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R&D Startup Disaster: A Costly Mistake in Data Collection

2025-07-13

R&D Startup Disaster: A Costly Mistake in Data Collection

An R&D startup conducting a psychology study lost all collected data due to a simple yet devastating bug. Their PHP code used `mail() or die()`, causing the script to terminate prematurely when an email failed to send (due to lack of internet access in the testing environment). This resulted in no data being saved to the database. The experience highlighted the importance of graceful error handling and thorough testing across different environments. The team learned from the costly mistake, improved their coding practices, and transitioned away from PHP to safer languages like JavaScript, Go, and Python.

(thetechenabler.substack.com)

Development data loss

Nping: A Blazing-Fast, Visual Ping Tool Built in Rust

2025-02-15

Nping: A Blazing-Fast, Visual Ping Tool Built in Rust

Nping, a powerful Ping tool written in Rust, offers concurrent pinging for multiple addresses with real-time data visualization and a user-friendly interface. It displays key metrics like maximum, minimum, and average latency, packet loss rate, and supports both IPv4 and IPv6. Nping also features a host subcommand to show IP address details for domain names, and allows customization of ping count and interval. Its intuitive design makes it a valuable asset for network administrators and developers alike.

(github.com)

Development network tool

Open Source Society University: A Free Path to a Computer Science Education

2025-05-25

Open Source Society University: A Free Path to a Computer Science Education

Open Source Society University (OSSU) offers a complete, free computer science education using online materials from top universities like Harvard, Princeton, and MIT. The curriculum is structured into introductory, core, and advanced stages, taking roughly two years of study at 20 hours/week. While most materials are free, some courses may charge for graded assignments. Students can self-pace their learning, collaborating with a global community via GitHub and similar platforms, culminating in a final project.

(github.com)

Development Online Education

Iberian Power Outage: Mobile Data Reveals Resilience

2025-05-05

Iberian Power Outage: Mobile Data Reveals Resilience

A major power outage hit the Iberian Peninsula on April 28, 2025. Analysis of mPulse data reveals the impact on Spain and Portugal's internet traffic. Desktop traffic plummeted by 80% during the outage, while mobile traffic only dropped by 40%, even surpassing desktop traffic at times. People relied heavily on mobile networks (cellular and some hotspots), prioritizing news, government, and food safety websites. Battery data showed slightly increased phone battery drain. The event highlights the role of mobile networks and edge nodes in keeping critical information services available during power disruptions.

(blog.akamai-mpulse.com)

Tech mobile network

Cellebrite Cuts Off Serbia After Spyware Allegations

2025-02-26

Cellebrite Cuts Off Serbia After Spyware Allegations

Mobile forensics firm Cellebrite has suspended its services to Serbia following allegations that Serbian police and intelligence agencies used its technology to unlock the phones of a journalist and an activist, and subsequently planted spyware. Amnesty International's report detailing the misuse prompted Cellebrite's investigation and subsequent decision to halt product use by the implicated customer. While hailed as a crucial step in combating the misuse of technology for political repression, the duration of the suspension remains unclear.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech Serbia

JWST and ALMA Detect Earliest Stages of Planet Formation Around Sun-like Star

2025-07-18

JWST and ALMA Detect Earliest Stages of Planet Formation Around Sun-like Star

Astronomers using the JWST and ALMA telescopes have discovered evidence of the earliest stages of planet formation around a Sun-like star, HOPS-315, located 1300 light-years away. They detected concentrations of hot minerals, the building blocks of planetesimals – the seeds from which planets grow. This discovery offers invaluable data for studying the initial stages of planet formation and may hold clues to how our own Solar System formed. The HOPS-315 system's similarity to our early Solar System allows for unprecedented insights into its origin and evolution.

(www.sciencealert.com)

Tech

Google Zanzibar: A Scalable Global Authorization System

2025-05-04

Google's 2019 Zanzibar paper details a flexible and scalable global authorization system designed to handle Google's massive scale. It's inspired numerous similar products. Zanzibar's core lies in its flexible access control model and strong distributed consistency guarantees. Leveraging Google Spanner and TrueTime for consistency, and clever architectural designs (like zookies and the Leopard indexing system) for scalability, it tackles complex challenges. While its distributed nature and high consistency requirements might be overkill for most applications, its API design is influential, with many companies striving to create simpler, more accessible alternatives.

(macwright.com)

Development authorization system distributed system

HTTP/1.1's Fatal Flaw: Request Smuggling Attacks

2025-08-03

HTTP/1.1's Fatal Flaw: Request Smuggling Attacks

This article exposes a long-standing security vulnerability in the HTTP/1.1 protocol—request smuggling attacks. Attackers can exploit this flaw by cleverly crafting request headers (Content-Length and Transfer-Encoding) to cause the server to misinterpret requests, enabling malicious control of websites and even bypassing security measures to access sensitive resources. This vulnerability still affects a large number of websites, and security expert James Kettle will reveal more attack details and defense methods on August 6th.

(lowendbox.com)

Tech HTTP Protocol Request Smuggling

GPU Glossary: A Comprehensive Guide to GPU Architecture

2025-01-14

GPU Glossary: A Comprehensive Guide to GPU Architecture

The Modal team has created a comprehensive GPU glossary to address the fragmented nature of GPU documentation. This interactive online dictionary connects concepts across different levels of the stack, from CUDA architecture to nvcc compiler flags. Users can navigate via hyperlinks or read linearly. The glossary covers device hardware (CUDA architecture, Streaming Multiprocessors, etc.), device software (CUDA programming model, PTX, etc.), and host software (CUDA C++, NVIDIA drivers, etc.), providing developers with a comprehensive and easily understandable resource for GPU knowledge.

(modal.com)

Development

OpenAI's o3 Model: Cheap AI, Bright Future?

2025-06-12

OpenAI's o3 Model: Cheap AI, Bright Future?

OpenAI launched its more energy-efficient ChatGPT o3 model, boasting 80% lower costs. CEO Sam Altman envisions a future where AI is 'too cheap to meter,' but MIT Technology Review points to research indicating massive AI energy consumption by 2028. Despite this, Altman remains optimistic, predicting abundant intelligence and energy in the coming decades, driving human progress. Critics, however, see Altman's predictions as overly optimistic, ignoring numerous limitations and drawing comparisons to Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos. OpenAI's partnership with Google Cloud also raises eyebrows, contrasting with Microsoft's stance last year labeling OpenAI a competitor.

(www.theregister.com)

AI

From Holmes to Hard-Boiled: The Rise and Fall of the Golden Age of British Detective Fiction

2025-09-19

This article explores the 'Golden Age' of British detective fiction between 1910 and 1950, dominated by gentleman detectives like Sherlock Holmes, reflecting the values of the British middle class. However, social changes led to the rise of hard-boiled detective fiction, emphasizing violence and politics, ultimately leading to the decline of the classic detective story, mirroring broader societal shifts in Britain.

(www.historytoday.com)

Misc detective fiction British literature

Mass Hacking on Autopilot: Exploiting Abandoned Backdoors

2025-01-12

Mass Hacking on Autopilot: Exploiting Abandoned Backdoors

The watchTowr team uncovered a novel attack vector: leveraging vulnerabilities in abandoned web shells (like r57shell and c99shell) to gain access to thousands of systems. These often contain unpatched flaws, allowing attackers to commandeer compromised systems with minimal effort. By registering 40+ domains, they monitored over 4000 live backdoors, targeting governments, universities, and businesses. The research highlights the security risks posed by abandoned infrastructure and underscores the need for continuous security testing.

(labs.watchtowr.com)

Tech Backdoor Exploitation Abandoned Infrastructure

Green Tea GC: A Memory-Aware Approach to Boosting Go's Performance

2025-06-14

Green Tea GC: A Memory-Aware Approach to Boosting Go's Performance

The Go team is developing Green Tea, an experimental garbage collector designed to address performance bottlenecks of traditional garbage collection algorithms in multi-core systems and non-uniform memory architectures. Green Tea improves spatial and temporal locality by scanning contiguous memory blocks instead of individual objects, significantly reducing garbage collection CPU overhead. Initial evaluations show a 10-50% reduction in GC CPU costs on some GC-heavy workloads. Future work includes exploring SIMD acceleration and a concentrator network for further performance gains.

(github.com)

Development

OpenJDK 25 Ships Experimental CPU Profiler

2025-09-13

OpenJDK 25 Ships Experimental CPU Profiler

After over three years of development, an experimental CPU time profiler has landed in OpenJDK 25. Building upon JFR, this new profiler offers more precise measurement of CPU cycle consumption, addressing shortcomings of the existing execution time profiler, particularly its inadequate sampling in multi-core systems and its less-than-ideal handling of I/O-bound applications. While currently limited to Linux, it provides developers with a powerful tool for performance analysis, enabling optimization of CPU utilization and improved application throughput.

(mostlynerdless.de)

Development Performance Profiling CPU Profiling

Passing of Dave Täht, Pioneer in Network Latency Reduction

2025-04-01

Passing of Dave Täht, Pioneer in Network Latency Reduction

Dave Täht, the creator of the FQ-CoDel and CAKE algorithms, has passed away. His work significantly improved internet connectivity worldwide, enabling reliable video calls for millions and facilitating access to healthcare and community. His open-source contributions were crucial to Starlink's efforts in addressing latency issues and inspired young entrepreneurs in developing nations to expand internet access. Dave's dedication and vision will be deeply missed.

(libreqos.io)

Tech

Deep Time vs. Shallow Time: Butterflies, Geology, and the Climate Crisis

2025-07-28

Deep Time vs. Shallow Time: Butterflies, Geology, and the Climate Crisis

This essay explores the tension between deep geological time and the fleeting span of human history. Using the drastic decline in butterfly populations as a case study, the author juxtaposes millions of years of geological evolution with the rapid impact of climate change in recent decades. The author traces Darwin and Lyell's understanding of deep time and how they attempted to scientifically comprehend and quantify deep time scales. The essay concludes with a call to recognize humanity's impact on Earth and take action to address the climate crisis, making informed choices based on the understanding of deep time and shallow time's relationship.

(harpers.org)

Tech deep time

Brave Launches Blockchain-Based .brave Top-Level Domain

2025-06-29

Brave Launches Blockchain-Based .brave Top-Level Domain

Brave browser, in partnership with Unstoppable Domains, has launched the first on-chain top-level domain, .brave. This aims to simplify the Web3 user experience, enhancing digital identity management and decentralized internet accessibility. Minted on the Polygon blockchain, .brave domains are compatible with multiple networks including Base, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and more. Brave users can utilize .brave domains for simplified crypto payments, host censorship-resistant websites on IPFS, and build verifiable on-chain identities. Brave and Unstoppable Domains are also exploring ICANN gTLD registration to expand .brave's reach, bridging Web2 and Web3.

(brave.com)

Tech Digital Identity

ScummVM Wiki Fends Off Massive DDoS Attack with Anubis

2025-05-01

ScummVM Wiki Fends Off Massive DDoS Attack with Anubis

The ScummVM wiki website suffered a massive DDoS attack from roughly 35,000 IPs worldwide, causing an outage. Attackers exploited specific URLs to heavily load the database, exhausting resources on the Apache, PHP-FPM, and MariaDB servers. To counter this, the author deployed Anubis, a system using a proof-of-work mechanism to efficiently filter malicious requests. Anubis successfully defended against the attack with minimal server resource consumption, ensuring website uptime. Anubis not only effectively blocks AI scrapers but also functions as a DDoS protection system.

(fabulous.systems)

Development website security

Level Up Your Coding: The Infinite Canvas Advantage

2025-03-15

A game developer shares how using a graphics tablet and Milton software revolutionized his note-taking process. Milton's infinite canvas and zoom capabilities allow for clear visualization of complex algorithms. Even when days pass with minimal code written, reviewing notes reveals the thought process and planning, maintaining momentum. The author advocates for graphics tablets, suggesting even entry-level models significantly boost efficiency.

(jeandavidmoisan.com)

Development coding tips graphics tablet note-taking software

China-linked Hackers Exploit Cisco Flaw to Breach Canadian Telecom

2025-06-23

China-linked Hackers Exploit Cisco Flaw to Breach Canadian Telecom

Canadian and US officials announced Monday that hackers suspected of working for the Chinese government exploited a critical vulnerability (CVE-2023-20198) in Cisco IOS XE, patched 16 months prior, to compromise a Canadian telecommunications provider. The group, known as Salt Typhoon, previously targeted US telecoms like Verizon and AT&T. The breach potentially allowed access to wiretap systems used by government agencies and other internet traffic.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech state-sponsored cyberattack China hacking state-sponsored attack

Building Software Fast: Lessons Learned

2025-07-14

This post details lessons learned about building software quickly. The author advocates for setting realistic quality goals based on project needs, emphasizing a 'rough draft' approach where a functional prototype is built first, then refined. Strategies include simplifying requirements, avoiding distractions, and making small, focused code changes. The author also highlights valuable skills like code reading, data modeling, scripting, and debugging, and the effective use of LLMs to accelerate development. It's a practical guide for developers aiming to improve efficiency and deliver high-quality software.

(evanhahn.com)

Development

LibreWolf and the Mozilla TOS Fallout: A Fork in the Road?

2025-02-28

LibreWolf and the Mozilla TOS Fallout: A Fork in the Road?

The recent controversy surrounding Mozilla's revised Terms of Service has sparked concerns about LibreWolf's potential long-term forking. While maintaining a browser is challenging, Mozilla's shift in direction is seen as risky. Users are questioning the extent of data collection and its potential use in AI. LibreWolf's future hinges on Mozilla's next moves.

(codeberg.org)

Development

You Have 52 Hours a Week of Discretionary Time. What Will You Do With It?

2025-09-11

This article challenges the common perception of time scarcity. By meticulously accounting for daily necessities like work, school, meals, commute, and self-care, the author reveals that most people have a surprising 52 hours of discretionary time per week. The article advocates for intentional time management, urging readers to shift focus from passive entertainment towards activities that enrich their lives. It prompts reflection on how to allocate this significant amount of time towards meaningful pursuits like socializing, self-improvement, creative expression, or volunteering, rather than mindlessly scrolling through social media.

(www.njbrown.com)

Misc

Raven: OCaml's New Machine Learning Ecosystem

2025-04-30

Raven: OCaml's New Machine Learning Ecosystem

Raven is a comprehensive ecosystem bringing machine learning and data science to OCaml. It offers libraries mirroring popular Python tools like NumPy (with Ndarray), Jupyter (with Quill), and JAX (with Rune), aiming for Python-like ease of use while leveraging OCaml's type safety and performance. Currently in pre-alpha, Raven boasts a growing suite of tools for numerical computation, visualization (Hugin), and more, promising a compelling alternative for data scientists seeking a safer, faster language.

(github.com)

Development

Shoggoth Mini: An Expressive Soft Tentacle Robot

2025-07-16

This post details the creation of Shoggoth Mini, a soft tentacle robot designed for expressiveness. The author iteratively improved the hardware, solving cable tangling issues and adding calibration scripts. Control is achieved through a simple 2D mapping for intuitive manipulation, combined with GPT-4 and reinforcement learning for various control modes, including manual control, vision-based tracking, and open-loop behaviors. The author explores the relationship between expressiveness and the perception of 'aliveness' in robots, concluding with future research directions.

(www.matthieulc.com)

Development

Visualizing Joyce's Ulysses: A Graphic Score for 'Sirens'

2025-01-12

Artist Emily Fuhrman presents a visualization of the structure of James Joyce's Ulysses, specifically the 'Sirens' episode, as a musical fugue. She tracks and classifies 99 recurring words and syllables as leitmotifs, arranging them in a graphic score based on their distance from a root sound. This interactive project visualizes how these sounds evoke the sensory presence of different characters at different times.

(emilyfuhrman.co)

Design literary analysis interactive art

My 2.5-Year-Old Laptop Now Codes Space Invaders with GLM-4.5 Air

2025-07-30

My 2.5-Year-Old Laptop Now Codes Space Invaders with GLM-4.5 Air

Using a 2.5-year-old 64GB MacBook Pro M2, the author successfully ran the 106-billion parameter GLM-4.5 Air model (44GB 3-bit quantized version). With a single prompt, it generated a complete Space Invaders game in HTML and JavaScript. This showcases the remarkable advancements in code generation capabilities of large language models, achieving impressive results even on older hardware. The author also tested its SVG image generation capabilities, with equally impressive results.

(simonwillison.net)

AI

Chernobyl Fungus Feeds on Radiation

2025-02-23

Chernobyl Fungus Feeds on Radiation

Scientists have discovered a black fungus, Cladosporium sphaerospermum, thriving in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. This fungus not only survives but actively absorbs gamma radiation, using it as an energy source in a process dubbed 'radiosynthesis'. Its melanin pigment plays a key role in this radiation absorption and energy conversion. This remarkable adaptation opens up possibilities for bioremediation of radioactive waste and even radiation shielding for space travel, highlighting the resilience of life in extreme environments.

(makerfairerome.eu)

Tech Fungus Radiation

Tree's JSON Output: A Cautionary Tale of Assumptions

2025-07-25

The 2.0 release of the `tree` command introduced the ability to output un-indented JSON via file descriptor 3 (Linux only). However, this initial implementation made a dangerous assumption about the user's environment, leading to widespread compatibility issues. Version 2.0.2 rectified this by requiring the `STDDATA_FD` environment variable to be set. This highlights the importance of avoiding assumptions about the user's environment in software development. The improved `tree` command now offers flexible structured data output via `STDDATA_FD`, easily processed with tools like nushell.

(rgbcu.be)

Development tree command

Markov Chains: A Visual Explanation

2025-02-28

Markov Chains: A Visual Explanation

This article provides a clear and visual explanation of Markov chains and their applications. Markov chains are mathematical systems that transition between different "states." The article uses the example of a baby's behavior (playing, eating, sleeping, crying) to illustrate the concept of a state space and transition probabilities. A simple two-state Markov chain is presented, along with its transition matrix. The article further demonstrates the practical application of Markov chains through a weather simulation example, highlighting the concept of 'stickiness' in real-world data. Finally, it mentions the use of Markov chains in Google's PageRank algorithm, showcasing their power and versatility.

(setosa.io)

AI Markov Chains Probability State Transition

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