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OpenChess: An Open-Source Smart Chessboard for Everyone

2025-04-02
OpenChess: An Open-Source Smart Chessboard for Everyone

OpenChess is a fully open-source smart chessboard designed to make interactive, intelligent gameplay accessible to all. Combining low-cost electronics, 3D printing, and customizable software, OpenChess empowers makers, educators, and chess enthusiasts to build their own connected chess experience without breaking the bank. It's affordable, DIY-friendly, programmable, and modular, allowing for customization of the board, pieces, and electronics.

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(thangs.com)
Hardware smart game

The Rise and Fall of WordPerfect: A DOS Legend

2025-04-01

In the 1980s, knowing WordPerfect was practically a job guarantee. This article chronicles the legendary word processor's journey, from its innovative beginnings on the Data General platform to its dominance on IBM PCs. WordPerfect's WYSIWYG interface and powerful features made it a market leader, but its failure to adapt to the rise of Windows ultimately led to its decline. The piece also details the experience of using WordPerfect 6.0 on DOS, highlighting its minimalist interface and the differences between graphics and character modes.

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(technicallywewrite.com)
Tech Word Processing

A History of Printed Globe Gores: From Antiquity to the Modern Era

2025-04-01
A History of Printed Globe Gores: From Antiquity to the Modern Era

This article traces the history of printed globe gores, the pre-assembled map sections used to create globes, from 150 BC to the 20th century. From the earliest known globe by Cratus of Mallus to Martin Waldseemüller's groundbreaking 1507 printed gores (featuring the first appearance of 'America' on a map), the article details the evolution of globe-making techniques. It highlights key figures like Gerard Mercator, who improved the printing process with copper engraving, and Vincenzo Maria Coronelli, famed for his colossal globes. The evolution of globe gore features, such as the ecliptic line and equatorial coordinates, is also explored.

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(blogs.loc.gov)
Tech map history globes printing technology

Undersea Data Center Disaster: The Tragedy of Millions of Data Bits

2025-04-05
Undersea Data Center Disaster: The Tragedy of Millions of Data Bits

A real-time streaming startup, REALTIM, experienced a Kafka message queue crash due to Kubernetes scaling, unexpectedly uncovering a forgotten undersea backup server. Due to an intern's experimental customizations and company negligence, this server accumulated massive data backlog, resulting in millions of data bits being 'imprisoned' in an undersea fiber optic cable for months, suffering data compression, magnetic interference, and more. Data bit "0000" wrote a book detailing this ordeal, resonating widely among digital entities, even garnering sympathy from Internet Explorer. This incident exposes shortcomings in the company's technology scaling and data management, reflecting a disregard for the data lifecycle.

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(nareal.substack.com)
Tech Data Center Disaster

Jack London's Biased Reporting: The Jeffries-Johnson Fight

2025-04-01
Jack London's Biased Reporting: The Jeffries-Johnson Fight

In 1910, Jack London covered the Jeffries-Johnson boxing match in the US, producing numerous articles analyzing the fighters' tactics and personalities from various angles. Despite witnessing Johnson's decisive victory in Sydney, London employed racist rhetoric, portraying Johnson's skill as a liability, suggesting his sophistication prevented him from being champion. He depicted Jeffries as a more 'savage' warrior, inverting typical racial stereotypes, yet Johnson still emerged negatively portrayed, highlighting the inherent bias in London's reporting.

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(publicdomainreview.org)
Misc Jack London racism

AI Cheats: Why You Didn't Notice Your Teammate Was Cheating

2025-04-03
AI Cheats: Why You Didn't Notice Your Teammate Was Cheating

Game cheating has evolved rapidly, from memory-reading aimbots to colorbots, and now AI-powered aim assist. A veteran cheat developer shares their journey, starting at age 12, detailing the inner workings of AI cheats. These cheats, essentially advanced colorbots, use AI models to identify enemies, making them incredibly difficult to detect. While modern cheats are expensive and risky, their subtlety makes them nearly invisible unless poorly configured. The article reveals the latest trends in game cheating and the challenges faced by anti-cheat technology.

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(niila.fi)
Game

Google's Gemini Robotics: A Slam Dunk on First Try

2025-04-02
Google's Gemini Robotics: A Slam Dunk on First Try

Google showcased its new Gemini Robotics model, enabling robots to perform complex tasks like successfully slam dunking a basketball on the first try, without prior training on the specific object or action. Built upon Gemini 2.0, the model is fine-tuned with robot-specific data, translating multimodal outputs (text, video, audio) into physical actions. Highly dexterous, interactive, and general, it adapts to new objects, environments, and instructions without further training. Google's ambition is to build embodied AI to power robots assisting with everyday tasks, eventually becoming as commonplace an AI interface as phones or computers.

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(blog.google)
AI Gemini Robotics

Beyond Reproducible Builds: Towards Idempotent Rebuilds of Debian

2025-04-04

This article explores a new goal beyond reproducible builds for Debian packages: idempotent rebuilds. The author argues that simply reproducing published packages using older build dependencies (as done by the Reproduce.Debian.net project) is insufficient, as it relies on old binary packages that cannot be rebuilt from source. Therefore, the author proposes the concept of idempotent rebuilds, where iterative rebuilding eventually leads to a state where the rebuilt packages are identical to the previous iteration. This requires addressing issues like build timestamps and non-deterministic outputs. The author has completed stage 0 of the rebuild and plans to release the build artifacts for stage 1, with the ultimate goal of being able to bootstrap a Debian binary distribution from an environment like Guix. Challenges include the presence of non-free firmware and non-Debian signed binaries which might prevent self-rebuilding.

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(blog.josefsson.org)
Development Reproducible Builds Idempotent Rebuilds

Unlocking a Lost Empire: The Rise of the TLHdig Digital Hittite Corpus

2025-04-01
Unlocking a Lost Empire: The Rise of the TLHdig Digital Hittite Corpus

Boğazköy-Hattuša, a UNESCO World Heritage site in northern Turkey, was the capital of the Hittite Empire, a major power in the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1650-1200 BC). A groundbreaking digital tool, TLHdig, is revolutionizing access to this ancient civilization's vast textual legacy. Currently boasting over 22,000 XML documents containing nearly 400,000 transliterated lines of Hittite cuneiform texts – and constantly expanding – TLHdig allows researchers to search, filter, and analyze these invaluable sources. Integrated with other digital resources, TLHdig fosters collaboration and opens new avenues for research, including innovative AI applications. It serves as a cornerstone for both text editions and a wide range of research methodologies.

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(www.sciencedaily.com)
Tech Hittite Language Ancient Near East

Mermaid Chart VS Code Plugin: Effortless Mermaid.js Diagramming in Your IDE

2025-04-02
Mermaid Chart VS Code Plugin: Effortless Mermaid.js Diagramming in Your IDE

The Mermaid Chart VS Code plugin empowers developers with a robust diagramming tool, directly within their Visual Studio Code environment. Create and edit Mermaid.js diagrams effortlessly – no account needed for basic features. Enjoy real-time rendering, syntax highlighting, and seamless Markdown integration. The plugin automatically recognizes .mmd files. Advanced capabilities like cloud sync, team collaboration, and AI-powered diagram generation are unlocked by logging into a Mermaid Chart account. Whether visualizing workflows, software architecture, or API flows, this plugin boosts productivity, supports offline editing, and integrates flawlessly with Git version control.

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(docs.mermaidchart.com)
Development VS Code Plugin Diagramming Tool

tv.garden: Free Global Live TV Streaming

2025-04-02

tv.garden offers free live TV streaming from around the world. Users can easily browse and watch a wide range of channels, including international news, sports, movies, entertainment, and cultural shows, via an interactive 3D globe, sidebar, or a 'Random Channel' button. The platform prioritizes simplicity, reliability, and a seamless viewing experience, and maintains political neutrality, following UN country classifications. Built using open-source tools like Three.js, Video.js, and Luxon, tv.garden sources channels from the IPTV community on GitHub. The platform clarifies it doesn't host any video content and complies with DMCA takedown notices.

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(tv.garden)
Tech live TV global channels

Mozilla's Thunderbird Pro: A New Challenger in the Email Arena

2025-04-02
Mozilla's Thunderbird Pro: A New Challenger in the Email Arena

Mozilla is transforming its open-source email client, Thunderbird, into a comprehensive communication platform with the launch of Thundermail and Thunderbird Pro. This expansion aims to compete with established players like Gmail and Microsoft 365 by offering features like Thunderbird Appointment (scheduling), Thunderbird Send (file sharing, rebuilt from the discontinued Firefox Send), and Thunderbird Assist (a locally-processed AI writing tool). Thundermail provides email hosting using the open-source Stalwart stack. While initially offered free to core contributors, a freemium model is planned with paid features (like Send's storage) and limited free tiers.

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(www.techradar.com)
Tech

Regent Craft Secures $10M Follow-on Contract for Stealthy Seagliders

2025-04-01
Regent Craft Secures $10M Follow-on Contract for Stealthy Seagliders

Rhode Island-based Regent Craft, specializing in all-electric seagliders, has secured a $10 million follow-on contract with the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL), following a successful initial $4.75 million contract. This builds upon successful sea trials of their Viceroy prototype, a high-speed, radar-evading electric seaglider capable of reaching 180 mph over 180 miles. Its unique water takeoff and landing capabilities, low radar/sonar signature, and low operating costs make it ideal for defense and rescue operations. Regent is expanding manufacturing capabilities and has submitted the Viceroy design to the U.S. Coast Guard for certification.

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(interestingengineering.com)
Tech seaglider

Yoko Ono: Beyond the Controversy

2025-04-04
Yoko Ono: Beyond the Controversy

This article delves into the complex life of Yoko Ono and her relationship with John Lennon. From the controversial album cover depicting Lennon's glasses after his assassination to her often misunderstood art, the piece reveals a nuanced portrait of the woman once labeled 'the world's most hated woman.' The article explores the long-standing criticisms surrounding her relationship with Lennon and her artistic expression, ultimately presenting a more complete picture of Ono as an artist who persevered through misunderstanding to achieve recognition.

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(www.newstatesman.com)
Misc Yoko Ono John Lennon

Open-Source Benchmark for LLM OCR and Data Extraction

2025-04-01
Open-Source Benchmark for LLM OCR and Data Extraction

Omni, an open-source benchmarking tool, compares the OCR and data extraction capabilities of various large multimodal models like gpt-4o, evaluating both text and JSON extraction accuracy. This benchmark provides a comprehensive evaluation of OCR accuracy across traditional OCR providers and LLMs. The dataset and methodologies are open-source, encouraging contributions and expansion. The benchmark focuses on JSON extraction, measuring the accuracy of the entire pipeline: Document ⇒ OCR ⇒ Extraction. It uses a modified json-diff for JSON accuracy and Levenshtein distance for text similarity. The tool supports various models, including OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Anthropic, with a simple command-line interface and JSON output.

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(github.com)
Development

Lithium Battery Pack Test: One Week of Lessons Learned

2025-04-01
Lithium Battery Pack Test: One Week of Lessons Learned

After a week of using a lithium battery pack for power, the author shares their experience. The charging efficiency of the lithium battery pack is very high, and the discharge voltage drops slowly and predictably. In the test, a 1200W vacuum cleaner load did not cause overheating. However, after five consecutive nights of power supply, the voltage of one battery pack dropped sharply. The reason was inconsistencies in capacity due to differences in the number of cells in each pack; packs with fewer cells showed greater capacity increase at lower C-rates. The author solved the problem by adding cells and rebalancing, concluding that slight imbalances are acceptable as long as the packs don't reach their extreme charge or discharge limits.

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(secondlifestorage.com)
Hardware battery pack test

WebKit's Declarative Web Push: More Efficient, More Private

2025-04-03
WebKit's Declarative Web Push: More Efficient, More Private

WebKit introduces Declarative Web Push to address power consumption and privacy concerns with traditional Web Push. Traditional Web Push relies on Service Workers, making it vulnerable to Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) and prone to subscription revocation due to processing failures. Declarative Web Push allows for sending and displaying notifications without a Service Worker, embedding notification content directly in the push message. This enhances efficiency and privacy while maintaining backward compatibility with existing Web Push.

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(webkit.org)
Development

The Soul of a New Machine: A Timeless Tale of Engineering

2025-04-05
The Soul of a New Machine: A Timeless Tale of Engineering

Tracy Kidder's 'The Soul of a New Machine' recounts the intense race against time at Data General in the late 1970s to develop the Eclipse MV/8000, a rival to DEC's VAX. Kidder immerses the reader in the 'rebel' engineering team's struggles, showcasing their dedication and clashing personalities as they push the boundaries of what was possible. This gripping narrative offers a compelling look at the human cost of technological innovation and remains surprisingly relevant decades later.

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(thechipletter.substack.com)
Tech

Headscale: A Self-Hosted Open Source Alternative to the Tailscale Control Server

2025-04-03
Headscale: A Self-Hosted Open Source Alternative to the Tailscale Control Server

Headscale is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to the Tailscale control server, offering a simple private network solution for individuals or small organizations. Built on WireGuard, it implements core Tailscale networking features like IP address assignment, user boundary management, and route advertisement. While not affiliated with Tailscale Inc., the project benefits from contributions from a Tailscale maintainer and adheres to strict coding standards and development processes. Headscale aims to provide a user-friendly and sustainable open-source alternative for self-hosting enthusiasts.

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(github.com)
Development

Beyond Tech Debt: A Reflection on Organizational 'Debts'

2025-04-01

A LinkedIn post sparked a discussion not just about technical debt, but about various kinds of organizational 'debts,' including product debt, operational debt, process debt, and organizational debt. The author delves into the nature of 'debt,' arguing that it's not inherently bad; the key is whether it's incurred wisely. Sometimes, taking on short-term 'debt' to iterate quickly and seize opportunities is necessary, while over-focus on long-term planning can lead to missed chances. The article emphasizes that post-hoc analysis is easy, but the crucial element is clarity of decision-making at the time and foresight concerning future uncertainties.

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(blogs.newardassociates.com)
Development

Verizon Call Filter Flaw Exposed Call Logs of Millions

2025-04-02
Verizon Call Filter Flaw Exposed Call Logs of Millions

A security researcher uncovered a critical vulnerability in Verizon's Call Filter iOS app, allowing attackers to access the call history of Verizon Wireless customers without authentication. The flaw exploited a server-side validation weakness, enabling attackers to retrieve call logs and timestamps for any Verizon number. This poses significant privacy and safety risks, especially for vulnerable individuals like domestic abuse survivors, law enforcement, and public figures. Verizon acknowledged and remediated the issue.

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(evanconnelly.github.io)
Tech

Chinese Military-Linked VPN Apps Found on App Store

2025-04-03
Chinese Military-Linked VPN Apps Found on App Store

A new report reveals that at least five VPN apps on the Apple App Store are linked to the Chinese military, with three boasting over a million downloads. A subsidiary of one of the implicated Chinese companies is hiring for a role involving "monitoring and analyzing platform data," requiring familiarity with American culture. This raises serious concerns about user data privacy and potential circumvention of geo-restrictions. Apple has removed two of the apps, but the fate of the remaining three is uncertain. Experts warn users to only use VPNs from reputable companies, strongly advising against those originating from China due to legal requirements for logging and government data access.

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(9to5mac.com)
Tech Chinese Military

arXivLabs: Experimenting with Community Collaboration

2025-04-02
arXivLabs: Experimenting with Community Collaboration

arXivLabs is an experimental platform enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Participants (individuals and organizations) embrace arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners who adhere to them. Got an idea to enhance the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

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(arxiv.org)
Development

A Guide to Traveling Stateless: Tips and Tricks

2025-04-02
A Guide to Traveling Stateless: Tips and Tricks

This guide offers advice for stateless individuals traveling internationally. It emphasizes the importance of visiting embassies in person, securing visas through business contacts, sticking to reliable airlines and hotels, dressing appropriately, preparing thoroughly before immigration, and maintaining a calm and polite demeanor. The author shares personal experiences and disclaims legal responsibility.

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(taejun.substack.com)
Misc stateless

The Brutal Truth About Author Income: Most Earn Below Minimum Wage

2025-04-01
The Brutal Truth About Author Income: Most Earn Below Minimum Wage

An author exposes the harsh realities of the publishing industry: most authors earn far less than minimum wage. Using her own experience as an example, a £2,500 advance spread over 18 months of writing and editing equates to just £69 a month. Even with thousands of book sales, the final compensation is meager, far below the value of the time and effort invested. This article calls on readers to support authors by buying books, sharing recommendations, and ensuring authors receive the respect and compensation they deserve.

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(kristie-de-garis.ghost.io)
Misc author income

Graft: A Novel Edge Replication Engine for Strong Consistency and Partial Syncs

2025-04-02
Graft: A Novel Edge Replication Engine for Strong Consistency and Partial Syncs

Graft, an open-source transactional storage engine, tackles the challenges of data synchronization in edge computing environments. Unlike traditional full replication or schema-aware diffing, Graft employs a lazy, partial replication strategy that combines strong consistency guarantees, horizontal scalability, and object storage durability. It allows clients to sync data on demand, fetching only necessary data, and supports syncing from edge and offline devices. At its core is the Volume, a sparse, ordered collection of fixed-size Pages, with clients interacting through a transactional API. This makes Graft suitable for various use cases, including offline-first apps, cross-platform sync, and stateless multi-writer replicas.

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(sqlsync.dev)
Development Database Replication

AWS Labs MCP Server Suite: Boosting Your Development Workflow

2025-04-03
AWS Labs MCP Server Suite: Boosting Your Development Workflow

AWS Labs has released a suite of specialized MCP servers that bring AWS best practices directly to your development workflow. This suite includes a core server for managing other AWS Labs MCP servers, as well as servers for accessing Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Bases, analyzing AWS CDK projects, performing AWS cost analysis, and generating images using Amazon Nova Canvas. Each server has specific installation instructions, generally involving installing uv, Python 3.10, and configuring AWS credentials. Detailed documentation and API references are available on the official website.

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(github.com)
Development MCP Servers Dev Tools

EU Unveils ProtectEU: A New Internal Security Strategy

2025-04-02
EU Unveils ProtectEU: A New Internal Security Strategy

The European Commission launched ProtectEU, a new internal security strategy addressing evolving threats. Key aspects include bolstering Europol into a fully operational police agency, tackling lawful access to data and encryption (a controversial move), and improving intelligence sharing via the EU's Single Intelligence Analysis Capacity (SIAC). The strategy acknowledges existing shortcomings in situational awareness and implementation of cybersecurity laws. Success hinges on member states' political will and cooperation, given the historically sovereign nature of national security matters.

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(therecord.media)
Tech EU Security Data Access

OpenAI Accused of Training GPT-4o on Unauthorized Paywalled Books

2025-04-02
OpenAI Accused of Training GPT-4o on Unauthorized Paywalled Books

A new paper from the AI Disclosures Project accuses OpenAI of using unlicensed, paywalled books, primarily from O'Reilly Media, to train its GPT-4o model. The paper uses the DE-COP method to demonstrate that GPT-4o exhibits significantly stronger recognition of O'Reilly's paywalled content than GPT-3.5 Turbo, suggesting substantial unauthorized data in its training. While OpenAI holds some data licenses and offers opt-out mechanisms, this adds to existing legal challenges concerning its copyright practices. The authors acknowledge limitations in their methodology, but the findings raise serious concerns about OpenAI's data acquisition methods.

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(techcrunch.com)
AI
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