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Faster CI with Mill: Selective Testing Strategies

2024-12-30

Running all tests in large codebases is inefficient. This article explores three selective testing approaches: folder-based, dependency-based, and heuristic-based. Folder-based is simple but may miss errors; dependency-based is more thorough but can over-test; heuristic-based optimizes test selection with custom rules, balancing speed and thoroughness. The Mill build tool natively supports dependency-based selective testing, significantly improving CI efficiency. However, combining it with heuristic methods further optimizes the balance between speed and test coverage.

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(mill-build.org)
Development Selective Testing Mill Build Tool

OpenAI Seeks Massive Funding Amidst Bubble Concerns

2024-12-29
OpenAI Seeks Massive Funding Amidst Bubble Concerns

OpenAI's board recently announced the need for substantial additional funding to navigate the competitive AI landscape. The article argues that while OpenAI currently boasts the best AI chatbot user experience, the lack of a technological moat positions the company at the epicenter of an investment bubble. The author draws parallels between OpenAI and Netscape in the 1990s, suggesting that generative AI will become a commoditized technology, making it difficult to establish a lasting competitive advantage. Despite securing massive funding, OpenAI's transition from a non-profit to a for-profit entity remains uncertain, and its continued pursuit of enormous capital raises concerns reminiscent of a Ponzi scheme.

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(daringfireball.net)
AI Investment Bubble

Mixbox: Revolutionizing Color Mixing in Digital Painting

2024-12-29
Mixbox: Revolutionizing Color Mixing in Digital Painting

Mixbox is a revolutionary color mixing library that solves the problem of unnatural color mixing in digital painting by simulating the way real pigments mix. Based on the Kubelka-Munk theory, it treats colors as pigments, offering a simple RGB in/out interface and supporting multiple languages including C++, Python, and GLSL. Mixbox enables more realistic color gradients, richer mixing effects, and natural brushstroke blending, bringing digital painting closer to the feel of traditional painting. It's already integrated into Rebelle and Blender's Flip Fluids add-on and offers flexible licensing options for developers.

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(scrtwpns.com)
Design digital painting color mixing pigment simulation

The Zombocom Problem: From 'Anything' to 'Something Specific' in Software Development

2024-12-29
The Zombocom Problem: From 'Anything' to 'Something Specific' in Software Development

This article explores the 'Zombocom Problem' – the failure of many low-code/no-code platforms, super apps, etc., due to their inability to meet specific user needs. The author argues that success hinges on solving a specific problem for a specific user, finding product-market fit. Amazon's success story illustrates this: it started as an online bookstore, gradually expanding into other areas. Similarly, Excel succeeded because it initially targeted small business owners and accountants. The author emphasizes that platforms should emerge from products, not the other way around; build great standalone products first, then consider platformization. Ultimately, the author concludes that the key to success lies in combining systems thinking and product thinking—understanding system-level opportunities while identifying the first best customer, thus transforming from a 'single-purpose product' to a 'platform'.

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(newsletter.squishy.computer)
Development product strategy platform building

Stripe Quietly Launches V2 API: REST Improvements and DX Shift

2024-12-29

Stripe quietly released its V2 API in October, featuring a shift from form-encoded request bodies to JSON and the introduction of HATEOAS-style pagination. V2 aims for speed improvements and controlled sub-object loading via an `include` parameter. True idempotency is also attempted for better handling of failed requests. However, improvements are still needed in REST verb usage and resource modeling. The author argues that a great developer experience (DX) now hinges more on high-quality SDKs than a perfect REST API.

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(brandur.org)
Development

The Amazing Evolution of Stents: A Personal Journey

2024-12-29
The Amazing Evolution of Stents: A Personal Journey

Seventeen years after a heart attack led to the implantation of a stent, the author reflects on the remarkable advancements in stent technology. He draws parallels between the evolution of stents—from basic metal scaffolds to sophisticated drug-eluting and bioabsorbable devices—and the development of smartphones. The author explores the impact of GLP-1 drugs on the future of stent procedures and underscores the profound effect this life-saving technology has had on cardiovascular care, culminating in a personal story of resilience and gratitude.

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(om.co)
Tech medical technology stents cardiovascular health

Critical Flaw Discovered: NATO Radio Encryption Algorithm Broken

2024-12-29
Critical Flaw Discovered: NATO Radio Encryption Algorithm Broken

Researchers from the Chaos Computer Club have uncovered a critical vulnerability in HALFLOOP-24, the encryption algorithm used by the US military and NATO. This algorithm protects the automatic link establishment protocol in high-frequency radio, but researchers demonstrated that just two hours of intercepted radio traffic are sufficient to recover the secret key. The attack exploits a flaw in HALFLOOP-24's handling of the 'tweak' parameter, using differential cryptanalysis to bypass significant portions of the encryption process and extract the key. This vulnerability compromises communication confidentiality and enables denial-of-service attacks. The research, published in two papers, highlights a serious security risk and underscores the importance of robust encryption algorithms.

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(media.ccc.de)
Tech encryption algorithm

Prison-Born Board Game 'Poleana' Takes Mexico by Storm

2024-12-29
Prison-Born Board Game 'Poleana' Takes Mexico by Storm

Poleana, a board game originating in Mexican prisons nearly a century ago, is experiencing a surge in popularity. Combining chance and strategy, the game demands quick thinking and calculations as players navigate the board, aiming to 'escape' the prison it symbolizes. Despite its origins, the game's unique appeal has drawn diverse players, leading to large-scale tournaments. Poleana is more than just a game; it's a testament to cultural preservation and social inclusion.

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(apnews.com)
Game board game Mexico

Australia's Outdoor Cinemas: A Century-Old Charm Netflix Can't Beat

2024-12-29
Australia's Outdoor Cinemas: A Century-Old Charm Netflix Can't Beat

Australia boasts a remarkable history of outdoor cinemas, starting with Broome's Sun Pictures in 1916. This history reflects changing Australian culture and social shifts, including past racial segregation. Outdoor cinemas, from traditional picture gardens to drive-ins, remain vital community hubs and unique cultural experiences. Despite the rise of streaming services like Netflix, they continue to thrive, offering a distinct cinematic experience that draws Australians to share stories on the big screen.

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(theconversation.com)
Misc Outdoor Cinemas Australian Culture Cinema History

China Notes: A Podcast Host's Two-Week Journey

2024-12-29
China Notes: A Podcast Host's Two-Week Journey

A podcast host's two-week trip across China, visiting Beijing, Chengdu, Emeishan, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, reveals a country of immense scale and rapid development. He was struck by the sheer size of the cities and the ubiquitous skyscrapers, contrasting the grand temples with the seemingly endless urban sprawl. Observations on urban planning highlighted efficiency and social control, while conversations with young people revealed anxieties about employment and intense competition. Despite limitations on free speech, he found widespread criticism of the government and concerns about the future. He also touches upon funding constraints in China's AI sector and the current state of its tech ecosystem. The trip provided a visceral understanding of China, prompting reflections on US-China relations, China's development model, and the importance of focus.

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(www.dwarkeshpatel.com)
Misc Travelogue Social Commentary

Are PC Hardware Companies Creating Closed Ecosystems?

2024-12-29
Are PC Hardware Companies Creating Closed Ecosystems?

A veteran computer hardware engineer observes a concerning trend: PC hardware manufacturers are increasingly restricting user access and control. Dell, for example, has removed the ability to change storage configurations in the BIOS of some laptops and doesn't provide necessary RST drivers on its website, preventing clean OS installations from media. Users are forced to use pre-installed systems or manufacturer recovery tools containing bloatware and data collection. This mirrors Apple's MacOS approach of limiting non-approved software, potentially leading to extremely limited consumer choices in the future.

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(www.scottrlarson.com)
Hardware PC hardware closed ecosystem user control

Running LLMs Locally: A Developer's Guide

2024-12-29
Running LLMs Locally: A Developer's Guide

A developer shares their experience running Large Language Models (LLMs) on a personal computer. Using a high-spec machine (i9 CPU, 4090 GPU, 96GB RAM), along with open-source tools like Ollama and Open WebUI, they successfully run several LLMs for tasks such as code completion and note querying. The article details the hardware, software, models used, and update methods, highlighting the data security and low-latency advantages of running LLMs locally.

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(abishekmuthian.com)
Development Local Run Open Source Tools

Mastodon Discussion on Melbourne Train Control System Glitch

2024-12-29

A Mastodon user, Dervishe the Grey, posted about a glitch in the Melbourne Train Control System. The post highlights the system's issues and suggests users enable JavaScript or use native Mastodon apps. This sparked a conversation about system stability and user experience, showcasing the impact of public transport technology failures and social media's role in information dissemination.

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(mastodon.sdf.org)
Tech Melbourne Trains System Glitch

Tech Ethics Crisis: Are Big Tech Companies Doing Good?

2024-12-29

Moshe Y. Vardi, a professor at Rice University, revisits his previous stance on the tech ethics crisis. Initially believing that laws and regulations were sufficient to address computing's negative impacts, he now argues that a genuine ethical crisis exists, given the growing power of tech corporations and the ethical issues inherent in their business models. He questions the ethics of working for Big Tech, urging tech workers to consider the balance between self-interest and the public good, and to refer to ACM's Code of Ethics, emphasizing the support of the public good. The article discusses cases like Uber, illustrating how employees, even unknowingly, can participate in unethical practices. Ultimately, Vardi concludes that the tech industry needs a serious self-reflection to address its ethical dilemmas.

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(cacm.acm.org)
AI tech ethics big tech public good

New 'OtterCookie' Malware Targets Developers in Fake Job Offers

2024-12-29
New 'OtterCookie' Malware Targets Developers in Fake Job Offers

Cybersecurity firms have uncovered a new malware, OtterCookie, used in the 'Contagious Interview' campaign by North Korean threat actors. This campaign lures software developers with fake job offers containing malware, including OtterCookie and previously seen malware like BeaverTail. OtterCookie is delivered through Node.js projects or npm packages, establishing communication with a command and control server via Socket.IO. It steals sensitive data, such as cryptocurrency wallet keys, documents, and images, and performs reconnaissance on the infected system. Experts warn developers to carefully vet job offers and avoid running untrusted code.

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(www.bleepingcomputer.com)
Tech Malware

Iceland Revives EU Accession Bid: Referendum Planned Before 2027

2024-12-29
Iceland Revives EU Accession Bid: Referendum Planned Before 2027

Iceland's new government has reignited the country's bid to join the European Union. A shift in public opinion, fueled by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, now sees more Icelanders favoring EU membership. The new Foreign Minister has announced a referendum on continuing EU accession talks, to be held before 2027. This follows a complex history: Iceland applied to join the EU after the 2008 financial crisis, but a later conservative government paused and attempted to cancel the negotiations. With recent polls showing strong support for EU membership, Iceland may finally join the EU, potentially impacting EFTA, Norway, and the UK's EU policies.

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(mikegalsworthy.substack.com)
Misc Iceland Referendum

BSD kqueue: A Mountain of Technical Debt

2024-12-29

This article delves into the differences between BSD kqueue and Linux epoll in network programming. kqueue uses event filters, offering powerful functionality but lacking composability, leading to accumulating technical debt. Epoll, on the other hand, directly manipulates kernel handles, boasting greater composability and allowing for flexible monitoring of various kernel resources such as sockets, filesystem paths, and timers. The author argues that epoll's design is superior as it avoids the predicament of constantly adding new event filter types to kqueue with each new feature.

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(ariadne.space)
Development network programming

China's Diaspora: A Network of Unconventional Spies

2024-12-29
China's Diaspora: A Network of Unconventional Spies

The US is hunting for unconventional spies, many of whom are members of the Chinese diaspora. The case of Tang Yuanjun, a Chinese dissident who fled to Taiwan after the Tiananmen Square protests and later sought asylum in America, highlights this issue. Despite his pro-democracy activism in New York, Tang was arrested for providing information to the Chinese government, hoping to secure permission to return home to see his ailing parents. This story illustrates the complex and risky nature of China's use of its diaspora for intelligence gathering.

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(www.economist.com)
Misc Chinese spies diaspora US counterintelligence

Racket Extension: Embedding Images in Source Code

2024-12-29
Racket Extension: Embedding Images in Source Code

This Racket library enables embedding images directly into source code files, eliminating the need for external file references. It uses a µ reader extension and uuencode to convert image data into a textual representation, solving the problem of binary file formats (like WXME) created by traditional image embedding methods, which are incompatible with tools like git. The library provides packing and unpacking functions to easily convert images into embeddable text and decode them for display. While error handling and text formatting could be improved, it offers a convenient way to create self-contained Racket projects.

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(github.com)
Development image embedding source code

Boeing 737-800 Suffers Twin Disasters on Same Day, Ending 2024 on a Grim Note

2024-12-29
Boeing 737-800 Suffers Twin Disasters on Same Day, Ending 2024 on a Grim Note

Two Boeing 737-800 airliners were involved in separate accidents on the same day, casting a pall over Boeing's year-end. One plane skidded off the runway in Norway during an emergency landing, miraculously leaving all 182 passengers and crew unharmed. However, another 737-800 crashed in South Korea, resulting in 47 fatalities. The twin disasters, occurring on the same day, have raised serious safety concerns and will undoubtedly trigger thorough investigations into Boeing's aircraft.

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(telanganatoday.com)
Tech Boeing 737-800 aviation safety

How McKinsey Destroyed the American Middle Class

2024-12-29
How McKinsey Destroyed the American Middle Class

This article examines the impact of management consulting firms like McKinsey on the decline of the American middle class. The author argues that McKinsey, by promoting shareholder primacy and implementing strategies aimed at streamlining corporate structures and eliminating middle management (such as 'reengineering' and 'overhead value analysis'), led to massive layoffs, a decline in middle management and blue-collar jobs, weakened unions, and ultimately exacerbated economic inequality and the destruction of the American middle class. The author concludes that this 'technocratic management' approach fails to address structural inequalities and instead widens the gap between elites and the general population.

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(www.theatlantic.com)
Startup Middle Class Economic Inequality

Why I Don't Use Domain-Driven Design

2024-12-29

Tony Marston, a seasoned software developer with four decades of experience building enterprise applications, explains why he doesn't use Domain-Driven Design (DDD). He argues that DDD overemphasizes object-oriented design theory at the expense of database design and code reusability in large systems. He prefers a layered architecture with a separate class for each database table, leveraging inheritance and the Template Method pattern for code reuse. Marston believes this approach better suits real-world projects and increases development efficiency.

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(www.tonymarston.net)
Development Domain-Driven Design Code Reusability

Cautious Embrace of BlueSky: A Social Media Strategy to Avoid Getting Burned

2024-12-29
Cautious Embrace of BlueSky: A Social Media Strategy to Avoid Getting Burned

As many users migrate to BlueSky, the author shares a cautious approach to joining the platform. The core argument is to avoid building all your value on platforms controlled by others. Using the metaphor "Don't build castles in other people's kingdoms," the author advocates for creating maximum value in self-controlled spaces, leveraging other platforms to drive attention and value to those spaces. Viewing BlueSky as a platform potentially disappearing within three years, the author focuses on personal websites and self-built communities to ensure long-term value accumulation. This approach prioritizes controlling one's own data and online presence over relying on third-party platforms.

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(chrisholdgraf.com)
Misc platform strategy

10 Essential Django Tools for Enhanced Performance, Security, and Productivity

2024-12-29

This article explores ten indispensable tools for your next Django project, covering dependency management, performance profiling, and more to boost development efficiency, security, and performance. From Poetry for dependency management to Silk for performance profiling, each tool—including Django Extensions, Django REST Framework, djangorestframework-camel-case, Django Storages, django-simple-history, django-otp, Celery, and Gunicorn with Uvicorn Workers—is explained with comparisons to alternatives like Pipenv, FastAPI, and django-reversion. These tools help build faster, more secure, and efficient Django applications.

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(thinkingbytes.co.uk)
Development Tools

A Once-Forbidden Fruit: The Secret Ingredient to Delicious Christmas Punch

2024-12-29
A Once-Forbidden Fruit: The Secret Ingredient to Delicious Christmas Punch

Making the traditional Mexican Christmas punch, Ponche Navideño, was once hampered by import restrictions on a key ingredient: tejocotes. These small, golden fruits, with their unique aroma and high pectin content, give the punch its distinctive flavor and thickness and are considered a symbol of Christmas in Mexico. For a long time, US customs prohibited their import due to concerns about fruit flies, leading to a black market for the rare fruit. However, in 2015, the USDA finally lifted the ban, making this festive drink much easier to make in the US. Now, tejocotes are readily available across the US, allowing people to enjoy this unique Christmas beverage that blends flavors from Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

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(www.atlasobscura.com)
Misc Christmas Punch Tejocotes Mexican Culture

Bioterrorism: Reclaiming Your Health in a Controlled System

2024-12-29
Bioterrorism: Reclaiming Your Health in a Controlled System

This talk challenges the modern healthcare system's criminalization of self-managed health. Historically, personal health autonomy was the norm; however, today, it requires mediation by state-authorized institutions. The speaker delves into the possibilities of self-compounding medicine and navigating legal risks. The presentation encourages self-medication, offering information on numerous uncommercialized yet self-manufacturable medications, thus challenging the monopoly of the traditional healthcare system.

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(media.ccc.de)
Misc bioterrorism self-medication health autonomy

Life After the Newag DRM Disclosure: A 38C3 Report

2024-12-29
Life After the Newag DRM Disclosure: A 38C3 Report

Following the disclosure at 37C3 of remote failure simulation code in Newag trains, security researchers faced a backlash. This update details the aftermath, including legal battles with Newag and train operators, media interactions, and multiple official investigations. The report also reveals new cases from different train operators, illustrating the challenges faced by security researchers when confronting powerful adversaries.

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(media.ccc.de)
Tech security research legal battles

Tetris in Conway's Game of Life: A Collaborative Epic

2024-12-29
Tetris in Conway's Game of Life: A Collaborative Epic

A team of programmers collaborated for a year and a half to successfully simulate Tetris within Conway's Game of Life. Instead of directly coding Tetris in Life, they used a layered abstraction approach, culminating in a computer built using metapixels and VarLife, programmed in QFTASM assembly language. This computer boasts a 16-bit asynchronous RISC Harvard architecture with numerous instructions and addressing modes. The final Tetris program runs within a massive Game of Life pattern, showcasing an impressive feat of computational power.

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(codegolf.stackexchange.com)
Game Conway's Game of Life metapixels Tetris

SQLite3: The Unsung Hero of Databases

2024-12-29

SQLite3 is a powerful, lightweight embedded database that quietly handles data for billions of deployments. Unlike its louder, more complex counterparts, SQLite3 operates as a single file, requiring no server setup. It boasts full SQL functionality, outperforming direct file I/O in speed, and managing databases up to 281 terabytes. From phones to websites, its stability, ease of use, and robust features make it an ideal choice for many projects, particularly those with moderate data needs or simpler database management requirements.

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(calmlog.medium.com)
Development embedded database
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