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Zig: The More Practical Choice for Real-World CLI Tools Than Rust

2025-09-23

Zig: The More Practical Choice for Real-World CLI Tools Than Rust

This article delves into the practical advantages of Zig over Rust for building command-line interfaces. The author illustrates the differences through a simple notes management CLI tool. While Rust's borrow checker ensures memory safety, its complexity and ceremony prove cumbersome for simple CLIs. Zig offers a more straightforward approach to memory management, combining `defer` statements and allocators for easier creation of efficient and safe code with less compiler overhead. For small CLI tools, Zig's lightweight, fast, and direct nature makes it more practical. While memory safety is important, maintainable code and developer efficiency are equally critical.

(dayvster.com)

Development

Writing Less Slow C, C++, and Assembly Code: A Practical Guide to Performance

2025-04-18

Writing Less Slow C, C++, and Assembly Code: A Practical Guide to Performance

This repository offers practical examples of writing efficient C and C++ code, covering topics from micro-kernels to parallel algorithms. It demonstrates how to leverage C++20 features and compiler optimizations to boost performance (e.g., speeding up trigonometry by 40x), and explores best practices for avoiding performance bottlenecks, such as efficient JSON handling, using STL associative containers, and choosing the right parallel programming model. The project also includes code examples for hardware acceleration using Assembly, CUDA, and FPGA, aiming to help developers write faster and safer code.

(github.com)

Development Parallel Programming

Exploiting a Google Account Recovery Flaw: Brute-forcing Phone Numbers with IPv6 and BotGuard Tokens

2025-06-09

Exploiting a Google Account Recovery Flaw: Brute-forcing Phone Numbers with IPv6 and BotGuard Tokens

A security researcher discovered a vulnerability in Google's account recovery process, allowing attackers to brute-force phone numbers to gain access to user accounts. The vulnerability exploited the fact that the account recovery form still worked with JavaScript disabled, bypassing Google's rate limiting and CAPTCHAs using IPv6 IP rotation and BotGuard tokens. Attackers first obtain the target's name via Looker Studio, then use the password reset flow to get the phone number suffix. A custom program then uses proxies for brute-forcing, revealing the full phone number. Google has since patched the vulnerability.

(brutecat.com)

Tech account security

Lune: A Standalone Luau Runtime

2025-05-21

Lune: A Standalone Luau Runtime

Lune is a standalone Luau runtime written in Rust, providing an environment similar to Node.js, Deno, or Bun for other languages. It features fully asynchronous APIs, a small footprint (approx. 5MB zipped), and comprehensive support for filesystem, networking, and standard I/O. It boasts world-class documentation and offers a familiar runtime environment for Roblox developers, including a 1:1 task scheduler port. An optional library for manipulating Roblox place & model files and their instances is also included. While it can run some Roblox games, Lune's primary focus isn't full Roblox compatibility, but rather a performant, concise Luau development environment.

(github.com)

Development

Conquering VR Sickness: Flamingo Stance, Leaning In, and Bone-Conduction Vibes

2025-05-24

Conquering VR Sickness: Flamingo Stance, Leaning In, and Bone-Conduction Vibes

Despite advancements in VR hardware and software, cybersickness remains a significant hurdle. This article explores three promising user-centric solutions: improving postural stability through balance exercises (like the 'flamingo' stance), actively aligning body posture with virtual motion, and using vestibular stimulation devices to reduce sensory mismatches. These DIY techniques offer accessible ways to mitigate cybersickness, potentially revolutionizing the VR experience.

(spectrum.ieee.org)

Game cybersickness

UAE May Offer ChatGPT Plus to All Residents for Free

2025-05-30

UAE May Offer ChatGPT Plus to All Residents for Free

The UAE and OpenAI are in talks that could make ChatGPT Plus, OpenAI's AI chatbot, freely available to all residents. This agreement would be part of the Stargate UAE infrastructure plan, creating an AI hub in Abu Dhabi. Stargate UAE, a 1-gigawatt computing cluster, is a collaboration between Abu Dhabi's G42, OpenAI, Oracle, and Nvidia. If successful, this would be unprecedented in the AI sector, giving millions access to one of the world's most powerful AI services for free.

(www.thenationalnews.com)

Tech UAE

JWST Shatters Records Again: Oldest Galaxy Ever Discovered

2025-06-04

JWST Shatters Records Again: Oldest Galaxy Ever Discovered

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has once again broken its own record, detecting the galaxy MoM z14, a cosmic marvel existing a mere 280 million years after the Big Bang—13.52 billion years ago. This discovery surpasses expectations, as scientists didn't anticipate JWST finding such ancient galaxies at this stage of its mission. MoM z14 boasts a redshift of z=14.44, exceeding the previous record holder, JADES-GS-z14-0 (z=14.32). Researchers determined MoM z14 is about 50 times smaller than the Milky Way and detected emission lines indicating the presence of nitrogen and carbon, suggesting a young galaxy with a rapidly increasing star formation rate. This discovery hints at the possibility of even older galaxies in the early universe waiting to be found.

(www.space.com)

Tech

ICC Prosecutor's Microsoft Email Shut Down: A Wake-Up Call for European Digital Sovereignty

2025-06-10

ICC Prosecutor's Microsoft Email Shut Down: A Wake-Up Call for European Digital Sovereignty

The International Criminal Court's (ICC) chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, had his Microsoft email account shut down due to US sanctions against the ICC imposed by the Trump administration. This incident highlights Europe's dependence on US tech giants and the resulting risks to digital sovereignty. The sanctions not only hampered the ICC's operations but also raised concerns about European data security and privacy. The article advocates for strengthening European digital sovereignty by prioritizing European tech services and reducing reliance on US companies to prevent similar incidents.

(tuta.com)

Tech International Criminal Court

Revolutionary Urinal Design Could Save Millions of Gallons of Wasted Water

2025-04-13

Revolutionary Urinal Design Could Save Millions of Gallons of Wasted Water

Scientists have devised a new urinal design that could drastically reduce urine spillage in public restrooms. Currently, an estimated 1 million liters of urine are spilled daily in US public restrooms, creating hygiene problems and wasted cleaning resources. A new study published in PNAS Nexus details two innovative urinal designs, 'Cornucopia' and 'Nautilus,' which significantly reduce splashback by altering the angle of urine impact. This innovation promises cost savings, improved hygiene, and substantial water conservation. The Nautilus design, in particular, is lauded for its ease of cleaning and accessibility for diverse users.

(www.livescience.com)

Tech hygiene water conservation

Subaru STARLINK Flaw Lets Hackers Remotely Control Cars, Access PII

2025-01-23

Subaru STARLINK Flaw Lets Hackers Remotely Control Cars, Access PII

Security researchers discovered a critical vulnerability in Subaru's STARLINK connected car service. Attackers, knowing only a victim's last name and zip code, email, or license plate, could remotely start, stop, lock, unlock, and track vehicles. They could also access a year's worth of location history and retrieve sensitive personal information (address, billing details, etc.). The vulnerability allowed complete vehicle control and was patched within 24 hours. This highlights the critical need for enhanced security in connected car systems and robust user data protection.

(samcurry.net)

Tech car security

Sophisticated npm Malware Campaign Uses Clever Evasion Techniques

2025-03-26

Sophisticated npm Malware Campaign Uses Clever Evasion Techniques

A recent sophisticated malware campaign leveraged two seemingly benign npm packages, ethers-provider2 and ethers-providerz, to inject malicious code into locally installed `ethers` packages. These packages cleverly hide their malicious payload, ultimately establishing a reverse shell connection to the attacker's server. Even after removing the malicious packages, the malicious functionality may persist due to the attackers' clever injection method. This highlights the ongoing risk of malicious packages in open-source repositories and the need for enhanced security measures.

(www.reversinglabs.com)

Development npm security

Pahole: A Powerful Tool for Inspecting C/C++ Data Structure Memory Layouts

2025-04-19

This blog post introduces pahole, a powerful tool for analyzing the memory layout of C/C++ data structures, including padding and alignment details. By reading the DWARF debugging information generated by the compiler, pahole visually displays how data structures are arranged in memory and points out "holes" inserted by the compiler to meet memory alignment requirements. This is crucial for optimizing code cache utilization and reducing cache line false sharing. The post also demonstrates how to install pahole and how to use its command-line options to analyze struct sizes, adjust member ordering to optimize memory layout, and explore memory layout differences under different cache line sizes.

(pramodkumbhar.com)

Development memory layout

OpenAI Bans Engineer for Building ChatGPT-Powered Sentry Gun

2025-01-09

OpenAI Bans Engineer for Building ChatGPT-Powered Sentry Gun

An engineer, STS 3D, created a robotic sentry gun controlled by OpenAI's ChatGPT API, sparking a heated debate about AI weaponization. The system, shown firing blanks in a viral video, prompted OpenAI to swiftly ban the engineer for violating its usage policies, which prohibit using its services to develop or deploy weapons. While OpenAI removed language restricting military applications last year, it maintains a ban on using its service to harm others. This incident highlights the potential dangers of AI and the need for stringent regulations on its use.

(futurism.com)

AI robotic weapons

The 2025 AI Engineer Reading List: 50 Papers to Master the AI Frontier

2025-01-13

The 2025 AI Engineer Reading List: 50 Papers to Master the AI Frontier

Latent Space has released a curated reading list for AI engineers in 2025, covering ten key areas: LLMs, benchmarks, prompting, RAG, agents, code generation, vision, voice, diffusion models, and fine-tuning. The list comprises approximately 50 papers and blog posts, designed to help AI engineers build a strong foundation and gain practical skills. Instead of simply listing papers, the authors provide context and explanations, along with supplementary resources and community support.

(www.latent.space)

Development AI Engineer Reading List AI Papers

Court Rules Against Trump's Tariffs: A Case of Overreach?

2025-05-29

A US trade court recently ruled against Donald Trump's tariffs, citing a violation of constitutional authority. The court found that the Trump administration exceeded its power under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977. Both the 'worldwide retaliatory tariffs' and 'trafficking tariffs' were deemed unlawful; the former for being overly broad, the latter for lacking a demonstrable link to drug trafficking. The decision hinges on the Constitution's grant of foreign trade regulation power to Congress, and the limitations on delegation of that power as defined by the nondelegation doctrine. The Trump administration has appealed the decision, setting the stage for further legal battles over executive versus legislative power.

(writing.kemitchell.com)

Tech Constitutional Law

US Copyright Office: No New Laws Needed for AI-Assisted Works

2025-01-31

US Copyright Office: No New Laws Needed for AI-Assisted Works

The US Copyright Office declared this week that existing laws suffice to address copyright issues surrounding AI-assisted works, negating the need for new legislation. Over 10,000 comments urged stronger protections for artists in the age of AI. The office responded by referencing a 1965 precedent when similar authorship questions arose with the advent of advanced computer technology. Then, Register of Copyrights Abraham Kaminstein stated there's no one-size-fits-all solution. This remains the office's stance; only fully AI-generated content is ineligible for copyright protection. Works with human-authored expressive elements, even with AI assistance, retain copyrightability.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech AI Authorship

AI Agent Solves Minecraft's Diamond Challenge Without Human Guidance

2025-04-07

AI Agent Solves Minecraft's Diamond Challenge Without Human Guidance

Researchers at Google DeepMind have developed Dreamer, an AI system that learned to autonomously collect diamonds in Minecraft without any prior human instruction. This represents a significant advancement in AI's ability to generalize knowledge. Dreamer uses reinforcement learning and a world model to predict future scenarios, enabling it to effectively plan and execute the complex task of diamond collection without pre-programmed rules or demonstrations. The research paves the way for creating robots capable of learning and adapting in the real world.

(www.nature.com)

AI

Meta's Big Bet on Nuclear: Powering AI, Reducing Emissions?

2025-06-03

Meta's Big Bet on Nuclear: Powering AI, Reducing Emissions?

Meta has partnered with Constellation Energy to keep the aging Clinton Clean Energy Center nuclear plant in Illinois operational for the next 20 years. This deal, which involves undisclosed financial support from Meta, will increase the plant's capacity by 30 megawatts, preserve 1,100 jobs, and power 800,000 homes. It's part of Meta's broader strategy to reduce its carbon footprint, fueled by increasing AI energy demands, and reflects a growing trend of Big Tech investing in nuclear energy. Meta is also actively pursuing next-generation reactor technologies to further its sustainability goals.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech

How Parenthood Changes Friendships (And How to Keep Them)

2025-05-18

Having kids can dramatically alter friendships. This article explores the common challenges faced by parents and non-parents in maintaining their relationships. The piece features interviews with women who share their experiences and insights, offering four key strategies: Don't assume your friends don't want to hang out; ensure conversations include everyone; adapt to new ways of socializing, like doing chores together or incorporating kids into activities; and communicate openly about feelings. The article emphasizes the importance of communication and compassion in navigating these evolving relationships, suggesting that friendships can endure even as life stages change.

(text.npr.org)

Misc parenthood

The British Navy's Secret Weapon: Institutional Design and Incentives

2025-05-16

The British Navy's Secret Weapon: Institutional Design and Incentives

This article explores the institutional reasons behind the British Navy's exceptional combat effectiveness from the 17th to 19th centuries. It argues that superior technology wasn't the key, but rather a sophisticated system of incentives designed to prevent admirals from shirking combat. High salaries, a strict promotion system, unique battle tactics (like the line of battle and weather gauge), and harsh Articles of War (including the death penalty) ensured high combat motivation and accountability. The rise of steamships altered naval warfare, ultimately leading to reforms of these systems.

(www.lesswrong.com)

Misc institutional design British Navy

LLMs: The Trash Disguised as the Future

2025-07-04

This article reflects on PayPal's early monopoly on online payments and Bitcoin's initial promise of decentralized payments, ultimately becoming a speculative tool. The author connects this to the current proliferation of LLMs (Large Language Models), arguing that LLMs haven't delivered promised convenience and innovation, but instead generate useless and misleading information, lowering the bar for creation and devaluing creative work. The author criticizes LLMs for their low-quality, unreliable output and their negative impact across industries, leading to a flood of 'content' and a decline in quality. The author concludes by advocating for genuine creation and sharing of meaningful work.

(eev.ee)

Tech Tech Critique

Cerabyte Secures Western Digital Investment for 5000-Year Data Storage

2025-05-12

Cerabyte Secures Western Digital Investment for 5000-Year Data Storage

German data storage startup Cerabyte announced it has received strategic investment from Western Digital, accelerating development of its groundbreaking ceramic-based data storage technology. Boasting a 5000-year lifespan and potentially yottabyte-scale capacity, Cerabyte's technology has undergone extreme testing, proving resilient to heat, water, radiation, and more. Aiming for sub-$1/TB storage by 2030, this partnership promises to bring commercially viable, ultra-long-term data storage solutions to market.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech ceramic storage

arXivLabs: Experimental Projects with Community Collaboration

2025-05-23

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Individuals and organizations involved uphold arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only partners with those who share them. Have an idea to enhance the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

Google's Gemini: Billions Invested, Profits Elusive

2025-03-26

Google's Gemini: Billions Invested, Profits Elusive

Google's ambitious Gemini AI application, aiming for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), faces a significant challenge: profitability. Its downloads lag far behind OpenAI's ChatGPT, and the massive R&D costs and energy consumption of generative AI remain hurdles. Google is attempting to monetize Gemini through in-app advertising, while simultaneously facing potential massive revenue losses from antitrust lawsuits. Internal anxieties about workload and future prospects are also prevalent. Despite expanding functionalities, accuracy issues persist, as exemplified by a recent ad miscalculating global Gouda cheese consumption. Google is cautiously navigating Gemini's development, aiming to avoid past missteps and maintain its leading position in the AI race.

(www.wired.com)

Tech

BYD Unveils 1000kW Supercharging Platform: 5-Minute Charge for 400km Range

2025-03-18

BYD Unveils 1000kW Supercharging Platform: 5-Minute Charge for 400km Range

BYD launched a new super-fast charging platform for electric vehicles (EVs), boasting charging speeds comparable to refueling gasoline cars. They also announced plans to build a nationwide charging network across China. The platform achieves peak charging speeds of 1000 kW, enabling a 5-minute charge to deliver a 400km range, significantly surpassing Tesla's 500kW superchargers. BYD aims to build over 4,000 ultra-fast charging stations to address range anxiety, marking the industry's first achievement of megawatt charging power. This new architecture will initially power the Han L sedan and Tang L SUV.

(finance.yahoo.com)

Tech Fast Charging

Volvo's Free EX90 Computer Upgrade: A Software Disaster?

2025-09-24

Volvo's Free EX90 Computer Upgrade: A Software Disaster?

Volvo is replacing the central computer in all 2025 EX90 electric SUVs for free, admitting defeat in its year-long battle against pervasive software bugs. Owners have reported critical malfunctions, including unreliable key fobs, phone connectivity issues, and infotainment glitches. This move, involving a switch to the more powerful Nvidia Drive AGX Orin-based computer from the 2026 model, suggests the original software was irretrievably flawed. While the upgrade improves future potential (autonomous driving), it highlights the significant risks of software-defined vehicles and raises questions about Volvo's quality control and the long-term trust of its customers.

(insideevs.com)

Tech automotive recall

Search Engine Adds PDF Indexing: Conquering the Challenges of Text Extraction

2025-05-13

The search engine recently gained the ability to index PDFs, a feat more complex than it seems. PDFs aren't text-based; they're graphical, representing text as glyph coordinates that may be rotated, overlapping, or disordered. This article details improvements to PDFBox's PDFTextStripper class. By statistically analyzing font sizes and line spacing, it more effectively identifies semantic information like headings and paragraphs. This enhances the accuracy and suitability of PDF text extraction, enabling effective indexing of PDF content.

(www.marginalia.nu)

Development PDF indexing

Japan's EV Sales Plummet: First Decline in Four Years

2025-01-10

Japan's EV Sales Plummet: First Decline in Four Years

Sales of electric vehicles in Japan plunged 33% year-on-year in 2024 to 59,736 units, marking the first decline in four years. EVs accounted for less than 2% of total vehicle sales, the lowest among major advanced economies. While global EV sales continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace, Japan's slow adoption of EVs is increasingly apparent. Nissan maintained its top spot, while China's BYD saw growth thanks to a new model.

(asia.nikkei.com)

Tech Japan Auto Market

1895 California Cycling Road Map Unearthed

2025-01-11

1895 California Cycling Road Map Unearthed

The Library of Congress holds a fascinating 1895 map of California roads for cyclists, created by George W. Blum and the California Photo-Engraving Co. This historical artifact offers a unique glimpse into California's road network and cycling culture at the turn of the 20th century, providing valuable data for researchers studying transportation and history.

(www.loc.gov)

Misc historical map cycling

Iceland's Election System: A Near-Perfect Proportional Representation?

2025-04-19

Iceland's upcoming election highlights its unique biproportional representation system. The system uses the d'Hondt divisor method to allocate seats, first assigning constituency seats and then adjustment seats to balance voting power across constituencies. However, Iceland uses an approximation algorithm, not the mathematically optimal method, potentially leading to unfair results. The article details the system's mechanics and flaws, suggesting improvements such as increasing the number of adjustment seats or adopting a fairer voting method. A voting simulator is mentioned.

(smarimccarthy.is)

Misc election system proportional representation iceland

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