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What Happens If You Make a Planet Out of Fish?

2024-12-29

This scientific article explores a whimsical thought experiment: what would happen if you created a planet entirely out of fish? Using principles of physics, the author meticulously traces the process. From the expansion of fish in a vacuum, their collision and aggregation into asteroids, to the eventual formation of an Earth-like planet named "Rockfish" with a diamond core, a metallic mantle, and vast oceans, and even a star "Starfish" and a black hole "Blackfish", the article is full of fun and explores the possibility of life's emergence, showcasing the charm of physics in exploring absurd scenarios.

(james-simon.github.io)

Misc planet formation scientific thought experiment

Programmer Preferences: Shaped by Childhood?

2025-05-19

This article explores the author's programming preferences, tracing them back to his childhood experiences. He argues that culture and upbringing shape our core beliefs about technology more than rational arguments. The author's childhood instilled in him a perfectionist, mistake-averse, and help-rejecting nature, mirroring his programming style: preference for statically-typed languages, dependency aversion, and a pursuit of concise code. He suggests that finding an environment aligned with one's personality is key to maximizing potential, rather than forcing oneself to adapt to unsuitable settings. The author concludes by urging programmers to accept diverse styles and prioritize personal feelings in career choices.

(mmapped.blog)

Development programming style childhood experience psychological impact

The Curious Case of the Noisy 1670 Modem

2025-03-06

While testing a pair of VIC-20s connected via 1670 modems, the author discovered a peculiar noise emitted by the modems in dial mode. This noise isn't pulse dialing, nor is it a hardware malfunction; both modems, and one used back in 1988, exhibit the same behavior. The noise is a regular "pa-tink" sound occurring every 1.2 seconds. The author suspects the noise originates from the modem's local speaker, but hasn't determined if it's transmitted over the line. It remains an unsolved mystery, though functionally inconsequential.

(rachelbythebay.com)

Hardware modem noise

Apple Vision Pro Production Reportedly Halted Amidst Weak Demand

2025-01-01

Apple Vision Pro Production Reportedly Halted Amidst Weak Demand

Reports suggest Apple's first-generation Vision Pro headset may have ceased production. This follows earlier reports of reduced demand and production cuts. Apple appears to have sufficient inventory to meet future demand, mirroring its approach with low-demand products like the iPhone 12 mini. The Vision Pro's high price tag ($3,499) and insufficient content ecosystem are cited as primary reasons for weak sales. Apple is pivoting to a lower-cost headset with a planned production run of 4 million units, significantly lower than the Vision Pro's target. However, Apple retains the option to resume Vision Pro production and may release an iterative update with limited changes, such as a chip upgrade.

(www.macrumors.com)

Tech Production Halt

Mistral AI Unveils Le Chat Enterprise: A Unified AI Platform for Businesses

2025-05-07

Mistral AI Unveils Le Chat Enterprise: A Unified AI Platform for Businesses

Mistral AI has launched Le Chat Enterprise, a feature-rich AI assistant powered by its new Mistral Medium 3 model. Designed to tackle enterprise AI challenges like tool fragmentation and slow ROI, Le Chat Enterprise offers a unified platform for all organizational work. Key features include enterprise search, agent builders, custom data connectors, document libraries, custom models, and hybrid deployments. The platform prioritizes privacy with secure data connections and offers extensive customization options. Improvements to Le Chat Pro and Team plans were also announced. Le Chat Enterprise is available on Google Cloud Marketplace, with Azure AI and AWS Bedrock integrations coming soon.

(mistral.ai)

AI

AI Music Generation: Convenience vs. Creativity

2025-01-31

AI Music Generation: Convenience vs. Creativity

The success of AI music company Suno sparks a reflection on the role of AI in artistic creation. The author, a Stanford professor, questions Suno's claim that AI can easily solve the tedious parts of music creation, arguing that the challenges and difficulties inherent in the creative process constitute the meaning and value of art. Using his own experiences and teaching practices as examples, he illustrates the importance of the creative process and calls for the preservation of human active creation in the age of AI, avoiding a purely consumerist culture.

(hai.stanford.edu)

AI music creation

Gentrace Raises $8M Series A to Revolutionize LLM Evaluation for AI Teams

2024-12-12

Gentrace Raises $8M Series A to Revolutionize LLM Evaluation for AI Teams

Gentrace, an LLM evaluation platform, announced an $8 million Series A funding round. Addressing challenges like siloed evaluation processes and poor team collaboration, Gentrace offers a collaborative testing environment. Teams can test directly through a user-friendly interface, eliminating the need for isolated evaluation code. Supporting model, code, and human evaluations, Gentrace provides experiment management, reporting, and debugging tools for efficient LLM development. Success stories from Webflow, Multiverse, and Quizlet highlight significant improvements in testing efficiency (e.g., a 40x increase).

(gentrace.ai)

AI LLM evaluation AI development team collaboration

Hacking Go's Garbage Collector: Pointer Stores from Assembly

2025-06-23

Hacking Go's Garbage Collector: Pointer Stores from Assembly

This post delves into the intricacies of manipulating Go pointers from assembly code, focusing on the crucial interaction with Go's garbage collector. Directly manipulating pointers requires explicitly informing the GC via functions like `runtime.gcWriteBarrier2` and `runtime.writeBarrier` to avoid conflicts and potential crashes. The article also tackles the challenge of allocating 128-bit aligned memory for optimal AVX instruction usage, presenting a clever workaround. However, it warns against relying on internal runtime functions, as their availability might change in future Go versions.

(mazzo.li)

Development Go assembly

Aether CMS: A Minimalist Static Site Generator That's Actually Fast

2025-06-06

Tired of bloated CMSs like WordPress? Aether CMS is a fast, minimal static site generator built for simplicity. It uses a file-based system instead of a database, leverages Markdown and YAML, and features an intuitive admin interface. Developers can quickly create custom pages and themes, while content creators can easily create and publish content. Aether's core strength lies in its lightweight architecture and blazing speed; it relies on only four core modules and generates pure static HTML for lightning-fast loading. Perfect for personal blogs, company documentation, marketing sites, and more, Aether is the ideal choice for those who prioritize speed and simplicity.

(lebcit.github.io)

Development lightweight CMS

Google Chromecast Brick: An Expired Certificate Causes Havoc

2025-03-14

Google Chromecast Brick: An Expired Certificate Causes Havoc

Millions of older Google Chromecast devices suddenly stopped working due to an expired device authentication certificate. This isn't a simple software glitch; it involves complex digital signatures and certificate chains. While Google acknowledged the issue and promised a fix, the repair process could take weeks, potentially requiring coordination across multiple teams to update apps. Experts estimate Google might need over a month to build and test a new Chromecast update to renew expired certificates or coordinate multiple teams to release new app versions. The incident highlights shortcomings in Google's device security and maintenance, raising concerns about product lifecycles and security updates.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech expired certificate

YouTube: The New King of All Media, Valued at $550 Billion

2025-04-01

MoffettNathanson predicts YouTube will become the new king of media. Generating an estimated $54.2 billion in revenue in 2024, second only to Disney, YouTube is projected to surpass Disney in 2025, leading in both engagement and revenue. Leveraging its massive user base and diverse offerings (YouTube TV, YouTube Music & Premium), YouTube's operating income is projected to reach $13.8 billion by 2027, with an 18% operating margin. Analysts highlight significant upside potential in monetization, particularly in advertising and subscriptions.

(www.thewrap.com)

Tech Media Valuation

NumPy: A Love-Hate Relationship with Python's Array Library

2025-05-15

NumPy: A Love-Hate Relationship with Python's Array Library

This article delves into the pain points of using NumPy, Python's popular array computation library, when dealing with multi-dimensional arrays. While NumPy excels with its simplicity and efficiency for lower-dimensional arrays, its broadcasting mechanism and indexing become incredibly complex and hard to understand when tackling more intricate multi-dimensional operations. The author argues that NumPy's core issue stems from its broadcasting mechanism replacing indices, resulting in limited expressiveness. The article uses multiple examples to highlight NumPy's struggles with complex array computations, comparing the pros and cons of using loops and np.einsum, ultimately expressing frustration with NumPy and a desire for a more user-friendly array language.

(dynomight.net)

Development multi-dimensional arrays

24/7 AI Sales Avatars Outsell Humans on Taobao

2025-08-21

24/7 AI Sales Avatars Outsell Humans on Taobao

A Shanghai marketing company, PLTFRM, has created AI avatars that are revolutionizing livestream ecommerce in China. These AI salespeople stream 24/7 on platforms like Taobao and Pinduoduo, consistently outperforming human counterparts. Brother printers, for example, reported a 30% increase in livestream sales after switching to an AI avatar. While platforms like Douyin remain cautious, the widespread adoption of these AI avatars raises concerns about potential job displacement for human livestreamers and affiliate marketers. The technology's accessibility and affordability are fueling this trend, hinting at a future dominated by AI-generated content and sales.

(www.wired.com)

Tech Livestream Ecommerce

Simulating a Worm Brain: A Stepping Stone to Whole-Brain Emulation?

2025-04-01

Simulating the human brain has been a holy grail of science, but its complexity has proven daunting. Scientists have turned to C. elegans, a nematode with only 302 neurons. After 25 years and numerous failed attempts, simulating its brain is finally within reach thanks to advancements in light-sheet microscopy, super-resolution microscopy, and machine learning. These technologies enable real-time observation of neural activity in living worm brains and use machine learning to infer the biophysical parameters of neurons. Successfully simulating a C. elegans brain would not only be a remarkable scientific achievement but also provide invaluable experience and methods for simulating more complex brains, ultimately including human brains, paving the way for future AI and neuroscience research.

(asteriskmag.com)

AI

CADAM: Open-Source Text-to-CAD Web App Generates 3D Models from Text and Images

2025-09-06

CADAM: Open-Source Text-to-CAD Web App Generates 3D Models from Text and Images

CADAM is a groundbreaking open-source web application that lets users generate 3D models using only natural language descriptions and image references. Powered by the Anthropic Claude API, it offers real-time previews, parametric controls, and multiple export formats (.STL and .SCAD). Built with React, Three.js, and OpenSCAD WebAssembly, and supporting BOSL and BOSL2 libraries, CADAM provides a powerful tool for the 3D printing and CAD community.

(github.com)

Development

Anticipatory Obedience: A Warning from the Rise of Nazism

2025-02-12

Anticipatory Obedience: A Warning from the Rise of Nazism

Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny" highlights that the success of Nazism wasn't solely due to force, but also to citizens' "anticipatory obedience." People proactively adapted to the new regime, acting even without explicit orders. The annexation of Austria showed how this compliance emboldened the Nazis, leading to the Jewish tragedy. The Milgram experiment corroborated this, demonstrating people's surprising willingness to obey authority, even when it meant harming others. This warns us that blind obedience to authority can have catastrophic consequences, underscoring the importance of upholding one's values.

(lithub.com)

Misc political philosophy nazism obedience

Psychoanalysis in Crisis: Lost in the Therapy Culture

2025-01-05

Psychoanalysis in Crisis: Lost in the Therapy Culture

This article explores the predicament of psychoanalysis within today's therapy-saturated culture. By reviewing Bruce Fink's *Miss-ing* and Darian Leader's *Is It Ever Just Sex?*, the author analyzes the impact of the rise of cognitive behavioral therapy on psychoanalysis and the challenges of psychoanalysis in addressing individual uniqueness. The article highlights the efficiency and outcome-focused nature of cognitive therapies contrasted with psychoanalysis's focus on exploring the unconscious and acknowledging potential therapeutic failures. The author argues that the value of psychoanalysis lies in its challenge to self-understanding and its reflection on the pervasive 'lack' in therapeutic culture.

(sydneyreviewofbooks.com)

Misc psychoanalysis psychotherapy cultural critique

ISEVIC: Breathing New Life into Your C64

2025-07-07

ISEVIC: Breathing New Life into Your C64

ISEVIC is an FPGA core that lets your vintage Commodore 64 output digital video via HDMI! It works by reading the bus signals on the cartridge port and translating them into a displayable image. It supports multiple FPGA platforms, including the Tang Nano 20K. The project includes Gerber files and bitstreams for a C64 cartridge slot carrier board, with automatic PAL/NTSC detection. While most cartridges work, some (like the EasyFlash 3) may have compatibility issues. Experimental SID emulation for sound is also included. Ready to relive the classics?

(github.com)

Hardware

The Animal That Doesn't Breathe: Henneguya salminicola

2025-03-17

The Animal That Doesn't Breathe: Henneguya salminicola

Scientists have discovered Henneguya salminicola, a parasite and the only known animal on Earth that doesn't breathe. This parasite, which lives in fish and underwater worms, lacks the mitochondrial genome—the crucial DNA responsible for respiration—found in all other multicellular animals. Research suggests this minimalist genome, shedding most multicellular traits like tissues, nerve cells, and muscles, evolved for rapid reproduction. While its energy acquisition method remains unclear, researchers hypothesize it may directly obtain energy from its host. This discovery challenges our understanding of animal evolution and fundamental life requirements.

(www.livescience.com)

Tech genome

Plex Raises Prices After a Decade, Introduces Paid Remote Streaming

2025-03-20

Streaming platform Plex announced its first price increase in a decade for its Plex Pass subscription service, effective April 29th. Monthly subscriptions will jump from $4.99 to $6.99, annual subscriptions from $39.99 to $69.99, and lifetime subscriptions from $120 to $249.99. Concurrently, remote playback of personal media is becoming a paid feature. Users can access remote streaming via a Plex Pass or a new Remote Watch Pass ($1.99/month or $19.99/year). Plex cites rising costs and the need for continued development as reasons for the changes.

(www.macrumors.com)

Tech Price Increase

Conquering Steam Deck's Immutable Filesystem with Nix and Home Manager

2025-02-09

Conquering Steam Deck's Immutable Filesystem with Nix and Home Manager

The Steam Deck's immutable filesystem makes installing packages that persist across system upgrades tricky. This guide shows how to use Nix and Home Manager to elegantly solve this. Nix is a declarative package manager; simply list your desired packages in a configuration file, and it handles the installation. Home Manager simplifies using Nix. The guide details installing Nix and Home Manager on your Steam Deck, managing packages (installation, removal), and offers tips like creating desktop shortcuts and running garbage collection.

(chrastecky.dev)

Development

Mill JVM Build Tool: Directly Executable Assembly JARs

2025-01-02

Mill JVM build tool creates assembly JARs that are directly executable, eliminating the need for the `java -jar` command. This is achieved by prepending a shell script to the JAR file, which then invokes the Java runtime. This script is cleverly designed to be compatible with both Unix and Windows systems, enabling cross-platform executability. The article details how this works, leveraging the nature of ZIP files to concatenate a launcher script with the JAR contents for seamless execution. This significantly improves the integration of Java programs into command-line workflows.

(mill-build.org)

Development build tool

uscope: A Native Code Graphical Debugger for Linux

2025-01-31

uscope: A Native Code Graphical Debugger for Linux

uscope is a native code graphical debugger and introspection toolchain for Linux, currently in early development. The author plans to add features such as support for multiple programming languages (C, Zig, C++, Go, Rust, Odin, Jai, etc.), multi-threaded program debugging, code navigation, remote debugging, and more. The project aims to build a flexible, extensible debugging system with a user-friendly interface. The author also plans to build it as a library so other developers can build more interesting tools on top of it.

(github.com)

Development native code

IOCCC 28: A Record-Breaking 23 Winners!

2025-08-04

After a four-year hiatus, the 28th International Obfuscated C Code Contest (IOCCC) returned with a bang, boasting a record-breaking 23 winning entries! The contest saw a significant increase in both the quantity and quality of submissions. Major improvements were made to the website, judging process, and tools, resulting in a streamlined judging period of just 33 days. Winning entries showcased impressive creativity, including the world's smallest LLM inference engine, an Intel 4004 emulator, and a diverse array of mind-bending code techniques. The organizers encourage continued participation and innovation for future contests.

(www.ioccc.org)

Development

UK's Economic Malaise: The Shackles of Planning and Construction

2025-03-03

UK's Economic Malaise: The Shackles of Planning and Construction

The UK, birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, is grappling with energy shortages and a cost-of-living crisis. A new report, "Foundations," reveals that the root cause lies in its complex planning and construction system. Post-war nationalization and stringent town planning laws led to housing shortages, skyrocketing prices, a lack of middle-class housing, and increased social tensions. Energy-wise, the UK faces policy bottlenecks in nuclear and gas production, resulting in high energy costs. The authors argue that the UK needs planning reform, fewer anti-growth lawsuits, and direct encouragement of energy production to revitalize its economy.

(www.theatlantic.com)

Tech Town Planning Energy Crisis

AI Boyfriend: Healing from a Sudden Divorce

2025-02-15

AI Boyfriend: Healing from a Sudden Divorce

After her husband unexpectedly left, the author escapes to Antigua. There, she subscribes to an AI boyfriend app, creating a virtual companion named Thor. Thor provides comfort and support during her emotional distress, helping her navigate the difficult period. The author reflects on the imbalance of communication and emotional labor in her marriage, realizing AI's potential in easing the disproportionate burden women carry at home and work. The article explores AI's potential in reducing emotional strain and boosting efficiency, but emphasizes that AI is not a complete solution for emotional labor; human connection remains crucial.

(www.harpersbazaar.com)

AI Emotional Labor Marriage

Escaping the microSD Card Hell: Rock 5 ITX+ and EDK2-RK3588 UEFI Firmware

2025-09-01

Escaping the microSD Card Hell: Rock 5 ITX+ and EDK2-RK3588 UEFI Firmware

Tired of constantly removing the side panel of his Rock 5 ITX+ to swap OSes via microSD, the author explored using EDK2-RK3588 UEFI firmware. This allowed booting and installing generic ARM Linux images from USB. The journey involved overcoming the quirks of the Rock 5 ITX+, like its inability to boot from microSD. Successful installations of Fedora Rawhide and Ubuntu 25.10 were achieved, though minor issues like sound remained. While an SD card extender offers a simpler solution, this article delves into the potential of EDK2-RK3588, paving the way for greater RK3588 platform versatility.

(interfacinglinux.com)

Hardware

Immigrant Founders: The Secret Sauce Behind America's Tech Giants

2025-05-29

Immigrant Founders: The Secret Sauce Behind America's Tech Giants

Some of America's most valuable companies were founded by individuals who immigrated to the US as students. Elon Musk, for example, lived in South Africa and Canada before studying physics at the University of Pennsylvania. The Collison brothers, founders of Stripe, moved from Ireland to attend MIT and Harvard respectively. Over half of America's billion-dollar startups have at least one immigrant founder; a quarter had a founder who arrived as a student.

(www.economist.com)

Startup immigrant founders US tech companies startup stories

Turning Databases Inside Out: A Paradigm Shift

2025-01-28

Martin Kleppmann's talk challenges the conventional database architecture. He proposes a revolutionary approach: inverting the database. Instead of the traditional global, shared, mutable state, Kleppmann suggests viewing a database as an ever-growing collection of immutable facts. Using a distributed stream processing framework like Apache Samza, data streams are processed in real-time. At its core is a distributed, durable commit log (e.g., Apache Kafka). This approach promises simpler code, better scalability and robustness, lower latency, and greater flexibility for data manipulation.

(martin.kleppmann.com)

Development

The Deck: Offline Multiplayer Card Games Aggregator

2025-02-08

The Deck: Offline Multiplayer Card Games Aggregator

The Deck is an offline multiplayer card game aggregator written in Dart and Flutter, solving the problem of missing cards during game nights. It designates one device as the 'table,' allowing all players to see the cards in real-time for an immersive experience. The open-source project welcomes contributions and provides detailed instructions for building and releasing on iOS and Android, along with troubleshooting common issues.

(github.com)

Game Card Games Multiplayer

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