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arXivLabs: Experimental Projects with Community Collaboration

2025-03-29

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Individuals and organizations participating in arXivLabs uphold arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners who share them. Have an idea to enhance the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

xan: A Blazing-Fast CLI Tool for CSV Processing

2025-03-29

xan: A Blazing-Fast CLI Tool for CSV Processing

xan is a command-line tool built in Rust for lightning-fast processing of massive CSV files (gigabytes!). Leveraging multithreading for parallelism, it easily handles tasks like previewing, filtering, slicing, aggregating, sorting, and joining CSV data. xan boasts a powerful expression language surpassing the speed of Python, Lua, or JavaScript for complex operations. Originally forked from xsv but extensively rewritten, xan caters to social science data analysis needs, including lexicometry, graph theory, and even web scraping. Installation is simple via cargo, Homebrew, pacman, Nix, or pre-built binaries.

(github.com)

Development CSV processing

DOGE's Risky Plan to Migrate SSA's COBOL Code Sparks Concerns

2025-03-28

DOGE's Risky Plan to Migrate SSA's COBOL Code Sparks Concerns

The core systems of the US Social Security Administration (SSA) still rely on outdated COBOL code. A group called DOGE is planning to migrate millions of lines of this code to a modern language within months, but this plan has sparked serious concerns. The migration process could result in system failures affecting millions of beneficiaries' payments. Experts warn of the extreme risk of system crashes, given the SSA's complex and fragile system, likened to a house of cards or a Jenga tower. DOGE plans to utilize AI to assist in code conversion, but testing and resolving all potential edge cases would take years, not months.

(www.wired.com)

Tech

Spectral JPEG XL: Crushing Spectral Image File Sizes by 10-60x

2025-03-29

Spectral JPEG XL: Crushing Spectral Image File Sizes by 10-60x

Researchers have developed a new technique leveraging JPEG XL to compress spectral images by a remarkable 10 to 60 times, shrinking them to sizes comparable to regular high-quality photos. The method prioritizes discarding less important high-frequency spectral details while preserving metadata and high dynamic range. Although lossy, this approach holds immense potential for scientific visualization and high-end rendering, addressing the storage and transfer challenges posed by massive spectral image files.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech spectral imaging image compression

How 168 Spanish Soldiers Conquered a Million-Strong Inca Empire

2025-03-29

How 168 Spanish Soldiers Conquered a Million-Strong Inca Empire

This article recounts the incredible story of 168 Spanish soldiers conquering the Inca Empire, a civilization boasting millions of inhabitants. The author delves into Pizarro's conquest, examining his background, Spanish military technology (cavalry, iron weaponry, firearms), tactical superiority, and fortuitous circumstances like the Inca civil war and smallpox epidemic. A comparison with Cortes's conquest of the Aztecs is drawn, highlighting leadership, diplomacy, and brutality. Ultimately, the article argues that the Spanish success stemmed not only from technological and tactical advantages but also from the exceptional decision-making and strategic acumen of Pizarro and other conquistadors.

(mattlakeman.org)

Tech Spanish Conquest Inca Empire Military History

Deep Dive: Tracing the `write()` System Call in OpenBSD

2025-03-29

This article delves into the low-level implementation of the `write()` system call in OpenBSD. Starting from the user-space `write()` call, it traces the data's journey through the kernel, detailing the complete path from system call to data written to an NVMe hard drive. The article reveals a chain of kernel function calls, including `mi_syscall`, `sys_write`, `dofilewritev`, `vn_write`, `ffs_write`, `uiomove`, `bdwrite`, `syncer`, `bwrite`, `ufs_strategy`, `spec_strategy`, `sdstrategy`, and finally the NVMe driver. It illustrates data transformation and transmission across different abstraction layers, highlighting key technical details such as caching mechanisms and DMA transfers.

(flak.tedunangst.com)

Development System Call

Body Doubling: A Productivity Hack for Focus and Task Completion

2025-03-29

Body doubling is a productivity technique gaining popularity, especially among those with ADHD. It involves working alongside another person, either physically or virtually, to improve focus and task completion. The presence of the 'body double' acts as an external motivator, reducing distractions and fostering a sense of accountability. While long-term studies are limited, anecdotal evidence and expert opinions suggest its effectiveness as a complementary approach to medication and helpful for individuals with other conditions like autism or anxiety.

(en.wikipedia.org)

Development

arXivLabs: Experimental Projects with Community Collaborators

2025-03-30

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Individuals and organizations involved embrace arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only partners with those who adhere to them. Have an idea to enhance the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

Chiplab Launches: Run Your 6502 Programs on Real Hardware

2025-03-30

Chiplab now offers a service to run your 6502 assembly programs on a real 6502 chip, providing cycle-by-cycle bus traces for highly accurate testing and research. Users upload their code, which runs for 100 cycles, after which a detailed trace of address and data bus values is returned. This approach offers a superior alternative to emulators and lays the groundwork for analyzing more complex chips in the future. The project is open-source and welcomes contributions.

(www.emulationonline.com)

Hardware chip emulator

IBM & Family Keyboard Timeline: 111 Key Events

2025-03-30

IBM & Family Keyboard Timeline: 111 Key Events

This illustrated timeline charts key events in the history of IBM, Lexmark, Unicomp, Lenovo, and Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions keyboards. It covers significant releases and discontinuations, corporate history (founding, divestitures, OEM changes), and patents. Host devices like PCs, terminals, consoles, and typewriters are also included due to their impact on keyboard development. The full timeline details 111 events.

(sharktastica.co.uk)

Hardware IBM keyboards keyboard history

Three Principles for a Fulfilling Life: Help, Protect, Create

2025-03-29

This essay explores the meaning and purpose of life. The author proposes three core principles: help people, protect the world, and create good new things. These aren't moral imperatives, but rather pathways to fulfilling one's potential. Traditional ethics emphasized character development, neglecting the value of creation, as most people in past centuries had predetermined careers with little choice. Now, more can pursue creative work, becoming models like Archimedes, driving societal progress. The author encourages readers to boldly explore and create valuable new things; even if initially unappreciated, these creations may gain eventual recognition and indirectly benefit others and the world.

(paulgraham.com)

Misc philosophy of life

Gaia: The Ongoing Journey to Map the Milky Way

2025-03-29

Gaia: The Ongoing Journey to Map the Milky Way

Since its launch in 2013, the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite has been on a continuous mission to create the most detailed map of the Milky Way ever. This article summarizes significant advancements in recent years, including multiple data releases (DR1, DR2, EDR3, with DR4 and DR5 anticipated), containing information on billions of stars, such as their positions, distances, motions, and physical properties. This data has fueled advancements in our understanding of the Milky Way's structure, evolution, and dynamics, and has expanded our knowledge in areas such as solar system objects and exoplanets. The Gaia team has also received numerous awards, recognizing its outstanding contributions to astronomy.

(www.cosmos.esa.int)

Tech Gaia satellite

Robustness Testing of Medical AI Models: MIMIC-III, eICU, and SEER Datasets

2025-03-29

Robustness Testing of Medical AI Models: MIMIC-III, eICU, and SEER Datasets

This study evaluates the accuracy of machine learning models in predicting serious disease outcomes: 48-hour in-hospital mortality risk, 5-year breast cancer survivability, and 5-year lung cancer survivability. Three datasets—MIMIC-III, eICU, and SEER—were used, employing models such as LSTM, MLP, and XGBoost. To test model robustness, various test case generation methods were designed, including attribute-based variations, gradient ascent, and Glasgow Coma Scale-based approaches. The study assessed model performance on these challenging cases, revealing varying performance across datasets and methods, highlighting the need for further improvements to enhance reliability.

(www.nature.com)

AI Model Robustness Datasets

US Crackdown on Dissent Silences Foreign Scientists

2025-03-29

US Crackdown on Dissent Silences Foreign Scientists

The US government's increasing crackdown on dissent is creating a climate of fear for foreign scientists, who risk visa cancellation, detention, and deportation for expressing critical views. The article details numerous cases of foreign students and scholars detained or deported for criticizing government policies. Universities are complying with the administration's demands for greater control over protests and faculty, in exchange for federal funding, even canceling DEI programs. Furthermore, the government is canceling research grants on topics like LGBT+ health, poverty's impact, and climate change. This chilling effect is silencing many foreign scientists and severely hindering scientific progress.

(christinapagel.substack.com)

Tech academic freedom

Can AI Replace Research Scientists? UF Study Says No (Mostly)

2025-03-29

Can AI Replace Research Scientists? UF Study Says No (Mostly)

A University of Florida study tested generative AI's ability to conduct academic research. While AI excelled in ideation and research design, it struggled significantly with literature review, results analysis, and manuscript production, requiring substantial human oversight. Researchers advocate for high skepticism towards AI outputs, viewing them as requiring human verification and refinement. Published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the study prompts reflection on AI's role in research—more assistant than replacement.

(news.warrington.ufl.edu)

AI

arXivLabs: Experimenting with Community Collaboration

2025-03-29

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Individuals and organizations working with arXivLabs share our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners who adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will benefit the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

ESP32 Pomodoro Timer: A Hardware and Software DIY Project

2025-03-29

ESP32 Pomodoro Timer: A Hardware and Software DIY Project

A software engineer, driven by a quest for productivity enhancement and a desire to help a friend, designed an ESP32-based Pomodoro timer. This timer uses an e-paper display and a rotary encoder, prioritizing a physical device, fun, and intuitive usability. The project encompasses hardware selection (ESP32, e-paper display, rotary encoder, LED, etc.), software development (C++, Arduino framework, GxEPD2 library), and 3D-printed case design. The author shares lessons learned throughout the design process, such as display selection, input method design, LED indicator implementation, and software code management. The final product combines practicality and fun, incorporating Easter eggs.

(github.com)

Hardware Pomodoro Timer Hardware DIY

David Lynch's Commercials: Where Art Meets Commerce

2025-03-29

David Lynch's Commercials: Where Art Meets Commerce

David Lynch, renowned for surrealist films like Eraserhead and Blue Velvet, has surprisingly lent his distinctive artistic vision to the world of commercials. From Calvin Klein fragrance ads to Georgia Coffee campaigns and even New York City's anti-littering initiatives, Lynch's commercials seamlessly blend his signature unsettling atmosphere with commercial objectives. Interestingly, some of these ads aired primarily in Europe and Asia, hinting at a wider global appreciation for his unique style.

(www.openculture.com)

Design commercials

The Naivete of Tech Geeks: Why Big Tech Lies and How to Fight Back

2025-03-29

The Naivete of Tech Geeks: Why Big Tech Lies and How to Fight Back

This article criticizes the naive trust many tech geeks place in large tech companies like Amazon and Apple. The author argues that claims of 'privacy protection' are largely marketing ploys, masking the core goal of data collection. Using examples like Alexa, Apple's privacy policies, and spam email, the article exposes how big tech exploits user naivety and reliance on marketing. The author calls on tech geeks to shed their naivete, avoid being misled by marketing, choose companies and open-source projects that genuinely prioritize privacy, and actively participate in building commons beyond the control of large tech corporations.

(ploum.net)

Tech

Grammarly Extension Breaks Website Layout with CSS Conflict

2025-03-29

Grammarly Extension Breaks Website Layout with CSS Conflict

A website builder discovered that the Grammarly browser extension was breaking their website's layout. Grammarly injects a stylesheet that overrides the website's own styles, particularly by using the same custom property `--rem`, causing the website's fluid typography system to malfunction. The author fixed the issue using a mutation observer and the custom property `--🤡`, and called on Grammarly to improve its extension's design to avoid conflicts with other websites' styles.

(dbushell.com)

Development CSS conflict

Pentagon Purges DEI Content: Historical Photos Among Thousands Flagged for Removal

2025-03-29

Pentagon Purges DEI Content: Historical Photos Among Thousands Flagged for Removal

The Department of Defense is undertaking a massive purge of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) content from its websites and social media, targeting over 26,000 images. This includes photos of a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay, and the first women to graduate from Marine infantry training. The action stems from President Trump's executive order ending DEI programs across the federal government. The purge has led to confusion, with images containing the word "gay" mistakenly flagged for removal, impacting both individuals with that surname and the aircraft itself. Historically significant photos, such as those of the Tuskegee Airmen, may be spared. The Pentagon claims it's working to comply rapidly, but the process is proving time-consuming and complex.

(www.nbcwashington.com)

Tech content removal

Google Search's Trust Crisis: Why I'm Considering Switching

2025-03-29

Google Search's Trust Crisis: Why I'm Considering Switching

Google Search has been my default for years, but recently, it's been riddled with errors. From incorrect sports scores to inaccurate song information and flawed troubleshooting advice, the results have become unreliable. The search results are swamped with outdated information, SEO spam, and AI-generated nonsense, eroding my trust in the platform. While this might be attributed to bugs in Google's Knowledge Graph, the over-reliance on AI and a perceived lack of responsiveness to user feedback are making me consider switching search engines.

(www.androidpolice.com)

Tech

Volvo Recalls 7,483 PHEVs Due to Fire Risk

2025-03-29

Volvo Recalls 7,483 PHEVs Due to Fire Risk

Volvo is recalling 7,483 plug-in hybrid vehicles in the US due to a potential fire hazard. Affected models include the S60, V60, S90, V90, XC60, and XC90. The issue stems from a battery module production deviation that could cause a short circuit and thermal runaway. Owners are urged to stop charging their vehicles until the recall is addressed. Dealers will inspect and replace the battery module if necessary, and install new monitoring software. While two incidents have been reported, no injuries or accidents have occurred.

(www.carscoops.com)

Tech recall battery safety Volvo

Snake in tmux: A Game Built Entirely in Config Files

2025-03-29

Snake in tmux: A Game Built Entirely in Config Files

A developer, known for their tmux wizardry, has created a fully functional Snake game using only tmux configuration files. No external programs are needed; the game's logic, rendering, and input are all handled within the tmux environment. The author leverages tmux sessions, windows, and styling to build the game, creating a surprisingly elegant and functional implementation. Details include recursive window creation, clever input handling, and a concise game loop, showcasing the surprising power and flexibility of tmux.

(willhbr.net)

Game

Email Security Analysis: Passing Rate Analysis of Email from vooijs.eu

2025-03-29

This report details the security attributes of an email from the vooijs.eu mailbox. The email passed DKIM verification, but SPF record checks showed a mismatch between HELO and the SPF record, although it ultimately passed. URIBL checks were blocked, indicating a potential risk with the sender's IP address. The email content was brief, simply stating "This is it." Overall, the email's security level is moderate, and further investigation into potential risks is needed.

(www.mail-tester.com)

Misc

Emulating the Sega Genesis's YM2612 Sound Chip (Part 1)

2025-03-29

This post begins a series on emulating the Sega Genesis's Yamaha YM2612 FM synthesis chip (OPN2). The author details the complexities of this notoriously difficult-to-emulate chip, focusing on its integration within the Genesis and CPU interaction. The article delves into the YM2612's architecture, explaining its six audio channels, four operators per channel, eight algorithms, and additional features like an LFO, timers, and a DAC. It explores the interplay between the 68000 and Z80 CPUs, register mapping, read/write behavior, and the root causes of audio issues in certain games (e.g., Earthworm Jim and Hellfire) on different Genesis models. Finally, the author describes emulating the DAC channel, providing valuable insight for anyone undertaking YM2612 emulation.

(jsgroth.dev)

Game Game Console Emulation Audio Emulation

2.87 Billion Twitter Users' Data Leaked: Largest Social Media Breach Ever?

2025-03-29

2.87 Billion Twitter Users' Data Leaked: Largest Social Media Breach Ever?

A massive data leak affecting a staggering 2.87 billion Twitter (now X) users has been reported on the Breach Forums. The leak allegedly stems from a disgruntled former employee who stole the data during recent layoffs. While this would be the largest social media data breach in history, X hasn't publicly acknowledged the incident. The leaked data includes user IDs, usernames, profile information, and follower counts, but notably, not email addresses. The source of the leak and the identity of the leaker remain unknown, raising significant concerns about user privacy and data security.

(hackread.com)

Tech

Finley Technologies is Hiring!

2025-03-28

Finley Technologies is seeking to fill 8 roles across various departments, including Engineering, Operations, Sales, and Post-Sales, with locations in SF, NY, and remote options. Open positions include a Founding Product Manager, Software Engineers, People Operations, Capital Markets Associate, Implementation Lead, Technical Implementation Specialist, Account Executives, and a Growth Associate focused on Financial Institutions.

(ats.rippling.com)

Startup Tech Jobs

Apple's Cautious AI Approach: Is Slow and Steady Winning the Race?

2025-03-29

Apple's Cautious AI Approach: Is Slow and Steady Winning the Race?

Apple's slow rollout of AI features has drawn criticism. The article argues that not Apple, but AI itself is the laggard. Apple's focus on user experience and data security prevents it from releasing buggy AI features. Instead of rushing out flawed products, Apple prioritizes a cautious approach, waiting for the technology to mature. While investors crave a 'super cycle,' forcing immature AI into products could backfire, harming user experience and brand trust.

(www.cnn.com)

Tech

Puget Systems' Transparent Take on Tariffs and PC Pricing

2025-03-28

Puget Systems' Transparent Take on Tariffs and PC Pricing

Puget Systems openly addresses the impact of tariffs on its computer pricing. A 20% tariff increase has affected some components (motherboards, power supplies) by 20%, while others (CPUs) see less impact. Puget Systems is mitigating the effects through strategic inventory management, close supplier relationships, and absorbing some costs. They advise customers to consider early purchases to avoid potentially higher prices in June.

(www.pugetsystems.com)

Hardware

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