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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

Bloom Filters: A Probabilistic Data Structure for Efficient Set Membership

2025-06-29

Bloom filters are probabilistic data structures designed for rapid and memory-efficient set membership testing. They use multiple hash functions to map elements to bits in a bit vector. If all corresponding bits are 1, the element *may* be present; otherwise, it's definitely absent. While prone to false positives, their speed and space efficiency make them ideal for large datasets. This article details Bloom filter principles, hash function selection, sizing, applications, and implementation examples across various systems.

(llimllib.github.io)

Development

Steam PayPal Payments Disrupted: Valve Explains Why

2025-08-15

Steam PayPal Payments Disrupted: Valve Explains Why

Steam users in certain regions have experienced disruptions to PayPal payments. Valve has attributed this to a payment processing bank abruptly terminating support for Steam transactions, affecting users paying in currencies other than EUR, CAD, GBP, JPY, AUD, and USD. Valve is working on a solution and suggests alternative payment methods. The issue may be linked to Valve's recent adult content policy changes, though a direct connection remains unconfirmed.

(www.rockpapershotgun.com)

Game Payment Disruption

OpenEuroLLM: Europe's Push for Open-Source Multilingual LLMs

2025-02-03

A consortium of 20 leading European research institutions and companies has launched OpenEuroLLM, a project to build a family of high-performance, multilingual large language models (LLMs). The initiative aims to boost Europe's AI competitiveness by democratizing access to high-quality AI technology through open-source principles. This will empower European companies and public organizations to develop impactful products and services. OpenEuroLLM operates within Europe's regulatory framework and collaborates with open-source communities to ensure complete openness of models, software, data, and evaluation, catering to diverse industry and public sector needs while preserving linguistic and cultural diversity.

(openeurollm.eu)

AI

SGS-1: A Groundbreaking AI Model for Generating Manufacturable 3D CAD Geometry

2025-09-21

SGS-1: A Groundbreaking AI Model for Generating Manufacturable 3D CAD Geometry

Introducing SGS-1, a revolutionary AI model capable of generating fully manufacturable and parametric 3D geometry from images or 3D meshes. Unlike previous generative models, SGS-1 outputs accurate CAD models (STEP format) easily editable in traditional CAD software. It excels at handling medium to high complexity parametric geometries, even designing engineering parts like brackets for roller assemblies based on partial context and text descriptions. Benchmarked against state-of-the-art models, SGS-1 demonstrates superior performance in generating usable and accurate 3D models, promising a transformative impact on engineering design.

(www.spectrallabs.ai)

AI

Remote Code Execution on a Synth via MIDI Shellcode: Bad Apple on an LCD

2025-01-05

A hacker achieved remote code execution on a Yamaha PSR-E433 synthesizer using its MIDI interface. Through reverse engineering, they created a shell accessible via MIDI SysEx messages. This shell allowed them to manipulate the synth's memory, ultimately resulting in a Bad Apple video playing on its LCD screen. The project involved intricate JTAG debugging, firmware analysis, ARM assembly programming, and clever memory manipulation techniques. This impressive feat showcases a deep understanding of embedded systems reverse engineering.

(psi3.ru)

Tech

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

MIT Study: AI Chatbots Reduce Brain Activity, Impair Fact Retention

2025-06-19

MIT Study: AI Chatbots Reduce Brain Activity, Impair Fact Retention

A new preprint study from MIT reveals that using AI chatbots to complete tasks actually reduces brain activity and may lead to poorer fact retention. Researchers had three groups of students write essays: one without assistance, one using a search engine, and one using GPT-4. The LLM group showed the weakest brain activity and worst knowledge retention, performing poorly on subsequent tests. The study suggests that early reliance on AI may lead to shallow encoding and impaired learning, recommending delaying AI integration until sufficient self-driven cognitive effort has occurred.

(www.theregister.com)

AI Brain Activity

Learn Galois Fields for Great Good! (Part 00)

2025-06-21

This series provides a gentle introduction to Abstract Algebra, focusing on Galois Fields (finite fields) and their applications in computer science. The author addresses the lack of accessible resources for computer scientists, offering a step-by-step approach with practical Rust code examples. Topics covered will include Reed-Solomon codes, AES encryption, and more. The focus is on understandability, not optimization, making it ideal for those new to the subject.

(xorvoid.com)

Development Abstract Algebra Galois Fields

Amazon's AI Crawler DDoSing My Git Server

2025-01-18

Blogger Xe Iaso's Git server (gitea.xeserv.us) is under attack from Amazon's AI crawler, causing instability. Despite attempts to block the crawler using robots.txt and nginx configuration to filter specific user agents, the attacks continue with constantly changing IPs and spoofed user agents. As a last resort, the server was moved behind a VPN, and a proof-of-work reverse proxy is being developed for future protection. The post expresses frustration and anger at the resource consumption by the Amazon AI crawler, urging Amazon to stop the attacks or negotiate a solution.

(xeiaso.net)

Development AI crawler server attack resource exhaustion

Spotify's Pirate Secret: From P2P to Streaming Giant

2025-02-28

Spotify's success story has a little-known secret: in its early beta phase, it used unlicensed MP3s from pirate sites like The Pirate Bay! Rasmus Fleischer, a former member of The Pirate Bay, reveals that Spotify's beta was essentially a "pirate service," leveraging unlicensed music from employees' hard drives to launch the platform. This, combined with Spotify's P2P technology and its free, ad-supported model, successfully attracted millions of former pirates. This revelation highlights Spotify's shrewd early strategy and its complex relationship with the piracy wave.

(torrentfreak.com)

Tech

UK Courts Grapple with AI-Generated Fake Cases

2025-06-08

UK Courts Grapple with AI-Generated Fake Cases

Two cases in England have highlighted the misuse of AI by lawyers, leading to the citation of fabricated legal precedents. In one instance, 18 non-existent cases were cited in a £90 million lawsuit; another involved five fake cases in a housing claim. Judges warned that lawyers must verify the accuracy of AI-generated research, or face prosecution for contempt of court, or even, in severe cases, perverting the course of justice, a crime carrying a life sentence. While the lawyers involved were referred to their professional regulators, the incidents underscore the need for regulatory frameworks to address the risks and opportunities of AI in the legal field, ensuring public confidence in the justice system.

(apnews.com)

Misc

StarGuard: Trust Scores for GitHub Repositories

2025-05-12

StarGuard: Trust Scores for GitHub Repositories

StarGuard is a CLI tool designed to detect fake star campaigns, dependency hijacking, license red flags, and other indicators of open-source risk on GitHub. By analyzing stars, dependencies, licenses, maintainers, and code, it generates a trust score, enabling CTOs, security teams, and VCs to quickly assess open-source risks. StarGuard outputs JSON, Markdown, and plain text reports, along with star history plots and shields.io badges.

(github.com)

Development

Leverage Arbitrage Divergence: How Fast Actors Outpace Slow Systems

2025-07-29

Leverage Arbitrage Divergence: How Fast Actors Outpace Slow Systems

This article explores the growing gap between the speed at which actors with different types of leverage (labor, capital, code) can change the world. Tech companies, wielding code leverage, rapidly alter societal norms, while slower-moving institutions struggle to adapt. This 'leverage arbitrage' leads to the over-exploitation of societal commons—democratic norms, social trust—and ultimately threatens civilizational stability. The solution, the author argues, lies in 'leverage literacy,' fostering organizations and decision-making processes that account for the diverse speeds of power dynamics to create a sustainable future.

(tushardadlani.com)

Tech leverage arbitrage institutional inertia

Saying Goodbye to Gmail: My Privacy-Focused Email Migration

2025-08-23

After years of using Gmail, I decided to switch to a more privacy-respecting email provider, Mailbox.org, prioritizing my data security. I chose Mailbox.org for its integrated PGP encryption and compatibility with my preferred Apple Mail app. The migration process, using the imapsync tool, took several hours but successfully transferred 2.14GB of emails. While slightly complex, the effort was well worth it for enhanced privacy.

(giuliomagnifico.blog)

Misc PGP encryption

BSSG: A Decade-Long Bash Static Site Generator Goes Open Source

2025-04-30

BSSG: A Decade-Long Bash Static Site Generator Goes Open Source

The author, a long-time website owner since the late 90s, journeyed through various website creation methods—from hand-coding HTML to using WYSIWYG editors and dynamic CMS like WordPress. Frustrated by the constant security updates and maintenance of dynamic CMS, they embraced static site generators. After experimenting with bashblog, Pelican, and Nikola (for which they even created a Docker container), they developed their own Bash Static Site Generator (BSSG) in 2015. Over time, BSSG evolved, incorporating features like theming, archiving, and tagging. Its strengths lie in its lightweight nature, portability, high performance, high accessibility scores, Markdown support, and a variety of themes. While acknowledging imperfections in the code, the author releases BSSG open-source, hoping it benefits those seeking a low-maintenance alternative to dynamic CMS.

(it-notes.dragas.net)

Development

Google Earth Turns 20: Time Travel Feature Arrives

2025-06-25

Google Earth Turns 20: Time Travel Feature Arrives

Google Earth is celebrating its 20th anniversary with exciting updates. Users can now 'time travel' with integrated historical Street View imagery, revisiting locations as they appeared in the past. Pro users will also gain access to new AI-driven insights. Inspired by a social media trend of sharing historical location images, this update adds historical Street View images to Google Earth and enhances its 3D timelapse feature, showcasing how areas have changed over time. From its clunky desktop beginnings to its web, mobile, and Pro desktop applications today, Google Earth has come a long way.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Street View

arXivLabs: Experimental Projects with Community Collaborators

2025-07-02

arXivLabs is a framework that lets collaborators 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 share them. Have an idea for a project that will benefit the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

(arxiv.org)

Development

Website Privacy Policy and Cookie Usage

2025-07-23

This website uses technologies like cookies to store and access device information for optimal user experience. Consent allows processing data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs. Withdrawing consent may affect features and functions. The website details the purposes of different types of technical storage or access, including necessary storage, storage for preferences, storage for statistical purposes, and storage for creating user profiles to deliver ads.

(i4is.org)

Misc

China's Record Solar Power Installation in May, But Slowdown Looms

2025-06-24

China's Record Solar Power Installation in May, But Slowdown Looms

China installed a record-breaking 93 gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity in May, surpassing the total solar capacity added by any other country in 2024. However, new government policies, including the removal of pricing protections for solar projects and stricter grid connection rules for rooftop panels, are expected to significantly slow growth this summer. This slowdown could further impact Chinese solar manufacturers already struggling with overcapacity and price wars, leading to losses reported by many top producers in Q1 2025.

(oilprice.com)

Tech China Energy Policy Changes

Claude Code: My AI-Powered Terminal Assistant Saves Me an Hour a Day

2025-06-03

Claude Code: My AI-Powered Terminal Assistant Saves Me an Hour a Day

For two months, I've run Claude Code in "dangerously-skip-permissions" mode on macOS, bypassing all permission prompts. While risky (I use robust backups), it's saved me about an hour daily. Claude Code isn't just a smarter command line; it's a universal computer interface. I use it for everything from migrating Macs and converting blog posts to generating test data, managing Git, and automating system tasks. Its command-line-first design and ability to understand context make it highly efficient, though response time can be a limitation. Unlike Warp, Claude's "dangerous mode" allows for continuous workflow without constant permission requests. This represents a paradigm shift in developer tools – from command execution to intent understanding and action. It's not about AI replacing developers, but about developers becoming orchestrators of powerful systems.

(steipete.me)

Development

Athena Moon Lander's Demise and the Lessons Learned

2025-03-15

Athena Moon Lander's Demise and the Lessons Learned

Intuitive Machines' second lunar lander, Athena, tipped over during its March 6th landing near the moon's south pole, prematurely ending its mission. Despite the setback, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured images of Athena and its landing site, providing valuable data for future missions. While the mission was unsuccessful in its primary goals, the attempt in the harsh polar environment offers insights paving the way for future exploration of the region, particularly in the search for water ice.

(www.space.com)

Tech lander

Listening to the Baltic States' Grid Switch with an Audio Cable

2025-07-12

Over the weekend of February 8th, 2025, the Baltic states' electricity grid switched from the Russian grid to the continental European grid. The author, inspired by a curious idea, used a PC's audio input and a simple audio cable as a makeshift sensor. By employing an FFT algorithm to analyze the 50Hz frequency component in the audio signal, they successfully monitored the grid synchronization process. Despite the unconventional approach, the results were surprisingly accurate, closely matching professional monitoring data, demonstrating a creative solution to a unique problem.

(halcy.de)

Tech grid synchronization

Russia Engulfed in Hundreds of Arson Attacks: A Calculated Campaign of Psychological Warfare?

2025-01-14

Russia Engulfed in Hundreds of Arson Attacks: A Calculated Campaign of Psychological Warfare?

Hundreds of arson attacks have swept across Russia, targeting banks, post offices, and police cars. The Kremlin attributes this to a campaign of psychological warfare aimed at destabilizing the country. However, some cases present puzzling details. An elderly man arrested for setting fire to an ATM claimed he was acting under the instructions of unidentified telephone scammers. These incidents raise questions about the perpetrators and their motives, highlighting potential vulnerabilities within Russian society.

(www.economist.com)

Tech Russian Arson Attacks Psychological Warfare Social Instability

Water-Walking Robot Inspired by Ripple Bugs

2025-09-07

Water-Walking Robot Inspired by Ripple Bugs

Scientists have created a tiny robot called Rhagobot, inspired by Rhagovelia water striders (also known as ripple bugs). These semiaquatic insects glide effortlessly across water thanks to unique fan-like appendages on their middle legs. Rhagobot mimics this adaptation, using passively morphing structures that adjust to water flow for propulsion. The five-year study, published in Science, reveals the previously unknown intricate structure of the water strider's legs and provides insights into developing self-morphing artificial propellers for semi-aquatic robots.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech water striders

Trump Admin Dismantles US Defenses Against Foreign Interference

2025-02-21

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has rapidly dismantled a decade-long effort by US government agencies, tech companies, and civil society organizations to build a comprehensive shield against foreign interference in American politics. Driven by transparently political motives, the move offers little justification beyond a desire for retribution. This not only weakens America's defenses but also signals to adversaries that the current leadership prioritizes appeasing a political base over national security. Key agencies like the State Department's Global Engagement Center, the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, and elements of CISA have been gutted or sidelined. This represents a significant blow to American democracy and could have profound implications for future elections.

(www.lawfaremedia.org)

Tech foreign interference

50-Year-Old Math Conjecture Finally Proven: The McKay Conjecture

2025-02-20

50-Year-Old Math Conjecture Finally Proven: The McKay Conjecture

The McKay Conjecture, a mathematical problem posed in the 1970s concerning finite groups and their Sylow normalizers, has finally been proven by Britta Späth and Michel Cabanes. The conjecture states that a crucial quantity for a finite group is equal to the same quantity for its Sylow normalizer (a much smaller subgroup). This proof, decades in the making, builds upon over a century of work classifying finite groups and involves deep insights into the representation theory of Lie-type groups. It's a monumental achievement in mathematics, simplifying group theory research and potentially leading to practical applications.

(www.quantamagazine.org)

Misc Conjecture Group Theory

Canon Rides the TikTok Digicam Wave with Pricey, Downgraded PowerShot Elph 360 HS A

2025-09-10

Canon Rides the TikTok Digicam Wave with Pricey, Downgraded PowerShot Elph 360 HS A

Canon is capitalizing on TikTok's resurgence of point-and-shoot cameras by re-releasing the mid-2010s PowerShot Elph 360 HS A. While largely the same as the original 2016 model, now favored by celebrities, the 'A' version boasts a price hike from $210 to $379, along with downgrades: microSD card support instead of full-size SD, and the removal of Wi-Fi transfer and printing capabilities. Despite the increased price and reduced features, Canon hopes to ride the wave of popularity among younger users. However, the success hinges on whether demand will persist if the camera becomes readily available, losing its scarcity value.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech point-and-shoot camera

Age Verification: A Failure by Design?

2025-09-05

This article argues that mandatory online age verification (AV) is a catastrophic failure. Instead of protecting children, AV drives users to unregulated and potentially dangerous platforms, harming legitimate content creators and exacerbating inequality within the adult industry. The author contends that AV is a thinly veiled attack on pornography, fueled by anti-porn activists, opportunistic politicians, and sensationalist media coverage. A device-level parental control approach is proposed as a far more effective solution.

(pornbiz.com)

Misc adult websites

Anthropic's Claude Code SDK: Powering AI-Driven Coding Assistants

2025-05-19

Anthropic has released the Claude Code SDK, enabling developers to integrate Claude Code into their applications and build AI-powered coding assistants. The SDK currently supports command-line usage, with TypeScript and Python SDKs coming soon. It offers features like multi-turn conversations, custom system prompts, and MCP configuration for extending functionality via external servers. The SDK provides text, JSON, and streaming JSON output formats, along with best practices for error handling, session management, and rate limiting. A real-world example is the Claude Code GitHub Actions, which automates code review and more.

(docs.anthropic.com)

Development

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