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Supabase Raises $200M Series D, Valued at $2B

2025-04-22

Supabase Raises $200M Series D, Valued at $2B

Open-source application development platform Supabase announced a $200 million Series D funding round, bringing its valuation to $2 billion. Accel led the round, with participation from Coatue, Y Combinator, and others. Investors went to extraordinary lengths, with Accel partners even visiting the CEO in New Zealand to finalize the deal. Supabase aims to be a one-stop backend for developers, boasting 2 million developers and 3.5 million databases. Its success is attributed to its focus on the database layer, its understanding of the 'vibe coding' trend, and its remote-first culture attracting top talent globally.

(finance.yahoo.com)

Startup

Optimizing Aggregate Packing Density for Enhanced Compressive Strength in Biocemented Materials

2025-05-27

Optimizing Aggregate Packing Density for Enhanced Compressive Strength in Biocemented Materials

Researchers significantly improved the compressive strength of biocemented materials by optimizing the packing density of aggregate mixtures. They employed the Modified Andreassen model to design an optimal particle size distribution curve, which was validated through compaction experiments. The optimized mix exhibited higher aggregate packing density during biomineralization, leading to reduced cementation solution consumption. Subsequently, an improved stop-flow pressure-based injection method was used for biomineralization experiments to investigate the impact of varying cementation solution pressure and concentration on biomineralization depth and compressive strength. Results showed that optimal UACP content, pressure, and concentration yielded high-strength, homogeneous biomineralized specimens, with a maximum compressive strength of 57.4 MPa – significantly exceeding previous studies. Lower flow rates and higher aggregate packing density were also found to be beneficial for achieving higher ultrasonic wave velocities and compressive strengths.

(www.nature.com)

Tech biomineralization compressive strength packing density

Crafting the Worst Possible Python Code: A How-To Guide

2025-06-14

Crafting the Worst Possible Python Code: A How-To Guide

This humorous guide teaches you how to write the most incomprehensible and frustrating Python code imaginable. Through a series of negative examples, such as using cryptic variable names (like `data1`, `temp`) and complex nested loops, the author demonstrates how to create truly terrible code. The ultimate goal is to highlight the importance of writing clean, understandable code and avoiding the creation of unmaintainable technical debt.

(effective-programmer.com)

Development

1888: The World's First True Electric Car

2025-01-21

1888: The World's First True Electric Car

In 1888, Andreas Flocken, a German engineer, created the world's first true electric car, the Flocken Elektrowagen, at his Maschinenfabrik A. Flocken in Coburg. This four-wheeled vehicle, initially resembling a horse-drawn carriage, was powered by an electric motor and could reach a top speed of 15 km/h. While early technology limited its performance, the Flocken Elektrowagen holds immense historical significance as a landmark in the dawn of the electric car era.

(en.wikipedia.org)

Tech electric car Germany

Atari's Limited Edition Asteroids Watches Sell Out Instantly

2025-01-30

Atari's Limited Edition Asteroids Watches Sell Out Instantly

To celebrate the 45th anniversary of the iconic game Asteroids, Atari and luxury watch brand Nubeo have collaborated on a limited-edition watch. This unique timepiece displays time in an unconventional way using a Japanese automatic movement that drives three discs. The smallest central disc features the original Asteroids triangular ship firing, acting as the second hand. The outer two discs, filled with asteroids, represent the minute and hour hands. Priced at $499 (originally $1650), each of the five styles is limited to 125 pieces and has already sold out. The design is inspired by the Atari 2600 console, and features Swiss Super-LumiNova glow-in-the-dark ink, 21 ATM water resistance, and comes in a retro-styled protective case.

(www.techspot.com)

Game Limited Edition Watch

Vibe Coding: Speed vs. Quality in AI-Assisted Development

2025-04-19

Vibe Coding: Speed vs. Quality in AI-Assisted Development

The rise of "vibe coding," using AI for software development, promises faster development but raises concerns about code quality. While AI lowers the barrier to entry and boosts efficiency, it's not a replacement for rigorous review and established coding practices. AI-generated code can suffer from inadequate error handling, poor performance, and security vulnerabilities, leading to increased technical debt if left unchecked. The article advocates treating AI as a junior developer, requiring thorough human review, refactoring, testing, and attention to edge cases. Effective AI-assisted development requires balancing speed and quality; AI accelerates the process, while human engineers ensure reliability and maintainability.

(addyo.substack.com)

Development

Hennessey Venom F5 Evolution: 2031 HP, The World's Most Powerful Combustion Engine Car

2025-04-21

Hennessey Venom F5 Evolution: 2031 HP, The World's Most Powerful Combustion Engine Car

Hennessey unveiled the Venom F5 Evolution, boasting a mind-blowing 2,031 horsepower twin-turbo V8, making it the world's most powerful purely internal combustion engine car. This upgrade package isn't a separate model; existing Venom F5 owners can upgrade their cars. Its incredible power translates to a 0-200 mph time of 10.3 seconds, and it features a new adaptive suspension with five driver-selectable modes, balancing on-road comfort and high-performance track capabilities.

(www.thedrive.com)

Tech

Arduboy Faces Extinction Due to US-China Trade War

2025-05-07

Arduboy Faces Extinction Due to US-China Trade War

The founder of Arduboy, Kevin, is facing a dire situation due to escalating US-China trade tensions. High tariffs make selling Arduboy in the US nearly impossible, threatening the company's existence. Kevin is exploring various options, including international dropshipping, manufacturing in other countries, and seeking government grants, to navigate the crisis. Relocating the company to Europe or Australia, and transitioning community management, are also under consideration. The future of Arduboy hangs in the balance.

(community.arduboy.com)

Hardware

Impressive Language Support!

2025-06-05

Impressive Language Support!

This text lists an impressive array of languages, encompassing major languages from most regions of the globe, totaling over 60. This suggests a technology or product with robust multilingual support capabilities, possibly a translation tool, a global platform, or a large language model. The wide language coverage hints at a massive potential user base and market reach.

(elevenlabs.io)

Misc

NLRB Whistleblower Alleges Musk's DOGE Team Exfiltrated Sensitive Data

2025-04-22

A security architect at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleges that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees transferred gigabytes of sensitive data from agency case files in early March using short-lived accounts designed to leave minimal network traces. The whistleblower, Daniel J. Berulis, claims this coincided with blocked login attempts from a Russian IP address using valid credentials for a newly created DOGE account. Berulis further reports receiving threats and being stripped of his NLRB access. While the NLRB denies a breach, Berulis's allegations raise serious concerns about DOGE's data access and NLRB security practices.

(krebsonsecurity.com)

Tech

Resurrecting a Lost Piece of Apple History: The Performa 550's Secret Recovery Partition

2025-03-16

While rescuing data from a failing hard drive in an old Apple Performa 550, the author uncovered a hidden recovery partition containing a fascinating piece of Apple's software history. This partition, designed to boot in case of system failure, allowed users to reinstall the OS. A three-year quest involving online appeals culminated in finding a pristine hard drive, revealing the partition's mechanics and leading to the sharing of its image. This compelling story highlights the thrill of tech archeology and software preservation.

(www.downtowndougbrown.com)

Tech tech archeology hard drive recovery

IBM System/360: A Technological David and Goliath Story

2025-04-08

IBM System/360: A Technological David and Goliath Story

The creation of the IBM System/360 wasn't a smooth ride. This article recounts IBM's journey in the early 1960s, overcoming internal conflicts, technological hurdles, and production bottlenecks to launch this world-changing computer series. From initial internal clashes to global teamwork and a nail-biting production rollout, the System/360 story is full of drama and uncertainty, ultimately establishing IBM's dominance in the computer industry and profoundly impacting the development of the Information Age.

(spectrum.ieee.org)

Tech

Walmart Goes All-In on Ultra-Fast EV Charging: 5,200+ Stores to Become Charging Hubs

2025-04-27

Walmart Goes All-In on Ultra-Fast EV Charging: 5,200+ Stores to Become Charging Hubs

Walmart, the world's largest retailer, has announced a major push into ultra-fast DC fast-charging EV infrastructure, aiming to install thousands of chargers across its 5,200+ US stores by 2030. This strategic move leverages Walmart's extensive network and addresses the growing demand for convenient EV charging. Utilizing 400kW chargers from Alpitronic and ABB, supporting both NACS and CCS1 connectors, and integrated into the Walmart app, this network promises a significant impact on the US EV charging landscape, particularly benefiting apartment dwellers who lack home charging options.

(evchargingstations.com)

Tech EV charging fast charging infrastructure

Verus: A Static Analyzer for Verifying Rust Code Correctness

2025-04-22

Verus: A Static Analyzer for Verifying Rust Code Correctness

Verus is a static analysis tool for verifying the correctness of code written in Rust. Developers write specifications of what their code should do, and Verus statically checks that the executable Rust code will always satisfy the specifications for all possible executions. Instead of runtime checks, Verus relies on powerful solvers to prove code correctness. Currently supporting a subset of Rust (with ongoing expansion), Verus allows developers to go beyond the standard Rust type system in some cases, statically checking the correctness of code manipulating raw pointers, for example. Verus is under active development; features may be broken or missing, and documentation is incomplete.

(github.com)

Development Code Verification

Resurrecting the Old Web: Blogs and RSS Feeds Make a Comeback

2025-09-25

Resurrecting the Old Web: Blogs and RSS Feeds Make a Comeback

A Maine news story about middle schoolers using landlines sparked a reflection on the current state of social media. The author argues that social media has become an addictive noise machine, and people long for the simpler, purer connection of the early internet. To address this, the author advocates a return to blogs and RSS feeds, creating a 'bear blog' platform to share thoughts and connect with other blogs via links, mimicking the simpler networking of the old web. The author calls for breaking free from the social media dopamine loop and collectively building a purer online experience.

(stevedylandev.bearblog.dev)

Misc

MIT Creates Periodic Table of Machine Learning Algorithms, Predicting Future AI

2025-04-23

MIT Creates Periodic Table of Machine Learning Algorithms, Predicting Future AI

MIT researchers have developed a 'periodic table' of machine learning, connecting over 20 classical algorithms. This framework reveals how to fuse strategies from different methods to improve existing AI or create new ones. They combined elements of two algorithms to build a new image classification algorithm, outperforming state-of-the-art by 8%. The table's foundation: all algorithms learn specific relationships between data points. A unifying equation underlies many algorithms, enabling the researchers to categorize them. Like the chemical periodic table, it contains empty spaces predicting undiscovered algorithms, offering a toolkit for designing new ones without rediscovering old ideas.

(news.mit.edu)

AI

YAGRI: You Are Gonna Read It

2025-04-23

YAGNI (You Ain't Gonna Need It) advises against over-engineering. But the author introduces YAGRI (You Are Gonna Read It): don't just store the minimum data; store data you'll likely need later, like timestamps and metadata. This is crucial when handling user deletions. Simply deleting a database row isn't enough; log who deleted it, how, when, and why. The author suggests storing created_at, updated_at, deleted_at, created_by, and permissions used in CRUD operations on almost every table. While not every field will be used, a single field saving you from a future debugging crisis or a boss's sudden request justifies the effort. Maintaining data is a crucial engineering task.

(www.scottantipa.com)

Development database design

Yemeni Houthis' Sophisticated Air Defenses: A Growing Threat to US Drones and Aircraft

2025-04-27

Yemeni Houthis' Sophisticated Air Defenses: A Growing Threat to US Drones and Aircraft

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have demonstrated a surprisingly effective air defense capability, evidenced by the increasing number of downed US MQ-9 Reaper drones. While the exact scope of their arsenal remains unclear, it includes Iranian-supplied surface-to-air missiles like the enigmatic "358" loitering munition, the Barq-1/2, and repurposed Soviet air-to-air missiles such as the Thaqib series. The US response involves increased air strikes using B-2 stealth bombers, highlighting the seriousness of the threat. The significant loss of MQ-9s raises questions about the drone's vulnerability in future conflicts and the need for improved self-defense systems. The Houthis' innovative adaptation of existing technology presents a significant challenge to US military operations.

(www.twz.com)

Tech Yemen Conflict Houthi Rebels Air Defense

Google's Privacy Sandbox: A Pivot, Not an End

2025-04-23

Google's Privacy Sandbox: A Pivot, Not an End

Google's Privacy Sandbox project isn't ending, but it's shifting gears. Facing antitrust lawsuits and industry resistance to abandoning cookies, Google will continue improving Chrome's Incognito Mode with features like third-party cookie blocking and IP address masking. However, this means its Privacy Sandbox APIs will play a different role, and Google will work with partners to find a new path. While Google highlights improved ad privacy, its antitrust predicament is likely a more significant factor driving this change.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech

Knuth's 'Premature Optimization is the Root of All Evil' Misunderstood?

2025-06-30

Knuth's 'Premature Optimization is the Root of All Evil' Misunderstood?

This article delves into the actual meaning of Donald Knuth's famous quote, "Premature optimization is the root of all evil." By analyzing examples from Knuth's paper on using goto statements and implementing multisets, the author shows that the quote doesn't entirely discourage small optimizations. Experiments comparing different implementations reveal that even minor optimizations (like loop unrolling) can yield significant performance gains for critical code and frequently used library functions, depending on benchmarking results. The author ultimately advocates for using well-optimized standard library functions to avoid unnecessary optimization efforts and leverage modern compiler optimization capabilities.

(probablydance.com)

Development

Sparse Interpretable Audio Codec: Towards a More Intuitive Audio Representation

2025-02-01

This paper introduces a proof-of-concept audio encoder that aims to encode audio as a sparse set of events and their times of occurrence. It leverages rudimentary physics-based assumptions to model the attack and physical resonance of both the instrument and the room, hopefully encouraging a sparse, parsimonious, and easy-to-interpret representation. The model works by iteratively removing energy from the input spectrogram, producing event vectors and one-hot vectors representing time of occurrence. The decoder uses these vectors to reconstruct the audio. Experimental results show the model's ability to decompose audio, but there's room for improvement, such as enhancing reconstruction quality and reducing redundant events.

(blog.cochlea.xyz)

AI audio coding

California Bar Exam Controversy: AI-Generated Questions Spark Outrage

2025-04-23

California Bar Exam Controversy: AI-Generated Questions Spark Outrage

The California State Bar admitted that 23 of the 171 multiple-choice questions on the February 2025 bar exam were created with AI assistance, sparking widespread outrage. This revelation follows weeks of complaints about technical issues and irregularities during the exam. While the Bar claims all questions underwent expert review, legal educators strongly criticize the use of AI-generated questions, especially given that the same company generated and approved them. The incident raises serious concerns about fairness, reliability, and the ethical and technical challenges of using AI in high-stakes assessments.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Law Exam Ethical Concerns

Trump's Tariffs: A Self-Inflicted Economic Wound?

2025-04-09

Trump's Tariffs: A Self-Inflicted Economic Wound?

This article analyzes the damaging effects of the Trump administration's protectionist trade policies, particularly the 'liberation day' tariffs, on American manufacturing. The author argues these tariffs stem from a misunderstanding of the Chinese economy and short-sighted strategy, rather than genuine national security concerns. Drawing on Clayton Christensen's theory of disruptive innovation, the article explains the decline of American manufacturing as a result of technological advancements and global competition. The author criticizes the government's attempt to revive domestic manufacturing through tariffs, deeming it inefficient and potentially harmful to national security interests. The article concludes with a call for more effective strategies beyond trade wars.

(stratechery.com)

Tech

OpenTelemetry Performance Overhead: A Go Application Benchmark

2025-06-16

OpenTelemetry Performance Overhead: A Go Application Benchmark

This post benchmarks the performance overhead of OpenTelemetry in a high-load environment using a simple Go HTTP server. Results show approximately a 35% increase in CPU usage, a small increase in memory, and significant network traffic increase when enabling OpenTelemetry. The author compares using the OpenTelemetry SDK with eBPF-based monitoring, finding the latter to be significantly more lightweight in high-load scenarios, especially when only collecting metrics. The conclusion is that OpenTelemetry's overhead isn't prohibitive, but choosing the right monitoring approach is crucial, requiring a trade-off between performance and observability based on specific needs.

(coroot.com)

Development

Superbloom: Tech's Frenzy and the Unchecked Power of Social Media

2025-04-21

Superbloom: Tech's Frenzy and the Unchecked Power of Social Media

This review examines Nicholas Carr's new book, *Superbloom*, using the California poppy incident as a springboard to discuss the negative impacts of technology, particularly social media. From the early days of the telegraph and telephone to radio and the internet, Carr reviews the evolution of American media regulation, highlighting the lack of effective oversight leading to the unchecked power of social media and resulting societal issues like information overload, privacy breaches, and alienation. The author argues that mild measures like 'friction design' are insufficient to address the problems, calling for more proactive intervention and reflection on technology.

(hedgehogreview.com)

Tech

The Quest to Retrieve Vanguard-1: Oldest Satellite in Orbit

2025-04-19

The Quest to Retrieve Vanguard-1: Oldest Satellite in Orbit

Launched in 1958, the grapefruit-sized Vanguard-1 satellite remains in orbit, making it the oldest human-made object orbiting Earth. A team is proposing a mission to retrieve this historical artifact, studying its decades-long exposure to space. The plan involves potentially using a SpaceX vehicle or partnering with a private sponsor. Once retrieved, Vanguard-1 could be displayed at the Smithsonian, serving as a testament to the early days of space exploration. This mission would also provide valuable experience for future endeavors like space debris removal and on-orbit manufacturing.

(gizmodo.com)

Tech Satellite Retrieval Space History

Becoming a 10x Engineer with AI: A Mindset Shift

2025-06-12

Becoming a 10x Engineer with AI: A Mindset Shift

This post details how the author leverages AI to significantly boost their software engineering productivity. Instead of viewing AI as a mere code generator, they see it as a highly experienced engineering partner. The key is effective prompt engineering to maximize AI's potential. The author stresses the importance of well-crafted prompts and the necessity of verifying AI-generated code. Beyond code generation, AI is used to understand complex concepts and accelerate learning. The author encourages engineers to actively experiment and continuously learn to become truly AI-native.

(rfitz.io)

Development

Cloudflare Durable Objects: The Ultimate Guide

2025-06-01

Cloudflare Durable Objects: The Ultimate Guide

This comprehensive guide dives deep into Cloudflare Durable Objects, a powerful serverless technology. Durable Objects let developers spin up near-infinite mini-servers globally, with built-in persistent storage and the ability to hibernate between requests. They excel in multiplayer scenarios, boast built-in WebSockets, and offer alarms for triggering code outside HTTP requests. Durable Objects simplify building stateful serverless applications and provide efficient data storage with SQLite support. The article covers architecture, APIs, cost, and real-world use cases, offering a complete guide to understanding and leveraging this revolutionary technology.

(flaredup.substack.com)

Development

iPS Cell Therapy for Parkinson's Disease: A Safe and Effective Clinical Trial

2025-04-22

iPS Cell Therapy for Parkinson's Disease: A Safe and Effective Clinical Trial

A clinical trial for Parkinson's disease used induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS cell)-derived dopamine progenitor cells in bilateral putaminal transplantation. Results showed the therapy to be safe and effective, with no serious adverse events and improvements in motor symptoms and increased dopamine uptake in some patients. While limitations exist, including potential placebo effects and observer bias, and further research is needed to define optimal patient selection criteria, the trial provides evidence for the safety and efficacy of iPS cell-derived dopamine progenitor cells as a regenerative therapy for Parkinson's disease.

(www.nature.com)

Tech regenerative therapy

Anthropic CEO Predicts AI Will Wipe Out Half of Entry-Level Office Jobs

2025-05-30

Anthropic CEO Predicts AI Will Wipe Out Half of Entry-Level Office Jobs

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently predicted that AI technology will eliminate half of entry-level office jobs within the next few years. He claims AI is surpassing humans in almost all intellectual tasks, sparking debate about the massive impact of AI on the job market. However, Amodei's prediction lacks data support, and his statements seem more like a publicity stunt for his company than a genuine warning about AI risks. The author questions Amodei's assertion that AI will simultaneously bring high economic growth and high unemployment, and points out that current generative AI technologies still have many limitations and are far from triggering an economic revolution.

(www.cnn.com)

Tech

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