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WD and Microsoft Launch Massive Hard Drive Recycling Program to Reduce Reliance on China for Rare Earths

2025-04-21

WD and Microsoft Launch Massive Hard Drive Recycling Program to Reduce Reliance on China for Rare Earths

Western Digital, in collaboration with Microsoft and recycling partners CMR and PedalPoint Recycling, has launched a large-scale hard drive recycling program to address growing e-waste and rare earth element shortages. The program utilizes acid-free dissolution recycling (ADR) technology to reclaim Rare Earth Oxides (REO), including dysprosium, neodymium, and praseodymium, along with aluminum, steel, gold, palladium, and copper. The recovered REO boasts 99.5% purity and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 95% compared to virgin mining. This initiative aims to lessen the US tech industry's dependence on China for rare earths and promote a circular economy. The program has already successfully recycled 47,000 pounds of hard drives, achieving a reclaim rate exceeding 90%.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech Hard Drive Recycling Rare Earths

Consumer Reports Slams Microsoft's Windows 10 Update Deadline

2025-09-17

Consumer Reports Slams Microsoft's Windows 10 Update Deadline

Consumer Reports is urging Microsoft to extend the October 14th deadline for free Windows 10 security updates, arguing that millions of users with incompatible hardware will be left vulnerable. With approximately 46.2% of global users still on Windows 10 (August 2025 data) and an estimated 200-400 million PCs unable to upgrade to Windows 11, Consumer Reports calls Microsoft's policy hypocritical. They criticize the $30 fee for a one-year extension and the company's tactics of pushing users towards Microsoft products. Both Consumer Reports and a Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) are petitioning for extended free support to prevent millions of perfectly functional computers from being discarded.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech Security Updates

America's Food Safety: A Battle Against Lies and History

2025-04-30

America's Food Safety: A Battle Against Lies and History

This article interviews science journalist Deborah Blum, exploring the current state and history of food safety in the US. Blum points out that amidst rampant misinformation and government deregulation, American citizens face food safety risks, with issues similar to 19th-century food adulteration resurfacing. She uses her book, "The Poison Squad," to illustrate the birth of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and how chemist Harvey Wiley exposed food safety problems through a 'poison squad' experiment. Blum calls for public attention to food safety and criticizes the individualistic approach that blames consumers for foodborne illnesses, emphasizing the government's responsibility to guarantee basic rights.

(buttondown.com)

Tech science journalism

Bitcoin Address Collision Hunting: A Distributed Computing Project

2025-04-05

This is a distributed computing project aimed at finding a collision in Bitcoin addresses. By exploiting the properties of the RIPEMD160 hash function, the project attempts to find different private keys that result in the same Bitcoin address. The project cleverly partitions the search space, assigning it to different clients for parallel computation, and uses a Bloom filter to efficiently check if generated hashes match known addresses with funds. Focusing only on addresses with funds significantly reduces the search space and increases the probability of finding a collision, while simultaneously incentivizing rightful owners to reclaim their funds.

(lbc.cryptoguru.org)

Tech Hash Collision Distributed Computing

Nagel on Moral Judgment and Progress: A Critique

2025-04-07

Nagel on Moral Judgment and Progress: A Critique

This article examines Thomas Nagel's views on the objectivity of moral judgment and moral progress. Using the anecdote of a WWII French Resistance member interrogating a Nazi collaborator, Nagel illustrates the power of moral intuitions. While acknowledging utilitarian and evolutionary explanations for these intuitions, he argues they reflect underlying moral truths. Nagel distinguishes scientific from moral progress, asserting that accessing moral truths depends on historical developments revealing new moral reasons. He uses examples like individual rights, social equality, sexual morality, and international justice to show moral progress stems from multiple factors, not a single principle. The author ultimately questions Nagel's view, suggesting applying utilitarian principles to all affected individuals is key to moral advancement.

(www.nybooks.com)

Misc utilitarianism

Adobe Fonts Gets a Massive Update: 1500+ New Fonts Added!

2025-04-13

Adobe Fonts Gets a Massive Update: 1500+ New Fonts Added!

Adobe Fonts just received its biggest update in five years, adding over 1,500 new fonts, including iconic classics like Helvetica, Arial, and Times New Roman. This expansive library now supports numerous languages, from Arabic to Korean, ensuring designers have the perfect typeface for any project. The update is free for all paid Creative Cloud subscribers and seamlessly integrates with Adobe's creative suite, eliminating missing font issues and ensuring consistent branding across all platforms.

(blog.adobe.com)

Design Font Update

Satchmo's Chicago Debut: A Night That Changed Jazz

2025-02-07

Satchmo's Chicago Debut: A Night That Changed Jazz

This article recounts the legendary night in 1922 when Louis Armstrong arrived in Chicago to join King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. Ricky Riccardi, in his new book "Stomp Off, Let's Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong," vividly describes Armstrong's journey from New Orleans, his anxious arrival, and his electrifying debut at the Lincoln Gardens. This night marked a turning point in Armstrong's career, showcasing not only his immense talent but also his humility and respect for his mentor. The excerpt details the vibrant atmosphere, the personalities he encountered, and the unique collaborative style he developed with Oliver.

(www.honest-broker.com)

Misc Jazz Louis Armstrong Music Biography

NATS Near-Exit from CNCF Sparks Debate on Open Source Sustainability

2025-05-29

NATS Near-Exit from CNCF Sparks Debate on Open Source Sustainability

Synadia, the company behind the open-source messaging system NATS, briefly threatened to remove it from the CNCF and switch to a non-open-source license, raising concerns about the long-term viability of open-source projects. While a last-minute agreement saw Synadia transfer the trademark to the Linux Foundation and keep NATS open source, the incident highlighted tensions between open-source foundations and contributing companies. The dispute revealed vulnerabilities in the current framework, underscoring the need for clearer asset management and stronger safeguards to protect open-source projects from similar future threats. The controversy also sparked discussions about the role of foundations in maintaining the stability and trust within the open-source community.

(www.infoq.com)

Development

Former National Security Advisor Waltz Caught Using Secret Signal Archiving App

2025-05-04

Former National Security Advisor Waltz Caught Using Secret Signal Archiving App

A Reuters photographer captured a photo of former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz checking his Signal messages during a Trump cabinet meeting. He wasn't using the official Signal app, but a modified version called TM SGNL, which automatically archives plaintext messages. Developed by TeleMessage, a company with executives linked to the Israeli Defense Forces' intelligence unit, TM SGNL likely violates Signal's open-source license. The app is primarily distributed through enterprise mobile device management (MDM) services, suggesting the Trump administration may have used it for classified discussions and centralized device management. The article also uncovered detailed documentation and a video revealing potential storage locations for chat logs, including Microsoft 365, SMTP, and SFTP. This raises significant security concerns.

(micahflee.com)

Tech

Running LLMs Locally: Privacy, Cost, and Experimentation

2025-03-11

Running LLMs Locally: Privacy, Cost, and Experimentation

This article explores the advantages and methods of running large language models (LLMs) locally. While acknowledging that local LLMs won't match cloud services in performance, the author highlights their benefits for privacy, cost control, and experimental development. Three tools are presented: Ollama (user-friendly, extensive model library), Llama.cpp (cross-platform, powerful), and Llamafiles (single executable, easy sharing). The article also covers crucial aspects like model selection, parameters, quantization, and model capabilities, while cautioning about model file sizes and security. Ultimately, running LLMs locally offers developers a flexible and controllable approach to AI development.

(spin.atomicobject.com)

Development local LLMs model selection

c/ua: A Lightweight Framework for AI Agents to Control Full Operating Systems

2025-04-23

c/ua: A Lightweight Framework for AI Agents to Control Full Operating Systems

c/ua (pronounced "koo-ah") is a lightweight framework enabling AI agents to control full operating systems within high-performance, lightweight virtual containers. Achieving up to 97% native speed on Apple Silicon, it works with any vision language model. It integrates high-performance virtualization (creating and running macOS/Linux VMs on Apple Silicon with near-native performance using Lume CLI and Apple's Virtualization.Framework) and a computer-use interface & agent, allowing AI systems to observe and control virtual environments, browsing the web, writing code, and performing complex workflows. It ensures security, isolation, high performance, flexibility, and reproducibility, with support for various LLM providers.

(github.com)

AI

Unique Games Conjecture: A Surprisingly Divisive Problem in Computational Complexity

2025-05-10

Proposed by Subhash Khot in 2002, the Unique Games Conjecture (UGC) posits that approximating the value of a specific type of game, known as a unique game, is NP-hard. This conjecture has significant implications for the theory of approximation algorithms; if true and P≠NP, many crucial problems wouldn't allow for good polynomial-time approximations, not just exact solutions. The academic community is split on its validity, with equivalent formulations including label cover and Max2Lin(k) problems. While stronger versions have been disproven, the UGC's exploration has spurred substantial mathematical research, and some progress towards proving it has been made, including proving a related conjecture, the 2-2 games conjecture.

(en.wikipedia.org)

Development approximation algorithms NP-hardness

BYD Undercuts Tesla with Low-Cost EVs Featuring Advanced Autopilot

2025-02-11

BYD, now China's top-selling automaker surpassing Tesla, announced it will equip its budget Seagull EV ($9,500) with its advanced "God's Eye" intelligent driving system. This directly challenges Tesla's AI-centric strategy and its high-priced models. BYD's autopilot features include remote parking and autonomous overtaking, with sensor configurations varying across models. The technology rivals, and in some aspects surpasses, Tesla's capabilities. China's strong government support for EVs and BYD's profitability have fueled its global expansion, while Tesla faces domestic political headwinds and slowing sales in key markets. Tesla's focus seems diverted, while BYD's cost-effective approach may reshape the EV landscape.

(gizmodo.com)

Tech

Cosmic Void: Are We Living in a Giant Void?

2025-07-29

Cosmic Void: Are We Living in a Giant Void?

New research suggests we might reside within a vast cosmic void, potentially resolving the 'Hubble tension'—the discrepancy in the universe's expansion rate. Analyzing the 'sound' of the early universe (baryon acoustic oscillations), researchers found our local region has roughly 20% lower matter density than average. This low-density void would gravitationally affect observations, making the universe appear to expand faster, aligning with measurements. The study concludes that a universe model incorporating a local void is significantly more likely than one without, offering a novel perspective on a long-standing cosmological puzzle.

(phys.org)

Tech Cosmic Void

Linux Kernel 6.16 Patches Core Dump Vulnerabilities: Saying Goodbye to a 'Stupid' API

2025-06-14

The Linux kernel 6.16 release significantly improves core dump handling, addressing long-standing security vulnerabilities. Previous API designs had flaws, such as core dump handlers running with root privileges, making them attractive attack targets, and race conditions leading to vulnerabilities. The new improvements introduce pidfd to ensure handlers operate on the correct crashed process and allow handlers to bind to a socket for receiving core dumps, reducing privilege escalation risks and effectively preventing attacks.

(lwn.net)

Development core dump

Zig's Native x86 Backend Achieves 70% Faster Compilation

2025-06-09

The Zig compiler team announced that its native x86 backend is now production-ready, delivering significant speed improvements. Compared to the LLVM backend, the Zig backend boasts a 70% compilation speedup, reducing build times from 75 seconds to 20 seconds on large projects. This is attributed to optimizations in code generation and parallelization. Future plans include aarch64 support. This release also includes improved UBSan error messages for better debugging and enhanced cross-compilation support for FreeBSD and NetBSD.

(ziglang.org)

Development x86 Backend

Secret Mall Apartment: 4 Years Undetected in a Shopping Mall

2025-05-22

Secret Mall Apartment: 4 Years Undetected in a Shopping Mall

In 2003, a group of Rhode Island artists secretly built and lived in a hidden apartment within a bustling shopping mall for four years, undetected. The documentary "Secret Mall Apartment" chronicles their unusual endeavor, highlighting their artistic spirit and quiet rebellion against soulless consumerism and urban development. Their actions serve as a unique protest against the impersonal nature of modern city planning and the erasure of local character, culminating in a surprising discovery and a thought-provoking narrative.

(modernagejournal.com)

Misc Urban protest

Tiananmen Square: A Re-examination of the Narrative

2025-06-04

Tiananmen Square: A Re-examination of the Narrative

This article challenges the widely accepted narrative of a Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. By citing firsthand accounts from Western journalists and declassified documents, the author argues that no large-scale killing occurred in the square itself. However, hundreds did die in other parts of Beijing, including soldiers and police. The article further reveals evidence of CIA involvement and the influence of George Soros's Open Society Foundations, suggesting the events were not entirely spontaneous but manipulated by external forces. While advocating for greater freedom and transparency in China, the author emphasizes that China's reforms should be self-determined, urging a critical re-evaluation of the complexities of the Tiananmen incident.

(worldaffairs.blog)

Misc Western Media Political Manipulation

The Gateway Books: A Generation's Ambivalent Relationship with Literary Classics

2025-05-15

The Gateway Books: A Generation's Ambivalent Relationship with Literary Classics

This article explores the author's personal journey and a broader generational experience with a specific set of literary works—often dubbed the 'white male middlebrow canon.' These books, including works by Salinger, Vonnegut, and Heller, initially provided a sense of belonging and rebellion for young readers, offering an escape from the mundane and a path to intellectual self-discovery. However, as the author matured, they critically examined these books' inherent flaws, particularly misogyny and racism, leading to a complex and ambivalent relationship. Through surveys and personal reflections, the author investigates the lasting impact of these books and their limitations in the contemporary context, questioning whether they serve as helpful stepping stones to other literature or represent a limited and ultimately problematic perspective.

(thepointmag.com)

Misc Youth Culture Rebellion

200+ Climate Scientists Launch 100-Hour Livestream Marathon to Protest Funding Cuts

2025-05-31

200+ Climate Scientists Launch 100-Hour Livestream Marathon to Protest Funding Cuts

In response to the Trump administration's cuts to climate research funding for organizations like NASA and NOAA, over 200 US climate and weather scientists have launched a five-day, 100-hour YouTube livestream marathon. The event features mini-lectures, panels, and Q&A sessions, aiming to educate the public about meteorology and climate science while advocating for increased research funding. With over 77,000 views in its first 30 hours, the livestream highlights the scientists' efforts to demonstrate the value of their work and warn against the potential disastrous consequences of funding cuts, impacting agriculture, coastal communities, and disaster warning systems.

(www.space.com)

Tech

Ditch Wi-Fi Lag: How Ethernet Cables Can Supercharge Your Internet

2025-04-06

Ditch Wi-Fi Lag: How Ethernet Cables Can Supercharge Your Internet

Tired of unreliable and slow Wi-Fi? This article explores Ethernet cables—a way to boost internet speed and stability through a physical connection. Ethernet cables directly connect your computer to your router, bypassing Wi-Fi signal interference from walls and other objects, resulting in faster speeds and lower latency, especially beneficial for gamers. While some newer laptops lack Ethernet ports, USB adapters provide a solution. Furthermore, network switches allow you to hardwire multiple devices simultaneously for enhanced network efficiency.

(www.businessinsider.com)

Tech Network Connection

Building an Autonomous LLM Game Master with Small Models and Synthetic Data

2025-05-29

Building an Autonomous LLM Game Master with Small Models and Synthetic Data

This post details the journey of building an autonomous LLM Game Master for TTRPGs. Initially aiming for an agentic approach, the author opted for a bottom-up strategy to gain deeper understanding of model development. Due to limited compute, a small Qwen3 model was chosen, trained on the Shadowdark RPG rulebook processed via OCR into markdown. A Shadowdark QA Bench was created for evaluation, comparing several metrics before settling on keyword-based matching. After pretraining and knowledge augmentation (creating multiple restatements of the rulebook text), the model achieved a 60% accuracy on the benchmark, meeting the author's goal. The next step is assistant tuning.

(gygaxtest.com)

Development Synthetic Data

The Fight for Free Tax Software in the US: Why Direct File Isn't Enough

2025-04-13

US taxpayers have long relied on proprietary tax software like TurboTax, compromising their freedom. While the IRS offers Direct File, a free e-filing service, it's not free software, lacking transparency, security, and repairability. The article urges the IRS to make Direct File free software to protect taxpayer rights, ensure data security, and enhance the system's sustainability and inclusivity. It encourages writing to the IRS Commissioner to advocate for change.

(www.fsf.org)

Tech taxes US government

Quitting Instagram: A Battle with the Algorithm

2025-05-21

The author shares his struggle with Instagram addiction. Initially, he went cold turkey for three months, but upon reinstalling, he found himself quickly falling back into the trap. The algorithm precisely recommended short videos that interested him, even if those videos were bizarre and absurd. He tried replacing it with news, but it wasn't as effective, as news couldn't cater to his preferences as accurately as the algorithm. The author finally controlled himself by disabling the ability to install new apps on his phone, but he also realizes this is only a temporary solution. The real challenge lies in confronting the algorithm and his own desires.

(blog.greg.technology)

Misc social media addiction self-control

Writing Great Programming Documentation: A Teaching Guide

2025-03-16

This post uses engaging metaphors and storytelling to illustrate the philosophy of writing high-quality technical documentation. The author argues that the core of documentation is 'teaching', not simply providing information. The post critiques the inadequacy of relying solely on source code, tests, or literate programming tools, emphasizing that documentation should be viewed as a gradual learning process, guiding users from initial contact and quick start to in-depth learning and finally to advanced reference. Each stage should be carefully designed to help users become experts. The author also shares personal teaching experiences and suggests treating documentation writing as a teaching process, focusing on user experience and the gradual acquisition of knowledge.

(stevelosh.com)

Development technical documentation programming documentation

First Case of Severe Bird Flu Confirmed in US

2024-12-18

First Case of Severe Bird Flu Confirmed in US

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed the first case of severe bird flu in the United States. A Louisiana resident over 65 with underlying health conditions is hospitalized with severe respiratory illness due to avian influenza. The patient had contact with backyard birds, and genomic data shows the virus strain matches one recently spreading in US wild birds and poultry. While 61 human cases have been reported in the US since April, most were mild and recovered with antiviral treatment. The CDC stresses the risk of human-to-human transmission is low, but advises precautions for those working with or around poultry.

(abcnews.go.com)

Tech avian influenza viral infection

arXivLabs: Community Collaboration on New arXiv Features

2025-04-22

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Participants embrace arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. Got an idea to enhance the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs!

(arxiv.org)

Development

DeepSeek Chatbot: Data Security Concerns Spark Alarm

2025-02-06

DeepSeek Chatbot: Data Security Concerns Spark Alarm

Security researchers have discovered that the website of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company whose chatbot became the most downloaded app in the US, contains code that could send user login information to China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunications company banned from operating in the US. The code, found within DeepSeek's web login page, appears to connect to China Mobile's infrastructure and seems integrated into account creation and login processes. While DeepSeek's privacy policy acknowledges data storage in China, this discovery reveals a closer-than-previously-known link to the Chinese state. This raises significant national security concerns and underscores the growing worry about data security and privacy risks posed by Chinese-controlled digital services.

(apnews.com)

Tech

iPhone Agent: Control Your iOS Device with GPT-4.1

2025-06-02

iPhone Agent: Control Your iOS Device with GPT-4.1

PhoneAgent is an iOS app leveraging OpenAI's GPT-4.1 model to control your iPhone across multiple apps. By accessing the accessibility tree, it can perform tasks like sending messages, downloading apps, and making calls. It uses Xcode's UI testing framework, requiring no jailbreak, but is experimental and has known limitations, such as handling long-running tasks and animations. The app sends app content to the OpenAI API and communicates with UI tests via a TCP server.

(github.com)

Development

Obsess Jobs: Find Your Dream Job While You Sleep

2024-12-31

Obsess Jobs is a job board that lets you search and apply for jobs even while you sleep. The site offers a variety of positions including Software Engineers, Product Managers, and Data Scientists, with salaries ranging from $0 to $300k+. Jobs are available in remote, onsite, and hybrid formats. Users can filter by experience level, position, and date posted for easy job searching.

(obsessjobs.com)

Misc job board

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