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Reservoirs Lab: Lightweight Postgres VectorDB GUI

2024-12-19

Reservoirs Lab is a lightweight Electron app that connects directly to a Postgres database to visualize high-dimensional vector embeddings stored alongside structured data. Users can interactively explore their data and see correlations between metadata and the semantic similarity of vector embeddings. Features include Postgres integration, vector visualization, neighborhood exploration, and a local, privacy-preserving workflow.

(github.com)

Development Vector Database Data Visualization

University Revamps Programming Curriculum: Emphasizing Explicit, Systematic Design

2024-12-19

Northeastern University's computer science department has developed a unique programming curriculum that emphasizes explicit and systematic program design, rather than focusing on trendy programming languages. The curriculum starts with a simple teaching language, gradually introducing students to design principles before applying them to industrial languages. This approach cultivates logical reasoning and problem-solving skills for large, complex software. The curriculum also highlights the social aspects of programming, encouraging pair programming to improve communication and collaboration. This method not only enhances students' job prospects but also lays a solid foundation for their future careers.

(felleisen.org)

Development program design curriculum reform

Reclaiming Sensor Data: Breaking Free from the Cloud

2024-12-18

This article details how an embedded software engineer regained control of data from a cloud-connected radon sensor by bypassing the manufacturer's servers. By analyzing network traffic, the engineer discovered a vulnerability where the sensor didn't properly validate server certificates. Leveraging a local DNS server and a custom Python web server, the engineer successfully intercepted and read the raw sensor data. This grants programmatic access and ensures continued functionality even if the manufacturer's servers go down. The article highlights the importance of network security and the privacy risks associated with DNS traffic.

(embeddedartistry.com)

Development IoT security data autonomy embedded systems

Langfuse: Open-Source LLM Engineering Platform Streamlines Development

2024-12-17

Langfuse is an open-source LLM engineering platform designed to simplify the development and deployment of large language model (LLM) applications. It offers features such as LLM observability, metrics, evaluations, prompt management, a playground, and datasets, integrating seamlessly with tools like LlamaIndex, Langchain, OpenAI SDK, and LiteLLM. Developers can use Langfuse to monitor LLM performance, manage prompts, evaluate model effectiveness, and ultimately accelerate LLM application development.

(github.com)

Development Development Platform

Surfer Protocol: Open-Source Framework for Personal Data Control

2024-12-17

Surfer Protocol is an open-source framework that empowers users to export and build applications based on their personal data. Addressing the issue of data siloed across numerous platforms, Surfer Protocol offers a solution. It comprises a desktop application for exporting data from various apps and services, and a Python SDK for building applications using this data. Users can leverage Surfer Protocol to create personalized AI models, reclaim control of their data from big tech, or leave a digital legacy.

(github.com)

Development personal data open-source framework data export

Open Source Firmware: Necessity and Strategic Choices

2024-12-17

This article explores the necessity of open-source firmware. The author argues that firmware, as software controlling hardware, should adhere to free software principles. This is not only about freedom itself but also directly related to users' practical interests. Non-free firmware can restrict hardware functionality, hide security vulnerabilities, and even prevent users from fixing security issues. The article analyzes two viewpoints: one considers open-source firmware desirable but not necessary; the other advocates that all system software should be open-source. The author leans towards the former, believing that prioritizing the freedom of the operating system kernel is more important, but simultaneously emphasizes the benefits of open-source firmware and discusses how to promote it through strategic means.

(mjg59.dreamwidth.org)

Development firmware free software

Bruin: Build Data Pipelines with SQL and Python

2024-12-17

Bruin is a powerful data pipeline tool that combines data ingestion, data transformation with SQL and Python, and data quality checks into a single framework. It works with major data platforms and runs on your local machine, an EC2 instance, or GitHub Actions. Key features include data ingestion, SQL & Python transformations, data quality checks, Jinja templating, end-to-end validation, and support for multiple environments. Pipelines are easily defined using a simple pipeline.yml file.

(github.com)

Development data pipeline

ScyllaDB Shifts to Source-Available License for its Database

2024-12-19

ScyllaDB announced it's transitioning its flagship product, ScyllaDB Enterprise, from closed-source to a source-available license, offering a free tier with full enterprise capabilities. This simplifies their dual release stream, providing greater community value. The future involves a single release stream, consolidating core features for improved performance and efficiency; examples include 30X faster node addition/removal via file-based streaming and workload prioritization for balancing multiple workloads on a single cluster. While potentially unpopular with some open-source users, ScyllaDB believes this change benefits the company and accelerates progress on roadmap milestones like Raft for data, optimized tablet elasticity, and tiered (S3) storage.

(www.scylladb.com)

Development Source-Available License Open-Source Database

Homescreen App: Redefining Your Home Screen Experience

2024-12-18

Homescreen is an app designed to revolutionize the home screen experience on your phone. Breaking free from the limitations of traditional phone desktops, it offers users a more personalized, efficient, and convenient way to interact with their devices. Users can customize widgets, themes, and layouts to create a unique home screen, boosting productivity and enjoyment. Homescreen isn't just a simple desktop replacement; it's a refreshing approach to how we use our phones.

(homescreen.app)

Development phone home screen customization productivity

The Wonderful Journey of Making a Mechanical Watch

2024-12-17

An Imgur album documents the entire process of crafting a mechanical watch by a skilled artisan. From preparing the components to the precise assembly, each step showcases exquisite craftsmanship and an unwavering pursuit of detail. Readers can appreciate the artistry of mechanical watchmaking through the images, experiencing the perfect blend of time and skill.

(imgur.com)

Misc mechanical watch handmade craftsmanship

Open-Source 5-Band Equalizer a5eq.lv2 Released

2024-12-18

ashafq has released a5eq.lv2, an open-source 5-band equalizer LV2 plugin. This plugin features a low shelf, three peaking filters, and a high shelf, designed for precise audio sculpting by both amateur and professional audio engineers. It boasts high-precision filter coefficients, stereo processing, and a user-friendly interface. Compatible with any LV2-supporting host software such as Ardour and Audacity, it's easily installed and used via command line. Users can submit issues or contribute code via GitHub.

(github.com)

Development audio processing equalizer

CSIRO Launches AI-Powered Map Visualizing Open Access Water Security Research

2024-12-18

CSIRO has released the 'Atlas of Open Water Security Science,' an interactive map visualizing the geographical distribution of open-access water science publications from its Water Security Program since 2010. Powered by AI, this 3-month trial version extracts locations and context from publications, but may contain inaccuracies. Users can explore the evolution of research, click on publications for details, and learn more about CSIRO's AI innovation in environmental science. Use with caution.

(wateratlas.webapp.csiro.au)

Tech Water Security

A New Solution to the Fermi Paradox: Advanced Civilizations May Be Indistinguishable from Nature

2024-12-19

The Fermi Paradox highlights the contradiction between the high probability of extraterrestrial life and the lack of evidence for it. A new research paper proposes a solution: advanced civilizations might develop sustainable models where technology seamlessly integrates with their environment, rendering them undetectable. This challenges our assumptions about technological advancement and civilization expansion, prompting a reevaluation of SETI and our understanding of our own civilization's trajectory.

(www.universetoday.com)

AI Fermi Paradox extraterrestrial civilizations sustainable development

Intel CEO Gelsinger Out: The Fall of a Giant?

2024-12-18

This article analyzes the departure of Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. Gelsinger, once seen as a savior for the struggling tech giant, failed to turn Intel's fortunes around during his three-year tenure. The article explores multiple contributing factors, including missed opportunities in the mobile market, the disruptive AI boom, geopolitical challenges, and delays in government collaborations. Ultimately, Gelsinger's departure is presented as a consequence of Intel's long-standing internal issues combined with external market forces, leaving Intel's future uncertain.

(spyglass.org)

Tech Gelsinger semiconductor industry

Nurses' Nightmares: Algorithmic Exploitation in the Gig Economy

2024-12-19

Cory Doctorow's article exposes how 'Uber for nurses' apps in the US healthcare system exploit nurses through algorithmic discrimination and risk-shifting. These apps use complex fee structures and competitive bidding to lower wages, forcing nurses to cover insurance, equipment, and other costs, resulting in significantly reduced income and precarious working conditions. The article highlights this as a failure of capitalism and calls for stronger labor laws and unionization to protect nurses' rights.

(pluralistic.net)

Tech algorithmic discrimination gig economy nurse exploitation

Classical Sorting Algorithms Reveal Unexpected Competencies in a Minimal Model of Basal Intelligence

2024-12-19

A new study uses classical sorting algorithms as a model of morphogenesis, challenging conventional wisdom about these algorithms. By breaking assumptions of top-down control and perfectly reliable hardware, researchers discovered that arrays of autonomous elements sort themselves more reliably and robustly than traditional implementations, even in the presence of errors. Surprisingly, these algorithms exhibit the ability to temporarily reduce progress to navigate around defects and unexpected clustering behavior among elements in chimeric arrays following different algorithms. This discovery provides a novel perspective on diverse intelligence, demonstrating how basal forms of intelligence can emerge in simple systems without explicit encoding in their underlying mechanics.

(arxiv.org)

AI diverse intelligence morphogenesis sorting algorithms

A Glimpse into OS/2's Built-in Virtualization

2024-12-17

This blog post explores the surprisingly advanced built-in virtualization capabilities of OS/2 2.1 from 1993. The author demonstrates OS/2's ability to load and execute disk images, much like modern hypervisors, by creating a simple VGA mode program and running it in DOSBox, QEMU, and OS/2's own virtual environment. OS/2 can even run images that aren't true bootable DOS floppies, using VMDISK to create an image file and running it in fullscreen or windowed mode within OS/2. This functionality, remarkable for 1993, is essentially a built-in QEMU, prompting the author to consider the further potential of OS/2's virtualization features.

(www.uninformativ.de)

Misc virtualization

Firenvim: Embed Neovim in Your Browser for Enhanced Editing

2024-12-19

Firenvim is a browser extension that seamlessly integrates the Neovim editor into Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers. With a simple click on any textarea, you can instantly edit webpage content using Neovim's powerful features. Save changes with ':w' and close the editor with ':q'. Installation is straightforward, and extensive customization options allow you to fine-tune the plugin's behavior, including element selection, auto-takeover settings, command-line options, and more. Firenvim offers advanced features such as manual triggering, temporary disabling, custom configuration, special character handling, and webpage interaction. However, be aware that compatibility issues may arise with certain websites.

(github.com)

Development code editing

Voxon: Revolutionizing 3D Volumetric Holograms

2024-12-17

Voxon's groundbreaking VLED technology creates real-time interactive volumetric holograms, using millions of points of light floating in 3D space. Viewable from 360 degrees, these immersive holograms are transforming entertainment, communication, and data visualization. Their products, the VX2 and VX2-XL, cater to individual and commercial needs, offering high-quality volumetric displays. Voxon actively seeks partnerships to explore further applications of this revolutionary technology, ushering in a new era of interactive digital experiences.

(www.voxon.co)

Tech volumetric hologram 3D display technology virtual reality

Blackmagic Unveils $30K 3D Camera for Apple Vision Pro Video Capture

2024-12-19

Blackmagic has announced its URSA Cine Immersive camera, priced at $30,000, available for pre-order with deliveries starting late in the first quarter of 2025. This is the world's first commercial camera system designed for capturing 3D content specifically for Apple's Vision Pro headset. Featuring a custom stereoscopic 3D lens system with dual 8K sensors, it captures 180-degree field of view video with spatial audio at up to 90fps. Each eye boasts 8160 x 7200 resolution and 16 stops of dynamic range.

(www.macrumors.com)

Hardware

FastVideo: Open-Source Framework Accelerates Large Video Diffusion Models

2024-12-17

FastVideo is an open-source framework designed to accelerate inference and training of large video diffusion models. Supporting models like FastMochi and FastHunyuan, it achieves up to 8x faster inference speeds. The framework leverages knowledge distillation techniques and supports distillation, fine-tuning, and inference for video DiT models based on PCM. Furthermore, FastVideo features scalable training capabilities with FSDP, sequence parallelism, and selective activation checkpointing, while enabling memory-efficient fine-tuning.

(github.com)

AI video diffusion models model acceleration

SpiceNice: An Open-Source Culinary Spice Database Launches

2024-12-17

SpiceNice is a new open-source website offering a comprehensive database of culinary spices. It provides detailed information on each spice, including its botanical name, culinary uses, and origin, along with details about the corresponding plant. Built using Strapi (backend), PostgreSQL (database), and Astro (frontend), SpiceNice aims to become a central resource for cooks, biologists, farmers, and spice enthusiasts. Future plans include a web API, multilingual support, and a community forum.

(tderflinger.com)

Development spices

Castle Game Engine Update: Web Target, IFC Support, and mORMot Collaboration

2024-12-18

The Castle Game Engine team announced updates including a web target (using JS+WebAssembly for browser-based game execution), support for the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) format, and collaborative editing using mORMot2. The web target currently handles basic functions and is improving WebGL support. IFC support allows loading, modifying, and saving models, with future enhancements planned. Collaborative editing is still under development but already enables 3D world modification and server synchronization.

(castle-engine.io)

Development game engine

Starlink Sells Out in Zimbabwe Amidst High Demand

2024-12-17

Starlink's high-speed satellite internet service quickly sold out in Zimbabwe within weeks of its launch, driven by the country's slow, unreliable, and expensive traditional internet infrastructure. High demand led to sell-outs in major cities like Harare, and even spread to other African countries. Despite higher initial costs, Starlink's unlimited data and superior speeds are proving attractive to many, forcing local providers to lower their prices. While currently facing capacity issues in urban areas, Starlink's potential in rural and underserved regions is significant, boosting related industries such as installation services and accessory sales.

(restofworld.org)

Tech satellite internet Zimbabwe

Network Protocols: A Seemingly Simple Miracle

2024-12-17

This article provides a clear explanation of the network protocol stack, from reliable data transmission to the intricacies of the physical layer hardware, revealing its surprising complexity and ingenuity. Using an 88.5MB video download as an example, it illustrates how protocols like IP, TCP, and Ethernet work together to overcome network instability and packet loss, ultimately achieving reliable and efficient data transmission. The author reveals the complex routing algorithms, congestion control, and packet reassembly techniques hidden behind seemingly simple network operations, as well as the interdependencies and constraints between various protocols, and explains why the Ethernet packet size is set to 1500 bytes and other historical issues.

(www.destroyallsoftware.com)

Tech network protocols network architecture

Toyota Leads New Automotive Grade Linux Expert Group for Open Source Management

2024-12-19

Automotive Grade Linux (AGL) has launched a new Open Source Program Office (OSPO) Expert Group, led by Toyota, to help automakers better manage open source activities. The group aims to promote the establishment of OSPOs within the automotive industry and foster the sharing of best practices. With the rise of Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs), automakers are increasingly contributing to open source software, and OSPOs streamline these efforts. The group will assist companies in launching OSPOs, share solutions to common challenges, develop best practices, and encourage broader participation in open source contributions within the automotive sector.

(www.automotivelinux.org)

Tech open source software automotive industry software-defined vehicles

RTO Mandates Lead to Tech Talent Exodus, Study Finds

2024-12-17

A study tracking over 3 million employees at 54 S&P 500 high-tech and financial firms reveals that return-to-office (RTO) mandates are causing companies to lose top talent and struggle to find replacements. The research found a 14 percent average increase in employee turnover after RTO policies were implemented, with senior and skilled employees more likely to leave. Women experienced nearly three times the attrition rate of men. Furthermore, RTO mandates prolonged hiring times and increased costs. Companies' attempts to enforce RTO policies through surveillance tactics, such as VPN tracking and badge swipe monitoring, fueled employee resentment and furthered the exodus. The study suggests that RTO mandates reflect a culture of distrust and ineffective management, leading to decreased employee engagement.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech RTO mandates talent loss employee turnover

Archaeological Find Unveils 14 Memory Safety Approaches, Revolutionizing Programming

2024-12-19

A software engineer unearthed an ancient text in a Mayan city, revealing 14 astonishing memory safety approaches far beyond current programming language understanding. These methods include traditional techniques like borrow checking, reference counting, and garbage collection, alongside unprecedented innovations such as region-based memory management, generational references, and linear reference counting. This discovery not only broadens our comprehension of memory safety but also foreshadows the future direction of programming languages, potentially revolutionizing software development.

(verdagon.dev)

Development memory safety Mayan civilization

Physicists Discover Particle with Mass Only When Moving in One Direction

2024-12-19

Scientists have discovered a peculiar quasiparticle, the semi-Dirac fermion, which only exhibits effective mass when moving in one direction. Predicted in 2008, this phenomenon has now been confirmed in a ZrSiS semi-metal crystal at extremely low temperatures (-269°C). Its energy properties differ drastically in perpendicular directions, akin to a train experiencing resistance when switching tracks, thus gaining mass. This discovery could have profound implications for quantum physics and electronic sensors, but further research is needed to explore its applications.

(www.sciencealert.com)

Physics

Human Thought Speed: A Mere 10 Bits Per Second

2024-12-18

Caltech researchers have discovered that human thought processes are surprisingly slow, operating at a mere 10 bits per second—significantly slower than our sensory systems' billion bits per second input rate. This study presents a paradox: why is our thinking so slow? Researchers speculate this may stem from the evolution of our brains from simple navigational systems, processing information sequentially rather than in parallel. This finding challenges some science fiction concepts regarding brain-computer interfaces, suggesting even neural interfaces would be limited by our inherent 10-bit-per-second processing speed.

(www.caltech.edu)

AI human thought information processing

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