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Windows 95 Startup Sound and Minecraft Soundtrack Enter National Recording Registry

2025-04-10

Windows 95 Startup Sound and Minecraft Soundtrack Enter National Recording Registry

The Library of Congress' National Recording Registry has added two surprising entries: the Windows 95 startup sound and the Minecraft soundtrack. Brian Eno's iconic 3.25-second Windows 95 chime and Daniel Rosenfeld's acclaimed Minecraft score join a list including Elton John and Mary J. Blige, highlighting the impact of technology on cultural heritage. This marks only the second video game soundtrack to be inducted, following Super Mario Bros. in 2023.

(betanews.com)

Tech National Recording Registry

The Clever Design and Shortcomings of C++'s std::adjacent_difference

2025-08-25

This article delves into the design philosophy of the `std::adjacent_difference` algorithm in the C++ standard library. This algorithm computes the differences between adjacent elements of an input sequence, copying the first element to the output. While this design ensures symmetry with `std::partial_sum`, mirroring differentiation and integration in calculus, it also limits its genericity, as the difference between elements of an arbitrary type might have a different type. The article further draws parallels to derivatives and integrals in calculus, explaining the algorithm's design rationale and contrasting it with Q's more flexible `deltas` function. The conclusion is that, while Stepanov's original intent was sound, the algorithm lacks genericity; C++23's `pairwise_transform` offers a more flexible alternative.

(mmapped.blog)

Development generic programming

Lines of Code: A Flawed Metric - A Lisa Team Anecdote

2025-06-26

In early 1982, Apple's Lisa team tracked engineer productivity by lines of code. Bill Atkinson, QuickDraw's creator, found this metric absurd, prioritizing concise, efficient code. He optimized QuickDraw's region calculation, achieving a six-fold speed increase while reducing code by 2000 lines. On the productivity form, he famously reported '-2000'. Management wisely stopped using this flawed metric.

(www.folklore.org)

Development Code Efficiency

LHC Alchemy: Lead Transmuted into Gold!

2025-05-09

LHC Alchemy: Lead Transmuted into Gold!

The ALICE collaboration at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has reported the observation of lead nuclei transforming into minuscule amounts of gold during near-miss collisions. Intense electromagnetic fields generated by these high-energy collisions knock out protons from lead nuclei, resulting in the creation of gold. While the amount of gold produced is incredibly small (29 picograms), this achievement fulfills a long-held alchemic dream. The study provides insights into electromagnetic dissociation and improves theoretical models used to understand beam losses in the LHC, ultimately enhancing its performance.

(www.home.cern)

Tech Alchemy

Waymo Robotaxis: Premium Price, Premium Demand?

2025-06-12

Waymo Robotaxis: Premium Price, Premium Demand?

New data reveals Waymo's self-driving taxi service consistently costs more than Uber and Lyft, averaging several dollars more per ride. Despite this higher price point, Waymo boasts 250,000 paid weekly trips. The study found Waymo's pricing is more variable, especially for short trips, potentially due to a less refined pricing model compared to its established competitors. However, consumers seem unfazed by the higher cost, with many willing to pay a premium for the driverless experience. This highlights the appeal of technological novelty and the comfort of a solo ride. Safety, however, remains a top concern, with many preferring some form of remote human monitoring.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

Unearthing Hidden Gems on Hacker News

2025-08-29

This tool helps you discover recently posted, high-effort content on Hacker News that hasn't received much attention. It searches the HN API's Ask, Show, and New feeds for posts from the last 3-7 days, ranking them by a 'Passion Score'. This score balances text length against engagement (votes and comments), highlighting substantial posts with minimal recognition – perfect for finding insightful contributions the community might have missed.

(pj4533.com)

Misc content discovery underrated posts

Two Months Banned from Meta: A Cautionary Tale

2025-05-09

Two Months Banned from Meta: A Cautionary Tale

A Minecraft mod developer was permanently banned from Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp for nearly two months following an anonymous threat. After failing to get support from Meta, the author eventually regained access through their significant online presence. The article explores the dark side of account bans by large tech companies and their severe impact on users' daily lives, including social interaction, commerce, and access to information. The author calls for societal attention to this increasingly common problem and urges tech companies to improve customer support systems to prevent similar incidents.

(madelinemiller.dev)

Tech account bans

The 'Man with the Golden Arm': Australia's Most Prolific Blood Donor Dies at 88

2025-03-03

The 'Man with the Golden Arm': Australia's Most Prolific Blood Donor Dies at 88

James Harrison, Australia's most prolific blood and plasma donor, known as the "Man with the Golden Arm," passed away at 88. His 1,173 donations over six decades saved an estimated 2.4 million babies from Rhesus disease. His rare anti-D antibody in his plasma was crucial in preventing this potentially fatal condition. His legacy extends beyond his selfless acts; research using his blood aims to create a synthetic version of the antibody, promising to save even more lives globally.

(www.npr.org)

Tech anti-D antibody medical research

Scratching an Itch: The Surprising Science Behind It

2025-02-03

Scratching an Itch: The Surprising Science Behind It

New research delves into the paradox of scratching. While it feels good, scratching worsens inflammation by activating mast cells and releasing substance P, leading to an inflammatory cascade. However, it also reduces Staphylococcus aureus, a common skin infection bacteria. Researchers conclude that while scratching might offer some benefit in specific contexts, the skin damage likely outweighs the advantages, particularly with chronic itching. This study, published in Science, opens avenues for new therapies targeting inflammatory skin conditions.

(newatlas.com)

Tech itching inflammation Staphylococcus aureus

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

2025-08-21

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

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

(9to5mac.com)

Tech Patent Lawsuit

The USPS's E-Mail Gamble: The Rise and Fall of E-COM

2025-05-14

The USPS's E-Mail Gamble: The Rise and Fall of E-COM

Facing the threat of email, the US Postal Service launched E-COM in 1982, a service that printed emails and delivered them via mail carriers. Initially successful, E-COM ultimately failed in 1985 due to high costs, cumbersome processes, and lack of flexibility, resulting in over $40 million in losses. However, E-COM inadvertently popularized the term "email" and highlighted the USPS's attempts to adapt to technological change.

(buttondown.com)

Tech

Taxing Advertising: A More Viable Alternative to a Ban?

2025-04-08

This article explores taxing advertising as a more feasible alternative to outright bans. The author argues that advertising, like pollution, has negative utility and harms society. Instead of prohibition, a tiered tax system could be implemented, based on factors like intrusiveness and manipulation. A 'feebate' system, rewarding beneficial behaviors, could incentivize a healthier advertising landscape. This prompts reflection on current ad models, platform economies, and alternative content funding.

(matthewsinclair.com)

Misc advertising tax platform economy attention economy

FiveThirtyEight's Demise and the Rise of Silver Bulletin

2025-03-06

FiveThirtyEight's Demise and the Rise of Silver Bulletin

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

(www.natesilver.net)

Startup data journalism polling analysis media business

Rust Dependencies: A 3.6 Million Line Code Nightmare

2025-05-09

The author loves Rust, but its dependency management is causing concern. A simple web server project, after depending on several crates, ballooned to 3.6 million lines of code, mostly from dependencies. This raises concerns about code auditing and dependency maintenance. The author tried code counting and vendoring, but the problem persists. The article explores the challenges of Rust's dependency management and how to balance performance, safety, and code size.

(vincents.dev)

Development code size

Fantastic Planet: A 19th-Century Microphotography Album

2025-01-11

Fantastic Planet: A 19th-Century Microphotography Album

Marinus Pieter Filbri's microscopy album reveals a wondrous 19th-century glimpse into the microcosm. The collection juxtaposes seemingly unrelated images—moon phases, portraits of Sicilian bandits—with stunning micrographs: a moth's antenna, a honeybee's stinger, a fly's eye, and more. These images not only showcase the intricate structures of the microscopic world but also spark contemplation on the similarities between the macrocosm and microcosm, akin to exploring a fantastic alien planet. Filbri's work echoes the discoveries of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, highlighting the challenges and achievements of early microphotography.

(publicdomainreview.org)

Tech microphotography history of science

6502 Code Generator Outperforms GCC and LLVM

2025-02-16

A developer built a 6502 code generator that surprisingly outperforms GCC, LLVM, and other compilers. The speed advantage isn't from superior high-level optimizations, but rather innovative code generation techniques. The compiler leverages "illegal" instructions, computationally expensive instruction selection, and space-for-time optimizations. The core algorithm combines instruction selection with register allocation, cleverly using continuation-passing style. It works with a DAG and SSA-form intermediate representation, generating multiple assembly code combinations, pruning with dynamic programming and branch-and-bound, and finally solving a PBQP problem for optimal selection. While employing some "cheats," the compiler shows remarkable benchmark results, offering fresh perspectives on code generation.

(pubby.games)

Development

Blender's Epic Leap: Pro-Grade 3D Modeling Lands on iPad

2025-08-13

Blender's Epic Leap: Pro-Grade 3D Modeling Lands on iPad

After years of anticipation, the powerhouse free 3D software Blender is finally arriving on iPad! The full, professional Blender experience is being adapted for the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, revolutionizing how and where artists create. This isn't a watered-down version; it's the complete Blender, redesigned for touchscreens. The development team emphasizes accessibility, with a new interface built for intuitive touch and gesture control, while maintaining consistency with the desktop version. Android and other platforms are also on the roadmap. A tech demo at SIGGRAPH 2025 will offer a first look.

(www.creativebloq.com)

Development

Multi-Stage Programming with Splice Variables: Safe and Predictable Code Generation

2025-06-28

This paper introduces a novel technique called Multi-Stage Programming (MSP) that allows programs to generate other programs. To ensure safe and predictable code generation, the authors introduce the concept of "splice variables." Splice variables provide fine-grained control over the code generation process and seamlessly scale to advanced features like code pattern matching and rewriting. The type system automatically tracks variable dependencies, ensuring that the generated code is always well-formed, properly scoped, and type-checks correctly. The paper demonstrates the power of splice variables with examples such as generating a power function and showcases features like code pattern matching and rewriting.

(tsung-ju.org)

Development Multi-Stage Programming Splice Variables

Porn Sites Use SVG Files to Spread Malicious Script, Hijacking Facebook Likes

2025-08-10

Porn Sites Use SVG Files to Spread Malicious Script, Hijacking Facebook Likes

Security researchers have discovered multiple pornographic websites built on WordPress that use SVG files to spread malicious JavaScript code. This obfuscated code ultimately downloads a malicious script called Trojan.JS.Likejack, which silently likes specified Facebook posts if the user is logged in. This isn't a new tactic; previous incidents involved SVGs in cross-site scripting attacks and phishing scams. Researchers have identified dozens of affected websites. While Facebook shuts down accounts involved, these offenders consistently return with new profiles.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech

Gamers Fight Back Against Payment Processor Censorship

2025-08-03

Gamers Fight Back Against Payment Processor Censorship

Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and PayPal's sudden delisting of NSFW games from Itch.io sparked a massive gamer backlash. Players are bombarding payment companies with phone calls, demanding the games' reinstatement. The movement, supported by unions and game developer associations, has yielded some results, with payment company representatives showing shifts in attitude. However, payment companies refuse comment, citing vague policies about "illegal or brand-damaging" activities. The core issue revolves around whether payment processors should censor content and the implications for free speech.

(aftermath.site)

Game

The Search Engine Dilemma: A Cat-and-Mouse Game with SEO

2025-06-11

Using the metaphor of a vast library filled with low-quality, SEO-optimized books, the author describes the current state of internet search engines. High-quality content is drowned out by shallow, click-bait pages designed to generate revenue. The author reflects on their personal experience, highlighting the increasing difficulty in finding relevant information and their reliance on LLMs for research. The article explores the reasons behind the decline in search quality, the potential of LLMs to improve search, and the risks associated with the massive investment in the AI industry. A key concern is the potential for LLM monetization strategies to negatively impact users.

(kaveland.no)

Tech search engines

Haskell Interview Questions: From Palindromes to Word Frequency

2025-05-23

This article tackles several common coding interview questions in Haskell, including palindrome checks, FizzBuzz, sum combinations, anagram detection, and finding minimum/maximum values. The author showcases Haskell's elegant and concise code style, highlighting the use of pattern matching, higher-order functions, and recursion. Edge cases like handling empty lists are also addressed. Finally, efficient word frequency counting using Data.Map is demonstrated. The article is accessible to Haskell beginners and those curious about functional programming paradigms.

(chrispenner.ca)

Development interview questions

Android 16: Personalization, Gemini Integration, and the Future of XR

2025-07-14

Android 16: Personalization, Gemini Integration, and the Future of XR

Sameer Samat, President of Android Ecosystem at Google, details major updates to Android 16: Material 3 Expressive design language for enhanced personalization, simultaneous release with Samsung flagships, and deep Gemini AI integration for smarter search and assistance. Samat also discusses the future of Android XR, highlighting AI as its core driver, learning from the Google Glass experience, and partnering with fashion brands for stylish and practical AR glasses.

(www.techradar.com)

Tech

NES Expansion Port Finally Awakens After 39 Years

2024-12-12

NES Expansion Port Finally Awakens After 39 Years

After 39 years of dormancy, the Nintendo Entertainment System's long-forgotten expansion port is finally being utilized in commercial products. This article explores the history of the NES expansion port and why it remained largely unused for so long, examining factors such as Nintendo's strategy, technological limitations, and the market environment. Now, thanks to the efforts of the open-source hardware community and enthusiasts, the expansion port is being used to add features like Bluetooth controller support and Famicom Disk System compatibility, marking a breakthrough in retro gaming console modding.

(tedium.co)

Game expansion port retro gaming console modding

23andMe Bankruptcy: Your Genetic Data is For Sale – Delete It Now!

2025-03-26

23andMe Bankruptcy: Your Genetic Data is For Sale – Delete It Now!

Genetic testing company 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy, putting the genetic data of millions of users up for sale. To protect your privacy, users are urged to immediately download and delete their data from 23andMe. The article provides a step-by-step guide on how to download your data and delete your account, emphasizing the critical need to protect this sensitive information. The incident highlights the importance of genetic data privacy, and other companies in the field should take note and improve their data security practices.

(www.eff.org)

Tech genetic data privacy

Language Skills, Not Math, Are Key to Learning to Code

2025-05-02

Language Skills, Not Math, Are Key to Learning to Code

A University of Washington study challenges conventional wisdom about learning to program. Researchers found that the speed and proficiency of learning Python are more strongly correlated with language aptitude and problem-solving skills than with mathematical ability. Using behavioral tests and EEG data, the study demonstrated that language skills significantly impact learning speed, surpassing the influence of math skills. This has crucial implications for programming education and talent recruitment, challenging the traditional view of programming as a purely math-intensive field and suggesting that women may be underestimated in the field.

(massivesci.com)

Development language skills

Waymo's Self-Driving Accident Analysis: Are Humans the Real Culprits?

2025-03-26

Waymo's Self-Driving Accident Analysis: Are Humans the Real Culprits?

This article analyzes 38 serious accidents involving Waymo self-driving cars between July 2024 and February 2025. Surprisingly, the vast majority of these accidents were not caused by Waymo vehicles themselves, but rather by other vehicles driving recklessly, such as speeding and running red lights. Waymo's data shows that its self-driving vehicles have a much lower accident rate than human drivers. Even if all accidents were attributed to Waymo, its safety record is still significantly better than human drivers. Compared to human driving, Waymo has made significant progress in reducing accidents, especially those resulting in injuries.

(www.understandingai.org)

AI

Succinct Data Structures: Memory-Saving Power Tools for Programmers

2025-03-06

A few months ago, while searching for ways to speed up code, the author stumbled upon succinct data structures. These structures store data compactly while supporting efficient query operations like rank and select. The article explores several key succinct data structures, including bit vectors, wavelet matrices, and FM-indices, highlighting their applications in Rust and related open-source libraries. The author discusses using these structures in XML processing and programming language compilers for better memory utilization and faster queries. Succinct data structures offer exciting new possibilities for programming, deserving wider adoption.

(blog.startifact.com)

Development

Cancer Metabolism Research: A Novel Perspective on Fat and Brown Adipose Tissue

2025-05-08

Cancer Metabolism Research: A Novel Perspective on Fat and Brown Adipose Tissue

Recent breakthroughs in cancer metabolism research have revealed the dependence of tumor cells on glucose and lipid metabolism. Researchers are exploring ways to target metabolic pathways in cancer cells, such as inhibiting hexokinase-2, glucose transporter 1, and fatty acid synthase. Studies also investigate metabolic inhibitors like 6-aminonicotinamide and etomoxir to suppress tumor growth. Furthermore, research focuses on the role of brown adipose tissue in tumor suppression, showing that cold exposure and activation of the PRDM16 pathway can promote brown fat generation, thus inhibiting tumor growth. These studies offer promising avenues for developing novel cancer therapies, particularly targeted therapies based on metabolic regulation.

(www.nature.com)

Tech cancer metabolism brown adipose tissue targeted therapy

Pinterest Improves Embedding-Based Retrieval for Homefeed Recommendations

2025-02-14

Pinterest Improves Embedding-Based Retrieval for Homefeed Recommendations

Pinterest's engineering team significantly improved its embedding-based retrieval system for personalized and diverse content recommendations on the Homefeed. They achieved this through advanced feature crossing techniques (MaskNet and DHEN frameworks), pre-trained ID embeddings, and a revamped serving corpus with time-decayed summation. Furthermore, they explored cutting-edge methods like multi-embedding retrieval and conditional retrieval to cater to diverse user intents, resulting in increased user engagement and saves.

(medium.com)

AI Embedding-based Retrieval

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