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TacOS: A From-Scratch OS Running DOOM

2025-04-24
TacOS: A From-Scratch OS Running DOOM

A developer has released TacOS, an open-source operating system with a kernel written in C and assembly. This UNIX-like kernel boasts features including a VFS, scheduler, TempFS, device drivers, context switching, virtual memory management, and physical page frame allocation. Remarkably, it can run DOOM and other smaller user-space programs. It's been tested on real hardware and in QEMU. While still a work in progress with known bugs, TacOS is a fascinating hobby project.

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(github.com)
Development

US-China Trade War: 90-Day Truce, Massive Tariff Cuts

2025-05-12
US-China Trade War: 90-Day Truce, Massive Tariff Cuts

In a surprise breakthrough, the US and China agreed to significantly roll back tariffs on each other's goods for 90 days, easing the punishing trade war and boosting global markets. The US will temporarily lower tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China will cut tariffs on US imports from 125% to 10%. Both sides committed to establishing a mechanism for continued dialogue on economic and trade relations. The news sent global markets soaring, easing recession fears.

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(edition.cnn.com)
Tech US-China trade

Music from a Deceased Composer's Brain Organoids

2025-04-19
Music from a Deceased Composer's Brain Organoids

Scientists and artists collaborated with the late experimental composer Alvin Lucier to create an art installation, "Revivification," using cerebral organoids grown from his white blood cells. These organoids, connected to transducers and actuators, produce music by electrically triggering brass plates. The installation explores life beyond death, the nature of creativity, and the persistence of memory, prompting questions about consciousness, artificial intelligence, and the future of human experience.

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(www.popularmechanics.com)
Misc BioArt Brain Science

Stop Saying 'Click Here'! Better Link Text Writing

2025-07-02

W3C released a guide on writing more effective link text. It advises against using mechanical phrases like 'click here', suggesting instead concise, meaningful text that clearly describes the link's content, not the mechanics of clicking. The article also introduces W3C QA Tips, a resource offering practical advice for web developers and designers, including how to submit tips and an index of existing ones.

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(www.w3.org)
Development Link Text

The Chordonomicon: 680,000 Songs Reveal the Evolution of Pop Music Chords

2025-04-18
The Chordonomicon: 680,000 Songs Reveal the Evolution of Pop Music Chords

An analysis of nearly 680,000 songs reveals fascinating trends in chord usage across different genres and decades. G major and C major reign supreme, but genre preferences diverge sharply: country music favors simple major chords, while jazz incorporates more complex seventh chords and others. The study tracks the rise and fall of various chord types, highlighting a decline in unique chord usage in recent decades, suggesting a trend towards simpler, more repetitive chord progressions in pop music.

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(www.cantgetmuchhigher.com)
Misc music data analysis pop music

C++26: A Giant Leap for constexpr

2025-04-23

C++26 is set to revolutionize constexpr! Upcoming features include constexpr casts from void*, enabling more flexible compile-time memory manipulation; constexpr placement new, allowing object placement within constant expressions; and constexpr structured bindings, bringing compile-time structured binding. These improvements drastically expand constexpr's reach and empower the standard library with significantly enhanced compile-time capabilities.

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(www.sandordargo.com)
Development compile-time computation

Ocean Iron Fertilization: A Potential Climate Change Weapon?

2025-04-19
Ocean Iron Fertilization: A Potential Climate Change Weapon?

Since the 1990s, scientists have experimented with ocean iron fertilization to stimulate phytoplankton growth and absorb atmospheric CO2. Early experiments showed that adding iron did lead to phytoplankton blooms, with diatoms becoming particularly abundant. These larger algae absorb CO2 more efficiently and sink to the deep ocean, potentially sequestering carbon. However, iron fertilization also carries potential risks, such as harmful algal blooms and alterations to marine ecosystem nutrient allocation. Scientists are now developing new technologies and regulations to comprehensively assess the effectiveness and risks of iron fertilization, exploring it as a potential climate change mitigation tool. Crucially, this doesn't replace the need for immediate and substantial reductions in fossil fuel use.

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(www.whoi.edu)
Tech ocean iron fertilization

Avro Arrow: The Canadian Supersonic Jet That Never Was

2025-04-23
Avro Arrow: The Canadian Supersonic Jet That Never Was

The Avro Arrow, a Canadian-built supersonic interceptor hailed as the world's best in its time, was abruptly cancelled in 1959, with all planes and blueprints destroyed. This article recounts the Arrow's rise and fall, exploring the political and technological factors behind its demise and its enduring legacy. Despite its cancellation, the project showcased Canada's aeronautical prowess and national pride. Many engineers involved later contributed to the American space program, highlighting a continuation of Canadian expertise in aerospace.

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(watershedmagazine.com)
Tech aviation history Canadian history

arXivLabs: Community Collaboration on arXiv Feature Development

2025-04-20
arXivLabs: Community Collaboration on arXiv Feature Development

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Individuals and organizations involved share arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only partners with those who adhere to them. Have an idea to enhance the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

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(arxiv.org)
Development

CERN's Large Hadron Collider: A System Overview

2025-04-22

This list details numerous subsystems and experiments of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, including the LHC detectors (ATLAS, CMS, LHCf), the accelerator chain (Linac 3, Linac 4, PSB, SPS, LEIR, ELENA), and associated monitoring and control systems (e.g., BLM, CPS). The sheer number of entries highlights the immense complexity of the LHC project and its crucial role in high-energy physics research.

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(op-webtools.web.cern.ch)
Tech

Impressive Language Support!

2025-06-05
Impressive Language Support!

This text lists an impressive array of languages, encompassing major languages from most regions of the globe, totaling over 60. This suggests a technology or product with robust multilingual support capabilities, possibly a translation tool, a global platform, or a large language model. The wide language coverage hints at a massive potential user base and market reach.

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(elevenlabs.io)
Misc

Gleam: A Type-Safe Language on the Erlang VM

2025-02-28
Gleam: A Type-Safe Language on the Erlang VM

The author explores Gleam, a type-safe language running on the Erlang VM, using it to build an open-source feed aggregator. Comparing it to Rust and Erlang, the author highlights Gleam's combination of Rust's type system and Erlang's concurrency model while avoiding their drawbacks. The post details building the aggregator, covering design, implementation, error handling, and Erlang interoperability. The author concludes that Gleam's Erlang/OTP integration is its killer feature, though not yet fully stable, making it suitable for personal projects.

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(olano.dev)
Development

The Secret to Effortless Conversations: Give People Something to Look At

2025-04-24
The Secret to Effortless Conversations: Give People Something to Look At

The author noticed that conversations flowed more easily while walking, hiking, or driving, and also in group settings involving games. Initially, he attributed this to shared activities or interests, but later realized the key was a shared visual focus. When people have something to look at—a path, a game board, etc.—the pressure of eye contact is lessened, making conversations more natural. The author tested this hypothesis at work, finding that having interviewees write on a whiteboard or displaying notes during meetings significantly reduced tension and fostered collaboration. The conclusion: for relaxed conversation, give people something to look at.

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(staysaasy.com)
Misc interpersonal relationships

Stochastic Calculus: A Deep Dive from Physics to Finance

2025-04-16

This post delves into stochastic calculus, extending regular calculus to stochastic processes. Starting with the measure-theoretic definition of probability, it covers stochastic processes, the Wiener process, Itô calculus, and applications in physics and finance. The author blends intuition with rigor, using examples like the Langevin equation to illustrate key concepts. It's a comprehensive yet accessible guide to a complex topic.

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(bjlkeng.io)
Development stochastic processes Itô calculus

GitHub CEO: Everyone Should Learn to Code, Thanks to AI

2025-04-15
GitHub CEO: Everyone Should Learn to Code, Thanks to AI

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke advocates for everyone to learn coding, starting as early as possible. He argues that the rise of AI has significantly lowered the barrier to entry in software development, enabling even small teams to tackle large-scale projects. AI tools like Copilot and ChatGPT simplify the process, making coding more accessible. While acknowledging job displacement anxieties, Dohmke believes developers will adapt and find new innovative fields. He advises continuous learning and a curious mindset to thrive in this evolving landscape.

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(www.businessinsider.com)
Development

Crafting the Worst Possible Python Code: A How-To Guide

2025-06-14
Crafting the Worst Possible Python Code: A How-To Guide

This humorous guide teaches you how to write the most incomprehensible and frustrating Python code imaginable. Through a series of negative examples, such as using cryptic variable names (like `data1`, `temp`) and complex nested loops, the author demonstrates how to create truly terrible code. The ultimate goal is to highlight the importance of writing clean, understandable code and avoiding the creation of unmaintainable technical debt.

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(effective-programmer.com)
Development

Arduboy Faces Extinction Due to US-China Trade War

2025-05-07
Arduboy Faces Extinction Due to US-China Trade War

The founder of Arduboy, Kevin, is facing a dire situation due to escalating US-China trade tensions. High tariffs make selling Arduboy in the US nearly impossible, threatening the company's existence. Kevin is exploring various options, including international dropshipping, manufacturing in other countries, and seeking government grants, to navigate the crisis. Relocating the company to Europe or Australia, and transitioning community management, are also under consideration. The future of Arduboy hangs in the balance.

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(community.arduboy.com)
Hardware

AI Deepfake Nightmare: Actors Regret Selling Their Likenesses Cheaply

2025-04-18
AI Deepfake Nightmare: Actors Regret Selling Their Likenesses Cheaply

Cash-strapped actors are regretting selling their likenesses for AI videos, unaware of the potential consequences. Adam Coy, a New York actor, licensed his face and voice for $1000, only to discover his AI avatar predicting disasters. Simon Lee, a South Korean actor, found his likeness used to promote fraudulent health cures. As AI avatar technology advances, companies like Synthesia (valued at $2.1 billion) are profiting, prompting Synthesia to launch an equity fund to incentivize actors. However, lawyers warn that many actors signed contracts with exploitative clauses without fully understanding them, highlighting the ethical dilemmas of this burgeoning technology.

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(arstechnica.com)
Tech AI deepfake actor rights

Massive Star's Silent Demise: A Black Hole's Unexpected Birth

2025-04-19
Massive Star's Silent Demise: A Black Hole's Unexpected Birth

Astronomers observed a massive star, 25 times the mass of our sun, that unexpectedly collapsed into a black hole without a supernova explosion. Using the Large Binocular Telescope, Hubble, and Spitzer, the team found the star had vanished, leaving behind a black hole candidate. This 'failed supernova' could explain the lower-than-expected number of observed supernovae. The research suggests that up to 30% of massive stars might directly collapse into black holes this way, offering new insights into the origins of supermassive black holes.

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(science.nasa.gov)
Tech stellar collapse

Knuth's 'Premature Optimization is the Root of All Evil' Misunderstood?

2025-06-30
Knuth's 'Premature Optimization is the Root of All Evil' Misunderstood?

This article delves into the actual meaning of Donald Knuth's famous quote, "Premature optimization is the root of all evil." By analyzing examples from Knuth's paper on using goto statements and implementing multisets, the author shows that the quote doesn't entirely discourage small optimizations. Experiments comparing different implementations reveal that even minor optimizations (like loop unrolling) can yield significant performance gains for critical code and frequently used library functions, depending on benchmarking results. The author ultimately advocates for using well-optimized standard library functions to avoid unnecessary optimization efforts and leverage modern compiler optimization capabilities.

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(probablydance.com)
Development

LLMs in Programming: Crutch or Catalyst?

2025-04-20

Large Language Models (LLMs) are powerful tools for programming, automating tasks and generating code. However, their ease of use raises concerns. While LLMs excel at solving known problems, this reliance risks atrophying engineers' problem-solving skills, especially with novel challenges. Unlike search engines which offer exploration and exploitation, LLMs favor immediate exploitation, hindering deep thinking and problem-solving. Blindly accepting LLM-generated solutions could lead to a loss of algorithmic mastery, ultimately hindering technological advancement.

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(www.carette.xyz)
Development AI Programming Programmer Skills

Native American Lore Extends Earthquake History of Northeastern North America

2025-04-22
Native American Lore Extends Earthquake History of Northeastern North America

A new study suggests that incorporating Native American oral histories and place names can significantly enhance our understanding of earthquake activity in northeastern North America. The name "Moodus," Connecticut, derived from an Algonquian word meaning "place of noises," correlates with the area's long history of earthquake-like booms. Similarly, Mount Nashoba, near Boston, translates to "shaking hill," further supporting evidence of frequent seismic activity. Researchers are calling for interdisciplinary collaboration with ethnologists to utilize Native American languages and narratives to extend the region's earthquake record and better assess seismic hazards.

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(phys.org)
Tech

Optimizing Aggregate Packing Density for Enhanced Compressive Strength in Biocemented Materials

2025-05-27
Optimizing Aggregate Packing Density for Enhanced Compressive Strength in Biocemented Materials

Researchers significantly improved the compressive strength of biocemented materials by optimizing the packing density of aggregate mixtures. They employed the Modified Andreassen model to design an optimal particle size distribution curve, which was validated through compaction experiments. The optimized mix exhibited higher aggregate packing density during biomineralization, leading to reduced cementation solution consumption. Subsequently, an improved stop-flow pressure-based injection method was used for biomineralization experiments to investigate the impact of varying cementation solution pressure and concentration on biomineralization depth and compressive strength. Results showed that optimal UACP content, pressure, and concentration yielded high-strength, homogeneous biomineralized specimens, with a maximum compressive strength of 57.4 MPa – significantly exceeding previous studies. Lower flow rates and higher aggregate packing density were also found to be beneficial for achieving higher ultrasonic wave velocities and compressive strengths.

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(www.nature.com)
Tech biomineralization compressive strength packing density

Pixelated Video Isn't Secure: A $50 Bounty and the Power of Reverse Engineering

2025-04-15

A YouTuber pixelated a section of a video showing a folder's contents and offered a $50 bounty for anyone who could decipher it. Within a day, three individuals successfully recovered the information using techniques involving TensorFlow and other tools. This experiment demonstrates that simple pixelation is not a secure method for concealing information, especially in moving videos. AI-assisted reverse engineering makes it surprisingly easy to de-pixelate. The YouTuber concludes that solid color masks are a better solution for hiding sensitive data.

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(www.jeffgeerling.com)
Tech video security

Beyond Triangles: A Novel Quadrilateral Rendering Approach

2025-04-11
Beyond Triangles: A Novel Quadrilateral Rendering Approach

Real-time computer graphics has long relied on triangles due to GPUs' native support for hardware-accelerated rasterization of triangles only. This leads to C^1 discontinuities in vertex attributes like texture coordinates and normals along the shared edge when quadrilaterals are split into triangles. This article presents a novel method that preserves C^1 continuity across the common edge of two triangles generated from convex quadrilaterals using an algebraic solution for bilinear interpolation coefficients expressed in barycentric coordinates. The method is implemented across Geometry, Tessellation, and Mesh shaders, significantly improving rendering quality with negligible computational overhead.

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(gpuopen.com)
Development GPU rendering quadrilaterals

arXivLabs: Experimental Projects with Community Collaborators

2025-04-22
arXivLabs: Experimental Projects with Community Collaborators

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on the website. Individuals and organizations involved embrace arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners adhering to them. Got an idea for a valuable community project? Learn more about arXivLabs.

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(arxiv.org)
Development

Apple's Liquid Glass: A New UI Design Language

2025-06-14
Apple's Liquid Glass: A New UI Design Language

Apple unveiled Liquid Glass, a revolutionary new UI design language. Building upon the learnings from Aqua, iOS 7's blur effects, iPhone X's fluidity, the Dynamic Island's flexibility, and visionOS's immersive interface, Liquid Glass isn't a mere recreation of physical materials. Instead, it's a digital meta-material dynamically bending and shaping light, behaving like a lightweight liquid responsive to touch and the dynamism of modern apps. Utilizing 'lensing' for layering and visual separation, it adapts automatically to different sizes and environments, offering 'Regular' and 'Clear' variants. Liquid Glass aims to fundamentally improve the look and feel of apps, making them more organic, immersive, and fluid.

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(developer.apple.com)
Design

Vibe Coding: Speed vs. Quality in AI-Assisted Development

2025-04-19
Vibe Coding: Speed vs. Quality in AI-Assisted Development

The rise of "vibe coding," using AI for software development, promises faster development but raises concerns about code quality. While AI lowers the barrier to entry and boosts efficiency, it's not a replacement for rigorous review and established coding practices. AI-generated code can suffer from inadequate error handling, poor performance, and security vulnerabilities, leading to increased technical debt if left unchecked. The article advocates treating AI as a junior developer, requiring thorough human review, refactoring, testing, and attention to edge cases. Effective AI-assisted development requires balancing speed and quality; AI accelerates the process, while human engineers ensure reliability and maintainability.

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(addyo.substack.com)
Development

Keyword Parameters in Tcl Procs: An Elegant Solution and a Metaprogramming Headache

2025-04-21

Frustrated by the lack of keyword parameters and the inaccessibility of built-in features in some programming languages, the author tackled the challenge of implementing keyword parameters in Tcl. The article presents a clever `proc*` command enabling keyword arguments in Tcl procs and details its implementation. However, due to Tcl's weak metaprogramming capabilities, the author resorted to regular expressions for string templating, resulting in complex and unwieldy code, highlighting Tcl's limitations in metaprogramming.

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(world-playground-deceit.net)
Development keyword parameters
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