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The article details the journey of a former Google developer who quit his job to start a bootstrapped software company, eventually creating a successful device called TinyPilot. In 2023, the company made significant progress, earning $236k in profit, improving the product's physical appearance, and outsourcing order fulfillment to increase flexibility and efficiency.

Google has open-sourced Magika, an AI-powered system for accurate file-type identification. It outperforms existing tools by 20%, improving file identification accuracy by 50% and reducing unidentified files to 3%.

"Think Python" is an introductory Python programming book, now in Jupyter notebooks, offering interactive learning and exercises. It's scheduled for publication by O'Reilly Media in July 2024 with weekly chapter releases starting February 2024.

The article discusses popular git config options, highlighting options like 'pull.rebase', 'merge.conflictstyle', 'push.default', and 'help.autocorrect'. It also explores features like 'autosquash', 'diff.algorithm', and 'rebase.updateRefs', providing insights into their usage and benefits.

The article discusses the concept of an "inert" API, which still exists and functions according to its specification but does nothing, as a strategy for handling unsupported features like printing on Xbox. It suggests the API should behave consistently with its documentation, minimizing issues with existing code, and proposes using specific return codes to indicate user cancellation or invalid handles.

The report discusses the development of Sora, a generative model that utilizes visual patches to create diverse videos and images, inspired by large language models. Despite certain limitations, Sora demonstrates potential for further scaling and improvement, with capabilities such as simulating physical and digital worlds.

The author is using Apple's Vision Pro, a spatial computing device, to blend digital and physical realities, offering an immersive and interactive experience. The Vision Pro, acting as a standalone computer, enables deep focus work by minimizing real-world distractions, and its potential excites the author.

The article highlights the implementation of Wolfram|Alpha in enhancing calculations, unit conversions, and time queries for improved results. It also introduces new features such as pronunciation in dictionary results, customization of hour display, two-factor authentication for accounts, and the ability to upgrade to the Ultimate plan for advanced AI model access.

The author argues that open-source maintainers should be paid and celebrated for their work, which benefits humanity as a whole. Despite criticisms and imperfect funding models, he insists that any success in securing income for maintainers is a win.

The report by the Center for Climate Integrity reveals that recycling, promoted as a solution to plastic waste for over 50 years, is neither technically nor economically viable. It also exposes the deceptive marketing strategies used by oil companies and the plastic industry to promote plastic as recyclable, allowing the single-use plastics industry to expand while avoiding effective waste ...

Air Canada has been mandated to compensate a customer who was misled by its chatbot into buying a full-price ticket. The landmark case in Canada brings into focus the level of oversight companies should have over their automated services.

Noyb has lodged a complaint against German credit agency SCHUFA for allegedly profiting from selling individuals their own data and obstructing access to free data copies. SCHUFA is accused of violating GDPR by withholding information, promoting paid products, and delaying the provision of free data.

"Driftmania" is an arcade racing game where players aim to achieve the fastest time on 15 tracks, using boosts, anticipating turns, and drifting. The game also features garage customizations and a $150 speedrun tournament.

Super Bowl 2024 became the most-watched event in US history, boosting traffic for Elon Musk's social media company, X. However, cybersecurity firm CHEQ found that 75.85% of this traffic was fake, originating from bots and fraudulent users.

The author shares their experience with the new Framework 13 AMD laptop, highlighting its superior performance and user-repairability. They also detail the challenges and solutions of installing Guix on the device, and discuss their views on free software and firmware.

The article discusses optimizing text compression by substituting phrases and respecting Shannon's theorem for bounds on compression. It also emphasizes the importance of maintaining readability and the challenges of grouping related coding concepts.

Scientists have developed a $5 handheld device that can detect breast cancer in less than five seconds using a saliva sample. The device, a collaboration between the University of Florida and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, provides a cost-effective, portable, and efficient alternative to traditional screening methods.

Name your poison. Do you like to work with tags? Need to budget your expenses? Want to categorize all of your hobby expenses? Look no further. Firefly III supports all kinds. Budgets can be expanded with limits in multiple currencies, so you can budget both your daily household expenses and what you spend in Imperial Credits when visiting Tatooine.

The article expresses the author's nostalgia for the days when technology was more comprehensible and controllable, such as PCs and the early Internet. However, they feel overwhelmed and excluded by the 'black box' nature of AI, fearing dependency on uncontrollable AI products.

Spotify's acquisition of Findaway Voices has led to changes in licensing terms, enabling Spotify to freely use, modify, and distribute authors' audiobooks for various purposes, including AI training. Authors have expressed discontent, with some withdrawing their work from the platform due to royalty issues and the potential misuse of their content.

The article details the evolution and significance of tunneling technologies, highlighting how they have transformed from the disruptive 'cut and cover' method to the use of Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs). It also discusses the cost-effectiveness of these methods, emphasizing that while 'cut and cover' can be cheaper, the reduced disruption of TBMs often makes them a more desirable choice.

The article discusses an unsolved problem on MathOverflow, highlighting the potential of such problems to uncover new branches of mathematics. It also mentions Ramanujan's contributions and the possibility of using modular forms to solve these problems.

The article presents a new experimental declarative programming language called mgs, which introduces the concept of "topological collection", a set of values organized by a neighborhood relationship, and uses the concept of a 'path' for basic computation. By altering the topological structure of the collection, the underlying computational model can be changed, enabling a unified view on ...

The article discusses the use of a new training framework for Large Language Models (LLMs) to generate reliable citations, improving their response accuracy. It also reveals that this method outperforms conventional practices, even surpassing GPT-3.5-turbo in tests.

The article emphasizes that User Interface (UI) is influenced by various states, including application state, component state, user interaction, and external factors like server status. It also highlights the complexity and nuances of designing a UI, considering factors like CSS properties, form controls, and analytics setup.

The article introduces the Large World Model (LWM), a large-context multimodal autoregressive model trained on diverse long videos and books. It addresses challenges of video-language training and sets new benchmarks in retrieval tasks and long video understanding.

Showmax, a South African streaming service, has surpassed Netflix as Africa's preferred platform with 2.1 million subscribers. Its success is attributed to its understanding of local preferences, partnerships with HBO and Comcast, and a mix of local and international content.

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The article discusses the introduction of a directed acyclic graph (DAG) in the Godot Engine project, enhancing the performance and fixing bugs in the Forward+ and Mobile renderers. It also emphasizes the reduction in development difficulty and improved GPU parallelization, with the changes set to be part of Godot's 4.3 release.

The article highlights that with enough users, all behaviors of a system's API will be relied on, blurring the line between interface and implementation. It emphasizes that as the system's use grows, users start depending on every aspect of the implementation, creating an 'implicit interface' and constraining system changes.

The article discusses the design and extensibility of Emacs editors, focusing on GNU Emacs and Lem. It includes a Q&A session about Lem's community, capabilities, and its potential for running Elisp libraries.

"Orgzly Revived" is a community-led continuation of the original Orgzly app, aimed at maintaining and improving the note-taking and task management tool. The team plans to add features, fix bugs, and support Org Mode outreach on Android, leveraging the original codebase available on GitHub.

Stripe's Global Payments and Treasury Network (GPTN) manages complex financial transactions through partnerships with banks and financial networks in 185 countries. To ensure accurate accounting and manage imperfections, Stripe developed Ledger, an auditable log system, and a Data Quality (DQ) Platform, which together guarantee over 99.9999% explainability of money movement.

The article discusses the influence campaign 'Spamouflage', suspected to be run by the CCP, focusing on the US Presidential election between Biden and Trump. It highlights the campaign's narrative strategies, its focus on divisive issues, and its lack of real engagement from social media users.

Historical construction failures are not unique to communist regimes; ancient civilizations like Rome also had costly, abandoned projects. Despite architectural successes, Rome experienced mismanagement and excessive spending on unfinished infrastructure.

The article announces the release of Erlang/OTP 27, a major update with new features, improvements, and some incompatibilities, and invites user feedback. It highlights features like EEP-59 and EEP-64 implementation, improved performance, and new APIs.

Air Canada was compelled to partially refund a passenger misled by its chatbot about bereavement travel policy. The case, ruled in the passenger's favor, marks the first time a Canadian company was held accountable for its chatbot's misinformation.

Amazon's latest attempt to block union organizing could threaten American workers' nearly century-old protections. The company's stance against the structure of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and its ability to impose fines may reshape labor law, especially under a potential Republican administration.

The article emphasizes the harmful impact of companies, especially tech ones, consciously trading consumer trust for short-term profits. It underscores that rebuilding lost trust is challenging, even for well-known institutions.

The article discusses the potential of Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a solution to job displacement due to AI, highlighting successful pilot programs worldwide. UBI experiments, such as those in Alaska, Stockton, and Kenya, have reportedly improved recipients' health and happiness, and boosted economic resilience without discouraging work.

The article introduces a tool in Cirron called Tracer that can track and analyze syscalls made by Python code, using strace instead of the initially intended ptrace. It also discusses how to visualize these traces with Perfetto Trace Viewer, highlighting the surprising discovery of Seaborn's import process involving ~20k syscalls and 4 threads.

The FDA has approved Aurlumyn (iloprost) injection, the first-ever treatment for severe frostbite, reducing amputation risks. The drug's efficacy was validated in a trial, significantly lowering the amputation rate.

The energy consumption of AI, particularly in machine learning, is substantial but difficult to quantify due to variables and lack of transparency from companies like Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI. Training large AI models is notably energy-intensive, with potential for increased energy use as AI models grow, although there are methods to increase energy efficiency.

Amazon has claimed that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is unconstitutional in a court filing, amid an ongoing case regarding alleged retaliation against unionized workers. The company argues that the NLRB's structure and actions violate the Constitution's separation of powers and Amazon's Fifth Amendment rights.

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The article highlights the forgotten lessons from Unix's history, leading to unnecessary efforts in the coding world. It emphasizes the importance of understanding Unix's past to avoid repeating mistakes and to optimize future development.

Forgejo, once a soft fork of Gitea, decided in 2024 to become a hard fork, enabling it to independently reduce tech debt and implement changes. While Forgejo was a drop-in replacement for Gitea, this will no longer be guaranteed post hard fork.

Chinese workshops are repurposing the six-year-old GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card into AI accelerators by doubling its memory to 22GB, due to a US export ban on Nvidia's latest AI products. These modified cards are being sold as budget options for AI workloads, but concerns exist about their longevity and lack of warranty.

The article emphasizes the importance of effective meetings in an engineering setting, suggesting clear outcomes instead of open-ended discussions and recommending less disruptive meeting types like decision meetings. It also encourages asynchronous alternatives to meetings, valuing engineers' focus and productivity.

by Adam Gaffin with Jörg Heitkötter

The article highlights the advanced capabilities of large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4, which can autonomously hack websites and find vulnerabilities. The findings raise concerns about the widespread deployment of LLMs.

The article discusses a programmer who, after losing their job, fears reentering the workforce due to perceived lack of modern skills and high stress levels. The writer suggests a holistic approach to overcoming this fear, including physical fitness, meditation, self-learning, seeking opportunities outside traditional jobs, and considering roles in AI companies, while emphasizing the ...

GPlates is a free, open-source software providing interactive plate tectonic reconstructions and GIS functionality. It also includes the pyGPlates and GPlately Python packages for deep geological time data reconstruction and analysis.

The article explains an 8x speed improvement in generating Mandelbrot Set images over a naive approach, aiming to reach 100x. It emphasizes optimization as an art and discusses the author's process, including software design, architecture, and problem-specific techniques.

Smoking significantly impacts immune responses, with effects persisting years after quitting, found Institut Pasteur scientists. The long-term influence on immunity is linked to changes in DNA methylation, an epigenetic process.

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The US House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) has reportedly sabotaged an attempt to salvage a controversial US surveillance program, causing a rift between the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. The disagreement, centered around the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), has led to public debates over surveillance tactics prone to misuse ...

The article is a cautionary tale about a business owner who originally budgeted $15k for a three-page website redesign, but ended up spending $46k over eight months due to miscommunication and project mismanagement with the chosen design agency. The business owner shares lessons learned, including the importance of clear communication, setting expectations, and considering whether an ...

OpenAI, an AI firm, has secured a deal elevating its valuation to over $80 billion, making it one of the most valuable tech start-ups. The deal, led by Thrive Capital, allows employees to cash out shares, marking a significant confidence boost amidst a year of controversy.

Google VP Amin Vahdat outlined the history and future of computing in a keynote speech. He proposed a fifth epoch of computing, characterized by data-centric, outcome-oriented, and software-defined approaches, and emphasized the need for breakthroughs in computing design and organization to meet increasing societal demands.

The article discusses the evolution of AI, from its early days of producing bizarre and surreal outputs to its current state of generating mundane and cliched content. The shift is attributed to improvements in AI tools and a push towards commercialization, although this has led to a loss of creativity and uniqueness.

The last quarter of 2023 saw the FreeBSD Foundation dedicating the 14.0-RELEASE to the memory of Hans Petter Selasky, with new release engineers stepping in and significant work done on wireless networking and security policies. The Foundation also approved over $100,000 for a cluster refresh, started the FreeBSD SSDF Attestation program, and continued to support the FreeBSD Project through ...

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YouTube has introduced a new feature allowing users to remix music videos on Shorts, enhancing interactive experiences with favorite artists. This unique feature offers four remix options: Sound, Green Screen, Cut, and Collab, providing endless creative possibilities.

Tesla's Cybertruck owners are reporting rust issues after driving in rain, leading to debates about the vehicle's stainless steel design. Cleaning methods and potential solutions, including vehicle wrapping, are being shared among owners.

Microsoft plans to retire Publisher in October 2026, ending its inclusion in Microsoft 365 and on-premises suites. The company is developing alternatives within apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Designer for common Publisher uses.

The article is a comprehensive guide on debuggers, detailing their functions, related technologies, and challenges. It also includes resources for creating Linux and Windows debuggers, and explores topics like stack unwinding and live-reloading.

Air Canada was ordered to pay a passenger damages after its chatbot provided incorrect information about bereavement fares. The passenger, Jake Moffatt, won his case in a small-claims tribunal when the airline refused to refund him following the bot's misinformation.

The article discusses the historical and practical reasons for wearing a watch with the face on the inside of the wrist, a practice common in military and law enforcement. It also suggests the SANS-13 Military Watch for those in tough environments due to its durability and design for inside-wrist wear.

The article expresses concerns over the dominance of AI-generated images in the 2D marketplace, which it claims harms the quality and puts customers at legal risk. It also highlights that such practices violate marketplace guidelines regarding distribution rights.

Microsoft has announced the discontinuation of its Azure IoT Central service by March 31, 2027. From April 1, 2024, new application resources can't be created, but existing ones will remain functional.

The screenshot on Twitter reveals a successful attempt at running Unreal Engine 5 via a web browser through WebGPU API, a project by Wonder Interactive. The company aims to support Unreal Engine, Unity, Godot, and O3DE on the web, potentially benefiting industries like automobile through real-time rendering.

The article discusses the author's perspective on the value of certifications for software developers, suggesting that while some certifications may have value for beginners or for particular fields, the emphasis should be on practical skills and experience. It also highlights the potential worth of tangential certifications, such as project management, and the importance of self-directed ...

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Tesla's Cybertruck, initially touted as "bulletproof," is reportedly prone to rusting, according to some owners. The company offers a $5,000 urethane-based film to protect the vehicle, as untreated stainless steel used for its exterior may stain and corrode.

The article reveals a critical vulnerability in the German National Identity Card's eID scheme, which could allow for scalable Man-In-The-Middle attacks and personal data extraction. Despite the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) acknowledging the issue, the responsibility for client device security is placed on users, demonstrating the attack's effectiveness even with ...

The article emphasizes the importance of utilizing your freezer effectively to save money, reduce food waste, and enhance meal planning. It provides practical tips on freezing a variety of foods from avocados to zucchini, noting changes in texture and taste, and offers advice on freezing methods and storage.