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A Gentle Introduction to Graph Neural Networks: Unveiling the Power of Graph Data

2024-12-20

A Gentle Introduction to Graph Neural Networks: Unveiling the Power of Graph Data

This article provides an accessible introduction to Graph Neural Networks (GNNs). It begins by explaining graph data and its real-world applications, such as social networks, molecular structures, and text. The article then delves into the core components of GNNs, including message passing, pooling operations, and various types of graph data. By building a modern GNN model step-by-step, it clarifies the role and motivation behind each component's design. Finally, it offers an interactive GNN playground, allowing readers to experience firsthand the construction and prediction process of a GNN model, deepening their understanding.

(distill.pub)

AI Graph Neural Networks Graph Data

Implementing Raft: A Deep Dive into Distributed Consensus

2024-12-21

This is the first post in a series detailing the Raft distributed consensus algorithm and its Go implementation. Raft solves the problem of replicating a deterministic state machine across multiple servers, ensuring service availability even with server failures. The post introduces core Raft components: the state machine, log, consensus module, leader/follower roles, and client interaction. It discusses Raft's fault tolerance, the CAP theorem, and the choice of Go as the implementation language. Subsequent posts will delve into the algorithm's implementation.

(eli.thegreenplace.net)

Development Distributed Consensus

OCR Challenge: Digitizing Saint-Simon's Memoirs

2024-12-17

The author spent several weeks using OCR to digitize a late 19th-century edition of the 18th-century French memoirs, *Les Mémoires de Saint-Simon*. This 45-volume behemoth, containing over 3 million words, is available online as images, but is difficult to read. The goal was to create a readable, searchable, and copyable text version. Challenges included poor image quality and parsing different page zones (headers, main text, margin comments, footnotes, etc.). Google Vision API was used for OCR, with a Python program processing the results to identify and separate text from different areas. While LLMs failed to reliably handle footnote references, the author improved the program and incorporated manual review, resulting in the release of the first volume.

(blog.medusis.com)

Development Text Processing Digital Humanities

S2: Revolutionizing Stream Data Storage in the Cloud

2024-12-21

Bandar Systems introduces S2, a novel stream data storage service designed to revolutionize data processing in the cloud era. Unlike traditional object-based storage, S2 centers around streams, offering efficient, scalable, and cost-effective real-time data ingestion and processing. It supports high-throughput, low-latency read and write operations and provides multiple storage classes to meet varying performance and cost requirements. S2 aims to replace systems like Kafka and Kinesis, providing users with a more powerful and flexible stream data management solution.

(s2.dev)

Development stream data storage cloud native serverless

Legal Battle to Save Historic Haiku Stairs

2024-12-21

Legal Battle to Save Historic Haiku Stairs

The demolition of Oahu's iconic Haiku Stairs is facing legal challenges. Friends of Haiku Stairs filed a lawsuit, arguing the city and state agencies failed to comply with historic preservation regulations, citing a 1999 covenant protecting the stairs' existence. The city counters that proper procedures were followed, and the demolition was necessary due to safety concerns and resident complaints. A judge will soon issue a ruling, leaving the stairs' fate uncertain.

(www.civilbeat.org)

Misc historic preservation lawsuit Haiku Stairs

Mirror Bacteria Research Raises Significant Risks, Scientists Warn

2024-12-13

Mirror Bacteria Research Raises Significant Risks, Scientists Warn

Synthetic biologists have achieved remarkable breakthroughs, such as creating bacteria with chemically synthesized genomes. However, two synthetic biologists recently joined other scientists in calling for a halt to research that could lead to the creation of "mirror bacteria." These bacteria are composed of the same components as natural cells but with opposite stereochemistry in all biopolymers. Because mirror bacteria might lack natural predators and evade immune systems, they pose a catastrophic risk. The article emphasizes that while scientific research should be open, certain research, like mirror bacteria research, is too risky given the potential for devastating consequences. Therefore, it should be stopped.

(www.the-scientist.com)

Tech synthetic biology mirror bacteria biosafety

Talk to Me Human: A Breakthrough in AI Humanoid Conversation

2024-12-21

Talk to Me Human: A Breakthrough in AI Humanoid Conversation

"Talk to Me Human" isn't just science fiction; it's a real-world account of a significant leap in AI technology. It showcases remarkable progress in AI's ability to simulate natural, logical human conversations, even exhibiting hints of personality and emotion. This breakthrough opens exciting new possibilities for AI applications in customer service, education, and beyond, while also raising important questions about the future direction of AI development.

(talktomehuman.com)

AI natural language processing AI conversation

Microsoft to Delete Passwords for 1 Billion Users, Promoting Passkeys

2024-12-17

Microsoft to Delete Passwords for 1 Billion Users, Promoting Passkeys

In response to a surge in cyberattacks, Microsoft announced plans to delete passwords for a billion users and aggressively promote the more secure passkeys. With password attacks nearly doubling year-over-year, Microsoft blocks 7,000 attacks per second. Passkeys, leveraging biometrics or PINs, offer superior security and convenience compared to traditional passwords. Microsoft is actively pushing users towards passkey adoption, aiming for a passwordless and more secure future.

(www.forbes.com)

Tech cybersecurity passwords passkeys

Popeye, Tintin, and Literary Classics Enter the Public Domain

2024-12-16

Popeye, Tintin, and Literary Classics Enter the Public Domain

In 2025, iconic comic characters Popeye and Tintin, along with numerous novels by literary giants like Faulkner and Hemingway, will enter the US public domain. This means these works can be freely used and adapted without permission or payment to copyright holders. The list includes Faulkner's 'The Sound and the Fury' and Hemingway's 'A Farewell to Arms,' among others whose copyrights expired after 95 years. Early Mickey Mouse cartoons also join the public domain, including those where Mickey speaks for the first time. This expansion of public domain works offers creators a wealth of material and invigorates cultural preservation.

(apnews.com)

Misc public domain cultural heritage

Muscle Atrophy as We Climb the Kardashev Scale

2024-12-16

As humanity ascends the Kardashev Scale, a paradox emerges: increased energy access correlates with decreased physical labor. The author outlines three biomechanical stages: pre-industrial, where physical exertion was essential; industrial-modern, where machines reduced manual labor; and post-biological, where humans might remotely control robots via brain-computer interfaces, rendering physical bodies obsolete. This raises questions about the future of humanity's physical form and the complex relationship between technological advancement and human evolution.

(solmaz.io)

Misc Kardashev Scale Biomechanics Future of Humanity

Otto-m8: A No-Code Visual Platform for AI Workflows

2024-12-23

Otto-m8: A No-Code Visual Platform for AI Workflows

Otto-m8 is a flowchart-based automation platform that allows users to interconnect LLMs and Hugging Face models via a simple visual interface and deploy them as REST APIs. It abstracts the complex process of running AI models into an Input, Process, Output paradigm, enabling users to build various AI workflows, such as chatbots or custom APIs, with minimal to no code. Currently in its MVP stage, Otto-m8's source code is publicly available.

(github.com)

AI No-code Workflow Automation

WebGPU Sponza Demo: A Stunning Browser Graphics Showcase

2024-12-19

WebGPU Sponza Demo: A Stunning Browser Graphics Showcase

Georgi Nikolov's WebGPU Sponza demo showcases the impressive graphical capabilities of the WebGPU API. Users can navigate the scene using keyboard and mouse controls. However, this demo requires a modern browser with WebGPU support. Currently, Chrome 113+, the latest Firefox Nightly builds, and Safari Technology Preview support WebGPU. Update your browser to the latest version if you want to experience this visually impressive demo.

(gnikoloff.github.io)

Development graphics rendering browser technology

Klarna Halts Hiring, CEO Claims AI Can Do All Jobs

2024-12-17

Klarna Halts Hiring, CEO Claims AI Can Do All Jobs

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has claimed that AI can already perform all jobs currently done by humans, leading the fintech company to halt hiring a year ago. The company's workforce has shrunk from 4,500 to 3,500 employees through attrition. While Klarna's website still advertises open positions, a spokesperson clarified that the company is not actively recruiting to expand but filling essential roles, mainly in engineering. This announcement has fueled concerns about AI's impact on the job market.

(www.businessinsider.com)

Tech Employment

Hadrius Hiring Founding UI/UX Designer, Up to $150K

2024-12-18

Hadrius Hiring Founding UI/UX Designer, Up to $150K

Hadrius, a Y Combinator-backed fintech startup, is hiring a Founding UI/UX Designer. They're using AI to automate the back office for financial firms, preventing future financial crises. The role is full-time in New York City, offering $80K-$150K salary and 0.01%-0.15% equity. The ideal candidate is a highly skilled designer with experience at a design-focused tech company, proficient in Figma, and passionate about Hadrius's mission. The team boasts engineers from Google, Chime, and other top companies, and the company is experiencing hyper-growth, doubling revenue every three months.

(www.ycombinator.com)

Development UI/UX Design

IBM Breakthrough: Beyond Copper Interconnects for Future CMOS Nodes

2024-12-16

IBM Breakthrough: Beyond Copper Interconnects for Future CMOS Nodes

IBM researchers presented two papers at the 2024 IEDM conference on back-end-of-line (BEOL) interconnect technology, showcasing advancements in advanced interconnect solutions. The first paper explored improvements and future directions for copper interconnect technology, while the second (co-authored with Samsung) introduced a post-copper alternative utilizing an advanced low-k dielectric (ALK) material and rhodium (Rh). This new technology significantly enhances performance and reliability, reducing resistance and capacitance, and addressing reliability challenges faced by traditional copper interconnects at 24nm and below. This research paves the way for future CMOS node chip manufacturing and provides crucial support for the continued development of high-performance, low-power logic integrated circuits.

(research.ibm.com)

Hardware chip interconnect back-end interconnect

Ethereum On-Chain Upgrade Signaling EIP: Community Consensus Drives Upgrades

2024-12-22

Ethereum On-Chain Upgrade Signaling EIP: Community Consensus Drives Upgrades

This proposal introduces an on-chain mechanism allowing Ethereum clients to signal their readiness for protocol upgrades by embedding a "vote" indicator in the extraData field of newly mined blocks. Future fork activation blocks only occur if enough blocks within a specified window signal "for" the upgrade. This shifts upgrade decisions from the Ethereum Foundation to network participants, enhancing decentralization and mitigating centralization risks. The proposal also addresses trademark concerns and potential security vulnerabilities.

(ethereum-magicians.org)

Development Ethereum Protocol Upgrade Decentralization

GitHub Project Map: Visualizing 400,000+ Projects

2024-12-15

GitHub Project Map: Visualizing 400,000+ Projects

Developer Anvaka created an interactive map visualizing over 400,000 GitHub projects using publicly available data. The project uses Jaccard similarity to calculate relationships between projects and the Leiden algorithm for clustering. The result is a visually stunning representation of the GitHub ecosystem, allowing users to search and explore connections between projects, revealing its complexity and richness.

(github.com)

Development project relationships

ModernBERT: A Revolutionary BERT Replacement

2024-12-19

ModernBERT: A Revolutionary BERT Replacement

Answer.AI and LightOn introduce ModernBERT, a family of state-of-the-art encoder-only models that outperform BERT in both speed and accuracy. ModernBERT incorporates numerous advancements from recent LLM research, boasting an extended context length (8192 tokens), faster processing, and superior performance across various benchmarks. Its particularly strong code retrieval capabilities unlock new applications like large-scale code search and enhanced IDE features. ModernBERT is a drop-in replacement for BERT models and is available on Hugging Face.

(huggingface.co)

AI encoder model

The Red Beads Experiment: Systems, Not People, Are the Problem

2024-12-17

The Red Beads Experiment: Systems, Not People, Are the Problem

Dr. W. Edwards Deming's 'Red Beads Experiment' vividly illustrates the impact of systems on individual performance. Employees pick beads from a mix containing mostly red beads, with performance measured by the number of red beads. Results show that despite employee effort, system flaws (high proportion of red beads) lead to huge performance differences, with management wrongly blaming individuals. The experiment highlights the importance of systemic issues, emphasizing management's focus on system improvement, not individual assessment, for true efficiency gains.

(medium.com)

Misc Deming Red Beads Experiment Systems Thinking

Trinity Desktop Environment R14.1.3 Released: Lightweight, Efficient, and Ideal for Older Hardware

2024-12-13

The Trinity Desktop Environment (TDE) project team has released version R14.1.3, a lightweight, free desktop environment designed for users who prefer a lean and efficient experience. This release supports various Linux distributions, BSD, and DilOS, boasts low system requirements, making it ideal for older hardware. R14.1.3 includes numerous improvements, such as XDG Desktop Portal API integration, a new touchpad settings module, new themes and color schemes, and support for various applications and programming languages like Python 3.13. The project encourages donations to support its continued development.

(www.trinitydesktop.org)

Development Trinity Desktop Environment Lightweight Desktop Environment

Newton Public Schools' 'Equity' Experiment Fails

2024-12-14

Newton Public Schools' 'Equity' Experiment Fails

In the fall of 2021, Newton Public Schools in Massachusetts implemented a complex initiative called "multilevel classrooms" aimed at improving educational equity. This model mixed students of varying academic abilities into single classrooms with one teacher. Three years later, the results are troubling. Teachers report the model fails to meet the needs of diverse learners; high-achieving students are stifled, while lower-achieving students are hesitant to ask questions. Lack of adequate training and support for teachers led to poor outcomes, with students in multilevel classes often underperforming their single-level counterparts. The school lacked metrics for success, and no data supported the model's efficacy. A teacher's council petitioned to roll back multilevel classes in STEM and world languages, urging the district to find better solutions for addressing educational equity. The failure highlights the need for data-driven approaches and a focus on student needs in educational reform.

(www.thefp.com)

Misc educational equity multilevel classrooms teaching reform

uBlock Origin: A Highly Efficient Ad Blocker

2024-12-23

uBlock Origin: A Highly Efficient Ad Blocker

uBlock Origin (uBO) is a highly efficient and lightweight content blocker for Chromium and Firefox browsers. It blocks ads, trackers, coin miners, and malware by default using multiple filter lists like EasyList and EasyPrivacy. Users can customize blocking rules and choose between a simple or advanced interface. Crucially, uBO emphasizes that using an ad blocker is not theft, but a means of protecting user privacy. The project is open-source and relies on community-maintained filter lists.

(github.com)

Development ad blocker

Chilean Volcano Eruption Reveals Millennia-Old Underwater Landscape

2024-12-24

Chilean Volcano Eruption Reveals Millennia-Old Underwater Landscape

Following the 2008 eruption of the Chaitén volcano in Chile, scientists used a remotely operated vehicle to discover an underwater valley sculpted by ancient glaciers and volcanic activity. The expedition investigated the volcano's impact on the marine environment, including potential effects on underwater infrastructure and fisheries. Unexpectedly, they found a remarkably preserved ancient glacial landscape, offering invaluable insights into the region's geological history. Analysis of sediment samples will help reconstruct a timeline of geological events and further understand the eruption's impact on the marine ecosystem.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Underwater volcano geology ocean exploration

Efficient Cloud-Native Raster Data Access: An Alternative to Rasterio/GDAL

2024-12-15

Efficient Cloud-Native Raster Data Access: An Alternative to Rasterio/GDAL

The exponential growth of Earth observation data in cloud storage necessitates efficient access and analysis of satellite imagery. This article introduces an alternative cloud-native raster data access approach to Rasterio/GDAL. Traditional GeoTIFFs are inefficient, while Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFFs (COGs) improve efficiency through tiling and multi-resolution access. However, even with COGs, tasks like time-series NDVI analysis suffer from latency. The authors leverage STAC GeoParquet, combined with pre-calculated byte ranges, to reduce HTTP requests, significantly speeding up data access. Initial tests show this approach drastically reduces time-to-first-tile for Sentinel-2 data and lowers costs. A future open-source library, "Rasteret," will implement these techniques.

(blog.terrafloww.com)

Tech Cloud-native Raster data

Demonic Possession Predicted the Fall of the Carolingian Empire

2024-12-13

Demonic Possession Predicted the Fall of the Carolingian Empire

In the early 9th century, a Frankish courtier recorded a tale of demonic possession. The demon, Wiggo, confessed to destroying crops, livestock, and spreading plagues, blaming the Franks' sins and their rulers' many crimes. Wiggo described rampant greed, mutual suspicion among rulers, and lack of piety. This story mirrored the crisis of the Carolingian Empire: internal strife, economic instability, and famine. The courtier, Einhard, used this tale to subtly criticize the rulers' corruption and foreshadow the empire's decline.

(www.smithsonianmag.com)

History Carolingian Empire Demonic Possession Medieval Europe

The Illusion of Intelligence: AI, Interaction, and the Clever Hans Effect

2024-12-15

The Illusion of Intelligence: AI, Interaction, and the Clever Hans Effect

This paper explores the nature of intelligence in AI, particularly large language models (LLMs). It argues that the apparent intelligence of LLMs isn't due to independent reasoning but rather emerges from interaction with users. Drawing parallels between Socratic questioning, the Clever Hans effect, and iterative prompting of LLMs, the author demonstrates that intelligence is a relational phenomenon arising from collaboration, not isolated cognition. LLMs generate responses based on probabilistic relationships within their training data, responding to user prompts like Clever Hans responded to his handler's cues. The value of AI, therefore, lies not in its inherent 'knowledge' but in its ability to facilitate insightful questions and collaborative exploration, ultimately augmenting human creativity and problem-solving.

(aalokbhattacharya.substack.com)

AI Emergent Intelligence

Tenstorrent: An Analysis of the AI Hardware Startup Landscape

2024-12-15

Tenstorrent: An Analysis of the AI Hardware Startup Landscape

This article delves into a deep dive analysis of Tenstorrent, an AI hardware startup. Initially skeptical, the author, after meeting with the Tenstorrent team and gaining a thorough understanding of their architecture (a mesh topology featuring high-performance RISC-V CPU cores and AI cores) and software stack, revised their opinion. The article details Tenstorrent's technical specifications, including its unique Baby RISC-V cores and efforts to reduce latency. The author argues that Tenstorrent's open-source strategy, strong engineering team, and rational business model give it a unique advantage in the competitive AI hardware market, expressing optimism for its future.

(irrationalanalysis.substack.com)

AI AI hardware

Who Owns AI-Generated Code? Legal Experts Weigh In

2024-12-24

Who Owns AI-Generated Code? Legal Experts Weigh In

The ownership of code generated by AI like ChatGPT is a complex legal grey area. Experts consulted highlight a lack of clear legal precedent, with ownership hinging on both contract and copyright law. While OpenAI disclaims ownership of generated content, in practice, ownership could fall to the user, the AI developer, or even the providers of the training data. Further complicating matters, the copyrightability of AI-generated code itself is debated; the US Copyright Office suggests the code isn't protectable, but the application incorporating it might be. The situation is legally murky and developers are urged to proceed cautiously.

(www.zdnet.com)

AI AI code ownership copyright law legal risks

Northern Giant Hornet Eradicated from the United States

2024-12-23

The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the eradication of the northern giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) from Washington state and the US after three years without confirmed detections. This success is attributed to a multi-year collaborative effort involving state and federal agencies, community members, and the public, who played a crucial role in reporting sightings. The hornets posed a significant threat to honeybees, other pollinators, and agriculture, and their eradication protects the US ecosystem and agricultural industry. While eradicated, vigilance continues to prevent reintroduction.

(agr.wa.gov)

Misc Northern Giant Hornet invasive species eradication

Raspberry Pi 500 Modder Successfully Adds M.2 Slot

2024-12-15

A Raspberry Pi enthusiast successfully added an M.2 slot to the Raspberry Pi 500! While the Pi 500 has the header, the slot itself is absent, leading to some controversy. The modder soldered on four tiny capacitors and used a bench power supply to power a bottom pad, enabling the use of NVMe SSDs and other PCIe devices. This modification requires excellent SMD soldering skills and has sparked discussion about the Pi 500's design choices; speculation includes reserving the feature for a future premium model.

(www.jeffgeerling.com)

Hardware Raspberry Pi 500 M.2 slot Hardware Mod

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