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Rep. Raskin Urges Citizens to Demand Their Data from DOGE

2025-03-13

Rep. Raskin Urges Citizens to Demand Their Data from DOGE

Rep. Jamie Raskin is encouraging all U.S. citizens to join him in formally requesting access to their personal data held by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk. A court injunction compels DOGE to comply with citizen requests under the Freedom of Information Act, encompassing the Federal Privacy Act of 1974. Citizens can simply fill out a form and mail it to DOGE to access their data. This newly recognized federal agency, having systematically accessed government computer systems, is now obligated to respond to information requests from any citizen exercising their right to privacy.

(jamieraskin.com)

Tech Freedom of Information Act

Eight Years of Self-Hosted Email: A Mail-in-a-Box Migration Story

2025-03-15

Eight Years of Self-Hosted Email: A Mail-in-a-Box Migration Story

This post recounts eight years of using Mail-in-a-Box (MiaB) for self-hosted email, culminating in a recent migration from Ubuntu 18.04 to 22.04. Challenges included persistent deliverability issues with Hotmail (resolved by switching hosting providers), and database conflicts during a Nextcloud upgrade (manually fixed). The author details the complexities of DNS configuration and the backup/disaster recovery strategies employed during the migration. The successful migration underscores the author's commitment to software freedom and independence, highlighting the learning and persistence involved in tackling technical challenges.

(nilsnh.no)

Development self-hosted email server migration

GCC 15 to Support COBOL!

2025-03-11

A major update is coming to the GCC 15 compiler: COBOL language front-end support has been merged! This is a significant step forward for GCC's COBOL support, facilitating the migration of legacy mainframe COBOL applications to Linux and cloud environments. While COBOL's popularity isn't what it once was, this merge is still a welcome surprise. Developers can use the `gcobol` command to invoke the COBOL compiler front-end. Expect COBOL support alongside many other features in the GCC 15.1 stable release in the coming weeks.

(www.phoronix.com)

Development

arXivLabs: Experimental Projects with Community Collaborators

2025-02-22

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Individuals and organizations working with arXivLabs embrace our 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 improve the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

tänzer: A Minimalistic Tcl Web Server Framework

2025-03-16

tänzer is a minimalistic web server framework for Tcl providing a straightforward environment for building HTTP/1.1 web applications. It features asynchronous HTTP/1.1 support, a pattern-based request routing engine, SCGI client and server support, CGI executable support, fast static file serving, and works out-of-the-box on Tcl 8.6. Designed for simplicity, even creating a 'Hello, world!' application is incredibly easy.

(tanzer.io)

Development

AI and Math: A Clash of Cultures and a Call for Collaboration

2025-03-13

The 2025 Joint Mathematics Meeting highlighted the burgeoning intersection of AI and mathematics, revealing a cultural divide between academic mathematicians and industry AI researchers. Mathematicians prioritize understanding, while AI researchers often focus on results. This difference manifests in contrasting approaches to openness, transparency, and the very nature of proof. The article delves into the essence of mathematics, its culture and values, and explores AI's potential applications in literature management, theorem verification, and other areas. The author argues that AI should augment human mathematical capabilities, not replace human mathematicians, emphasizing the need for mutual respect and collaboration to advance the field.

(sugaku.net)

AI Cultural Differences

The College Tuition Myth: It's Cheaper Than You Think

2025-02-23

The College Tuition Myth: It's Cheaper Than You Think

Despite widespread belief that college tuition is skyrocketing, data reveals a different story. Since 2014, public four-year college tuition has actually fallen by 21% in real terms, while private college tuition is down 12% after adjusting for inflation. This is due to a peculiar pricing strategy: universities set a high sticker price, then offer substantial financial aid to low-income students, effectively subsidizing their education. This creates a huge gap between the published cost and the net price, with the public fixating on the inflated sticker price. While sticker prices continue to rise, net prices are falling, thanks to increased federal Pell Grants, rebounding state appropriations, and colleges offering more aid. With the number of 18-year-olds peaking this year before a long decline, competition for students will intensify, likely pushing net tuition further down. However, public perception remains skewed, leading many to miss out on higher education and eroding confidence in the system.

(www.theatlantic.com)

Misc higher education tuition financial aid

Decoding Human Brain Language Activity with Whisper

2025-03-11

Decoding Human Brain Language Activity with Whisper

Researchers used the Whisper model to analyze ECoG and speech signals from four epilepsy patients during natural conversations. Results showed that Whisper's acoustic, speech, and language embeddings accurately predicted neural activity, especially during speech production and comprehension. Speech embeddings excelled in perceptual and motor areas, while language embeddings performed better in higher-level language areas. The study reveals how speech and language information are encoded across multiple brain regions and how speech information influences language processing. It also uncovered distinct temporal dynamics of information flow during speech production and comprehension, and differences between deep learning and symbolic models in predicting neural activity.

(www.nature.com)

AI

Beyond Cron: Building Robust Scheduled Backups with systemd

2025-03-14

Beyond Cron: Building Robust Scheduled Backups with systemd

Tired of Cron's limitations? This article shows how to build a more reliable, monitorable, and manageable scheduled backup system using systemd. By creating systemd timer and service files, you can easily schedule the execution of backup scripts and add pre- and post-execution actions, such as sending notifications of backup success or failure, using ExecStartPre and ExecStopPost. systemd's persistence mechanism ensures that backup tasks are reliably executed even after system restarts, while its logging and monitoring capabilities significantly improve system maintainability. Leave Cron's shortcomings behind and embrace the convenience and reliability of systemd!

(yieldcode.blog)

Development scheduled tasks

Chasing JIT Compilers: The False Promise of Optimizing Inline Caches

2025-03-13

This paper investigates improving Ahead-of-Time (AoT) compiler performance by adding Dynamic Binary Modification (DBM). Researchers implemented a DBM-based inline cache (IC) optimization in the Hopc AoT JavaScript compiler. However, experiments showed no performance improvement. The study found that reducing memory accesses doesn't always speed up execution on modern architectures, challenging traditional optimization strategies. It concludes that sophisticated compiler optimizations are only worthwhile if the processor can't already accelerate the code, a finding applicable to both AoT and JIT compilers.

(programming-journal.org)

Development dynamic binary modification

Bluesky CEO's Anti-Zuckerberg Statement: The Rise of Decentralized Social Networks

2025-03-11

Bluesky CEO's Anti-Zuckerberg Statement: The Rise of Decentralized Social Networks

At SXSW 2025, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber wore a t-shirt reading “Mundus sine caesaribus” (A world without Caesars), a subtle jab at Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. This was a direct response to Zuckerberg's previous “Aut Zuck aut nihil” (Either Zuckerberg or nothing) statement. Bluesky, as a decentralized and open-source social network, empowers users with direct participation in platform development and greater autonomy. In contrast to Meta's controversial policies, Bluesky's openness has attracted a significant user base. While still significantly smaller than Meta, its unique philosophy and cultural impact secure its place in the social media landscape.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

Docs: Open-Source Collaborative Document Editor Takes on Notion

2025-03-16

Docs: Open-Source Collaborative Document Editor Takes on Notion

Docs is an open-source collaborative document editor designed to simplify knowledge creation and sharing. It features offline editing, clean formatting, AI-powered actions (generate, summarize, correct, translate), real-time collaboration, and granular access control. Docs is easy to install and scale, offering multiple document export formats. Led by the French and German governments, this multilingual project is under active development and plans to incorporate wiki functionality.

(github.com)

Development collaborative editor

Cursor: AI Coding Assistant – Hype vs. Reality

2025-03-12

Cursor: AI Coding Assistant – Hype vs. Reality

AI coding tools like Cursor are generating mixed reactions, with some claiming to build entire SaaS applications in three days, while others deem them useless. This author, an AI skeptic, shares tips for maximizing Cursor's efficiency. Key strategies include creating a `.cursorrules` file and iteratively refining its rules to avoid excessive input; clearly specifying code locations and relevant context; using Composer (Agent) for simple changes and Chat (Ask) for complex ones; carefully reviewing and refactoring AI-generated code; and thoroughly communicating with the AI before tackling complex tasks. The author concludes that AI coding tools are useful when mentally fatigued, but caution is advised against over-reliance, acknowledging potential skill atrophy.

(www.nickcraux.com)

Development

A Decade Later: Reflecting on Apple's Controversial 12-inch Retina MacBook

2025-03-13

A Decade Later: Reflecting on Apple's Controversial 12-inch Retina MacBook

A decade ago, Apple launched the infamous 12-inch Retina MacBook, a revolutionary yet controversial device. Its minimalist design, featuring a single USB-C port and butterfly keyboard, made it a talking point. While criticized for performance and battery life, it pioneered features like USB-C, the butterfly keyboard, and a haptic trackpad, shaping the future of Mac design. Discontinued in 2019, its design legacy lives on in the current MacBook Air.

(www.macrumors.com)

Hardware

Symbolic Differentiation in Prolog: Elegant DCGs and Efficient Tabling

2025-03-12

This article demonstrates symbolic differentiation using Prolog and its powerful definite clause grammars (DCGs). It begins by explaining fundamental calculus concepts, particularly the definition and rules of differentiation. A mathematical expression parser is then constructed using DCGs, transforming string-based expressions into abstract syntax trees (ASTs). To address left recursion, tabling is employed for efficiency. Finally, simplification rules refine the derivative results. The process highlights Prolog's strengths in symbolic computation, showcasing its elegance and efficiency.

(bitsandtheorems.com)

Development Symbolic Differentiation

Apple's Siri AI Upgrade Delayed: Internal Struggle and Pressure

2025-03-15

Apple's Siri AI Upgrade Delayed: Internal Struggle and Pressure

An internal meeting within Apple's Siri team revealed that the planned Siri AI upgrade, originally promised last June, has been indefinitely delayed. This decision has caused anxiety and pressure within the team, and also exposed Apple's lagging position in the AI race. The meeting revealed that the delay stems from internal resource reallocation and miscommunication with the marketing department, leading to over-promised features. While Apple executives have taken responsibility for the delay, Siri's future still faces numerous challenges, including technical issues and managing user expectations.

(www.theverge.com)

AI

Critical Authentication Bypass in ruby-saml

2025-03-15

Critical Authentication Bypass in ruby-saml

Researchers at GitHub Security Lab discovered two critical authentication bypass vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-25291 and CVE-2025-25292) in the ruby-saml library. Attackers can use a single valid signature to forge SAML assertions, allowing account takeover by logging in as any user. The vulnerability stems from ruby-saml's use of two different XML parsers (REXML and Nokogiri), creating a parser differential exploited by attackers. Version 1.18.0 fixes the vulnerability; all users are urged to update immediately.

(github.blog)

Development

NIST Selects Backup Quantum-Resistant Encryption Algorithm

2025-03-11

NIST Selects Backup Quantum-Resistant Encryption Algorithm

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has chosen HQC as a backup algorithm to its already standardized ML-KEM for post-quantum cryptography. HQC, based on error-correcting codes, offers a second line of defense against future quantum computers, using a different mathematical approach than the lattice-based ML-KEM. While ML-KEM remains the recommended choice for general encryption, HQC provides crucial redundancy in case vulnerabilities are discovered in ML-KEM. NIST plans to release a draft standard for HQC in about a year, with finalization expected in 2027.

(www.nist.gov)

Tech

Ballista Botnet Exploits TP-Link Router Flaw, Infecting 6,000+ Devices

2025-03-11

Ballista Botnet Exploits TP-Link Router Flaw, Infecting 6,000+ Devices

A new botnet, Ballista, is exploiting a high-severity vulnerability (CVE-2023-1389) in unpatched TP-Link Archer AX-21 routers, infecting over 6,000 devices. The vulnerability allows remote code execution, enabling Ballista to spread automatically via command injection. The botnet targets manufacturing, medical, services, and technology organizations, predominantly in Brazil, Poland, the UK, Bulgaria, and Turkey, but also impacting the US, Australia, China, and Mexico. Ballista uses a malware dropper and shell script to execute its main binary, establishing a C2 channel to control infected devices and perform DoS attacks and sensitive file reading. Researchers suspect an Italian origin, but the use of Tor networks suggests ongoing development and active evasion techniques.

(www.tomsguide.com)

Tech botnet

UK Cloud Services Market: Oligopoly Concerns

2025-01-28

UK Cloud Services Market: Oligopoly Concerns

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has released provisional findings from its investigation into the UK cloud services market. AWS and Microsoft hold a dominant 30-40% market share each, dwarfing Google's presence. High capital investment and technical barriers create significant entry hurdles, hindering customer switching. Microsoft leverages its software strength to further limit competition. The CMA proposes using new digital market powers to consider designating AWS and Microsoft with strategic market status (SMS), potentially implementing interventions like regulating egress fees, lowering technical barriers, and addressing Microsoft's licensing practices. This aims to boost competition, leading to better prices, service quality, and choice for UK businesses.

(www.gov.uk)

Tech digital markets

Athena Lunar Lander Crashes: A Sliding Second Base

2025-03-14

Athena Lunar Lander Crashes: A Sliding Second Base

Intuitive Machines' Athena lunar lander experienced an unexpected landing. While its navigation software successfully identified nearby craters, an altimeter malfunction caused it to impact the lunar surface at an angle, skidding and rotating several times before coming to rest in a shadowed crater. Dust covering the solar panels prevented sufficient power generation to run heaters, leaving the lander facing power depletion and cold temperatures. This mission proved even more disappointing than anticipated.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech lunar landing spacecraft malfunction

LEGO Interferometers Bring Quantum Physics to Life

2025-02-25

Researchers at the University of Nottingham have developed LEGO-based interferometer kits to make quantum science more accessible. These hands-on kits, designed for secondary school students and beyond, replicate professional optical equipment, allowing students to build and experiment with lasers, mirrors, and beamsplitters to observe interference patterns. The project, 'Photon Bricks,' has been a hit at exhibitions, with participants praising its engaging approach to complex concepts. The kits are designed to inspire the next generation of scientists and are currently being rolled out to schools in Nottingham and Cardiff.

(www.nottingham.ac.uk)

Tech Quantum Physics STEM Education

DuckDB Now Has a Built-in Local UI!

2025-03-12

DuckDB Now Has a Built-in Local UI!

The DuckDB team and MotherDuck are thrilled to announce a built-in local UI for DuckDB! This powerful web interface runs locally, eliminating the need for extra software. It features interactive notebooks, database browsing, table data preview, and data analysis tools, making interacting with DuckDB significantly easier. All queries are processed locally for enhanced data security. The UI also offers optional connection to MotherDuck cloud services for seamless data sharing and collaboration.

(duckdb.org)

Development Local UI

bioRxiv and medRxiv Become Independent Non-Profit: openRxiv

2025-03-11

bioRxiv and medRxiv Become Independent Non-Profit: openRxiv

The preprint servers bioRxiv and medRxiv, previously managed by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), have launched as the independent non-profit organization openRxiv. This transition, supported by a $16 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), ensures the long-term sustainability of these crucial platforms for sharing biological and medical research preprints. Since their inception, bioRxiv has hosted over 268,000 preprints, and medRxiv nearly 64,000, collectively attracting over 11 million monthly readers. The creation of openRxiv marks a significant step in the maturation of preprint servers and underscores their vital role in the scientific publishing ecosystem.

(www.nature.com)

Tech biology open science

Speeding Up Merge Sort with CUDA: A Parallel Computing Adventure

2025-03-12

Building on a previous post about sorting algorithms, this article explores performance improvements using CUDA for parallel computing. The author implements merge sort, initially using a recursive top-down approach. However, this proves inefficient in CUDA. Switching to an iterative bottom-up merge sort and parallelizing the merge operations yields significant performance gains. Benchmarking shows the CUDA iterative approach is competitive with, and sometimes outperforms, standard CPU sorting for larger arrays.

(ashwanirathee.com)

Development Merge Sort

PicoLisp Documentation: A Comprehensive Guide

2025-03-16

This document aims to guide you through mastering the PicoLisp programming language. It gathers scattered PicoLisp code and knowledge from the internet, providing tutorials, examples, and explanations of important concepts from beginner to advanced levels. The documentation covers efficient editing, different versions of PicoLisp (including the 64-bit version and ErsatzLisp in Java), online books, source code, and numerous useful libraries and frameworks such as Web.l, Macropis, and Pl-web. You'll learn how to build projects and share your creations with the community.

(picolisp.com)

Development

Saying Goodbye to Traditional Tiling Window Managers: Embracing the Infinite Space of Niri

2025-03-12

Saying Goodbye to Traditional Tiling Window Managers: Embracing the Infinite Space of Niri

The author, a long-time user of tiling window managers (Sway and i3), recently switched to the innovative Niri window manager due to a bug in Sway. Niri uses a scrollable tiling design, solving the space limitations of traditional tiling managers. The author details comparisons between Niri and Sway, highlighting Niri's superior screen sharing, screenshot capabilities, battery life, and ease of hacking. He argues that Niri breaks the artificial space constraints of traditional tiling managers, boosting productivity, and highly recommends it to others.

(ersei.net)

Development

The Spectacular Failure of Britain's Land Value Tax: A Cautionary Tale

2025-03-13

The Spectacular Failure of Britain's Land Value Tax: A Cautionary Tale

In the early 1900s, the British Liberal Party attempted to implement a land value tax, inspired by Henry George's theories, to solve local government funding crises. However, the initiative proved disastrous. Complex calculations, high administrative costs, and a crippling blow to the construction industry led to its repeal. The episode serves as a cautionary tale about the practical challenges of implementing a pure land value tax and the importance of considering administrative realities and economic impacts.

(worksinprogress.co)

Tech land value tax British history

A Labyrinthine HTML Structure: Diving into a Deeply Nested Code

2025-03-14

A Labyrinthine HTML Structure: Diving into a Deeply Nested Code

This code snippet reveals an unusually complex, deeply nested HTML structure. Like a maze, layers upon layers of div elements make it difficult to discern the underlying logic. This brings to mind the intricate architectures of complex programs or websites, their internal complexities often exceeding imagination. While the code itself contains no actual content, the sheer complexity of its structure invites discussion. Is this a deliberate design choice? Or the result of a programming error?

(www.figma.com)

Development HTML structure

AI-Powered Lawmaking: A Shift in the Balance of Power

2025-01-26

AI-Powered Lawmaking: A Shift in the Balance of Power

Artificial intelligence is increasingly involved in the legislative process, subtly altering the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches. The rising complexity of laws is driving legislators to utilize AI for tasks ranging from bill drafting to policy analysis, boosting efficiency. However, potential risks exist, including the manipulation of AI to favor specific interests. The article explores AI's impact on legislative efficiency and power dynamics, highlighting the ensuing challenges and opportunities.

(www.lawfaremedia.org)

Tech Legislation Power Balance

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