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Windows 2: The Almost-Forgotten OS That Could Have Been the Last

2025-01-01

This article dives deep into the untold story of Windows 2.0, an often-overlooked chapter in the history of graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It explores the technical limitations of the era, the intense competition from systems like VisiOn and Apple Lisa, and the internal struggles within Microsoft that shaped the development of Windows 2.0. While lacking in abundant software, Windows 2.0 displayed surprising features like mouse support and basic multitasking. Despite nearly becoming a dead end, its lessons proved crucial for the subsequent success of Windows 3.0. The narrative weaves together technical details, historical context, and anecdotes from the development process, painting a compelling picture of this pivotal moment in computing history.

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(www.ninakalinina.com)
Tech Windows history OS development

ALTCHA: Lightweight, Privacy-Preserving Anti-Spam Solution

2025-05-15
ALTCHA: Lightweight, Privacy-Preserving Anti-Spam Solution

ALTCHA is a self-hosted anti-spam service for websites and APIs. It uses a proof-of-work mechanism instead of CAPTCHAs, protecting user privacy and complying with GDPR and WCAG 2.2 AA standards. ALTCHA is lightweight, cookie-free, and fully accessible, offering a SaaS API and extensive configuration options including custom requests, spam filtering, and data obfuscation. Its size is a mere 6% of reCAPTCHA.

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(github.com)
Development proof-of-work

Brother Printers Accused of Functionality Degradation with Third-Party Cartridges

2025-03-05
Brother Printers Accused of Functionality Degradation with Third-Party Cartridges

A controversy is brewing around Brother laser printers and their compatibility with third-party cartridges. YouTube videos and Reddit posts claim that firmware updates render key features, like color registration, non-functional when non-Brother cartridges are used. While Brother denies intentionally crippling functionality, users report degraded print quality and complete failure. The lack of older firmware versions and automatic updates adds fuel to the fire, raising concerns about anti-consumer practices in the printer industry.

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(arstechnica.com)
Hardware third-party cartridges Brother

Valve Opens Team Fortress 2's Source Code to the Public

2025-02-19
Valve Opens Team Fortress 2's Source Code to the Public

Celebrating its upcoming 20th anniversary, Valve has unexpectedly released the full client and server source code for Team Fortress 2, inviting players to modify, extend, or even rewrite the game. This move aims to empower the community and extend the life of this classic shooter. Despite recent struggles with bots, TF2 retains a dedicated player base. The open-source initiative is expected to unlock a wave of creative mods and potentially even entirely new games. However, all modifications must remain free of charge.

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(gamerant.com)
Game Community Creation

Lightpanda: A Lightweight Headless Browser for AI and Automation

2025-01-24
Lightpanda: A Lightweight Headless Browser for AI and Automation

Lightpanda is an open-source headless browser designed for AI and automation tasks. Written in Zig, it boasts ultra-low memory footprint and exceptionally fast execution—11x faster and 9x less memory than Chrome. Supporting Javascript execution and partial Web APIs, it's compatible with Playwright and Puppeteer, ideal for AI agents, LLM training, scraping, and testing. Currently in Beta, it already features an HTTP loader, HTML parser, DOM tree, Javascript support (v8), basic DOM APIs, Ajax, XHR API, Fetch API, and DOM dumping.

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(github.com)
Development headless browser

The Open Source Dilemma: Balancing Free and Sustainable

2025-03-12

The open-source world faces a dilemma: high-quality end-user software, like office suites and video conferencing tools, often struggles to thrive under a purely open-source model, hindering its development. The article uses the 'lumber and chairs' analogy to illustrate the difference between open-source software (lumber) and commercial software (chairs), highlighting that maintaining open-source software requires continuous investment, which a purely free model struggles to support. It also touches on the issue of European software sovereignty, emphasizing the importance of reducing dependence on American tech giants, and calls for a new model that balances open-source freedoms with commercial sustainability to ensure the long-term development of high-quality open-source software.

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(mill.plainopen.com)
Development software sovereignty

Hexi: A Lightweight C++23 Library for Safe Binary Data Handling

2025-03-28
Hexi: A Lightweight C++23 Library for Safe Binary Data Handling

Hexi is a lightweight, header-only C++23 library for safely handling binary data from arbitrary sources (primarily network data). It bridges the gap between manually memcpying bytes and full-blown serialization libraries. Designed for ease of use, safety with untrusted data, flexibility, and minimal overhead, Hexi supports custom containers (including non-contiguous ones), exception handling, and bounds checking. Additional features include buffer types for binary files, static/dynamic buffers, and a thread-local block allocator.

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(github.com)
Development Binary Data

Doodle Dreams: Bringing Your Drawings to Life

2024-12-27

Doodle Dreams is an app that transforms your hand-drawn doodles into animations. Simply draw your desired characters on paper, scan them using the app, and it will recognize and create animations. You can choose different backgrounds, music, and effects to make your doodles more vivid and engaging. This app is suitable for all ages; whether you're an experienced artist or a beginner, you can easily create your own animated works.

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(doodledreams.cc)
Game animation doodle creation

Europol Shuts Down Massive Dark Web Child Porn Ring

2025-04-02
Europol Shuts Down Massive Dark Web Child Porn Ring

Europol has dismantled KidFlix, one of the world's largest dark web child pornography networks. Launched in 2021, KidFlix offered low-quality child sexual abuse material (CSAM) previews for free, then charged cryptocurrency for higher-resolution videos. Operation Stream, a multinational effort involving over 35 countries, seized the servers, uncovering 91,000 unique CSAM videos, many previously unknown to law enforcement. 79 arrests have been made, 39 child victims protected, and over 3,000 devices seized. Despite cryptocurrency's supposed anonymity, investigators successfully traced payments to suspects, highlighting the effectiveness of law enforcement's advanced techniques.

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(arstechnica.com)
Tech child exploitation

The Ultimate AI Learning Resource: From Beginner to Expert

2025-08-11

Aman Chadha has curated a comprehensive list of AI learning resources covering the entire process of building, training, and evaluating neural networks. From linear regression to large language models, and from data preprocessing to model evaluation, this resource has it all. Whether you're focusing on algorithms, training techniques, or model deployment and evaluation, this guide provides comprehensive support for AI learners of all levels, from beginners to seasoned researchers.

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(aman.ai)
AI

Twitch Implements 100-Hour Storage Cap for Highlights, Sparking Controversy

2025-02-20
Twitch Implements 100-Hour Storage Cap for Highlights, Sparking Controversy

Twitch announced a new 100-hour storage limit for highlights and uploads, effective April 19th. Content exceeding this limit will be automatically deleted. The platform cites the ineffectiveness of highlights in driving engagement and the high cost of storage as reasons. This decision has drawn criticism, particularly from the speedrunning community, who rely heavily on Twitch archives for record-keeping. While Twitch claims minimal user impact, the move threatens to erase valuable speedrun history and significantly alter the platform's community ecosystem.

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(www.theverge.com)
Game storage limit speedrunning

SeleniumBase: A Powerful Web Automation Framework

2024-12-17
SeleniumBase: A Powerful Web Automation Framework

SeleniumBase is a robust Python framework for web automation, testing, and bypassing bot detection. Built on Selenium WebDriver and integrating with test runners like pytest, it offers a clean syntax and extensive features such as automatic waits for page elements, test report generation, a dashboard, and support for multiple browsers and operating systems. SeleniumBase also includes modes like UC Mode and CDP Mode for enhanced stealth and reliability, along with comprehensive examples and documentation for quick adoption.

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(github.com)
Development web automation testing

Life After the Newag DRM Disclosure: A 38C3 Report

2024-12-29
Life After the Newag DRM Disclosure: A 38C3 Report

Following the disclosure at 37C3 of remote failure simulation code in Newag trains, security researchers faced a backlash. This update details the aftermath, including legal battles with Newag and train operators, media interactions, and multiple official investigations. The report also reveals new cases from different train operators, illustrating the challenges faced by security researchers when confronting powerful adversaries.

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(media.ccc.de)
Tech security research legal battles

The Sackler Brothers and LSD: A Tale of Ideals and Profits

2025-01-30
The Sackler Brothers and LSD: A Tale of Ideals and Profits

This article unveils the little-known story of the Sackler brothers' involvement in early LSD research during the 1950s. Initially driven by the idealistic goal of curing mental illness, they actively participated in early LSD trials, attempting to link LSD research to their own hormonal imbalance theories. However, over time, their focus shifted to the commercial potential of pharmaceuticals, ultimately leading to infamy for developing and marketing OxyContin. The article highlights the conflict between idealism and profit motives, and the ethical and commercial considerations in technological advancement.

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(resobscura.substack.com)
Tech Sackler Brothers Pharmaceutical Research

Nvidia Unveils Personal AI Supercomputers: DGX Spark and DGX Station

2025-03-19
Nvidia Unveils Personal AI Supercomputers: DGX Spark and DGX Station

Nvidia launched two personal AI supercomputers, DGX Spark and DGX Station, powered by the Grace Blackwell platform. These new AI PC architectures are designed for running neural networks and will be manufactured by five major PC manufacturers. Aimed at developers and researchers, the DGX systems allow for local prototyping, fine-tuning, and running of large AI models. They also act as bridge systems, easily transferring models between desktop and cloud environments. DGX Spark offers impressive performance, while DGX Station boasts enhanced memory and networking speeds.

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(arstechnica.com)
Hardware AI Supercomputers

Man Arrested for Stealing and Sharing Pre-Release Blockbusters, Causing Tens of Millions in Losses

2025-03-08
Man Arrested for Stealing and Sharing Pre-Release Blockbusters, Causing Tens of Millions in Losses

A 37-year-old Tennessee man was arrested for stealing pre-release Blu-rays and DVDs from a major movie studio distribution company and sharing them online. Working at the company, he allegedly stole numerous films between February 2021 and March 2022, bypassed encryption, and shared the movies online, also selling the physical discs. Charged with copyright infringement and transportation of stolen goods, he faces up to 15 years in prison. The illegal sharing of *Spider-Man: No Way Home* alone resulted in tens of millions of downloads and an estimated loss of tens of millions of dollars.

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(arstechnica.com)
Tech movie theft

Severance Season 2: Corporate Perks as a Tool for Control

2025-03-06
Severance Season 2: Corporate Perks as a Tool for Control

Apple TV+'s *Severance* season 2 highlights how seemingly beneficial corporate perks—finger traps, waffle parties, family visits—are used to manipulate employees. These perks, while appearing to boost morale, subtly blur the lines between freedom and control, ultimately reinforcing the company's power. The article draws parallels to real-world scenarios where 'wellness perks' are used to collect employee data, violating privacy and undermining worker rights. It contrasts these tactics with the proven benefits of unionization for improving worker conditions and pay.

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(theoffcut.substack.com)
Tech corporate perks worker control

Havana Syndrome: Intelligence Agencies Shift Stance on Mystery Weapon

2025-01-13
Havana Syndrome: Intelligence Agencies Shift Stance on Mystery Weapon

Two years ago, US intelligence agencies emphatically concluded that "Havana syndrome" wasn't the work of a foreign adversary wielding some kind of energy weapon. New intelligence has overturned that conclusion. Some intelligence agencies are no longer ruling out the possibility of a mystery weapon, with the White House even suggesting a deliberate attack by a US foe. This shift is significant, potentially leading to a strong US response. While the new report acknowledges uncertainty, the move from outright denial to a 50% chance is noteworthy.

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(www.theatlantic.com)
Tech Havana Syndrome mystery weapon intelligence agencies

The High Cost of On-Call: How Tech Companies Exploit Their Engineers

2025-03-27
The High Cost of On-Call: How Tech Companies Exploit Their Engineers

This article examines the pervasive and detrimental effects of on-call engineer rotations in tech companies. Using the experience of an engineer named Alex as a case study, it highlights the immense stress and burnout associated with on-call duties, including constant availability, sleep deprivation, blurred work-life boundaries, and the lack of adequate compensation. The article critiques the prevailing culture that normalizes the exploitation inherent in such systems, urging companies to reconsider their on-call policies and provide fair compensation and protection for their engineers' well-being.

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(www.scottsmitelli.com)
Development Work-Life Balance

McDonald's App Security Flaw: The Perils of Trusting Clients

2025-01-17
McDonald's App Security Flaw: The Perils of Trusting Clients

A blog post exposes a critical security vulnerability in the McDonald's app. The vulnerability stems from the app's excessive trust in clients, allowing hackers to bypass security checks and obtain free Big Macs and other deals. The post details how attackers utilize root access, custom recovery systems, and other methods to circumvent the app's security mechanisms, highlighting that simply checking client trustworthiness is ineffective. The author urges developers to abandon blind trust in clients and implement stronger security measures to prevent similar incidents.

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(liberda.nl)
Development client-side security mobile app security

VW's Budget EV, ID. EVERY1, to Launch with Rivian Software

2025-03-18
VW's Budget EV, ID. EVERY1, to Launch with Rivian Software

Volkswagen unveiled the ID. EVERY1, an ultra-cheap electric vehicle set to launch in 2027 with a starting price of €20,000. Significantly, the ID. EVERY1 will be the first VW vehicle to utilize Rivian's software and architecture, a result of a $5.8 billion joint venture between the two companies. This collaboration aims to reduce development costs and enhance VW's competitiveness in the EV market, while providing Rivian with crucial funding and business diversification. The ID. EVERY1 represents VW's push into a wider market segment, with a goal of becoming the world's leading high-volume electric vehicle manufacturer by 2030.

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(techcrunch.com)
Tech

My Linkblogging Workflow: 7,607 Posts and Counting

2025-01-06
My Linkblogging Workflow: 7,607 Posts and Counting

Simon Willison shares his approach to running a successful link blog spanning over two decades. He details his methods for curating and presenting links, emphasizing the value of adding insightful commentary, giving proper credit to creators, and using technology (Django, Markdown, Claude) to enhance the experience. He argues link blogging is a low-effort, high-reward way to contribute meaningfully to online discourse and encourages others to adopt the practice.

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(simonwillison.net)
Development linkblogging blogging content creation

Retro DIY Home Computer: 4x the Power of a C64!

2025-01-22
Retro DIY Home Computer: 4x the Power of a C64!

A developer built a retro home computer using just 61 74HCxx logic ICs, 2 6C1008 SRAM chips, and 4 39SF0x0 FLASH chips – boasting 4x the processing power of a Commodore C64! The Minimal 64x4 features 64KB RAM, a 512KB FLASH SSD, VGA output, and a PS/2 port. It has 256 instructions and a complete toolchain including an OS, text editor, assembler, and a Python-like interpreter. The open-source project includes classic games like Tetris and Space Invaders.

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(github.com)
Hardware

The 200B Parameter Pressure Cooker: Stress in Modern AI Research

2025-01-06
The 200B Parameter Pressure Cooker: Stress in Modern AI Research

The AI landscape has dramatically shifted in the last two years. ChatGPT nears 200 million monthly users, and Gemini saw almost 320 million visits in May 2024. However, for those working in AI, particularly researchers, this boom presents a double-edged sword. This blog post details the stresses of modern AI research, from the constant barrage of questions from all walks of life to the intense competition between large companies and the impact of research on stock prices. The author shares personal experiences of acute stress and psychosis, highlighting the unexpected anxieties of sudden wealth and the differing challenges faced by academics and industry scientists, such as publication concerns. Ultimately, the author advocates for open communication to foster a more compassionate AI research environment.

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(docs.google.com)
AI AI stress AI research

Whoosh Rocket: A Low-Cost Physics Experiment

2025-03-21
Whoosh Rocket: A Low-Cost Physics Experiment

The Whoosh rocket, invented by teachers from two Ohio high schools, is a simple model rocket propelled by the combustion of an alcohol-air mixture. Using a plastic bottle as its body and rubbing alcohol as fuel, ignition creates thrust. While it doesn't fly high, it offers students a hands-on learning experience about Newton's laws, chemical reactions, and aerodynamics. However, strict safety precautions, including teacher supervision, are crucial to prevent potential explosions.

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(www1.grc.nasa.gov)
Tech model rocket alcohol combustion

Stunning JavaScript Clock Visualizations

2025-07-29

This project features stunning clock visualizations rendered in JavaScript. It displays time in multiple creative ways: binary representation of Unix timestamps, polygons showing year, month, week, day, hour, minute, and second, dynamic blobs with waves representing different time scales, a solar system model showing Earth, Moon, and Sun, and peaks and waves illustrating the passage of time. The source code is open and modifiable.

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(ianto-cannon.github.io)
Development Clock

The Secret Weapon for Diffusing Toxic Meetings: Naming What's Happening

2025-02-16
The Secret Weapon for Diffusing Toxic Meetings: Naming What's Happening

This article reveals a powerful technique for resolving conflict in meetings: simply stating what's happening in the room. The author argues that many meetings devolve into unproductive arguments due to clashing priorities, emotions, and unspoken tensions. Instead of engaging in the conflict, the solution is to directly name the collective experience, e.g., "I'm sensing a lot of frustration in the room." This disrupts negative patterns, creates shared awareness, and paves the way for more productive communication and problem-solving. The article provides tactical tips, including using "I" statements, avoiding singling out individuals, and knowing when to escalate.

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(leadership.garden)
Misc meeting management

10x Database Throughput with io_uring and a Dual WAL

2025-07-20
10x Database Throughput with io_uring and a Dual WAL

Building a complex database, the author experimented with io_uring and a dual WAL design to boost performance. Traditional WAL approaches (write-then-apply) bottleneck performance. By separating "intent to write" and "completion of write" into two WALs, and leveraging io_uring asynchronous I/O, a 10x throughput improvement was achieved. This design asynchronously writes intent, then completion records; recovery only applies operations with both intent and completion, ensuring data consistency. The author used Zig and the Poro project (an experimental key-value database) to validate this approach, highlighting the importance of hardware parallelism, batching, and flexible consistency models.

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(blog.canoozie.net)
Development asynchronous I/O

Building the World's Best Product Engineering Org: Six Key Elements

2025-01-12

This article is a transcript of James Shore's keynote presentation at the Regional Scrum Gathering Tokyo conference, exploring how to build a world-class product engineering organization. He proposes six key elements: People, Internal Quality, Lovability, Visibility, Agility, and Profitability. The article details how to achieve these goals through improved hiring strategies, enhanced code quality, fast feedback loops, agile methodologies, and collaboration with other departments, emphasizing the importance of continuous improvement. Through case studies and practical experience, the author shares valuable insights, providing guidance for building efficient and excellent product engineering teams.

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(www.jamesshore.com)
Development product engineering
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