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Knowing Within a Week: A Senior Engineer's Career Reflections

2025-06-12

Knowing Within a Week: A Senior Engineer's Career Reflections

A seasoned engineer shares her years of experience: within the first week of every new job, she intuitively knows whether it's the right fit. This intuition isn't always accurate, but proves remarkably reliable in the long run. She illustrates this with several examples, highlighting the importance of value alignment for managers, who must invest themselves fully, not just their output. Finally, she uses the 'chicken and pig' analogy to differentiate managers from engineers: engineers are 'involved', managers are 'committed'.

(charity.wtf)

Development professional development

Massive Attack's Concert: When Your Face Becomes the Show

2025-09-16

Massive Attack's Concert: When Your Face Becomes the Show

Massive Attack integrated live facial recognition into their recent concert, projecting attendees' faces onto a giant screen as part of the visual experience. This sparked a heated debate; some praised the band for forcing a conversation about surveillance, while others expressed discomfort with the unexpected data collection. The lack of transparency regarding data storage and consent raised ethical concerns. The event highlights the increasingly prevalent and often unnoticed use of facial recognition technology in daily life.

(www.gadgetreview.com)

Tech

PostgreSQL's Synchronous Commit: A Performance vs. Durability Trade-off

2025-03-19

PostgreSQL's Synchronous Commit: A Performance vs. Durability Trade-off

This post explores the performance implications of PostgreSQL's `synchronous_commit` setting. Turning it off significantly boosts transaction throughput, reducing I/O and CPU load, but introduces a small risk window for data loss. The author demonstrates a 30% increase in TPS on I/O-constrained systems. The article advocates for a nuanced approach, suggesting adjusting `synchronous_commit` per session, transaction, or operation, with a Ruby on Rails example provided. The author also notes that on Aurora PostgreSQL, setting `synchronous_commit` to `off` yields the greatest performance gains.

(www.shayon.dev)

Development synchronous commit

AGI Bottleneck: Engineering, Not Models

2025-08-24

AGI Bottleneck: Engineering, Not Models

The rapid advancement of large language models seems to have hit a bottleneck. Simply scaling up model size no longer yields significant improvements. The path to artificial general intelligence (AGI) isn't through training larger language models, but through building engineered systems that integrate models, memory, context, and deterministic workflows. The author argues AGI is an engineering problem, not a model training problem, requiring the construction of context management, memory services, deterministic workflows, and specialized models as modular components. The ultimate goal is to achieve true AGI through the synergistic interaction of these components.

(www.vincirufus.com)

AI Systems Engineering

The Rise of Privacy-Friendly European Tech: A Plausible Analytics Deep Dive

2025-03-24

The Rise of Privacy-Friendly European Tech: A Plausible Analytics Deep Dive

Data from Plausible Analytics reveals a surge in demand for privacy-friendly tech tools built in Europe. 2025 saw an 1100% year-over-year traffic increase, reaching nearly 2 million unique visitors. Reddit surpassed Google as the top traffic source, highlighting the active discussion and recommendation of these tools in online communities. The top five categories were email providers, search engines, cloud computing platforms, navigation apps, and web analytics services. Demand extends beyond Europe, with significant interest from the US and other countries. Germany, the Netherlands, and France lead in adoption. The article concludes by highlighting top privacy-focused tools and noting the booming demand for privacy-friendly web analytics.

(plausible.io)

Tech European tech

Accidental Security Bug Discovery: A Right-Click Adventure

2025-03-08

Accidental Security Bug Discovery: A Right-Click Adventure

While configuring a self-service portal, the author, driven by curiosity, modified a supposedly uneditable email field and discovered an SSO vulnerability. This allowed changing the work email to a personal one, bypassing authentication. The vulnerability was reported, and the vendor swiftly fixed it. This highlights how even simple tests can uncover critical security flaws and emphasizes the importance of curiosity and a user-centric approach in software testing.

(mattsayar.com)

Development security bug

Decoding Human Brain Language Activity with Whisper

2025-03-11

Decoding Human Brain Language Activity with Whisper

Researchers used the Whisper model to analyze ECoG and speech signals from four epilepsy patients during natural conversations. Results showed that Whisper's acoustic, speech, and language embeddings accurately predicted neural activity, especially during speech production and comprehension. Speech embeddings excelled in perceptual and motor areas, while language embeddings performed better in higher-level language areas. The study reveals how speech and language information are encoded across multiple brain regions and how speech information influences language processing. It also uncovered distinct temporal dynamics of information flow during speech production and comprehension, and differences between deep learning and symbolic models in predicting neural activity.

(www.nature.com)

AI

GPUPrefixSums: Portable GPU Prefix Sum Library for High-Performance Computing

2025-08-28

GPUPrefixSums: Portable GPU Prefix Sum Library for High-Performance Computing

GPUPrefixSums brings state-of-the-art GPU prefix sum techniques from CUDA to portable compute shaders. It introduces 'Decoupled Fallback,' a novel technique enabling prefix sum calculations even on devices lacking forward thread progress guarantees. The D3D12 implementation includes a comprehensive survey of algorithms, benchmarked against Nvidia's CUB library. Versions are available for Unity and as a barebones testbed. GPUPrefixSums aims to improve efficiency and portability, supporting parallel computing tasks like sorting, compression, and graph traversal.

(github.com)

Development prefix sum

LibreOffice: 200 Million Users and the Endurance of Open-Source Office Suites

2025-03-28

LibreOffice: 200 Million Users and the Endurance of Open-Source Office Suites

While not tracking user data, LibreOffice advocates estimate around 200 million users. Gartner analyst Jason Wong notes continued interest in LibreOffice as a desktop alternative to paid office suites, particularly for clients aiming to maintain on-premises implementations given Microsoft and Google's cloud focus. While cost-effective, LibreOffice requires specialized resources and new skills for maintenance.

(www.computerworld.com)

Development office suite

Three Years, 18 Million Views, and a YouTube Channel Shutdown

2025-02-16

Three Years, 18 Million Views, and a YouTube Channel Shutdown

A food blogger details the bittersweet journey of running a YouTube cooking channel for three years. Despite achieving 18 million views and 231,000 subscribers, the channel ultimately proved unsustainable. The author reveals the high production costs ($3500 per video) significantly outweighed ad revenue, even with brand deals. The post offers a candid look at the financial realities of YouTube, highlighting the challenges creators face in balancing creative passion with economic viability. The blogger is moving on to focus on book writing and podcasting.

(carlalallimusic.substack.com)

Startup food blogger

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

Rediscovering `document.write()`: HTML Templating for Static Sites

2025-08-16

This article explores a clever use of JavaScript's `document.write()` function as a simple HTML templating engine for building static websites. The author demonstrates how to safely use `document.write()` to reuse HTML snippets, avoiding page repaints, resulting in fast and efficient static sites. They share usage tips, caveats, and comparisons with other approaches. While `document.write()` is deprecated, the author argues for its advantages in specific scenarios and provides two safety rules to mitigate potential risks. Alternatives like `document.currentScript.replaceWith()` are also discussed.

(vladimirslepnev.me)

Development HTML Templating Static Sites

Building a WebAssembly VM in C: A Six-Month Side Project Retrospective

2025-02-03

Over six months, the author dedicated their spare time to building a WebAssembly virtual machine in C, called Semblance. This project provided a much-needed break from the cycle of short-lived side projects and allowed for a deep dive into the WebAssembly core specification. The article details the architecture, covering module decoding, import resolution, module instantiation, and instruction execution. The author shares challenges and learnings, culminating in a successful "Hello, World!" execution. This project not only boosted the author's skills but also provided a strong foundation for future contributions to industrial-grade runtimes.

(irreducible.io)

Development

Memes: Poor Images in the Age of High-Resolution Content

2025-06-21

Memes: Poor Images in the Age of High-Resolution Content

This article explores the nature of internet memes and their complex relationship with socio-political and economic structures. Starting with Hito Steyerl's theory of the "poor image," the author argues that memes, as a dominant form of the contemporary poor image, reflect the affective condition of the masses and social reality. The piece critiques the tendency to simplify and personalize cultural phenomena like memes, suggesting this "not that deep" attitude stems from ingrained individualism and anti-intellectualism, hindering systemic critique and solutions to societal problems. The author calls for a critical engagement with cultural trends and collective action to address systemic issues, rather than resorting to individual moral judgment.

(caitlynclark.substack.com)

Misc internet memes cultural criticism

Citizen Lab Exposes Israeli Spyware Maker Paragon's Global Reach

2025-03-22

Citizen Lab Exposes Israeli Spyware Maker Paragon's Global Reach

A new Citizen Lab report reveals that Israeli spyware maker Paragon Solutions, despite claiming to sell only to democracies, has likely sold its Graphite spyware to the governments of Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Israel, and Singapore. The report, based on analysis of server infrastructure and digital certificates, links Paragon to these governments. Paragon's spyware uniquely targets specific apps, making forensic detection harder. Meta confirmed an indicator linked to Paragon mentioned in the report. The findings raise serious concerns about the misuse of commercial spyware and the need for greater government oversight.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech spyware

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

Beyond the '10x Engineer' Myth: Building Great Teams, Not Superstars

2025-06-19

Beyond the '10x Engineer' Myth: Building Great Teams, Not Superstars

This article debunks the '10x engineer' myth, arguing that single metrics for measuring engineer productivity are unreliable and that teams, not individuals, are key to software delivery. The author advocates for building systems that empower average engineers to achieve peak performance. This involves shortening release cycles, simplifying rollback processes, emphasizing observability, investing in internal tooling, and fostering an inclusive team culture. The ultimate goal is to boost overall team efficiency rather than relying on individual heroes, thus enabling sustainable business growth.

(charity.wtf)

Development

arXivLabs: Experimenting with Community Collaboration

2025-06-12

arXivLabs is a framework for collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the arXiv website. Individuals and organizations working with arXivLabs uphold our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only partners with those who share them. Have an idea for a project that will benefit the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

Phaser v4 Beta 5: Million Sprites Rendered with GPU Acceleration

2025-01-31

Phaser v4 Beta 5: Million Sprites Rendered with GPU Acceleration

Phaser 4 engine's Beta 5 release introduces the groundbreaking Sprite GPU Layer game object. This object can effortlessly handle over a million animated sprites on the GPU, dramatically boosting rendering performance. The article showcases its power through several demos, demonstrating its capabilities in handling massive backgrounds, animated characters, and particle effects, such as the 'Big Forest' demo with 1.4 million smoothly animated sprites. While lacking interactivity, its built-in animation features allow for rich visual effects. Beta 5 fixes issues from Beta 4 and marks significant progress towards a February final release.

(phaser.io)

Game GPU Rendering

Simplifying a Haskell Backend with GADTs: A Tale of Two Lambda Box Targets

2025-01-24

Simplifying a Haskell Backend with GADTs: A Tale of Two Lambda Box Targets

This blog post details how the author used Generalized Algebraic Datatypes (GADTs) in Haskell to simplify the development of an Agda compiler backend. Facing the challenge of compiling to two different Lambda Box intermediate language targets (typed and untyped), the author leveraged GADTs and dependent types to elegantly avoid code duplication and enforce type safety. The type system prevents the omission of type information for the typed target. This practical example demonstrates the power of GADTs in everyday programming and showcases how dependent types can help prevent errors, resulting in cleaner, more maintainable code.

(acatalepsie.fr)

Development Dependent Types

No More Clogging: A Revolutionary Fog Harvester Design

2025-06-27

No More Clogging: A Revolutionary Fog Harvester Design

Scientists have developed a novel fog harvester, the 'hybrid harp,' which cleverly uses geometric design instead of chemical coatings to solve the clogging problem common in traditional fog nets. Unlike traditional nets, the hybrid harp uses 3D-printed hydrophobic plastic or uncoated stainless steel wires as 'strings', achieving high efficiency without chemical coatings and allowing for easy scalability. Future applications extend beyond coastal fog harvesting to mitigating safety hazards from fog on roads and airports, and even industrial applications controlling ice fog formation.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech fog harvesting geometric design

Acknowledgements: The People and Resources Behind a Large Research Project

2025-05-27

Acknowledgements: The People and Resources Behind a Large Research Project

This acknowledgement expresses gratitude to the NIH for funding the large research project, and to the numerous individuals involved in the research. The study utilized the Summit supercomputer and the Alpine high-performance computing resource at the University of Colorado Boulder. The acknowledgement clarifies that the content solely reflects the authors' views and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or other funding bodies, and that IRB approval was obtained from the relevant institutions.

(www.nber.org)

Misc research acknowledgements computing resources

Unexpected Keyboard: A Lightweight Virtual Keyboard for Android

2024-12-12

Unexpected Keyboard: A Lightweight Virtual Keyboard for Android

Unexpected Keyboard is a lightweight Android virtual keyboard designed for developers. Its key feature is the ability to input more characters by swiping towards the corners of keys. Originally designed for Termux users, it's now suitable for everyday use. The app is ad-free, makes no network requests, and is open-source. Users can access special symbols by swiping to the corners of keys; for example, swiping to the bottom-left corner opens settings. Similar apps include Calculator++.

(github.com)

Development android keyboard virtual keyboard

Vantage: Making Observability Affordable

2025-02-09

Vantage: Making Observability Affordable

As observability tools become ubiquitous, the cost of monitoring cloud infrastructure is also rising. Vantage, a cloud cost management platform, helps businesses visualize and manage the costs of their observability tools through integration with Grafana Cloud. This article introduces the concept of FinOps and how to apply FinOps to observability, focusing on how Vantage helps users monitor the cost of using Grafana Cloud to optimize spending and achieve sustainable cost control.

(grafana.com)

Tech cloud cost management

YC Startup Craniometrix Seeking Founding Full-Stack Engineer (CTO Track)

2025-01-14

YC Startup Craniometrix Seeking Founding Full-Stack Engineer (CTO Track)

Craniometrix, a Y Combinator-backed startup, is hiring a Founding Full-Stack Engineer (with a path to CTO) to build a one-stop care platform for Alzheimer's patients. With millions in funding and contracts secured, they aim to simplify care for patients and their families. The ideal candidate has 3+ years of software development experience, strong React/TypeScript and Python skills, and familiarity with DevOps and HIPAA compliance. This is a chance to make a real impact on healthcare and potentially become CTO.

(www.ycombinator.com)

Startup Alzheimer's

The Bizarre Venetian Doge Election Ritual: A 500-Year-Old Lottery

2025-05-04

For 500 years, the election of the Doge of Venice was a theatrical spectacle. An official would pray in St. Mark's Basilica, grab a random boy in the piazza, and use him to draw lots for the electoral college, initiating a tortuous and absurd process. From 1268 until the end of the Venetian Republic, the process remained largely unchanged: lots determined 30 electors, then 9, who nominated 40 candidates, each needing at least 7 votes to proceed. This process of lotteries and eliminations continued until a final candidate, with the most endorsements, was chosen as Doge. The system, both ridiculous and profound, stands as a historical oddity.

(www.theballotboy.com)

Misc Venice Doge Election

Railway's Journey: Building a Data Center from Scratch

2025-01-17

Railway's Journey: Building a Data Center from Scratch

Constrained by hyperscaler limitations, Railway embarked on Project Metal, building its own data center in just nine months. The blog post details the entire process, from site selection, power and network infrastructure, to server installation, highlighting challenges and solutions encountered along the way. This included power and network redundancy, rack layout, cable management, and more. The result? A software-defined network and internal tools automating the entire data center build process, from design to deployment.

(blog.railway.com)

Tech

Generating Big Ideas by Flipping Bits in Large Systems

2025-08-03

Generating Big Ideas by Flipping Bits in Large Systems

The author argues that most people lack systems thinking, hindering innovation. The article proposes a 'flip a bit' innovation method: choose a large system (e.g., education, healthcare), invert a core assumption within it, and explore the consequences. For example, what if students graded teachers instead of the other way around? This approach reveals hidden system structures, identifies new leverage points, and sparks unconventional ideas. The author encourages readers to view the world as a systems debugger, finding and exploiting arbitrary points waiting to be 'flipped'.

(opuslabs.substack.com)

Misc systems thinking disruptive thinking

arXivLabs: Experimenting with Community Collaboration

2025-03-15

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Individuals and organizations working with arXivLabs embrace our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners who adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value to arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

Qualcomm Open-Sources EUD: In-Circuit Debugging Over USB

2025-07-01

Qualcomm Open-Sources EUD: In-Circuit Debugging Over USB

Qualcomm quietly released the source code for its Embedded USB Debug (EUD) interface, enabling developers to perform SWD debugging directly over USB without external JTAG tools. EUD, integrated into nearly every Qualcomm SoC since ~2018, provides debugging access to CPUs and Hexagon co-processors. While the initial open-source code had some compilation issues, the community quickly addressed them. Currently supporting chips like Snapdragon 845, 855, and 865, it simplifies debugging U-Boot and the secure world, but kernel debugging support is limited, and SMP support is incomplete.

(www.linaro.org)

Development

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