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Blacksmith: How a Serverless CI Platform Achieves Profitability Through Multitenancy

2025-05-14

Blacksmith: How a Serverless CI Platform Achieves Profitability Through Multitenancy

Blacksmith, a YC startup, built a serverless cloud platform for CI workloads. Initially relying on simulations to project margins, they discovered the economic benefits of multitenancy. By leveraging the spiky nature of CI workloads – short-lived jobs (5-40 minutes) and geographically diverse customers – Blacksmith efficiently utilizes its server resources. Their fleet of hundreds of bare-metal gaming CPUs, virtualized with Firecracker, creates and destroys microVMs on demand. More customers mean more random activity, smoothing overall operation, lowering the cost to serve each job, and boosting profit margins. The article details profitability at various utilization levels, and the impact of time zones and geography on resource utilization, ultimately demonstrating the economic power of their multitenant model.

(www.blacksmith.sh)

Development multitenancy

Rural Cell Coverage Failure Cripples 2FA for Elderly User

2025-05-14

Rural Cell Coverage Failure Cripples 2FA for Elderly User

An elderly woman in the Western North Carolina mountains struggles to access online services due to poor cell coverage preventing her from receiving SMS 2FA codes. Despite living a short distance from Asheville, her cell service is unreliable, contradicting the carrier's coverage map. While WiFi calling allows receiving messages from friends, it fails for 5-digit shortcodes used by many services. Switching to TOTP 2FA presents its own hurdles, requiring app downloads and technical knowledge, creating significant inconvenience. This highlights the challenges faced by rural populations with inadequate cell service and the need for more inclusive authentication methods.

(blog.stillgreenmoss.net)

Tech cell coverage rural connectivity

Marks & Spencer Hit by Cyberattack, Customer Data Breached

2025-05-14

Marks & Spencer Hit by Cyberattack, Customer Data Breached

UK retail giant Marks & Spencer confirmed a cyberattack last month resulted in the theft of customer personal information. Stolen data includes names, dates of birth, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, household information, and online order histories. Marks & Spencer has reset online account passwords, but some stores remain disrupted with empty shelves. The ransomware gang DragonForce reportedly claimed responsibility, and other UK retailers like the Co-op and Harrods were also targeted. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre is investigating.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

Reading Text from a Mile Away: A Novel Interferometer Imaging System

2025-05-14

Reading Text from a Mile Away: A Novel Interferometer Imaging System

Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China have developed a novel high-resolution imaging system capable of clearly identifying millimeter-sized letters from a kilometer away. Utilizing intensity interferometry, the system illuminates the target with multiple laser beams and collects the reflected light using two small telescopes. This technique overcomes challenges associated with the coherence of laser light in traditional methods. By cleverly splitting the laser into multiple beams for incoherent illumination, it significantly improves imaging resolution. Potential applications include space debris detection.

(physics.aps.org)

Tech interferometry laser imaging remote imaging

The USPS's E-Mail Gamble: The Rise and Fall of E-COM

2025-05-14

The USPS's E-Mail Gamble: The Rise and Fall of E-COM

Facing the threat of email, the US Postal Service launched E-COM in 1982, a service that printed emails and delivered them via mail carriers. Initially successful, E-COM ultimately failed in 1985 due to high costs, cumbersome processes, and lack of flexibility, resulting in over $40 million in losses. However, E-COM inadvertently popularized the term "email" and highlighted the USPS's attempts to adapt to technological change.

(buttondown.com)

Tech

acmsg: AI-Powered Git Commit Message Generator

2025-05-14

acmsg: AI-Powered Git Commit Message Generator

acmsg is a Python-based CLI tool that leverages the OpenRouter API and AI models to automatically generate Git commit messages. It analyzes staged changes in your Git repository, generates contextual commit messages, supports multiple AI models, and allows editing the generated message. Installation is easy via flake or a standalone profile; first run prompts for OpenRouter API token configuration.

(github.com)

Development

20k Bounty: Help Achieve Parity Between Rust's rav1d and C's dav1d AV1 Decoders!

2025-05-14

20k Bounty: Help Achieve Parity Between Rust's rav1d and C's dav1d AV1 Decoders!

The rav1d AV1 decoder, written in Rust, is currently about 5% slower than its C-based counterpart, dav1d. To bridge this performance gap, a $20,000 bounty is offered for contributions that bring rav1d to performance parity with dav1d. Improvements can be made to the rav1d codebase, the Rust compiler, or the Rust standard library, but modifications are subject to specific rules (no modifying low-level assembly, no non-Rust code). The bounty will be distributed proportionally based on the performance improvements achieved.

(www.memorysafety.org)

Development

Databricks Acquires Neon: Serverless Postgres for the AI Era

2025-05-14

Databricks Acquires Neon: Serverless Postgres for the AI Era

Databricks announced the acquisition of Neon, a developer-first serverless Postgres company. Neon's team, renowned for their Postgres expertise, built a database platform known for its speed, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, particularly appealing to AI agents. This acquisition strengthens Databricks' position in AI-native databases, offering developers and AI systems a powerful database solution.

(www.databricks.com)

Tech

Wood Stronger Than Steel? This Startup Makes It a Reality

2025-05-14

Wood Stronger Than Steel? This Startup Makes It a Reality

A groundbreaking technology from the University of Maryland transforms ordinary wood into a material stronger than steel. InventWood, the licensee, has secured $15 million in Series A funding to build its first commercial plant. Initially focusing on building facades, the company aims to eventually replace concrete and steel in construction, significantly reducing the industry's carbon footprint. The process modifies the wood's molecular structure and compresses it, resulting in a material over 10 times stronger, with added fire resistance and rot protection.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech Superwood biomaterial sustainable construction

Simplifying Ethereum: A Path to a More Robust and Secure Protocol

2025-05-14

This article explores the necessity and methods for simplifying the Ethereum protocol. The author argues that simplification enhances security, reduces development costs, and fosters community participation. The article proposes achieving this goal by simplifying both the consensus layer (e.g., using 3-slot finality) and the execution layer (e.g., replacing the EVM with RISC-V). Furthermore, it suggests sharing components such as erasure codes, serialization formats, and tree structures to further reduce protocol complexity. The ultimate goal is to make Ethereum's critical code as simple as Bitcoin's, enhancing its long-term maintainability and security.

(vitalik.eth.limo)

Development Protocol Simplification Blockchain Security

Google Stifles Competition: Nextcloud Android App Upload Restrictions

2025-05-14

Google Stifles Competition: Nextcloud Android App Upload Restrictions

Nextcloud's Android app upload functionality is severely limited by Google, allowing only photo and video uploads. Google revoked a critical permission, citing security concerns, but Nextcloud believes this is a deliberate attempt to stifle competition. Despite appeals, Google refuses to reinstate the permission, impacting millions of users. Nextcloud argues this exemplifies Big Tech's abuse of platform power to suppress competitors and calls for stronger regulation.

(nextcloud.com)

Tech

Open Source PebbleOS Lives On: SiFli Chip Powers Core Time 2

2025-05-14

Open Source PebbleOS Lives On: SiFli Chip Powers Core Time 2

This post, the first in a series on building a smartwatch, details the selection of the SiFli SF32LB52J chip for the Core Time 2 smartwatch. The author recounts past experiences with the STM32F2 in original Pebble watches, highlighting the crucial considerations of software compatibility, power consumption, and cost when choosing a microcontroller unit (MCU). The SiFli chip ultimately won out due to its 512KB SRAM, 16MB PSRAM, low power consumption, and open-source SDK, breathing new life into the open-source PebbleOS ecosystem.

(ericmigi.com)

Hardware chip selection

Ash Framework: Preset Options for Rapid App Development

2025-05-14

Ash is a powerful application development framework offering preset options for rapid application building. Users can choose presets incorporating various components like Phoenix LiveView, GraphQL, and PostgreSQL, with the ability to add features later, including AI, finance, and automation modules. Even beginners can easily get started, quickly launching projects via a simple command-line installation and PostgreSQL database.

(ash-hq.org)

Development Ash Framework Preset Options

Wise Freezes Account, $60,000+ AUD inaccessible

2025-05-14

Wise Freezes Account, $60,000+ AUD inaccessible

A company's five-year-old Wise account was suddenly frozen, preventing any transactions. Over $60,000 AUD remains inaccessible. Despite providing all requested documentation, including shareholder information and owner IDs, Wise support has failed to resolve the issue, repeatedly requesting already-submitted documents. Numerous support tickets and calls yielded no results, leaving the company with a significant sum frozen.

(hey.paris)

Misc Account Freeze Funds Security

GM and LG Team Up on Cheaper, Safer EV Batteries

2025-05-14

GM and LG Team Up on Cheaper, Safer EV Batteries

General Motors is partnering with LG to develop lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries for its electric trucks and SUVs. These batteries promise to be safer, more energy-dense, and less expensive than current technology. GM aims to be the first automaker to deploy LMR batteries commercially in the US by 2028, beating Ford's 2030 target. The LMR approach uses more manganese, reducing reliance on expensive cobalt and potentially lowering EV costs significantly. While challenges like capacity fade exist, GM is confident it has mitigated these risks, projecting a 400-mile range for vehicles using this technology. This move is crucial in reducing EV costs and accelerating adoption.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech EV batteries LMR batteries

EM-LLM: Human-Inspired Episodic Memory for Infinite Context LLMs

2025-05-14

EM-LLM: Human-Inspired Episodic Memory for Infinite Context LLMs

EM-LLM is a novel architecture that significantly enhances the ability of large language models (LLMs) to handle extremely long contexts by mimicking human episodic memory and event cognition. Without fine-tuning, EM-LLM organizes input token sequences into coherent episodic events and accesses relevant information through an efficient two-stage memory retrieval mechanism. In LongBench and ∞-Bench benchmarks, EM-LLM outperforms state-of-the-art retrieval models like InfLLM and RAG, even surpassing full-context models in most tasks. It successfully performs retrieval across 10 million tokens, computationally infeasible for full-context models. The strong correlation between EM-LLM's event segmentation and human-perceived events offers a novel computational framework for exploring human memory mechanisms.

(github.com)

AI Episodic Memory Infinite Context

Game-Changing Papers & Blog Posts on Programming Languages

2025-05-14

This blog post lists several papers and blog posts that profoundly impacted the author's understanding of programming languages and compilers. Topics covered include garbage collection, code optimization, register allocation, regular expression engines, machine learning, SSA form, and compiler design. The author highlights the insightful approaches presented, such as using Z3 as a proof engine, leveraging fuzzing for bug detection, and efficient expression parsing techniques. The collection showcases the author's deep dive into the intricacies of programming language design and implementation.

(bernsteinbear.com)

Development

Mycelium: A Novel Data Storage and Transfer Format

2025-05-14

Mycelium: A Novel Data Storage and Transfer Format

Mycelium is a typed format for storing and transferring data, supporting refs, expressions, functions, and types. Its virtual machine, MVM, is designed for efficiency with immutable values and inter-process communication via ports. MycZip encodes Mycelium values into single files, while the Mycelium Network Protocol (MNP), built on QUIC, facilitates peer-to-peer data transfer and caching for optimization. The Spore language provides a user-friendly interface for the MVM.

(github.com)

Development

Shanghai's On-Demand Bus System: A Commuter-Driven Revolution

2025-05-14

Shanghai's On-Demand Bus System: A Commuter-Driven Revolution

Shanghai is revolutionizing public transit with its new "DZ" (customized) bus system. Residents propose routes via an online platform; if enough people sign up (typically 15-20 passengers), the route launches. Over 220 DZ routes already operate across the city, offering a flexible, demand-responsive solution. While praised for efficiency and convenience, the system faces challenges such as uneven passenger demand and low public awareness. Future improvements focus on route planning, platform upgrades, and increased visibility.

(www.sixthtone.com)

Tech on-demand transit smart city

DeepSeek's Quiet Genius: Liang Wenfeng

2025-05-14

DeepSeek's Quiet Genius: Liang Wenfeng

Liang Wenfeng, founder of the groundbreaking AI startup DeepSeek, might appear shy, but his quiet demeanor masks a sharp mind. He empowers young researchers, engaging deeply in technical discussions and pushing for innovation. His meticulous approach and deep understanding of AI systems have propelled DeepSeek to significant achievements in the field.

(www.bloomberg.com)

AI

RPG in a Box: Game Creation Made Easy

2025-05-14

RPG in a Box empowers users to create games and interactive experiences without any programming or modeling skills. This intuitive tool features a voxel editor, map editor, visual scripting, dialogue system, camera controls, UI customization, item system, and sound effect generator. Export your creations to standalone Windows and macOS games, making it easy to share your work with others.

(rpginabox.com)

Game

FCC Investigates EchoStar's 2GHz Spectrum Use Amidst SpaceX and VTel Disputes

2025-05-14

FCC Investigates EchoStar's 2GHz Spectrum Use Amidst SpaceX and VTel Disputes

SpaceX's apparent lack of due diligence regarding EchoStar's extensive use of the 2GHz band has prompted an FCC investigation. EchoStar claims over 80% US population coverage with 23,000+ 5G sites deployed. However, VTel Wireless petitioned the FCC, arguing that granting EchoStar more time to complete its 5G network violates prior commitments made during the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. The FCC is now seeking public comment on EchoStar's 2GHz spectrum usage and VTel's petition for reconsideration.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Spectrum Dispute

Deep Dive into GPU Mipmap Level Selection

2025-05-14

This post delves into the intricate details of mipmap level selection during texture sampling on the GPU. Starting with texture aliasing, the author explains mipmapping and the role of pixel derivatives (ddx()/ddy()). By analyzing the GLES3.0 and DirectX 11.3 specifications and experimental results, the author reveals the complexities of the relationship between mipmap level selection and pixel derivatives, as well as the differences in implementation across various GPU vendors. The article further explores the impact of elliptical transformations and anisotropic filtering on mipmap level selection, providing corresponding software implementations and comparing them to hardware implementations.

(pema.dev)

Development Texture Mipmapping

My Take-Home Assignment Nightmare: Kagi Search's Unpaid Labor

2025-05-14

The author recounts a grueling experience with a take-home assignment for Kagi Search. Despite delivering a complete and well-documented email client web app deployed on AWS, exceeding the initial vague requirements, the author received a generic rejection email with no feedback. This experience highlights the absurdity of unpaid, extensive assignments in the tech hiring process and advocates for more effective methods like live code reviews.

(bloggeroo.dev)

Misc hiring process take-home assignment

Replicube: Code Your Own Voxel Worlds

2025-05-14

Replicube: Code Your Own Voxel Worlds

Replicube is an open-ended programming puzzle game where you write code to replicate 3D voxel-based objects. Solve puzzles by matching reference objects with your code – there's no single right answer, just get the same object! Freely create your own voxel art, and even generate 2D images and GIFs with the built-in tools. Compete on leaderboards, share your creations on the in-game forum, and export your work to other 3D programs. Available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

(store.steampowered.com)

Game voxel game code creation

IoT Device Signals Meeting Status to Family

2025-05-14

Annoyed by interruptions during work-from-home meetings? This simple IoT device, 'Tabajara,' uses an ESP32 and Arduino framework to signal meeting status. When the webcam is on, it changes the color of an LED panel at the office door (red for meeting, blue for not). A Python daemon queries Apple's API to check webcam usage and sends updates to the ESP32. A neat solution for avoiding family interruptions!

(nullonerror.org)

Development Home Automation

The Humble Safety Pin: A History From Homer to Punk Rock

2025-05-14

This article traces the evolution of the safety pin from antiquity to the modern day. From jeweled pins mentioned in Homer's Odyssey and the ancient Roman fibula, to Walter Hunt's 1849 invention of the modern safety pin – a design that has remained virtually unchanged for centuries. The safety pin's journey continues, becoming a punk rock symbol, a crucial tool in sports, and an everyday necessity worldwide. Its simple elegance and cultural significance make it more than just a utilitarian object; in some cultures, it's even believed to ward off evil or bring good luck.

(museumofeverydaylife.org)

Misc safety pin

Airbnb's Transformation: From Occasional Stays to a Super Platform

2025-05-14

Airbnb's Transformation: From Occasional Stays to a Super Platform

Airbnb is evolving from a platform for occasional travel accommodations to a more frequently used comprehensive platform. Its redesigned app features intuitive icons guiding users to three key sections: stays, services, and experiences. To enhance user trust, Airbnb rigorously vets new service providers (chefs, masseuses, etc.), conducting background checks and professional photography. Future plans include developing user profiles into primary internet IDs and enhancing messaging functions to create a community platform for travelers, while avoiding advertising. This transformation is driven by CEO Brian Chesky's admiration for Apple's design philosophy and his collaboration with former Apple designer Jony Ive.

(www.wired.com)

Startup Platform Transformation

Trump Admin to Accept $400M Luxury Jet: A Costly Gamble?

2025-05-14

Trump Admin to Accept $400M Luxury Jet: A Costly Gamble?

The Trump administration plans to accept a $400 million luxury 747-8 from Qatar as a temporary Air Force One. However, upgrading it to presidential security standards could take years and cost hundreds of millions more. The plan raises legal and ethical concerns, as ownership will transfer to Trump's presidential library after his term. Security experts warn retrofitting a foreign-owned aircraft is extremely expensive, time-consuming, and could disrupt the already delayed Boeing replacement program. The current Air Force One boasts advanced defense and communication systems; adapting the Qatari jet would pose significant security risks and costs, making continued use of the existing planes until replacements are ready a more sensible option.

(www.theregister.com)

Misc Air Force One Qatar

Less Meat, Lower Carbon Footprint: A Data-Driven Look

2025-05-14

Less Meat, Lower Carbon Footprint: A Data-Driven Look

A comprehensive analysis of global food systems reveals that reducing meat consumption is significantly more effective than focusing on sustainable meat production in lowering dietary carbon footprints. Even the lowest-impact meats have substantially higher emissions than plant-based protein sources like beans and tofu. This conclusion is drawn from a meta-analysis of over 38,000 commercial farms across 119 countries, accounting for variations in production methods and geographic location. While sustainable meat production is crucial, for individuals, consuming less meat or switching to lower-impact options like chicken and pork offers the most impactful way to reduce their carbon footprint.

(ourworldindata.org)

Tech carbon footprint meat consumption

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