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Coding a Text Adventure in C: A Step-by-Step Guide

2025-04-27

This tutorial isn't a C programming primer, but rather a guide to building a text adventure game using C. Starting with a simple "Hello World" program, the author incrementally adds code, culminating in a fully functional game. The tutorial emphasizes incremental development, ensuring each step produces a runnable program. The author chose C for its low-level access, offering insight into the constraints of early game development. Suitable for those with some programming experience, the tutorial provides code samples and explanations.

(helderman.github.io)

Game text adventure game

Boeing 737-800 Suffers Twin Disasters on Same Day, Ending 2024 on a Grim Note

2024-12-29

Boeing 737-800 Suffers Twin Disasters on Same Day, Ending 2024 on a Grim Note

Two Boeing 737-800 airliners were involved in separate accidents on the same day, casting a pall over Boeing's year-end. One plane skidded off the runway in Norway during an emergency landing, miraculously leaving all 182 passengers and crew unharmed. However, another 737-800 crashed in South Korea, resulting in 47 fatalities. The twin disasters, occurring on the same day, have raised serious safety concerns and will undoubtedly trigger thorough investigations into Boeing's aircraft.

(telanganatoday.com)

Tech Boeing 737-800 aviation safety

The Rise and Fall of Bell Labs: A Cautionary Tale for Modern Innovation

2025-06-06

The Rise and Fall of Bell Labs: A Cautionary Tale for Modern Innovation

This article explores the remarkable history of Bell Labs and the reasons behind its eventual decline. Famous for its open culture of innovation and trust in its brilliant minds, Bell Labs birthed countless technological breakthroughs, such as the transistor and the laser. However, modern metrics-obsessed environments and the pressure for short-term gains have stifled such freedom. The author argues that a lack of investment in long-term research and trust in talent are the primary reasons why replicating Bell Labs' success is difficult today. The article calls for a rethinking of innovation models in both corporate and academic settings, advocating for greater freedom and time for scientists to foster true breakthroughs.

(links.fabiomanganiello.com)

Tech

Nintendo's Game & Watch: A Retrospect of Handheld Gaming History

2025-02-09

Nintendo's Game & Watch: A Retrospect of Handheld Gaming History

This article chronicles the history of Nintendo's Game & Watch series of handheld electronic games, from the Silver Series in 1980 to various iterations throughout the late 1980s, including the Gold, Wide Screen, and Multi Screen series. Known for innovative designs, classic games, and elegant aesthetics—features like metallic faceplates, dual screens, and colored LCDs—the Game & Watch series represents a pivotal moment in Nintendo's history and the handheld gaming market.

(itizso.itch.io)

Game

Cisco Firewall and TLS 1.3 Compatibility Issues

2025-05-22

A company encountered a problem with their Cisco firewall: due to TLS 1.3 encrypting server certificates, the firewall couldn't enforce URL or application access rules based on certificate content. To solve this, Cisco introduced TLS Server Identity Discovery, using an additional TLS 1.2 handshake to retrieve the certificate in plaintext. However, this clashed with expected Postgres database behavior. The actual issue wasn't TLS 1.3 incompatibility, but rather the firewall wasn't configured to block unknown applications; it attempted to learn the certificate for 3 seconds before giving up and allowing the connection.

(marc-bowes.com)

Tech

The Weekly Loop: A Simple Fix for Chatbot Stalls

2025-09-13

The Weekly Loop: A Simple Fix for Chatbot Stalls

This article presents a continuous improvement methodology for chatbots, focusing on treating every miss as a signal for iterative refinement. The core concept involves a weekly loop: implement lean instrumentation to track user queries, assistant decisions, sources, answers, and fallbacks; define clear rules for unanswered questions, separating noise from genuine gaps; review the unanswered queue weekly, grouping similar issues and applying remedies (strengthening guardrails or updating the knowledge base); and finally, establish clear ownership and measure key metrics (unanswered rate, time-to-first-fix, acceptance rate). Consistent iteration leads to significant performance improvements without requiring larger models.

(www.hoverbot.ai)

AI Chatbot improvement

AI Coding: A Spectrum of Human-AI Collaboration

2025-08-02

AI Coding: A Spectrum of Human-AI Collaboration

This article explores strategies for AI-assisted coding, describing the process as a spectrum of human-AI collaboration. From minimal AI reliance (similar to discussing problems with colleagues at another company) to maximum reliance (delegating tasks to a junior programmer), the author details different levels of interaction and stresses the importance of choosing the right strategy based on the context, balancing learning depth and efficiency.

(softwaredoug.com)

Development code collaboration

AI-Designed Biosensor Revolutionizes Cortisol Measurement

2025-08-12

AI-Designed Biosensor Revolutionizes Cortisol Measurement

Professor Andy Yeh of UC Santa Cruz has developed a novel, AI-designed luminescent biosensor for highly accurate cortisol level detection in blood or urine. This sensor, used in conjunction with a smartphone camera, enables convenient at-home or point-of-care testing with significantly improved sensitivity and dynamic range compared to traditional methods. This breakthrough paves the way for better diagnosis and treatment of cortisol-related disorders and offers a new tool for drug development.

(medicalxpress.com)

Tech Biosensor Cortisol

LaLiga's Anti-Piracy Crusade: Collateral Damage on the Open Web

2025-09-21

LaLiga's Anti-Piracy Crusade: Collateral Damage on the Open Web

LaLiga, Spain's top football league, is facing backlash for its aggressive anti-piracy tactics. Partnering with Telefónica, LaLiga uses a broad IP address blocking scheme, approved by Spanish courts, that has resulted in widespread outages for legitimate websites and services, including Amazon, Cloudflare, GitHub, and even Google Fonts. Despite claiming a massive increase in takedown notices, only 11% of targeted streams were actually taken offline. This heavy-handed approach has sparked legal challenges and criticism, yet LaLiga shows no signs of slowing down its controversial campaign.

(reclaimthenet.org)

Tech digital rights management internet freedom

I Drank Every Single IBA Official Cocktail

2025-07-24

I Drank Every Single IBA Official Cocktail

The author recounts his multi-year journey to taste all 102 International Bartenders Association (IBA) official cocktails. This ambitious project took him across continents and into numerous bars, encountering classic, contemporary, and newly added drinks. The quest was fraught with challenges, from obscure ingredients to newly added cocktails, but ultimately rewarding, leading to a deeper appreciation of mixology and culminating in a celebratory IBA Tiki party.

(aaronson.org)

Misc IBA

A Software Engineer's CAD and 3D Printing Journey: An Overengineered Webcam Raiser

2024-12-16

A seasoned software engineer, tired of the virtual world of coding, yearned to create in the real world. He acquired a Bambu Lab X1C 3D printer and quickly mastered 3D printing. He then started learning Fusion 360 CAD software, surprisingly finding its constraint concepts similar to iOS UI constraints, and parametric CAD design echoing functional programming. His first project: an overengineered webcam raiser to solve the issue of the webcam obstructing his screen. This project not only provided him with the joy of 3D printing and CAD design but also a deep understanding of the manufacturing, material, and other details that need to be considered during the design phase.

(fangpenlin.com)

Development 3D printing CAD design Software engineering

Split Brain: A Shocking Tale of Self-Awareness

2025-02-19

Split Brain: A Shocking Tale of Self-Awareness

In 1939, ten epilepsy patients underwent a radical surgery: severing the corpus callosum to separate the brain's hemispheres. Early studies suggested no cognitive impairment. However, in the 1960s, Gazzaniga and Sperry's tests revealed a shocking truth: the hemispheres functioned independently, each with its own conscious stream, even 'arguing' over perceptions. This overturned understanding of the brain and self, offering new perspectives on consciousness. Research continues, exploring how each hemisphere perceives the self.

(www.theatlantic.com)

Tech

Early Weight-Bearing Speeds Fracture Healing: Challenging Conventional Wisdom

2025-02-19

Early Weight-Bearing Speeds Fracture Healing: Challenging Conventional Wisdom

A new study challenges the long-held belief that immobilization is best for broken bones. Contrary to the traditional advice of six weeks of non-weight-bearing, research now shows that early weight-bearing, beginning just weeks after surgery, leads to faster healing and improved quality of life with no increased risk of complications. This is supported by a large-scale randomized controlled trial focusing on ankle fractures, and other studies examining femur and hip fractures. The author uses her husband's experiences to illustrate the benefits of this approach, highlighting the faster recovery time compared to traditional methods. This shift in medical practice emphasizes the body's natural ability to heal when given appropriate stimulus, improving patient outcomes and shortening recovery periods.

(www.scientificamerican.com)

Tech fracture healing early weight-bearing orthopedics

Kubient CEO Jailed for AI-Fueled Ad Fraud Scheme

2025-03-22

Kubient CEO Jailed for AI-Fueled Ad Fraud Scheme

Paul Roberts, CEO of ad-tech firm Kubient, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for orchestrating a $1.3 million fraud scheme. Roberts inflated Kubient's IPO and sales of its AI tool, KAI, by engaging in a reciprocal billing scheme with another company and fabricating KAI performance reports. This case highlights the ethical risks in the pursuit of growth within AI companies and underscores the need for investor vigilance in evaluating tech company financials.

(arstechnica.com)

Startup AI fraud IPO fraud

Tesla's Troubles: Reshaping the EV Market

2025-04-28

Tesla's Troubles: Reshaping the EV Market

Tesla's declining sales and shrinking market share are creating opportunities for other electric vehicle (EV) brands. The article highlights consumer dissatisfaction with CEO Elon Musk and the influx of new EV models as key factors. While tariffs pose challenges, strong demand for EVs persists, with numerous new models entering the market, attracting buyers with competitive pricing and improved technology. Established automakers are also actively competing, introducing more EV options, expanding consumer choices.

(www.eastbaytimes.com)

Tech

bpfilter: A BPF-based Network Filtering Performance Booster

2025-05-23

The bpfilter project aims to significantly improve network filtering performance in the Linux kernel. It achieves this by translating iptables/nftables rules into BPF programs, bypassing performance bottlenecks inherent in traditional methods. Composed of three components – a daemon, a library, and a command-line interface – bpfilter allows users to define custom filtering rules and integrates with iptables. Benchmarks demonstrate bpfilter's superior performance over iptables and nftables when handling large rule sets. Future plans include enhanced nftables support and integration of user-provided BPF programs.

(lwn.net)

Development Network Filtering

Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Null Pointers

2025-02-01

Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Null Pointers

This article debunks common misconceptions about null pointers. It explores fallacies ranging from the simple (dereferencing a null pointer doesn't always crash the program immediately) to the bizarre (the null pointer's address isn't always 0). The author argues against relying on compiler optimizations or hardware specifics, highlighting the dangers of assuming consistent behavior across platforms. The article emphasizes that C should be treated as a higher-level language, not just "portable assembler," and encourages leveraging modern languages' memory safety features for more robust and portable code.

(purplesyringa.moe)

Development null pointer

Math.Pow(-1, 2) Returns -1 in .NET 8 Canary Build

2025-07-02

Math.Pow(-1, 2) Returns -1 in .NET 8 Canary Build

An osu! game developer reported a bizarre issue in Windows 11 Canary build (27881.1000) where `Math.Pow(-1, 2)` in .NET 8 unexpectedly returns -1 instead of 1. The problem also occurs in C++'s `std::pow()`, but works correctly in Python. The developer has filed a GitHub issue and suggests joining the osu! Discord server for further details.

(github.com)

Development

Datastar: A Hypermedia Framework That Reimagines Web Development

2025-04-11

Datastar is a new hypermedia framework designed to simplify and streamline the building of real-time web applications. Prioritizing server-side logic, it uses "signals" for automatic UI updates and leverages Server-Sent Events (SSE) for blazing-fast performance. The author, after struggling with the complexities of HTMX in a real-world application, found Datastar's reactive programming model and server-centric approach to be a refreshing alternative. Datastar minimizes front-end JavaScript dependencies, offering a compelling option for developers seeking efficiency and simplicity.

(chrismalek.me)

Development Hypermedia Framework Real-time Web Apps

ESP32 Pomodoro Timer: A Hardware and Software DIY Project

2025-03-29

ESP32 Pomodoro Timer: A Hardware and Software DIY Project

A software engineer, driven by a quest for productivity enhancement and a desire to help a friend, designed an ESP32-based Pomodoro timer. This timer uses an e-paper display and a rotary encoder, prioritizing a physical device, fun, and intuitive usability. The project encompasses hardware selection (ESP32, e-paper display, rotary encoder, LED, etc.), software development (C++, Arduino framework, GxEPD2 library), and 3D-printed case design. The author shares lessons learned throughout the design process, such as display selection, input method design, LED indicator implementation, and software code management. The final product combines practicality and fun, incorporating Easter eggs.

(github.com)

Hardware Pomodoro Timer Hardware DIY

Revisited Forth: Two Implementations and Reflections on a Quirky Language

2025-08-28

The author revisited Forth, a language first encountered 20 years ago. Over two months, they implemented two Forth interpreters: goforth (in Go) and ctil (in C). goforth, a pure interpreter, is simple but lacks advanced features. ctil, closer to a traditional Forth implementation, allows extending the language using Forth itself, showcasing its power. The author argues that Forth's unique strengths lay in its early hardware context. However, its stack-based model makes it less readable and less practical in modern contexts, best suited as a learning project to understand compiler principles and virtual machines.

(eli.thegreenplace.net)

Development Language Implementation Compiler Principles

Configuring Azure Entra ID as an IdP in Keycloak: A Detailed Guide

2025-03-17

Configuring Azure Entra ID as an IdP in Keycloak: A Detailed Guide

This article provides a comprehensive guide on configuring Azure Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) as an Identity Provider (IdP) in Keycloak for a Spring Boot WebFlux application. It details the steps involved in both Azure and Keycloak configurations, including application creation, OpenID Connect setup, client secret and redirect URI configuration, and mapping Azure groups to Keycloak roles for user authorization. The author shares crucial tips and workarounds, such as switching the Azure interface to English for clearer terminology and selecting the appropriate IdP type in Keycloak. The guide culminates in a fully functional authentication and authorization flow, with a detailed explanation of including roles in the JWT token for backend access.

(blog.ght1pc9kc.fr)

Development

The Regret of ChatGPT's Godfather: Has the Democratization of AI Failed?

2025-03-29

The Regret of ChatGPT's Godfather: Has the Democratization of AI Failed?

In 2017, Jeremy Howard's breakthrough in natural language processing laid the groundwork for tools like ChatGPT. He achieved a leap in AI's text comprehension by training a large language model to predict Wikipedia text. However, this technology fell under the control of a few large tech companies, leading Howard to worry about the failure of AI democratization. He and his wife, Rachel Thomas, gave up high-paying jobs to found fast.ai, dedicated to popularizing machine learning knowledge. Yet, they watched as AI technology became monopolized by a few corporations, becoming a tool for capital competition, leaving him deeply frustrated and anxious.

(www.abc.net.au)

AI Tech Democratization

The AI Illusion: Unveiling the Truth and Risks of Large Language Models

2025-06-08

The AI Illusion: Unveiling the Truth and Risks of Large Language Models

This article explores the nature and potential risks of large language models (LLMs). While acknowledging their impressive technical capabilities, the author argues that LLMs are not truly 'intelligent' but rather sophisticated probability machines generating text based on statistical analysis. Many misunderstand their workings, anthropomorphizing them and developing unhealthy dependencies, even psychosis. The article criticizes tech companies' overselling of LLMs as human-like entities and their marketing strategies leveraging their replacement of human relationships. It highlights ethical and societal concerns arising from AI's widespread adoption, urging the public to develop AI literacy and adopt a more rational perspective on this technology.

(www.theatlantic.com)

AI Ethical Risks

Windows 11 App Update: Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad Get AI Boost

2025-05-22

Windows 11 App Update: Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad Get AI Boost

Microsoft is rolling out updates to Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad for Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels on Windows 11. Paint now features an AI sticker generator, a smart object selection tool, and a new welcome experience; Snipping Tool adds perfect screenshot and color picker capabilities; and Notepad introduces an AI writing feature for quick text drafting. Most of these new features require a Copilot+ PC and Microsoft account login, with some requiring a Microsoft 365 subscription.

(blogs.windows.com)

Development App Update

Quantum Leap: First Successful Qudit Error Correction Achieved

2025-05-19

Quantum Leap: First Successful Qudit Error Correction Achieved

Yale researchers have achieved a groundbreaking breakthrough, experimentally demonstrating quantum error correction for higher-dimensional quantum units (qudits) for the first time. Using a qutrit (3-level) and a ququart (4-level) system, and employing the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) bosonic code, they overcame a major hurdle in quantum computing—the fragility of quantum information to noise and errors. This achievement marks a significant step towards building more powerful and reliable quantum computers and promises breakthroughs in cryptography, materials science, and drug discovery. A reinforcement learning algorithm was utilized to optimize the system and enhance error correction efficiency.

(phys.org)

Tech qudits

JDK 25: String Performance Boost via Hash Code Constant Folding

2025-05-02

JDK 25 significantly improves the performance of the String class by enabling constant folding of the String::hashCode function. This leads to substantial speedups, especially when using Strings as keys in static, immutable Maps, such as in a scenario where MethodHandles for native calls are accessed via String keys. Benchmarks show over an 8x improvement. This optimization is achieved by marking the internal String.hash field with the @Stable annotation. This allows the JVM to cache and reuse the hash code, avoiding recomputation for non-zero hash codes. While a zero hash code can hinder this optimization, a future fix is anticipated.

(inside.java)

Development

A Year in Enterprise Software Development: Observations from the Trenches

2025-08-18

After a decade in startups, the author reflects on their first year at a large enterprise, $ENTERPRISE. The post humorously details the stark differences: inefficient communication, massive resource waste, inconsistent coworker competency, and the ubiquitous, often manufactured, sense of urgency. However, the author also acknowledges the positive aspects, such as a strong engineering community, career development opportunities, and the satisfaction of working on software used by millions. A candid and insightful account of the realities of large-scale software development.

(churchofturing.github.io)

Development enterprise culture

Six Design Patterns to Secure LLM Agents Against Prompt Injection

2025-06-13

Six Design Patterns to Secure LLM Agents Against Prompt Injection

A new paper from researchers at IBM, Invariant Labs, and other institutions introduces six design patterns to mitigate the risk of prompt injection attacks against large language model (LLM) agents. These patterns constrain agent actions, preventing arbitrary task execution. Examples include the Action-Selector pattern, which prevents tool feedback from influencing the agent; the Plan-Then-Execute pattern, which pre-plans tool calls; and the Dual LLM pattern, which uses a privileged LLM to coordinate an isolated LLM, avoiding exposure to untrusted content. The paper also features ten case studies across various applications, offering practical guidance for building secure and reliable LLM agents.

(simonwillison.net)

AI prompt injection

Open Source: awesome-launch – Boost Your Side Project Visibility

2025-01-16

Open Source: awesome-launch – Boost Your Side Project Visibility

Struggling to get eyes on your side project? KingMenes' awesome-launch is an open-source directory of free and friendly communities designed to help you promote it. It features a curated list of platforms including Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn, Hacker News, and Product Hunt, categorized for easy navigation. From Indie Hackers and Dev.to to beta testing platforms and crowdfunding sites, awesome-launch provides a comprehensive resource for side project promotion.

(github.com)

Development project promotion side projects

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