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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

Microsoft's Silent Driver Purge: Breaking Your Old Hardware?

2025-06-20

Microsoft's Silent Driver Purge: Breaking Your Old Hardware?

Microsoft is quietly removing outdated drivers from Windows Update, citing security and reliability. However, this could break hardware for users relying on legacy devices. Without individual warnings, drivers simply disappear from Windows Update. Only the original hardware partner can restore them, but Microsoft might require business justification, and drivers are permanently deleted after six months of inactivity. This is a nightmare for users of older hardware, potentially impacting even enterprise environments. Microsoft plans to continue this purge regularly.

(nerds.xyz)

Hardware Drivers

Lively Web Core Module Loading Log

2025-05-14

This log shows the loading process of Lively Web core modules, displaying the loading times of various JavaScript modules. Loading times range from 78ms to 555ms, covering various aspects such as IDE tools, network tools, and UI components. This reflects Lively Web's modular architecture and runtime environment.

(smalltalkzoo.thechm.org)

Development module loading

DeepSearcher: An Open-Source Research Agent That's Faster and More Powerful Than Ever

2025-02-25

DeepSearcher: An Open-Source Research Agent That's Faster and More Powerful Than Ever

Zilliz has open-sourced DeepSearcher, a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) agent that generates detailed reports on a given topic. Building upon a previous prototype, DeepSearcher adds query routing, conditional execution flow, and web crawling capabilities. Leveraging SambaNova's DeepSeek-R1 reasoning model, it significantly improves inference speed and report quality. DeepSearcher breaks down complex queries into sub-queries, iteratively researching, analyzing, and synthesizing information to produce a coherent report. This project highlights the importance of efficient inference services in AI applications and points towards building more advanced AI systems.

(milvus.io)

AI

Six Technological Revolutions: Value Conversion from Agriculture to AI

2025-06-04

Six Technological Revolutions: Value Conversion from Agriculture to AI

This article examines six technological revolutions, from the agricultural revolution to the AI revolution, focusing on how each revolution drives economic development through new value conversion models. It argues that each revolution isn't driven by a single invention, but rather by a combination of core conversion, scalable infrastructure, spatiotemporal compression technologies, and other innovations. The author details each revolution's core conversion method, key resources, economic model, and centralization/decentralization process in a table. The article concludes that future technological revolutions hinge on standardization, infrastructure development, and equitable access, urging policymakers to prioritize digital public infrastructure to ensure fair distribution of technological benefits.

(ianreppel.org)

Tech technological revolutions value conversion

EgyptAir Flight 804 Crash: The Untold Story

2024-12-24

EgyptAir Flight 804 Crash: The Untold Story

On May 19, 2016, EgyptAir Flight 804 vanished from radar over the Mediterranean Sea. For eight years, the investigation was stalled, with conflicting reports from Egypt and France – one blaming a deliberate explosion, the other an accidental fire. In October 2024, Egypt unexpectedly released a 663-page final report, including both sides' findings. This article unravels the timeline, analyzes the reports, and reveals the most likely cause: a malfunction in the first officer's oxygen mask system ignited a fire, leading to the crash. This tragedy highlights aviation safety concerns and exposes the many ambiguities of the investigation.

(admiralcloudberg.medium.com)

Tech EgyptAir 804 Air Crash Investigation Aviation Safety

Generative AI's Limitations: A Critique by Gary Marcus

2025-02-15

Cognitive scientist Gary Marcus is a prominent skeptic of generative AI, arguing that the current technological path suffers from technical and ethical flaws. He points out that Large Language Models (LLMs) excel at function approximation but fall short in learning functions, prone to "distribution shift" issues, and unable to understand abstract concepts or reliably follow instructions. Marcus contends that LLMs lack understanding of the real world, leading to logical errors and biases. He proposes integrating neural networks with classical AI methods to address these shortcomings. He introduces a new evaluation benchmark—the "comprehension challenge"—where an AI system should be able to understand a movie plot and answer related questions, measuring true comprehension.

(cacm.acm.org)

AI AI limitations

The Beeper: A DIY Solution to Combat Prolonged Sitting

2025-01-01

Tired of the aches and pains from prolonged sitting at the computer? This post details a clever DIY device, "The Beeper," built to combat this. The Beeper consists of an ESP8266 microcontroller, a buzzer, and a simple switch housed in a small enclosure. After a set period of inactivity (screen unlocked), the Beeper emits an annoying sound, forcing the user to get up and silence it. The author provides details on the hardware, Lua firmware, and a macOS script that controls the device, highlighting iterative improvements to minimize interruptions during video calls. A simple yet effective solution to a common problem!

(blog.jacobvosmaer.nl)

Hardware Ergonomics

Amateur Two-Stage Rocket: Lessons Learned from a Hilarious Launch Failure

2025-04-13

Amateur Two-Stage Rocket: Lessons Learned from a Hilarious Launch Failure

This blog post recounts the author's first attempt at building and launching a two-stage model rocket. The story starts with excitement and a confident countdown, only to end with the rocket flopping over after a few meters. The post details the rocket's design and construction, including the propulsion system (homemade solid rocket motors), structure (paper body tube, 3D-printed nose cone and fins), avionics (Arduino and NodeMCU-based flight computers for real-time monitoring and active stage separation), and recovery system. Despite the initial launch failure, the author shares valuable lessons learned, emphasizing the importance of simple design in the learning process and how to gain insight from setbacks. The project highlights the use of readily available materials and open-source tools like OpenRocket and OpenMotor.

(knowone08.gitbook.io)

Tech rocketry

Accidental Invention: The Centennial Snow Globe's Legacy

2025-01-02

Accidental Invention: The Centennial Snow Globe's Legacy

The Perzy family of Vienna accidentally invented the snow globe. In 1900, Erwin Perzy I, attempting to improve operating room lighting, accidentally created a glass globe filled with water and white particles that floated like snow. He had a brilliant idea, placing a miniature model of the Mariazell Basilica inside, creating the first snow globe. This accidental invention unexpectedly swept the world, weathering wars and economic depressions, and through generations of the Perzy family, became a Christmas classic, still produced by the family business at a rate of 300,000 per year.

(www.smithsonianmag.com)

Misc invention story family business Christmas

Denmark Ditches Microsoft, Embraces LibreOffice

2025-06-14

Denmark Ditches Microsoft, Embraces LibreOffice

Denmark's Minister for Digital Affairs, Caroline Olsen, announced that her department will phase out Microsoft software in favor of LibreOffice, starting with replacing half of the ministry's computers within the first month. This follows similar moves by Copenhagen and Aarhus, and reflects a growing European focus on digital sovereignty. While challenges like macros and customizations exist, many staff lack advanced usage skills. The shift highlights the rise of open-source office suites and cloud services like Collabora's CODE and Google Workspace, but also concerns about reliance on US tech giants, leading countries like France to explore independent alternatives.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech

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

Single Rust Codebase Conquers Major GPU Platforms: A Milestone in Cross-Platform GPU Compute

2025-07-26

An exciting project has achieved the feat of running compute logic on all major GPU platforms (NVIDIA CUDA, AMD/Intel/NVIDIA Vulkan, Apple Metal, Windows DirectX 12, WebGPU for browsers, and a CPU fallback) from a single Rust codebase. Leveraging Rust's features like `#![no_std]`, conditional compilation, newtypes, enums, and traits, the project achieves impressive cross-platform generality. The `cargo` build system and testing framework streamline the development process. While challenges remain, such as compiler backend integration and debugging experience, this marks a significant step forward for Rust in cross-platform GPU computing.

(rust-gpu.github.io)

Development

The Relativity of Wrong: Why 'Wrong' Isn't Always Equally Wrong

2025-08-26

This essay argues that scientific theories aren't simply 'right' or 'wrong,' but rather exist on a spectrum of accuracy. Using the evolving understanding of Earth's shape as an example—from flat to spherical to oblate spheroid to a slightly pear-shaped model—Asimov demonstrates that scientific progress is a process of refinement, not replacement. Older theories, while incomplete, often contain valuable truths that persist in later, more refined models. The author concludes that celebrating current scientific understanding is justified, even acknowledging its inherent incompleteness.

(hermiene.net)

Tech scientific progress

AI-Generated Creative Works: The Surprising Gap Between Bias and Consumer Behavior

2025-03-27

AI-Generated Creative Works: The Surprising Gap Between Bias and Consumer Behavior

A recent study reveals a surprising gap between people's stated preferences and their actual consumption behavior regarding AI-generated content. Participants, while expressing a preference for human-created short stories, invested the same amount of time and money reading both AI-generated and human-written stories. Even knowing a story was AI-generated didn't reduce reading time or willingness to pay. This raises concerns about the future of creative industry jobs and the effectiveness of AI labels in curbing the flood of AI-generated work.

(theconversation.com)

AI Creative Industries Consumer Behavior

Microsoft Copilot Vulnerability: Audit Logs are Broken

2025-08-20

Microsoft Copilot Vulnerability: Audit Logs are Broken

A security researcher discovered a critical vulnerability in Microsoft Copilot: it sometimes accesses files and returns information without logging the action in audit logs. Worse, users can instruct Copilot to access files without leaving a trace. While Microsoft has fixed the vulnerability, their decision not to notify customers raises serious concerns about transparency and customer responsibility. This flaw poses a significant threat to organizations relying on audit logs for security and compliance, particularly in highly regulated industries like healthcare and finance.

(pistachioapp.com)

Tech Audit Logs

Say Goodbye to localhost: Accessing Local Apps with Custom Domains

2025-04-10

Tired of remembering complex `localhost:XXXX` port numbers? The author shares a clever method using launchd daemons, the `/etc/hosts` file, and the Caddy server to map local apps to custom `.localhost` domains, such as `appname.localhost`. This simplifies accessing local development applications, but the author also envisions a future where these domains can be managed with a single command.

(inclouds.space)

Development domain configuration

The Fall of Sierra On-Line: A Tale of Acquisition, Ambition, and Missed Opportunities

2025-04-04

In 1996, the successful Sierra On-Line was acquired by the little-known CUC International. CUC's CEO, the charismatic Walter Forbes, promised to usher Sierra into a new era of e-commerce. However, CUC's business model was opaque and its profitability questionable. Sierra's founder, Ken Williams, driven by fatigue and a sense of fiduciary duty, accepted the acquisition, only to find himself sidelined and missing out on the success of games like Half-Life. The acquisition serves as a cautionary tale of ambition, misjudgment, and the complexities of business ethics.

(www.filfre.net)

Game mergers and acquisitions business ethics

Pac-Man Superfast: A Speedy Blast from the Past, But Short-Lived

2025-06-21

Pac-Man Superfast: A Speedy Blast from the Past, But Short-Lived

YouTube Playables' Pac-Man Superfast delivers a high-speed Pac-Man experience reminiscent of the Championship Edition series, but with only four ghosts and a mere 13 levels. While the intense gameplay is thrilling, the lack of a 256-level mode, leaderboards, and rewards for extra lives and high scores limit replayability and competitive aspects. Despite this, the challenging gameplay and high-score pursuit make it worth a try, especially for classic arcade game fans. But hurry, before it vanishes like other defunct Google projects.

(arstechnica.com)

Game

The Mystery of the Passive USB-to-PS/2 Mouse Adapter

2025-03-28

The Mystery of the Passive USB-to-PS/2 Mouse Adapter

Early USB mice often included a green adapter to convert the USB Type-A plug to PS/2. This wasn't a smart adapter; it was purely mechanical, with no circuitry. The mouse itself did the conversion, detecting the signal type (USB or PS/2) and adjusting accordingly. It's analogous to a simple power adapter – the intelligence resides in the device, not the adapter. So, if you find one of these, remember it's just a physical connector; the actual conversion happens within the dual-bus mouse.

(devblogs.microsoft.com)

Hardware Mouse Adapter

Military Casinos Rake in Millions, While Soldiers Struggle with Gambling Addiction

2025-08-04

Military Casinos Rake in Millions, While Soldiers Struggle with Gambling Addiction

In the aftermath of 9/11, US Army officer Dave Yeager found solace in the slot machines at his Seoul base, spiraling into a devastating gambling addiction. This highlights a concerning trend: veterans and service members are more prone to gambling disorders than civilians, often hesitant to seek help due to fear of repercussions. The Army Recreation Machine Program (ARMP) generates tens of millions of dollars annually from its overseas slot machine operations, yet critics argue insufficient funds are allocated to problem gambling education, creating a stark contrast between the program's profitability and the suffering of those it potentially harms.

(www.wired.com)

Misc slot machines

KeyPub.sh: A Privacy-Focused SSH Key Verification Service

2024-12-23

KeyPub.sh is a free, publicly available service requiring no installation or configuration. It leverages your existing SSH public key as your identity, linking it to your email address for simplified authentication. Users register and manage their SSH keys via a simple email verification process, controlling the visibility of their email address. This provides a lightweight, privacy-respecting alternative to OAuth for CLI applications, eliminating the need for developers to build user verification systems while empowering users with control over their privacy.

(keypub.sh)

Development SSH key authentication

The 100 USB Device Nightmare: Bottlenecks and Engineering Challenges

2025-03-17

The 100 USB Device Nightmare: Bottlenecks and Engineering Challenges

Connecting 100 USB devices isn't trivial! The article highlights the severe congestion caused by USB's hub-like architecture, making it impossible for a single controller to handle the load. The solution requires a custom PCB with up to 100 USB controllers and a high-speed network interface (e.g., 100Gb fiber optics), along with complex drivers and server-side software to manage the massive data flow. A cheaper but less efficient alternative is also suggested: using small computers like Raspberry Pis, with efficient power management and Ethernet connections. In short, this is a monstrously complex engineering project.

(forum.level1techs.com)

Hardware Performance Bottleneck

FBI Busts DanaBot Malware Ring: $50M in Losses, Espionage Revealed

2025-05-23

The US government unsealed charges against 16 individuals accused of running and selling DanaBot, a prolific information-stealing malware sold on Russian cybercrime forums since 2018. A newer version was used for espionage. The FBI says many defendants exposed themselves by accidentally infecting their own systems. DanaBot infected over 300,000 systems globally, causing over $50 million in losses. The ringleaders include an IT engineer for Gazprom. The FBI seized servers, victim data, and is working with partners to help victims. The case highlights the repurposing of financially-motivated malware for espionage, echoing similar tactics used with the ZeuS Trojan.

(krebsonsecurity.com)

Tech

Simulating Sunlight Exposure for Home Renovation using Rhino 3D and Ladybug

2025-05-05

To optimize home renovation plans, the author used Rhino 3D modeling software with the Ladybug plugin to simulate daily sunlight exposure. Simulation results revealed insufficient sunlight on the west-facing balcony, leading to the cancellation of expansion plans and significant cost savings. Surprisingly, the roof showed excellent sun exposure, opening up possibilities for future solar panel installation. The process demonstrates the practicality and efficiency of using software technology to aid in home design decisions.

(ostwilkens.se)

Design sunlight simulation home design

Run C# Code Directly Without Project Files: .NET 10 Preview 4

2025-05-29

Run C# Code Directly Without Project Files: .NET 10 Preview 4

.NET 10 Preview 4 introduces a game-changing feature: you can now run C# files directly using `dotnet run app.cs`—no project file or scaffolding needed! This significantly lowers the barrier to entry for C#, making it ideal for learning, prototyping, or quick scripts. Leverage powerful file-level directives like `#:package`, `#:sdk`, and `#:property` to manage NuGet packages, SDKs, and MSBuild properties directly within your .cs file, all while maintaining compatibility with existing MSBuild concepts. Even as your script grows into a full application, seamless conversion to a project-based app is supported. This streamlined workflow simplifies the C# development experience, making it incredibly approachable and convenient for CLI utilities, automation scripts, and more.

(devblogs.microsoft.com)

Development file-based apps

Linear Scan Register Allocation: Handling Lifetime Holes

2025-08-26

This post details improvements to the linear scan register allocation algorithm to handle lifetime holes. The author explains how lifetime holes arise from reducing the control flow graph to a linear instruction sequence, creating discontinuities in virtual register lifetimes. The solution involves modifying the interval data structure to support multiple disjoint ranges, allowing the identification and exploitation of these holes. The linear scan algorithm is then adapted to consider these holes during register assignment, improving register utilization. This enhances the compiler's ability to leverage register resources, ultimately boosting code performance.

(bernsteinbear.com)

Development linear scan algorithm

Modern C Updated: Free Edition Now Available with Full C23 Support

2025-03-27

The free version of the updated Modern C is now available! This release focuses on complete support for the new C23 standard. Key improvements include enhancements to integer types (new _BitInt(N) type, `` and `` headers, 128-bit type support), a nullptr constant, attribute annotations, enhanced type-generic programming (auto and typeof type inference), default initialization, and constexpr. New chapters cover compound literals, lambdas, internationalization, and robust error handling. An appendix and a temporary include header are also included to ease the transition to C23.

(gustedt.gitlabpages.inria.fr)

Development C23 standard

Graph Coloring Breakthrough: Near-Optimal Algorithm Achieved

2025-05-15

Graph Coloring Breakthrough: Near-Optimal Algorithm Achieved

Imagine the complexity of managing air traffic at Newark Airport. To prevent collisions, researchers model the problem as a graph coloring problem: each flight path is a line, each location a point. For decades, progress on efficient algorithms was slow. But recently, a breakthrough: a near-linear time algorithm, nearly as fast as theoretically possible, offering new possibilities for air traffic control and other applications. This solves a decades-old problem, a true milestone.

(www.quantamagazine.org)

Development graph coloring

Unreal Engine's Multiplayer Overhead: A Memory Optimization Surprise

2025-04-08

Unreal Engine's Multiplayer Overhead: A Memory Optimization Surprise

An Unreal Engine developer, while using a memory layout visualizer, unexpectedly discovered that certain data structures added for multiplayer support in Unreal Engine are redundant in single-player games. These structures consume a significant amount of memory; for example, custom structs used for replicating component attachments and actor movement occupy 120 and 216 bytes respectively. By commenting out these unused variables and related code in single-player mode, a memory saving of approximately 392 bytes per actor was achieved. While not significant for most projects, this optimization could yield considerable savings (potentially up to 100MB) for projects with a high number of actors (e.g., over 100,000).

(larstofus.com)

Development

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