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AI Deepfake Nightmare: Actors Regret Selling Their Likenesses Cheaply

2025-04-18

AI Deepfake Nightmare: Actors Regret Selling Their Likenesses Cheaply

Cash-strapped actors are regretting selling their likenesses for AI videos, unaware of the potential consequences. Adam Coy, a New York actor, licensed his face and voice for $1000, only to discover his AI avatar predicting disasters. Simon Lee, a South Korean actor, found his likeness used to promote fraudulent health cures. As AI avatar technology advances, companies like Synthesia (valued at $2.1 billion) are profiting, prompting Synthesia to launch an equity fund to incentivize actors. However, lawyers warn that many actors signed contracts with exploitative clauses without fully understanding them, highlighting the ethical dilemmas of this burgeoning technology.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech AI deepfake actor rights

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

Doom and Doom II Get Physical Releases, Including a Playable Game Box!

2025-04-16

Doom and Doom II Get Physical Releases, Including a Playable Game Box!

Limited Run Games is releasing physical editions of Doom and Doom II, with the highlight being the "Will it Run Edition." This $666 limited edition (666 copies!) features a game box that actually runs the original Doom, along with cassette soundtrack, certificate of authenticity, and trading cards. Cheaper options include a Big Box Edition ($100) and a standard edition ($30). The games themselves have been enhanced with 60fps, 16:9 support, improved weapon switching, gyroscopic aiming, local 4-player co-op, online play, new maps, community mods, and a brand-new episode, "Legacy of Rust." The playable game box is a nod to the game's meme-worthy ability to run on nearly anything.

(www.engadget.com)

Game Physical Release

AgentGuard: Real-time Budget Protection for AI Agents

2025-07-31

AgentGuard: Real-time Budget Protection for AI Agents

Developers often face the problem of AI models unexpectedly consuming massive API calls, leading to high costs. AgentGuard is a real-time budgeting tool that, with just two lines of code, lets you set a cost limit for your AI projects. When the cost reaches the limit, AgentGuard automatically stops the process, preventing further expenses and providing a detailed report to help you save money. It supports various AI APIs, including OpenAI and Anthropic, and offers multiple protection modes, such as throwing errors, issuing warnings, or forcefully terminating the process. AgentGuard is the only tool that actually prevents runaway AI costs in real time.

(github.com)

Development AI cost control API call monitoring

The Electromagnetic History of Firesign Theatre: A Psychedelic Trip Through Counterculture Comedy

2025-04-25

The Electromagnetic History of Firesign Theatre: A Psychedelic Trip Through Counterculture Comedy

This review of Jeremy Braddock's new book, *Firesign: The Electromagnetic History of Everything as Told on Nine Comedy Albums*, explores the groundbreaking American comedy troupe Firesign Theatre. Active during the 1960s and 70s, they created a series of influential albums using advanced recording techniques and surreal humor, reflecting the counterculture movement. The review draws parallels between Firesign Theatre and the Beatles, analyzes their critiques of media, politics, and technology, and examines the lasting appeal of their work in the digital age. Their unique blend of experimental audio and sharp social commentary continues to resonate with fans decades later.

(lareviewofbooks.org)

Misc Firesign Theatre Counterculture Comedy Audio Collage

OpenAI Eyes Chrome Acquisition Amidst Google Antitrust Case

2025-04-23

OpenAI Eyes Chrome Acquisition Amidst Google Antitrust Case

OpenAI's head of product, Nick Turley, testified that the company would be interested in acquiring Chrome if Google is forced to divest, Reuters reports. This comes as part of the US Department of Justice's antitrust case against Google. OpenAI previously attempted to partner with Google to integrate its search technology into ChatGPT but was unsuccessful. Currently, OpenAI is building its own search index, but progress is slower than initially anticipated.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech

Deterministic Finite Automata Resonating with Physics Models

2025-04-25

This article details the construction of deterministic finite automata (DFAs) using simple rules based on fundamental computer science concepts like trees, edges, and binary strings. The author outlines a five-step process, resulting in two main DFA variations that resonate with physics models—one including black holes and white holes, the other only black holes. By mapping binary strings to physical phenomena (inflation, black holes, white holes, entropy), a model for cosmic evolution is proposed. Connections to quantum mechanics and other disciplines are explored, highlighting the deep interplay between computer science, mathematics, and physics.

(keweizhou1996-df477.web.app)

Tech Physics Models Deterministic Finite Automata Cosmic Evolution

Go Scripting Library: script — Simplifying Sysadmin Tasks

2025-01-31

Go Scripting Library: script — Simplifying Sysadmin Tasks

The `script` library for Go provides shell-script-like capabilities for system administrators, including reading files, executing subprocesses, counting lines, matching strings, and more. It processes data streams using a pipeline approach with a clean API, making Go programming as efficient and convenient as shell scripting. `script` supports a wide range of operations, from file I/O and HTTP requests to external command execution and custom filters, significantly simplifying system administration tasks. For example, it easily replicates `grep` functionality and supports concurrent execution for improved performance.

(github.com)

Development Sysadmin

Open Codex: A Local, Open-Source AI Command-Line Assistant

2025-04-21

Open Codex: A Local, Open-Source AI Command-Line Assistant

Open Codex is a fully open-source command-line AI assistant inspired by OpenAI Codex, running locally without needing an API key. It leverages local language models like phi-4-mini for natural language to shell command translation. Features include one-shot and interactive modes (coming soon), command confirmation, clipboard support, colored terminal output, and cross-platform compatibility (macOS, Linux, Windows).

(github.com)

Development local model

Parmigiano-Reggiano Tapping Masters: A Centuries-Old Craft

2025-04-10

Parmigiano-Reggiano Tapping Masters: A Centuries-Old Craft

In Emilia-Romagna, Italy, 37-year-old Alessandro Stocchi apprenticed under 81-year-old Renato Giudici to learn the art of Parmigiano-Reggiano tapping (battitore). This ancient craft isn't taught in formal courses; Alessandro learned through three years of hands-on experience, assessing each wheel of cheese. The tapping master requires immense responsibility and skill, as any mistake can damage the precious cheese. This craft, passed down through generations, remains unchanged for two centuries, demonstrating a commitment to tradition.

(www.cheeseprofessor.com)

Misc tradition Parmigiano-Reggiano

Redis Vector Sets: Replicating Hacker News Account Style Detection

2025-04-16

Inspired by a three-year-old Hacker News post about detecting similar accounts using cosine similarity, Antirez, using the new vector set functionality in Redis 8 RC1, replicated the experiment. He downloaded 10GB of Hacker News comment data, cleaned and preprocessed it to generate a JSONL file containing users and their word frequency vectors. Then, using the Burrows-Delta method, he normalized the word frequency vectors and inserted them into Redis vector sets. Finally, using the VSIM command, similar users with similar writing styles can be quickly found. The project code has been open-sourced, and an online demo website is available.

(antirez.com)

Development Style Detection

Artificial Leaf Converts CO2 to Usable Fuel Using Sunlight

2025-04-24

Artificial Leaf Converts CO2 to Usable Fuel Using Sunlight

Researchers have created a postage-stamp-sized artificial leaf that converts CO2 into C2 molecules using sunlight. Unlike previous biological approaches, this device utilizes an inorganic material, copper, for enhanced durability and stability. The device, composed of a photoanode and photocathode, facilitates an organic oxidation reaction and C2 product creation. These C2 chemicals are precursors for various industrial products, including plastics and airplane fuel. Future work focuses on increasing efficiency and scalability.

(newscenter.lbl.gov)

Tech artificial photosynthesis CO2 conversion

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

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

Microsoft Denies Link Between Windows Update and SSD/HDD Failures

2025-08-30

Users reported SSD and HDD failures and data corruption after installing August's Windows 11 24H2 security update. Microsoft investigated and found no connection between the update and the reported issues. However, they advise users with drives over 60% full to avoid writing large files. Microsoft is collaborating with storage device partners to investigate further. Affected drives reportedly include those from Corsair, SanDisk, and Kioxia, with issues primarily occurring during heavy write operations. While some drives recovered after restarting, others remained inaccessible.

(www.bleepingcomputer.com)

Tech HDD failure

The Armatron: From 90-Degree Rotation to 360-Degree Freedom

2025-04-20

The Armatron: From 90-Degree Rotation to 360-Degree Freedom

Hiroyuki Watanabe, the inventor of the Armatron robotic arm, initially drew inspiration from a newspaper clipping depicting a mechanical arm. However, the first prototype could only rotate 90 degrees and had a complex control panel. Watanabe's hobby of flying radio-controlled helicopters provided the breakthrough; he designed a system allowing 360-degree rotation and simpler controls, resulting in a toy classic.

(www.technologyreview.com)

Design Toy Design Robotic Arm Product Innovation

FreeBSD: Not Dead, Just Quietly Powering the Internet

2025-05-26

Recent discussions have questioned whether FreeBSD is dying. Analyzing Google Trends data, the author shows a steady upward trend for FreeBSD searches, contrasting with a flatline for Linux. This misconception, the author argues, stems from the availability heuristic; people focus on the more discussed Linux, overlooking FreeBSD's silent power behind countless internet services. FreeBSD's permissive BSD license, while making it a great foundation for commercial products, discourages companies from contributing back. The author calls on FreeBSD users to share their experiences and challenges, allowing the FreeBSD Foundation to bridge the gap between industry and software/hardware vendors, fostering FreeBSD's growth.

(freebsdfoundation.org)

Development BSD license

Fusing Unreliable Sensor Readings: Beyond Linear Mixing

2025-04-16

Fusing Unreliable Sensor Readings: Beyond Linear Mixing

This article explores fusing measurements from two unreliable sensors for improved accuracy. Sensor A's readings contain noise, while Sensor B has a probability of outputting either the correct value or noise. The author first tries a linear weighted average, finding the optimal weight isn't 50/50, but around 0.58. Then, a threshold based on the difference between sensor readings is used; if the difference is below the threshold, Sensor B's reading is used, otherwise Sensor A's. This significantly improves accuracy. Finally, by adding a middle zone where a linear mix of both readings is used, further optimization is achieved, lowering the mean absolute error to 0.1163.

(jacobbrazeal.wordpress.com)

Development sensor fusion

Musk Shuts Down the Loan Office That Funded Tesla

2025-04-27

Musk Shuts Down the Loan Office That Funded Tesla

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is dismantling the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO), which provided Tesla with a crucial $465 million loan in 2010. This move threatens the US clean energy and electric vehicle industries, jeopardizing numerous projects and increasing consumer costs. Companies like Kore Power and Freyr Battery have already canceled expansion plans due to loan freezes. Critics argue Musk is cutting the very program that helped him build his empire, undermining American competitiveness and displaying a profound lack of gratitude.

(www.jalopnik.com)

Tech Government Loan

The Command Line: A Handbook for Everyone

2025-05-29

The Command Line: A Handbook for Everyone

Conquer the command line without the struggle! This handbook provides a quick and easy way to master Unix/Linux commands, eliminating the need for lengthy manuals. Learn terminals, shells, command-line applications, and shell scripting together – not separately. Over 100 annotated shell sessions and code examples make learning fun and effective. Updated in 2025, it's the definitive guide, trusted by 5700+ readers. Join them and boost your skills today!

(commandline.stribny.name)

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

Good Karma Kit: Donate Unused Computing Power for Good

2025-04-18

The Good Karma Kit is a Docker Compose project that leverages spare CPU, disk, and bandwidth on servers to contribute computing power to over ten public-good projects. It includes networking projects like Tor and i2p, distributed computing projects such as BOINC and Folding@home, internet archiving projects like ArchiveBox and Kiwix, and distributed storage projects like IPFS and Storj. Users can choose which projects to participate in and adjust resource allocation. The project aims to put idle resources to work for beneficial causes, offering leaderboards to incentivize participation. Some projects are non-profit, while others offer cryptocurrency rewards.

(archivebox.github.io)

Development

Open Source Project Arnis: Replicating Real-World Locations in Minecraft

2024-12-31

Open Source Project Arnis: Replicating Real-World Locations in Minecraft

Arnis is an open-source project written in Rust that generates any chosen location from the real world in Minecraft Java Edition with a high level of detail. Leveraging geospatial data from OpenStreetMap and the power of Rust, Arnis efficiently creates complex and accurate Minecraft worlds reflecting real-world geography and architecture. Users select an area, and Arnis processes the data to generate a Minecraft world centered at coordinates 0,0,0. Originally developed in Python, it was ported to Rust for enhanced performance.

(github.com)

Game Map Generation

Mt. Ontake: A Trek of Breathtaking Beauty and Sobering History

2025-04-23

Mt. Ontake: A Trek of Breathtaking Beauty and Sobering History

Mt. Ontake, one of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains, holds a poignant history. A 2014 eruption claimed 63 lives, a tragedy forever etched into the mountain's narrative. This account details a 2024 climb, highlighting the stunning views and challenging ascent of this 3067m peak. The author describes the various routes, transportation options, and the landscape's stark beauty. The post-eruption safety measures—improved shelters, increased signage—are emphasized, alongside memorials honoring the victims. It's a compelling blend of adventure and reflection, a reminder of nature's power and the importance of remembering the past.

(www.emgoto.com)

Misc Mountaineering

Five Easy Mentalism Tricks to Amaze Your Friends

2025-04-22

Five Easy Mentalism Tricks to Amaze Your Friends

This article unveils five simple yet impressive mentalism tricks, leveraging psychology and mathematical principles to astound your audience. From the probability-based 'Gray Elephant in Denmark' to the subconscious priming of 'The Red Hammer', the subtle suggestion of 'Triangle Inside Circle', the clever selection method of 'P.A.T.E.O Force', and the mathematical mystery of '1089 Trick', each trick is explained with detailed steps and helpful tips, making them accessible even for beginners. Prepare to become the life of the party!

(www.vanishingincmagic.com)

Misc magic mentalism

Beyond Booleans: Improving Software Design

2025-08-28

This article argues against the overuse of booleans in software design. The author contends that many seemingly appropriate boolean values can be replaced with richer data types like datetimes and enums. Using booleans often leads to information loss and makes code harder to maintain. The author suggests carefully analyzing the underlying data meaning behind booleans and choosing more appropriate types, such as using datetimes to record event times and enums to represent statuses or types. Booleans are only justifiable as temporary variables for intermediate calculation results. This approach improves software design quality, prevents potential bugs, and enhances code maintainability and readability.

(ntietz.com)

Development data types booleans

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

Peru's Ancient Irrigation Systems: Lessons from the Past for a Climate-Resilient Future

2025-04-19

Peru's Ancient Irrigation Systems: Lessons from the Past for a Climate-Resilient Future

Peru's arid north coast, surprisingly, thrives as an agro-industrial heartland due to sophisticated irrigation systems. However, climate change and modern agricultural practices exacerbate water scarcity. This article explores ancient Moche and Chimu irrigation systems, which successfully managed droughts and floods for millennia. Their success stemmed from a blend of culture and technology, not just technology alone. Modern large-scale irrigation projects, while providing short-term prosperity, neglect ancient wisdom and face sustainability challenges. The article calls for integrating ancient cultural and technological insights into modern agriculture for more resilient solutions, emphasizing the need to respect and preserve indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage.

(theconversation.com)

Tech ancient irrigation

Zev: Find Terminal Commands with Natural Language

2025-04-24

Zev: Find Terminal Commands with Natural Language

Zev is a tool built on top of the OpenAI API that lets you find or remember terminal commands using natural language. For example, you can type 'show all running python processes' to find the relevant command. Zev supports various operations including file operations, system information, network commands, and Git operations. You can also use Ollama as a local alternative to avoid relying on the OpenAI API. The project is open-source and contributions are welcome.

(github.com)

Development terminal commands natural language

NASA Satellite Accidentally Reveals Real-Time Electronic Warfare in Ukraine

2025-05-08

NASA Satellite Accidentally Reveals Real-Time Electronic Warfare in Ukraine

Nuke's, an amateur enthusiast, discovered unusual high brightness temperatures in the 1.4 GHz band of publicly available soil moisture data from NASA's SMAP satellite, far exceeding natural levels. Analysis suggests these anomalies are likely military electronic warfare (EW) activities, such as jamming, spoofing, or high-power electromagnetic emissions. By visualizing the data, Nuke's created a map of EW hotspots in Ukraine, Crimea, and parts of Russia, closely correlating with Russian EW sites, Ukrainian drone corridors, and frontline staging areas. This discovery highlights how even a climate observation satellite can inadvertently become a tool for monitoring real-time EW in modern warfare.

(radioandnukes.substack.com)

Tech ukraine conflict

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