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Smartphone Fast Charging: A Deep Dive into Technologies and Standards

2025-04-22

This article delves into the world of smartphone fast charging, comparing various technologies and standards. From the benefits of slow charging to the intricacies of USB PD, Qualcomm Quick Charge, VOOC, SuperVOOC, and others, it explores the trade-offs between speed and battery health. The article highlights inconsistencies in advertised power ratings, the incompatibility of different fast-charging protocols, and the significant heat generation associated with high-wattage charging. Wireless charging technologies like Qi, MagSafe, and Qi2 are also examined, emphasizing their lower efficiency and heat generation compared to wired charging. The article concludes with recommendations for safe and effective charging practices to maximize battery lifespan.

(eb43.github.io)

Hardware smartphone charging

London Underground Live Map Shut Down After 15 Years

2025-01-13

A developer built and maintained a website displaying real-time London Underground and bus routes using TfL's open data since 2010. The site, featured in BBC and Guardian, gained popularity. However, on January 7th, 2025, the developer received a cease and desist from TfL regarding the Tube map schematic. Despite willingness to modify, the developer shut down the site, citing TfL's heavy-handed approach. This story highlights the conflict between large organizations and individual developers, and the complexities of open data applications.

(traintimes.org.uk)

Development open data London transport

Fanless M4 MacBook Air: Performance and Power Efficiency

2025-03-19

Fanless M4 MacBook Air: Performance and Power Efficiency

The new MacBook Air features a fanless M4 chip, offering performance on par with other M4 Macs. It boasts a 10-core CPU (4 performance and 6 efficiency cores) and a 10-core GPU. While sustained heavy workloads may cause slight performance throttling, it performs nearly identically to actively cooled M4 versions in most everyday tasks. Compared to the M3, the M4 offers a 15-30% CPU performance boost and a 10-20% GPU improvement. Against the M1, the overall performance increase is a substantial 50-70%. While it throttles under extreme stress tests, the M4 provides a noticeable performance upgrade for typical users, exceeding the needs of most daily workflows.

(arstechnica.com)

Hardware fanless design

Buffett's $334B Cash Hoard: Waiting for the Fed

2025-04-17

Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett, holds a staggering $334 billion in cash, enough to buy the bottom 476 companies in the S&P 500. However, last year Buffett quietly offloaded stocks, including Apple and Bank of America, even liquidating his holdings in S&P 500 ETFs. This move preceded a sharp drop in the Nasdaq and S&P 500. Instead of buying the dip, Buffett is waiting for the Federal Reserve to act, mirroring his approach during the 2020 pandemic when he only invested after the Fed's rate cuts and stimulus. Buffett's strategy is simple: don't overpay, and if nothing is cheap, buy your own company.

(www.mitrade.com)

Startup Buffett Berkshire Hathaway Investment Strategy

Australia's Youngest Art Director: The Making of Bluey

2025-08-04

Australia's Youngest Art Director: The Making of Bluey

In 2017, the author rejoined Ludo Studio, working on various 2D animation projects. He was then invited to be the art director for the children's show, Bluey, becoming Australia's youngest art director for an animated series. The director's love for Brisbane fueled a desire to showcase the city's unique beauty in the animation. Initial design phases combined Brisbane's stunning scenery with fundamental animation design principles, ultimately creating the acclaimed show.

(www.itsnicethat.com)

Design animation production art direction Bluey

Masimo Sues US Customs to Block Apple's Restored Blood Oxygen Feature on Apple Watch

2025-08-21

Masimo Sues US Customs to Block Apple's Restored Blood Oxygen Feature on Apple Watch

Following a patent infringement lawsuit by Masimo, Apple's blood oxygen feature on the Apple Watch was initially banned. While Apple disabled the feature via software, it recently re-enabled it, calling it a "redesigned" feature. Masimo now alleges that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) overstepped its authority and violated due process by allowing Apple to restore the functionality. The lawsuit seeks to prevent CBP's decision and reinstate the original ban. The central issue is whether CBP violated due process and whether Apple's 'redesigned' feature still constitutes patent infringement.

(9to5mac.com)

Tech Patent Lawsuit

IMDb Terminal App v1.1: A Complete Rewrite with Enhanced Features

2025-08-18

IMDb Terminal App v1.1: A Complete Rewrite with Enhanced Features

A powerful Ruby-based terminal application for discovering and managing movies and TV series from IMDb's Top 250 lists and trending lists. Version 1.1 is a complete rewrite using rcurses, boasting significant functional upgrades. It offers advanced filtering, smart search with preview, streaming info integration, terminal poster display, wishlists, and dump lists. The enhanced search experience and robust data management make finding and organizing your favorite movies and shows incredibly efficient.

(github.com)

Development movie management

Broken QR Code? Let's Fix It!

2025-05-11

Broken QR Code? Let's Fix It!

Is your QR code not scanning? Submit it for a free repair! Upload your image or email it to [email protected]. This project aims to build a dataset of broken QR codes to develop a reliable automated repair tool. The story began with a worn-out QR code on a cat's tag, which the author successfully repaired. This highlighted the need for a solution, leading to this initiative to collect and fix broken codes, ultimately creating software to repair them automatically.

(www.humanqr.com)

Misc QR code repair

Galileo and the Birth of Modern Science: A Telescope's Revolution

2025-08-15

Four hundred years ago, Galileo's telescopic observations shook the scientific world. His discovery of Jupiter's moons sparked controversy, with some scholars refusing to believe and others unable to verify. Only Kepler supported him, lacking a suitable telescope at the time. It wasn't until other astronomers independently confirmed his findings that Galileo's discoveries gained widespread acceptance. This period marked the birth of modern science, emphasizing the establishment of facts through experiments and observations rather than relying on textual interpretations. Galileo linked science to exploration, ushering in a new era of fact-based science, though he later faced religious persecution for supporting the Copernican heliocentric model. Today, we take the objectivity and authority of science for granted, a legacy of the era of discovery initiated by Galileo.

(www.historytoday.com)

Tech Galileo Telescope

Boost Your Rails App's SEO with Structured Data

2025-04-16

Boost Your Rails App's SEO with Structured Data

This article details how to add structured data (schema markup) to a Rails application for enhanced SEO. It begins by explaining structured data's purpose and benefits, then dives into two implementation methods: without a gem and using the `schema_dot_org` gem. The first involves manually creating schema objects, while the latter leverages the gem's predefined entities and validation, simplifying the process. The article covers using the `@graph` property to group entities and adding schemas for various pages (homepage, articles, books, FAQs), including `WebSite`, `Organization`, `Article`, and `Book`. It concludes by stressing the importance of validation to ensure schema correctness.

(avohq.io)

Development Structured Data

Dropbox Kills Off Its Password Manager

2025-07-31

Dropbox Kills Off Its Password Manager

Dropbox is shutting down its password manager service by the end of October, prompting user backlash and criticism for its lack of consultation with paid subscribers. The company cites a focus on core product improvements as the reason. Launched in 2020, the password manager failed to gain significant traction in a competitive market. Dropbox's recent financial performance shows steady but slowing revenue growth, accompanied by several rounds of layoffs.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech service discontinuation

Giant Wind Turbine Blades: Airlifting the Future of Clean Energy

2025-09-15

Giant Wind Turbine Blades: Airlifting the Future of Clean Energy

The ever-growing demand for clean energy has led to the development of larger wind turbines, but transporting their massive blades has become a major hurdle. Radia, a Boulder, Colorado-based company, has a bold solution: building the world's largest airplane, WindRunner, dedicated to airlifting these gigantic components. Scheduled for delivery by 2030, WindRunner will boast a wingspan exceeding a football field's length, dwarfing a 747's cargo capacity by a factor of 12. Capable of carrying blades up to 105 meters long, it will land on makeshift runways near wind farms. This innovative approach aims to overcome infrastructural limitations, reduce the cost of large-scale wind energy, and significantly boost efficiency. While carbon emissions pose a challenge, Radia believes the increased clean energy generation will far outweigh its environmental footprint.

(spectrum.ieee.org)

Tech air transportation

Reverse Engineered: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Schematic Released

2025-08-27

Reverse Engineered: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Schematic Released

A hacker has reverse-engineered the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5, releasing its schematic and layout. The process involved meticulously sanding down the board layer by layer, scanning each with a high-resolution scanner to create the design. While not intended for fabrication, this detailed schematic offers educational value and opens doors for advanced hacking, such as exploring the I2C register map of the PMIC. The project reveals insights into the CM5's power management, WiFi/Bluetooth control, and SD card compatibility.

(github.com)

Hardware

Low-Cost Visual Microphone Uses Light to 'Hear'

2025-08-01

Low-Cost Visual Microphone Uses Light to 'Hear'

Researchers at Beijing Institute of Technology have developed a low-cost visual microphone that uses light instead of sound to capture audio. Employing single-pixel imaging, the system detects subtle vibrations on surfaces caused by sound waves, converting them into audible signals. Unlike traditional microphones, this approach requires only light transmission, making it cheaper and applicable in scenarios where traditional mics fail, such as conversations through glass. Successful tests included reconstructing spoken numbers and a segment of Beethoven's Für Elise, highlighting potential applications in environmental monitoring, security, and industrial diagnostics.

(phys.org)

Tech visual microphone single-pixel imaging

Reporter Accidentally Joins US National Security Council Signal Group: Major Security Breach Revealed

2025-03-25

Reporter Accidentally Joins US National Security Council Signal Group: Major Security Breach Revealed

The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat containing discussions among US National Security Council members about a military strike on Houthi militias in Yemen. Goldberg received detailed information about the strike, even before it happened. The White House appeared unaware of the breach, with President Trump expressing shock at the news. This incident exposed a significant security vulnerability within the Trump administration, raising questions about the suitability of encrypted apps like Signal for sensitive government communications.

(www.theatlantic.com)

Tech security breach

Rebuilding Social Media: A New Hope for a Broken System

2025-05-22

The author argues that current social media platforms prioritize daily active users, engagement, user-generated content, and monetization, neglecting their core function: facilitating social interaction. The platforms' incentive structures lead to issues like fake accounts, low-quality content, and data privacy breaches. This article will delve into these problems and, in subsequent articles, propose potential solutions for building a new social media app in 2025, aiming to create a truly user-serving social space.

(www.scottgoci.com)

Misc platform improvement

The Rise and Fall of Builder.ai: Separating Fact from Fiction in the AI Startup World

2025-06-12

The Rise and Fall of Builder.ai: Separating Fact from Fiction in the AI Startup World

Recent reports surrounding the AI startup Builder.ai claimed it used 700 engineers to fake an AI system. However, this article reveals a different story. Through interviews with former employees, the author reveals Builder.ai built a code generator leveraging LLMs like Claude, not a 'Mechanical Turk' as initially reported. The company's downfall wasn't due to AI fakery, but rather internal mismanagement, including redundant tool building (Slack, Zoom, etc.) and serious allegations of accounting fraud. This piece corrects previous misinformation, highlighting the dangers of false narratives in tech and the challenges facing startups in rapid growth. It serves as a cautionary tale and a testament to the importance of verifying sources.

(newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com)

Startup AI startup

The Solopreneur Revolution: AI-Powered Startups Disrupting SaaS

2025-03-02

The Solopreneur Revolution: AI-Powered Startups Disrupting SaaS

DeepSeek's $200M annual revenue with a 500%+ profit margin, achieved at 1/25th the cost of OpenAI, highlights the power of AI-driven development. AI is not just building models; it's writing code, optimizing infrastructure, and even debugging itself. This allows solopreneurs to build sophisticated applications that previously required massive teams. This paradigm shift threatens established SaaS giants who face workforce reductions and the need to rebuild their AI-native products. The opportunity lies in building AI-first solutions targeting bloated SaaS verticals, offering leaner, more efficient alternatives and ultimately reshaping the future of the industry.

(manidoraisamy.com)

Startup

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

xv6-riscv-net: Bringing TCP/IP Networking to RISC-V xv6

2025-08-26

xv6-riscv-net: Bringing TCP/IP Networking to RISC-V xv6

This project integrates a TCP/IP stack into the RISC-V version of the xv6 operating system, enabling network functionality. It includes a kernel-space port of the microps user-space TCP/IP stack, a virtio-net driver for network emulation in QEMU, a standard socket API, and a simple ifconfig command. A few commands build and launch QEMU, configure IP addresses, and allow pinging the xv6 guest from the host, along with testing TCP/UDP echo applications.

(github.com)

Development

GitHub Code Suggestion Application Limits: 12 Scenarios You Might Encounter

2025-08-22

GitHub Code Suggestion Application Limits: 12 Scenarios You Might Encounter

This concise note lists 12 potential limitations encountered when applying code suggestions on GitHub, such as no code changes made, pull request closed, viewing a subset of changes, only one suggestion per line, applying to deleted lines, suggestion already applied or marked resolved, and more. These limitations are designed to maintain the integrity of the codebase and the efficiency of the review process.

(github.com)

Development

Bluesky Blocks Mississippi Access Over Age-Verification Law

2025-08-25

Bluesky Blocks Mississippi Access Over Age-Verification Law

Decentralized social network Bluesky has blocked access to its service in Mississippi rather than comply with the state's new age-verification law, HB 1126. The law mandates age verification for all users, requiring substantial technical changes and privacy protections that Bluesky, a small team, cannot afford. Citing the law's broad scope and potential to stifle free speech, Bluesky prioritized its long-term sustainability and user privacy over Mississippi users' access. The company is also working to resolve access issues for some users outside Mississippi due to network routing.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

Swiss Payment Terminal Flaw: Unencrypted Firmware & Accessible Root Shell

2025-06-01

A security researcher reverse-engineered a widely used Worldline Yomani XR payment terminal in Switzerland, uncovering unencrypted firmware and a publicly accessible root shell. Despite physical tamper protection, the debug port is externally accessible, allowing attackers to gain root access and deploy malware within 30 seconds. However, deeper analysis revealed the Linux system doesn't handle sensitive data (like card details); a separate, encrypted and signed processor manages security functions. While a significant software engineering oversight, the direct risk may be less than initially feared.

(stefan-gloor.ch)

Tech payment terminal security firmware vulnerability

Mission Impossible: Taming AI Agents in the Wild

2025-04-30

Mission Impossible: Taming AI Agents in the Wild

This article tackles the challenges and strategies for effectively controlling AI agents in various fields, especially software development. The author shares hard-won lessons emphasizing meticulous planning and constraining the context of what AI agents can do. It delves into choosing tools, planning tasks, creating and revising plans, testing those plans, and identifying larger architectural problems. Key aspects like rules, performance payback, model selection, and cost control are also covered. The author details their experience using tools like Cursor to create reusable plans, iteratively refining and testing them for improved reliability, ultimately leading to efficient software development.

(medium.com)

Development plan management

The Entrepreneurial Ethic's Trap: How Self-Help Culture Exhausted America

2025-05-10

The Entrepreneurial Ethic's Trap: How Self-Help Culture Exhausted America

Erik Baker's 'Make Your Own Job' dissects how America's pervasive entrepreneurial ethic has morphed into an exploitative system. Tracing the rise of positive psychology and its entanglement with the entrepreneurial spirit, Baker reveals how this culture links personal fulfillment to professional success, leading to overwork and burnout. Critically examining positive psychology theories and the entrepreneurial ethos, the author exposes how this culture masks exploitative labor practices, leaving workers vulnerable and disempowered. This ultimately creates a vicious cycle of burnout and societal dysfunction.

(www.commonwealmagazine.org)

Startup positive psychology

Beyond Gradient Averaging in Parallel Optimization: Improved Robustness through Gradient Agreement Filtering

2024-12-30

This paper introduces Gradient Agreement Filtering (GAF), a novel method to improve gradient averaging in distributed deep learning optimization. Traditional methods average micro-batch gradients to compute a macro-batch gradient, but this can lead to orthogonal or negatively correlated gradients in later training stages, resulting in overfitting. GAF reduces gradient variance by computing the cosine distance between micro-gradients and filtering out conflicting updates before averaging. Experiments on image classification benchmarks like CIFAR-100 and CIFAR-100N-Fine show that GAF significantly improves validation accuracy, even with smaller micro-batch sizes, achieving up to an 18.2% improvement over traditional approaches while reducing computational cost.

(arxiv.org)

AI gradient averaging robustness

FiveThirtyEight's Demise and the Rise of Silver Bulletin

2025-03-06

FiveThirtyEight's Demise and the Rise of Silver Bulletin

Following Disney's layoffs impacting FiveThirtyEight, the author reflects on the site's history and challenges. While acknowledging FiveThirtyEight's success in data journalism, the author points to a lack of business strategy and sufficient personnel as contributing factors to its struggles. The author's new venture, Silver Bulletin, aims to continue some of FiveThirtyEight's work, particularly in publicly releasing polling data and enhancing data analysis and forecasting models. Silver Bulletin will adopt a subscription model for sustainability and plans to expand its data analysis scope, including launching a Trump approval rating dashboard and college basketball predictions.

(www.natesilver.net)

Startup data journalism polling analysis media business

Infat: Declarative File Association Management for macOS

2025-04-24

Infat: Declarative File Association Management for macOS

Infat is a powerful, macOS-native CLI tool for declaratively managing both file-type and URL-scheme associations. Say goodbye to navigating sub-menus to set your default browser or image viewer – set rules once and they're set forever. Infat lists apps associated with file extensions or URL schemes, sets default applications, and loads associations from a TOML config file. It's minimal, scriptable, and perfect for power users and admins.

(github.com)

Development File Associations

Scientists Map the Complete Neural Pathway for Sensing Cool Temperatures

2025-08-04

Scientists Map the Complete Neural Pathway for Sensing Cool Temperatures

Researchers at the University of Michigan have, for the first time, mapped the entire neural pathway responsible for sensing cool temperatures, from the skin to the brain. This groundbreaking discovery reveals a dedicated pathway for cool temperatures, separate from the pathway for hot temperatures, highlighting evolution's elegant solution for precise thermal perception. A key component is a spinal cord amplifier; without it, the cool signal is lost. This research not only deepens our understanding of fundamental biology but also holds significant implications for treating cold-related pain, such as that experienced by chemotherapy patients.

(www.sciencedaily.com)

Tech Temperature Sensation Pain Mechanism

ABC: A Surprisingly Powerful and Easy-to-Learn Programming Language

2025-09-01

ABC is an interactive programming language designed as a user-friendly replacement for BASIC. Born from a task analysis of programming, it's surprisingly easy to learn (an hour or so for experienced programmers) yet powerful enough for experts. It boasts a concise set of five data types, strong typing without declarations, and no limitations besides memory exhaustion. Its environment is equally impressive, eliminating file management hassles and offering a consistent interface with undo functionality. ABC programs are often one-fourth to one-fifth the size of equivalent Pascal or C programs. The ABC Programmer's Handbook offers comprehensive documentation.

(homepages.cwi.nl)

Development ABC programming language BASIC alternative

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