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The Demise of the Paper Passport: The Rise of Digital Travel Documents

2024-12-27

The Demise of the Paper Passport: The Rise of Digital Travel Documents

The paper passport is on its way out, thanks to the rise of facial recognition technology and smartphones. Airports and governments worldwide are actively testing and deploying passport-free travel systems, leveraging facial recognition and digital identity verification to streamline the travel process. While this improves efficiency and reduces airport wait times, concerns about data privacy and security, such as data breaches and increased surveillance, are also being raised. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is pushing for the adoption of Digital Travel Credentials (DTCs), which digitize passport information stored on a phone and cryptographically link it to the physical passport. Despite challenges like 'look-alike fraud' and system failures, the trend towards digital travel documents is irreversible; your face may soon be your new passport.

(www.wired.com)

Tech facial recognition digital travel credential passportless travel digital travel

Michael Larabel: 20 Years of Linux Hardware Benchmarking

2025-04-19

Michael Larabel, founder and principal author of Phoronix.com, has dedicated over two decades to improving the Linux hardware experience since founding the site in 2004. He's authored over 20,000 articles covering Linux hardware support, performance, graphics drivers, and more. He's also the lead developer behind the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. A true veteran of the open-source Linux community.

(www.phoronix.com)

Tech

Chimpanzees Caught Sharing Fermented Fruit; First Evidence of Alcoholic Food Sharing in Wild Apes

2025-04-27

Chimpanzees Caught Sharing Fermented Fruit; First Evidence of Alcoholic Food Sharing in Wild Apes

Researchers have observed wild chimpanzees sharing fermented African breadfruit containing measurable alcohol content, marking the first documented instance of alcoholic food sharing among nonhuman great apes in the wild. The seasonal fruit, from *Treculia africana* trees, ferments naturally after falling to the ground. Camera traps captured 17 chimps sharing the fruit on 10 occasions, with a preference for riper, higher-alcohol content fruit. While the alcohol content is relatively low (around 0.61% ABV), the fruit's prominence in their diet means significant ethanol intake is possible. However, intoxication is unlikely, offering no evolutionary benefit, and African ape ancestors may possess enhanced alcohol metabolism.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech alcohol behavior

Bethesda Officially Blesses Skyblivion, the Oblivion Skyrim Fan Remake

2025-05-03

Bethesda Officially Blesses Skyblivion, the Oblivion Skyrim Fan Remake

Bethesda's recent release of the Oblivion remaster has been overshadowed by the excitement surrounding Skyblivion, a fan-made mod aiming to recreate Oblivion in Skyrim's engine. Instead of legal action, Bethesda has publicly endorsed the project, showcasing gameplay footage in a developer spotlight video and expressing enthusiasm for its release later this year. This act of support highlights Bethesda's positive relationship with its modding community and sets a commendable example for other publishers.

(kotaku.com)

Game Fan Mod

Could Gorbachev's Reforms Have Saved the USSR?

2025-01-02

This article explores whether the collapse of the Soviet Union was inevitable. Historians analyze the USSR's demise from multiple angles: economic struggles, Gorbachev's reforms (perestroika and glasnost), rising nationalism, and the loss of media control. Some argue the Soviet economic model couldn't sustain both military might and a decent standard of living, and that Gorbachev's reforms exacerbated existing tensions, ultimately leading to the USSR's disintegration. Others suggest that had the Communist Party maintained control over the media, the Soviet Union might have survived longer. Ultimately, the USSR's collapse resulted from a confluence of factors, not a single cause.

(www.historytoday.com)

Tech Soviet Union Collapse Gorbachev

Fighting Back Against Abusive Web Crawlers with Fake JPEGs

2025-07-12

Fighting Back Against Abusive Web Crawlers with Fake JPEGs

The author developed a small web application called Spigot that generates fake web pages to confuse malicious web crawlers. Recently, a crawler called ImageSiftBot aggressively targeted it for images, despite Spigot lacking them. To counter this, the author cleverly exploits the structure of JPEG files, generating fake JPEGs filled with random data. This effectively wastes the crawler's resources while minimizing CPU load on the server. The approach is simple and efficient, requiring minimal code, and the generated images display correctly in most browsers.

(www.ty-penguin.org.uk)

Development malicious crawlers

Ukraine's Drone Strike Cripples Russian Air Force

2025-06-01

Ukraine's Drone Strike Cripples Russian Air Force

A Ukrainian drone attack deep inside Russia destroyed over 40 Russian aircraft, a Ukrainian security official revealed. The operation, overseen by President Zelenskyy and spanning over a year and a half, involved transporting drones deep into Russian territory to target airfields, including Belaya air base in Irkutsk. This occurred amidst a massive Russian missile and drone barrage on Ukraine, resulting in Ukrainian military casualties. Despite this, Ukraine affirmed its commitment to continuing peace talks with Russia in Istanbul.

(www.npr.org)

Tech Drone Strike

arXivLabs: Building New arXiv Features with Community Collaboration

2025-05-27

arXivLabs is a framework enabling developers to collaborate and share new arXiv features directly on the arXiv website. Participants must embrace arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. Got an idea to enhance the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs and get involved!

(arxiv.org)

Development

Cornell's Microwave Brain: An Analog Chip Revolutionizing AI

2025-08-25

Cornell's Microwave Brain: An Analog Chip Revolutionizing AI

Researchers at Cornell University have unveiled a groundbreaking analog chip, dubbed the "microwave brain," capable of simultaneously processing ultrafast data and wireless communication signals. Unlike traditional digital computers, this chip leverages the physics of microwaves to mimic the human brain's neuronal pattern recognition and learning, achieving higher efficiency with lower power consumption. Operating at tens of gigahertz with a mere 200 milliwatts, it boasts 88% accuracy in classifying wireless signals. Its compact size allows integration into smartwatches and phones, enabling AI capabilities without cloud connectivity. Further applications include enhanced hardware security, anomaly detection in wireless communication, and improved radar and radio signal processing.

(newatlas.com)

AI analog chip microwave neural network

Microsoft and ASUS ROG Team Up for Xbox Ally Handheld: Expanding the Gaming Ecosystem

2025-06-08

Microsoft and ASUS ROG Team Up for Xbox Ally Handheld: Expanding the Gaming Ecosystem

Microsoft officially unveiled two new handheld gaming consoles in partnership with ASUS ROG during the Xbox Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest: the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. Launching this holiday season, these devices will play Xbox games natively, via cloud gaming, or by remotely accessing an Xbox console. They also support games from Battle.net and other leading PC storefronts, along with Game Pass and Xbox Play Anywhere. The Xbox Ally features an AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD; the Ally X boasts a more powerful AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor, 24GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Both handhelds sport a 7-inch 1080p 120Hz display with FreeSync Premium. Microsoft has designed a full-screen Xbox UI and Game Bar overlay, and optimized Windows 11 for the devices.

(www.engadget.com)

Hardware Xbox Handheld Gaming Hardware

The AI Tattoo Generator Revolutionizing Personalized Ink

2025-01-07

The AI Tattoo Generator Revolutionizing Personalized Ink

Tired of generic tattoo designs? The #1 AI tattoo generator lets you create professional, unique tattoo designs with ease. Simply input your preferences and generate a wide range of styles, fulfilling your vision for personalized body art. Skip the long wait times and high costs of traditional tattoo artists; this AI tool is changing the tattoo game.

(www.tattoopro.ai)

Design Tattoo

EA Cuts 300 Jobs, Including Respawn Layoffs

2025-04-29

EA Cuts 300 Jobs, Including Respawn Layoffs

Electronic Arts (EA) announced significant layoffs today, impacting approximately 300 employees across the company. This includes the previously reported 100 job cuts at Respawn Entertainment. The cuts primarily affected EA's Experiences team, encompassing customer support, fan care, and marketing roles, with reductions in other departments as well. Affected employees will have the opportunity to apply for internal positions before termination. EA stated the restructuring aims to realign teams and resources to drive future growth. The Respawn layoffs included developers, publishers, and QA testers on Apex Legends, and smaller teams working on the Jedi team and two canceled projects—one previously reported, the other rumored to be a new Titanfall game. This follows previous layoffs at EA in recent years.

(www.ign.com)

Game

Marvel & DC Crossover: Deadpool vs. Batman

2025-05-27

Marvel & DC Crossover: Deadpool vs. Batman

After over two decades, Marvel and DC Comics are teaming up for an epic crossover event! This September and November, Deadpool and Batman will collide in separate one-shots. Marvel's *Deadpool/Batman*, written by Zeb Wells and illustrated by Greg Capullo, will see Deadpool take on a job in Gotham City, leading to a clash with the Dark Knight. DC's *Batman/Deadpool*, written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Dan Mora, promises another exciting chapter. This collaboration brings together top creative talent from both companies, promising a thrilling comic book experience. Even better, another crossover is planned for 2026!

(ew.com)

Game Marvel Comic Crossover

SeedLM: A Novel LLM Weight Compression Method Using Pseudo-Random Number Generators

2025-04-06

SeedLM: A Novel LLM Weight Compression Method Using Pseudo-Random Number Generators

Large Language Models (LLMs) are hindered by high runtime costs, limiting widespread deployment. Meta researchers introduce SeedLM, a novel post-training compression method using seeds from a pseudo-random number generator to encode and compress model weights. During inference, SeedLM uses a Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR) to efficiently generate a random matrix, linearly combined with compressed coefficients to reconstruct weight blocks. This reduces memory access and leverages idle compute cycles, speeding up memory-bound tasks by trading compute for fewer memory accesses. Unlike state-of-the-art methods requiring calibration data, SeedLM is data-free and generalizes well across diverse tasks. Experiments on the challenging Llama 3 70B show zero-shot accuracy at 4- and 3-bit compression matching or exceeding state-of-the-art methods, while maintaining performance comparable to FP16 baselines. FPGA tests demonstrate that 4-bit SeedLM approaches a 4x speed-up over an FP16 Llama 2/3 baseline as model size increases.

(machinelearning.apple.com)

AI

Denver Rent Plunges as 20,000 New Units Flood Market

2025-08-01

Denver Rent Plunges as 20,000 New Units Flood Market

Denver apartment rents have fallen 3.7% year-over-year in Q2 2024, marking the first sustained decline in 15 years. A surge of approximately 20,000 new units has created a surplus, forcing landlords to lower rents to attract tenants. Average rent is $1,832 per month, similar to three years ago. While spring typically sees a rent increase, this year's rise was minimal at 0.7%. The vacancy rate stands at 6.4%, though it varies across counties. Landlords are also offering concessions like free rent. The pipeline of new construction is slowing, potentially paving the way for future rent increases.

(denverite.com)

Misc Denver rent apartment

Pre-Columbian Venetian Beads Found in Arctic Alaska: Rewriting History?

2025-05-24

Pre-Columbian Venetian Beads Found in Arctic Alaska: Rewriting History?

Archaeologists have unearthed Venetian glass beads dating from 1397-1488 AD in pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Arctic Alaska. These beads, thousands of kilometers from their origin, predate Columbus's arrival in the Americas and provide compelling evidence of extensive trans-Eurasian trade networks reaching the Arctic before European maritime expansion. The discovery necessitates a reassessment of global trade and Indigenous connectivity, showcasing a far more interconnected world than previously imagined and challenging long-held assumptions about hemispheric isolation.

(peterfrankopan.substack.com)

Tech Transcontinental Trade

arXivLabs: Community-Driven Experiments on arXiv

2025-04-25

arXivLabs is a platform enabling collaborators to build and share new features directly on the arXiv website. Participants, individuals and organizations alike, embrace arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these principles and only partners with those who share them. Got an idea for a valuable community project? Explore arXivLabs!

(arxiv.org)

Development

Formalizing Analysis I in Lean: An Interactive Learning Project

2025-05-31

The author is formalizing their 20-year-old real analysis textbook, "Analysis I," using the Lean proof assistant. This isn't a simple translation; it involves converting definitions, theorems, and exercises into Lean code. Readers can complete the exercises by filling in 'sorries' in the code, learning Lean and the Mathlib library along the way. The project currently includes several translated sections, strategically transitioning from a 'handmade' construction of natural numbers to the Mathlib standard library. The author invites volunteers to test and improve the project.

(terrytao.wordpress.com)

Development real analysis

Apple WWDC2025: Supercharging Developer Tools for the Future of Apps

2025-06-09

Apple WWDC2025: Supercharging Developer Tools for the Future of Apps

Apple's WWDC2025 keynote unveiled significant updates empowering developers to build smarter, more beautiful, and engaging apps. Xcode 26 integrates large language models like ChatGPT, boosting coding efficiency. The new Foundation Models framework allows developers to leverage on-device AI for offline, privacy-preserving intelligent apps. A refined 'Liquid Glass' design language brings a fresh visual experience. Further enhancements include upgraded game development tools, improved child online safety features, and increased App Store accessibility. These powerful tools and resources are designed to help developers create the next generation of exceptional apps.

(www.apple.com)

Development Apple Developers

CheerpJ 4.1 Released: Early Java 17 Support & Enhanced Browser-Based Java

2025-05-28

CheerpJ 4.1 Released: Early Java 17 Support & Enhanced Browser-Based Java

Leaning Technologies announced the release of CheerpJ 4.1, featuring early preview support for Java 17 and improved stability for Java 11, alongside performance optimizations, networking stack enhancements, and mobile usability improvements. CheerpJ is a WebAssembly-based JVM enabling direct execution of unmodified Java bytecode in browsers, supporting large-scale Swing/AWT applications and Java library integration (Library Mode). CheerpJ 4.1 also introduces support for JNI WebAssembly modules, allowing execution of Java applications reliant on native code like Minecraft. Future CheerpJ 5.0 will include stable Java 17 support and NPM support.

(labs.leaningtech.com)

Development

Agentarium: Open-Source Framework for AI Agent Simulations

2024-12-31

Agentarium: Open-Source Framework for AI Agent Simulations

Agentarium is a powerful open-source Python framework for easily creating and managing simulations populated with AI-powered agents. It offers a flexible and intuitive platform for designing complex, interactive environments where agents can act, learn, and evolve. Key features include advanced agent management, robust interaction management, a checkpoint system for saving and restoring states, synthetic data generation, and an extensible architecture. Environments are configured using YAML files.

(github.com)

AI simulation framework

Philips Hue Bulbs Get Built-in Motion Sensing with Hue MotionAware

2025-09-05

Philips Hue Bulbs Get Built-in Motion Sensing with Hue MotionAware

Philips Hue announced a significant upgrade to its smart bulbs: built-in motion sensing. Hue MotionAware uses radio-frequency (RF) sensing to detect movement without extra sensors, leveraging the Zigbee signal between bulbs. This requires the new Hue Bridge Pro ($99) and works with most mains-powered bulbs from 2014 onward. MotionAware creates zones for motion detection, covering larger areas than traditional PIR sensors and integrating with Hue Secure for security features like flashing lights and alerts. While lighting automation is free, security notifications require a subscription.

(www.theverge.com)

Hardware Motion Sensing

The Neuroscience of Name Retrieval: Why We Forget Names (and What to Do About It)

2025-04-13

Frustrated by frequently forgetting names, the author embarks on a journey to understand how the brain stores and retrieves names. The article lucidly explains the three stages of memory – sensory, short-term, and long-term – and the complex process of name retrieval, involving conceptual preparation, lexical selection, encoding, and articulation. Research reveals name retrieval isn't localized but a distributed function across the left hemisphere. Forgetting can stem from information failing to transfer between memory stages, improper long-term encoding, or 'blocking' during retrieval. The article concludes by discussing factors influencing memory and suggesting attention training and forging new neural connections to improve recall.

(serendipstudio.org)

Misc forgetting

Hidden Surveillance: AI-Powered Workplace Monitoring Spreads in the Developing World

2025-06-04

Hidden Surveillance: AI-Powered Workplace Monitoring Spreads in the Developing World

A new report by Coworker.org reveals that technologies using AI to track, manage, and supervise workers are rapidly becoming entrenched in developing countries. Researchers audited over 150 startups and regional companies across Kenya, Nigeria, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and India, finding workplace surveillance expanding in scale and sophistication. A "Little Tech" ecosystem of largely unregulated, venture capital-funded startups is fueling this growth, particularly in the gig economy, where algorithmic management tools are increasingly intrusive. Many workers are unaware of how their data is collected and used, leading to stress and uncertainty. While some nations have data protection laws, enforcement is inconsistent, leaving worker rights vulnerable.

(restofworld.org)

Tech workplace monitoring

The MiniPC Revolution: Modular Computing for the Homelab

2025-08-26

MiniPCs are revolutionizing personal computing with their affordability, compact size, energy efficiency, and versatility. The author details how MiniPCs excel in homelab setups, network storage, and personal cloud solutions, highlighting their modular design's advantages in avoiding single points of failure and simplifying maintenance. Instead of a single powerful machine, MiniPCs offer a scalable and flexible approach to building a customized computing environment.

(jadarma.github.io)

Hardware Modular Computing

Par: An Experimental Concurrent Language with Interactive Playground

2025-02-06

Par: An Experimental Concurrent Language with Interactive Playground

Par is an experimental concurrent programming language attempting to bring the expressive power of linear logic to practice. It features unique properties: processes communicate via channels, each channel has at most two endpoints, and deadlocks are impossible. All values are channels, including lists, functions, and infinite streams. While Par currently lacks some features like primitive types and non-determinism, it already expresses rich concurrency. This article details Par's syntax, semantics, and examples, covering channels, signals, recursion, and expression syntax. An interactive playground lets users experience Par's concurrency.

(github.com)

Development linear logic

Apple CarPlay Ultra: Delayed Luxury, Divided Opinions

2025-05-16

Apple CarPlay Ultra: Delayed Luxury, Divided Opinions

Apple's CarPlay Ultra, featuring customizable dashboards and real-time diagnostics, is finally arriving, but exclusively in high-end Aston Martin vehicles. The delayed launch (six months behind schedule) highlights the challenges of developing car software across diverse platforms. This segmentation risks widening the gap between owners of new and older vehicles. The automotive industry is also split, with some manufacturers like GM and Mercedes-Benz moving away from CarPlay entirely. While CarPlay Ultra offers customization, the trend towards screen-filled dashboards raises concerns about driver experience and safety.

(gizmodo.com)

Tech in-car software

Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental: Deep Research Just Got a Whole Lot Smarter

2025-04-09

Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental: Deep Research Just Got a Whole Lot Smarter

Gemini Advanced subscribers can now access Deep Research powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental, deemed the world's most capable AI model by industry benchmarks and Chatbot Arena. This personal AI research assistant significantly improves every stage of the research process. In testing, raters preferred reports generated by Gemini 2.5 Pro over competitors by more than a 2:1 margin, citing improvements in analytical reasoning, information synthesis, and insightful report generation. Access detailed, easy-to-read reports on any topic across web, Android, and iOS, saving hours of work. Plus, try the new Audio Overviews feature for on-the-go listening. Learn more and try it now by selecting Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) and choosing 'Deep Research' in the prompt bar.

(blog.google)

AI Deep Research

Google Play Books Bypasses Apple's App Store Commission on iOS

2025-02-19

Google Play Books Bypasses Apple's App Store Commission on iOS

Google Play Books iOS app users can now purchase ebooks and audiobooks directly through the Google Play website, bypassing Apple's 30% commission on in-app purchases. This is enabled by an exception stemming from Apple's settlement with Japan's Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), allowing eligible "reader apps" to utilize external link account entitlements. Users are redirected to Google Play's website for purchases, maintaining access to features like Family Library. This represents a significant shift in Apple's app store policies and sets a precedent for other app developers.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech External Links

Rotors vs. Quaternions for 3D Graphics Rotations?

2025-03-02

This article delves into the mathematical theory and practical application of using rotors for rotations in 3D graphics rendering. Rotors, stemming from geometric algebra, offer a potentially more elegant and simpler alternative to quaternions. The article begins with a theoretical explanation of concepts like the wedge product and geometric product, showing how they enable vector reflection and rotation. It then provides C++ code examples demonstrating the creation, combination, inversion of rotors, and their application to vector transformations and matrix generation. Finally, it discusses rotor interpolation methods, including nlerp and slerp, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses.

(jacquesheunis.com)

Development Geometric Algebra Rotors

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