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The Curious Case of Hollywood's Missing Comedies

2025-08-19

The Curious Case of Hollywood's Missing Comedies

The 1980s saw box office triumphs like *Beverly Hills Cop* and *Ghostbusters*. Today, however, the Hollywood comedy is reportedly extinct. While audience surveys show a continued demand for comedic films, studios prioritize sequels and established IP over original comedies due to perceived lower returns and international appeal challenges. Comedies, inherently tied to cultural nuances, often struggle globally compared to action franchises. Despite this, the low production costs and untapped demand suggest a potential for a comedy resurgence.

(www.statsignificant.com)

Game Comedy Films Film Industry

Newgrounds' Flash Forward Jam 2025: Rekindling the Flash Flame

2025-08-19

Newgrounds' Flash Forward Jam 2025: Rekindling the Flash Flame

Newgrounds is hosting its fifth annual Flash Forward Jam, celebrating Flash's legacy with cool new Flash games and interactive movies. This year's jam utilizes Ruffle, offering substantial prizes up to $1200. Participants create Flash games or interactive movies and publish by April 20th. Resources and community support are available, encouraging developers to relive the magic of Flash.

(www.newgrounds.com)

Game Game Jam

The Shameless Strategy: Winning in the Age of Information

2025-08-19

This article explores a strategy called "shamelessness," which involves using seemingly foolish or outrageous behavior to deceive opponents and ultimately achieve success. Using examples like the game Avalon and real-world figures such as Paris Hilton and Donald Trump, the author illustrates the core of this strategy: ignoring traditional rules and social norms, leveraging negative public perception to attract attention, and thus building new communities and influence. This strategy is particularly effective in the information age, as open online environments render traditional punishment mechanisms ineffective, instead serving as a signal to attract followers. The author cautions readers that, when faced with those deemed "shameless," instead of dismissing them, we should carefully examine their underlying strategy and impact.

(nadia.xyz)

Misc

AI-Powered Precision Mapping Tracks Woody Plant Spread on the Great Plains

2025-08-19

AI-Powered Precision Mapping Tracks Woody Plant Spread on the Great Plains

Researchers at Kansas State University have developed a cost-effective, high-accuracy system for mapping grassland vegetation using publicly available aerial imagery and machine learning. The system achieves 97% accuracy in classifying grass, shrubs, and trees, and is being used to monitor the rapid spread of woody plants across the Great Plains. This research not only aids in better grassland ecosystem management but also provides valuable hands-on experience for students and offers data support for other research areas, such as livestock carrying capacity assessment and fire risk assessment.

(phys.org)

Tech grassland ecology

Reclaim WSL Disk Space: A Manual and Automated Guide

2025-08-19

Reclaim WSL Disk Space: A Manual and Automated Guide

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) virtual disks can bloat over time, consuming significant disk space. This tutorial provides both manual and automated methods to compact WSL virtual hard disks (VHDX), freeing up valuable disk space. The manual method details a step-by-step process using PowerShell and DiskPart commands; the automated method provides a PowerShell script for one-click compaction. Regardless of the method chosen, you can effectively resolve WSL disk space issues and maintain efficient system operation.

(www.freecodecamp.org)

Development

IAPSOP: A Digital Archive of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals

2025-08-19

IAPSOP, a US-based private organization, digitally preserves Spiritualist and occult periodicals published between the Congress of Vienna and World War II. Run entirely by volunteers, they digitize, index, and freely provide these periodicals to students and researchers. They actively seek donations of materials and labor and welcome inquiries from sellers. The website offers various access points: direct archive search, thematic lists, and a lessons archive. Contact IAPSOP Customer Support for assistance or technical issues.

(iapsop.com)

Misc occult periodicals

Guédelon Castle: A Living Experiment in Medieval Archaeology

2025-08-19

Guédelon Castle: A Living Experiment in Medieval Archaeology

Guédelon Castle in Burgundy, France, isn't just a reconstruction; it's a living experiment in medieval archaeology. Using only 13th-century tools and techniques, a team of skilled artisans is building a real 13th-century castle. The project, decades in the making, reveals historical mysteries, from window materials (initially goatskin, later beeswax-stiffened linen) to mortar recipes and scaffolding techniques. Each obstacle encountered is an opportunity to solve a medieval-style problem, illuminating the ingenuity and teamwork of medieval builders. Guédelon is more than a castle; it's a vibrant historical lesson, attracting visitors and scholars worldwide.

(archaeology.org)

Tech experimental archaeology medieval architecture Guédelon Castle

Left-to-Right Programming: Say Goodbye to Intellisense Hell

2025-08-19

This article criticizes the inefficiency of declarative programming in languages like Python, highlighting the difficulty of getting code completion hints with list comprehensions. The author proposes a "left-to-right" programming paradigm where programs remain valid throughout the input process, facilitating code completion and error checking. Rust, Python, and JavaScript code examples illustrate how left-to-right programming enhances readability and development efficiency. The article concludes by advocating for well-designed APIs to improve the development experience.

(graic.net)

Development

Minimalist TPU Design: A Beginner's Guide to Chip Accelerator Development

2025-08-19

Minimalist TPU Design: A Beginner's Guide to Chip Accelerator Development

This article details a minimalist Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) design inspired by Google's TPU V1 and V2. The TPU features a 2x2 grid of processing elements, pipelining multiply-accumulate operations, bias addition, Leaky ReLU activation, and MSE loss calculations. Its 94-bit instruction set controls data flow horizontally and vertically across the processing element grid, supporting preprocessing and weight matrix transposition. The article thoroughly explains the instruction set, hardware architecture, and the process of adding modules and running tests, aiming to introduce readers to chip accelerator design.

(github.com)

Hardware hardware accelerator

OpenMower: A DIY Smart Mowing Robot That Challenges the Status Quo

2025-08-19

OpenMower: A DIY Smart Mowing Robot That Challenges the Status Quo

Tired of robotic lawn mowers that randomly bump around? Clemens Elflein, a software engineer with experience in embedded programming and robotics, has launched the OpenMower project: a DIY smart mowing robot designed to be smarter, safer, and more affordable. Based on a modified YardForce Classic 500, it leverages the quality hardware and utilizes ROS for autonomous navigation, obstacle avoidance (currently under development), and rain detection. The project boasts basic mowing functionality with automatic recharging, and encourages community involvement through detailed documentation and a Discord server for support. Tech enthusiasts are welcome to join and contribute!

(github.com)

Hardware

Non-Destructive Unrolling of Ancient Scroll via AI-Assisted X-ray Tomography

2025-08-19

Non-Destructive Unrolling of Ancient Scroll via AI-Assisted X-ray Tomography

German scientists used 3D X-ray tomography and AI to virtually 'unroll' a delicate antique Buddhist scroll crafted by Mongolian nomads, preserving its fragile state. The centuries-old scroll, tightly wound within silk pouches, revealed its contents—a Tibetan Buddhist mantra written in Sanskrit script—without physical manipulation. The analysis also unexpectedly uncovered metal particles in the ink. While labor-intensive, this technique offers invaluable opportunities for studying otherwise inaccessible artifacts.

(www.popsci.com)

Tech X-ray tomography

Crazy Lawn Mower: A Software Engineer's Hardware Adventure

2025-08-19

A software engineer, who hadn't touched hardware in 20 years, embarked on a challenging hardware journey at the urging of friends. He transformed a Raspberry Pi into a smart lawn mower control system, adding an OLED display, UPS power supply, camera, and more, to display system information, network status, mowing data, and more in real-time. Along the way, he solved problems such as high CPU usage, abnormal battery level display, and network security, ultimately creating a smart lawn mower capable of networking, monitoring, and collecting mowing data. He shared his achievements and experiences on IRC.

(jotunheimr.idlerpg.net)

Hardware

EV Battery Degradation: Overblown Fears?

2025-08-18

EV Battery Degradation: Overblown Fears?

Concerns about short lifespan of EV batteries are widespread. This article debunks this myth, analyzing two types of battery degradation: calendar aging and cycle aging. Real-world data shows degradation is far slower than feared, especially after 20,000 miles. Studies of thousands of EVs show over 80% capacity retention even at 200,000 miles. Manufacturer warranties of 8-10 years or 100,000 miles further support this. While degradation is unavoidable, mitigating factors include avoiding extreme temperatures, charge levels, and frequent fast charging. In short, anxieties around EV battery life are largely overblown; they last far longer than many believe.

(www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com)

Tech Battery Degradation

Anna's Archive: The Fight to Preserve Humanity's Legacy Continues

2025-08-18

Anna's Archive team releases an update, announcing significant progress in their fight against knowledge censorship. They've successfully backed up tens of millions of books, scientific articles, and more. Despite facing increasing attacks, they're working to improve security. The team thanks volunteers and partners (including LibGen forks, STC/Nexus, and Z-Library) for their contributions and regrets the disappearance of a LibGen fork. They also caution users against using the emerging WeLib platform due to its lack of community contribution. Looking ahead, they'll continue processing hundreds of terabytes of data and call for volunteer and donation support.

(annas-archive.org)

Tech

Image Fulgurator: Secretly Embedding Images in Photos

2025-08-18

The Image Fulgurator is a device capable of seamlessly embedding images into other people's photographs in milliseconds. It cleverly utilizes feedback flash projection technology, projecting a pre-prepared color slide image onto the target object at the same time someone else is taking a picture. The process is discreet and undetectable, as it functions in reverse of a traditional camera: using a pre-exposed slide as a light source, a built-in sensor detects flashes from nearby cameras to synchronize the projection with the exact moment of exposure. The Image Fulgurator is housed in a standard SLR camera case, reusing many of the camera's original components.

(juliusvonbismarck.com)

Tech stealth technology

The Comeback of Flip Phones: Durability Challenges and Future Prospects

2025-08-18

The Comeback of Flip Phones: Durability Challenges and Future Prospects

From the initial screen issues with Samsung's first foldable phones to the improvements in Motorola's Razr, flip phones have undergone a tortuous evolutionary path. While newer flip phones boast larger external screens and more powerful functionality, the lack of dust resistance remains a major pain point. Despite this, manufacturers are striving to overcome this challenge, and the future may hold dust and water-resistant foldable phones with an IP68 rating.

(www.theverge.com)

Hardware flip phones foldable phones durability

Texas Law Mandates Data Center Curtailment to Ensure Grid Reliability

2025-08-18

Texas Law Mandates Data Center Curtailment to Ensure Grid Reliability

Facing a potential threat to grid reliability from the explosive growth of data centers in Texas, Governor Abbott signed SB 6 into law. The bill establishes mandatory and voluntary demand response programs, requiring large data centers (75 MW and above) to curtail electricity consumption during grid emergencies or switch to backup generation. New interconnection disclosure and cost-sharing rules, along with protocols for co-locating large loads with existing generators, are also included. This aims to balance data center growth with grid stability, preventing a repeat of the 2021 Winter Storm Uri crisis and providing regulatory certainty for independent power producers and data centers seeking colocation arrangements.

(www.utilitydive.com)

Tech

RainViewer API Sunset: A Migration Guide

2025-08-18

RainViewer API Sunset: A Migration Guide

After 10 years, RainViewer founder Oleksii Schastlyvyi announces the transition of its API services to limited operation throughout 2025. This isn't a marketing piece, but a genuine guide for developers who have supported RainViewer. The article presents five alternative API services: Rainbow.ai (closest technical match, providing past and nowcast radar tiles), OpenWeatherMap (developer-friendly, comprehensive data), Meteoblue (high precision, especially in Europe), Tomorrow.io (global coverage with satellite data), and Xweather (professional-grade accuracy, data from Vaisala). Migration strategy recommendations are provided based on technical requirements, budget, and geographic needs. The author expresses gratitude to the developer community.

(www.rainviewer.com)

Development API Migration Weather Radar Data

Otter.ai Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Unauthorized Recordings

2025-08-18

Otter.ai Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Unauthorized Recordings

Otter.ai, a Mountain View-based AI transcription company, is facing a class-action lawsuit alleging it secretly records private conversations without permission to train its AI. The lawsuit claims Otter.ai's Otter Notebook service, used for transcribing Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meetings, defaults to recording without consent, violating privacy and wiretap laws. Plaintiff Justin Brewer alleges severe privacy invasion. Otter.ai defends its practices by stating it de-identifies data, but the lawsuit questions the effectiveness of this process, citing a lack of transparency. This raises serious concerns about privacy in AI-powered transcription services, particularly regarding data used for AI training.

(www.npr.org)

Tech

FFmpeg Assembly Language School: Learn to Contribute!

2025-08-18

FFmpeg Assembly Language School: Learn to Contribute!

Embark on an exciting journey into FFmpeg assembly language programming! This course requires C programming knowledge (especially pointers) and high school math. Lessons and assignments (coming soon) will equip you to contribute to the FFmpeg project. A Discord server is available for support: https://discord.com/invite/Ks5MhUhqfB

(github.com)

Development

Apple and Amazon's AI Miscalculation: A Cultural Quagmire

2025-08-18

Apple and Amazon's AI Miscalculation: A Cultural Quagmire

This article argues that Apple and Amazon's corporate cultures are hindering their progress in the AI revolution. Amazon is betting on AI becoming a commoditized market like cloud computing, while Apple remains overly reliant on the iPhone, neglecting the rapid advancements in AI. This strategy stems from the 'innovator's dilemma,' making it difficult for them to abandon their existing successful businesses and seize the opportunity to become AI leaders. The author contends that changing corporate culture is harder than changing the game, and with Nvidia and OpenAI already holding significant leads, Apple and Amazon face an uphill battle.

(gmays.com)

Tech Corporate Culture Innovator's Dilemma

European Player Claims 9% of IPv4 Addresses; North American Rival Wanted?

2025-08-18

A European player, femboy.cat, has claimed 20 million IPv4 addresses (9% of all IPv4 hosts according to Censys) by successfully making TCP three-way handshakes with VMs on Google's network via an online service (https://ipv4.games/). This service grants IPs to users who successfully connect. The method used by femboy.cat remains unknown, sparking discussion about security and resource allocation. A North American rival is being sought.

(lists.nanog.org)

Tech IPv4 addresses

ScrollGuard: Stop Doomscrolling

2025-08-18

Tired of endless scrolling on TikTok and similar apps? ScrollGuard is here to help! This app blocks Reels and Shorts videos on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and YouTube, and sets scrolling limits for any app, freeing you from endless scrolling and distractions. While the iOS version has slightly different functionality, the developer is working on an iPhone app to help users combat scrolling addiction.

(scrollguard.app)

Development anti-addiction

Your ChatGPT Chats Might Be Indexable by Search Engines

2025-08-18

Your ChatGPT Chats Might Be Indexable by Search Engines

Recently, OpenAI ChatGPT users were shocked to find their search queries appearing in Google search results. OpenAI had disclosed this possibility, but most users overlooked it. More concerning, a court order compels OpenAI to retain all user conversation data, including deleted content, due to an ongoing copyright lawsuit. Google's Gemini AI also has a memory function, recording user chats by default. The article warns users to be cautious with AI chatbots, avoiding sensitive information, as all mainstream AI chatbots record user conversations by default.

(www.theregister.com)

AI

Award-Winning Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar: Your Guide to the Cosmos

2025-08-18

The Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar is a monthly guide to skywatching for all ages. Each month's calendar features diagrams tracking the moon, planets, and bright stars. The reverse side provides a simplified star map for mid-evening viewing across the continental US. Used in classrooms, planetariums, and astronomy clubs, this highly illustrated calendar has won awards and received praise from publications like Scientific American. A yearly subscription (12 issues, mailed quarterly) costs $12.

(abramsplanetarium.org)

Misc subscription

Construction's Circular Economy Revolution: From Demolition to Upcycling

2025-08-18

Construction's Circular Economy Revolution: From Demolition to Upcycling

The global construction industry generates 2.2 billion tons of waste annually, prompting a search for more sustainable building practices. This article showcases Red Bull's relocatable wooden pit box, and examples of upcycling construction waste, such as transforming old building materials into furniture and lighting, and creating high-value building materials from sawmill waste. It also explores the role of digital tools like 'material passports' in simplifying the reuse of building materials, and uses the reusable fences from Pamplona's Running of the Bulls as an example of how traditional wisdom complements modern sustainable building concepts.

(theconversation.com)

Tech construction waste

US Housing Crisis: The Silent Driver Behind Market Anomalies

2025-08-18

US Housing Crisis: The Silent Driver Behind Market Anomalies

The recent resurgence of 2021-style meme stock activity and record assets in money market funds in the US isn't due to investors simultaneously betting on high-risk and low-risk strategies. The real culprit? The broken US housing market. High prices and interest rates are pushing cash into meme stocks and money market funds; risk-seeking investors buy the former, while risk-averse investors choose US Treasuries/money market funds. A record number of millionaire renters highlights the severity of the problem. Three potential future scenarios for the housing market are outlined: a decade-long stagnation, a price melt-up followed by a crash, and massive construction leading to price declines. The author considers the latter least likely due to the entrenched nature of the US housing market and resistance to new construction.

(ofdollarsanddata.com)

Tech US Housing Market Meme Stocks Money Market Funds

Blazing Fast Static Site Server Built with Neovim and Lua

2025-08-18

A developer built nvim-web-server, a Neovim plugin written in Lua that serves HTTP requests directly from Neovim buffers. Surprisingly, it's faster than Nginx! This is due to LuaJIT's efficiency and Neovim's integration with the libuv library. The author successfully deployed this server on an old ThinkPad, ensuring security through Docker, AppArmor, and seccomp. This is a creative and efficient example showcasing the powerful extensibility of editors.

(vim.gabornyeki.com)

Development

Revolutionary Laser-Free Alternative to LASIK Emerges

2025-08-18

Revolutionary Laser-Free Alternative to LASIK Emerges

Scientists have developed a non-invasive surgical technique called electromechanical reshaping (EMR) that promises to revolutionize vision correction. This technique uses an electric potential to alter the pH of the cornea, making it malleable, and then shapes the cornea using a platinum 'contact lens' template to correct vision. Animal tests showed EMR is comparable to LASIK in correcting myopia, but without incisions, with less expensive equipment, and potentially reversible, even reversing some chemical-induced corneal cloudiness. While still in its early stages, EMR holds significant promise as a safer and more affordable vision correction method.

(medicalxpress.com)

Tech Electromechanical Reshaping Vision Correction Corneal Reshaping

Mindless Machines, Meaningless Myths: A Review of Robert Skidelsky's 'Mindless'

2025-08-18

Mindless Machines, Meaningless Myths: A Review of Robert Skidelsky's 'Mindless'

This review examines Robert Skidelsky's 'Mindless: The Human Condition in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,' which explores the philosophical implications of AI, automation, and the illusion of progress. The author argues that we inhabit a 'machine civilization' where technology shapes our thinking, work, and relationships, prompting fundamental questions about human meaning, purpose, and freedom. Skidelsky traces technological development from the Industrial Revolution to the digital age, showing that progress isn't always positive, potentially leading to meaningless work, over-reliance on technology, and threats to human well-being. He calls for deeper reflection on technological advancement, urging us to avoid the pitfalls of technological optimism.

(lareviewofbooks.org)

AI Philosophy of Technology

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