Popular：
Virtualization DNS security formal verification reachability analysis compiler errors macro conflict web extension development framework Bitmap Graphics API inconsistencies All Tags

Robot Gender Impacts Customer Decisions in Hospitality

2025-05-09
Robot Gender Impacts Customer Decisions in Hospitality

Penn State research reveals that the gender characteristics of service robots influence customer decisions. For women with a low sense of power, robots with masculine features were more persuasive. However, 'cute' design elements (large eyes, raised cheeks) mitigated the effect of robot gender, leading to similar responses from male and female customers. The study suggests hospitality businesses can leverage these findings by tailoring robot gender to customer demographics to improve sales and service.

Read more
(www.psu.edu)
Tech service robots gender bias

FaunaDB Shuts Down, Going Open Source After $27M in Funding

2025-03-24
FaunaDB Shuts Down, Going Open Source After $27M in Funding

FaunaDB, a database startup that raised $27 million in funding, announced it will shut down its service at the end of May, transitioning to an open-source model. The company, boasting 25,000 developers using its serverless database which combined relational power and document flexibility, cited the capital-intensive nature of scaling a global database service and the current market environment as reasons for the shutdown. Existing customers will be transitioned off the service over the coming months. The open-source release will include the core database technology, supporting JSON documents with relational features like joins, foreign keys, and schema enforcement, along with its FQL query language. Some observers suggest that an open-source approach from the beginning might have led to greater success.

Read more
(www.theregister.com)
Development

Veav: An Experimental Web Browser Engine with Limited Functionality

2025-05-18
Veav: An Experimental Web Browser Engine with Limited Functionality

Veav is an experimental web browser engine supporting most display types (excluding grid), standard CSS cascade behavior, pagination using @page rules, print-to-PDF output, and all CSS units. It loads HTML and XHTML documents but has very basic networking capabilities, supporting only http:// and file://. Detailed compatibility information is available on their WPT status page. Installation instructions (using Arch Linux as an example) are provided, requiring several dependencies and the `clang-prefixed-release` compiler. An architecture diagram (tldraw format) is also available.

Read more
(github.com)
Development

Standard Model: The Universe's Winning Equation

2025-01-07
Standard Model: The Universe's Winning Equation

Quanta Magazine released a video explaining the Standard Model of particle physics—the most successful scientific theory ever. Cambridge physicist David Tong breaks down the equation piece by piece, showing how the fundamental building blocks of our universe interact. While incredibly successful in explaining experiments on Earth, the Standard Model fails to account for several features of the wider universe, including gravity at short distances and the presence of dark matter and dark energy. This pushes physicists towards more encompassing theories, while mathematicians need fresh perspectives on quantum field theory to solve physics' biggest mysteries.

Read more
(www.quantamagazine.org)
Tech Standard Model particle physics quantum field theory

Hidden Cache Hogs: Why Your Disk Space Is Vanishing

2025-02-08

Many Unix programs cache data in hidden `.cache` and `.local` directories, making it difficult for users to find and clear these large cache files that consume significant disk space. The author witnessed firsthand how graduate students in a shared fileserver environment were baffled by these hidden caches, with hundreds of GBs of disk space being unknowingly consumed. The article calls for developers to store caches in visible directories and suggests that disk space usage tools should explicitly show the contents of these hidden directories to aid in user disk space management.

Read more
(utcc.utoronto.ca)
Development cache management disk space unix programs

Dune vs. Lawrence of Arabia: A Comparative Analysis

2025-03-04
Dune vs. Lawrence of Arabia: A Comparative Analysis

This article explores the similarities and differences between Frank Herbert's *Dune* and T.E. Lawrence's *Seven Pillars of Wisdom*. Both Paul Atreides and Lawrence function as outsiders who immerse themselves in desert cultures to lead indigenous populations against their oppressors. However, significant contrasts emerge in their portrayals of the Arabs and Fremen, their treatment of women and religion, and their emotional responses. Lawrence reveals profound self-doubt and guilt over his actions, while Paul displays excessive confidence and a ruthless pursuit of power. Furthermore, *Dune* features prominent female characters and a rich tapestry of religious themes, absent in Lawrence's largely male-centric and religiously understated narrative. While *Dune* draws inspiration from *Seven Pillars*, it ultimately forges a unique and compelling world of its own.

Read more
(reactormag.com)
Misc literary comparison Lawrence of Arabia

Breakthrough in Evaluating Large Language Models for Unit Test Generation

2024-12-30
Breakthrough in Evaluating Large Language Models for Unit Test Generation

Researchers conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) in automating unit test generation. They compared the performance of five open-source LLMs against the closed-source GPT-4 and the traditional tool Evosuite across 17 Java projects, investigating the impact of different prompting strategies. The study found that open-source LLMs offer advantages in data privacy and outperform in certain tasks, but also revealed limitations in LLM-based unit test generation. This research provides valuable insights to guide future applications of LLMs in this area.

Read more
(arxiv.org)
Development Unit Testing

Linux Kernel Community Platform: Terms of Service and Privacy

2025-04-02
Linux Kernel Community Platform: Terms of Service and Privacy

A new communication platform for the Linux kernel community has launched. Users must adhere to the Code of Conduct; violations will result in account suspension. While posting about anything related to the Linux kernel is encouraged, promoting others' status excessively is prohibited. While multilingual, English is the primary language. Admins have access to all posts, so sensitive information should be avoided. Account requests require meeting specific criteria, such as being listed in MAINTAINERS or CREDITS, having a kernel.org account or email, or a long history of involvement with the Linux kernel.

Read more
(social.kernel.org)
Development Community Platform

Pezy Computing's SC4s: A Japanese Math Accelerator Challenging GPU Hegemony

2025-09-08
Pezy Computing's SC4s: A Japanese Math Accelerator Challenging GPU Hegemony

After fifteen years of development, Japan's Pezy Computing has unveiled its latest SC4s math accelerator, challenging Nvidia's GPU dominance in high-performance computing and AI. The SC4s boasts 2048 RISC-V cores, 96GB of HBM3 memory, and a peak power consumption of 600 watts. Its FP64 performance rivals Nvidia's H100, while offering excellent energy efficiency. Unlike the SIMT architecture of GPUs, Pezy uses an SPMD architecture for greater programming flexibility and supports mainstream AI frameworks like PyTorch. While the future FugakuNext supercomputer primarily uses Nvidia GPUs, Pezy's continued R&D ensures Japan's technological independence in high-performance computing and opens possibilities for diverse computing architectures.

Read more
(www.nextplatform.com)
Hardware

OpenSSL 3.0 Performance Disaster and the Future of the SSL Library Ecosystem

2025-05-11
OpenSSL 3.0 Performance Disaster and the Future of the SSL Library Ecosystem

The HAProxy team delves into the performance disaster caused by OpenSSL 3.0 and its impact on the SSL library ecosystem. The release of OpenSSL 3.0 resulted in significant performance degradation in multi-threaded environments, posing challenges for many projects reliant on OpenSSL. The article compares alternative solutions like BoringSSL, LibreSSL, WolfSSL, and AWS-LC, analyzing their trade-offs in functionality, performance, and maintenance. Performance testing reveals that OpenSSL 3.0 significantly underperforms compared to other libraries in multi-threaded scenarios, forcing organizations to provision more hardware to maintain throughput. The article also explores the QUIC protocol and its relationship with SSL libraries, along with the OpenSSL team's handling of the QUIC API. Ultimately, the article recommends HAProxy users choose suitable SSL libraries based on their needs, such as AWS-LC or WolfSSL, and calls for the community to collaboratively address the performance issues in OpenSSL 3.0.

Read more
(www.haproxy.com)
Development SSL Libraries

GitHub Actions Deprecating Node.js 20, Migrating to Node.js 24

2025-09-20
GitHub Actions Deprecating Node.js 20, Migrating to Node.js 24

GitHub Actions is announcing the deprecation of Node.js 20, with end-of-life in April 2026. A migration to Node.js 24 is planned for Fall 2025. The latest GitHub runner already supports Node.js 24, and users can test it early by setting an environment variable. From March 4th, 2026, Node.js 24 will be the default. Users can temporarily continue using Node.js 20 by setting an environment variable until its complete removal in the summer. Note: Node.js 24 is incompatible with macOS 13.4 and below, and doesn't support ARM32 self-hosted runners.

Read more
(github.blog)
Development

Quantum Computing Cracks Chemistry's Hardest Nut: Accurately Modeling Complex Molecules

2025-05-23
Quantum Computing Cracks Chemistry's Hardest Nut: Accurately Modeling Complex Molecules

Researchers from IBM Quantum® and Lockheed Martin have demonstrated, for the first time, the use of a quantum computer to accurately model the electronic structure of open-shell molecules—molecules with unpaired electrons—using the Sample-based Quantum Diagonalization (SQD) technique. Classical methods struggle with these complex systems. This study, focusing on methylene (CH2), showcases quantum computing's ability to accurately calculate singlet and triplet states, matching high-accuracy classical results. This breakthrough opens doors for advancements in aerospace, sensing, and materials design, highlighting the potential of quantum-centric supercomputing.

Read more
(www.ibm.com)
Tech chemical simulation molecular structure

OpenAI Uses Reddit's r/ChangeMyView to Benchmark AI Persuasion

2025-02-02
OpenAI Uses Reddit's r/ChangeMyView to Benchmark AI Persuasion

OpenAI leveraged Reddit's r/ChangeMyView subreddit to evaluate the persuasive abilities of its new reasoning model, o3-mini. The subreddit, where users post opinions and engage in debates, provided a unique dataset to assess how well the AI's generated responses could change minds. While o3-mini didn't significantly outperform previous models like o1 or GPT-4o, all demonstrated strong persuasive abilities, ranking in the top 80-90th percentile of human performance. OpenAI emphasizes that the goal isn't to create hyper-persuasive AI, but rather to mitigate the risks associated with excessively persuasive models. The benchmark highlights the ongoing challenge of securing high-quality datasets for AI model development.

Read more
(techcrunch.com)
AI persuasion

Flame: A Unique BBS System Masquerading as a MUD

2025-04-03

Flame is not a MUD, IRC, or chat room. It's a bulletin board system (BBS) implemented as a MUD. It serves many purposes: a quiet place to visit, a social substitute, a space for self-expression, and a virtual party zone. Connect via telnet to flame.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au port 4242, or use flame-tunnel.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au to bypass firewalls. Flame also runs a gopher and web server. Its history dates back to 1990 as a remote access BBS, appearing in a magazine in 1991 and transitioning to a MUD in 1992 while retaining its phone line connection.

Read more
(www.ucc.asn.au)
Misc

Trump's Executive Order Aims to Dismantle the Department of Education

2025-03-21
Trump's Executive Order Aims to Dismantle the Department of Education

President Trump signed an executive order seeking to close the U.S. Department of Education, transferring authority to states and local communities. This controversial move has drawn criticism for potentially harming vulnerable students and lowering education quality, while supporters argue it will increase efficiency. The order's legality is questionable, requiring Congressional approval for the department's closure. Significant layoffs have already begun at the Department of Education, amidst widespread opposition.

Read more
(www.npr.org)
Misc

Why Your AI Product Team Needs an AI Quality Lead

2025-01-25
Why Your AI Product Team Needs an AI Quality Lead

Help Scout's success highlights the critical need for an "AI Quality Lead" within AI product teams. This role bridges the gap between domain expertise and AI development, typically filled by domain experts who then learn generative AI skills like prompt engineering and evaluation. Responsibilities include reviewing production data, defining evaluation criteria, managing test datasets, improving prompts, and training team members. This role accelerates time to market, increases trust in performance metrics, and shortens feedback loops. Even without generative AI expertise, domain experts with strong customer understanding, systematic problem-solving skills, and communication abilities can excel in this position.

Read more
(freeplay.ai)
AI AI Quality AI Teams Domain Expertise

DoppelBot: Your CEO, Now an LLM

2025-02-04
DoppelBot: Your CEO, Now an LLM

Modal has created DoppelBot, a Slack bot that can replace your CEO (sort of!). It fine-tunes an OpenLLaMa model on your team's Slack messages to mimic your CEO's communication style. Built on Modal's serverless platform, the entire process—scraping, fine-tuning, inference, and Slack event handling—is streamlined and efficient. The open-source code allows for easy deployment and customization within your workspace. Using LoRA for efficient fine-tuning and supporting multiple workspaces, DoppelBot offers a novel approach to team collaboration and productivity enhancement. The article details its functionality and deployment steps.

Read more
(modal.com)
Development Slack Bot

Go: When to Say No

2024-12-14
Go: When to Say No

A developer, after years of using Go, is switching back to Java. He finds Go lacking in several areas: limited looping options, absence of higher-order functions, cumbersome error handling, overly restrictive coding style leading to verbose and hard-to-maintain code, and an immature package ecosystem. While acknowledging Go's suitability for infrastructure projects, he advises against its use in complex enterprise applications.

Read more
(brainbaking.com)
Development development

Skype to Retire in May 2025, Transitioning to Microsoft Teams

2025-05-06
Skype to Retire in May 2025, Transitioning to Microsoft Teams

Microsoft announced that it will shut down Skype in May 2025, migrating users to its modern communication and collaboration platform, Microsoft Teams. This move aims to streamline free consumer communication services and better adapt to user needs. Existing Skype users can choose to migrate to Teams for free, with all chats and contacts automatically imported; or they can export their data. Teams offers core features similar to Skype, with added advanced features such as meeting hosting and community building. This transition will be phased to ensure users can stay connected during the transition.

Read more
(www.microsoft.com)
Tech Communication Software

Arch: A Modular Edge and AI Gateway for Agentic Apps

2025-07-14
Arch: A Modular Edge and AI Gateway for Agentic Apps

Arch is a modular edge and AI gateway proxy server designed to simplify building agentic applications. It handles the tedious low-level work, such as applying guardrails, clarifying ambiguous user input, routing prompts to the correct agent, and unifying access to any LLM, allowing developers to build and ship agentic apps faster. Built on Envoy, Arch offers features like routing, guardrails, and observability, and supports various languages and frameworks. A simple currency exchange agent demo showcases its ease of use, with interaction via curl commands. Arch supports both model-based and preference-based LLM routing strategies and provides detailed logging and observability.

Read more
(github.com)
Development Agentic Apps AI Gateway

The 21-Day Habit Myth Debunked

2025-04-22
The 21-Day Habit Myth Debunked

The popular belief that it takes 21 days to form a new habit is a misconception stemming from a misinterpreted observation, not scientific research. A study of 96 individuals revealed that habit formation averages 66 days, potentially extending to 8 months. The research also shows that occasional lapses don't significantly hinder the process. Ultimately, persistence, not a specific timeframe, is key to habit formation.

Read more
(thelogicaloptimist.com)
Misc habit formation

AI's Context Window: Why a Universal Standard is Needed

2025-04-01
AI's Context Window: Why a Universal Standard is Needed

Current AI models' knowledge is fixed during pre-training, with expensive fine-tuning offering limited updates. This leaves them blind to information beyond a cutoff date. This article explores "context" in AI: user input, conversation history, and external data sources, all constrained by a "context window." A universal standard for external data sources is crucial to overcome this limitation, enabling AI to access real-time information for improved intelligence and functionality.

Read more
(arstechnica.com)
AI data standard

Codeberg: A Non-Profit Git Hosting Platform Championing Open Source

2025-02-04
Codeberg: A Non-Profit Git Hosting Platform Championing Open Source

Codeberg, a non-profit organization based in Berlin, Germany, operates a Git hosting platform prioritizing the commons. Unlike commercial platforms, Codeberg rejects tracking, third-party cookies, and profiteering. It maintains its own servers, ensuring user data remains secure and is never sold. Its vibrant community comprises developers, artists, academics, hobbyists, and professionals united by a passion for free culture, openness, and creativity. Codeberg's future depends on its users, and welcomes global participation.

Read more
(codeberg.org)
Development

Mysterious `d4d4` Instructions in LLD: Not a Trap, But a Conditional Branch

2025-08-21

A programmer discovered numerous `d4d4` instructions in disassembled ARM code, always unreachable and identified by LLVM's objdump as a relative branch to -0x58. Experiments and analysis revealed these weren't added by the LLVM compiler, but by the LLD linker during object file boundary alignment. LLD uses `d4d4` as padding, intending it as a trap instruction. However, it's actually a conditional branch, acting as a relative jump in the Thumb instruction set. This seems like an LLD bug; it's not a true trap, potentially causing unpredictable jumps. The GNU linker uses zeros for padding, avoiding this issue.

Read more
(www.nmichaels.org)
Development

You No Longer Need JavaScript: Unleashing the Power of Modern CSS

2025-08-29

This article champions the capabilities of modern CSS, arguing that many websites don't require bloated JavaScript frameworks. The author delves into new CSS features like nesting, relative colors, and responsive viewport units (lvh, svh, dvh), showcasing how to build animations, theming, and input validation with CSS alone. Clean code examples illustrate these techniques. The article also proposes improvements to CSS, such as reusable blocks and nth-child variables, highlighting CSS's performance and accessibility advantages. The author promotes a leaner, more efficient web development philosophy and expresses a passion for CSS as an art form.

Read more
(lyra.horse)
Development

Fintech Startup Slashes Data Infrastructure Costs by 70%

2025-03-09

A fintech startup tackled the challenge of managing diverse data sources and high infrastructure costs. Their initial platform, relying on Hevo and BigQuery, proved unsustainable. To overcome this, they built a new ELT-based data platform leveraging cost-effective S3 storage for raw data. They utilized Airflow, Debezium, Kafka, and dbt for data processing and transformation, Trino for querying, and Metabase for visualization. The result? A 70% reduction in infrastructure costs. This case study highlights how efficient data platform design and technology choices can drastically reduce expenses and improve efficiency.

Read more
(jchandra.com)
Development data platform

Legacy Automakers Struggle to Build Software-Defined Vehicles

2025-05-11
Legacy Automakers Struggle to Build Software-Defined Vehicles

Ford's abandonment of its FNV4 next-generation electrical architecture project, merging it with its existing architecture, highlights the struggles legacy automakers face in transitioning to software-defined vehicles (SDVs). Tesla pioneered the SDV approach, using OTA updates and centralized computing to reduce costs and enhance user experience, but also revealed software quality control issues. GM, Volvo, and others have encountered delays and software bugs in their SDV projects, while Volkswagen outsourced key software tasks. The transition challenges legacy automakers in organizational structure, development philosophy, and technological accumulation, requiring a balance between safety and agile development, while catering to both combustion and electric vehicles. Ultimately, the winners will be those that successfully transform into software companies, a path fraught with challenges.

Read more
(insideevs.com)
Tech Software-Defined Vehicles Automotive Software

How Programmers Should Think About Time

2025-06-25
How Programmers Should Think About Time

This article delves into the complexities of handling time in programming. It explains the concepts of absolute time (based on epochs and durations) and civil time (Gregorian calendar and time zones), clarifying the mechanics of leap seconds and timezone transitions and their inherent challenges. The importance of the IANA time zone database, which provides historical and future time zone rules for accurate time handling, is highlighted. Three case studies—a chat forum, an event planning website, and a personal project—illustrate different time-handling strategies, emphasizing that 'just use UTC' is not a universal solution.

Read more
(shanrauf.com)
Development time handling time zones IANA database
1 2 … 349 350 351 353 355 356 357 … 596 597