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Italian Gov't Suspected of Mass Surveillance on Journalists Using Israeli Spyware

2025-06-12

Italian Gov't Suspected of Mass Surveillance on Journalists Using Israeli Spyware

Citizen Lab's new report reveals that government spyware from Israeli surveillance tech provider Paragon was used to hack at least two European journalists, including Italian journalist Ciro Pellegrino. This follows WhatsApp's earlier notification to roughly 90 users about Paragon's 'Graphite' spyware. The findings further implicate the Italian government in a potential mass surveillance operation. While Italy's parliamentary committee COPASIR denies targeting journalists, new forensic evidence challenges this claim, sparking a political controversy over the government's use of spyware and its implications for freedom of the press.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech journalists

Broken CD Rip: A MusicBrainz Metadata Nightmare

2025-06-12

Broken CD Rip: A MusicBrainz Metadata Nightmare

The author ripped a CD of Finish Ticket's 'Echo Afternoon', only to find discrepancies: a misspelled track name, an incorrectly timed track, and a missing song. The culprit? Inaccurate metadata in the MusicBrainz database. CD ripping software uses the disc's Table of Contents (TOC) to match and retrieve metadata from MusicBrainz. Errors in the database, including merged tracks and incorrect titles, led to the flawed rip. The author corrected the MusicBrainz database entries and updated their music library, highlighting the double-edged sword of editable databases and the crucial role of data quality.

(www.akpain.net)

Misc CD ripping music metadata

visionOS 26: Apple's AR Platform Takes Another Leap Forward

2025-06-12

visionOS 26: Apple's AR Platform Takes Another Leap Forward

visionOS 26 delivers substantial improvements to Apple's Vision Pro, enhancing user experience significantly. Key updates include vastly improved Spatial Personas, geographic persistence (saving app and window positions), and support for third-party widgets. New immersive environments (like a customizable Jupiter environment), an upgraded 3D photo algorithm, collaborative viewing capabilities, and support for ultra-wide-field-of-view video are also included. While features like hand controller support are still in development, visionOS 26 demonstrates Apple's continued commitment to the future of augmented reality, solidifying the Vision Pro's long-term potential.

(sixcolors.com)

Tech augmented reality

Helion: A Modern Doom Engine Redefining Performance

2025-06-12

Helion: A Modern Doom Engine Redefining Performance

Helion is a modern Doom engine built from the ground up, prioritizing performance. It utilizes static rendering and a state management system to overcome the rendering challenges of complex maps, enabling smooth gameplay even on older hardware previously incapable of handling them. Unlike traditional BSP tree rendering, Helion leverages GPU resources efficiently, resulting in massive performance gains. It supports various WAD formats and requires only Windows 7 and an OpenGL 3.3 compatible GPU.

(github.com)

Game

SF's Valencia Street Gets First Permanent Open-Air Drinking Zone

2025-06-12

SF's Valencia Street Gets First Permanent Open-Air Drinking Zone

San Francisco's Valencia Street is launching a pilot program allowing patrons of participating bars and restaurants to legally consume alcoholic beverages on the sidewalk from noon to midnight, Sunday through Thursday. This marks the city's first permanent open-air drinking zone not tied to a specific event, aiming to revitalize nightlife and attract younger crowds as part of post-pandemic recovery efforts. The initiative, supported by local businesses and the SFPD, includes security measures like wristbands and designated cups. While some businesses are hesitant, the program is expected to significantly impact the city's landscape and business models, setting a precedent for future similar projects.

(missionlocal.org)

Misc Open-Air Drinking Post-Pandemic Recovery

Becoming a 10x Engineer with AI: A Mindset Shift

2025-06-12

Becoming a 10x Engineer with AI: A Mindset Shift

This post details how the author leverages AI to significantly boost their software engineering productivity. Instead of viewing AI as a mere code generator, they see it as a highly experienced engineering partner. The key is effective prompt engineering to maximize AI's potential. The author stresses the importance of well-crafted prompts and the necessity of verifying AI-generated code. Beyond code generation, AI is used to understand complex concepts and accelerate learning. The author encourages engineers to actively experiment and continuously learn to become truly AI-native.

(rfitz.io)

Development

NASA's Existential Crisis: China's Lunar Landing in 1637 Days

2025-06-12

NASA's Existential Crisis: China's Lunar Landing in 1637 Days

This article argues that NASA is a shadow of its former self, facing an existential crisis. With China poised to land on the Moon in 1637 days, the author criticizes NASA's massively over-budget and ineffective SLS program, contrasting it with SpaceX's success. The author calls for drastic NASA reform, including streamlining bureaucracy, improving efficiency, prioritizing talent, and refocusing its mission to compete with China and maintain US leadership in space.

(caseyhandmer.wordpress.com)

Tech

OpenAI's o3-pro: Smarter, But Needs More Context

2025-06-12

OpenAI's o3-pro: Smarter, But Needs More Context

OpenAI slashed o3 pricing by 80% and launched the more powerful o3-pro. After early access, the author found o3-pro significantly smarter than o3, but simple tests don't showcase its strengths. o3-pro excels at complex tasks, especially with sufficient context, generating detailed plans and analyses. The author argues current evaluation methods are insufficient for o3-pro; future focus should be on integration with humans, external data, and other AIs.

(www.latent.space)

AI

Google Makes Custom ROM Development for Pixel Phones Harder

2025-06-12

Google Makes Custom ROM Development for Pixel Phones Harder

Google's latest Android 16 AOSP release omits device trees and driver binaries for Pixel phones, significantly increasing the difficulty of building custom ROMs. While Google assures AOSP isn't going away and is shifting to a virtual device called "Cuttlefish" as its reference target, developers now face reverse-engineering changes, adding complexity. This impacts the custom ROM community, such as LineageOS and GrapheneOS, requiring them to rebuild device trees from scratch, increasing their workload substantially. Although Google states AOSP isn't being phased out, the changes make supporting Pixel devices more challenging.

(www.androidauthority.com)

Development Custom ROMs

macOS Tahoe's ASIF Disk Images: A Performance Leap

2025-06-12

macOS Tahoe's ASIF Disk Images: A Performance Leap

macOS Tahoe introduces ASIF, a new disk image format that dramatically improves virtual machine performance. ASIF images are independent of the host filesystem's capabilities, achieving near-native speeds; for example, on an M3 Pro MacBook Pro, unencrypted APFS volumes reached 5.8 GB/s read and 6.6 GB/s write. ASIF offers a massive speed advantage over previous UDSP images and saves disk space. Currently, ASIF images can only be created in Tahoe, but they work in Sequoia. Future virtualization software is expected to support ASIF, further enhancing VM performance.

(eclecticlight.co)

Development

Trump's Proposed NASA Budget Cuts: A Death Blow to American Space Exploration?

2025-06-12

Trump's Proposed NASA Budget Cuts: A Death Blow to American Space Exploration?

The Trump administration's proposed budget includes a near 50% cut to NASA's science programs and a roughly 24% overall reduction. This drastic move, formulated without significant NASA input due to a leadership vacuum following the withdrawal of Jared Isaacman's nomination, jeopardizes numerous ongoing projects. The cuts would cancel 19 active space exploration projects totaling $12 billion in investment, impacting crucial missions like Mars exploration. This not only wastes significant taxpayer funds but also threatens America's future in space exploration, potentially allowing China to overtake the US in space leadership.

(www.latimes.com)

Tech

Israeli Spyware Firm Paragon Targeted Journalists in Europe

2025-06-12

Israeli Spyware Firm Paragon Targeted Journalists in Europe

Citizen Lab research reveals that Graphite, spyware from US-backed Israeli firm Paragon Solutions, was used to target at least three prominent European journalists, including two editors at Italian investigative news site Fanpage.it. The revelations raise concerns about potential Italian government involvement in spying on critics and broader misuse of commercial spyware. While Paragon denies wrongdoing, Italy has terminated its relationship with the company. The incident also casts a shadow on Paragon's US government contracts.

(apnews.com)

Tech

QEMU: A Powerful Open-Source Virtualization Tool

2025-06-12

QEMU: A Powerful Open-Source Virtualization Tool

QEMU is a generic and open-source machine emulator and virtualizer. It can emulate a complete machine in software without needing hardware virtualization, achieving good performance through dynamic translation. QEMU integrates with Xen and KVM hypervisors, providing emulated hardware while letting the hypervisor manage the CPU for near-native performance. It allows running operating systems built for one architecture on a different one, and offers userspace API virtualization for running binaries compiled against different ABIs. QEMU boasts a stable command-line interface and monitor API, integrates with tools like libvirt, oVirt, OpenStack, and virt-manager, and is licensed under the GPLv2. Comprehensive documentation and a vibrant community ensure ease of use and support.

(github.com)

Development

Solving LinkedIn Queens with SMT: Easier Than SAT!

2025-06-12

Solving LinkedIn Queens with SMT: Easier Than SAT!

This post details solving the 'LinkedIn Queens' puzzle—a variation of the classic N-Queens problem with added regional constraints—using the SMT solver Z3. The author demonstrates that expressing the problem in SMT, leveraging integer variables and constraints, is significantly simpler than the equivalent SAT formulation which requires many boolean clauses. While SMT solvers might be slower than highly optimized SAT solvers like Glucose, the ease of encoding makes SMT preferable for many. The post includes complete code and helpful sanity checks to verify the model's correctness. This provides a compelling explanation for the industry's preference for tools that compile to SAT rather than using SAT directly.

(buttondown.com)

Development SMT solver

Waymo Robotaxis: Premium Price, Premium Demand?

2025-06-12

Waymo Robotaxis: Premium Price, Premium Demand?

New data reveals Waymo's self-driving taxi service consistently costs more than Uber and Lyft, averaging several dollars more per ride. Despite this higher price point, Waymo boasts 250,000 paid weekly trips. The study found Waymo's pricing is more variable, especially for short trips, potentially due to a less refined pricing model compared to its established competitors. However, consumers seem unfazed by the higher cost, with many willing to pay a premium for the driverless experience. This highlights the appeal of technological novelty and the comfort of a solo ride. Safety, however, remains a top concern, with many preferring some form of remote human monitoring.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

Rust's Slow Compile Times: A Deep Dive

2025-06-12

The slow feedback loop and long compilation times of Rust are frequent complaints. This blog post delves into the Rust compiler team's efforts to improve compilation speed and the challenges they face. While the team makes weekly progress, tackling performance improvements and regressions, and has achieved significant gains (e.g., nearly doubling speed on a specific benchmark in three years), near-instant compilation remains elusive due to technical hurdles and prioritization. These include the compiler's large and complex codebase, the need to balance various trade-offs in optimizations, maintaining stability, adding new features, and the limited time and resources of volunteer contributors. The post concludes by outlining future improvement directions, such as optimizing specific compilation workflows and performing large-scale refactoring of the compiler.

(kobzol.github.io)

Development Compiler Performance

AI Code Generation: Accuracy and Confidence are Key

2025-06-12

AI Code Generation: Accuracy and Confidence are Key

Only 3.8% of developers report experiencing both low hallucinations and high confidence in shipping AI-generated code. These are the teams truly benefiting from AI in production. They trust the suggestions, ship faster, and close the loop with high-quality feedback. Among this low-hallucination group, those who are also confident (17%) report a 1.3x higher likelihood of seeing code quality gains (44% vs. 35%) and 2.5x greater confidence in shipping AI code (24% vs. 9%). This is the 'sweet spot,' where over half (53%) report clear improvements in code quality. This highlights the strong link between accuracy, quality, and confidence: developers seeing fewer errors and higher-quality output are much more likely to trust and use AI in production. Low hallucinations make developers 1.3x more likely to report improved code quality (44% vs. 35% overall), but most developers, even with accurate output, remain hesitant. Automated quality checks can bridge this gap.

(www.qodo.ai)

Development developer confidence

AI Coding Tools: Productivity Boost, Trust Deficit

2025-06-12

AI Coding Tools: Productivity Boost, Trust Deficit

A Qodo survey reveals that while AI coding tools significantly boost developer productivity, trust in their output remains low. Many developers still manually review AI-generated code, negating some productivity gains. The survey found that experienced developers benefit most, while the majority see moderate improvements, and some fail to effectively leverage AI tools. Although about 60% of developers reported improved code quality from AI, 76% still won't ship AI-generated code without human review. Top developer requests for improvement include better contextual understanding, reduced hallucinations, and improved code quality. Qodo's CEO suggests feeding AI models more detailed information—product requirements, specifications, coding styles—to improve output quality.

(www.theregister.com)

Development

SchemeFlow: Full-Stack Engineer Wanted (Y Combinator Backed)

2025-06-12

SchemeFlow: Full-Stack Engineer Wanted (Y Combinator Backed)

SchemeFlow, a Y Combinator-backed AI startup in London, is seeking a highly skilled Full-Stack Engineer. The company uses AI to streamline the bureaucratic process of building projects, aiming to accelerate infrastructure development in the West. The ideal candidate will have strong full-stack experience (Vue.js, FastAPI, Google Cloud, Supabase, etc.) and a deep understanding of user needs. Competitive salary, equity, and potential relocation to San Francisco are offered.

(www.ycombinator.com)

Development

arXivLabs: Experimenting with Community Collaboration

2025-06-12

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Individuals and organizations involved share 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.

(arxiv.org)

Development

MIT's 2022 Quantum Computation Lecture Notes

2025-06-12

Lecture notes from MIT professor Peter Shor's Fall 2022 Quantum Computation course (8.370/18.435) are now available. The comprehensive notes cover a wide range of topics, from fundamental concepts like superposition and unitary evolution to quantum measurement, entanglement, and key algorithms such as Deutsch-Jozsa, Simon's, Shor's, and Grover's algorithms. Advanced topics including quantum error correction codes and quantum key distribution are also included. While Lecture 26 is missing, this extensive resource provides a valuable foundation for learning quantum computation.

(math.mit.edu)

Development quantum computation quantum information

Bull Market Strategies: Decoding ET's Investment Tools

2025-06-12

Bull Market Strategies: Decoding ET's Investment Tools

ET's financial platform offers a suite of investment tools to help you grasp the pulse of the stock market. The "Investment Ideas" section provides stock recommendations and sectoral trends. Use "Stock Reports Plus" to assess stock scores, upside potential, and more. "BigBull Portfolio" reveals where market leaders are investing. The "Stock Analyzer" evaluates stocks based on fundamentals, solvency, growth, risk, and ownership. "Market Mood" analyzes sentiment and identifies trend reversals. Finally, the daily 9 AM "Stock Talk Live" lets you ask questions to SEBI-registered experts.

(economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Startup stock investment investment tools

Denmark Ditches Microsoft in Pursuit of Digital Sovereignty

2025-06-12

Denmark Ditches Microsoft in Pursuit of Digital Sovereignty

Denmark is moving away from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice, prioritizing 'digital sovereignty' over perceived reliance on US tech giants. Driven by security concerns, economic factors (a 72% increase in Microsoft software costs in five years), and geopolitical anxieties, the government aims to reduce dependence on foreign technology. While a complete transition won't be easy, and not everyone agrees with the strategy, this move reflects a growing EU-wide push for greater control over its digital infrastructure and data, spurred by incidents like alleged Microsoft service disruptions to the ICC following US sanctions.

(www.zdnet.com)

Tech

Brazil's Supreme Court Holds Social Media Firms Liable for User-Posted Illegal Content

2025-06-12

Brazil's Supreme Court Holds Social Media Firms Liable for User-Posted Illegal Content

A majority of justices on Brazil's Supreme Court have voted to hold social media companies liable for illegal content posted by their users. This ruling opens the door for companies like Meta, X, and Microsoft to be sued and fined for content published by users. The vote is still ongoing, but a simple majority is sufficient for passage. This decision follows a warning from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about potential visa restrictions for foreign officials involved in censoring American citizens.

(economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Tech Brazil Supreme Court

Pentagon's UFO Smoke Screen: A Carefully Crafted Illusion?

2025-06-12

Pentagon's UFO Smoke Screen: A Carefully Crafted Illusion?

The Wall Street Journal revealed the Pentagon's long-standing manipulation of UFO incidents for disinformation purposes. By fabricating evidence and stories, the Department of Defense diverted public attention from real, secret weapons programs to 'alien technology.' This practice targeted not only the public but also its own personnel. For example, the 1967 incident at a nuclear bunker, where a supposed 'alien spacecraft' disabled missiles, was actually a government electromagnetic pulse test. Additionally, new recruits to secretive programs received photos of UFOs, told they represented anti-gravity technology – a potentially out-of-control 'hazing ritual' or part of an internal disinformation campaign. Ultimately, the truth remains elusive, and the government's intent may be to discourage the search for it.

(gizmodo.com)

Tech Government Conspiracy

Conquering Procrastination: From Sticky Notes to Thermal Receipt Printer

2025-06-12

Conquering Procrastination: From Sticky Notes to Thermal Receipt Printer

The author, plagued by procrastination for years, discovered a productivity-boosting system by studying video game addiction. He breaks down tasks into micro-tasks (sticky notes), crumpling and discarding completed ones into a jar for immediate feedback. To enhance efficiency, he integrated a thermal receipt printer for automated task lists, dramatically improving consistency. Finally, he developed software to horizontally decompose tasks for easy printing and management. This system significantly improved his productivity and offers valuable insights for others facing similar struggles.

(www.laurieherault.com)

Development thermal receipt printer

Agentic Coding: Practical Tips and Tricks

2025-06-12

This post details the author's experience with agentic coding using Claude Code, focusing on maximizing efficiency. Key strategies include using the cheaper Sonnet model, disabling permission checks, optimizing tool usage, and choosing Go for its simplicity and efficient testing. The author emphasizes writing simple, stable, and parallelizable code, and refactoring strategically. While the field is rapidly evolving, core principles like simplicity, stability, observability, and smart parallelization remain crucial for success.

(lucumr.pocoo.org)

Development agentic coding

My Mac Contacted 63 Apple Domains While Idle

2025-06-12

My Mac Contacted 63 Apple Domains While Idle

My M2 MacBook Air contacted 63 different Apple domains in a single hour while I wasn't logged in or using it. Despite using NextDNS to block Apple's native telemetry, a significant portion of DNS queries still targeted Apple domains. In contrast, my 2019 Intel MacBook Pro showed less than 3% of queries going to Apple. This raises concerns about the extent of Apple's data collection, even with services like mail and calendar already blocked.

(appaddict.app)

Tech

Your Brain Rewires Itself in Real Time When Listening to Rhythms

2025-06-12

New research from Aarhus University and the University of Oxford reveals a fascinating finding: when you hear a steady rhythm or musical tone, your brain doesn't passively receive the sound; it dynamically reorganizes itself. Researchers developed FREQ-NESS, a novel neuroimaging method, to map brain organization with unprecedented precision, showing the interplay of brainwaves across multiple networks. This breakthrough could revolutionize our understanding of brain function and has implications for brain-computer interfaces and clinical diagnostics.

(www.sciencedaily.com)

Tech

The Illusion of a Universal Problem-Solving Method

2025-06-12

This article reflects on problem-solving approaches, using Sudoku solvers as a case study. It contrasts the test-driven development (TDD) approach of Ron Jeffries, which involved significant effort, with Peter Norvig's concise and efficient solution. The author argues against a universal problem-solving method, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right tools and continuously learning new ones. Drawing parallels to the Entscheidungsproblem, the article highlights the role of insight and experience, and shares the author's personal problem-solving techniques.

(rjp.io)

Development programming methodologies

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