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UK's Illegal Cybertruck Faces Uphill Battle for Legalization

2024-12-15

Yianni Charalambous, a UK car customizer, is attempting to register a Tesla Cybertruck for road use in the UK, following a similar success in the Czech Republic. However, the Cybertruck's sharp design clashes with UK and EU pedestrian safety regulations, posing significant challenges. Its unique steer-by-wire system, reliance on OTA updates unavailable in the UK, and incompatibility with EU recall systems further complicate matters. Experts deem its chances of passing the UK's IVA test extremely slim.

(www.wired.com)

Tech Tesla Cybertruck Car Modification Safety Regulations

PuzzleZilla: Online Jigsaw Puzzle Maker Launches

2024-12-15

PuzzleZilla is a new online platform allowing users to create custom jigsaw puzzles from any image uploaded from their device or the internet. The site offers a wide variety of pre-categorized puzzles, including cars, babies, cities, animals, flowers, nature, girls, landscapes, dinosaurs, castles, movies, anime, cats, dogs, paintings, food, and fantasy themes. Users can easily create and play their puzzles online.

(puzzlezilla.com)

Game online jigsaw puzzle image upload custom puzzle

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

Meta FAIR Unveils Breakthrough AI Research, Open-Sourcing Key Models

2024-12-13

Meta FAIR released a suite of groundbreaking AI research artifacts, including Meta Motivo, a foundational model for controlling virtual embodied agents, and Meta Video Seal, an open-source model for video watermarking. This release focuses on advancements in agent capabilities, robustness, safety, and architectural innovations for more efficient learning. Other key contributions include the Flow Matching codebase, Meta Explore Theory-of-Mind for theory-of-mind reasoning, Large Concept Models (LCMs), and the Dynamic Byte Latent Transformer. By open-sourcing these tools and models, Meta aims to foster collaboration and accelerate responsible AI development.

(ai.meta.com)

AI

Minimalist NAS: frood, an Alpine initramfs System

2024-12-16

The author introduces frood, a NAS system built as a single, large initramfs image containing a complete Alpine Linux system. This design results in fast boot times and reduced wear on storage devices. Configuration is straightforward; files reside directly in the image, eliminating complex DSLs or configuration tools. The system state is tracked with Git, and each boot is effectively a fresh start, preventing configuration clutter. The article details the system's build process, including the use of the alpine-make-rootfs script, installation of essential packages, and writing startup scripts. QEMU testing and the system image update procedure are also described. In essence, frood is a lightweight, easily maintainable, and deployable NAS system whose simple design philosophy is worth emulating.

(words.filippo.io)

Development

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.

(elmwealth.com)

Startup investment strategy risk management market prediction

AI and Sensor Networks Challenge Submarine Stealth

2024-12-16

The ability of submarines to remain undetected is facing a significant challenge due to rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, drones, and sensor networks. This article explores the AUKUS agreement between the US, UK, and Australia to build nuclear submarines and the modernization of China's naval submarine capabilities. Advanced sensor networks and AI algorithms can detect subtle traces of submarine activity, weakening the effectiveness of traditional submarine stealth technology. The article analyzes strategies to counter this challenge, including using noise to disrupt AI systems, deploying unmanned underwater vehicles, and employing strategic maneuvers. However, the AUKUS agreement also faces challenges such as high costs, uranium shortages, and the rapid development of China's submarine capabilities, making its future uncertain.

(spectrum.ieee.org)

Tech submarine stealth sensor networks

HTTP/3's Current State: Challenges and Opportunities on the Path to Adoption

2024-12-16

The HTTP/3 specifications are complete but await final publication. Server-side support is surprisingly high, particularly among top websites. Major players like Cloudflare have enabled HTTP/3, and browsers widely support it. However, client-side support, such as in curl, remains incomplete, largely due to the lagging development of QUIC-enabled TLS libraries. OpenSSL's QUIC support has been delayed, while alternatives like BoringSSL and quictls have limitations. While HTTP/3 promises speed improvements, real-world benefits depend on network conditions. Widespread adoption hinges on specification release and mature TLS libraries.

(daniel.haxx.se)

Development

Vercel Launches ƒun: A Local Serverless Function Runtime

2024-12-15

Vercel has released ƒun, a local development runtime for serverless functions, enabling developers to emulate the AWS Lambda environment locally. Supporting various runtimes like Node.js and Python, ƒun allows for quick testing and debugging of serverless functions without cloud deployment. While striving for a close approximation of the real Lambda environment, ƒun has some key differences, notably in process sandboxing and user permissions.

(github.com)

Development Function Computing Local Development

America's Healthcare System: A Total Breakdown, Beyond Insurance Companies

2024-12-14

The American healthcare system is broken, and the problem extends far beyond insurance companies. An oncologist argues that pharmaceutical firms, PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers), the FDA, CMS, hospitals, and doctors all share responsibility. Pharmaceutical companies push unproven drugs, PBMs profit excessively, regulators are lax, hospitals charge exorbitant fees and engage in predatory practices, and doctors order unnecessary tests and treatments. While insurance companies are frustrating, they are a scapegoat for a larger systemic issue. The author calls for sweeping reforms of the FDA and CMS to end corporate capture of regulatory agencies, addressing the high costs and inefficiency of the US healthcare system. The recent assassination of an insurance CEO highlights public frustration with the system.

(www.sensible-med.com)

Misc healthcare reform healthcare costs US healthcare

The Robot Dance: A Co-evolution of Technology and Art

2024-12-15

This article explores the evolution of the robot dance in art and technology. Starting with Kraftwerk's song "We Are the Robots," the author traces the shift in dance styles from mechanical to organic, and the human fascination with the machinic aesthetic. The author points out that modern robots have transcended traditional robotic movements, exhibiting more fluid and lifelike motions. This shift reflects the co-evolution of technology and art, and humanity's perception of machinery has transformed from initial fear and alienation to closeness and acceptance.

(contraptions.venkateshrao.com)

AI robots art

Preferring Throwaway Code Over Design Docs: A More Efficient Software Development Approach

2024-12-15

In software development, the traditional design document and incremental development model isn't always efficient. Author Doug Turnbull proposes a "coding binge" approach: quickly implement a prototype using a temporary PR, get early team feedback, refine the design, and then gradually break it down into deployable PRs. This method encourages rapid iteration, early problem detection, and considers code itself as the best documentation. While design documents still have value in specific situations, the author advocates for "showing, not telling," using code prototypes for rapid validation and iteration to achieve more efficient software development.

(softwaredoug.com)

Development code prototype

Fast LLM Inference Engine Built From Scratch

2024-12-15

This article details the author's journey in building an LLM inference engine from scratch using C++ and CUDA, without relying on any libraries. The process provided a deep dive into the full stack of LLM inference, from CUDA kernels to model architecture, showcasing how optimizations impact inference speed. The goal was to create a program capable of loading weights from common open-source models and performing single-batch inference on a single CPU+GPU server, iteratively improving token throughput to surpass llama.cpp. The article meticulously outlines the optimization steps on both CPU and GPU, including multithreading, weight quantization, SIMD, kernel fusion, and KV cache quantization, while analyzing bottlenecks and challenges. The final result achieves near state-of-the-art performance for local LLM inference.

(andrewkchan.dev)

Development LLM inference

Will Large Language Models End Programming?

2024-12-15

Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have sparked debate about the obsolescence of programming. This article argues against this overly optimistic view. Focusing on the computational complexity of program synthesis, the author demonstrates that generating correct code is a PSPACE-complete problem, meaning even moderately sized inputs could require exponential time. While LLMs can assist programmers and boost efficiency, their inherent limitations prevent them from completely replacing human programmers. The core of programming remains problem-solving and system design, requiring human ingenuity and creativity.

(cacm.acm.org)

Development program synthesis future of programming

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.

(www.scannedinavian.com)

Development programmer focus flow

From Animal 'Factories' to Synthetic Biology: A Revolution in Biopharming

2024-12-15

Historically, many medicines and materials relied on animal extraction, such as antivenom from horse blood, endotoxin detection from horseshoe crab blood, and silk from silkworms. This article traces the journey from ancient Phoenicians using snails to extract Tyrian purple dye to the modern use of biotechnology to synthesize insulin, antibodies, and vaccines. While synthetic biology technologies can now replace many animal-derived products, some areas still rely on animals due to regulatory lag, molecular complexity, and challenges in scaling production, such as influenza vaccine production. The article highlights the enormous potential of synthetic biology to improve efficiency and reduce animal use, but also reminds us of the importance of protecting biodiversity, as the development of biotechnology also relies on exploration and utilization of the natural world.

(worksinprogress.co)

Tech animal welfare

Google DeepMind Unveils Veo 2: A Breakthrough in AI Video Generation

2024-12-16

Google DeepMind recently launched Veo 2, its latest AI video generation model. This model represents a significant leap forward in realism, detail, and motion accuracy, capable of producing high-quality 4K videos from complex instructions. Outperforming other leading AI video generation models, Veo 2 excels in faithfully following prompts and generating incredibly realistic results. From extreme close-ups of a DJ to detailed food preparation scenes showcasing realistic physics, Veo 2 demonstrates its versatility across various styles and scenarios, marking a new milestone in AI video generation.

(deepmind.google)

AI AI video generation deep learning

Isomorphic Web Components: Server-Side Rendering Made Easy

2024-12-15

The long-held belief that server-side rendering of web components is difficult has been challenged. This article demonstrates how to achieve server-side rendering of existing web components by cleverly using Happy DOM to emulate a browser environment. Two methods are detailed: using the `` tag for direct rendering and emulating the DOM to run component code and generate HTML. The author emphasizes the advantages of this approach: compatibility with all web components, robustness in the face of JavaScript failure, and avoidance of framework lock-in. This solves the server-side rendering problem for web components, offering a flexible and resilient solution.

(jakelazaroff.com)

Development Server-Side Rendering Isomorphic

Eating Spaghetti by the Fistful: A Neapolitan Street Spectacle

2024-12-17

In 19th-century Naples, eating spaghetti became a unique spectacle. People would grab handfuls of spaghetti and shove it into their mouths with surprising speed. This unusual custom attracted numerous tourists and became a Neapolitan specialty. The article traces the history of this practice, from the price drop of pasta in the 17th century, to its role as an important food source for the poor, and its eventual disappearance with societal changes.

(www.atlasobscura.com)

Misc spaghetti Naples street food

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.

(blog.jonas.foo)

Development editor

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

UK Tech Firms Face New Online Safety Regulations

2024-12-16

The UK's Online Safety Act has come into force, placing new safety responsibilities on tech companies. Ofcom has published its first codes of practice and guidance, requiring firms to assess and mitigate the risks of illegal content on their platforms, such as terrorism, hate speech, and child sexual abuse. New rules mandate enhanced content moderation, improved reporting mechanisms, and measures to protect children from sexual exploitation, including default settings to hide children's personal information. Ofcom will closely monitor tech companies' actions and impose strict penalties for non-compliance.

(www.ofcom.org.uk)

Tech online safety UK tech companies

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

Why Finding High-Quality Products Is So Difficult

2024-12-16

This article explores the pervasive challenge of finding high-quality products and services in the market. The author argues that markets aren't perfectly efficient, with inefficiencies in companies and products persisting for years. Consumers struggle to discern product quality, often swayed by marketing. Even expert advice proves unreliable. Businesses, prioritizing efficiency, outsource or buy off-the-shelf solutions, but these often lack quality and may have fundamental flaws. The author uses personal anecdotes and case studies to illustrate information asymmetry and trust deficits within and between companies, hindering the production and sale of high-quality goods. The conclusion highlights that building quality isn't easy, but reliable service often necessitates in-house development—a significant hurdle for smaller companies.

(danluu.com)

Tech product quality market efficiency information asymmetry

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

OpenAI Outage: Unexpected Load from New Telemetry Service Causes Major Disruption

2024-12-16

OpenAI experienced a major service disruption on December 11th, stemming from a newly deployed telemetry service. Intended to improve reliability, this service unexpectedly generated massive Kubernetes API server load, saturating the servers and causing the Kubernetes control plane to fail in most large clusters. This led to the breakdown of DNS-based service discovery. The incident highlights the unpredictable interactions within complex systems and the challenges of testing for failure modes that only appear under full load. OpenAI restored service by scaling down clusters, blocking network access to Kubernetes admin APIs, and scaling up API servers.

(surfingcomplexity.blog)

Development API server saturation service disruption

Founders Over 40: Redefining Success

2024-12-15

This article explores the experiences of founders over 40, highlighting a shift in their definition of success compared to their younger counterparts. With increased family responsibilities and a longer life perspective, these founders prioritize work-life balance, seeking more stable and predictable income. Their accumulated wisdom allows for quicker pattern recognition, more pragmatic decision-making, and a willingness to explore alternative paths like acquisitions or joining larger organizations. This doesn't signify a lack of ambition, but rather a clearer understanding of the costs (time, energy, personal life) associated with different paths, and a more effective leveraging of their accumulated skills and experience.

(justinjackson.ca)

Startup founders over 40 redefining success

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

Taming the Chaos: Centralizing and Structuring Error Handling in Go

2024-12-18

This article details the author's journey in tackling escalating error handling issues in a growing Go project. Initially, the simple approach to error handling devolved into chaos with confusing logs and untraceable errors. To solve this, a new error handling framework was designed and implemented. This framework employs a centralized, structured system using namespace codes to make errors meaningful and traceable. The core is a centralized declaration of error codes; each service layer returns only its own namespace codes, enriched with context information. The article thoroughly explains the design decisions, implementation, lessons learned, and migration strategy, offering valuable practical experience.

(olivernguyen.io)

Development Error Handling Software Architecture

Displaying Website Content on an E-Ink Display: A Family Tech Solution

2024-12-15

To address the inconvenience of checking the school timetable, the author designed a low-power e-ink display that automatically fetches and displays the school website's timetable. The project overcame challenges of website login and API absence by using Playwright for web scraping, and a server-side application to generate the image, which is then displayed on the e-ink screen. This solution tackles a family's daily problem and showcases the combined application of low-power hardware and web scraping technologies. The project initially explored MicroPython, but ultimately utilized the Arduino library for better reliability and functionality.

(mfasold.net)

Tech e-ink display low-power

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