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

Softmax: Forever? A Deep Dive into Log-Harmonic Functions

2025-02-20

A decade ago, while teaching a course on NLP, the author was challenged by a student about alternatives to softmax. A recent paper proposes a log-harmonic function as a replacement, sparking a deeper investigation. The author analyzes the partial derivatives of both softmax and the log-harmonic function, revealing that softmax's gradient is well-behaved and interpretable, while the log-harmonic function's gradient exhibits singularity near the origin, potentially causing training difficulties. While powerful optimizers might overcome these challenges, the author concludes that the log-harmonic approach still warrants further exploration and potential improvements.

Read more
(kyunghyuncho.me)
AI log-harmonic function gradient

GraalVM for JDK 24 Released: Performance Boost and Smaller Binaries

2025-03-18
GraalVM for JDK 24 Released: Performance Boost and Smaller Binaries

GraalVM for JDK 24 is now available! This release boasts significant improvements, including GraalNN, a machine learning-based optimization boosting peak performance by ~7.9% on average across various microservice benchmarks; SkipFlow, reducing native executable sizes by ~6.35%; enhanced premain support for Java agents; and Vector API optimizations matching JIT performance. Security features are also improved, such as enhanced SBOM support, alongside debugging and monitoring enhancements. Overall, GraalVM 24 offers notable improvements in performance, size, and security, making it a worthwhile upgrade for developers.

Read more
(medium.com)
Development

Axana: A Portable MRI Scanner Revolutionizing Stroke Diagnosis

2025-03-08
Axana: A Portable MRI Scanner Revolutionizing Stroke Diagnosis

Strokes are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Wellumio, a New Zealand company, has developed Axana, a portable MRI scanner designed to address the critical time sensitivity of stroke diagnosis. Axana's compact size and user-friendly interface require minimal training, allowing for immediate head scans in emergency rooms, drastically reducing diagnostic delays and improving treatment outcomes. Utilizing magnetic fields at varying frequencies, it eliminates the need for pulsed gradient coils, lowering cost and complexity. While currently lower resolution, it's sufficient for gross anatomical analysis, with future versions aiming for higher resolution. Axana promises to revolutionize stroke care, particularly in underserved communities, by offering accessibility, affordability, and ease of use.

Read more
(spectrum.ieee.org)
Tech Portable MRI Stroke Diagnosis

fastDOOM: Unlocking the Speed of DOOM on a 486

2025-03-04

This article delves into the remarkable performance optimizations achieved by the fastDOOM project, boosting the classic game DOOM's speed by 30% or more on a 486 processor. The author meticulously benchmarks various fastDOOM versions against the original, analyzing code changes and Git history to uncover the secrets behind the speed improvements. These include code reduction, function inlining, rendering optimizations (handling Mode Y and Mode 13h differently), and CPU/bus-specific tweaks. The author also explores the performance implications of different video modes (Mode Y vs. Mode 13h) and discusses unsuccessful optimization attempts. The article concludes with heartfelt praise for Victor Nieto, the creator of fastDOOM, for his impressive work.

Read more
(fabiensanglard.net)
Game

Long-Running Zombie Game Urban Dead to Shut Down in 2025

2025-03-03

After nearly 20 years, the zombie survival web game Urban Dead will be shutting down on March 14th, 2025, due to the upcoming UK Online Safety Act. The Act introduces stringent age-verification requirements for user-interactive websites, and the developer, Kevan, states that the risk of substantial fines makes continued operation unfeasible, even for smaller projects. The game will be shut down at noon UTC on March 14th, with the game wiki going read-only the same day. Kevan promises to announce any future revivals or spin-offs on this website and will refund IP unlock donations from the past six months upon request.

Read more
(urbandead.com)
Game Zombie

Microsoft Dragon Copilot: AI Streamlines Healthcare Documentation

2025-03-04
Microsoft Dragon Copilot: AI Streamlines Healthcare Documentation

Microsoft unveiled Dragon Copilot, an AI-powered healthcare system leveraging Nuance's voice technology (acquired in 2021). It offers multilingual ambient note creation, natural language dictation, medical information searches, and automation of tasks like generating orders and summaries. Microsoft claims it reduces administrative burden for clinicians, improves patient experience, and decreases burnout. This announcement follows similar moves by Google Cloud, highlighting a growing trend in AI-powered healthcare tools. While acknowledging potential risks, Microsoft emphasizes Dragon Copilot's commitment to responsible AI development with built-in security and compliance features.

Read more
(www.theverge.com)
AI Medical AI

CPython 3.14's GIL-less Build: Unlocking Multicore Power

2025-05-16
CPython 3.14's GIL-less Build: Unlocking Multicore Power

The release of CPython 3.14.0b1 marks a significant step towards a free-threaded Python, removing the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL). Quansight played a crucial role, enabling experimental use of the GIL-less build in real-world production workflows with complex dependencies. Removing the GIL unlocks the full compute power of multicore CPUs and GPUs, addressing Python's historical limitations in parallel computing. This requires extensive thread-safety audits of existing packages to fix data races. Quansight, in collaboration with Meta, adapted numerous core libraries (NumPy, Pandas, etc.) and improved CPython itself for thread safety. Challenges remain, but the GIL-less build represents the future of Python, promising dramatic performance improvements.

Read more
(labs.quansight.org)
Development

T-Mobile's Five-Year Price Guarantee: The Fine Print

2025-05-02
T-Mobile's Five-Year Price Guarantee: The Fine Print

T-Mobile's new Experience plans boast a five-year price guarantee, but there's a catch. While the base plan price remains unchanged, taxes and fees are excluded from this guarantee. These fees include regulatory charges, interconnection fees from other carriers, and network leasing costs, all of which T-Mobile can adjust. This means the actual cost could still increase, making the 'guarantee' more of a promise on the base price, not the final bill.

Read more
(arstechnica.com)
Tech telecom pricing strategy

US NSF Funding Freeze: Science on the Brink

2025-01-31
US NSF Funding Freeze: Science on the Brink

A freeze on funding from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has thrown the scientific community into turmoil. Despite Trump's purported rescission of the freeze, chaos continues, leaving program directors paralyzed and uncertain. A prolonged freeze could leave tens of thousands of graduate students and postdocs without stipends, halting basic science research and potentially leading to a brain drain to countries like China. An indefinite hiring freeze further weakens the NSF and similar agencies. The author urges insiders to share information and expresses deep concern for the future of American science.

Read more
(scottaaronson.blog)
Tech NSF funding funding freeze US science

Fujifilm hikes camera prices amid Trump's tariff woes

2025-08-04
Fujifilm hikes camera prices amid Trump's tariff woes

Fujifilm has announced significant price increases across its camera and lens lineup, with some models seeing increases in the hundreds of dollars. These hikes are largely attributed to the impending implementation of new tariffs under the Trump administration. Fujifilm's attempt to meet demand by shifting some X100VI production to China backfired due to tariffs, forcing a partial return to Japanese manufacturing and ultimately leading to price increases. These price hikes appear permanent, mirroring similar actions from other manufacturers like Leica and Canon, suggesting ongoing price increases in the camera market.

Read more
(www.theverge.com)
Hardware Camera Price Hikes

OODA Loops: Applying Military Strategy to Software Development

2025-03-13
OODA Loops: Applying Military Strategy to Software Development

This article explores the application of the OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act), a military strategic model, to software development. The author argues that in software development, the primary 'enemy' is ourselves and our environment. By focusing on rapid iteration, plan variety, swift execution, and team harmony, we can accelerate the OODA loop and improve software development efficiency. The article highlights the importance of trust, psychological safety, and initiative in team collaboration, suggesting the adoption of methods from agile development and lean product design, such as MVPs and spikes, to encourage initiative and rapid iteration.

Read more
(spin.atomicobject.com)
Development OODA Loop

Gmail to Drop Support for 3DES Encryption in SMTP Connections

2025-05-08
Gmail to Drop Support for 3DES Encryption in SMTP Connections

Google announced that it will stop supporting the Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) for incoming SMTP connections starting May 30, 2025. After this date, email systems using 3DES will be unable to deliver emails to Gmail accounts. This change improves security by mitigating vulnerabilities associated with outdated encryption. All sending systems should be configured to use modern, secure TLS ciphers. See the Gmail Help Center for details.

Read more
(workspaceupdates.googleblog.com)
Tech 3DES Encryption

PureVPN Vulnerabilities: IPv6 Leaks and Firewall Reset

2025-09-17

A security researcher discovered two critical vulnerabilities in PureVPN's client. First, an IPv6 leak allows users to access the internet via IPv6 even when connected to the VPN, exposing their real IP address. Second, the VPN client resets the user's firewall (iptables) rules upon connection and doesn't restore them upon disconnection, leaving the system more vulnerable. The researcher reported these issues to PureVPN but has yet to receive a response. Use PureVPN with caution.

Read more
(anagogistis.com)
Tech IPv6 leak

Giant, Mysterious Spires Pre-Dated Trees: Unraveling the Prototaxites Puzzle

2025-01-25
Giant, Mysterious Spires Pre-Dated Trees: Unraveling the Prototaxites Puzzle

Towering 24 feet tall and 3 feet wide, the enigmatic Prototaxites fossils have baffled scientists for over 150 years. These giant spires predate large trees, existing between 350 and 420 million years ago. Initially classified as plants, various hypotheses have been proposed, including algae, fungi, and lichens. A 2007 study using carbon isotope analysis provided strong evidence supporting the fungal hypothesis, suggesting Prototaxites were giant fruiting bodies. However, the debate continues, highlighting a bizarre and fascinating prehistoric landscape.

Read more
(www.smithsonianmag.com)
Tech fossils fungi

Peel-and-Replace Walls: A New Hook-and-Loop System for Concrete

2025-09-05
Peel-and-Replace Walls: A New Hook-and-Loop System for Concrete

Researchers at Austria's Graz University of Technology have developed a novel hook-and-loop system for concrete walls. Instead of traditional hooks and loops, they cast protrusions into the concrete and 3D print a flexible sheet with corresponding protrusions. This allows for the easy removal and replacement of wall coverings, flooring, and other elements, promising a cleaner, faster, and more efficient approach to construction and renovation.

Read more
(www.core77.com)
Hardware

Revitalizing TLA⁺: A Call to Arms for Tool Development

2025-05-15
Revitalizing TLA⁺: A Call to Arms for Tool Development

The 2025 TLA⁺ Community Event highlighted the current state and future direction of TLA⁺ tooling. The author argues that ease of development within the TLA⁺ ecosystem is paramount. Existing parsers, interpreters, and model checkers are reviewed, alongside challenges such as legacy code and documentation gaps. Strategies to overcome these hurdles include test-driven development, developer onboarding, and grants. Future directions include generative testing and syntax simplification, culminating in an ambitious goal: boosting TLC's throughput to 1 billion states per minute.

Read more
(ahelwer.ca)
Development

Realistic Grass Rendering: From Principles to Godot Implementation

2025-05-29

This is the first part of a multi-part series on realistic grass rendering. It begins by exploring the visual properties of real grass, such as its shininess, translucency, and self-shadowing. Several methods for simulating grass in real-time 3D graphics are then introduced, including texturing, normal mapping, and using billboards and full geometry for grass blades. The article concludes by noting that modern GPUs can handle full-geometry grass rendering and previews the next installment, which will detail how to implement full-geometry grass in Godot.

Read more
(hexaquo.at)
Development

MiceWine: Running Windows Apps and Games on Android

2024-12-30
MiceWine: Running Windows Apps and Games on Android

MiceWine aims to run Windows applications and games on Android smartphones. It uses a customized Wine build compiled for Android and Box64 for optimal performance. Currently under active development, it utilizes a Termux-X11 based XServer. Supports Android 10 and above. Adreno 7xx and 6xx GPUs are supported with Turnip/Zink, while others have partial support with native/Zink (experimental). Native Vulkan on non-Adreno GPUs is experimental and requires testing.

Read more
(github.com)
Development Windows applications

Ernst Fraenkel's *The Dual State* and the Trumpian Warning

2025-03-23
Ernst Fraenkel's *The Dual State* and the Trumpian Warning

This article revisits Ernst Fraenkel's *The Dual State*, written before his escape from Nazi Germany. The book describes how the Nazi regime maintained a facade of normalcy in its capitalist economy while simultaneously operating a 'prerogative state' of unchecked violence. The author argues that dictatorships don't abolish existing laws but create a lawless zone alongside the 'normative state.' Actions by the Trump administration, such as abuses of power and suppression of dissent, mirror this 'dual state' model, serving as a warning against such systemic risks.

Read more
(www.theatlantic.com)
Misc

Walmart's Tech Division Fires 1200 Contractors Amidst Corruption Scandal

2025-08-25
Walmart's Tech Division Fires 1200 Contractors Amidst Corruption Scandal

A major corruption scandal at Walmart's Global Tech division resulted in the sudden termination of 1200 technology contractors. A vice president was found to have orchestrated a years-long kickback scheme involving millions of dollars in payments from contracting agencies seeking preferential treatment. This incident exposes systemic corruption within the technology industry's outsourcing ecosystem, with layered subcontracting creating opaque accountability and fostering corruption. The Department of Justice has increased prosecutions of visa fraud and kickback schemes within IT consulting firms, while tighter regulations on H-1B visas aim to curb the abuses.

Read more
(www.ctol.digital)
Tech tech corruption

TorchLeet: A PyTorch Deep Learning Playground

2025-07-13
TorchLeet: A PyTorch Deep Learning Playground

TorchLeet is a curated collection of PyTorch practice problems, categorized into two sets: a foundational set covering basic to advanced PyTorch concepts (linear regression, custom datasets, CNNs, etc.), and a challenging LLM set focusing on building LLMs from scratch (attention mechanisms, embeddings, and more). Each problem provides incomplete code with solutions, fostering hands-on learning. Perfect for beginners and experts alike.

Read more
(github.com)
Development

Top Secret: A Novel Text Filtering Tool for Protecting Sensitive Information

2025-08-23
Top Secret: A Novel Text Filtering Tool for Protecting Sensitive Information

Protecting sensitive information is crucial when interacting with chatbots and LLMs. Top Secret is a new tool that combines regular expressions and Named Entity Recognition (NER) to effectively filter sensitive information, such as PII and locations, from free text. Beyond filtering, Top Secret generates a mapping to restore filtered values in responses, ensuring conversational integrity without compromising sensitive data. It also functions as a database validation tool, preventing sensitive information from being stored. Top Secret offers flexible configuration, allowing filters to be enabled or disabled as needed.

Read more
(thoughtbot.com)
Development sensitive data filtering named entity recognition

The 100-Page-a-Day Reading Strategy: A Habit for Life

2024-12-21
The 100-Page-a-Day Reading Strategy: A Habit for Life

Matthew Walther, editor of *The Lamp* magazine, shares his "100-pages-a-day reading strategy." It's not a rigid plan, but a cultivated habit designed to combat the distractions of modern life and reclaim the joy of reading. Walther breaks his day into several reading slots, utilizing even fragmented time. He emphasizes diversifying reading material, balancing heavy and light books, and always carrying a book. The ultimate goal is establishing a reading habit, not strictly adhering to a page count.

Read more
(thelampmagazine.com)
Misc reading strategy reading habit effective reading

Revolutionizing Surgery: Through-Tissue 3D Printing with Focused Ultrasound

2025-01-05
Revolutionizing Surgery: Through-Tissue 3D Printing with Focused Ultrasound

A groundbreaking 3D printing technique uses focused ultrasound and a novel ultrasound-sensitive ink to construct biocompatible structures within thick, layered tissues. This could revolutionize surgery, enabling minimally invasive procedures such as repairing heart defects without open-heart surgery. The technique leverages ultrasound's penetration ability, precisely controlling temperature to solidify the ink into intricate 3D shapes. Successful animal testing, creating complex structures, paves the way for future human applications.

Read more
(www.nibib.nih.gov)
Tech ultrasound biomedical engineering

Oregon DA's Illegal Phone Search Leads to Privacy Violation Lawsuit

2025-02-14
Oregon DA's Illegal Phone Search Leads to Privacy Violation Lawsuit

An Oregon woman's nude photos became the talk of her small town after a prosecutor viewed her sensitive cellphone data without a warrant, consent, or suspicion of a crime. While a federal appeals court ruled the Grant County DA had qualified immunity, the case highlights a troubling Fourth Amendment violation. The court acknowledged the Idaho State Police had consent to search the phone, but that didn't extend to another state's DA reviewing the data and disseminating private photos. The ruling sparks criticism of qualified immunity's protection of officials from liability. Though the woman received no remedy, the case serves as a warning to law enforcement; similar actions violate the Constitution and could result in liability.

Read more
(www.oregonlive.com)
Misc privacy violation illegal search qualified immunity

California Ground Squirrels Caught Eating Meat: A Surprising Discovery

2024-12-21
California Ground Squirrels Caught Eating Meat: A Surprising Discovery

A recent study has overturned long-held beliefs about California ground squirrels. Previously considered granivores (grain-eaters), researchers observed these common rodents hunting, killing, and consuming voles—small rodents—during the summer of 2024. This surprising discovery highlights the gaps in our understanding of even familiar animals and suggests California ground squirrels may be opportunistic omnivores, adapting their diet based on food availability. The observed carnivorous behavior, peaking when vole populations surged, demonstrates their behavioral flexibility and adaptability to changing environments.

Read more
(gizmodo.com)
Misc California ground squirrel carnivorous behavior

Google's Sculley Embarks on Fab Academy's Manufacturing Adventure

2025-08-03

D. Sculley, a Google leader in machine learning based in Cambridge, is undertaking Fab Academy. With a background in ML since 2003 and prior experience in education, Sculley aims to explore the intersection of ML and various fabrication techniques, from CAD and laser cutting to 3D printing. He plans to complete a project each week, culminating in a final project, promising a challenging yet rewarding learning journey.

Read more
(fab.cba.mit.edu)
AI

Neovim's Legacy: A Deep Dive into the Evolution of Unix Text Editors

2025-03-15
Neovim's Legacy: A Deep Dive into the Evolution of Unix Text Editors

This article traces the history of the Neovim editor, starting from its ancestor, the ed editor, and detailing the evolution of editors like QED, ex, vi, and Vim. It delves into the developers behind each editor and their role in the development of the Unix operating system. Neovim, as a modern fork of Vim, inherits Vim's powerful features while incorporating improvements and optimizations, making it a favorite among many developers.

Read more
(l-o-o-s-e-d.net)
Development Editor History

Favor Long Options in Scripts

2025-03-22

Many command-line utilities offer both short (-f) and long (--force) options. While short options are convenient for interactive use, long options are far superior in scripts. Their improved readability and self-explanatory nature enhance maintainability and understanding. For instance, in Git, `git switch --create release-{today} origin/main` is significantly clearer than `git switch -c my-new-branch`, particularly within complex scripts.

Read more
(matklad.github.io)
Development long options
1 2 … 376 377 378 380 382 383 384 … 596 597