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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

Wiley Retracts 26 Papers from Environmental Toxicology Journal Due to Compromised Peer Review

2025-02-24

Wiley Retracts 26 Papers from Environmental Toxicology Journal Due to Compromised Peer Review

Wiley's Environmental Toxicology journal has retracted 26 papers due to compromised peer review processes. All authors are affiliated with Chinese universities, and many corresponding authors used non-standard email addresses, raising suspicions of paper mill involvement. Wiley stated that concerning peer review patterns were identified, and the investigation is ongoing. Some authors disagreed with the retractions, claiming they were not involved in the peer review process. This is not Wiley's first mass retraction; it highlights vulnerabilities in academic peer review and the serious issue of academic misconduct.

(retractionwatch.com)

Tech journal retractions

Verizon Merger Faces California Headwinds Over DEI Policies

2025-09-17

Verizon Merger Faces California Headwinds Over DEI Policies

Verizon's acquisition of Frontier Communications is facing a hurdle in California due to conflicting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies. To secure FCC approval, Verizon eliminated its DEI programs, a move now clashing with California law. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) demands specifics on Verizon's compliance with state regulations regarding supplier diversity and employment reporting, in the absence of these programs. While Verizon has secured approvals from eight states, the FCC, and the DOJ, California's approval remains uncertain, potentially impacting Verizon's goal of statewide free internet access next year.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech DEI Policies

Andalusian Interest Groups' Digital Communication Strategies: A Silent Lobby?

2025-03-27

This paper investigates the digital communication strategies of Andalusian interest groups on social media. The study finds that these groups, primarily composed of companies and business associations, exhibit extremely low interactivity, rarely engaging in dialogue with the public. While employing some political communication and propaganda techniques, their communication activities lack clear political objectives, focusing instead on maintaining a positive self-image rather than active lobbying. The results suggest that the digital communication strategies of Andalusian interest groups may not primarily serve lobbying purposes but rather a more passive approach.

(www.frontiersin.org)

Misc interest groups lobbying

Meta Secretly Leaks Private AI Chats: A Privacy Nightmare

2025-06-06

Meta Secretly Leaks Private AI Chats: A Privacy Nightmare

The Mozilla community accuses Meta of secretly using private AI chat conversations as public content, unbeknownst to many users. They demand Meta shut down the Discover feed until real privacy protections are in place; make all AI interactions private by default with no public sharing option unless explicitly enabled; provide full transparency on how many users unknowingly shared private information; create a universal, easy-to-use opt-out system preventing data use for AI training; and notify all users whose conversations may have been made public, allowing them to permanently delete content. Meta is blurring the lines between private and public, jeopardizing user privacy.

(www.mozillafoundation.org)

Tech AI Privacy

Continuous Thought Machines: Giving AI a Sense of Time

2025-05-12

Continuous Thought Machines: Giving AI a Sense of Time

Modern AI systems sacrifice the crucial property of synchronized neural computation found in biological brains for the sake of efficiency. Researchers introduce the Continuous Thought Machine (CTM), a novel neural network architecture that incorporates neural timing as a foundational element, using a decoupled internal dimension to model the temporal evolution of neural activity. CTM leverages neural synchronization as a latent representation, demonstrating impressive capabilities in tasks such as image classification, maze solving, and parity checks, even building an internal world model for reasoning. Its adaptive computation and interpretability open new avenues for AI research.

(pub.sakana.ai)

AI temporal encoding

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

DeepSeek iOS App: A Popular AI Tool with Critical Security Flaws

2025-02-07

DeepSeek iOS App: A Popular AI Tool with Critical Security Flaws

The wildly popular DeepSeek iOS app, which once topped the App Store charts, has been revealed to have multiple critical security flaws. Previous concerns centered around data breaches exposing chat history and sensitive information from an unsecured database. Now, a new security analysis reveals that DeepSeek disables Apple's App Transport Security (ATS), transmitting unencrypted data. Outdated encryption methods and the aggregation of seemingly innocuous data points further compromise user privacy, potentially exposing users to de-anonymization and even espionage. Security experts strongly advise against using the app until these issues are resolved.

(9to5mac.com)

Tech

Tiny Black Holes May Have Left Tunnels in Earth's Rocks

2024-12-19

Tiny Black Holes May Have Left Tunnels in Earth's Rocks

Scientists propose a bold hypothesis: primordial black holes, formed in the early universe, might have traversed Earth's rocks, leaving behind microscopic tunnels invisible to the naked eye. While these tunnels are minuscule, powerful microscopes might detect them, offering a potential pathway to discovering these elusive objects. Researchers suggest that searching for these tunnels, despite the low probability of success, could yield immense rewards. Furthermore, they hypothesize that primordial black holes might lurk inside certain planets, hollowing them out by consuming their liquid cores. This research offers a novel approach to finding primordial black holes, representing a significant step forward in exploring the origins of the universe.

(gizmodo.com)

Tech black holes universe origins

Room-Temperature High-Purity Quantum State Achieved: A Breakthrough in Quantum Sensing

2025-08-07

Room-Temperature High-Purity Quantum State Achieved: A Breakthrough in Quantum Sensing

Researchers at ETH Zurich have achieved a breakthrough in quantum sensing by levitating three nanometer glass spheres using optical tweezers at room temperature. Remarkably, 92% of the spheres' motion was attributed to quantum effects, eliminating the need for extremely low temperatures typically required for observing quantum phenomena. This high-purity quantum state opens doors for developing quantum sensors for applications such as medical imaging and highly precise navigation systems.

(phys.org)

Tech

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

Nepal Blocks Facebook, X, and YouTube Over Registration Failure

2025-09-05

Nepal Blocks Facebook, X, and YouTube Over Registration Failure

Nepal's government has blocked major social media platforms, including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube, for failing to comply with registration regulations. The government claims repeated notices were ignored. While some platforms like TikTok and Viber, having registered, remain operational, the move has sparked concerns over freedom of speech and accusations that the accompanying bill is a tool for censorship and suppressing dissent.

(apnews.com)

Tech Nepal

SPVs and the Shadowy World of Pre-IPO Trading

2025-04-09

SPVs and the Shadowy World of Pre-IPO Trading

Private company share trading is booming, with accredited investors increasingly accessing pre-IPO shares through platforms like EquityZen and Forge Global. However, these trades often involve Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), which own shares of the operating company, bypassing securities laws designed to limit the number of investors. This allows companies to stay private longer and raise capital, but it also exposes investors to opaque funding vehicles with hefty fees and limited transparency. The underwhelming IPO of CoreWeave highlights the risks, suggesting that reliance on private markets isn't sustainable without a robust public market for accurate valuation. The system exposes moderately wealthy retail investors to significant dangers.

(www.businesslawprofessors.com)

Startup Pre-IPO SPVs Securities Law

JPMorgan Chase CEO Slams Remote Work: Inefficient, Damages Young Workers

2025-02-15

JPMorgan Chase CEO Slams Remote Work: Inefficient, Damages Young Workers

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently slammed remote work, claiming it reduces efficiency and harms the development of young employees. He stated that remote work leads to distractions, a lack of face-to-face interaction, and hinders creativity and decision-making. Despite JPMorgan Chase's recent record-breaking performance, Dimon insists that all hybrid workers return to the office full-time by March. This move prompted a petition signed by approximately 950 employees, but Dimon remains firm, asserting the company's right to set its own standards, and employees are free to leave if they disagree.

(www.mediaite.com)

Startup JPMorgan Chase Jamie Dimon

Huawei's 3000km Range Solid-State Battery Patent Shakes Up the EV Market

2025-06-30

Huawei's 3000km Range Solid-State Battery Patent Shakes Up the EV Market

Huawei has filed a patent for a sulfide-based solid-state battery boasting a 3,000km range and 5-minute ultra-fast charging. This breakthrough signals Huawei's ambitious entry into the rapidly evolving solid-state battery landscape and could reshape the electric vehicle market. The patent describes a battery with energy densities of 400-500 Wh/kg, two to three times that of conventional lithium-ion cells. Huawei's innovation lies in improving electrochemical stability by nitrogen-doping the sulfide electrolyte, addressing a major hurdle for sulfide-based battery commercialization. While the 3,000km range and 5-minute charge remain theoretical, the technology showcases China's accelerating lead in next-generation battery technology, sparking concern and attention from global competitors.

(carnewschina.com)

Tech

Insurance Fraud Signals Found in Crash Data

2025-04-28

While building geospatial risk scores for vehicle crashes, Matrisk AI unexpectedly uncovered potential insurance fraud by analyzing Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) and crash timelines. Analyzing millions of crashes, they identified suspicious patterns: multiple crashes involving the same VIN in short timeframes, frequent insurer switching, and a high incidence of late-night, single-vehicle accidents. These patterns align with known insurance fraud tactics. While not definitive proof of fraud, the findings provide insurers with early indicators of high-risk vehicles and potential fraudulent activity, enabling better resource allocation to investigate suspicious claims and reduce losses from insurance fraud.

(www.levs.fyi)

Tech

A Gentle History of Math: Strengths and Weaknesses

2025-03-13

A Gentle History of Math: Strengths and Weaknesses

This review examines Berlinghoff and Gouvêa's "Math Through the Ages: A Gentle History for Teachers and Others." Instead of a chronological narrative, the book uses 30 independent topical sketches, supplemented by a rich bibliography to facilitate further exploration. While the book contains some inaccuracies, particularly concerning the origins of zero and the history of computing, overall it serves as a reasonably priced and informative introduction to the history of mathematics. It's a good starting point for those developing an interest in the subject, though readers should be aware of potential historical oversimplifications.

(thonyc.wordpress.com)

Development

AT&T Launches Account Lock to Combat SIM Swapping

2025-07-02

AT&T Launches Account Lock to Combat SIM Swapping

AT&T has introduced a new Account Lock feature to protect wireless users from SIM swapping attacks. Enabled through the myAT&T app, it prevents unauthorized changes like phone number transfers, SIM card replacements, and billing updates. SIM swapping, a growing threat, involves attackers obtaining a victim's phone number (often via social engineering) to intercept messages and calls, including two-factor authentication codes. This follows similar features already offered by T-Mobile, Verizon, and Google Fi. AT&T's Account Lock also blocks device upgrades and changes to authorized users and phone numbers.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech

Google Releases Stable Model Signing Library to Secure the AI Supply Chain

2025-04-05

Google Releases Stable Model Signing Library to Secure the AI Supply Chain

The rise of large language models (LLMs) has brought increased focus on AI supply chain security. Model tampering, data poisoning, and other threats are growing concerns. To address this, Google, in partnership with NVIDIA and HiddenLayer, and supported by the Open Source Security Foundation, has released the first stable version of its model signing library. This library uses digital signatures, such as those from Sigstore, to allow users to verify that the model used by an application is identical to the one created by the developers. This ensures model integrity and provenance, protecting against malicious tampering throughout the model's lifecycle, from training to deployment. Future plans include extending this technology to datasets and other ML artifacts, building a more robust AI trust ecosystem.

(security.googleblog.com)

AI Model Signing

Mojo Now Lets You Call Mojo Code From Python!

2025-05-25

Mojo Now Lets You Call Mojo Code From Python!

The Modular team is excited to announce a new feature in the latest Mojo nightly builds: the ability to call Mojo code from Python! This is enabled by expanding the Python interoperability section of the Mojo manual and adding examples demonstrating round-trip data transfer between Python and Mojo, including GPU-accelerated Mojo code called from Python. This breakthrough aims to integrate Mojo into existing Python codebases, boosting performance and unlocking new applications by offloading performance bottlenecks to fast Mojo, especially when using accelerators.

(forum.modular.com)

Development

iOS iMessage Bug: Audio Messages Fail When Mentioning "Dave and Buster's"

2025-05-26

A bizarre iOS bug is making waves: sending audio messages via iMessage containing the phrase "Dave and Buster's" (a US sports bar) prevents the recipient from receiving them.

Investigation revealed the issue stems from iOS's transcription engine. It transcribes "Dave and Buster's" into HTML code with an unescaped ampersand (&), causing MessagesBlastDoorService (a security mechanism designed to thwart hacking attempts) to halt message delivery due to a parsing error.

While seemingly a security vulnerability, it actually demonstrates BlastDoor's effectiveness in preventing potential malicious code injection, highlighting Apple's cautious approach to security.

(rambo.codes)

Development

Negative Capacitance Breaks Through GaN Transistor Performance Barrier

2025-07-31

Negative Capacitance Breaks Through GaN Transistor Performance Barrier

Scientists in California have discovered that integrating an electronic material exhibiting the unusual property of negative capacitance can help high-power gallium nitride (GaN) transistors overcome a performance bottleneck. Research suggests negative capacitance helps circumvent a physical limit that typically forces trade-offs between a transistor's performance in the 'on' and 'off' states. This research indicates that negative capacitance, extensively studied in silicon, may have broader applications than previously understood, potentially impacting GaN power electronics in 5G base stations and compact cellphone power adapters.

(spectrum.ieee.org)

Tech negative capacitance GaN transistor high-power electronics

Microsoft Starts the New Year with More Layoffs

2025-01-09

Microsoft Starts the New Year with More Layoffs

Microsoft has begun the new year with another round of layoffs, affecting less than 1 percent of its workforce. The company claims the cuts are performance-based, aiming to improve overall team efficiency. While Microsoft laid off over 10,000 employees in 2023 and more in 2024, these latest cuts come despite record earnings. The layoffs may be linked to Microsoft's aggressive push into AI, with some suggesting that the eliminated positions will be quickly refilled with AI-related roles. This suggests a significant shift in Microsoft's strategic direction.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech Microsoft layoffs AI transformation tech industry

Nyxt: The Emacs-Inspired Browser for Developers

2025-08-14

Nyxt is an unconventional web browser built on the philosophy of Emacs: highly customizable and keyboard-driven. Written in Common Lisp and licensed under the BSD 3-clause license, it prioritizes Linux users and empowers developers to extend its functionality. While inspired by Emacs, Nyxt runs independently and supports vi and CUA keybindings. The current 3.x series uses WebKitGTK, while the upcoming 4.0 will leverage Electron for improved performance and cross-platform support (macOS and Windows). Nyxt's minimalist interface and extensive customization options appeal to developers seeking ultimate efficiency, but its steep learning curve and limited community resources present a challenge.

(lwn.net)

Development

Treat Postgres Like SQLite? A Bold Experiment

2025-09-22

The author, a long-time SQLite enthusiast, appreciates its speed, simplicity, and stability. However, SQLite's extension ecosystem pales in comparison to PostgreSQL's. This article explores the feasibility of using a local PostgreSQL instance as a drop-in replacement for SQLite, leveraging PostgreSQL's powerful extensions (like pgvector) while avoiding complex cluster configurations. The approach involves running PostgreSQL on a single server and accessing it via a Unix socket, aiming for the convenience of SQLite with the power of PostgreSQL. The author acknowledges the added complexity of configuring a server but believes the trade-off is worthwhile for the combined benefits of ease of use and extended functionality.

(www.maragu.dev)

Development

Insights into the Structure of Neural Embeddings

2024-12-27

Insights into the Structure of Neural Embeddings

This article explores the structure of embeddings (latent spaces) produced by deep neural networks. Several key hypotheses are summarized: the Manifold Hypothesis (high-dimensional data lies in a low-dimensional manifold); Hierarchical Organization (features organize hierarchically across layers); Linear Hypothesis (neural networks represent features as linear directions in their activation space); Superposition Hypothesis (neural nets represent more independent features than a layer has neurons); Universality Hypothesis (circuits reappear across different models for the same data); Adversarial Vulnerability (small input changes cause large embedding shifts); and Neural Collapse (after training, class features cluster tightly around their means). These hypotheses collectively illuminate the complexity and potential limitations of deep neural network embeddings.

(seanpedersen.github.io)

AI embeddings

Glue Work Considered Harmful: A Survival Guide for Effective Engineers

2025-01-02

This article explores the concept of "glue work" in software engineering. While crucial for team efficiency (e.g., updating documentation, addressing technical debt), this unglamorous work often goes unrewarded, disadvantaging engineers who prioritize it. The author argues that companies don't reward glue work because they want engineers focused on feature delivery, not overall efficiency improvements. The efficient strategy is to apply glue work tactically to projects you're accountable for, ensuring their success, rather than spreading efforts thinly. This isn't cynical office politics; it's based on the reality of low efficiency in large companies and the prioritization of growth over short-term efficiency gains.

(www.seangoedecke.com)

Development team efficiency career development

Four Reasons Why Zoom Meetings Are So Exhausting (and How to Fix It)

2025-01-09

Four Reasons Why Zoom Meetings Are So Exhausting (and How to Fix It)

Stanford researchers have identified four key causes of 'Zoom fatigue': excessive close-up eye contact, constantly seeing yourself on camera, restricted mobility, and increased cognitive load. Excessive eye contact and large face sizes create stress; constantly seeing yourself leads to self-criticism; limited movement and higher cognitive load exacerbate fatigue. Solutions include reducing Zoom window size, hiding self-view, increasing movement, and taking 'audio-only' breaks. A Zoom Exhaustion & Fatigue (ZEF) scale is also being developed to measure the extent of Zoom fatigue.

(news.stanford.edu)

Tech Zoom fatigue video conferencing human-computer interaction

Particle Life Simulation in the Browser: A WebGPU Power Play

2025-05-26

Particle Life Simulation in the Browser: A WebGPU Power Play

This article details a browser-based particle life simulation powered by WebGPU. The simulation uses a non-physical model with asymmetric inter-particle forces, creating life-like behavior. The author explains the model, WebGPU implementation, spatial hashing optimization for performance, and rendering techniques, including a parallel prefix sum algorithm for efficient binning. The result is a visually stunning simulation capable of generating diverse and interesting life forms, with options for custom rules and sharing.

(lisyarus.github.io)

Development Particle Simulation

A Linux Kernel Thread Lifecycle Gotcha: The Case of the Randomly Dying Chromium Process

2025-04-10

A Linux Kernel Thread Lifecycle Gotcha: The Case of the Randomly Dying Chromium Process

While optimizing Recall.ai's Output Media startup latency, an engineer encountered a perplexing bug: the Chromium process would randomly terminate after launch. The root cause was traced to Bubblewrap's `--die-with-parent` flag and the Linux kernel's handling of PR_SET_PDEATHSIG. This flag causes child processes to receive a SIGKILL signal when the parent thread, not the parent process, terminates. Tokio's thread management interacted with this behavior, leading to unexpected Chromium termination when the parent thread was reaped. Removing the flag solved the issue but revealed a little-known quirk of the Linux kernel, underscoring the need for caution when handling the interaction between thread lifecycles and process isolation.

(www.recall.ai)

Development

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