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Recto: A Truly 2D Programming Language

2025-08-16
Recto: A Truly 2D Programming Language

Recto is a groundbreaking 2D programming language that uses nested rectangles as its core syntax, encoding structure and recursion directly in space instead of a linear stream of text. Challenging the one-dimensionality of traditional programming languages, Recto explores new ways to write, parse, and reason about code—and even natural language—spatially. Rectangles represent data structures, intuitively visualizing multi-dimensional data, and supporting functions, control flow, and more. While still in its prototype stage, Recto demonstrates potential for improved code readability and collaborative development, particularly beneficial for fields like linear algebra, computer graphics, and machine learning.

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(masatohagiwara.net)
Development 2D programming language

Generating Prompts via Activation Maximization: 95.9% Accuracy on Yelp Review Polarity

2025-08-16

This article presents a novel approach to prompt engineering using activation maximization. By optimizing the input rather than the model weights, a 4-token prompt was generated that achieved 95.9% accuracy on the Yelp Review Polarity sentiment classification task using Llama-3.2-1B-Instruct, significantly outperforming hand-written prompts (57%). This method cleverly leverages the LLM's embedding vector space, representing the prompt as a differentiable tensor and using gradient descent for optimization. This technique shows potential for increasing task switching efficiency in large language models, especially under GPU memory constraints.

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(joecooper.me)
AI Activation Maximization

Metaflow: Streamlining ML Application Development

2025-08-16
Metaflow: Streamlining ML Application Development

Metaflow, developed at Netflix, tackles the challenges data scientists and ML engineers face in building applications. It simplifies data processing, compute resource management, workflow orchestration, version control, and deployment. This robust yet user-friendly platform empowers users to quickly iterate on ideas using Python and deploy confidently, leaving the low-level infrastructure—data, compute, orchestration, and versioning—to Metaflow. Now powering thousands of applications at companies like Netflix and CNN, Metaflow offers commercial support through Outerbounds.

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(docs.metaflow.org)
Development

The AI Bottleneck: It's Not Intelligence, It's Context Engineering

2025-08-16
The AI Bottleneck: It's Not Intelligence, It's Context Engineering

While large language models (LLMs) are achieving remarkable feats in mathematics, even matching International Mathematical Olympiad gold medalists, their performance in everyday enterprise applications lags significantly. The article argues that the bottleneck isn't the models' intelligence, but rather the specification of tasks and context engineering. Mathematical problems have clear specifications, while real-world tasks are fuzzy and full of implicit constraints. Improving AI hinges on building better context engines and task specifications, requiring breakthroughs in data acquisition, model training, and continuous learning. In the short term, AI will yield astounding results in science; long-term, broad corporate automation still faces the challenge of overcoming the specification and context engineering hurdles.

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(latentintent.substack.com)
AI AI bottleneck

Prime Grid: A Visual Exploration of Prime Numbers

2025-08-16

Prime Grid creates a simple, adjustable grid plotting prime numbers in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom layout. Use it to find interesting visual patterns, do some math, or maybe uncover the secret code to the cosmos (or something). Created by Danny Duplex, who claims to solve the world's least important problems.

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(enda.sh)
Misc

TextKit 2: Four Years Later, Not a Silver Bullet

2025-08-16
TextKit 2: Four Years Later, Not a Silver Bullet

Announced at WWDC21, TextKit 2, after four years, falls short of its promised ease of use. While the architecture is sound, the implementation is riddled with issues. NSTextContentStorage is the only viable storage implementation, severely limiting customization. Furthermore, the viewport mechanism, intended to optimize performance, results in unstable scrollbar positioning and jittering during scrolling. The author encountered numerous bugs, some unresolved for extended periods, significantly impacting user experience. In short, TextKit 2 is not a perfect text layout solution, especially for text editing UIs.

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(blog.krzyzanowskim.com)
Development Text Layout

Coreboot Enables AMD Turin Support on Gigabyte MZ33-AR1: Phase 1 Complete

2025-08-16

This blog post details the first phase of enabling AMD Turin support in coreboot and porting it to the Gigabyte MZ33-AR1 motherboard. Funded by the NLnet Foundation, the project builds upon AMD's push for open-source firmware. The team successfully created the Turin SoC structure within coreboot, extracted and integrated the necessary PSP firmware packages, and built basic MZ33-AR1 motherboard support. While challenges remained with integrating public Turin PSP blobs, workarounds allowed a successful boot, paving the way for future improvements.

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(blog.3mdeb.com)
Development Open Source Firmware

The Invisible Barriers Holding You Back

2025-08-16
The Invisible Barriers Holding You Back

A story about a dog confined by a defunct electric fence highlights the invisible barriers we create in our lives. These self-imposed limitations, often rooted in past hurts or societal conditioning, prevent us from connecting with others. The author argues that reaching out, despite fears of appearing needy or weak, is a sign of strength and courage. Breaking free requires just twenty seconds of bravery to send a message, make a call, or express care—a small act with significant liberating power.

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(soonly.com)
Misc

ADHD Medication Linked to Reduced Risk of Suicide, Substance Abuse, and Crime

2025-08-16
ADHD Medication Linked to Reduced Risk of Suicide, Substance Abuse, and Crime

A target trial emulation study using Swedish national register data found that ADHD medication was associated with lower rates of suicidal behaviors, substance misuse, transport accidents, and criminality over two years. While the reduction wasn't statistically significant for first-time accidental injuries, recurrent events of all five outcomes showed significant decreases. This large-scale study provides compelling evidence supporting the beneficial effects of ADHD medication beyond core symptom relief.

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(www.bmj.com)
Tech Medication

Building Efficient AI Agent Systems: Lessons from UserJot

2025-08-16
Building Efficient AI Agent Systems: Lessons from UserJot

UserJot experimented with building a multi-agent AI system to analyze customer feedback at scale and auto-generate changelogs. The author shares key learnings, centering on a two-tier architecture: primary agents manage context and task decomposition, while stateless sub-agents focus on single tasks. Efficiency comes from task decomposition (vertical and horizontal), structured communication protocols, agent specialization, and orchestration patterns like MapReduce. The article stresses statelessness, context management strategies, and error handling, offering performance optimization tips and monitoring metrics.

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(userjot.com)
Development

Unexpectedly Slow: A Simple Socket Benchmark Shows Linux Lagging Behind OpenBSD

2025-08-16

A simple C program creating threads and opening 256 sockets reveals a surprising performance disparity between Linux and OpenBSD. On Linux, execution times fluctuate between 17 and 26 milliseconds; on OpenBSD, they're a mere 2 to 6 milliseconds. Adding to the intrigue, OpenBSD initially threw a "too many open files" error, hinting at differences in resource management. The author notes the discrepancy isn't related to networking code and challenges readers to find a Linux system that outperforms OpenBSD in this benchmark.

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(flak.tedunangst.com)
Development OS Performance

Y Combinator: The Unscalable Secrets to Startup Success

2025-08-16

Y Combinator shares its unconventional wisdom on startups: focus on "unscalable" actions early on, such as manually recruiting users, providing insanely great customer experiences, and focusing on niche markets. The article likens early-stage startups to building a fire— carefully nurturing the initial flames instead of aiming for immediate scalability. Manually acquiring early users and closely tracking their feedback allows rapid iteration and a strong user base. Even with an imperfect product, exceptional user experience can lead to success, far outweighing a perfect product with no users.

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(paulgraham.com)
Startup

Subsea Desalination: A Deep Dive into Solving the World's Water Crisis

2025-08-16
Subsea Desalination: A Deep Dive into Solving the World's Water Crisis

Facing a looming global water shortage, several companies are pioneering subsea desalination – a technology that leverages deep-ocean pressure to desalinate seawater more efficiently and sustainably than traditional methods. While cost and environmental impact remain hurdles, companies like Flocean are developing large-scale projects, promising a potential solution for city-wide water supply in the future. Further research into environmental impact and achieving cost parity with other sources remains crucial for widespread adoption.

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(www.scientificamerican.com)
Tech desalination deep sea technology water scarcity

2000+ Occult Texts Now Online Thanks to Dan Brown

2025-08-16
2000+ Occult Texts Now Online Thanks to Dan Brown

Amsterdam's Ritman Library, a treasure trove of pre-1900 books on alchemy, astrology, magic, and other occult subjects, has digitized 2,178 of its rare texts thanks to a generous donation from Dan Brown, author of *The Da Vinci Code*. The "Hermetically Open" project makes these books, written in various European languages (primarily Latin, with specialized jargon), freely accessible online. The collection isn't limited to the occult; it also includes works bridging philosophy, theology, medicine, and science, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of scholarship in the era.

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(www.openculture.com)
Misc Occult Ritman Library

47 Seconds of Gym Hell: How I Fixed PureGym's Broken Check-in with Apple Wallet

2025-08-16
47 Seconds of Gym Hell: How I Fixed PureGym's Broken Check-in with Apple Wallet

An iOS developer's frustration with PureGym's app (47 seconds to check in!) led him on a wild ride. He discovered laughably insecure APIs – an 8-year-old unchanging PIN was more secure than the minute-refreshing QR code. Using mitmproxy, he reverse-engineered the system, built an Apple Wallet pass using PassKit, and slashed check-in time to 3 seconds. The article details the process: reverse engineering, certificate wrestling, Swift backend development, and more. He even integrated it with Home Assistant. A humorous and technically detailed personal project highlighting the importance of user experience.

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(drobinin.com)
Development

The Uncertain Future of AI: A Double-Edged Sword

2025-08-16

Despite their flaws, AI systems continue to impress with their ability to replicate certain human skills. Progress in areas like natural language understanding, program writing, and bug detection has been astonishingly rapid. However, due to limited understanding of LLMs and other deep learning models, and wildly inaccurate expert predictions, the future trajectory of AI remains unclear. While a plateau is possible, it would likely spur further research. If AI becomes significantly more useful and independent of humans, it will be a revolution unlike any before. Yet current market reactions are akin to those of a trained parrot, blindly optimistic. If AI replaces a significant portion of the workforce, the economic system will face a severe test. In the future, AI may become a commodity, or governments may intervene. Ultimately, AI could reshape economic prosperity and even drive humanity toward a different economic system.

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(www.antirez.com)
AI

Git's Large File Killer: The End of Git LFS is Nigh

2025-08-16

Large files have long been a thorn in Git's side. Git LFS, while a solution, introduced new complexities and costs. However, Git itself is gradually addressing this issue. The latest Git releases feature partial clones, offering the same benefits as Git LFS—fast clones and small checkouts—without the need for extra tools or server-side costs. Even more exciting, Git's large object promisors are under development, promising to eventually obsolete Git LFS entirely, making large file management simpler and more efficient. No more large file headaches!

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(tylercipriani.com)
Development

The Chrome-Tastic Airbrush Art of the 80s: A Nostalgic Look Back

2025-08-15

The 80s saw airbrush art explode in popularity. The author recounts their teenage yearning for an airbrush, dreaming of painting band logos and making money. While computer design eventually took over, the author fondly remembers the unique chrome effects, gradients, and speed lines of 80s airbrush art. Digital art today perfectly replicates the style, but lacks the organic imperfections of the original. The author hopes to one day rediscover their old airbrush and revisit this iconic art form.

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(www.coolandcollected.com)
Design 80s art airbrush art

Is the Gaming Industry Recession-Proof? The $80 Game Price Debate and Market Shift

2025-08-15
Is the Gaming Industry Recession-Proof? The $80 Game Price Debate and Market Shift

The gaming industry is facing a potential downturn. US consumers are cutting back on game spending due to economic anxieties, challenging the long-held belief that gaming is recession-proof. The rise of free-to-play games and subscription services means consumers don't feel compelled to buy premium titles during tough times. While the free-to-play market is massive, revenue is concentrated in a few major titles, squeezing smaller developers. Soaring AAA development costs have pushed some publishers to $80 price tags, but this move has faced significant player backlash, with even Microsoft reversing course. The industry is navigating a complex pricing landscape, balancing innovation with the risks of high development costs and a changing consumer landscape.

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(www.gamesindustry.biz)
Game game market game pricing

Google's Tiny Gemma 3 AI Model Runs on Your Phone

2025-08-15
Google's Tiny Gemma 3 AI Model Runs on Your Phone

Google announced a tiny version of its Gemma open-source model, Gemma 3 270M, boasting only 270 million parameters yet capable of running on smartphones and even web browsers. This contrasts sharply with larger models containing billions of parameters. Despite its small size, Gemma 3 270M demonstrates strong instruction-following capabilities and exceptional efficiency, consuming only 0.75% of a Pixel 9 Pro's battery after 25 conversations. This opens new possibilities for privacy-focused and low-latency local AI applications.

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(arstechnica.com)
AI

Record-Breaking Cosmic Neutrino Detected Deep Under the Mediterranean

2025-08-15
Record-Breaking Cosmic Neutrino Detected Deep Under the Mediterranean

The KM3NeT detector, located deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea, has detected a cosmic neutrino with an unprecedented energy of 220 PeV, shattering the previous record. After rigorous analysis, the detection was confirmed, but its origin remains a mystery. Possible sources include extreme environments like galactic centers, gamma-ray bursts, or interactions with the cosmic microwave background. This discovery opens a new window into ultra-high-energy neutrino astronomy.

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(www.sciencealert.com)
Tech cosmic neutrino

Palantir: The Data Integration Powerhouse Behind the Scenes

2025-08-15
Palantir: The Data Integration Powerhouse Behind the Scenes

Palantir provides data integration and analysis software for both government agencies and businesses. Its software seamlessly integrates data from various sources, even handling messy legacy systems. It allows clients to replace numerous dashboards and programs with a single system, without requiring a complete overhaul of their underlying architecture. The software is user-friendly, accessible to non-technical users via its two main platforms: Foundry (commercial) and Gotham (government and law enforcement). Gotham is a powerful investigative tool connecting people, places, and events of interest. Palantir's success stems from its timely response to the rise of 'Big Data', offering a practical solution for organizations struggling with legacy system upgrades. Supporting tools include Apollo for software updates and an AI platform.

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(www.wired.com)
Tech

70s Extreme Sports: Evel Knievel and the Reckless Childhoods We Miss

2025-08-15
70s Extreme Sports: Evel Knievel and the Reckless Childhoods We Miss

The 1970s saw a level of childhood freedom unseen today. This piece uses the iconic Evel Knievel, a daredevil motorcyclist who jumped 13 double-decker buses and more, to illustrate the era's adventurous spirit. Knievel's death-defying stunts not only captivated audiences but paved the way for future extreme sports. Modern athletes like Danny Way acknowledge Knievel's profound influence. The article prompts reflection on differing safety standards and celebrates the courage of pursuing dreams.

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(flashbak.com)
Misc 1970s culture

US Pharma Tax Avoidance Fuels Soaring Trade Deficit with Ireland

2025-08-15
US Pharma Tax Avoidance Fuels Soaring Trade Deficit with Ireland

A massive surge in the US trade deficit with Ireland is driven by American pharmaceutical companies exploiting loopholes in the 2017 tax code to avoid paying US taxes. They're manufacturing drugs abroad, primarily in Ireland, and importing them back into the US, even though domestic production is feasible. This practice reduces US tax revenue and exacerbates the trade deficit, prompting calls for tax law reform.

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(www.cfr.org)
Tech tax avoidance pharmaceutical industry

Kanji Amnesia: Why I Remember the Meaning But Not the Writing

2025-08-15
Kanji Amnesia: Why I Remember the Meaning But Not the Writing

The author mastered kanji by first learning their meanings and writing, then pronunciation. Years later, he can't handwrite most kanji. This 'Kanji Amnesia' is common in Japan and China. He explores the brain's separate processes for reading and writing, and his aphantasia (lack of mental imagery) adds to the mystery. Cognitive science suggests this stems from the brain's use of both verbatim and gist memory traces. Reading involves recognizing the gist, while writing activates motor memory of strokes – two distinct skills.

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(aethermug.com)
Development kanji

LLMs: Great Code Generators, Terrible Software Engineers

2025-08-15
LLMs: Great Code Generators, Terrible Software Engineers

Years of interviewing software engineers reveals that building and maintaining clear mental models is key. While LLMs are good at generating and modifying code, they lack the crucial ability to maintain these models. They easily get confused, suffer from context omission and recency bias, and hallucinate details, preventing iterative problem-solving for complex tasks. The author concludes that LLMs are helpful tools for software engineers but cannot yet replace them for anything beyond simple projects.

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(zed.dev)
Development

Deprecate XSLT in Browsers?

2025-08-15
Deprecate XSLT in Browsers?

Browsers' built-in XSLT processor (v1.0, standardized in 1999) is outdated and poses security risks. Modern web development uses JavaScript and JSON, rendering XSLT largely obsolete. Maintaining aging XSLT libraries (like libxslt in Chromium) is resource-intensive and prone to memory safety vulnerabilities, creating a significant attack surface. This proposal suggests deprecating XSLT from web standards to reduce security risks and optimize resource allocation, with no practical loss of developer functionality.

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(github.com)
Development

Simulating and Visualizing the Central Limit Theorem: A Practical Exploration

2025-08-15

This post explores the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) through simulation and visualization. The author, having previously avoided statistics, uses R to generate samples from various distributions (uniform, normal, binomial, beta, exponential, chi-squared) and calculates sample means. The results visually demonstrate how the distribution of sample means approaches a normal distribution as sample size increases, confirming the CLT. The post further investigates the practical implications of using the t-distribution instead of the normal distribution for confidence interval calculations when dealing with limited sample sizes and unknown population variance. Simulations highlight the difference in confidence interval coverage across various sample sizes. Finally, an animation showcases how the distribution of sample means converges to a normal distribution as the sample size grows, offering a compelling visual understanding of this fundamental statistical concept.

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(blog.foletta.net)
Development Central Limit Theorem Statistical Simulation

MacBook Notch Breaks Game Rendering: A Developer's Nightmare

2025-08-15
MacBook Notch Breaks Game Rendering: A Developer's Nightmare

Many games render incorrectly on MacBooks with notched displays. The issue stems from how games obtain screen resolutions (CGDisplayCopyAllDisplayModes), which returns resolutions including the notch area, resulting in compressed and distorted game visuals. The article analyzes the differences between various screen regions (full screen, safe area, AppKit fullscreen area) and offers a solution for filtering resolutions. However, it ultimately points to Apple's API design as the root cause. The article also lists affected games and potential improvements Apple could implement, such as updating the HIG, improving CGDisplayMode, or creating a new game-centric API.

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(www.colincornaby.me)
Development macOS game development screen resolution
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