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Millions of Users' Privacy Exposed by Secret Browser Extension

2025-07-10
Millions of Users' Privacy Exposed by Secret Browser Extension

A security researcher uncovered multiple browser extensions (Chrome, Edge, and Firefox) secretly collecting users' web activity data and sending it to a third party, MellowTel. These extensions access unknown websites, posing a significant threat to user privacy. The collected data included sensitive information like medical records, financial documents, and trade secrets. While some extensions have been taken down, many remain active. This incident echoes the 2019 Nacho Analytics case, highlighting the security risks of browser extensions.

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(arstechnica.com)
Tech

NASA and Axiom Space Alter Commercial Space Station Assembly Order

2024-12-29
NASA and Axiom Space Alter Commercial Space Station Assembly Order

NASA and Axiom Space have revised the assembly sequence for Axiom Space's commercial space station. The new plan prioritizes launching the Payload, Power, and Thermal Module first, enabling Axiom Station to become a free-flying destination as early as 2028, independent of the International Space Station (ISS). This accelerates Axiom Station's operational capabilities, reduces reliance on the ISS, and prepares for the ISS's decommissioning no earlier than 2030. NASA continues to support the R&D of multiple commercial space stations to maintain US leadership in microgravity research and to serve future space exploration goals.

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(www.nasa.gov)
Tech Commercial Space Station

The Death and Rebirth of Narrative in Art: A Timeless Struggle

2025-02-28
The Death and Rebirth of Narrative in Art: A Timeless Struggle

This article explores the internal and external imposition of narrative in art and the attempts to destroy narrative in 20th-century art. Narrative in visual arts like painting is often derived by the viewer, while literary arts possess inherent narrative. Avant-garde movements of the 20th century sought to break down narrative, but with little lasting success in time-based arts like literature and music. The author criticizes the imposition of authoritative narratives by artists or critics, arguing that artworks should possess independent aesthetic value. Ultimately, the article points to the dimension of time and intellectual experience as key factors in the development of complex narratives in literature, music, and cinema.

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(medium.com)
Design narrative avant-garde

IoT Security: The Perils and Protections of the Root of Trust

2025-06-02
IoT Security: The Perils and Protections of the Root of Trust

Cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure have surged in recent years, with the security of Internet of Things (IoT) devices a major concern. This article explores two approaches to securing IoT: basic cybersecurity hygiene and defense in depth. Basic hygiene includes strong passwords, regular software updates, update validation, and understanding the software supply chain. Defense in depth emphasizes layered security mechanisms, including protect (layered architecture with integrity checks at each level), detect (using remote attestation technologies like Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs)), and remediate (self-testing and resetting). The article highlights the Root of Trust (RoT) as the cornerstone of secure systems, requiring careful protection. As hardware vendors integrate high-security mechanisms into embedded chips, securing IoT devices is becoming increasingly feasible.

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(spectrum.ieee.org)
Tech

Chrome Kills uBlock Origin, Firefox Rises?

2025-07-22

Chrome's Manifest V3 crippled the powerful ad-blocker uBlock Origin, pushing many users towards Firefox. The author details Firefox's advantages: fully open-source, effective ad-blocking, an excellent Android version supporting the full uBlock Origin extension, and high customizability. They share their Firefox setup, including using uBlock Origin with custom filters for enhanced privacy and ad-blocking, and leveraging Firefox's container feature for managing multiple accounts. The article concludes by highlighting hidden Firefox features like quick find, bypassing right-click disabling, and URL search shortcuts. The author champions Firefox as a way to reclaim a cleaner, more beautiful web experience.

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(kau.sh)
Development

25 Years in Open Source: A KDE Developer's Bitter Farewell

2025-09-16

A 25-year veteran of the open-source world recounts their journey with KDE. From early days with Linux and contributions to Ubuntu and Kubuntu, to spearheading KDE Neon, they witnessed both the triumphs and the harsh realities of open source. Ultimately, a clash of ideals led to their expulsion from the project, resulting in the loss of their job, friends, and family. This poignant account reflects on the commercialization of open-source communities and the crucial importance of worker rights.

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(jriddell.org)
Development

Zebrafish Heart Regeneration: Cracking the Genetic Code

2025-07-01
Zebrafish Heart Regeneration: Cracking the Genetic Code

Researchers from Caltech and UC Berkeley have identified the genetic circuit responsible for zebrafish's remarkable heart regeneration ability, offering clues for future human heart repair. The study reveals that heart cells derived from neural crest cells orchestrate the regeneration process. These cells activate specific genes during embryonic development, which are deactivated in adulthood but reactivated after injury to enable regeneration. The team is now investigating the trigger for gene reactivation and using CRISPR technology to explore reactivating these genes in human heart cells. This research holds significant promise for treating heart conditions like heart attacks and congenital heart defects.

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(www.caltech.edu)
Tech heart regeneration genetic circuit neural crest cells

Tesla Cybertruck: Deadlier Than the Ford Pinto?

2025-02-13
Tesla Cybertruck: Deadlier Than the Ford Pinto?

A new report claims Tesla's Cybertruck has a fatality rate 17 times higher than that of the infamous Ford Pinto. Despite its rugged appearance, approximately 34,000 Cybertrucks on the road in their first year have been involved in five fatal accidents, yielding a fatality rate of 14.5 per 100,000 units. One incident involved a shooting in Las Vegas, where a car loaded with fireworks exploded; Tesla CEO Elon Musk claims the explosion was unrelated to the vehicle. Other accidents include fatal crashes in California and Texas. The report acknowledges limitations in its methodology due to Tesla's lack of confirmed sales figures. Compared to the Ford Pinto's deadly gas tank design, the Cybertruck's safety record raises concerns, especially given the absence of independent safety test data.

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(www.motherjones.com)
Tech car safety

Trump's Trade Delusions: The 15% Tariff and the Bigger Danger

2025-08-07
Trump's Trade Delusions: The 15% Tariff and the Bigger Danger

Trump claims the EU pledged a $600 billion “gift” for his discretionary investment. This is a delusion; the EU made no such commitment. Despite this, Trump threatens to raise tariffs on the EU to 35%. While this would harm the EU, the impact may be less than anticipated due to the EU's relatively low dependence on the US market and its adjustments to existing tariffs. However, the underlying hubris and miscalculation in Trump's trade policy pose a far greater concern.

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(paulkrugman.substack.com)
Tech

pg_test_fsync: Benchmarking Disk Write Performance for Databases

2025-05-28

This article introduces `pg_test_fsync`, a tool for quickly benchmarking disk or cloud storage write performance, particularly useful for database WAL logs and other low-latency write workloads. The author tests a consumer-grade Samsung 990 Pro SSD and an enterprise-grade Micron 7400 SSD, revealing significantly faster synchronous write speeds on the enterprise SSD due to its controller DRAM cache and power-loss protection. `fdatasync` proves faster than `fsync` or `O_SYNC`, but even `fdatasync` takes 1.6 milliseconds for a single 8kB write. The article notes that multiple small writes degrade performance, suggesting batching writes for efficiency.

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(tanelpoder.com)
Development

The Myth of University Education: A Credentialing Machine?

2025-09-21
The Myth of University Education: A Credentialing Machine?

The author reflects on their experience studying Environmental Engineering in Jordan, arguing that universities prioritize credentials over genuine knowledge. A rigid curriculum and rote memorization left them uninspired, failing to acquire practical skills. This contrasts sharply with their experience studying in Germany, leading the author to embrace self-directed learning in programming, Arduino, etc. Ultimately, they aim for financial independence to design their own learning path.

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(www.waliddib.com)
Misc

Lolita at 70: A Literary Exploration of Voyeurism and Self-Reflection

2025-04-15
Lolita at 70: A Literary Exploration of Voyeurism and Self-Reflection

Claire Messud's essay in the LARB Quarterly delves into the enduring controversy surrounding Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita on its 70th anniversary. The piece revisits the initial scandal and ongoing critiques, exploring the depiction of child abuse and the complex readerly experience. Messud argues that Lolita transcends simple 'problematic' status, serving as a profound exploration of human nature and a challenge to readers' habits and moral responsibilities. By referencing real-life cases, the essay connects the novel's plot to actual instances of child sexual abuse, prompting self-reflection. Ultimately, Messud advocates for a critical engagement with Lolita, viewing it as an exploration of humanity, not a justification of crime.

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(lareviewofbooks.org)
Misc Nabokov Lolita

The Ever-Growing Size of Large Language Models

2025-07-02
The Ever-Growing Size of Large Language Models

This article traces the evolution of large language model (LLM) size. From GPT-2's 1.61B parameters to Llama-4's 2T parameters, model size has grown exponentially. The article details the parameter counts, training data sizes, and architectural features of key models, including dense models and Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) models. The emergence of MoE architectures has made it possible to train and use larger models. However, the growth in model size has also brought new challenges, such as data bias and model interpretability. The article concludes by exploring the future directions of LLM development and calls for more research to focus on the development of pure text continuation engines, rather than simply pursuing high scores on benchmark tests.

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(gist.github.com)
AI Parameter Scale MoE Architecture

The Emotional Logic of Tech Choices

2025-05-26
The Emotional Logic of Tech Choices

Hacker News is full of blog posts justifying obscure tech choices with seemingly rational arguments. But often, these are masks for deeper emotional motivations. People choose technologies based on feelings: comfort, familiarity, or a nostalgic connection to a particular era. Using obscure tech becomes a form of symbolic magic, tying technology to personal identity. The author argues that acknowledging and embracing these emotional drivers is fine, but warns against self-deception. Rational assessment of costs and benefits is crucial to avoid wasting time on pointless pursuits.

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(borretti.me)
Development developer culture

Bacteria Used Oxygen Billions of Years Before Photosynthesis, Study Suggests

2025-04-07
Bacteria Used Oxygen Billions of Years Before Photosynthesis, Study Suggests

A multinational team of scientists has created a detailed timeline of bacterial evolution, revealing that some bacteria utilized oxygen nearly a billion years before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), which made Earth's atmosphere breathable. By combining genomic data, fossil evidence, and geochemical records, and employing machine learning to predict ancestral bacterial function, the researchers found evidence of aerobic metabolism predating the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. This groundbreaking research not only reshapes our understanding of bacterial evolution but also opens avenues for predicting other bacterial traits, such as antibiotic resistance.

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(www.sciencedaily.com)
Tech bacterial evolution Great Oxidation Event

The Death of Curation in the Age of Social Media

2025-05-17
The Death of Curation in the Age of Social Media

Social media's convenience is an illusion. While it offers vast access to information, it creates a chaotic, uncurated sludge pile. The author contrasts this with simpler times when curated sources like college radio, MTV's 120 Minutes, and print magazines provided a manageable flow of information, allowing them to discover diverse artists and films. The current reliance on algorithms traps users in echo chambers, preventing discovery. While some critics remain, they're overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content, mirroring the exhaustion felt by consumers struggling to navigate the infinite scroll. The author's solution is a personal system of note-taking, highlighting the ongoing struggle to manage information in this new reality.

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(tadaima.bearblog.dev)
Misc algorithm bias content curation

NOAA Shuts Down Billion-Dollar Weather Disaster Database

2025-05-09
NOAA Shuts Down Billion-Dollar Weather Disaster Database

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced it's retiring its well-known "billion-dollar weather and climate disasters" database, making it harder to track the cost of extreme weather events. This database, active since 1980, tracked the financial toll of disasters from hurricanes to hailstorms. Its discontinuation is seen as another blow to public access to information about how fossil fuel pollution is exacerbating extreme weather. While population growth and development contribute, climate change intensifies these events, increasing costs. The move follows staff reductions at NOAA leading to service cuts, and further budget cuts are proposed, jeopardizing future data collection and accessibility.

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(www.cnn.com)
Tech

Shadowcat Co-founder Matt S. Trout Passes Away

2025-07-10

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Matt S. Trout, co-founder of Shadowcat Systems, at the age of 42. He and Mark Keating founded Shadowcat in 2005. In recent years, Matt had taken a sabbatical from work and online communities due to health issues. Despite this, he maintained a keen interest in the modern world and its evolving systems. Further details will be shared later. Messages of condolence may be sent through usual channels.

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(www.shadowcat.co.uk)
Misc

16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked: A Cybersecurity Nightmare

2025-06-20
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked: A Cybersecurity Nightmare

Cybersecurity firm Cybernews has uncovered a massive data breach exposing 16 billion login credentials across 30 datasets. The leaked information, affecting platforms like Google, Facebook, and Apple, likely stems from multiple breaches over time, possibly perpetrated by infostealers. Experts urge users to change passwords, avoid reusing credentials, and enable multi-factor authentication to mitigate the risk.

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(apnews.com)
Tech

Chromium Build System Migrating to Siso

2025-06-21

The Chrome Build Infra Team announces that Chromium's build system is switching from Ninja to Siso, a drop-in replacement for Ninja that natively supports remote execution. External developers simply need to continue using autoninja; it will automatically use Siso after running `gn clean` next time. If issues arise, revert to Ninja by setting `use_siso=false` in your `args.gn`. Ninja support ends in late September, along with the removal of Reclient.

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(groups.google.com)
Development

Pipe Organs: A Giant Box of Whistles

2025-04-27
Pipe Organs: A Giant Box of Whistles

At its core, a pipe organ is a giant box of whistles. Each pipe sits atop a hollow windchest filled with compressed air from bellows or a blower. Each stop on the console represents a set of pipes (a rank) of a particular tone color, with a different pipe for every note. Pulling a stop activates a slider under those pipes, making them sound-sources. The windchest also has valves (pallets) mechanically linked to the keyboard. These control airflow; even with a stop engaged, no sound occurs until a key activates its pallet, releasing compressed air into the pipe. This creates the sound. Every pipe organ is unique, custom-built to the buyer's specifications, considering sound types, room size, aesthetics, and budget.

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(www.pipedreams.org)
Misc musical instrument acoustics

The Deno Empire Crumbles: A Postmortem

2025-05-01
The Deno Empire Crumbles: A Postmortem

Deno Deploy, touted as 'edge' hosting with 'massive global scale,' has seen its server count plummet from 35 regions in early 2024 to a mere 6 in February 2025. The author details their own negative experience with performance degradation, highlighting the stagnation of other Deno products like the Fresh framework and Deno KV. The article expresses serious concerns about Deno's future, blaming a lack of innovation and an over-reliance on chasing Node.js features.

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(dbushell.com)
Development Server Count Decline

Transcendental Syntax: Building Logical Abstractions from a Low-Level Language

2025-01-04
Transcendental Syntax: Building Logical Abstractions from a Low-Level Language

This GitHub project implements Jean-Yves Girard's 'Transcendental Syntax,' a method for constructing logical abstractions from a low-level, logic-agnostic language. It uses a base language called 'stellar resolution,' where elementary objects (programs) are 'constellations.' These constellations are used in a higher-level language, 'Stellogen' (a metaprogramming language for constellations), to define proofs and formulas. The project is under development, with the guide currently only available in French.

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(github.com)
Development logic metaprogramming

Earth's Subsurface May Hold Vast Reserves of Natural Hydrogen

2024-12-25
Earth's Subsurface May Hold Vast Reserves of Natural Hydrogen

Two geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey have developed a model suggesting Earth's subsurface may contain up to 5.6 × 10⁶ million metric tons of natural hydrogen. The model incorporates factors like natural production rates, reservoir amounts, and leakage from hydrogen-bearing rocks. While most of this hydrogen is likely inaccessible, the researchers highlight that harvesting just 2% could meet humanity's energy needs for roughly two centuries, offering a potential game-changer for clean energy.

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(phys.org)
Tech natural hydrogen geological model clean energy

Ex-Googler Exposes the Dark Side of the Tech Utopia

2025-06-06
Ex-Googler Exposes the Dark Side of the Tech Utopia

A former Google employee's blog post details their experience working at Google's Brazil office, revealing a stark contrast between the company's polished 'best place to work' image and the harsh realities faced by its employees. The author describes overwork, the illusion of 20% time, suppression of dissent, and discrimination against temporary and contract workers. Their personal experiences highlight Google's internal hierarchy and inequality. Ultimately fired for questioning company policies and exposing internal issues, the account prompts reflection on tech company culture, social responsibility, and the inherent conflicts between labor and capital in a capitalist system.

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(wordsmith.social)
Startup Tech Company Culture

Solving the Eikonal Equation with Fast Sweeping in JAX

2025-05-11

This blog post explores solving the Eikonal equation, crucial in interface evolution and image processing, using the fast sweeping method implemented in JAX. It begins by explaining level set methods and the Eikonal equation itself. The core of the post details the fast sweeping algorithm, covering grid setup, iterative updates, and the Godunov upwind scheme. NumPy and JAX code implementations are provided, with benchmarks demonstrating JAX's significant speed advantage. The author also discusses attempts at parallelizing the algorithm and the challenges encountered.

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(rohangautam.github.io)
Development fast sweeping method Eikonal equation

Writing a .NET Garbage Collector in C#: A NativeAOT Adventure

2025-02-26
Writing a .NET Garbage Collector in C#: A NativeAOT Adventure

This article details the author's attempt to write a .NET garbage collector in C# using NativeAOT. While the resulting GC isn't production-ready, the process offers valuable insights into the inner workings of the .NET GC. The author encountered linker conflicts and explored multiple workarounds, ultimately resolving the issues by renaming exported functions and using an msbuild target to modify the definition file. This is a valuable read for .NET developers facing similar challenges.

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(minidump.net)
Development

Ice's Shocking Secret: Bending Generates Electricity, Potentially Explaining Lightning

2025-09-17
Ice's Shocking Secret: Bending Generates Electricity, Potentially Explaining Lightning

A study published in Nature Physics reveals that ordinary ice is a flexoelectric material, generating electricity when bent. This discovery could revolutionize electronics and potentially explain the formation of lightning. Researchers found that ice produces electric charge in response to mechanical stress at all temperatures, with a ferroelectric layer on its surface at low temperatures. This offers two mechanisms for ice's electricity generation. This groundbreaking research puts ice on par with advanced electroceramics like titanium dioxide and paves the way for new electronic devices using ice as an active material.

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(phys.org)
Tech ice flexoelectricity

arXivLabs: Community-Driven Experiments on arXiv

2025-06-11
arXivLabs: Community-Driven Experiments on arXiv

arXivLabs is a platform enabling collaborators to build and share new arXiv features directly on the site. Participants, individuals and organizations alike, uphold arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these principles and only partners with those who share them. Got an idea to enhance the arXiv community? Explore arXivLabs.

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(arxiv.org)
Development
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