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The LLM Cost Illusion: How Scaling Killed the Flat-Rate Subscription

2025-08-03

The LLM Cost Illusion: How Scaling Killed the Flat-Rate Subscription

Many AI companies bet on the trend of LLM costs dropping 10x per year, assuming early losses would be offset by future high margins. Reality is different. While model costs are decreasing, user demand for the best models continues to grow, leading to an explosion in compute usage. The length of responses from models like ChatGPT has dramatically increased, resulting in exponential growth in token consumption. This means that even with cost reductions, overall spending far exceeds expectations. The article analyzes three counter-strategies: usage-based pricing from day one, creating insane switching costs for high margins, and vertical integration to profit from infrastructure. The author concludes that sticking to a flat-rate subscription model will ultimately lead to bankruptcy.

(ethanding.substack.com)

AI AI Costs

Moore's Law's End? The Bottleneck of Traditional Software Performance

2025-09-02

Over the past 20 years, certain aspects of hardware have advanced rapidly (e.g., core counts, bandwidth, vector units), but instructions per cycle, IPC, and latency have stagnated. This breaks old rules of thumb, such as "memory is faster than disk." The article argues that traditional software (single-threaded, non-vectorized) performance gains are limited by these stagnant metrics, leading to skyrocketing cache miss costs. The author suggests we need to rethink how we write software to fully utilize ever-improving hardware capabilities.

(www.bitflux.ai)

Tech software optimization

Mago: Blazing Fast PHP Linter, Formatter, and Static Analyzer in Rust

2025-09-13

Mago: Blazing Fast PHP Linter, Formatter, and Static Analyzer in Rust

Mago is an extremely fast PHP linter, formatter, and static analyzer written in Rust. Inspired by the Rust ecosystem, it brings speed, reliability, and a superior developer experience to PHP projects of all sizes. Features include linting, static analysis, automated fixes, formatting, semantic checks, and AST visualization. Mago aims to be a unified and faster alternative to existing tools like PHP-CS-Fixer, Psalm, PHPStan, and PHP_CodeSniffer.

(github.com)

Development

Signal Desktop's New Screen Security Feature Fights Back Against Microsoft Recall

2025-05-21

Signal Desktop's New Screen Security Feature Fights Back Against Microsoft Recall

Signal Desktop for Windows now includes a "Screen security" setting to prevent screenshots of Signal chats from being captured by Microsoft Recall. This setting is automatically enabled on Windows 11. Recall, a feature that takes screenshots every few seconds and stores them in a searchable database, was initially met with intense backlash and removed, only to return with adjustments. Signal's new feature uses DRM flags to block screenshots, albeit with usability trade-offs. Signal urges OS vendors to provide better developer tools to avoid privacy apps needing workarounds to protect user privacy.

(signal.org)

Tech Microsoft Recall

Zuckerberg: Back to Free Expression Roots, Community Notes Replace Fact-Checkers

2025-01-07

Zuckerberg: Back to Free Expression Roots, Community Notes Replace Fact-Checkers

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta's return to its free expression roots, replacing its fact-checking system with a community-based approach called 'Community Notes'. This shift aims to simplify platform policies and focus on core values. It signifies a move away from centralized content moderation towards a system relying more heavily on the user community to identify and flag inaccurate or misleading information. This decision has sparked considerable debate surrounding content moderation, information veracity, and platform responsibility.

(www.facebook.com)

Tech community notes content moderation

Ubicloud's Burstable VMs: CPU Slicing with cgroups v2

2025-05-02

Ubicloud's Burstable VMs: CPU Slicing with cgroups v2

Ubicloud, an open-source AWS alternative, introduced burstable VMs to reduce cloud costs. Leveraging Linux cgroups v2, these VMs run on a fraction of shared CPU resources, bursting to higher usage during peak loads. The article details cgroups v2 configuration and usage, including the cpuset and cpu controllers, and management via the virtual filesystem or systemd. Testing showed burstable VMs achieve around a 30% performance boost under light loads, but this is limited by cgroups v2's micro-interval restrictions.

(www.ubicloud.com)

Development burstable VMs

Unsolved Mystery: The 1970 Bombing of Portland's Liberty Bell Replica

2025-02-07

Unsolved Mystery: The 1970 Bombing of Portland's Liberty Bell Replica

In 1970s Portland, a chilling event unfolded: the bombing of a Liberty Bell replica in City Hall. The investigation was a tangled web of suspects, from hippies to organized crime, even raising questions about potential internal police corruption. Despite extensive efforts, the case remains unsolved, leaving a lingering mystery and a stark reflection of the era's complex social dynamics and investigative limitations.

(tomlovesthelibertybell.com)

Misc Unsolved Mystery Bombing 1970s

OpenAI's $157B Valuation: An AI Bubble?

2025-01-28

OpenAI's $157B Valuation: An AI Bubble?

OpenAI's recent massive funding round, resulting in a $157 billion valuation, has sparked debate. Author Ashu Garg argues this valuation overestimates OpenAI's future value. He points to OpenAI's high computing costs, talent drain, and unsustainable business model. In contrast, companies like Meta are building robust AI ecosystems through open-source strategies, achieving lower operational costs. Garg predicts that the true winners in AI will be startups focusing on solving specific industry problems with AI applications, rather than those building general-purpose models.

(foundationcapital.com)

AI AI valuation AI business model

Mozilla Rewrites Firefox Terms of Use After User Backlash Over Data Rights

2025-03-04

Mozilla Rewrites Firefox Terms of Use After User Backlash Over Data Rights

Following user criticism of its updated Terms of Use, Mozilla has revised its policy for Firefox. The original terms were criticized for overly broad language, implying Mozilla claimed rights to user data inputted or uploaded to the browser, raising concerns about potential sale to advertisers or AI companies. Mozilla clarified this wasn't the intention, stating the changes don't alter its data usage practices. The revised terms specify that data access is solely for Firefox operation and doesn't grant Mozilla ownership. Mozilla also removed references to the Acceptable Use Policy and updated its online Privacy FAQ for clearer legal explanations.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech User Privacy

AI Agents Are Invading Surveys: A Crisis of Data Quality

2025-05-20

AI Agents Are Invading Surveys: A Crisis of Data Quality

Surveys are the cornerstone of political polling, market research, and public policy, but they're facing a dual crisis: plummeting response rates and a surge of AI-generated responses. Response rates, once between 30% and 50% in the 70s and 80s, have fallen to as low as 5%. Simultaneously, AI agents can easily participate in surveys for profit. The author demonstrates the ease with which an AI agent can be built to take surveys, analyzing the negative impact on political polls, market research, and public policy, leading to biased data and flawed models. Solutions proposed include improving survey design, developing AI detection tools, increasing compensation, and exploring alternative data collection methods. The article emphasizes the need for collective action to enhance data quality and ensure the validity of surveys.

(laurenleek.substack.com)

AI data quality

decode-kit: A Lightweight TypeScript Runtime Data Validation Library

2025-08-25

decode-kit: A Lightweight TypeScript Runtime Data Validation Library

decode-kit is a lightweight, zero-dependency TypeScript library for validating arbitrary runtime data. It uses assertion-based validation that refines your types in-place—no cloning, no transformations, and minimal runtime overhead. decode-kit validates your data and narrows its type directly; your original values remain unchanged. It employs a fail-fast approach, throwing a detailed error on the first validation failure, including the location and expected schema. Supporting various data types (strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, objects) with configurable rules, decode-kit outperforms libraries like Zod due to its in-place type assertion, making it ideal for performance-critical applications.

(github.com)

Development

RubyGems.org's Multi-Layered Defense Against Malicious Gems

2025-08-26

RubyGems.org recently thwarted an attack involving malicious gems designed to steal social media credentials. Their success stems from a multi-layered security approach: automated detection (static and dynamic code analysis), risk scoring, retroactive scanning, and external intelligence. Upon detection, suspicious gems undergo manual review; confirmed malicious gems are removed and documented. In a recent incident, RubyGems.org removed most malicious packages before Socket.dev's report and actively collaborated on the investigation, demonstrating effective security response. The article encourages community participation in security maintenance and calls for corporate support of RubyGems.org's security efforts.

(blog.rubygems.org)

Development Malicious Gems

Germany Updates US Travel Advice After Citizens' Detainment

2025-03-21

Germany Updates US Travel Advice After Citizens' Detainment

The German foreign ministry updated its travel advice for the US after three German citizens were denied entry and detained. The updated advice warns that even with an ESTA, entry isn't guaranteed, and minor visa overstays or false information can lead to arrest and deportation. While the ministry insists it's not a travel warning, the cases – including a US green card holder who was subjected to harsh interrogation and detention – highlight potential risks. One detainee, a tattoo artist, was held for over six weeks and allegedly placed in solitary confinement. The incidents serve as a cautionary tale for German travelers to the US, emphasizing the importance of accurate information and adherence to visa regulations.

(www.euronews.com)

Tech US entry travel advice visa

Protocol Society: Power, Algorithms, and the Future of Humanity

2025-05-04

Protocol Society: Power, Algorithms, and the Future of Humanity

This essay explores a new model of power in the internet age: "Protocol Society." By contrasting two narratives—one about the internet breaking down traditional power structures, the other about global cultural convergence—the author reveals a shift from centralized to decentralized, algorithmic power. Protocols, not centralized authorities, become key shapers of society and individual behavior. The essay delves into the mechanisms of protocol operation, its opportunities and challenges, and the resulting new political reality, exploring how to maintain individual autonomy and social stability within a protocol society.

(www.thenewatlantis.com)

Misc Protocol Society Algorithmic Power Network Culture

Klarna's AI Customer Service Pivot: Humans Are Back

2025-05-11

Klarna's AI Customer Service Pivot: Humans Are Back

After boasting last year that its AI chatbot could replace 700 human representatives, buy now, pay later giant Klarna is reversing course. While the AI handled routine inquiries efficiently, the company found that human empathy and expertise were crucial for complex or emotionally charged situations. Klarna is now prioritizing human-powered customer service, viewing AI as a supplementary tool rather than a replacement. They're recruiting extensively for a flexible, remote-work customer service model, aiming to improve customer experience and address the limitations of AI in handling nuanced interactions. This shift highlights the ongoing need for human connection in customer service, even in a rapidly automating world.

(www.customerexperiencedive.com)

Startup Human Interaction

Browser Databases: The Future of Frontend Sync?

2025-03-21

Browser Databases: The Future of Frontend Sync?

Niki explores the challenges of data synchronization in modern web applications. Traditional tools like XHR, fetch, REST, and GraphQL only solve the problem of getting data once, failing to address the complexities of continuous changes, request failures, and data conflicts. The article argues that building a browser-based database offers a more effective solution to data synchronization. This not only simplifies the development process and improves efficiency but also provides more reliable and efficient data management, ultimately allowing developers to focus on business logic rather than low-level data synchronization details. Using Roam Research as an example, the author demonstrates the feasibility of a serverless architecture and believes that sync engines have the potential to simplify the tech stack, consolidating databases and servers, and fundamentally changing frontend development.

(www.instantdb.com)

Development frontend database data synchronization

Google's Messaging Mayhem: A 16-Year History of Chaos and Failure

2025-01-13

Google's Messaging Mayhem: A 16-Year History of Chaos and Failure

From Google Talk in 2005 to Google Chat in 2021, Google's messaging app history is a rollercoaster of launches, shutdowns, and missed opportunities. This article chronicles the rise and fall of numerous Google messaging platforms, highlighting a lack of consistent strategy and top-down leadership. The constant churn of products, from Google Talk and Hangouts to Allo and Duo, resulted in fragmented user bases and ultimately, no dominant messaging app. Google’s inability to commit to a single, well-funded product contrasts sharply with competitors like Facebook and Apple, showcasing the high cost of Google's inconsistent approach. The article concludes by questioning Google’s future prospects in the messaging space.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Messaging Apps Product Strategy

Lee Enterprises Hit by Cybersecurity Attack, Halts Newspaper Publication in 24 States

2025-02-10

Lee Enterprises Hit by Cybersecurity Attack, Halts Newspaper Publication in 24 States

Lee Enterprises, a major US news conglomerate, has experienced a cybersecurity incident that has led to the suspension of newspaper and digital publications in 24 states. Initially attributed to a server issue, the company later revealed a malicious cyberattack and notified law enforcement. The attack caused significant disruption and financial losses, with a fourth-quarter loss of $2.80 per share, far exceeding expectations. Lee Enterprises is investigating and implementing preventative measures, but hasn't announced a timeline for resuming normal publication. This incident highlights the cybersecurity risks and transformation challenges faced by the news media industry.

(augustafreepress.com)

Tech news media publication halt

RSDS: A Decentralized Syndication Protocol to Fix the Internet's Missing Piece?

2025-01-11

RSDS: A Decentralized Syndication Protocol to Fix the Internet's Missing Piece?

Author Tautvilas Mečinskas proposes a new protocol called RSDS (Really Simple Decentralized Syndication) to address the challenges of content discovery and aggregation on the internet. The article reviews the rise and fall of RSS and the shortcomings of attempts like Bluesky, highlighting how RSDS uses lightweight data structures, decentralized domain name IDs, and Bitcoin blockchain-based timestamps to significantly reduce costs and complexity. It also features spam prevention, support for content licensing, and enables the creation of truly decentralized social networks. The core of RSDS lies in its low barrier to entry—everyone can host content—while also allowing for the development of commercial applications.

(tautvilas.medium.com)

Tech social network

GitLab Fixes 48-Hour Git Backup Bug, Speeds Up 6x

2025-06-06

GitLab Fixes 48-Hour Git Backup Bug, Speeds Up 6x

The GitLab team has solved a long-standing problem with Git repository backups. A 15-year-old Git function with O(N²) complexity caused backups of large repositories to take 48 hours. They improved the algorithm, reducing backup time to 41 minutes – a more than 6x speed increase. This fix has been contributed back to the main Git project, benefiting all Git users. For GitLab users, this means faster backups, lower costs, and more robust disaster recovery.

(about.gitlab.com)

Development

Cybercriminals Use Modified Salesforce Data Loader for Data Theft

2025-06-04

Cybercriminals Use Modified Salesforce Data Loader for Data Theft

The Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has uncovered a cybercriminal group, tracked as UNC6040, that uses sophisticated voice phishing to trick employees into installing a modified Salesforce Data Loader. This allows them to steal large amounts of sensitive data from approximately 20 organizations across various sectors in the Americas and Europe. The attackers convincingly impersonate IT support, guiding victims through the connection process to link the malicious Data Loader. Following data exfiltration from Salesforce, UNC6040 often laterally moves through the network, accessing and stealing data from other platforms like Okta, Workplace, and Microsoft 365. In some cases, extortion attempts followed months later, suggesting potential partnerships with other threat actors. Salesforce has issued guidance to help customers protect themselves against similar attacks.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech

Germany's Isar Aerospace Launches Spectrum Rocket, Marking a Pivotal Step Towards European Space Independence

2025-04-01

Germany's Isar Aerospace Launches Spectrum Rocket, Marking a Pivotal Step Towards European Space Independence

Germany's Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister, Robert Habeck, lauded the successful launch of Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket, highlighting Germany's advancements in innovative space technology and its crucial role in securing Europe's independent access to space. Spectrum, Germany's largest domestically built launch vehicle since WWII, represents a significant leap. The launch employed SpaceX's iterative development model, contrasting sharply with Europe's traditional approach. This marks a shift in European space ambitions, aiming to break free from reliance on other nations for space technology.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech European Space Independence

Call of Duty Movie Officially in the Works

2025-09-03

Call of Duty Movie Officially in the Works

Paramount Pictures and Activision have officially partnered to bring the globally successful video game franchise, Call of Duty, to the big screen. Spearheaded by Paramount's Chairman & CEO David Ellison, a lifelong fan of the game, and produced by Skydance, this collaboration aims to deliver a high-quality film adaptation. While Activision previously attempted a Call of Duty film adaptation, this new partnership leverages the success of the Top Gun: Maverick team, promising a cinematic experience that will satisfy the millions of fans worldwide.

(deadline.com)

Game movie adaptation video game adaptation

Reverse Engineering an ESP32 Smart Home Device: Remote Control and Home Assistant Integration

2025-04-15

Reverse Engineering an ESP32 Smart Home Device: Remote Control and Home Assistant Integration

The author, obsessed with connecting everything to Home Assistant, tackled a sleek air purifier only controllable via its proprietary app. To achieve seamless automation, he reverse-engineered the ESP32-based device. Analyzing the app revealed a WebSocket connection to a cloud server. By intercepting network traffic and using a UDP proxy to forward to the cloud server, UDP packets were captured. These packets were encrypted. Disassembling the device revealed an ESP32-WROOM-32D microcontroller; the firmware was extracted using esptool. Analysis revealed the use of the mbedtls library for encryption, identifying AES-128-CBC as the algorithm. Finally, a Node.js script was written to perform a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack, integrating the device into Home Assistant.

(jmswrnr.com)

Development

OpenAI's Stargate Data Center Project Delayed Amidst Tariff Uncertainty and Market Volatility

2025-05-13

OpenAI's Stargate Data Center Project Delayed Amidst Tariff Uncertainty and Market Volatility

OpenAI's ambitious Stargate data center project is facing delays due to economic uncertainty stemming from tariffs and growing market volatility. Cheaper AI services have made banks, private equity firms, and asset managers hesitant to invest in the project, which aims to raise up to $500 million for AI infrastructure. SoftBank, initially a major backer, hasn't finalized financing plans or engaged in detailed discussions with potential investors. Tariffs are expected to significantly increase data center construction costs, with estimates suggesting a 5-15% rise in overall build costs due to increased prices for server racks, cooling systems, and other components. Further complicating matters is a growing concern of overcapacity, as tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon adjust their data center strategies, potentially scaling back on construction projects.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

AI-Powered Lip-Sync Tech Brings Swedish Sci-Fi Film to American Theaters

2025-03-25

AI-Powered Lip-Sync Tech Brings Swedish Sci-Fi Film to American Theaters

The Swedish sci-fi film "Watch the Skies" (originally titled "UFO Sweden") will hit American AMC theaters on May 9th. Using Flawless AI's TrueSync technology, the film underwent "visual dubbing," seamlessly matching actors' lip movements to English audio without reshoots. This lowers the barrier to entry for foreign films, potentially attracting a wider audience. The technology is SAG-AFTRA compliant and promises to revolutionize global film distribution. The film, about a teenager searching for her father, believed abducted by aliens, will screen in 100 AMC locations across the US.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech

Home Assistant Unveils Open-Source Voice Assistant Hardware

2024-12-20

Home Assistant Unveils Open-Source Voice Assistant Hardware

Home Assistant has launched Voice Preview Edition, hardware for its open-source voice assistant, Assist. Priced at $59, this device boasts advanced audio processing, a sleek design, and extensive customization options, aiming to deliver a private and open voice assistant experience. Seamlessly integrating with Home Assistant, it supports local voice processing and allows for customization of both software and hardware. This preview edition accelerates Assist's development, ultimately aiming to surpass existing voice assistants, support more languages, and offer users greater choice.

(www.home-assistant.io)

Hardware voice assistant open-source hardware

Customasm: An Assembler for Your Own Instruction Sets

2025-01-15

Customasm: An Assembler for Your Own Instruction Sets

Customasm is an assembler that lets you define your own custom instruction sets, perfect for testing the bytecode of a new virtual machine or writing programs for that new microprocessor architecture you just implemented on an FPGA chip! Try it online in your browser, check out an example project targeting the NES, and install the VSCode syntax highlighting extension. Install via `cargo install customasm`, download pre-built executables from Releases, or compile from source. Documentation and a how-to-start guide are available in the wiki.

(github.com)

Development assembler custom instruction set

Mindless Machines, Meaningless Myths: A Review of Robert Skidelsky's 'Mindless'

2025-08-18

Mindless Machines, Meaningless Myths: A Review of Robert Skidelsky's 'Mindless'

This review examines Robert Skidelsky's 'Mindless: The Human Condition in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,' which explores the philosophical implications of AI, automation, and the illusion of progress. The author argues that we inhabit a 'machine civilization' where technology shapes our thinking, work, and relationships, prompting fundamental questions about human meaning, purpose, and freedom. Skidelsky traces technological development from the Industrial Revolution to the digital age, showing that progress isn't always positive, potentially leading to meaningless work, over-reliance on technology, and threats to human well-being. He calls for deeper reflection on technological advancement, urging us to avoid the pitfalls of technological optimism.

(lareviewofbooks.org)

AI Philosophy of Technology

The Pentium's Mysterious ×3 Circuit: A Deep Dive into Chip Design

2025-03-02

The Pentium's Mysterious ×3 Circuit: A Deep Dive into Chip Design

In 1993, Intel released the high-performance Pentium processor. This article delves into the surprisingly complex design of a seemingly simple circuit within the Pentium: the multiply-by-three circuit (×3 circuit). This circuit is part of the floating-point multiplier; the Pentium uses radix-8 multiplication, which is faster than binary multiplication, but multiplication by three requires special handling. The article explains how this circuit combines techniques like carry lookahead, Kogge-Stone adders, and carry-select adders to maximize performance. Analysis of microscope images of the chip reveals the intricate structure of the ×3 circuit and its crucial role in the Pentium, highlighting the ingenuity and technical innovation in processor design.

(www.righto.com)

Hardware processor design chip architecture radix-8 multiplication

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