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Self-Driving Scooter? Omoway's Omo X Redefines Electric Two-Wheelers

2025-07-13

Self-Driving Scooter? Omoway's Omo X Redefines Electric Two-Wheelers

Omoway, founded by ex-Xpeng executives, launched the Omo X, an electric scooter boasting automotive-grade autonomous features. The Omo X, showcased in Jakarta, autonomously drove onto the stage using its "Halo Pilot" system, which includes adaptive cruise control, remote summoning, self-parking, and automatic reversing. Beyond autonomous driving, it features collision warning, emergency brake assist, blind-spot monitoring, and V2V communication. Its modular frame adapts to various riding styles. Launching in early 2026 at approximately €3,500, it targets a market above entry-level but below premium e-scooters. While innovative, its success hinges on balancing advanced tech with the affordability and practicality prioritized in key markets like Indonesia, where it's initially launching.

(electrek.co)

Tech Electric Scooter

Pandoc: A Surprisingly Effective LaTeX to MathML Converter

2025-05-03

Pandoc: A Surprisingly Effective LaTeX to MathML Converter

The author explores various methods for converting LaTeX equations to MathML, ultimately finding Pandoc to be the most efficient. Pandoc effortlessly handles both single-line and multi-line equations, including complex matrices and piecewise functions. While a minor bug was discovered in Pandoc's handling of equations involving limits and summations, its overall performance is excellent. A Python script is provided to clean up Pandoc's output MathML for improved efficiency.

(leancrew.com)

Development

Java to Strengthen Immutability of Final Fields

2025-03-31

To enhance the safety and performance of Java programs, the JDK plans to strengthen the immutability of final fields. Currently, deep reflection can modify final fields, which violates the original intention of the final keyword and limits JVM optimization. Future releases will default to prohibiting deep reflection from modifying final fields and will issue warnings. Developers can selectively enable modification of final fields using the `--enable-final-field-mutation` option, but it is recommended to avoid it as much as possible. This move aims to improve Java's "security by default" feature and maintain consistency with the design of record classes.

(openjdk.org)

Development final fields deep reflection

Cartel Hacks FBI Agent's Phone: Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance Poses Existential Threat

2025-07-01

Cartel Hacks FBI Agent's Phone: Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance Poses Existential Threat

The Sinaloa drug cartel hacked the phone of an FBI official investigating El Chapo, accessing call logs, geolocation data, and even using Mexico City's camera system to track the agent's movements. A Justice Department report reveals this as an example of the growing threat of "ubiquitous technical surveillance" (UTS), exacerbated by readily available hacking and surveillance tools. This poses an "existential" threat to law enforcement, as highlighted by the report which details another case where an organized crime boss searched an employee's phone records to identify potential informants. The sophistication of these attacks and ease of access to tools make this an increasingly dangerous trend.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech technical surveillance

RIP Blue Screen of Death: Windows 11 Gets a Black Screen of Death

2025-06-27

RIP Blue Screen of Death: Windows 11 Gets a Black Screen of Death

The iconic Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), a Windows staple for nearly 40 years, is getting a makeover. Microsoft is replacing it with a Black Screen of Death in Windows 11, simplifying the design and removing the blue color, frowning face, and QR code. The new screen will clearly display the stop code and faulty driver, making troubleshooting easier for both users and IT admins. This change, part of a broader effort to improve Windows resilience following last year's CrowdStrike incident, will roll out later this summer alongside a new Quick Machine Recovery feature.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech System Stability

Sample Size in Baseball: How Much Data is Enough?

2025-04-04

Sample Size in Baseball: How Much Data is Enough?

A baseball season is a collection of countless small events, each pitch contributing to the final outcome. Evaluating player performance requires a substantial amount of data, but the key is understanding which data points are meaningful. This article explores the issue of sample size in baseball statistics, explaining why a single at-bat isn't enough to judge a player's skill and why more data is needed to cancel out randomness. It highlights that different statistics require different sample sizes to 'stabilize,' for example, strikeout rate needs a smaller sample than BABIP. The author stresses the importance of sample size to avoid jumping to conclusions based on limited data.

(library.fangraphs.com)

Game baseball analytics sample size data stability

Stop Shipping PNGs as Game Textures!

2025-09-07

Stop Shipping PNGs as Game Textures!

Still using PNGs for game textures? This post explains why that's suboptimal and introduces a better approach. While PNGs are great for interchange, they weren't designed for texture data and lack support for GPU-compatible texture compression (like BCn), leading to slow loading times and high VRAM usage. The author advocates for texture formats like KTX2 or DDS, providing an open-source tool, Zex, to convert PNGs to KTX2 with BC7 compression and zlib supercompression. Tips on pregenerating mipmaps and automating the conversion process are also shared, along with a recommendation to use Tacentview for viewing texture formats.

(gamesbymason.com)

Development Texture Compression

Mozilla to Shut Down Pocket Read-It-Later Service in 2025

2025-05-22

Mozilla to Shut Down Pocket Read-It-Later Service in 2025

Mozilla announced it will shut down its popular read-it-later service, Pocket, on July 8, 2025, disappointing longtime users. While users can continue saving and reading until July, the service will become export-only afterward, with all data permanently deleted on October 8. Mozilla cites changes in how people consume content and a desire to focus resources on tools aligning with modern online habits. Premium subscribers will receive refunds. A portion of Pocket's functionality will live on as the "Ten Tabs" newsletter.

(betanews.com)

Tech Read-it-later

ChatGPT's AI Image Generator Sparks Copyright Debate

2025-03-27

ChatGPT's AI Image Generator Sparks Copyright Debate

ChatGPT's new AI image generator has gone viral, with users creating Studio Ghibli-style images and sparking a copyright debate. The tool can mimic the styles of specific studios, like Studio Ghibli, even transforming uploaded images into the chosen style. This functionality, similar to Google Gemini's AI image feature, raises concerns about copyright infringement, as it easily recreates the styles of copyrighted works. While legal experts argue that style itself isn't copyrighted, the datasets used to train the model may be problematic, leaving the issue in a legal gray area. OpenAI stated it allows mimicking broad styles, not individual artists', but this doesn't fully resolve the controversy.

(techcrunch.com)

AI copyright debate

Air Pollution During Pregnancy Linked to Increased Postpartum Depression Risk

2025-03-28

Air Pollution During Pregnancy Linked to Increased Postpartum Depression Risk

A new study reveals a significant link between exposure to high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and PM10 particulate matter during pregnancy and an increased risk of postpartum depression. Researchers at the University of California followed 361 low-income Hispanic/Latina women in Los Angeles for three years. Women exposed to high levels of NO2 or PM10 during their second trimester were nearly four times more likely to develop postpartum depression compared to those with lower exposure. The study highlights the importance of reducing air pollution exposure during pregnancy, especially during the second trimester, and underscores the need for mitigating traffic emissions.

(www.bps.org.uk)

Tech Air Pollution Postpartum Depression Pregnancy Health

Swiss e-ID Referendum Headed to Ballot Box After Signature Verification

2025-05-08

Swiss e-ID Referendum Headed to Ballot Box After Signature Verification

Switzerland's e-ID law, aimed at simplifying online government services, will face a referendum after enough valid signatures were collected by opponents. The Federal Chancellery confirmed 55,344 of the 55,683 submitted signatures were valid, triggering a public vote. The referendum, fueled by concerns over data privacy and security, was supported by various groups including the youth wing of the Swiss People's Party and a faction of the Pirate Party. A physical altercation during signature submission highlights the passionate debate surrounding the legislation. The outcome will significantly impact Switzerland's digital identity strategy.

(www.swissinfo.ch)

Tech Swiss referendum

UK Tech Jobs Soar, but London's AI Dominance Highlights Regional Divide

2025-06-06

UK Tech Jobs Soar, but London's AI Dominance Highlights Regional Divide

Accenture research reveals a 21 percent surge in UK tech vacancies, reaching pre-pandemic highs. AI job postings nearly doubled year-over-year, with London accounting for 80 percent. While the UK saw a 53 percent increase in individuals reporting tech skills (1.69 million), a significant regional disparity exists. London-based companies plan to allocate 20 percent of their tech budgets to AI, compared to just 13 percent in regions like North East England, Scotland, and Wales. This highlights the UK's AI opportunity alongside a concerning digital divide, threatening long-term competitiveness unless regional talent and infrastructure gaps are addressed.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech AI talent regional development

Large Reasoning Models: Collapse and Counterintuitive Scaling

2025-06-08

Large Reasoning Models: Collapse and Counterintuitive Scaling

Recent Large Language Models (LLMs) have spawned Large Reasoning Models (LRMs), generating detailed reasoning traces before providing answers. While showing improvement on reasoning benchmarks, their fundamental capabilities remain poorly understood. This work investigates LRMs using controllable puzzle environments, revealing a complete accuracy collapse beyond a certain complexity threshold. Surprisingly, reasoning effort increases with complexity, then declines despite sufficient token budget. Compared to standard LLMs, three regimes emerged: (1) low-complexity tasks where standard LLMs outperform LRMs, (2) medium-complexity tasks where LRMs show an advantage, and (3) high-complexity tasks where both fail. LRMs exhibit limitations in exact computation, failing to use explicit algorithms and reasoning inconsistently. This study highlights the strengths, limitations, and crucial questions surrounding the true reasoning capabilities of LRMs.

(machinelearning.apple.com)

AI

The Enduring Appeal of Tiny Laptops: A 17-Year Retrospective

2025-03-17

The Enduring Appeal of Tiny Laptops: A 17-Year Retrospective

Seventeen years ago, Steve Jobs unveiled the first Macbook Air, a revolutionary device compared to the bulky netbooks of the time. The author reminisces about their Lenovo IdeaPad S10e and expresses a continued yearning for small, lightweight laptops. Despite advancements in hardware, the author believes an A4-sized Macbook Air or Macbook Mini, paired with a powerful home server, represents the ideal remote work solution. Portability and remote work are the future.

(gokmengorgen.net)

Tech lightweight laptops

IPv6's Failure: A 30-Year Retrospective

2025-03-21

This article reflects on the 30-year journey of IPv6, from its initial design principles to its current practical applications, delving into the reasons why IPv6 failed to replace IPv4. The author points out that IPv6, in its initial design to simplify the transition, added new features that led to complexity. For example, extension headers are difficult to parse, and the multi-addressing mechanism has increased the difficulty of implementation and deployment. The author argues that there were key mistakes in the IPv6 design, such as the use of 128-bit addresses, inclusion of fragmentation handling and extension headers. Ultimately, these problems led to IPv6 deployment and adoption being far lower than expected, and in some ways inferior to IPv4.

(ipv6.hanazo.no)

Tech networking protocols

Recovering from Accidental Deletion of /lib on Linux

2025-03-22

This post details how to recover a Linux system after accidentally deleting the crucial `/lib` directory. The author explores several methods, from leveraging existing tools like a static busybox to creating and transferring a minimal, statically compiled C program to replace essential files. The step-by-step guide covers techniques using bash built-ins and network transfers, providing a solution to avoid reinstalling the OS.

(tinyhack.com)

Development system recovery troubleshooting

WebAssembly and DOM Support: The Future of Glue Code

2025-07-23

The question of whether WebAssembly (Wasm) is truly production-ready for web applications, given its need to integrate with web pages and APIs like the DOM, is addressed. The article argues that direct DOM access in Wasm isn't necessary; existing JavaScript APIs and compiler-generated glue code provide seamless integration. While a mechanism for directly calling web APIs might be added in the future, it would require significant effort. Currently, Wasm leverages JavaScript function imports (e.g., `console.log`) and cleverly uses JavaScript object array indices to manage object references, enabling flexible interaction with JavaScript. This approach, while not purely Wasm, effectively boosts performance. Ongoing improvements in exception handling, blocking I/O, and garbage collection are further optimizing Wasm-JavaScript integration efficiency. The author concludes that Wasm's focus should be on improving program performance, not eliminating JavaScript entirely. The future of WebAssembly involves refining the component model and toolchains to enhance interoperability with JavaScript without sacrificing performance or code size.

(queue.acm.org)

Development

Superman Soars to Record-Breaking Box Office Debut

2025-07-13

Superman Soars to Record-Breaking Box Office Debut

James Gunn's Superman is on track for a record-breaking domestic box office opening, projected between $115 million and $120 million, following a stellar Friday with $56.5 million, including $22.5 million in previews. The film's success marks a significant reboot for DC Studios and its flagship franchise. The international launch is also exceeding expectations, adding to a strong global opening weekend exceeding $96.5 million. This marks a significant win for DC and a potential turning point for the superhero genre, which has faced recent struggles with 'superhero fatigue'.

(uk.news.yahoo.com)

Game

Anduril Banned from Discourse Recruiting: Weapon Maker Sparks Controversy

2025-04-04

Anduril Banned from Discourse Recruiting: Weapon Maker Sparks Controversy

A job posting from Anduril, a weapons manufacturer, on the Discourse forum ignited a firestorm of controversy. Users criticized Anduril's involvement in creating weapons of war and questioned its company culture. An Anduril employee attempted to address concerns about Nix/NixOS usage, non-compete agreements, and open-source opportunities, but the controversy escalated. Discourse's moderation team ultimately banned Anduril from posting future job openings on the platform to resolve the ongoing community dispute.

(discourse.nixos.org)

Tech defense contractor recruiting controversy

Ubicloud's Burstable VMs: CPU Slicing with cgroups v2

2025-05-02

Ubicloud's Burstable VMs: CPU Slicing with cgroups v2

Ubicloud, an open-source AWS alternative, introduced burstable VMs to reduce cloud costs. Leveraging Linux cgroups v2, these VMs run on a fraction of shared CPU resources, bursting to higher usage during peak loads. The article details cgroups v2 configuration and usage, including the cpuset and cpu controllers, and management via the virtual filesystem or systemd. Testing showed burstable VMs achieve around a 30% performance boost under light loads, but this is limited by cgroups v2's micro-interval restrictions.

(www.ubicloud.com)

Development burstable VMs

Infinite Mac Now Runs Early Mac OS X!

2025-06-20

Infinite Mac Now Runs Early Mac OS X!

Infinite Mac, a web-based emulator, now boasts compatibility with early versions of Mac OS X, with 10.1 and 10.3 showing the best performance. While not blazing fast, the developer notes that it's comparable to the experience on original hardware. The project involved porting the PearPC emulator to WebAssembly, overcoming numerous hurdles including legacy C++ code and performance optimizations. The updated Infinite HD also includes a curated selection of indie software from the era.

(blog.persistent.info)

Tech web emulator retro software

Voyager Probes: Breaking Through the Solar System's Firewall

2025-06-23

Voyager Probes: Breaking Through the Solar System's Firewall

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 have journeyed for decades, eventually breaching the Solar System's 'firewall' – the heliopause. Temperatures there reach 30,000-50,000 Kelvin, yet the probes survived due to the low particle density. Data confirms the heliopause isn't a rigid boundary, shifting with solar activity. Surprisingly, the magnetic field beyond is parallel to the inner heliosphere's field, a discovery defying prior assumptions. Voyagers continue transmitting invaluable data, offering unprecedented insights into interstellar space.

(www.iflscience.com)

Tech Voyager probes Heliopause Interstellar space

The Tech Industry's Inclusion Illusion: A Schizoaffective Programmer's Story

2025-08-28

The Tech Industry's Inclusion Illusion: A Schizoaffective Programmer's Story

A programmer with schizoaffective disorder recounts their experience of being systematically excluded from over 20 tech companies over the past few years, each time after disclosing their mental health condition. This powerful essay details the systemic discrimination faced in healthcare, the workplace, and personal relationships, exposing the gap between tech companies' performative diversity initiatives and the reality of supporting employees with severe mental illnesses. The author calls for genuine inclusion across healthcare, professional environments, communities, and personal relationships, moving beyond superficial awareness.

(kennethreitz.org)

Tech workplace discrimination

500 Years of Betting on Papal Conclaves: From Secret Wagers to the Internet Age

2025-02-27

500 Years of Betting on Papal Conclaves: From Secret Wagers to the Internet Age

Since the 16th century, papal elections have been the focus of secretive gambling. From the Republic of Venice banning bets on the Pope's lifespan to Roman bankers openly offering odds, and Gregory XIV declaring betting on papal elections heretical, this centuries-long gambling saga has been turbulent. In the modern era, the internet has revived papal election gambling, although it remains illegal in places like the United States, the legal lines are increasingly blurred. This article reviews this unique gambling phenomenon spanning five centuries, from early secret transactions to modern online betting, showcasing the interplay of power, faith, and money.

(en.wikipedia.org)

Misc Papal Elections Gambling History Religion and Politics

Blemmyes: Headless Wonders of Ancient Lore

2025-07-02

Blemmyes: Headless Wonders of Ancient Lore

Despite their fictional nature, the headless Blemmyes have become a staple in bestiaries and travelogues, appearing as early as the late tenth-century Marvels of the East. Depictions often portray them in a state of bewildered confusion, their absence of a neck a source of both fascination and amusement. These illustrations frequently pair Blemmyes with equally bizarre companions: a headless archer targeting a trumpet-playing merman, a Blemmye frolicking with a dog-headed friend and an elephant-trunked man, or a Blemmye regretting a wish granted—a head grafted from an angry swan. Sometimes terrifying, wielding clubs and crossbows, other times unexpectedly cute, as seen in a sixteenth-century illustration where an orange Blemmye seems embarrassed by dancing bipedal jackals above where its head should be.

(publicdomainreview.org)

Misc Ancient Lore Mythical Creatures

Tailwind CSS 4 and the FOMO Trap: A Developer's Cautionary Tale

2025-04-07

This article recounts the author's frustrating experience with Tailwind CSS 4, which relies on Bun.js and crashed on their older Mac Pro due to a lack of AVX2 instructions. Debugging this issue consumed several days, forcing the author to buy a new machine and abandon Tailwind CSS 4. The author reflects on the tech industry's 'fear of missing out' (FOMO) and the pitfalls of blindly chasing new technologies. The experience highlighted the importance of careful technology selection, prioritizing personal needs and project realities, rather than being swept along by trends.

(blog.julik.nl)

Development

Chomsky Slams AI Hype: LLMs Fail to Understand Language

2025-05-25

Noam Chomsky, in a recent interview, critiques the current hype surrounding AI, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs). He argues that while LLMs show progress in mimicking human behavior, they are fundamentally engineering projects, not scientific endeavors, failing to grasp the essence of language. Chomsky points out that LLMs cannot distinguish between possible and impossible languages, preventing them from truly understanding language acquisition and cognition. He emphasizes the importance of scientific methodology and warns of potential ethical risks and societal dangers posed by AI, urging caution in its development.

(chomsky.info)

AI Noam Chomsky

Oregon's Exploding Whale: A 54-Year-Old Viral Sensation

2025-03-18

Oregon's Exploding Whale: A 54-Year-Old Viral Sensation

Fifty-four years ago, on November 12, 1970, Oregon made headlines with a bizarre event: the dynamiting of a dead whale on a Florence beach. The resulting spectacle, captured live on KATU news, showered onlookers with whale parts and became an instant viral sensation (long before the internet!). Today, the 'Exploding Whale' remains a beloved, memetic legend, celebrated annually with festivals, themed merchandise, and even a baseball team tribute. While the method of whale disposal has since changed, the story of the exploding whale continues to entertain and fascinate.

(katu.com)

Misc Exploding Whale Oregon Viral Story

Rivian Sues Ohio Over Direct-to-Consumer EV Sales Ban

2025-08-05

Rivian Sues Ohio Over Direct-to-Consumer EV Sales Ban

EV maker Rivian is suing Ohio, challenging the state's ban on direct-to-consumer vehicle sales. Rivian argues the law stifles competition, harms consumers, and points to Tesla's exemption. This is the latest chapter in the ongoing battle between emerging automakers and powerful dealership lobbies. Rivian seeks a license to sell EVs directly in Ohio.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech Direct Sales

AI Productivity Revolution: Hype or Reality?

2025-05-29

AI Productivity Revolution: Hype or Reality?

Despite the hype surrounding generative AI's productivity revolution from tech leaders and media, economic theory and data cast doubt. While AI holds potential in automating tasks and boosting productivity in some occupations, its impact on overall economic growth may be far less than optimistic forecasts suggest. Studies show current AI yields average labor cost savings of only 27% and affects approximately 4.6% of tasks. This translates to a mere 0.66% TFP growth over ten years, potentially lower considering some tasks' automation difficulties. While AI might not exacerbate inequality, some groups will still be negatively impacted. A cautious optimism regarding AI's potential is warranted, avoiding uncritical techno-optimism and focusing on broader societal impacts.

(www.project-syndicate.org)

AI

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