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Teenager Builds Nearly Complete Pascal Compiler for Transputer in 1993

2025-02-05

Teenager Builds Nearly Complete Pascal Compiler for Transputer in 1993

In 1993, a 14-year-old author, leveraging his father's expensive Transputer chips, successfully built a nearly complete Pascal compiler over several months. This involved mastering Pascal, compiler principles, and Transputer programming. The project started with an assembler, followed by porting and improving a Tiny Pascal compiler, culminating in the compiler's self-compilation. This feat showcases the author's coding talent and persistence, while also highlighting the Transputer's potential and limitations in parallel computing.

(nanochess.org)

Development

AI Alignment: A Fool's Errand?

2025-01-28

AI Alignment: A Fool's Errand?

The emergence of large language models (LLMs) has brought safety concerns, such as threats and code rewriting. Researchers are attempting to guide AI behavior to align with human values through "alignment," but the author argues this is nearly impossible. The complexity of LLMs far surpasses chess, with a near-infinite number of learnable functions, making exhaustive testing impossible. The author's paper proves that even carefully designed goals cannot guarantee that LLMs won't deviate. Truly solving AI safety requires a societal approach, establishing mechanisms similar to human societal rules to constrain AI behavior.

(www.scientificamerican.com)

AI Alignment Problem

No, AI, Don't 'Polish' Me!

2025-01-29

No, AI, Don't 'Polish' Me!

Blogger The Bloggess hilariously recounts her battle against AI writing tools. She refuses to let AI 'polish' her emails, finding the AI-generated versions sterile and inauthentic. The AI's attempts to rewrite her text and even replace her images with AI-generated ones infuriate her, leading to a funny rant about the importance of preserving individual writing styles. The Bloggess hopes her rejection of AI's suggestions will teach the AI to appreciate and even propagate her wonderfully flawed, human style.

(thebloggess.com)

Misc Writing Personal Style

arXivLabs: Community-Driven Feature Development for arXiv

2025-02-01

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

(arxiv.org)

Development

Jujutsu: A Rust-Based VCS That Reimagines Git's Workflow

2025-02-04

Jujutsu: A Rust-Based VCS That Reimagines Git's Workflow

Jujutsu, a novel version control system written in Rust, offers a streamlined and powerful alternative to Git. This article explores Jujutsu's core concept: mutable changes, showcasing how this feature simplifies workflows. It explains how to easily undo operations, seamlessly handle conflicts, and efficiently manage large changes. Jujutsu integrates seamlessly with Git, acting as a powerful frontend while retaining compatibility. The article details efficient work patterns, such as using `jj new` and `jj edit` for change management, and employing revset expressions for flexible version history manipulation. Jujutsu provides a more elegant and efficient version control experience.

(kubamartin.com)

Development

Svelte 5: A Conversation with Rich Harris on the Future of Frameworks

2025-01-28

Svelte 5: A Conversation with Rich Harris on the Future of Frameworks

Smashing Magazine interviewed Rich Harris, the creator of Svelte, revealing major updates and future directions for Svelte 5. A ground-up rewrite, Svelte 5 introduces clearer state management. Harris emphasizes that Svelte's goal isn't solely market share, but building high-quality, resilient, and accessible applications, and improving overall software quality by addressing widespread flaws. Future efforts will focus on the surrounding ecosystem, including SvelteKit, aiming to become a Rails or Laravel for JavaScript, simplifying full-stack development.

(www.smashingmagazine.com)

Development Web Frameworks

TracepointArgs: Unlocking Linux Kernel Tracepoints

2025-02-04

Tired of hunting through Linux kernel source code for tracepoint metadata and struct layouts? Meet tracepointargs, a new command-line tool that lists all available Linux kernel tracepoints, their arguments, datatypes, and related structs. It even parses kernel struct layouts, allowing you to understand tracepoint details without digging through source files. Combined with bpftool to generate a vmlinux.h file, you can easily inspect the internals of structures, even recursively expanding nested ones. A must-have for eBPF developers and kernel explorers!

(tanelpoder.com)

Development

Why You Should Never Use Your ISP's Router

2025-02-02

This blog post delves into the numerous reasons why you should avoid using your internet service provider's (ISP) modem and router. The author cites countless examples demonstrating the security vulnerabilities, poor performance, lack of updates, and potential for surveillance inherent in ISP-provided equipment. Security risks include default passwords leaving devices vulnerable to hacking, while functionality is often limited, impacting user experience. Finally, the long-term cost of renting often exceeds purchasing your own. The author strongly advocates for buying your own router and modem for superior security and performance.

(routersecurity.org)

Tech

YC Startup Hyperbound Hiring Full-Cycle Account Executive in SF

2025-01-26

YC Startup Hyperbound Hiring Full-Cycle Account Executive in SF

Hyperbound, a YC S23 startup based in San Francisco, is hiring a Full-Cycle Account Executive with a salary of $260K-$300K + bonuses and equity. They've created sales-tech to scale sales training for large enterprise teams, growing from $0 to $1M in under 11 months. The ideal candidate will have significant B2B sales experience, be comfortable self-sourcing leads, and excel in closing large mid-market and enterprise deals. This is a full-time, on-site role in San Francisco.

(www.ycombinator.com)

Startup

Light-Speed Edge Detection: Energy-Efficient Image Processing Revolution

2025-01-30

Light-Speed Edge Detection: Energy-Efficient Image Processing Revolution

Physicists at the University of Amsterdam have developed a novel method for image edge detection using optical analog computing. This technique boasts exceptional speed and energy efficiency, employing a simple stack of thin films to detect edges as small as 1 micrometer. Compatible with various light sources, this breakthrough promises advancements in high-resolution microscopy, biological sample analysis, and even autonomous vehicles, revolutionizing energy efficiency and computational speed.

(phys.org)

Tech optical computing edge detection

Commodities Market Volatility: Oil Dips, Gold Gains

2025-02-05

The commodities market experienced significant volatility today. Crude oil prices fell by over 2%, with both Brent and WTI crude showing substantial declines. Gasoline and heating oil prices also dipped. However, gold prices bucked the trend, rising over 1%, with silver and copper also posting gains. Soybean, wheat, and coal prices all fell, while natural gas and lumber prices saw slight increases. Iron ore prices edged higher. Steel prices saw a modest decline. TTF natural gas prices rose by over 2%.

(tradingeconomics.com)

Misc commodities market crude oil gold

Formal Methods: Just Good Engineering Practice?

2025-01-10

Marc Brooker, an engineer at Amazon Web Services, argues in his TLA+ conference keynote that formal methods are not a costly overhead but a time and money saver for large-scale, distributed systems, or critical low-level systems. By reducing rework and the cost of change, formal design significantly improves software development efficiency. Not all software benefits; agile development is better suited for areas sensitive to changing user requirements, such as UIs or pricing logic. However, for large systems with well-defined requirements, formal methods effectively reduce bug rates and improve performance. Brooker recommends various tools, including specification languages like TLA+, P, and Alloy, model checkers, and verification-aware programming languages. He emphasizes that formal methods not only ensure correctness but also help explore optimization options, avoiding the difficult trade-off between correctness and performance.

(brooker.co.za)

Development formal methods

Turning Databases Inside Out: A Paradigm Shift

2025-01-28

Martin Kleppmann's talk challenges the conventional database architecture. He proposes a revolutionary approach: inverting the database. Instead of the traditional global, shared, mutable state, Kleppmann suggests viewing a database as an ever-growing collection of immutable facts. Using a distributed stream processing framework like Apache Samza, data streams are processed in real-time. At its core is a distributed, durable commit log (e.g., Apache Kafka). This approach promises simpler code, better scalability and robustness, lower latency, and greater flexibility for data manipulation.

(martin.kleppmann.com)

Development

CDC Data Purge: Political Censorship Threatens Public Health Data Integrity

2025-02-01

CDC Data Purge: Political Censorship Threatens Public Health Data Integrity

Public health data on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website are undergoing a massive purge to remove keywords like "gender," "diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)," and "accessibility." Driven by a Trump administration executive order, this action has sparked intense concern among scientists. It could hinder researchers' ability to track disease spread across different populations, impacting the effectiveness of public health interventions and potentially leading to the neglect of specific communities' health needs. Scientists are scrambling to archive CDC website data to prevent permanent information loss.

(www.theatlantic.com)

Tech data censorship political interference

Hydro: A High-Performance Distributed Programming Framework in Rust

2025-01-31

Hydro: A High-Performance Distributed Programming Framework in Rust

Hydro is a high-level distributed programming framework for Rust, enabling the creation of scalable and correct-by-construction distributed services. Unlike traditional actor or RPC architectures, Hydro employs choreographic APIs and a high-performance single-threaded DFIR runtime. It simplifies deployment via Hydro Deploy, supporting both local and cloud environments. Using a two-stage compilation process, it generates deployment plans locally and then compiles to DFIR binaries for each machine, deploying them to the cloud based on the plan and cloud resource specifications. Hydro has been used to build various high-performance distributed systems, including implementations of classic protocols like two-phase commit and Paxos.

(hydro.run)

Development

Society for Technical Communication (STC) Files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

2025-01-29

The Society for Technical Communication (STC), a long-standing organization, has announced its closure due to insurmountable financial liabilities and declining membership. Despite years of cost-cutting measures and revenue generation attempts, the organization's debt and operational expenses exceeded its income. STC will cease all operations, including membership renewals, educational programs, certification courses, and all chapter and SIG activities. A bankruptcy trustee will manage the closure process and communicate with creditors.

(www.stc.org)

Misc Technical Communication Organization Closure

Microsoft Quietly Removes Windows 11 Upgrade Workaround

2025-02-05

Microsoft Quietly Removes Windows 11 Upgrade Workaround

When Windows 11 launched in 2021, Microsoft offered a registry tweak allowing upgrades on PCs that didn't meet system requirements. However, Microsoft recently removed the official support documentation for this method. This means Microsoft no longer officially supports this workaround, recommending users buy new, compatible PCs for Windows 11 upgrades. This move is likely tied to the upcoming end of Windows 10 support and collaborations with hardware manufacturers.

(www.neowin.net)

Tech Registry

Colorado's Wolves: Ecological Restoration vs. Economic Conflict

2025-02-04

Colorado's Wolves: Ecological Restoration vs. Economic Conflict

Colorado's reintroduction of gray wolves for ecological restoration has created conflict with the state's traditional ranching industry. Ranchers face financial losses and stress from wolf attacks, including livestock deaths and decreased productivity. Urban residents, however, celebrate the wolves' return, citing ecological benefits and expressing willingness to pay for their existence. This uneven distribution of economic benefits exacerbates the urban-rural divide. Efforts are underway to bridge this gap, with initiatives providing financial aid, technical support, and dialogue to balance ecological preservation and economic development.

(thehustle.co)

Misc ecological restoration human-wildlife conflict economic disparity

Great Question is Hiring a Lead Product Designer

2025-01-30

Great Question is Hiring a Lead Product Designer

Great Question, a seed-stage startup backed by Y Combinator and Funders Club, is hiring a Lead Product Designer. They're building an all-in-one customer research platform used by companies like Gusto, Experian, Canva, and Brex. The role requires 7-12 years of experience in software product design, with a focus on B2B SaaS and enterprise clients. The ideal candidate will be a strong leader with excellent UX design skills, capable of independently leading the design of complex product areas from conception to launch.

(www.ycombinator.com)

Design Product Design

World's Largest Hydroelectric Dam Approved in Tibet

2025-01-05

World's Largest Hydroelectric Dam Approved in Tibet

China has approved the construction of the Yarlung Tsangpo Hydroelectric Project, set to become the world's largest hydropower dam complex. Located in Tibet near the India border, it's projected to generate nearly three times the electricity of the Three Gorges Dam, amounting to 300 TWh annually. While promising a significant boost to renewable energy, the project raises concerns about environmental impact, seismic risks in the region, and potential downstream effects on India.

(newatlas.com)

Tech Hydroelectric Dam Tibet Renewable Energy

Gaia Completes Sky Survey: 3 Trillion Observations, 2 Billion Stars

2025-01-15

Gaia Completes Sky Survey: 3 Trillion Observations, 2 Billion Stars

ESA's Gaia spacecraft has completed its decade-long sky survey, amassing over three trillion observations of roughly two billion stars and other celestial objects. This represents a revolutionary leap in our understanding of the Milky Way and our cosmic neighborhood. Despite nearing fuel depletion, Gaia's data continues to grow, fueling scientific research with over 13,000 publications and 580 million catalogue accesses to date. Two more massive data releases are yet to come, promising further revelations about the universe.

(www.esa.int)

Tech Gaia Milky Way

NordVPN's New Protocol Aims to Evade VPN Blockers

2025-01-29

NordVPN's New Protocol Aims to Evade VPN Blockers

NordVPN has unveiled NordWhisper, a new protocol designed to bypass VPN blocks prevalent in countries like Russia and India. By mimicking regular internet traffic, it aims to fool ISPs and websites into thinking the traffic isn't from a masked service. While not foolproof and potentially adding latency, NordWhisper offers a valuable tool for users seeking access to restricted content or enhanced privacy. It's currently rolling out for Windows, Linux, and Android, with support for other platforms planned.

(gizmodo.com)

Tech

Swift Move Semantics: A Comparison with C++

2025-01-09

This article delves into the similarities and differences between move semantics in Swift and C++. Swift automatically performs move optimizations, which is beneficial for performance but can surprise C++ programmers accustomed to the RAII idiom. Swift's "non-copyable types" are similar to C++'s "move-only types," but Swift's moves are destructive, avoiding potential issues with C++'s "non-destructive moves." The article compares Swift's `consume` with C++'s `std::move`, and explains Swift's shortened variable lifetimes, parameter passing conventions (`consuming`, `borrowing`, `inout`), and the Law of Exclusivity. Finally, it discusses using non-copyable types for RAII, generics, and conditionally copyable types in Swift, and why Swift lacks perfect forwarding.

(www.douggregor.net)

Development Move Semantics

Nellie Bly: The Daredevil Journalist Who Changed Investigative Reporting

2025-02-05

Nellie Bly: The Daredevil Journalist Who Changed Investigative Reporting

Nellie Bly, born Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, was an American journalist renowned for her groundbreaking around-the-world trip in 72 days and her exposé on the horrific conditions of a women's asylum. She pioneered a new form of investigative journalism, challenging societal norms and paving the way for female reporters. Bly's life, filled with daring adventures and relentless pursuit of truth, remains a testament to her courage and impact on journalism.

(en.wikipedia.org)

Tech investigative reporting women in journalism

Game Dev Roundup: Pixel Art to Engine Frameworks

2025-01-31

Hacker News recently featured a plethora of game development resources. From pixel art upscalers and the official release of SDL 3 to reverse-engineering Call of Duty's anti-cheat, developers shared tools, techniques, and insights. Posts highlighted curated lists of game dev blogs, Godot engine debugging add-ons, and the open-source Tramway SDK engine. Discussions also touched upon game design philosophies like defining "cozy" games and showcased level editors such as LDtk. These resources span the gamut of game development, from code and art to tools and theory, offering a rich trove for game developers.

(gamedev.city)

Game resource aggregation open source tools

Effective AI Code Suggestions: Less is More

2025-01-29

Effective AI Code Suggestions: Less is More

Qodo (formerly Codium) discovered a crucial lesson in using LLMs for code review with its AI-powered tool, Qodo Merge. Initially, prioritizing bug detection over style suggestions proved ineffective; the model got overwhelmed by the easier-to-find style issues, leading to suggestion fatigue among developers. The breakthrough came from simplifying the model's task: focusing solely on finding meaningful bugs and problems. This laser focus increased bug detection rates and the signal-to-noise ratio, resulting in a 50% jump in suggestion acceptance rates and an 11% increase in overall impact. The key takeaway: sometimes, eliminating distractions is more effective than complex prioritization.

(www.qodo.ai)

Development

Viral Growth on Social Media: Fleeting Fame or Sustainable Success?

2025-01-31

Viral Growth on Social Media: Fleeting Fame or Sustainable Success?

Product launches are different in the age of social media. Going viral can bring a massive influx of users, but these are often low-quality, short-lived 'looky-loos'. The author argues that chasing viral growth is misguided; focusing on durability, scalability, and value is key. Sustainable growth comes from high-quality users and retention. Only products that stand the test of time and attract valuable users truly succeed. Metrics like long-term cohort retention, power user engagement, and organic acquisition should be prioritized over fleeting viral spikes.

(andrewchen.substack.com)

Startup product growth user retention

Garmin Data Parser: Harness Your Fitness Data with GarminDb

2025-02-02

Garmin Data Parser: Harness Your Fitness Data with GarminDb

GarminDb is a powerful suite of Python scripts designed to parse health data from Garmin Connect and store it in a lightweight SQLite database. It automatically downloads and imports daily monitoring data (heart rate, activity, climb/descend, stress, and intensity minutes), sleep, weight, and resting heart rate information. Furthermore, it summarizes data into daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly reports and allows graphing via command line or Jupyter Notebooks. A plugin system allows for easy expansion of data types. In short, GarminDb is a comprehensive and easy-to-use tool for managing your Garmin data, making health data analysis more efficient and convenient.

(github.com)

Development

Easily Calculate the Number of Language Model Tokens for a String

2025-02-05

Easily Calculate the Number of Language Model Tokens for a String

This article presents a simple method to calculate the number of language model tokens in a string. This is crucial for estimating application running costs, checking if text fits within the language model's context window, and determining if chunking is necessary. While a rough estimate can be obtained by dividing the character count by 4, a more accurate method involves using the specific language model (Hugging Face or OpenAI model) you're using. The author provides a Jupyter Notebook to calculate the token count for strings, files, or all files in a folder, eliminating reliance on external services, ensuring security and free usage.

(blog.mastykarz.nl)

Development token counting

The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of Book Blurbs

2025-02-05

The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of Book Blurbs

This article delves into the controversial world of book blurbs—those quotes of praise adorning book covers. While acknowledging the time-consuming and often hyperbolic nature of blurbs, the author argues that they remain a crucial element in a crowded publishing landscape. Blurbs help readers filter through the massive number of books published, assist book reviewers and sellers in their choices, and ultimately contribute to a book's success, especially for lesser-known authors. The author suggests reforms to improve the blurb system, including limiting their number, avoiding blurbs for unsold manuscripts, and encouraging established authors to prioritize giving opportunities to newer voices.

(countercraft.substack.com)

Misc publishing industry book blurbs marketing strategies

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