding object system fundamentals.

(metacircu1ar.github.io)

Development Object-Oriented Programming Metaprogramming

Meta's Byte Latent Transformer (BLT): Outperforming Tokenization-Based LLMs

2024-12-14

Meta AI researchers introduced the Byte Latent Transformer (BLT), a novel large language model architecture that processes bytes directly, rather than tokens. BLT dynamically allocates computational resources based on byte entropy, resulting in significant improvements in inference efficiency and robustness compared to tokenization-based models. Scaling experiments up to 8 billion parameters and 4 terabytes of training data demonstrate BLT's ability to match the performance of token-based LLMs while offering enhanced reasoning capabilities and handling of long-tail data. This research showcases the feasibility of training large-scale models directly on raw bytes without a fixed vocabulary.

(ai.meta.com)

AI Byte-level Encoding Inference Efficiency

Through-the-Earth Communication: Revolutionizing Underground Connectivity

2024-12-14

Traditional radio waves struggle to penetrate rock, making communication in mines and caves challenging. This article explores Through-the-Earth (TTE) communication, utilizing ultra-low frequency (300-3000 Hz) signals that propagate through rock strata. TTE systems, including portable magnetic-loop cave radios, Personal Emergency Devices (PEDs), and the innovative 'Miner Lifeline' technology, are highlighted for their crucial role in mine rescue operations and cave exploration, even after catastrophic events like fires or explosions.

(en.wikipedia.org)

Tech Through-the-Earth Communication Mine Communication Emergency Rescue

The Body Match: Your Personalized Fashion Catalog

2024-12-15

The Body Match is a personalized online fashion catalog connecting you with models who match your body shape. Use it to find your body type and shop with models who share a similar figure. No more switching between multiple fashion apps – everything you need is right here.

(www.thebodymatch.com)

Design fashion styling body type

Spark vs. DuckDB vs. Polars: Benchmarking Performance for Small to Medium Workloads

2024-12-15

This article benchmarks Spark, DuckDB, and Polars, comparing their performance, cost, and development ease on 10GB and 100GB datasets. Results show that for large datasets and ETL tasks, Spark remains dominant due to its distributed computing capabilities and mature ecosystem. DuckDB and Polars excel at interactive querying and data exploration on smaller datasets. The author recommends a strategic mix-and-match approach, using Spark for ETL, DuckDB for interactive queries, and Polars for niche scenarios, tailoring engine choice to specific needs.

(milescole.dev)

Development data processing engines benchmark

Maps and Fantasy: Unveiling the Secrets of Fictional Geographies

2024-12-14

This article explores the evolution and symbolism of maps in fantasy literature. From Tolkien's "The Hobbit" to "Game of Thrones," maps are more than just geographical guides; they are essential tools for constructing worldviews and shaping cultural identities. The author analyzes common features of fantasy maps, such as vast western oceans and mysterious eastern lands, exploring the cultural and psychological factors behind these features and their relationship to real-world geography, colonial history, and cultural biases. Ultimately, the author argues that the appeal of fantasy maps lies in their unknown aspects and the possibilities they represent beyond reality.

(longreads.com)

Misc fantasy literature maps cultural symbolism

PhD Advisor Automates Writing Improvement with Shell Scripts

2024-12-14

To improve his PhD students' writing, an advisor created three shell scripts to detect passive voice overuse, weasel words, and duplicate words. Integrated into their LaTeX build system, these scripts encourage conscious choices for clarity and precision, rather than blind adherence to grammar rules. The advisor advocates for programmers using automation to combat writing weaknesses and recommends resources like "Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace".

(matt.might.net)

Development Shell scripts Technical writing Automation

Graphene Interconnects Could Rescue Moore's Law

2024-12-14

Destination 2D, a California-based startup, claims to have solved two longstanding challenges in integrating graphene into chip manufacturing: high-temperature deposition and low charge carrier density. They've developed a technique to deposit graphene interconnects at 300°C, compatible with traditional CMOS processes. Furthermore, using intercalation doping, they've achieved graphene current densities 100 times that of copper. This technology promises to extend Moore's Law and support future generations of semiconductor technology.

(spectrum.ieee.org)

Hardware graphene Moore's Law semiconductors

Farebox: A Multimodal Routing Project in Rust

2024-12-14

Farebox is a fast RAPTOR implementation in Rust designed for memory-constrained machines. It leverages Valhalla for transfers and first/last mile routing, supporting multi-agency and timezone-aware routing. The project aims to supplement OpenTripPlanner, providing infill service for areas not covered by existing instances. Memory mapping is used for timetables to enable planet-scale coverage with a single instance and reduce hosting costs. Future plans include GTFS-RT support and potentially rRAPTOR for simultaneous itinerary calculation across various departure times.

(github.com)

Development Routing

A New Paradigm for AI Interaction: Models as Computers

2024-12-15

This article explores the future of AI interaction, proposing a new paradigm: treating large language models (LLMs) as 'computer applications' instead of 'people'. The author argues that the current anthropomorphic approach is inefficient and limits the potential of LLMs. He suggests that LLMs should generate graphical interfaces, not just text conversations, to improve efficiency and discoverability, allowing users direct manipulation like with typical applications. This 'model-as-computer' paradigm will transform human-computer interaction and lead to novel experiences, such as dynamically generating interfaces tailored to user needs, potentially even replacing operating systems. The article cites existing technological prototypes and looks towards future developments.

(willwhitney.com)

AI AI interaction Human-Computer Interaction

Is Creating a Perfectly Spherical Prince Rupert's Drop Possible?

2024-12-14

An engineering question explores the possibility of creating a perfectly spherical Prince Rupert's drop. Prince Rupert's drops are glass objects formed by dripping molten glass into cold water, their unique internal stresses making them incredibly tough except at the tail. The article discusses how, theoretically, in a zero-gravity environment by controlling the cooling rate and removing the effects of gravity, a spherical Prince Rupert's drop could be made, but significant practical challenges remain.

(engineering.stackexchange.com)

Tech Prince Rupert's Drop Glass Material Science

Easy macOS Installation on Any Computer with Proxmox

2024-12-12

This project offers a simplified method for installing macOS on any computer using Proxmox VE versions 7.0 to 8.2. A single script automates the setup process, enabling users to easily run macOS versions from High Sierra to Sonoma in a Proxmox virtual machine. Cloud environment installations are also supported, and a video tutorial is available.

(github.com)

Hardware Virtualization

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