Reclaim WSL Disk Space: A Manual and Automated Guide

2025-08-19
Reclaim WSL Disk Space: A Manual and Automated Guide

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) virtual disks can bloat over time, consuming significant disk space. This tutorial provides both manual and automated methods to compact WSL virtual hard disks (VHDX), freeing up valuable disk space. The manual method details a step-by-step process using PowerShell and DiskPart commands; the automated method provides a PowerShell script for one-click compaction. Regardless of the method chosen, you can effectively resolve WSL disk space issues and maintain efficient system operation.

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Development

Linux Copy & Paste Gets a Retro Upgrade: Say Goodbye to Ctrl+Shift

2025-08-15
Linux Copy & Paste Gets a Retro Upgrade: Say Goodbye to Ctrl+Shift

Tired of Ctrl+Shift+C/V for copy and paste in Linux terminals? Good news! By the end of 2025, most Linux applications will natively support the legacy 'Copy' and 'Paste' keycodes. This is thanks to the rise of programmable keyboards and support for these keycodes in software toolkits like GTK and QT. Several terminal emulators like Alacritty, Foot, and Wezterm already support them, while Gnome Terminal and Konsole are expected to support them after updates by the end of the year. This will revolutionize the Linux copy-paste experience, making it more convenient and efficient.

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The Internet's Missing Piece: A Secure and Simple Identity System

2025-08-18
The Internet's Missing Piece: A Secure and Simple Identity System

This article critiques the internet's flawed design separating identity verification from payments, leading to insecure and complex systems like passwords and third-party accounts. It proposes an ideal system: a single tap verifies identity and enables payments, offering security, ease, and user control. While the concept of 'being your own bank' was initially hampered by high barriers to entry, new tools like social recovery, smart wallets, and passkeys are simplifying secure, self-owned digital identities. The future promises a secure and user-friendly identity system, enabling safe digital lives without requiring users to be crypto experts.

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Org-social: A Decentralized Social Network Built on Org Mode

2025-08-14
Org-social: A Decentralized Social Network Built on Org Mode

Org-social is a decentralized social network running on an Org Mode file served over HTTP. Users create a `social.org` file, add personal info and posts, and upload it to a web server. Simple, registration-free, and database-less, it leverages Org Mode's features for posting, replying, mentions, polls, and more, while remaining compatible with various text editors. Its core values are simplicity, accessibility, decentralization, and adherence to Org Mode principles.

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Development org mode

Nim: One Language to Rule Them All?

2025-08-17
Nim: One Language to Rule Them All?

Inspired by the "One Ring" from Lord of the Rings, this article explores Nim, a programming language aiming to be a 'do-it-all' solution. Nim boasts an elegant and simple syntax suitable for automation scripts, yet powerful enough for performance-critical tasks like operating systems and game engines. It blends the strengths of Ada, Python, and C, offering dynamic memory management, inline assembly, and even JavaScript compilation for front-end development. With strong safety features, C/C++ interoperability, and a powerful macro system (even class-based OOP is macro-driven!), Nim is used by organizations like Reddit and Exercism. It's considered ideal for systems development and computer science education.

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Development systems development

Blizzard's Story and Franchise Development Team Unionizes

2025-08-17
Blizzard's Story and Franchise Development Team Unionizes

160 workers on Blizzard's Story and Franchise Development team, including animators, cinematic producers, narrative team members, and archivists, have unionized, marking the first in-house cinematic, animation, and narrative studio union in North American game industry. The union aims to protect workers from issues like misguided policies and instability resulting from layoffs, and improve workplace conditions. Microsoft, Blizzard's parent company, has recognized the union, in line with a labor neutrality policy agreed to in 2022. This follows recent mass layoffs at Microsoft, highlighting concerns about labor rights in the gaming industry.

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Game Union

Guédelon Castle: A Living Experiment in Medieval Archaeology

2025-08-19
Guédelon Castle: A Living Experiment in Medieval Archaeology

Guédelon Castle in Burgundy, France, isn't just a reconstruction; it's a living experiment in medieval archaeology. Using only 13th-century tools and techniques, a team of skilled artisans is building a real 13th-century castle. The project, decades in the making, reveals historical mysteries, from window materials (initially goatskin, later beeswax-stiffened linen) to mortar recipes and scaffolding techniques. Each obstacle encountered is an opportunity to solve a medieval-style problem, illuminating the ingenuity and teamwork of medieval builders. Guédelon is more than a castle; it's a vibrant historical lesson, attracting visitors and scholars worldwide.

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Sorting Fractions Under Uncertainty & Estimating the Number of Buses: Bayesian vs. Likelihood Approaches

2025-08-18

This article tackles two statistical problems: sorting fractions under uncertainty and estimating the number of buses based on limited observations. For fraction sorting, Bayesian (using Beta distribution) and likelihood approaches are presented and demonstrated in R. For bus estimation, a probability density function based on the multinomial distribution is constructed, and a likelihood approach is used to derive a confidence interval for the number of buses. Both problems cleverly combine statistical modeling and computational methods, showcasing the flexibility and practicality of statistical inference.

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Your MCP Doesn't Need 30 Tools: Code Is Enough

2025-08-18
Your MCP Doesn't Need 30 Tools: Code Is Enough

This article explores a novel approach using a single-tool MCP server that accepts programming code as input. The author points out challenges with CLI tools, such as platform dependency, version dependency, and lack of documentation, making them difficult for agent tools to use. In contrast, an MCP server can maintain state and expose a single tool (e.g., a Python interpreter running eval()), allowing agent tools to better manage sessions and compose tools. The author demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach with pexpect-mcp, which transforms the MCP server into a stateful Python interpreter, simplifying debugging and improving efficiency. Furthermore, the author explores replacing Playwright's MCP with one exposing the Playwright API via JavaScript, reducing tool definitions and improving data transfer efficiency. While security concerns exist, the author argues this approach has significant potential and warrants further exploration.

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Development Agent Tools

My Open-Source Library Powers Anthropic's Claude, Then I Get Rejected

2025-08-06
My Open-Source Library Powers Anthropic's Claude, Then I Get Rejected

The author's open-source library, enigo, a cross-platform input simulation library, is used in Anthropic's Claude Desktop software. This is a point of pride for the author, highlighting enigo's efficiency and security. However, the author's job application to Anthropic was rejected, creating a bittersweet moment. The article details this unexpected turn of events and the author's reflections on open-source contributions, AI, and career paths.

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Development

Archon: A GPT-5-Powered Copilot for Your Computer

2025-08-17
Archon: A GPT-5-Powered Copilot for Your Computer

Archon, a third-place winner at OpenAI's GPT-5 Hackathon, is a computer copilot controlled via natural language. It uses a hierarchical approach: GPT-5 plans actions, and a fine-tuned model, Archon-mini, executes them. Clever image processing and caching minimize cost and latency. Future development focuses on streaming control and self-learning, aiming for truly self-driving computer operation.

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AI

Good System Design: It's Not About Clever Tricks

2025-08-16

This article critiques system designs focused on flashy techniques, arguing that good system design prioritizes simplicity and reliability over complex distributed consensus mechanisms or CQRS. The author emphasizes the importance of state management, advocating for minimizing stateful components. Key aspects like database design (schemas, indexes), caching, background jobs, event-driven architectures, and handling bottlenecks are discussed in detail. The article stresses leveraging the database's capabilities, avoiding unnecessary in-memory processing. It highlights the importance of hot paths, logging, and monitoring, along with fault tolerance strategies like circuit breakers, retries, and graceful degradation. Ultimately, the author champions understated, effective design built on well-tested components, rejecting showy techniques in favor of robust functionality.

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Development

Portable Air Cleaners: Hype vs. Reality

2025-08-21
Portable Air Cleaners: Hype vs. Reality

A review of nearly 700 studies reveals that many portable air cleaners marketed to curb indoor infection spread lack human testing to support their efficacy claims. Most studies tested device performance in unoccupied spaces, neglecting the impact on human infection rates and potential harmful byproducts. Technologies like photocatalytic oxidation and plasma-based methods show promise in clearing microbes from the air, but lack human trial data to confirm their effectiveness in preventing infections. Researchers call for rigorous testing of both efficacy and safety to protect consumers and public health.

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Windows 11 September Update: Copilot Enhancements, Customizable Lock Screen Widgets

2025-08-21
Windows 11 September Update: Copilot Enhancements, Customizable Lock Screen Widgets

Microsoft is preparing a major feature drop for Windows 11 users in September. The update includes Copilot enhancements like improved Recall and Click To Do, alongside improvements for all users such as enhanced Windows Search (images displayed in a grid view), customizable lock screen widgets, and a redesigned Windows Hello interface. Additionally, the taskbar calendar flyout will once again display seconds, and Task Manager has been updated. Copilot+ PC users will get a new Recall landing page and a new Click To Do tutorial. Future updates include a more customizable Start menu and improved system-wide dark mode.

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Tech

The Curious Case of Hollywood's Missing Comedies

2025-08-19
The Curious Case of Hollywood's Missing Comedies

The 1980s saw box office triumphs like *Beverly Hills Cop* and *Ghostbusters*. Today, however, the Hollywood comedy is reportedly extinct. While audience surveys show a continued demand for comedic films, studios prioritize sequels and established IP over original comedies due to perceived lower returns and international appeal challenges. Comedies, inherently tied to cultural nuances, often struggle globally compared to action franchises. Despite this, the low production costs and untapped demand suggest a potential for a comedy resurgence.

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Deep Dive into the Internet's Core: A Practical Guide to Internet Sovereignty

2025-08-13
Deep Dive into the Internet's Core: A Practical Guide to Internet Sovereignty

Nick Bouwhuis's Chaos Computer Club talk offers a deep dive into how the internet works at its core, empowering you to participate. Learn about BGP, AS numbers, IP prefixes, and more. Ideal for sysadmins wanting to enhance their networking skills, aspiring ISP operators, or anyone curious about gaining internet sovereignty. The talk blends theory with practical steps to get started, including a tour of the speaker's own network setup and its uses.

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Image Fulgurator: Secretly Embedding Images in Photos

2025-08-18

The Image Fulgurator is a device capable of seamlessly embedding images into other people's photographs in milliseconds. It cleverly utilizes feedback flash projection technology, projecting a pre-prepared color slide image onto the target object at the same time someone else is taking a picture. The process is discreet and undetectable, as it functions in reverse of a traditional camera: using a pre-exposed slide as a light source, a built-in sensor detects flashes from nearby cameras to synchronize the projection with the exact moment of exposure. The Image Fulgurator is housed in a standard SLR camera case, reusing many of the camera's original components.

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Tetris in a Home Studio: Mastering Space Optimization

2025-08-13
Tetris in a Home Studio: Mastering Space Optimization

This article details the author's ingenious approach to transforming a limited space into a multi-functional home studio for music production, gaming, and work. Equipment was segmented into four distinct zones, prioritizing ergonomics and minimizing interference. Large musical instruments dominate the back wall, while monitors leverage hidden space and adjustable arms for flexibility. A custom-built flight simulator dashboard and clever cable management (nearly 700 feet!) complete the setup, resulting in an efficient and aesthetically pleasing workspace.

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Early Bird Gets the Worm: Pre-order App & Get Exclusive Early Access

2025-08-17

Pre-order now and receive all minor updates during the pre-sale period, including bug fixes, performance improvements, and minor feature tweaks—completely free! After the pre-sale, larger features and major upgrades will be developed, available to pre-sale buyers at a special discounted price. Join early for immediate access, influence development with your feedback, and secure the lowest price.

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Rebooting the 80s: My BBC Master and the UK's Computer Education Push

2025-08-17
Rebooting the 80s: My BBC Master and the UK's Computer Education Push

This post details the author's rediscovery of their BBC Master microcomputer from the 1980s. This machine, featuring a 65C12 processor, 128KB of RAM, and a 5 1/4" floppy drive, was a key part of the UK government's ambitious program to integrate computers into education. The author reminisces about the government's investment in computer literacy, the BBC Master's role in schools, and contrasts it with computers used in schools in other countries like the Commodore PET and Apple II. Despite its high cost, the BBC Master's superior BASIC and expansion capabilities made it a lasting legacy.

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Whitesmiths C Compiler Open Source Initiative: A Legend Returns

2025-06-28
Whitesmiths C Compiler Open Source Initiative: A Legend Returns

The Whitesmiths C compiler, originally released in 1978, supported architectures like DEC PDP-11 and Intel 8080, is poised to become open source! Its creator, P.J. Plauger, has granted permission for non-commercial use. Binaries and some source code for versions including CP/M-80 and an IBM System/36 cross-compiler are now available for download. This historically significant compiler will be a valuable resource for studying the history and development of the C language.

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Development

Ashet Home Computer: A Hackable Retro-Inspired Home PC

2025-08-13
Ashet Home Computer: A Hackable Retro-Inspired Home PC

The Ashet Home Computer is a highly expandable and hackable computer inspired by the home computers of the 80s. Easy to understand yet powerful enough for a graphical desktop OS, it bridges the gap between Arduino and Raspberry Pi. The design phase is complete, and a functional prototype validating key features (PSRAM support, DVI video, etc.) has been built. The next stage involves engineering, schematics, PCB layout, and a crowdfunding campaign to fund production. The final design will be open-source and freely available.

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Hardware expandable

494x Faster Word Counting with SIMD and Threads

2025-08-17

This article details the author's journey in optimizing a word counting program, achieving a remarkable 494x speedup. Starting with a naive Python implementation (89.6 seconds), the author progressively improved performance using CPython's `re` module (13.7 seconds), a C scalar loop (1.205 seconds), and finally, SIMD instructions and multithreading (181 milliseconds). Each optimization step is explained, covering leveraging C extensions, efficient C loops, and multi-core CPU utilization. While multithreading yielded less than expected gains, the final version reached an impressive 5.52 GiB/s processing speed. The author invites readers to suggest further optimizations.

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Development

Firefox's CRLite: Faster, More Private Certificate Revocation Checking

2025-08-19
Firefox's CRLite: Faster, More Private Certificate Revocation Checking

Firefox is the first browser to implement fast and comprehensive certificate revocation checking without revealing user browsing activity. Previously, the OCSP protocol leaked user privacy. Firefox's new CRLite mechanism solves this by periodically downloading a compact encoding of revoked certificates, storing and updating it locally. CRLite is a thousand times more bandwidth-efficient than traditional CRLs and significantly improves TLS handshake times. Firefox will disable OCSP in version 142, further enhancing user privacy and performance.

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Record-Breaking Cosmic Neutrino Detected Deep Under the Mediterranean

2025-08-15
Record-Breaking Cosmic Neutrino Detected Deep Under the Mediterranean

The KM3NeT detector, located deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea, has detected a cosmic neutrino with an unprecedented energy of 220 PeV, shattering the previous record. After rigorous analysis, the detection was confirmed, but its origin remains a mystery. Possible sources include extreme environments like galactic centers, gamma-ray bursts, or interactions with the cosmic microwave background. This discovery opens a new window into ultra-high-energy neutrino astronomy.

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Dyna: A Declarative Language for Machine Learning Researchers

2025-08-17

Dyna is a programming language designed by and for machine learning researchers. Building upon logic programming paradigms like Datalog and Prolog, Dyna allows flexible execution orders and weighted rules, enabling complex programs to be expressed concisely. From matrix multiplication and Fibonacci sequences to CKY parsing and even infinite neural networks, Dyna achieves impressive brevity. Started in 2004 to bridge the gap between mathematical concepts and executable code, Dyna has evolved through versions 1.0 and 2.0, continuously improving and expanding its capabilities. Current research focuses on building a flexible and complete implementation using relational algebra and term rewriting, and employing reinforcement learning to optimize execution strategies.

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Unification Algorithm: Implementation and Applications

2025-08-18

This post delves into the unification algorithm, a process for automatically solving equations between symbolic terms. It finds extensive use in logic programming and type inference. Starting with pattern matching, the post builds up to the concept of unification, providing a Python implementation based on Norvig's improved algorithm. The implementation includes data structure definitions, the core `unify` function, helper functions `unify_variable` and `occurs_check`, along with detailed code examples and execution results.

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Development unification

Building a TPU from Scratch: A Fool's Errand?

2025-08-19

A team of hardware novices, driven by a desire to prove their capabilities, embarked on the ambitious project of building a TPU from the ground up. Rejecting the easy route of research, they adopted a 'hacky' approach, starting with a fundamental understanding of neural network mathematics. They constructed a systolic array for matrix multiplication, cleverly incorporating double buffering, pipelining, and a vector processing unit to achieve both inference and training on the XOR problem. Their success in building a fully functional TPU showcases remarkable ingenuity and perseverance.

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Hardware

Ex-Intel Employee Gets Probation for Stealing Trade Secrets to Land Microsoft Job

2025-08-17
Ex-Intel Employee Gets Probation for Stealing Trade Secrets to Land Microsoft Job

A former Intel employee, Varun Gupta, was sentenced to two years' probation and fined $34,472 for stealing thousands of files containing trade secrets. These files reportedly aided him in securing a position at Microsoft and were used in processor purchasing negotiations with Intel. While the prosecution sought an eight-month prison sentence, the judge considered Gupta's reputational damage and the $40,000 he already paid in a civil settlement. Gupta has since relocated to France and is pursuing a career in the wine industry.

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Tech
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