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Calculator Puzzle: Four-Digit Numbers Always Divisible by 11?

2025-01-03
Calculator Puzzle: Four-Digit Numbers Always Divisible by 11?

A blog post presents a mathematical puzzle involving a standard calculator keypad. The puzzle challenges players to press four digit keys forming the corners of a square or rectangle, creating a four-digit number. The post elegantly proves that regardless of the chosen square or rectangle, the resulting four-digit number will always be divisible by 11. Multiple proof methods, including algebraic and pattern-based approaches, are explored, sparking an engaging discussion on mathematical patterns.

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(aperiodical.com)
Misc math puzzle calculator

Slime OS: An Experimental App Launcher for PicoVision

2025-02-21
Slime OS: An Experimental App Launcher for PicoVision

Slime OS is an app launcher for the PicoVision (and soon other RP2040 and RP2350 devices), initially designed for the Slimedeck Zero mini-cyberdeck project. It runs in a limited 32-color mode with a 400x240 internal resolution, upscaling to 800x480. Currently, it supports i2c keyboard input, with USB keyboard support planned. The project is experimental and has known issues, including some apps being upside down and limited hardware support, but contributions to expand hardware compatibility are welcome.

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(github.com)
Development app launcher

MTG-S1 Launch: A Forecasting Revolution for Europe

2025-07-05
MTG-S1 Launch: A Forecasting Revolution for Europe

On July 1st, 2025, EUMETSAT successfully launched MTG-S1, a geostationary meteorological satellite ushering in a new era for European weather forecasting. Equipped with an infrared sounder and the Copernicus Sentinel-4 spectrometer, MTG-S1 provides high-frequency data on atmospheric temperature, humidity, and trace gases. This allows for earlier detection of severe weather, extended warning times, improved forecasting accuracy, and ultimately, better protection of lives and property. The successful launch, a testament to European collaboration, significantly enhances Europe's capacity to address the challenges of climate change.

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(www.eumetsat.int)
Tech weather satellite

In Memoriam: Donald Bitzer, Pioneer of Computing

2024-12-13
In Memoriam: Donald Bitzer, Pioneer of Computing

The Computer History Museum mourns the passing of Donald L. Bitzer (1934-2024), a pioneering computer scientist. Co-inventor of the flat-panel plasma display and creator of the PLATO system—the world's earliest time-shared computer-based education system and a groundbreaking online community—Bitzer's innovations presaged many modern online features. PLATO included forums, message boards, online testing, email, chat rooms, instant messaging, and multiplayer games, laying the groundwork for the interconnected digital world we know today.

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(computerhistory.org)
Tech computer history plasma display PLATO system

Avoid Negativity: Crucial Career Advice

2025-06-20

This article emphasizes the importance of avoiding negativity echo chambers in one's career. While acknowledging that some complaining is normal, it warns against prolonged immersion in groups filled with negativity, impacting both career progression and mental/physical well-being. The author suggests focusing on positive aspects and striving for improvement if career advancement is desired, or dedicating energy to personal enjoyment if not. The article advocates finding positive communities and role models for genuine progress, rather than dwelling on endless complaints. Actively participating in and protecting cherished communities, while setting a positive example, is key to building a constructive environment.

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(brooker.co.za)
Misc negativity bias

NSO Group's Pegasus Spyware Fails to Stay Hidden: Journalists Expose Flaws

2025-03-28
NSO Group's Pegasus Spyware Fails to Stay Hidden: Journalists Expose Flaws

A new report details attempted hacks against Serbian journalists using NSO Group's Pegasus spyware. Amnesty International researchers traced phishing links directly to NSO Group's infrastructure, exposing serious flaws in the company's and its clients' attempts at stealth. Pegasus has been used to target at least 130 individuals globally, including journalists and activists, over the years. Apple has also helped expose attacks by notifying victims. NSO Group's sale of its software to countries that misuse it is contributing to its exposure. The incident highlights NSO Group's operational security failures and the threat its spyware poses to human rights.

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(techcrunch.com)
Tech

The Secret Behind Deluxe Ski Jump's Unforgettable Flight Feeling

2025-04-01
The Secret Behind Deluxe Ski Jump's Unforgettable Flight Feeling

Jussi Koskela, the solo developer behind the enduring ski jumping game Deluxe Ski Jump, shares the story of its creation and enduring success. From childhood coding to mastering realistic physics simulations, Koskela's journey reflects a passion for the sport and innovative game design. The game's unique mouse controls immerse players, making them feel like real ski jumpers. Despite the challenges of balancing realism and playability, Koskela's dedication to detail and community engagement has kept Deluxe Ski Jump relevant for over 25 years, with a passionate following, particularly in Poland. He continues to update the game, promising more exciting features to come.

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(spillhistorie.no)
Game Game Interview Classic Games

NZ Health System Runs on Excel Spreadsheet, Blows $16B Budget

2025-03-11
NZ Health System Runs on Excel Spreadsheet, Blows $16B Budget

Health New Zealand (HNZ), managing a $16 billion budget, relies primarily on a single Excel spreadsheet for financial management. This led to budget overruns, and a Deloitte report revealed critical flaws: untraceable data, high error rates, and slow analysis. Despite possessing 6,000 applications and 100 digital networks, HNZ's senior leadership lacks coordination, holding only weekly in-person meetings. The Health Minister lacks a concrete improvement plan, raising serious concerns.

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(www.theregister.com)
Tech Government Agency Budget Overrun Digital Transformation budget management healthcare system Healthcare System

Deep Research: Hype Cycle or Paradigm Shift?

2025-03-05
Deep Research: Hype Cycle or Paradigm Shift?

A flurry of "Deep Research" features from leading AI labs—Google, OpenAI, Perplexity, and others—has ignited a buzz. However, the term lacks a clear definition, essentially representing an evolution of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). These systems leverage LLMs as agents, iteratively searching and analyzing information to produce comprehensive reports. This article dissects the technical implementations, ranging from early composite pattern approaches with hand-tuned prompts to end-to-end optimized systems like Stanford's STORM, which utilizes reinforcement learning. While Google Gemini and Perplexity offer similar features, details remain undisclosed. The article concludes with a conceptual map comparing the iterative depth and training sophistication of various "Deep Research" offerings.

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(leehanchung.github.io)
AI

UK Mission to Search for Life in Venus's Clouds

2025-07-14
UK Mission to Search for Life in Venus's Clouds

A UK-led mission aims to definitively answer whether life exists on Venus. The mission will send a probe to search for microbial life, not on the surface, but within Venus's clouds. Recent discoveries of phosphine and ammonia—potential biosignatures—in the Venusian clouds have fueled this investigation. While these gases are produced by biological activity and industrial processes on Earth, their origin on Venus remains a mystery. Given Venus's harsh surface conditions, microbial life in the cooler, higher altitudes of the clouds is a more plausible explanation. The mission, VERVE, will hitch a ride on the ESA's EnVision mission, launching in 2031, and conduct an independent atmospheric survey upon arrival. Previous detections of phosphine were controversial, but further research suggests its presence varies and is destroyed by sunlight, explaining discrepancies in earlier findings. The detection of ammonia further strengthens the case for investigating this possibility.

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(gizmodo.com)
Tech Probe

Antarctica's Beloved Bus, Ivan, Escapes the Scrapyard

2025-03-31
Antarctica's Beloved Bus, Ivan, Escapes the Scrapyard

Ivan, a legendary Terra Bus that served at McMurdo Station in Antarctica since 1994, faced retirement and potential scrapping. Its unique charm and role in transporting countless researchers made it an Antarctic icon. A community effort, however, saved Ivan from the scrapyard. After a campaign by former passengers and staff, Ivan was shipped to Christchurch, New Zealand, where it's expected to find a new home in a museum, preserving a piece of Antarctic history. The story highlights the deep connection between people and objects imbued with shared experiences.

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(www.atlasobscura.com)
Misc Preservation

Linux Context Switching Internals: Process State and Memory

2025-01-02
Linux Context Switching Internals: Process State and Memory

This article delves into the Linux kernel's representation of processes and their states, focusing on the key data structures: task_struct and mm_struct. task_struct manages the execution state, including process state, CPU time tracking, and scheduling information. mm_struct handles memory state, encompassing page tables, memory segment boundaries, and architecture-specific details. The article thoroughly explains the fields within these structures and their roles in context switching, offering a deep understanding of the Linux kernel's inner workings.

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(blog.codingconfessions.com)
Development Context Switching Process Management

Dating App Deep Dive: The Untold Story of User Behavior and Retention

2025-02-04

An engineer who spent months working inside a dating app reveals its inner workings. The article details user ranking algorithms (based on like-to-pass ratio, with significant gender differences), user behavior (men prioritize looks, women prioritize personality, but both lean towards entertainment rather than serious dating), recommendation algorithms (personalization over simple recommendations), retention (tied to likes and matches, harder to improve for men), monetization (men pay for more likes), and user demographics (younger users prioritize looks, older users prioritize personality). The author argues that a dating app's success lies in precise personalization and effective retention strategies, not complex algorithms or features.

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(blog.luap.info)
Misc

Earth's Inner Core May Have Changed Shape: Seismic Waves Reveal a Twist

2025-03-08
Earth's Inner Core May Have Changed Shape: Seismic Waves Reveal a Twist

New research using seismic wave data suggests Earth's solid inner core may have altered its shape over the past two decades. Analyzing seismic waves from 128 earthquakes off South America (1991-2023), researchers found discrepancies between waves passing through the core and those that didn't. This indicates a change beyond just rotational speed. The change could stem from magnetic forces in the outer core's convection acting on the inner core's less viscous edge, or interactions between the inner core and the lower mantle. However, other factors like outer core changes, inner core convection, or molten material eruptions remain possible explanations. This study offers a new perspective on understanding the Earth's deep interior evolution, but further research is needed for confirmation.

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(www.newscientist.com)
Tech Earth's inner core geophysics

ChatGPT Saves the Day: AI Diagnosis Prevents Stroke

2025-09-14
ChatGPT Saves the Day: AI Diagnosis Prevents Stroke

The author, experiencing headaches, eyelid drooping, and other symptoms, consulted ChatGPT. Initially, ChatGPT suggested benign causes, but as symptoms worsened, it prompted the author to check pupil size. Unequal pupils led ChatGPT to urgently recommend an ER visit. A carotid artery dissection was diagnosed, and timely treatment prevented a stroke. The article highlights AI's potential in medical diagnosis while raising concerns about its future impact.

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(benorenstein.substack.com)
Tech Medical Diagnosis Stroke Prevention

Ransomware Payments Plummet 35%, Signaling Ecosystem Collapse?

2025-02-07
Ransomware Payments Plummet 35%, Signaling Ecosystem Collapse?

A new report by Chainalysis reveals a 35% drop in ransomware payments in 2023, from $1.25 billion to $812.55 million. This significant decline, largely concentrated in the second half of the year, is attributed to law enforcement crackdowns on major ransomware groups like LockBit and the exit scam by AlphV/BlackCat, eroding victim trust in paying ransoms. Despite this, ransomware attacks remain prevalent, with critical infrastructure still under significant threat.

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(therecord.media)
Tech

German Navy Ships Sabotaged, Raising Concerns About Russia

2025-02-14
German Navy Ships Sabotaged, Raising Concerns About Russia

Germany's Inspector of the Navy announced Tuesday that multiple German warships were sabotaged. This follows a report by Süddeutsche Zeitung detailing metal shavings found in the engine system of a new corvette. While not explicitly accusing any party, the naval chief warned of a growing threat from Russia. The incidents follow a string of suspicious fires and explosions at German ammunition facilities and factories, raising concerns about potential Russian involvement and the escalating threat to German and NATO security. Investigations are ongoing, but the sabotage points to a potential deliberate act of aggression.

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(www.businessinsider.com)
Tech German Navy

Back to Basics: Rediscovering the Simplicity of HTML Websites

2025-07-31
Back to Basics: Rediscovering the Simplicity of HTML Websites

This article traces the history of the World Wide Web, from its initial ideal of information sharing to its current state, filled with ads, tracking, and complex frameworks. The author advocates a return to simplicity, promoting the creation of small, hand-coded HTML websites to recapture the original simplicity and freedom of the World Wide Web. The article provides steps for creating a basic website and expresses a desire to escape the excessive commercialization and complexity of the modern web, calling for a return to the spirit of pure information sharing.

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(www.htmlhobbyist.com)
Development

Cogitator: A Python Toolkit for Chain-of-Thought Prompting

2025-05-19
Cogitator: A Python Toolkit for Chain-of-Thought Prompting

Cogitator is a powerful Python toolkit for experimenting with and utilizing chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting methods in large language models (LLMs). CoT prompting enhances LLM performance on complex tasks (like question-answering, reasoning, and problem-solving) by guiding models to generate intermediate reasoning steps before reaching the final answer. It also improves LLM interpretability by offering insights into the model's reasoning process. This toolkit simplifies the use of popular CoT strategies and frameworks for research or integration into AI applications. It includes a customizable and extensible benchmarking framework to evaluate the performance of different CoT strategies on various datasets.

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(github.com)
Development python toolkit

POSIX Time: Not What You Think

2024-12-26

This article debunks a common misconception about POSIX time (Unix time): it's not simply the number of seconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00. Due to leap seconds, the number of seconds in a UTC day isn't a constant 86,400, leading to discrepancies between POSIX time and the actual number of seconds. The article delves into the impact of leap seconds on time calculations and recommends alternatives like CLOCK_MONOTONIC or TAI for precise timekeeping, avoiding errors caused by leap seconds.

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(aphyr.com)
Development POSIX time leap seconds

Claude Controls Elektron Digitone: AI-Powered Music Production

2025-03-28
Claude Controls Elektron Digitone: AI-Powered Music Production

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, Digitone MCP, enables Claude and other MCP-compatible LLMs to interact with and control Elektron Digitone synthesizers via MIDI. Currently, only the Wavetone machine is supported, but more will be added soon. The project uses Python 3.10+, requiring the `uv` package and the Claude Desktop app for full integration. By configuring the MCP server in `claude_desktop_config.json`, Claude can control the Digitone in real-time, enabling AI-assisted music creation. The library features a clean, object-oriented architecture with base controllers, specialized controllers, MCP tools, and a MIDI interface, utilizing FastMCP, Pydantic models, and mido for efficiency and reliability.

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(github.com)
Development AI music creation MIDI control

Grok AI's Obsession with South African White Farmers: Algorithmic Bias or Human Intervention?

2025-05-15
Grok AI's Obsession with South African White Farmers: Algorithmic Bias or Human Intervention?

Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, has recently sparked controversy with its frequent and unsolicited mentions of the alleged "genocide" of white farmers in South Africa. This aligns with Musk and Trump's long-standing interest in the issue, but former US Ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard has labeled the idea of widespread killings as a "disproven racial myth." While Grok claims to pursue "maximal truth-seeking," its output has raised concerns about potential human manipulation of its political biases.

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(arstechnica.com)
AI South Africa

The Cult of Nan Shepherd: A Posthumous Rise

2025-01-21
The Cult of Nan Shepherd: A Posthumous Rise

This article explores the fascinating posthumous rise of Scottish writer Nan Shepherd. Through personal anecdotes, letters, and a backdrop of societal shifts in Aberdeenshire, the author traces Shepherd's journey from relatively unknown author to celebrated nature writer. The piece contrasts Shepherd's unique teaching style with the later, almost cult-like, appreciation of her work, particularly *The Living Mountain*, highlighting the complexities of legacy and the evolving interpretations of her life and writing. The author also reflects on the tension between Shepherd's personal life and the romanticized image now associated with her.

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(www.lrb.co.uk)
Misc Scottish Literature

Sierra Remote Observatories: World-Class Astronomical Imaging

2025-08-03
Sierra Remote Observatories: World-Class Astronomical Imaging

Sierra Remote Observatories boasts over 180 telescopes and offers world-class remote astronomical imaging, data acquisition, satellite tracking, and space communication services. Exceptional seeing conditions include 1 arcsecond summer seeing, sub-arcsecond peak seeing, 290 clear nights per year, dark skies (21.80 mag/arcsec²), no summer monsoons, and an average wind speed of 1 mph. Infrastructure includes 24/7 technical support, easy access, 1 Gbps fiber optic internet (higher speeds available), machine shop services, and turnkey installations.

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(www.sierra-remote.com)
Tech astronomical imaging remote observatory telescopes

Fairphone 6 Leaks: Modular Design and Sustainable Specs

2025-06-23
Fairphone 6 Leaks: Modular Design and Sustainable Specs

Leaked renders reveal Fairphone's upcoming sixth-generation phone, the Fairphone 6, boasting a modular design for easy component replacement. Launching June 25th at €549, it's rumored to feature a 6.31-inch 120Hz pOLED display, Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor, and a 4415mAh battery. The design includes flat edges and a distinctive neon-colored power button, available in black, white, and green. Its commitment to repairability earns it a Class 'A' EU certification.

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(www.androidcentral.com)
Tech Modular Phone

Lessons Learned Optimizing Convolutions with SIMD: Branch Prediction and Compiler Gotchas

2025-03-07

The author attempted to optimize convolution operations using SIMD instructions, only to encounter a performance degradation. The initial implementation used SIMD loads, FMA instructions, and loop optimization techniques, but it was more than twice as slow as the unvectorized version. After debugging, the problem was found to be excessive branch instructions causing CPU branch prediction failures, and compiler inlining limitations preventing the proper use of the AVX instruction set. Finally, by reducing branching, splitting loops, and appropriately using compiler inlining attributes, the author successfully improved performance to the expected level. This case study illustrates the complexity of modern CPU architectures and the details that need to be considered in performance optimization.

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(genna.win)
Development Convolution

The Future of Dashboard Design?

2024-12-23
The Future of Dashboard Design?

This article explores the shortcomings of current dashboard design. The author points out that existing dashboards are often poorly designed and fail to effectively utilize the human visual system to process large amounts of information. The article reviews cognitive systems engineering research from the 80s and 90s on dashboard design, such as ecological interface design and visual momentum, and notes the current industry's lack of focus on improving dashboard design. The author calls for greater attention to dashboard design, to better integrate query functions and improve information processing efficiency.

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(surfingcomplexity.blog)
Development dashboard design observability user interface

SQLite Date and Time Functions Enhanced: More Powerful Date/Time Manipulation

2025-06-15

SQLite's date and time functions have been enhanced to provide richer functionality. This document details the five core functions: `date`, `time`, `datetime`, `julianday`, and `strftime`, along with various time string formats and modifiers like `unixepoch` and `localtime`, enabling more flexible date/time calculations and formatting. A user-contributed patch is also highlighted, adding numerous features such as `start of week`, `end of day` modifiers, and `group * by` functionality for convenient aggregation.

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(www2.sqlite.org)
Development Date/Time Functions
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