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Spatially Enabling a Millennial Global City Population Dataset

2025-06-18

Spatially Enabling a Millennial Global City Population Dataset

This paper details the creation of a massive global city population dataset integrating the work of Chandler and Modelski, spanning 3700 BC to 2000 AD. The original data, residing in print books and disparate digital formats, presented significant digitization and spatialization (geocoding) challenges. OCR attempts failed due to font and page quality issues, necessitating manual transcription. Geocoding leveraged CartoDB, GeoNames, the Ancient Locations database, and the Getty Thesaurus, with manual verification crucial for accuracy. The final dataset contains 1599 city locations, offering broad global and temporal coverage, yet limitations remain: data sparsity, ambiguous city definitions, and uncertainties in ancient city locations. Despite these, the digitized and spatialized dataset offers readily accessible data for researchers (historians, geographers, ecologists, etc.) to analyze global urbanization trends.

(www.nature.com)

Misc historical population data data digitization

Python at the Speed of Rust: A New Compiler

2025-04-12

Python at the Speed of Rust: A New Compiler

This article introduces Function, a Python compiler that compiles Python code to native code, significantly boosting execution speed. Using matrix multiplication as an example, it demonstrates how symbolic tracing builds an Intermediate Representation (IR) graph, which is then lowered into native code (e.g., C). This achieves performance comparable to Rust. While still a proof-of-concept, Function is already powering production applications like monocular depth estimation and real-time pose detection. Future goals include on-device LLM inference.

(blog.fxn.ai)

Development

A Ghostly Rendezvous: The 1997 British Museum Mystery

2025-05-03

On June 3rd, 1997, at 2:10 PM, the author, fulfilling a decades-old assignment from his eccentric teacher, waited in the British Museum's Round Reading Room for the arrival of Enoch Soames, a fictional poet from a Max Beerbohm short story. Soames, having made a pact with the Devil, traveled to the future to check his literary legacy. The author recounts a surreal experience, witnessing mysterious notes, peculiar onlookers, and the appearance of a man remarkably matching Soames's description. The man's eventual disappearance leaves the author and readers pondering the intersection of time travel, fictional narratives, and reality.

(web.archive.org)

Misc surreal

Add-Ends: A Number Puzzle Game

2025-04-14

Add-Ends is a number puzzle game where you swap black tiles to make all rows and columns add up to the target number. The game offers easy, intermediate, and hard difficulty levels, along with a custom puzzle generator allowing players to choose grid size and difficulty. A zen mode hides the timer for a more focused experience.

(madmonk13.github.io)

Game number puzzle

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.

(tanelpoder.com)

Development

OpenAI Pulls Jony Ive Collaboration Video Amid Trademark Dispute

2025-06-22

OpenAI Pulls Jony Ive Collaboration Video Amid Trademark Dispute

OpenAI quietly removed a promotional video showcasing its collaboration with legendary Apple designer Jony Ive and its $6.5 billion acquisition of Ive's startup, io. The removal isn't due to the acquisition falling through, but rather a trademark lawsuit filed by iyO (an Alphabet X spin-off) over the use of the name 'io'. A judge issued a restraining order. OpenAI confirmed the deal remains unaffected and that they are reviewing their options. iyO's first product is a generative AI-powered earbud, and the judge suggested OpenAI's video might already be causing consumer confusion. The video remains visible on X for now.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

Tesla's Robotaxi Launch in Austin: Delays and Safety Concerns

2025-05-15

Tesla's Robotaxi Launch in Austin: Delays and Safety Concerns

Tesla's planned June launch of its robotaxi service in Austin is reportedly delayed, with crucial driverless testing yet to begin. This falls far short of Tesla's long-standing promises of full self-driving capabilities. The actual plan relies on a limited, geo-fenced area with human teleoperation assistance. While Tesla claims its 'Supervised Full Self-Driving' system has undergone area-specific training, its mileage between disengagements lags behind competitors like Waymo. More concerning is the absence of driverless testing, raising serious safety questions and highlighting Tesla's apparent lag in autonomous driving technology.

(electrek.co)

Tech

Tokyo Carry Culture: A Designer's Journey & Inspiration

2025-06-25

Tokyo Carry Culture: A Designer's Journey & Inspiration

Designer José's Tokyo trip wasn't just a birthday getaway; it became a deep dive into Japan's carry culture. He observed a focus on practicality, convenience, and compactness, with slim backpacks, briefcases, and crossbody bags being popular choices. He discovered interesting local brands like AS20V, Ramidus, and One Third Research, sparking ideas for new tote bags, crossbody bags, and travel bags. The journey also highlighted the importance of carrying cash, packing light, and choosing the right bag.

(www.tombihn.com)

Design carry culture

HMS Wager: A Tale of Survival, Mutiny, and Loss in the Drake Passage

2025-05-09

HMS Wager: A Tale of Survival, Mutiny, and Loss in the Drake Passage

In 1741, HMS Wager, a British Royal Navy ship, encountered a catastrophic storm in the treacherous Drake Passage. With the captain dead and many crew suffering from scurvy, the ship wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of South America. The ensuing months saw the survivors battling starvation, disease, brutal weather, and internal conflict, culminating in a mutiny. A faction led by gunner John Bulkeley salvaged the wreckage to build a small vessel, embarking on a perilous journey home. This gripping account details their incredible survival against overwhelming odds and the complexities of human nature in the face of adversity.

(www.damninteresting.com)

Misc mutiny

Rust SQLite Parser: Adding CREATE TABLE Support

2025-02-04

Rust SQLite Parser: Adding CREATE TABLE Support

This post details extending a Rust-based SQLite parser to handle CREATE TABLE statements. By parsing the database schema table, the program extracts table names, root page numbers, and column names and types. The article explains lexical analysis, parsing, and abstract syntax tree (AST) construction, showing how extracted metadata is stored in the database structure, resulting in a more complete SQLite parser.

(blog.sylver.dev)

Development

Nando's Launches a Questionable Face Cream

2025-04-03

Nando's Launches a Questionable Face Cream

Peri-peri chicken chain Nando's has launched a face cream called "Extra Creamy Face Cream." The cream contains black pepper, apple cider vinegar, oregano, and notably, a significant amount of garlic. User reviews describe the scent as "sulphuric." This brand extension has been met with widespread confusion and criticism, questioning the logic of connecting chicken with skincare.

(www.thetimes.com)

Misc brand extension face cream

California's EV Charging Stations Outnumber Gas Pumps, But Federal Headwinds Loom

2025-04-05

California's EV Charging Stations Outnumber Gas Pumps, But Federal Headwinds Loom

California now has more electric vehicle (EV) charging stations than gas pumps, a milestone reflecting the growing adoption of zero-emission vehicles. However, this achievement comes as the federal government under the Trump administration actively works to slow the transition away from gasoline cars. California has aggressively expanded its EV charging network, reaching 178,500 ports in 2024, surpassing an estimated 120,000 gas nozzles. While California received a significant federal grant for EV infrastructure, the federal government has paused similar grants in other states, signaling opposition to the rapid expansion of EV infrastructure. This creates challenges for California's ambitious goal of banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035.

(www.latimes.com)

Tech Energy Policy

Palantir's Controversial 'Meritocracy Fellowship': Bypassing College for High School Grads

2025-04-14

Palantir's Controversial 'Meritocracy Fellowship': Bypassing College for High School Grads

Palantir Technologies, a successful tech firm, has launched a controversial internship program called the "Meritocracy Fellowship." Targeting recent high school graduates who haven't attended college, the four-month program offers a substantial monthly stipend of $5,400. Applicants need exceptionally high SAT/ACT scores and must answer questions about their accomplishments and career aspirations. This move aligns with founder Peter Thiel's anti-higher education stance, sparking debate about tech talent acquisition and the value of college. While controversial, Palantir's initiative might offer a solution to the tech industry's talent shortage and inspire other companies to explore alternative recruitment strategies.

(www.thestreet.com)

Startup Recruitment Higher Education

From macOS to Arch Linux: A Developer's Journey

2025-08-23

From macOS to Arch Linux: A Developer's Journey

A developer traded his five-year-old MacBook Pro M1 Max for a budget Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G7 AMD laptop running Arch Linux (Omarchy). After a month, he found Linux, while lacking some macOS polish (e.g., screenshot tools and backups), offered unparalleled customization. By crafting custom shortcuts and configuring various tools, he achieved a workflow comparable to, or even exceeding, his macOS experience. He embraced the freedom to tailor his OS, happily accepting compromises in battery life and thermals. This transition highlighted the joy of a highly customizable system.

(www.ssp.sh)

Development

OctaneDB: A Blazing-Fast, Lightweight Vector Database

2025-08-23

OctaneDB: A Blazing-Fast, Lightweight Vector Database

OctaneDB is a lightweight, high-performance Python vector database library boasting 10x faster performance than competitors like Pinecone, ChromaDB, and Qdrant. Built with modern Python and optimized algorithms, it's ideal for AI/ML applications demanding rapid similarity search. Key features include sub-millisecond query times, text embedding support with a ChromaDB-compatible API, GPU acceleration, batch processing, persistent storage, and a simple, intuitive API. OctaneDB offers a compelling alternative for developers seeking speed and ease of use.

(github.com)

AI

NASA's Space Game Dream: From Moonbase Alpha to the Fall of Starlite

2025-06-27

NASA's Space Game Dream: From Moonbase Alpha to the Fall of Starlite

NASA once attempted to promote space exploration through gaming, collaborating with game studios in 2009 to develop the lunar base simulator, Moonbase Alpha. The game unexpectedly gained popularity due to its unique DECtalk speech synthesis system, with players creating various songs, becoming a viral phenomenon. However, the subsequent ambitious space MMO, Starlite: Astronaut Academy, ultimately failed due to funding issues and internal conflicts, leaving behind a story filled with regret.

(www.spacebar.news)

Game

Astrophotography Without Tracking: Is It Possible?

2025-05-24

Astrophotography Without Tracking: Is It Possible?

This article explores the feasibility and techniques of astrophotography without a star tracker. The author demonstrates that stunning night sky photos are achievable by selecting bright, stationary targets like the Milky Way, using a sturdy tripod, and applying methods like the 500 Rule. The guide details techniques including exposure times, lens selection, and camera settings, illustrating results with personal examples using different targets and lenses. While tracker-less shooting limits exposure times, high-quality images are still attainable by stacking numerous photos.

(astroimagery.com)

Misc Night Sky Photography Stargazing

Python Constructor Theory Simulator: Quantum Gravity & Electromagnetism in Code

2025-05-18

Python Constructor Theory Simulator: Quantum Gravity & Electromagnetism in Code

A Python implementation of David Deutsch's Constructor Theory framework, showcasing core concepts—from simple Tasks and branching substrates to quantum gravity and electromagnetism—entirely in code. It includes a "universal constructor" capable of bootstrapping itself from a list of Tasks, demonstrating self-replication and the power of Constructor Theory. Features include irreversible & quantum tasks, timers & clocks, fungibility, continuous dynamics, and coupling tasks like gravitational two-body, Coulomb coupling, and Lorentz force.

(github.com)

Development Constructor Theory

1915 Crochet Centerpieces and Luncheon Sets: A Detailed Guide

2025-04-19

1915 Crochet Centerpieces and Luncheon Sets: A Detailed Guide

Published in 1915 by Anne Orr for 25 cents, "Center Pieces and Lunch Sets" is a comprehensive guide to crocheting various centerpieces and placemats. The book features detailed instructions and illustrations for creating pieces ranging in complexity, from simple doilies to elaborate designs incorporating pineapples and shamrocks. Complete with explanations of crochet stitches and abbreviations, it's a vintage treasure for craft enthusiasts.

(www.gutenberg.org)

Design vintage crafts

uBlock Origin Faces Manifest V3 Deprecation in Chrome

2025-03-03

uBlock Origin Faces Manifest V3 Deprecation in Chrome

Starting with Chrome 127, users of uBlock Origin (uBO) will see warnings due to the deprecation of Manifest V2 extensions. uBO, a Manifest V2 extension, lacks a Manifest V3 equivalent. A lightweight alternative, uBO Lite (uBOL), has been released, but with feature sacrifices for Manifest V3 compatibility. Users must decide whether to switch to uBOL or continue using uBO on browsers like Firefox. Discussions regarding extending Manifest V2 support in Chrome until June 2025 are ongoing.

(github.com)

Development

AI Bubble Admitted, But OpenAI CEO Plans to Dominate

2025-08-16

AI Bubble Admitted, But OpenAI CEO Plans to Dominate

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledges the current AI hype as a bubble, but emphasizes AI's long-term significance. He likens the situation to the dot-com bubble, stating that while overexcitement exists, the underlying technology holds immense potential. Altman reveals OpenAI's massive investment in data center construction to meet future computational demands and plans to launch more AI products and services. Despite projected $10 billion revenue this year, OpenAI requires substantial funding to achieve its ambitious goals.

(www.theregister.com)

AI

Tesla's First Annual Sales Decline in Nine Years

2025-01-02

Tesla's First Annual Sales Decline in Nine Years

Tesla reported a 1.1% drop in global sales for 2024, marking its first annual decline in at least nine years. While the fourth quarter saw a 2.3% increase in deliveries (reaching 495,570 vehicles), this wasn't enough to offset a sluggish start to the year, despite incentives like 0% financing, free charging, and low-priced leases. Full-year deliveries totaled 1.79 million, down from 1.81 million in 2023. The fourth-quarter growth came at the cost of lower average selling prices, expected to fall below $41,000 – the lowest in at least four years. This doesn't bode well for Tesla's Q4 earnings. Tesla's previous prediction of 50% annual sales growth was hampered by an aging model lineup and intensified competition from China, Europe, and the U.S. Analysts suggest most early adopters of EVs in the U.S. already own them, while mainstream buyers remain concerned about range, price, and charging infrastructure. Fourth-quarter deliveries missed Wall Street expectations. Increased competition and the sales decline pose a challenge to investors who have driven up Tesla's stock price since the election, betting on the incoming Trump administration to ease EV regulations and support Tesla's autonomous driving ambitions.

(apnews.com)

Tech Sales Decline

Asyncio's Pitfalls: Traps in Python Asynchronous Programming and Trio's Redemption

2025-07-27

Asyncio's Pitfalls: Traps in Python Asynchronous Programming and Trio's Redemption

Python's asyncio library, while introducing the possibility of asynchronous programming, is riddled with design flaws. These include easily overlooked cancellation mechanisms, tasks being unexpectedly destroyed, traps in I/O operations, and a difficult-to-use queue. The article details these problems and contrasts them with Trio's elegant solutions. Trio addresses many of asyncio's headaches with level-triggered cancellation, strong task references, a more intuitive I/O API, and efficient channels. It provides a more reliable and user-friendly option for Python asynchronous programming. AnyIO offers a compromise, implementing Trio-like semantics on top of asyncio, balancing compatibility and ease of use.

(sailor.li)

Development

DeepSeek iOS App: A Popular AI Tool with Critical Security Flaws

2025-02-07

DeepSeek iOS App: A Popular AI Tool with Critical Security Flaws

The wildly popular DeepSeek iOS app, which once topped the App Store charts, has been revealed to have multiple critical security flaws. Previous concerns centered around data breaches exposing chat history and sensitive information from an unsecured database. Now, a new security analysis reveals that DeepSeek disables Apple's App Transport Security (ATS), transmitting unencrypted data. Outdated encryption methods and the aggregation of seemingly innocuous data points further compromise user privacy, potentially exposing users to de-anonymization and even espionage. Security experts strongly advise against using the app until these issues are resolved.

(9to5mac.com)

Tech

Reforestation: A Powerful Climate Strategy, But Not a Silver Bullet

2025-06-09

Reforestation: A Powerful Climate Strategy, But Not a Silver Bullet

A new study reveals that restoring forests to their pre-industrial extent could lower global average temperatures by 0.34 degrees Celsius, roughly a quarter of the warming the Earth has already experienced. This is due not only to trees absorbing carbon but also to their release of compounds that affect atmospheric chemistry, enhancing cooling effects. Tropical forests show particularly strong cooling effects. However, researchers emphasize that reforestation is not a silver bullet for climate change and must be coupled with emissions reductions. Food security and land-use priorities must be balanced when considering reforestation, learning from successful examples like Rwanda, which combines conservation with economic development.

(news.ucr.edu)

Tech reforestation

Android 15: 16KB Memory Pages – A Performance Upgrade

2025-07-15

Android 15: 16KB Memory Pages – A Performance Upgrade

Android is transitioning to 16KB memory page sizes from the traditional 4KB, boosting performance on ARM CPUs. Starting November 1st, 2025, new apps and updates with native C/C++ code targeting Android 15+ must support 16KB pages. This change promises faster app launches (up to 30% for some), improved battery life, quicker camera starts, and speedier system boot times. Android Studio offers tools like APK Analyzer and alignment checks to help developers identify and fix compatibility issues. Developers need to recompile native code and avoid hardcoding 4KB page size assumptions. Emulator and certain devices support 16KB testing.

(android-developers.googleblog.com)

Development 16KB Pages

2024: A Breakthrough Year for Windows on Arm

2024-12-30

2024: A Breakthrough Year for Windows on Arm

2024 marked a significant milestone for Windows on Arm. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processors delivered exceptional performance and battery life, enabling Copilot Plus PCs to challenge Apple's MacBook Air. While gaming compatibility remains an area for improvement, the collaboration between Microsoft and Qualcomm, along with developers embracing native Arm64 apps, has significantly matured the Windows on Arm ecosystem. Intel and AMD countered with Lunar Lake and Ryzen AI chips, respectively, intensifying the competition and setting the stage for a fierce battle between Arm and x86 in 2025.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech Qualcomm Snapdragon

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

15 Essential Git Commands for Every Developer

2025-05-02

15 Essential Git Commands for Every Developer

This article condenses 15 core Git commands crucial for everyday development workflows. From initializing a repository (`git init`) and cloning a remote repository (`git clone`), to adding files (`git add`), committing changes (`git commit`), managing branches (`git branch`, `git merge`, `git checkout`), handling remotes (`git pull`, `git push`), and performing undo operations (`git reset`) and temporary saves (`git stash`), each command is explained clearly with examples. Mastering these commands significantly boosts development efficiency and minimizes errors. This guide provides a solid foundation for working with Git in various real-world scenarios.

(jsdev.space)

Development

P-Hacking in Startups: Avoiding Statistical Traps

2025-06-21

P-Hacking in Startups: Avoiding Statistical Traps

The pressure to ship fast in startups often leads teams to report any result that looks like an improvement, resulting in p-hacking. This article dissects three common scenarios: multiple comparisons without correction, reframing metrics post-hoc, and running experiments until a hit is achieved. It emphasizes the importance of pre-registering hypotheses and metrics, avoiding post-hoc data dredging, using corrections for multiple comparisons, and applying appropriate thresholds for early peeking. The article advocates for celebrating definitive negative results, arguing that rigorous statistical practices accelerate learning by preventing the release of noise and building a true understanding of user behavior.

(briefer.cloud)

Development A/B testing

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