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The Pitfalls of String Length Limiting

2025-04-30

This post delves into the complexities of string length limiting. Different character encodings (UTF-8, UTF-16, Unicode code points, grapheme clusters) lead to varying length calculation methods, easily causing inconsistencies between frontend, backend, and database layers, resulting in bugs. The author suggests using Unicode code point counting with NFC normalization, although not perfect, as the best approach. The article also explores the advantages and disadvantages of grapheme cluster counting, UTF-8 byte counting, and UTF-16 code unit counting, and provides example code for a hybrid counting method.

(adam-p.ca)

Development string length

Dumbphones in 2025: Reclaiming Focus and Freedom

2025-06-04

Tired of endless notifications and distractions from your smartphone? This author shares their experience using a dumbphone in 2025. They argue that ditching the smartphone not only improves focus and reduces cognitive overload, but also enhances relationships, boasts longer battery life, increases privacy, and offers a minimalist design. While it means less frequent access to social media and instant messaging, this paradoxically boosts productivity and allows for greater presence in daily life. It's not about rejecting technology entirely, but rather advocating for a more balanced and healthy approach to its use.

(samueleamato.xyz)

Misc dumbphone

The Busy Beaver Game: A Race to the Universe's Edge

2025-08-25

The Busy Beaver Game: A Race to the Universe's Edge

Mathematician Tibor Radó's Busy Beaver game challenges finding the longest-running Turing machine for a given number of rules. Recent years have seen a thrilling competition between Shawn Ligocki and Pavel Kropitz in the BB(6) challenge, pushing the boundaries of computation. Their discoveries resulted in runtimes exceeding the number of atoms in the universe, showcasing both the incredible advancements in computing power and the ingenuity of algorithms.

(www.quantamagazine.org)

Tech Computation

LLM Plugin for Semantic Line Sorting

2025-02-12

LLM Plugin for Semantic Line Sorting

This command-line plugin leverages a Large Language Model (LLM) to semantically sort lines of text. Similar to the GNU `sort` command, but instead of alphabetical order, it ranks lines based on semantic relevance to a given query. Input can be from files or standard input. Users can customize the sorting method, output limit, model, and prompt template. A default prompt is provided, but customization is supported. Installation is straightforward: clone the code, create a virtual environment, and install dependencies.

(github.com)

Development Semantic Sorting CLI Plugin

Missing Memories: A Blogger with Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory (SDAM) Speaks Out

2025-06-06

Missing Memories: A Blogger with Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory (SDAM) Speaks Out

Blogger Marco Giancotti shares his experience living with Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory (SDAM). SDAM is a rare memory disorder characterized by an inability to recall specific past events; memories feel like a 'file cabinet without labels'. While his semantic and spatial memory are intact, recalling specific episodes is incredibly difficult, linked to his concurrent aphantasia. He uses personal anecdotes to illustrate how SDAM affects his life and how he compensates using spatial and semantic memory. Although SDAM causes emotional distress, he finds advantages, such as increased focus on the present and enhanced rational thinking.

(aethermug.com)

Misc memory disorder

Google's AI Summaries: A Threat to Web Traffic?

2025-07-23

Google's AI Summaries: A Threat to Web Traffic?

A Pew Research Center study reveals how Google's AI-generated search summaries are impacting user behavior. Nearly six in ten respondents used Google searches with AI summaries in March 2025. The study found users clicked on traditional search result links less frequently when presented with an AI summary, often opting to read the summary instead. This resulted in a decrease in clicks to external websites and an increase in users ending their browsing session after the search. While convenient, the summaries predominantly sourced information from a few websites like Wikipedia, YouTube, and Reddit.

(www.pewresearch.org)

Tech User Behavior

GitHub Copilot Backlash: Developers Fleeing to Alternatives

2025-09-06

GitHub Copilot Backlash: Developers Fleeing to Alternatives

Despite boasting 20 million users, Microsoft's GitHub Copilot AI code assistant is facing a major backlash from developers. Widespread complaints cite forced bundling, potential license violations, and questionable code quality. Numerous developers are requesting Copilot's disablement on GitHub, with many migrating to alternatives like Codeberg. Microsoft's aggressive Copilot integration and disregard for user feedback are accelerating this exodus. Developers express concerns about Copilot infringing on their rights and raising code quality and copyright issues, highlighting the importance of user experience and respecting open-source principles in AI tool deployment.

(www.theregister.com)

Development

Programming with LLMs in 2024: My Experiences

2025-01-07

This post summarizes the author's experiences using generative models for programming over the past year. He found LLMs to be a net positive on his productivity, particularly for autocomplete, search, and chat-driven programming. While chat-driven programming requires adjusting workflows, it provides a first draft and facilitates quicker error correction. The author emphasizes that LLMs excel with well-defined problems and advocates for smaller, more independent code packages for better LLM interaction. He introduces sketch.dev, a Go IDE designed for LLMs to streamline the feedback loop and boost efficiency.

(crawshaw.io)

Development

CIA's Secret Robot Dragonfly Spy from the Cold War

2024-12-16

CIA's Secret Robot Dragonfly Spy from the Cold War

In the 1970s, the CIA secretly developed a miniature robotic dragonfly, dubbed the "insectothopter," for espionage. The device used laser reflectors as microphones, analyzing laser beam vibrations to capture sound. While successful in lab tests, its inability to cope with real-world wind conditions led to the project's termination. Nevertheless, this ambitious endeavor laid the groundwork for modern micro-drone technology and highlighted the intense technological competition of the Cold War.

(www.popularmechanics.com)

Tech robot dragonfly Cold War espionage

io_uring Gains New Process Creation Functionality

2024-12-20

LWN.net reports on the development of a new process creation feature for the io_uring subsystem. This functionality is implemented via two new io_uring operations: IORING_OP_CLONE, which creates a new process, and IORING_OP_EXEC, which performs an execveat() system call to load a new program. This promises increased efficiency and allows for more complex logic, such as path searching, to be executed asynchronously within the kernel. However, the feature is still in its early stages and has limitations, such as requiring synchronous execution of io_uring operations within the new process. Future development aims to increase flexibility and eventually merge the feature into the mainline Linux kernel.

(lwn.net)

Development process creation Linux kernel

Asdf Overlay: Blazing Fast Windows Overlay Library

2025-05-30

Asdf Overlay: Blazing Fast Windows Overlay Library

Asdf Overlay is a blazingly fast and easy-to-use Windows overlay library that draws on top of the window framebuffer by hooking rendering backends. It utilizes GPU shared textures to avoid CPU framebuffer copies, enabling rendering of overlays of any size without performance loss. Supporting OpenGL, DX9-DX12, and Vulkan, it offers features like input capture control. Already used in projects like ingame lyrics overlays and ingame overlays, it requires Node.js, pnpm, a specific Rust compiler version, and MSVC. After installing dependencies, build with `pnpm build`. Multiple examples and debugging methods are provided.

(github.com)

Development

Sci-Fi Art Legend David Schleinkofer Passes Away

2025-04-28

Sci-Fi Art Legend David Schleinkofer Passes Away

Renowned science fiction illustrator David Schleinkofer passed away this week at age 74 due to ALS. His distinctive airbrush style graced the covers and interiors of countless sci-fi novels, magazines, and games like Transformers and SimCity over his 40-year career. His work, featured in seminal works such as *Tomorrow and Beyond*, significantly influenced the field and will be deeply missed.

(downthetubes.net)

Design Sci-Fi Art Obituary

Solving a Layton Puzzle Elegantly with Prolog

2025-04-08

Solving a Layton Puzzle Elegantly with Prolog

The author rewrote the chapter on logic programming languages in their book "Logic for Programmers", showcasing Prolog's power with a 'Layton-style' puzzle. The puzzle involves deducing the fourth student's score based on the scores of the first three. Using concise Prolog code (just 15 lines!), the author elegantly solves the problem, leveraging Prolog's pattern matching and bidirectionality to find all possible answer keys, ultimately determining the fourth student's score as 6. A comparison is made to a longer, less efficient solution. While the author argues against using puzzles for teaching, this example demonstrates Prolog's practical application potential.

(buttondown.com)

Development Puzzle Solving

The Quirky Tales of Green Bank Observatory: Old Cars, Starry Skies, and RFI Battles

2025-03-10

The Quirky Tales of Green Bank Observatory: Old Cars, Starry Skies, and RFI Battles

This concluding part of a series recounts the unique challenges and triumphs of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia. From its fleet of antique diesel cars, necessary to avoid radio frequency interference (RFI), to its simple teaching telescope used for educational outreach, the story reveals the dedication and ingenuity of NRAO's staff. The article details the intricacies of the observatory's 40-foot telescope, the massive Green Bank Telescope (GBT), and the RFI monitoring station, while highlighting the harmonious relationship cultivated between NRAO and the local community, even amidst historical conflicts and ongoing battles against RFI from various sources, including military aircraft.

(raoulpop.com)

Tech Radio Astronomy

Sony Battles AI Deepfake Songs: 75,000+ Removed, Copyright Fight Heats Up

2025-03-10

Sony Battles AI Deepfake Songs: 75,000+ Removed, Copyright Fight Heats Up

Sony Music is battling AI-generated deepfake songs mimicking artists like Harry Styles and Beyoncé. Over 75,000 songs have been removed from online platforms, but this is likely a small fraction of the problem. The proliferation of these songs is causing direct commercial harm, sparking a copyright debate. The UK government is considering new copyright laws allowing AI model training on artist material, but this has faced artist protests over the difficulty of policing copyright violations. Meanwhile, AI-generated nude deepfakes are a growing problem in US high schools, highlighting the ethical concerns alongside the technological advancements.

(gizmodo.com)

Tech AI deepfakes deepfake songs Deepfakes deepfakes music industry

Apple Ditches Goldman Sachs Credit Card Partnership

2025-04-04

Apple Ditches Goldman Sachs Credit Card Partnership

Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to the Wall Street Journal, marking a significant setback for Goldman's consumer lending ambitions. Apple plans to exit the partnership within the next 12-15 months, encompassing both the 2019-launched credit card and this year's savings account. Goldman's substantial losses in building its consumer banking operation led to this decision. While customer satisfaction was reportedly high, Goldman's acquisition costs—estimated at $350 per cardholder—were astronomically high, likely contributing to the partnership's demise.

(news.slashdot.org)

Tech Goldman Sachs Credit Card

Tech Nonprofits: Why Are They So Bad at Fundraising?

2025-08-21

The author, a regular philanthropist, observes that tech nonprofits are significantly worse at attracting donors than other types of charities. This post analyzes the shortcomings, highlighting the need for tech nonprofits to simplify donation processes (offering diverse methods like credit cards, DAFs, etc.), clearly communicate the impact of donations (detailing organizational goals, finances, project progress, and fund usage), and foster stronger human connection (proactively engaging with donors and building relationships). The author advocates for tech nonprofits to learn from successful models in other sectors to improve their fundraising efforts and achieve their missions.

(mitchellh.com)

Startup nonprofit donation

China's Breakthrough: World's First 2D Low-Power GAAFET Transistor

2025-05-04

China's Breakthrough: World's First 2D Low-Power GAAFET Transistor

A Peking University research team published in Nature, announcing the world's first two-dimensional low-power GAAFET transistor. This transistor, based on the novel 2D semiconductor material Bi₂O₂Se, outperforms comparable products from Intel, TSMC, and Samsung. This breakthrough could help China leapfrog in the chip industry, especially given the backdrop of US technological sanctions against China.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech GAAFET transistor 2D semiconductor

Microsoft Unveils Lightweight Command-Line Editor 'Edit'

2025-05-19

Microsoft Unveils Lightweight Command-Line Editor 'Edit'

Microsoft launched its new command-line text editor, Edit, at its Build conference. This open-source, sub-250KB editor aims to provide a lightweight default CLI text editor for 64-bit Windows, addressing the lack of a built-in option and aiming to avoid the infamous "how do I exit vim?" problem. Edit boasts keybindings, find and replace functionality, regular expression support, and more. It will be available through the Windows Insider program in the coming months. Microsoft also rebranded Windows Dev Home to Advanced Windows Settings, integrating additional developer-focused toggles into the main Windows 11 settings.

(www.theverge.com)

Development

Teardown Reveals Apple's 40W Dynamic Power Adapter: 60W Power in a Compact Package

2025-09-20

Teardown Reveals Apple's 40W Dynamic Power Adapter: 60W Power in a Compact Package

Apple's new 40W Dynamic Power Adapter, unveiled at their Fall Event, packs a punch. A ChargerLAB teardown reveals its impressive internals: a PI ZN1612F master control chip, RECTRON synchronous rectifier, Infineon protocol chip for output control, and NCC and Nichicon capacitors for filtering. Supporting PD3.0 and DCP charging protocols, it delivers fast charging for iPhone 17 and up to 55.94W for MacBook Air. The internal design prioritizes heat dissipation and protection, showcasing Apple's characteristic meticulous craftsmanship.

(www.chargerlab.com)

Hardware Teardown

Atari 8-bit Computer Shrunk to Postage Stamp Size

2025-06-03

Atari 8-bit Computer Shrunk to Postage Stamp Size

Polish engineer Piotr Ostapowicz has created Atarino, a remarkably small recreation of the Atari 8-bit computer. About the size of a postage stamp, it faithfully recreates the classic Atari XL/XE architecture using modern FPGA technology. Packing a 6502C processor, ANTIC and GTIA graphics chips, POKEY sound chip, and memory controllers onto a single chip, Atarino runs significantly faster than the original while maintaining compatibility with original peripherals. This miniature marvel showcases the power of modern technology while celebrating retro gaming.

(arstechnica.com)

Game

Java Concurrency: A Journey from Threads to Structured Concurrency

2025-05-13

This article traces the evolution of Java concurrency, from raw threads in Java 1 to structured concurrency in Java 21. Early Java concurrency involved manual thread management, leading to various issues. Java 5 introduced ExecutorService, simplifying thread lifecycle management; Java 7's ForkJoinPool optimized for CPU-bound tasks; Java 8's CompletableFuture enabled non-blocking task chaining; Java 9's Flow API supported reactive programming; and Java 21's virtual threads and structured concurrency further enhance efficiency and safety, addressing previous challenges and offering a safer, cleaner way to handle concurrent tasks.

(amritpandey.io)

Development Structured Concurrency

Internet Map 2010: A BGP Visualization Pioneer

2025-05-12

This 2010 image of the internet, unseen publicly until 2014, represents a groundbreaking visualization. Unlike previous traceroute-based maps, it uses BGP data as its foundation, creating a framework for future internet visualizations using the Route Views table dump archive. The color scheme depicts connection density as incandescence, with hotter colors representing higher connection points. This image was previously only viewable at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and in Discover Magazine.

(www.opte.org)

Tech internet map

Hyundai's $18k EV, the Inster, Takes on Japan

2025-01-11

Hyundai's $18k EV, the Inster, Takes on Japan

Hyundai launched its cheapest EV yet in Japan, the Inster, priced at just $18,000. This small electric vehicle boasts a 42 or 49 kWh battery, offering a range of up to 195 miles (315 km) or 221 miles (355 km) WLTP, respectively. Hyundai aims to significantly boost its Japanese market share with the Inster, currently trailing behind BYD in sales. The Inster will compete directly with popular EVs like the BYD Dolphin and Nissan Sakura.

(electrek.co)

Tech Hyundai Electric Vehicle Japan Market

Century-Old Problem Solved: Mathematicians Unify Three Theories of Fluid Physics

2025-04-26

Century-Old Problem Solved: Mathematicians Unify Three Theories of Fluid Physics

Mathematicians from the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan have posted a paper to arXiv claiming to have solved a subgoal of Hilbert's sixth problem: unifying three physical theories describing fluid motion—Newton's laws of motion, the Boltzmann equation, and the Euler-Navier-Stokes equations. The achievement bridges the microscopic, mesoscopic, and macroscopic levels by proving that, in the limit of infinitely many particles with vanishing size, the statistical behavior of Newton's equations converges to the solution of the Boltzmann equation. This strengthens the mathematical foundations of physics.

(www.scientificamerican.com)

Tech Fluid Dynamics

LLM Tool Poisoning Attacks: Full-Schema Poisoning and Advanced Tool Poisoning Attacks

2025-06-08

LLM Tool Poisoning Attacks: Full-Schema Poisoning and Advanced Tool Poisoning Attacks

Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) lets Large Language Models (LLMs) interact with external tools, but researchers have uncovered novel attacks: Tool Poisoning Attacks (TPAs). Previous research focused on tool description fields, but new findings reveal the attack surface extends to the entire tool schema, coined "Full-Schema Poisoning" (FSP). Even more dangerous are "Advanced Tool Poisoning Attacks" (ATPAs), which manipulate tool outputs, making static analysis difficult. ATPAs trick LLMs into leaking sensitive information by crafting deceptive error messages or follow-up prompts. The paper suggests mitigating these attacks through static detection, strict enforcement, runtime auditing, and contextual integrity checks.

(www.cyberark.com)

AI Attacks

Base58 vs. Base85 Encoding: A Tale of Two Encodings

2025-07-27

Base58 and Base85 encodings represent binary data in human-readable formats. Base58, using a smaller character set, is more conservative; Base85, with a larger set, is more efficient. A key difference lies in how 'base' is defined. Base58 is crucial to Bitcoin, part of the Base58Check protocol for addresses and keys. Base85 offers a more compact alternative to Base64, found in PDFs and Git patch encoding. It works by breaking bits into 32-bit words, encoding each in base 85. Variations in Base85 alphabets lead to different outputs. Base85 boasts superior efficiency, using fewer symbols and offering better computational performance.

(www.johndcook.com)

Development Encoding

Google Gemini 2.5: Faster, Cheaper, and More Powerful

2025-06-17

Google Gemini 2.5: Faster, Cheaper, and More Powerful

Google announces the general availability of its Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash models, alongside a preview release of the even more cost-effective and faster Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite. These models achieve a Pareto optimal balance of cost and speed, outperforming their predecessors across various benchmarks including coding, math, science, reasoning, and multimodal tasks. Flash-Lite especially excels in high-volume, low-latency applications like translation and classification. The Gemini 2.5 family boasts features like adjustable reasoning budgets, integration with tools like Google Search and code execution, multimodal input, and a massive 1 million-token context window.

(blog.google)

AI

WordPress Founder Matt Mullenweg on 20 Years of Automattic and the AI Revolution

2025-07-01

WordPress Founder Matt Mullenweg on 20 Years of Automattic and the AI Revolution

In a wide-ranging interview on the Decoder podcast, Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg reflects on two decades of WordPress and the controversies surrounding its open-source ecosystem. He discusses the legal battle with WP Engine, Automattic's response to the AI boom's impact on websites, and his vision for new products like Beeper. Mullenweg expresses optimism about AI's future, believing it won't destroy the web but rather create new opportunities. The conversation also touches upon Automattic's organizational restructuring and its commitment to the open web.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech

Figma's IPO: A Win for Antitrust or Just Great Product?

2025-08-03

Figma's IPO: A Win for Antitrust or Just Great Product?

Figma's successful IPO is being celebrated by Lina Khan, former FTC chair, as a validation of her antitrust stance. Khan's previous blocking of Adobe's $20 billion acquisition of Figma sparked controversy in the tech industry. She argues that preventing Big Tech from acquiring startups fosters innovation and competition, ultimately benefiting employees, investors, and the public. However, critics counter that Figma's success is due to its inherent strengths, not regulatory scrutiny. The debate highlights the complex interplay between tech mergers and antitrust regulation.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

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