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AI Predicts Kentucky Derby Winner: Journalism Takes the Crown?

2025-05-04
AI Predicts Kentucky Derby Winner: Journalism Takes the Crown?

Microsoft Copilot AI simulated the 2025 Kentucky Derby finish based on odds and race factors. Its prediction? Journalism, favored due to its advantageous post position and recent winning streak, will win. However, the AI's projected finishing order differs from initial odds for other horses. The article also includes race details, viewing information, and crucial disclaimers about the risks of gambling.

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(www.courier-journal.com)
Misc AI prediction Kentucky Derby

Betteridge's Law: Decoding Question Headlines

2025-05-04

Betteridge's law, stating that any headline ending in a question mark can be answered with 'no', is a journalistic adage tracing back further than its 2009 coining by Ian Betteridge. News outlets use this questioning style when lacking definitive evidence or certainty. Studies show the law isn't universally true, particularly in academic journals. However, it highlights how question headlines often exaggerate or create controversy, prompting readers to approach news with critical thinking.

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(en.wikipedia.org)
Misc Betteridge's Law Headlines

Building SNES ROMs with C# using DotnetSnes

2025-05-04
Building SNES ROMs with C# using DotnetSnes

DotnetSnes is a revolutionary project enabling the creation of functional SNES ROMs using C#! It achieves this by providing a .NET library that abstracts SNES game development functions and globals. Compiled DLLs are transpiled to C and then compiled into a ROM using the PvSnesLib SDK. While SNES limitations (like no dynamic memory allocation) necessitate compromises in idiomatic C#, fully functional games are possible. The article details the development process, dependency installation, project setup, and building steps, showcasing two examples: HelloWorld (basic text output) and LikeMario (a more complex tile-map based game).

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(github.com)
Development SNES development C# game development

Common Lisp Web App Tutorial: A Guestbook Example

2025-05-04
Common Lisp Web App Tutorial: A Guestbook Example

This tutorial walks through building a simple guestbook web application using Common Lisp, highlighting the language's challenges, particularly its lack of comprehensive documentation. The author covers project setup, database connection, template rendering, route definition, and compares code size against a Python Flask equivalent. The tutorial concludes by weighing the pros and cons of using Common Lisp for web development, suggesting it's better suited for lower-level tasks and high-performance computing, with limited advantages in typical web backend development.

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(www.scotto.me)
Development

PostgreSQL's Surprise: CTEs, DELETE, and LIMIT's Unexpected Dance

2025-05-04
PostgreSQL's Surprise: CTEs, DELETE, and LIMIT's Unexpected Dance

A surprising PostgreSQL behavior emerged when using a Common Table Expression (CTE) with DELETE ... RETURNING and LIMIT to process a batch of items. The intention was to delete only one row, but multiple rows were deleted. `EXPLAIN ANALYZE` revealed a nested loop semi-join optimization, causing the LIMIT 1 clause to be executed multiple times. The solution was to restructure the query, avoiding the CTE and using a subselect directly in the DELETE's WHERE clause. This highlights that CTEs don't always prevent query plan optimizations, and careful plan examination is crucial for critical operations.

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(www.shayon.dev)
Development Query Optimization

Oman's Rose Harvest: Tradition Meets Modernity in Jabal Akdhar

2025-05-04
Oman's Rose Harvest: Tradition Meets Modernity in Jabal Akdhar

In Oman's Jabal Akdhar, a centuries-old rose harvest and rose water production tradition captivated a group of perfumers, media, and artists invited by luxury perfume house Amouage. This exclusive journey showcased the blend of ancient techniques and modern technology in the region. Guests visited traditional workshops and state-of-the-art facilities, witnessing firsthand the process from field to final product. The experience not only boosted Amouage's brand image but also revitalized the local economy and fostered cultural exchange. Locals shared their knowledge and passion, highlighting the unique beauty and cultural significance of the Jabal Akdhar rose harvest.

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(www.omanobserver.om)
Misc Oman Roses Cultural Tourism

Unlocking Potential: Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

2025-05-04
Unlocking Potential: Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) revolutionizes learning theory. It's the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance. Learning thrives within this zone, with support from more knowledgeable others (MKOs) like teachers or peers. The ZPD, a dynamic concept, emphasizes collaborative learning and the internalization of knowledge through social interaction. The article delves into scaffolding, intersubjectivity, contingency, and fading – key components of effective ZPD-based instruction. Examples, research studies, and discussion of cross-cultural variations and challenges illustrate ZPD's application and adaptability across diverse learning contexts, including the use of AI in personalized learning.

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(www.simplypsychology.org)
Education Zone of Proximal Development Vygotsky Scaffolding

Google Gemini: Powerful Models, Terrible Developer Experience

2025-05-04
Google Gemini: Powerful Models, Terrible Developer Experience

Google Gemini boasts leading model capabilities, including strong coding, reasoning, and multimodal abilities, plus ultra-long context windows. However, the developer experience is abysmal. The API is split across Vertex AI and Google AI Studio with inconsistent functionality; documentation is poor and outdated; the Vertex AI SDK lacks API key authentication and support for fine-tuned models; and prefix caching is incredibly unfriendly. Despite this, Gemini models offer cost advantages in long context and multimodal tasks, meaning developers may still need to use them, often relying on third-party tools like the Vercel AI SDK to mitigate the poor experience.

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(venki.dev)
Development

Level Up Your GRUB Bootloader: A Curated List of Themes and Customization Guide

2025-05-04
Level Up Your GRUB Bootloader: A Curated List of Themes and Customization Guide

Tired of the same old GRUB bootloader? This post offers a curated list of high-quality GRUB themes and a guide on how to easily customize them. From changing background images and fonts to adjusting color schemes and even creating a cycling background, you can personalize your boot experience. Useful tools are also recommended, such as for downloading GitHub files and tweaking GRUB settings.

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(github.com)
Development GRUB themes Linux customization bootloader

Moving Nightmare: A $14,000 Lesson and the FMCSA Insurer Database

2025-05-03

In 2023, the author hired Flat Rate Movers for an interstate move, only to experience a nightmarish ordeal. The company failed to deliver promised services, causing damage to the author's belongings and home, and subsequently refused all communication. After numerous attempts to resolve the issue, the author finally received partial compensation by directly contacting Hanover Insurance Company, identified through the FMCSA insurer database. This cautionary tale highlights the importance of thorough due diligence when choosing movers and introduces the FMCSA database as a crucial resource for protecting consumer rights.

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(aphyr.com)
Misc moving

Ensuring Public API Reliability with Binary Compatibility Validator and Metalava

2025-05-03
Ensuring Public API Reliability with Binary Compatibility Validator and Metalava

This article demonstrates how to maintain public API reliability by tracking compatibility changes using the Binary Compatibility Validator and Metalava plugins. These tools automatically monitor API modifications, alerting developers to potential breaking changes before they impact dependent projects. The article uses RevenueCat's Android SDK as a real-world example, detailing plugin integration and usage. It emphasizes the importance of integrating API checks into CI/CD pipelines for robust public API stability.

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(www.revenuecat.com)
Development API Reliability

Solar Panel Installation Gets a Robotic Upgrade

2025-05-03
Solar Panel Installation Gets a Robotic Upgrade

In Australia, a solar panel installation robot from Shanghai-based Leapting Technology is revolutionizing the industry. This commercially deployed robot boasts an impressive installation rate of 60 panels per hour, three to five times faster than human crews. Using AI and SLAM technology for autonomous navigation and precise placement, the robot significantly increases efficiency, reduces labor costs, and shortens project timelines. While the robot has limitations regarding terrain and environmental conditions, its ability to handle high temperatures and labor shortages offers a significant advantage, pointing towards an automated future for solar construction.

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(cleantechnica.com)
Tech

Black Hole Bomb Successfully Simulated in Lab!

2025-05-03
Black Hole Bomb Successfully Simulated in Lab!

Researchers have created the first laboratory analog of the 'black hole bomb,' a theoretical concept from the 1970s. While black holes are known for their inescapable gravity, Penrose proposed in 1971 that a rotating black hole's energy could amplify nearby particles. Zel'dovich later showed a rotating, symmetrical object in a resonant chamber could achieve a similar effect. Adding mirrors creates a positive feedback loop, amplifying energy until explosion. A team from the University of Southampton used a rotating aluminum cylinder and magnetic fields to simulate this, confirming amplification when the cylinder rotates faster than and in the same direction as the magnetic field. This experiment represents a significant step toward understanding black hole physics.

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(www.sciencealert.com)
Tech lab simulation

The Commodore 64: A Legacy Forged in Haste and Imperfection

2025-05-03
The Commodore 64: A Legacy Forged in Haste and Imperfection

In 1981, a team at MOS Technology secretly developed the groundbreaking graphics and sound chips for the Commodore 64. Less than a year later, this home computer, boasting a then-unheard-of 64KB of RAM, launched at a disruptive $595, quickly dominating the market. However, its success was built on a foundation of rushed design, quality control issues (the infamous 'sparkle' defect), and a notoriously slow disk drive. Despite these flaws, the Commodore 64's incredibly low price and superior graphics and sound capabilities cemented its legacy as a gaming and computing icon, profoundly shaping the home computer landscape.

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(spectrum.ieee.org)
Tech Home Computer

Numerical Linear Algebra for Computational Science and Engineering: A Course Overview

2025-05-03

This course on numerical linear algebra is designed for students in computational science and information engineering. It comprises 18 lectures, each featuring theoretical presentations, homework problems, and mostly Julia coding assignments. Topics covered include fundamentals of linear algebra, floating-point arithmetic, direct methods, sparse data structures, iterative methods, Krylov subspace methods, multigrid methods, elements of randomized numerical linear algebra, and communication-avoiding algorithms. Extensive learning resources, including slides and Jupyter Notebooks, are provided.

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(venkovic.github.io)
Development numerical linear algebra computational science

Econ Reporters Are Consistently Wrong About Imports and GDP

2025-05-03
Econ Reporters Are Consistently Wrong About Imports and GDP

Almost all economics reporters make a simple mistake: claiming that imports subtract from GDP. In reality, GDP measures production within a country's borders; imports are produced elsewhere. While imports affect net exports, their impact on consumption or investment offsets this, resulting in no net effect on GDP. This error likely significantly influenced US economic policymaking, such as tariffs based on a misunderstanding. The author suggests that while an import surge may coincide with a GDP drop, this is likely due to measurement error, businesses diverting resources from domestic purchases to import stockpiling, or imports obscuring the forecasting picture, not because imports themselves reduce GDP.

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(www.noahpinion.blog)
Tech imports economic reporting

Bose's Magical Suspension Finally Makes it to Production Cars

2025-05-03
Bose's Magical Suspension Finally Makes it to Production Cars

Twenty years ago, a video of a Lexus LS400 with Bose's prototype electromechanical proactive suspension went viral, showcasing its seemingly impossible ability to handle any terrain. Due to production challenges, the project was shelved. Now, ClearMotion has revived the technology, integrating it into the Nio ET9, marking its debut in mass production. Future partnerships with Porsche and other automakers promise to bring this once-futuristic technology to a wider range of vehicles.

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(www.thedrive.com)
Tech suspension system

A Whirlwind Tour of the J Programming Language

2025-05-03
A Whirlwind Tour of the J Programming Language

This concise introduction to the J programming language is geared towards programmers with some experience. It covers core concepts such as data types, functions, modifiers, arrays, control structures, and error handling, all while emphasizing practical application. Readers are encouraged to run the provided examples and read the comments. Essential links and resources are included to aid in rapid learning.

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(github.com)
Development J array programming

18 Years of Self-Injection Leads to Breakthrough Snake Antivenom

2025-05-03
18 Years of Self-Injection Leads to Breakthrough Snake Antivenom

For 18 years, Tim Friede injected himself with venom from deadly snakes. His unique experiment yielded a breakthrough: researchers used his antibodies to create a broadly effective antivenom, potentially protecting against 19 snake species. This new antivenom, unlike traditional methods using animal blood, leverages modern antibody therapy. While promising results in mice have been achieved, further testing in larger animals and humans is crucial. The research highlights a potential solution to the global snakebite crisis, but challenges remain in accessibility and affordability.

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(www.abc.net.au)
Tech antivenom scientific breakthrough

DuckDB's Spatial Extension: Democratizing Geospatial Data

2025-05-03
DuckDB's Spatial Extension: Democratizing Geospatial Data

What happens when you embed geospatial capabilities in generalist data tools? More people using geo data! A recent Cloud-Native Geospatial conference highlighted the need to broaden geospatial adoption. DuckDB's spatial extension dramatically lowers the barrier to entry, requiring only two lines of code to install and load. This allows casual users to easily work with geospatial data, boosting the ecosystem significantly. The success of Overture Maps Foundation may well be tied to this ease of access.

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(www.dbreunig.com)
Development

Ten New Words for the AI Communication Age

2025-05-03
Ten New Words for the AI Communication Age

The rise of AI has fundamentally altered how we communicate. This article humorously introduces ten new terms to describe this shift, such as 'chatjacked' (AI hijacking conversations), 'prasted' (pasting AI output verbatim), 'prompt ponged' (AI-driven back-and-forth), and 'AI'm a Writer Now' (AI-empowered writing). It vividly illustrates AI's impact on communication, prompting reflection on authorship, sincerity, and the meaning of genuine connection. A fun yet thought-provoking piece urging us to consider how to maintain authentic communication in the age of AI.

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(davidduncan.substack.com)
AI

AI-Generated Literature: Prejudice and Fluency

2025-05-03
AI-Generated Literature: Prejudice and Fluency

This essay examines the prejudice against literary works generated by large language models (LLMs), a prejudice analogous to historical biases against women writers. The author argues that dismissing AI writing as inherently flawed simply because it's non-human is unwarranted. The piece delves into the relationship between linguistic fluency and thought, demonstrating that much human language is habitual and non-reflective, not fundamentally different from AI-generated text. Ultimately, the author advocates for an open-minded approach to reading AI-generated works, as they may reveal unexpected and innovative forms of linguistic expression.

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(thelampmagazine.com)
AI Creative Writing

Court Halts Trump Admin's Attempt to Dismantle IMLS

2025-05-03

A US District Court issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration's effort to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The IMLS is the sole federal agency dedicated to supporting libraries and museums. The Trump administration's actions included placing staff on leave, terminating grants, dismissing board members, and halting research. This lawsuit, filed by the American Library Association (ALA) and others, temporarily preserves the agency. However, the ALA urges Congress to act and secure funding for IMLS in the next fiscal year.

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(www.ala.org)
Misc museums

Spain's Grid Meltdown: A Renewable Energy Nightmare?

2025-05-03
Spain's Grid Meltdown: A Renewable Energy Nightmare?

On April 28th, 2025, Spain experienced a major power outage. The incident occurred during a period of high solar power generation (over 50%), with nuclear plants operating at reduced capacity due to low electricity prices. The cause remains unclear, but initial investigations point to a possible combination of mass solar photovoltaic disconnections, grid synchronization issues, and a lack of stable baseload power. The event highlights the risks of over-reliance on renewable energy, neglecting grid stability, and political interference in energy policy. Experts call for improved grid management, increased interconnectivity, and a depoliticization of energy decision-making.

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(theconversation.com)
Tech

Indie Hacker's Surprise: Document Translator Outperforms Google Translate and DeepL

2025-05-03

An amateur programmer built Kintoun, a document translator, in just two weeks of spare time. Surprisingly, it outperforms Google Translate and DeepL in both translation accuracy and layout preservation. The author shares key lessons learned, including the unexpected success of the product, the critical importance of product distribution, and the winning combination of Inertia.js and Svelte. Kintoun excels at handling complex layouts and features like footnotes and Ruby characters. The author stresses the importance of marketing and shares a successful strategy focused on identifying user needs and offering genuine help before promoting the product.

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(dingyu.me)
Development document translation product marketing

Hardcover's Migration: From Next.js to the Rails Way

2025-05-03
Hardcover's Migration: From Next.js to the Rails Way

Hardcover shares their experience migrating from Next.js to Ruby on Rails and Inertia.js. Driven by unclear caching, escalating costs, and slow development speeds in Next.js, they made the switch. The result? A significant performance boost in Hardcover, with faster page loads, improved Google Pagespeed scores, and increased visitor session durations. Challenges remained, such as shared layouts and SSR debugging, but the overall outcome was positive.

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(hardcover.app)
Development architecture migration

Serverless DNS Resolver: serverless-dns Takes Flight

2025-05-03
Serverless DNS Resolver: serverless-dns Takes Flight

serverless-dns is a Pi-Hole-esque serverless stub DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) and DNS-over-TLS (DoT) resolver. It runs on Cloudflare Workers, Deno Deploy, Fastly Compute@Edge, and Fly.io, leveraging free tiers for low-traffic use cases. Boasting sub-millisecond response times, it efficiently manages ~13M entries from 190+ blocklists using a succinct radix trie. The open-source project allows for custom configurations, log uploading, and offers a lightweight, high-performance DNS solution.

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(github.com)
Development DNS resolver content blocking

Pandoc: A Surprisingly Effective LaTeX to MathML Converter

2025-05-03
Pandoc: A Surprisingly Effective LaTeX to MathML Converter

The author explores various methods for converting LaTeX equations to MathML, ultimately finding Pandoc to be the most efficient. Pandoc effortlessly handles both single-line and multi-line equations, including complex matrices and piecewise functions. While a minor bug was discovered in Pandoc's handling of equations involving limits and summations, its overall performance is excellent. A Python script is provided to clean up Pandoc's output MathML for improved efficiency.

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(leancrew.com)
Development

Threads Surpasses 350M Monthly Active Users, Challenging X's Dominance

2025-05-03
Threads Surpasses 350M Monthly Active Users, Challenging X's Dominance

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed during the company's Q1 2025 earnings call on Wednesday that Instagram Threads, its competitor to X, has now surpassed 350 million monthly active users. This represents a 30 million user increase from the previous quarter's reported 320 million. Growth accelerated, with 30 million users added in Q1 compared to 20 million in Q4 2024. Remarkably, Threads added almost as many users in a single quarter as newer competitor Bluesky, which currently boasts roughly 35 million users. Meanwhile, X claims over 600 million monthly active users, according to its CEO Linda Yaccarino. While still smaller than Meta's other social apps (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp), Threads' growth solidifies its position in the microblogging landscape. Meta reports over 3.4 billion people use at least one of its apps daily. Zuckerberg highlighted this growth as indicating Threads is “on track to become our next major social app,” citing a 35% increase in time spent on the app due to recommendation system improvements.

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(techcrunch.com)
Tech
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