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Spectral JPEG XL: Crushing Spectral Image File Sizes by 10-60x

2025-03-29

Spectral JPEG XL: Crushing Spectral Image File Sizes by 10-60x

Researchers have developed a new technique leveraging JPEG XL to compress spectral images by a remarkable 10 to 60 times, shrinking them to sizes comparable to regular high-quality photos. The method prioritizes discarding less important high-frequency spectral details while preserving metadata and high dynamic range. Although lossy, this approach holds immense potential for scientific visualization and high-end rendering, addressing the storage and transfer challenges posed by massive spectral image files.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech spectral imaging image compression

Volvo Recalls 7,483 PHEVs Due to Fire Risk

2025-03-29

Volvo Recalls 7,483 PHEVs Due to Fire Risk

Volvo is recalling 7,483 plug-in hybrid vehicles in the US due to a potential fire hazard. Affected models include the S60, V60, S90, V90, XC60, and XC90. The issue stems from a battery module production deviation that could cause a short circuit and thermal runaway. Owners are urged to stop charging their vehicles until the recall is addressed. Dealers will inspect and replace the battery module if necessary, and install new monitoring software. While two incidents have been reported, no injuries or accidents have occurred.

(www.carscoops.com)

Tech recall battery safety Volvo

Microsoft Kills Windows 11 Offline Installation Bypass

2025-03-29

Microsoft Kills Windows 11 Offline Installation Bypass

Microsoft is tightening its grip on Windows 11's internet-connected account requirement. The latest Insider Preview removes the bypassnro command, previously used to circumvent the need for internet connection and Microsoft account login during setup. Microsoft cites security improvements as the reason. While registry edits currently offer a workaround, this too may be patched soon. This move aligns with Microsoft's push to upgrade users to Windows 11 and phase out Windows 10, highlighting a focus on security and a specific vision for user experience.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech Microsoft Account System Security

DOGE's Risky Plan to Migrate SSA's COBOL Code Sparks Concerns

2025-03-28

DOGE's Risky Plan to Migrate SSA's COBOL Code Sparks Concerns

The core systems of the US Social Security Administration (SSA) still rely on outdated COBOL code. A group called DOGE is planning to migrate millions of lines of this code to a modern language within months, but this plan has sparked serious concerns. The migration process could result in system failures affecting millions of beneficiaries' payments. Experts warn of the extreme risk of system crashes, given the SSA's complex and fragile system, likened to a house of cards or a Jenga tower. DOGE plans to utilize AI to assist in code conversion, but testing and resolving all potential edge cases would take years, not months.

(www.wired.com)

Tech

Self-Hosting a Nearly Free, Open Source TURN Server on Oracle Cloud

2025-03-28

Self-Hosting a Nearly Free, Open Source TURN Server on Oracle Cloud

This guide details setting up a nearly free, open-source TURN server on Oracle Cloud's free tier, offering an alternative to WebRTC implementations relying on third-party services. It walks through creating subnets, security lists, instance configurations, installing Nginx, Certbot, a PeerJS server, and a Coturn server. The guide covers configuring iptables rules and using coturn-credential-api for authentication, providing complete control over WebRTC communication and enhancing privacy and security by avoiding reliance on Google or other large providers.

(github.com)

Development TURN server Oracle Cloud

Puget Systems' Transparent Take on Tariffs and PC Pricing

2025-03-28

Puget Systems' Transparent Take on Tariffs and PC Pricing

Puget Systems openly addresses the impact of tariffs on its computer pricing. A 20% tariff increase has affected some components (motherboards, power supplies) by 20%, while others (CPUs) see less impact. Puget Systems is mitigating the effects through strategic inventory management, close supplier relationships, and absorbing some costs. They advise customers to consider early purchases to avoid potentially higher prices in June.

(www.pugetsystems.com)

Hardware

Raspberry Pi Stratum 1 PTP & NTP Timeserver: The Time Pi Project

2025-03-28

An open-source project, Time Pi, builds a stratum 1 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) and Network Time Protocol (NTP) timeserver using a Raspberry Pi 5. Leveraging the TimeHAT add-on board with an Intel i226 2.5Gbps NIC and supporting hardware timestamping, Time Pi achieves high-precision time synchronization, further enhanced by an optional M.2 GPS module. While encountering driver issues with the Intel i226 NIC, the project successfully utilizes Ansible to configure Chrony, NTP, and PTP software, running stably for months. Future plans include outdoor GPS antenna installation, cross-device PTP synchronization testing, and collaboration with Masterclock for advanced time synchronization solutions.

(www.jeffgeerling.com)

Hardware Timeserver

Half of US Drinking Water Contaminated with 'Forever Chemicals'

2025-03-28

Half of US Drinking Water Contaminated with 'Forever Chemicals'

The EPA's latest data reveals that nearly half of Americans have drinking water contaminated with PFAS, also known as 'forever chemicals'. These compounds, found in numerous products, persist in the environment and are linked to serious health issues like cancer and immune deficiencies. While the EPA has implemented regulations, millions remain at risk, highlighting the urgent need for widespread testing and remediation efforts.

(www.scientificamerican.com)

Tech drinking water safety

Swiftly 1.0: Streamlining Swift Toolchain Management

2025-03-28

Swiftly 1.0 has officially launched! This Swift version manager simplifies installing, managing, and updating your Swift toolchain. Supporting macOS and various Linux distributions, it allows developers to easily install different Swift versions and use Swift outside of Xcode. Written in Swift and self-updating, Swiftly supports stable releases, nightly snapshots, and older versions, enabling effortless switching between them. A `.swift-version` file facilitates team-wide version consistency. Swiftly makes Swift development more convenient and efficient.

(swift.org)

Development Toolchain Version Management

Japan's Citizen-Created Sex Offender Map Sparks Legal Debate

2025-03-28

Japan's Citizen-Created Sex Offender Map Sparks Legal Debate

In response to a lack of a national sex offender registry and numerous cases of child sexual abuse, a website called Amyna has emerged in Japan, offering a map of alleged sex offenders. Created by a former UN worker, Amyna aims to fill the gap in official systems, but its legality is highly questionable. Japan's strict personal information protection laws heavily restrict data disclosure, potentially leaving Amyna vulnerable to privacy violation claims. While the site argues it protects children, its lack of robust verification processes and handling of sensitive information risks false accusations and secondary victimization. The initiative has sparked a wide-ranging debate about privacy, citizen rights, and government responsibility, highlighting shortcomings in Japan's legal framework for child protection.

(unseen-japan.com)

Misc sex offender citizen action

Finley Technologies is Hiring!

2025-03-28

Finley Technologies is seeking to fill 8 roles across various departments, including Engineering, Operations, Sales, and Post-Sales, with locations in SF, NY, and remote options. Open positions include a Founding Product Manager, Software Engineers, People Operations, Capital Markets Associate, Implementation Lead, Technical Implementation Specialist, Account Executives, and a Growth Associate focused on Financial Institutions.

(ats.rippling.com)

Startup Tech Jobs

Digital Echoes: The Unseen Costs of Constant Connectivity

2025-03-28

Digital Echoes: The Unseen Costs of Constant Connectivity

This essay explores the hidden psychological toll of our hyper-connected digital lives, focusing on the concept of "digital echoes." The author argues that the constant data collection by smart devices creates a pervasive sense of being monitored, transforming us into performers rather than participants in our own lives. Using smartphones and smart cars as contrasting examples, the piece highlights the difference in data generation and privacy implications. It advocates for a more mindful approach to technology, emphasizing single-function devices and analog alternatives to mitigate the negative effects of constant surveillance. The author concludes that future technological advancements should prioritize user privacy and focused experiences over ubiquitous connectivity and multitasking.

(www.chrbutler.com)

Tech

Your TV Is Spying on You: The Rise of Streaming Ads and the Privacy Trade-off

2025-03-28

Your TV Is Spying on You: The Rise of Streaming Ads and the Privacy Trade-off

Streaming platforms are increasingly relying on ads for revenue, even monitoring user viewing habits for personalized ad targeting. The article uses Roku as a case study, detailing its transformation from a hardware company into an advertising powerhouse, acquiring ad-tech companies to gather user data for precise ad placement. This trend isn't unique to Roku; many TV manufacturers and tech giants employ similar tactics, utilizing Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) to monitor what users watch and leverage this data for analytics and targeted advertising. While personalized ads can enhance user experience, significant privacy concerns arise. The article concludes by suggesting that opting for older, non-smart TVs and avoiding connection to smart devices is the best way to evade ads and data collection.

(www.vox.com)

Tech streaming ads

Optimized FP32 Matrix Multiplication on AMD RDNA3 GPU: Outperforming rocBLAS by 60%

2025-03-28

Optimized FP32 Matrix Multiplication on AMD RDNA3 GPU: Outperforming rocBLAS by 60%

This post details the optimization journey of creating an FP32 matrix multiplication kernel for AMD RDNA3 GPUs that surpasses rocBLAS by 60%. The author iteratively refines eight kernels, starting with a naive implementation and progressing to ISA-level optimizations. Techniques include LDS tiling, register tiling, global memory double buffering, LDS utilization optimization, and ultimately ISA-level VALU optimization and loop unrolling. The final kernel outperforms rocBLAS, achieving nearly 50 TFLOPS.

(seb-v.github.io)

Development matrix multiplication

Bodyoids: The Ethical and Technological Tightrope of Future Medicine

2025-03-28

Bodyoids: The Ethical and Technological Tightrope of Future Medicine

Scientists propose 'bodyoids,' human-like constructs grown from cells, for medical research and organ transplantation. While offering potential solutions to ethical dilemmas like animal testing, this technology raises profound ethical questions. Do bodyoids deserve human rights? How do we define their life status? How do we secure informed consent for cell donation? These issues demand careful consideration for responsible development and application.

(www.technologyreview.com)

Tech bioethics

NSO Group's Pegasus Spyware Fails to Stay Hidden: Journalists Expose Flaws

2025-03-28

A new report details attempted hacks against Serbian journalists using NSO Group's Pegasus spyware. Amnesty International researchers traced phishing links directly to NSO Group's infrastructure, exposing serious flaws in the company's and its clients' attempts at stealth. Pegasus has been used to target at least 130 individuals globally, including journalists and activists, over the years. Apple has also helped expose attacks by notifying victims. NSO Group's sale of its software to countries that misuse it is contributing to its exposure. The incident highlights NSO Group's operational security failures and the threat its spyware poses to human rights.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

Cretaceous Amber Yields a Wasp with a Venus Flytrap-Like Abdomen

2025-03-28

Cretaceous Amber Yields a Wasp with a Venus Flytrap-Like Abdomen

A new genus of wasp, †Sirenobethylus, has been discovered in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. This remarkable insect possesses a unique abdominal apparatus resembling a Venus flytrap, hypothesized to temporarily grasp and immobilize prey during oviposition. The discovery suggests a broader range of parasitoid strategies in mid-Cretaceous Chrysidoidea than exists today, highlighting the evolutionary diversity of this group.

(bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com)

Tech entomology parasitoid wasp

FreeBSD Foundation Provides Framework Laptops for Improved User Experience

2025-03-28

The FreeBSD Foundation provided Framework laptops to developers to enhance the FreeBSD experience on laptops. A developer documented their journey installing and configuring FreeBSD 14.2, including OS installation, graphics driver setup, and challenges encountered such as bezel installation and Wayland desktop compatibility issues. While running KDE Plasma 6 on Wayland presented hurdles, this provides valuable insights for improving FreeBSD's desktop experience.

(euroquis.nl)

Development

UK Gov's AI Talent Crisis: Lack of Tech Skills & Broken Hiring Processes

2025-03-28

UK Gov's AI Talent Crisis: Lack of Tech Skills & Broken Hiring Processes

A former director of data science at the UK prime minister's office revealed a critical shortage of tech talent within government data departments. Laura Gilbert testified that many government officials in data roles lack the technical skills needed, making it difficult for them to find similar jobs in the private sector. While pockets of excellence exist within the Government Digital Service (GDS), the overall skill level is inconsistent, and hiring processes fail to effectively identify truly skilled candidates. Despite a government initiative, the "Blueprint for Modern Digital Government," promising significant investment in AI talent development and technology upgrades, Gilbert highlighted the need for long-term commitment to data integration, citing the poor track record of past projects. A parliamentary report further underscored the problem, revealing that outdated IT systems hinder AI adoption and funding allocation remains an issue. This highlights the immense challenges the UK government faces in its digital transformation journey.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech Government Digital Transformation AI Talent Skills Gap

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

The Rise of Hyperlegibility: Information Overload in the Modern Age

2025-03-28

The Rise of Hyperlegibility: Information Overload in the Modern Age

Once, accessing information required Herculean efforts, like scaling a treacherous cliff to find an inscription. Now, information is readily available, even unavoidable. The author coins the term "Hyperlegibility" to describe this ease of information access and dissemination. This stems not only from technological advancements but also from people's proactive pursuit of clarity. To stand out in competition, they openly share ideas and strategies. It's a game-theoretic outcome: information is no longer a scarce resource, yet it shapes new competitive landscapes, giving rise to a new generation of "Hyperlegibility Natives" with supercharged information processing abilities.

(www.notboring.co)

Misc information dissemination

Superellipses and Superhyperbolas: Beyond Classical Geometry

2025-03-28

This article introduces superellipses and superhyperbolas, generalizations of ellipses and hyperbolas, respectively. The shapes are controlled by a parameter 'p'. When p=2, they reduce to standard ellipses and hyperbolas. Increasing p makes superellipses more rectangular, but with continuous curvature; superhyperbolas become blunted at the vertices. The article explores why superellipses are far more common than superhyperbolas, speculating on naming conventions and the lack of effective advocacy for the latter.

(www.johndcook.com)

Misc Superellipse

Hackers Win Big at Google's bugSWAT: 579MB Binary Leaks Internal Source Code

2025-03-28

In 2024, a security research team once again won the MVH award at Google's LLM bugSWAT event. They discovered and exploited a vulnerability in Gemini allowing access to a sandbox containing a 579MB binary file. This binary held internal Google3 source code and internal protobuf files used to communicate with Google services like Google Flights. By cleverly utilizing sandbox features, they extracted and analyzed the binary, revealing sensitive internal information. This discovery highlights the importance of thorough security testing for cutting-edge AI systems.

(www.landh.tech)

AI Bug Bounty

Hollywood's Silent Deal: AI-Generated Fake Movie Trailers Flood YouTube

2025-03-28

Hollywood's Silent Deal: AI-Generated Fake Movie Trailers Flood YouTube

AI-generated fake movie trailers are flooding YouTube, so realistic they've even fooled French national television. Created for fun or profit, these trailers garner billions of views. Hollywood studios' response is baffling: instead of enforcing copyright, some are sharing ad revenue with creators. This has drawn criticism from SAG-AFTRA, who see it as disregard for actors' rights. The article explores the impact of AI on movie marketing and copyright, and Hollywood's ambiguous stance on this emerging challenge.

(deadline.com)

Tech

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.

(github.com)

Development Binary Data

The Real Book: A Bootlegged Jazz Bible

2025-03-28

The Real Book: A Bootlegged Jazz Bible

Since the mid-1970s, nearly every jazz musician has owned a copy of 'The Real Book,' an illegally copied collection of jazz standards. Its story begins with earlier 'fake books' – simplified sheet music – evolving from Tune-Dex cards. Two Berklee College of Music students created a modern, updated version, reflecting contemporary jazz styles. Its popularity led to widespread bootlegging, until Hal Leonard legally published it. The book’s legacy, however, sparks debate about copyright and the very nature of jazz, with some criticizing its simplification of this complex art form.

(99percentinvisible.org)

Misc Music History

Kerala's Economic Miracle: From Poverty to Prosperity

2025-03-28

Kerala's Economic Miracle: From Poverty to Prosperity

Kerala, a relatively small state in southwestern India, was once among the poorest in the country. However, in a few decades, it experienced a remarkable economic transformation, surpassing the national average per capita income. High literacy rates, excellent healthcare, and low population growth played crucial roles. Furthermore, the long-standing social welfare policies of Left-wing governments, coupled with deep integration into the global economy, remittances from the Gulf, and booming private sector investment, contributed to Kerala's economic miracle. However, overdevelopment and climate change pose new challenges, requiring Kerala to balance economic growth with environmental sustainability.

(aeon.co)

Startup Kerala

FTC Staff Ordered to Stop Calling Agency 'Independent'

2025-03-28

FTC Staff Ordered to Stop Calling Agency 'Independent'

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has instructed its staff to stop referring to the agency as 'independent' in complaints, marking another move by the Trump administration to assert greater control over the historically independent body. This follows President Trump's executive order allowing the White House to review independent agencies and the firing of two Democratic commissioners, leading to a lawsuit. FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson publicly supports Trump's actions, claiming the President's authority will be upheld. This highlights the ongoing challenges to the independence of US government agencies and the influence of political interference.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech

2,200-Year-Old Pyramid Unearthed Near Dead Sea

2025-03-28

2,200-Year-Old Pyramid Unearthed Near Dead Sea

Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed a mysterious pyramid-shaped structure and way station dating back 2,200 years near the Dead Sea. The exceptionally well-preserved site contains a wealth of artifacts, including papyrus fragments with ancient Greek writing, bronze coins, vessels, and organic materials like wood and fabrics, all remarkably preserved by the desert's dry climate. The purpose of the pyramid remains unknown, with possibilities ranging from a monument to a guard tower. Excavations continue, promising further insights into this intriguing discovery from the Ptolemaic or Seleucid era.

(www.livescience.com)

Tech pyramid Dead Sea

Unexpected Exciton Mobility at Cryogenic Temperatures: Phasons in Moiré Superlattices

2025-03-28

Unexpected Exciton Mobility at Cryogenic Temperatures: Phasons in Moiré Superlattices

Researchers at Berkeley Lab have discovered that phasons, low-temperature quasiparticles in moiré superlattices, enable interlayer excitons to move even at extremely low temperatures where motion should cease. This challenges conventional understanding and opens new avenues for improving the stability of quantum technologies by leveraging excitons as qubits. The discovery, made possible by the Molecular Foundry's Imaging and Manipulation of Nanostructures facility, provides fundamental insights into materials science and offers a promising path forward for quantum information science.

(newscenter.lbl.gov)

Tech Materials Science Moiré Superlattice

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