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Can LLMs Create a Realistic Sheep Herding Game?

2025-03-11

Can LLMs Create a Realistic Sheep Herding Game?

A developer challenged large language models (LLMs) to create a sheep herding game called "Shepherd's Dog," focusing on realistic flocking behavior. The detailed prompt included specifications for sheep movement, reactions to the dog and obstacles, and gameplay mechanics. The LLMs were tasked with building the entire game within a single index.html file using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, featuring at least 10 levels, a timer, scoring system, and saved game progress. The experiment showcases the potential of LLMs in game development.

(github.com)

Game Game Design

Hardcore Rust: A Ray Tracer Without Dynamic Memory Allocation

2025-01-30

This post details a case study of writing a Rust application using only a minimal, artificially constrained API (no dynamic memory allocation). The author critiques RAII (Resource Acquisition Is Initialization) for leading to messy resource management and proposes a "hard mode": splitting the program into a `std` binary and a `#![no_std] no_alloc` library, allowing only the binary to directly request resources from the OS. Using a toy ray tracer as an example, the author meticulously explains handling pixel buffers, parallelization, the memory allocator, and scene parsing in this "hard mode," ultimately achieving a ray tracer without dynamic memory allocation.

(matklad.github.io)

Development

In-Browser Graph RAG Chatbot using Kuzu-Wasm and WebLLM

2025-03-10

In-Browser Graph RAG Chatbot using Kuzu-Wasm and WebLLM

This blog post demonstrates a fully in-browser chatbot built with Kuzu-Wasm and WebLLM, leveraging Graph Retrieval-Augmented Generation (Graph RAG) to answer natural language questions about LinkedIn data. The application utilizes the benefits of WebAssembly, enabling local data processing for enhanced privacy and simplified deployment. The architecture, implementation, data ingestion, WebLLM prompting, and performance observations are detailed. While current limitations exist, such as model size and speed, the advancements in WebAssembly and the emergence of smaller, better LLMs suggest a bright future for such advanced pipelines running entirely within the browser.

(blog.kuzudb.com)

AI Graph Database

Microsoft to Delete Passwords for 1 Billion Users, Promoting Passkeys

2024-12-17

Microsoft to Delete Passwords for 1 Billion Users, Promoting Passkeys

In response to a surge in cyberattacks, Microsoft announced plans to delete passwords for a billion users and aggressively promote the more secure passkeys. With password attacks nearly doubling year-over-year, Microsoft blocks 7,000 attacks per second. Passkeys, leveraging biometrics or PINs, offer superior security and convenience compared to traditional passwords. Microsoft is actively pushing users towards passkey adoption, aiming for a passwordless and more secure future.

(www.forbes.com)

Tech cybersecurity passwords passkeys

Meta's Interoperability Proposal: Why XMPP is the Real Solution

2025-03-29

Designated a gatekeeper under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), Meta must ensure interoperability between WhatsApp and Messenger. However, Meta's proposed solution, relying on restrictive NDAs, proprietary APIs, and centralized control, falls short of true interoperability. The article argues that the established open standard XMPP offers a superior alternative, enabling seamless federation, decentralized control, enhanced privacy, and scalability. The author urges Meta to adopt XMPP to create a truly open and competitive messaging ecosystem.

(xmpp.org)

Tech Interoperability

Alibaba's Qwen3: Hybrid Reasoning Model Family Takes on Edge AI

2025-09-13

Alibaba's Qwen3: Hybrid Reasoning Model Family Takes on Edge AI

Alibaba's Qwen3, a hybrid reasoning model family, is rapidly expanding across platforms and sectors, driving real-world AI innovation. A key milestone is its support for Apple's MLX framework, enabling efficient large language model execution on Apple devices. Thirty-two open-source Qwen3 models are now available, optimized for various quantization levels. Leading chipmakers like NVIDIA, AMD, Arm, and MediaTek have integrated Qwen3, demonstrating significant performance gains. Furthermore, Qwen3 powers enterprise applications: Lenovo integrated it into its Baiying AI agent, serving over one million business customers; FAW Group, a major Chinese automaker, uses it in its OpenMind internal AI agent. By January 2025, over 290,000 customers across diverse sectors adopted Qwen models via Alibaba's Model Studio, showcasing its impact on China's AI-driven digital transformation.

(www.alizila.com)

AI Hybrid Reasoning

Numbers Look Like Leaves in Set Theory

2024-12-28

Numbers Look Like Leaves in Set Theory

While learning ZFC set theory, the author discovered that the graphical representation of natural numbers using Von Neumann ordinals, when rendered using a force-directed graph layout, strikingly resembles leaves. The article details the recursive definition of Von Neumann ordinals and their tree-like structure, visually demonstrating how numbers from 0 to 16 take on a leaf-like form. The author concludes by questioning whether this 'leaf' shape is inherent to the structure of Von Neumann ordinals themselves and plans to investigate the set-theoretic representation of rational numbers.

(www.christo.sh)

AI set theory von neumann ordinals mathematical visualization

Lottery Odds: A Rare Positive Expected Value?

2025-03-05

Lottery Odds: A Rare Positive Expected Value?

The Texas Lotto example shows that buying every possible lottery ticket isn't always a negative expected value play. With 25.8 million possible number combinations and often only a million tickets sold, weeks regularly go by with no jackpot winners. In 2024, only two jackpot winners emerged from 157 drawings, winning $17.5 million and $29 million respectively, leaving a $59.5 million jackpot by year's end. Someone finally won in February 2025, after the prize swelled to $83.5 million. While the odds remain extremely long, the accumulating jackpot can, theoretically, create a positive expected value – albeit a highly unlikely one.

(www.bloomberg.com)

Misc lottery probability expected value

Dyna: A Declarative Language for Machine Learning Researchers

2025-08-17

Dyna is a programming language designed by and for machine learning researchers. Building upon logic programming paradigms like Datalog and Prolog, Dyna allows flexible execution orders and weighted rules, enabling complex programs to be expressed concisely. From matrix multiplication and Fibonacci sequences to CKY parsing and even infinite neural networks, Dyna achieves impressive brevity. Started in 2004 to bridge the gap between mathematical concepts and executable code, Dyna has evolved through versions 1.0 and 2.0, continuously improving and expanding its capabilities. Current research focuses on building a flexible and complete implementation using relational algebra and term rewriting, and employing reinforcement learning to optimize execution strategies.

(dyna.org)

Development declarative programming

Maps and Fantasy: Unveiling the Secrets of Fictional Geographies

2024-12-14

Maps and Fantasy: Unveiling the Secrets of Fictional Geographies

This article explores the evolution and symbolism of maps in fantasy literature. From Tolkien's "The Hobbit" to "Game of Thrones," maps are more than just geographical guides; they are essential tools for constructing worldviews and shaping cultural identities. The author analyzes common features of fantasy maps, such as vast western oceans and mysterious eastern lands, exploring the cultural and psychological factors behind these features and their relationship to real-world geography, colonial history, and cultural biases. Ultimately, the author argues that the appeal of fantasy maps lies in their unknown aspects and the possibilities they represent beyond reality.

(longreads.com)

Misc fantasy literature maps cultural symbolism

@celine/bibhtml v3.0.3: A Web Components-Based Referencing System

2024-12-21

@celine/bibhtml v3.0.3: A Web Components-Based Referencing System

@celine/bibhtml, a Web Components-based referencing system for HTML documents, has released version 3.0.3. It aims to provide a user experience similar to LaTeX/BibTeX referencing, using Citation.js under the hood and gracefully degrading when citations and references are malformed or JavaScript is disabled. Supporting BibTeX, unstructured text, DOI, and Wikidata formats, it offers three custom elements: ``, ``, and ``, simplifying reference management in HTML.

(maxbo.me)

Development Reference Management

Retry Algorithm Showdown: Linear, Exponential, and Capped Exponential Backoff

2025-01-05

This article compares three common retry algorithms: linear backoff, exponential backoff, and capped exponential backoff. Linear backoff increases the wait time by a fixed amount with each retry; exponential backoff doubles (or multiplies) the wait time with each retry; capped exponential backoff is similar to exponential backoff but with a maximum delay. The article also discusses adding random jitter to prevent "thundering herd" problems when multiple clients retry simultaneously.

(www.compareretries.com)

Development retry algorithm exponential backoff jitter

The Quest for the Perfect Pancreas Phone: A Child's Health Journey

2025-02-16

The Quest for the Perfect Pancreas Phone: A Child's Health Journey

This post details the author's journey in finding the right phone for their child, Sam, who needs continuous blood glucose monitoring. They initially used the Pixel 4a 5G for its large screen, but as Sam became more mobile, a smaller, more rugged phone was needed. For over two years, the Cubot King Kong Mini 3 served as Sam's dedicated "pancreas phone," but its discontinuation necessitates a replacement. A temporary, inexpensive Smart E25 was purchased in an emergency, highlighting its poor quality. The author seeks recommendations for a durable replacement, sharing their experience in finding the right technology for their child's healthcare needs.

(maori.geek.nz)

Misc medical device rugged phone child health

80-Year-Old Crafts Retailer Joann to Liquidate All Stores

2025-02-25

80-Year-Old Crafts Retailer Joann to Liquidate All Stores

Joann Inc., an 80-year-old fabric and crafts retailer, is going out of business and closing all its stores after failing to overcome operational challenges. The company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in less than a year, cited weak consumer demand and inventory issues. Despite initially vowing to stay open, Joann ultimately accepted a bid from GA Group to liquidate its assets, leading to going-out-of-business sales at all locations. While the website and app will remain operational for the time being, the closure of all stores marks the end of an era for the long-standing retailer.

(apnews.com)

Startup retail liquidation

Anomalous Tokens in DeepSeek: A Catalog of Glitches

2025-01-25

Anomalous Tokens in DeepSeek: A Catalog of Glitches

A researcher has uncovered a trove of 'anomalous tokens' within the open-source large language model DeepSeek-V3 and r1. These tokens, when inputted, cause the model to exhibit bizarre behavior, such as replacing words with unusual Unicode characters, acronyms, or emojis. The researcher systematically tested each token from DeepSeek's vocabulary, identifying and categorizing these glitches. Some tokens, dubbed 'fragment tokens,' only show anomalies in specific contexts. Others, like 'Nameeee' and 'EDMFunc', consistently produce peculiar substitutions. 'Nameeee' frequently yields 'M'-related words or symbols, while 'EDMFunc' favors words starting with 'H' and Japanese names. Numerous non-English anomalous tokens, primarily from Cebuano and other Philippine languages, were also found. Special tokens like '<｜end of thinking｜>' can further disrupt the model's functionality. This research offers valuable insights into the inner workings of LLMs and opens avenues for further investigation.

(outsidetext.substack.com)

AI Anomalous Tokens

Hacking a Dummy Plug's EDID with a Raspberry Pi

2025-06-15

The author cleverly used a Raspberry Pi and I2C tools to modify the EDID information of a cheap HDMI dummy plug. By reading and writing new EDID data, the dummy plug was disguised as a 1080p capture device, solving the incompatibility problem with 4K resolution. The whole process details the steps and reminds readers to be careful to avoid damaging the equipment.

(www.downtowndougbrown.com)

Hardware

Shell Injection Vulnerabilities Lurking in Unix Utilities

2025-06-10

Many Unix utilities use the `system(3)` function to execute external commands, leading to potential shell injection vulnerabilities. This article delves into this issue, analyzing the behavior of `system(3)`, `sh -c`, and various tools like `watch`, `ssh`, and `i3`, demonstrating how shell metacharacters can be used to bypass security measures. The author advocates for avoiding `system(3)` and provides mitigation techniques, such as using `exec --` and proper quoting and escaping. Ultimately, the article calls for developers to address these security flaws in their tools.

(notes.volution.ro)

Development shell injection

Viral Animal Illustrations Made Entirely of Circles

2025-04-02

Viral Animal Illustrations Made Entirely of Circles

Artist Dori's stunning illustrations of animals, constructed entirely from circles, have gone viral. The simple yet elegant designs sparked a wave of requests for high-resolution wallpapers and prints. Dori not only shared her creative process but also eventually published a full tutorial on Smashing Magazine. This story highlights the power of creative design and the engaging interaction between artist and audience.

(www.dorithegiant.com)

Design illustration

SignalBot: Security, Features, and Free Use

2025-03-28

SignalBot, a free Signal-based notification bot, employs strong security measures and doesn't store messages or metadata; however, sensitive data usage is discouraged. It offers a generic webhook API supporting plain text and emojis (with Markdown support coming soon) for individual or group notifications. Need custom notification formats or specific integrations? Contact the developer!

(signalbot.one)

Development notification bot

Weird: Own Your Digital Home

2025-01-04

Weird: Own Your Digital Home

In the digital age, we often rent virtual space on giant platforms like Facebook and GitHub, losing true digital sovereignty. Weird aims to change that by offering free website hosting, allowing you to own your domain and website, building a safe and personalized digital home. With simple link lists, you can participate in the social knowledge graph and establish your digital identity. While still in early testing, Weird is steadily improving and will eventually support features like Web Passports and ATProto logins.

(blog.muni.town)

Development digital homeownership domain

Heat Accelerates Auto Chip Aging, Raising Safety Concerns

2024-12-18

Heat Accelerates Auto Chip Aging, Raising Safety Concerns

New research shows that automotive chips are aging significantly faster than expected in hot climates, shortening the lifespan of electric vehicles and potentially creating new safety issues. In areas like Phoenix, Arizona, where high temperatures can persist for weeks, cabin temperatures can reach 93°C, severely impacting chip longevity. Studies reveal that for a chip designed for a 30-year lifespan, high temperatures reduce life expectancy by an additional 10% annually. Chipmakers are working to address this, requiring new materials, design redundancy, and active cooling solutions. Increased chip utilization due to autonomous driving exacerbates the problem. Proactive monitoring and predictive failure analysis will become crucial, impacting both vehicle reliability and safety.

(semiengineering.com)

Hardware automotive chips aging high temperatures

AMD's Beastly Ryzen AI Max+ Debuts: Radical Memory Tech Fuels RDNA 3.5 & Zen 5

2025-01-06

AMD's Beastly Ryzen AI Max+ Debuts: Radical Memory Tech Fuels RDNA 3.5 & Zen 5

AMD unveiled its 'Strix Halo' Ryzen AI Max series at CES 2025, boasting groundbreaking integrated memory architecture. These APUs pack a 40-core RDNA 3.5 iGPU, delivering monstrous performance for thin-and-light gaming and AI workstations. AMD claims up to 1.4X faster gaming than Intel's Lunar Lake Core Ultra 9 288V, 84% faster rendering than the Apple MacBook M4 Pro, and a staggering 2.2X AI performance advantage over the desktop Nvidia RTX 4090, all while consuming 87% less power. The flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 features 16 cores/32 threads, 40 RDNA 3.5 CUs, and supports up to 128GB of shared memory, dynamically allocated between CPU, GPU, and XDNA 2 NPU. Desktop versions are expected in the future.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware

Duolingo's Wild Ride: AI's Double-Edged Sword

2025-08-18

Duolingo's Wild Ride: AI's Double-Edged Sword

Language learning platform Duolingo saw its stock surge 30% after a strong quarter, only to plummet after OpenAI's GPT-5 demonstrated the ability to create a language-learning app with a simple prompt. This highlights AI's double-edged sword: it can fuel growth, but also bring disruptive competition. While Duolingo embraces AI, its advantages proved fragile against GPT-5, serving as a warning to software companies about the rapid disruptive potential of AI.

(finance.yahoo.com)

Tech

Airbus A320 Family Poised to Surpass Boeing 737 as Top-Delivered Airliner

2025-08-18

Airbus A320 Family Poised to Surpass Boeing 737 as Top-Delivered Airliner

Airbus's A320 family of narrow-body jets is on the verge of surpassing Boeing's 737 family as the world's most-delivered commercial airliner, according to Cirium data. This milestone, nearly four decades in the making, marks a significant win for Airbus in its long-standing competition with Boeing. The A320's success is attributed to its innovative fly-by-wire technology, flexible engine options, and the fuel-efficient 'neo' variant, while Boeing's 737 MAX grounding provided a crucial opportunity. Despite Boeing's early lead, Airbus's continuous improvements and innovations have propelled the A320 to surpass its rival in delivery numbers.

(simpleflying.com)

Tech aerospace Airbus

Minesweeper via MCP: A Server-Side Agent

2025-03-20

Minesweeper via MCP: A Server-Side Agent

This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server enabling MCP client agents to play Minesweeper. It's designed to work alongside a Minesweeper game server. A sped-up video demo is available at https://youtu.be/CXXMafVtlEQ (16x speed). Follow the game server's instructions to start it locally. Install dependencies, build the server, and configure your MCP client to add the tool (e.g., in Claude Desktop's `claude_desktop_config.json`). Start a Minesweeper game and try to flag all mines; coordinates are 0-indexed. The full conversation log is extensive, with snippets showing incorrect flag placement and giving up after multiple attempts.

(github.com)

Game Minesweeper Game Server

Keygen's #NoCalls Approach to Enterprise Sales: A Case Study

2025-01-16

Keygen's #NoCalls Approach to Enterprise Sales: A Case Study

Keygen founder Zeke Gabrielse shares how his company successfully scaled into the enterprise market by completely eliminating sales calls and embracing asynchronous communication via email. He argues that enterprise clients often resort to calls due to a lack of understanding regarding the product, its usage, pricing, and company trustworthiness. Keygen tackled these issues through clear product messaging, a robust self-serve onboarding experience, transparent pricing, and a focus on publicly available security documentation. This resulted in securing enterprise clients without relying on sales calls. This article offers an alternative sales strategy for founders who dislike traditional sales calls.

(keygen.sh)

Startup sales strategy enterprise software asynchronous communication

YouTube quietly downgraded its web embeds, impacting user experience

2024-12-14

YouTube quietly downgraded its web embeds, impacting user experience

YouTube recently altered its Publisher for Publishers (PfP) embedded player, removing the title link back to YouTube. This change, intended to protect advertisers since PfP allows publishers to sell their own ads, means many websites, including The Verge, now have YouTube embeds where clicking the title no longer opens the video on YouTube.com or the app. Despite efforts to communicate with YouTube, including reaching out to CEO Neal Mohan, the change remains. This highlights how large tech platforms can prioritize their own interests over user experience.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech embedded player

Python Dependency Management: A Raging Inferno

2024-12-15

This article delves into the complexities of Python dependency management, likening it to building a bonfire in a dry forest. The author argues that Python dependencies aren't simply a matter of `pip install`; they encompass project packages, system packages, the operating system, hardware, and the environment itself. Good dependency management is crucial for reproducibility—ensuring consistent results across different environments. The article details version control, environment isolation, definition files, lock files, and other key concepts. It then provides a comprehensive comparison of numerous tools, including pip, venv, virtualenv, pip-tools, Pipenv, Poetry, PDM, pyenv, pipx, uv, Conda, Mamba, conda-lock, and Pixi, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and use cases. Finally, the author offers tool recommendations based on different scenarios (administrative privileges, dependency types, operating systems, etc.) and looks ahead to future trends in Python dependency management.

(nielscautaerts.xyz)

Development Python dependency management reproducibility Python tools

China Shatters Renewable Energy Installation Record in 2024

2025-01-21

China Shatters Renewable Energy Installation Record in 2024

China set a new record for renewable energy installations in 2024, adding approximately 277 gigawatts of solar and nearly 80 gigawatts of wind power. This achievement marks a significant milestone, allowing China to reach its 2030 renewable energy target six years ahead of schedule, contrasting sharply with the US's shift towards fossil fuels. Despite a challenging year for the solar industry due to oversupply, the installation pace remained impressive. While challenges like grid infrastructure upgrades and land availability may slow growth in the coming years, substantial additions are still projected for 2025.

(financialpost.com)

Tech China energy

Princeton University Unveils Infinigen: An Engine for Generating Infinite Photorealistic Worlds

2024-12-23

Princeton University Unveils Infinigen: An Engine for Generating Infinite Photorealistic Worlds

Princeton University's Visual Learning Lab has released Infinigen, an engine that uses procedural generation to create infinitely varied photorealistic worlds. It can generate both indoor and outdoor scenes and offers features like camera configuration, export to various file formats, and the addition of external assets. Built on Blender and incorporating several open-source projects, Infinigen's code is publicly available with comprehensive documentation and tutorials. The research team published papers on the technology at CVPR 2023 and 2024 and encourages community contributions of code, generators, and data.

(github.com)

AI procedural generation virtual worlds

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