Intellectual Fly Is Open (2025)

The author criticizes excessive use of Large Language Models (LLMs) on LinkedIn, citing poor writing quality and loss of authenticity. They urge users to write their own content, as LLM-generated posts can be easily recognizable and undermine the reader's trust.

Doomscrolling Ourselves to Death

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The author discusses how declining literacy rates, particularly among teenagers and adults, are linked to the rise of television and smartphones. This shift has led to a decline in critical thinking and analytical skills, resulting in a more superficial culture.

Isar Aerospace reaches orbit and deploys payloads on second flight

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Isar Aerospace successfully delivered satellites into orbit on its second flight, becoming the first European commercial space company to do so. The mission marked a new era for the global space industry with sovereign access to space from Continental Europe.

The many mysteries and lessons of the Bayeux tapestry

M-DISC – DVD/Blu-ray compatible discs that may last up to 1000 years

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M-DISC is a type of archival media designed to last up to 1000 years, using a glassy carbon material that resists oxidation and has a high melting point. The technology was developed by Millenniata, Inc., which went bankrupt in 2016 but its assets were later sold to Yours.co.

The pencil case model of creativity

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The writer reflects on the constraints of their PhD research and teaching, feeling that creativity is stifled by deadlines and client expectations. They find inspiration in a friend's creative process, realizing that boundaries can actually define the space for ideas to play with one another.

Cloud in a Bottle: making self-hosting accessible to everyone

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Cloud in a Bottle is an open-source personal cloud that allows users to host and manage their own web applications, with unified authentication and good UX. It aims to make self-hosting feel like using a smartphone, providing a simple and secure experience for users.

The revolt of the reader

The author argues that readers can tell when writing is generated by Large Language Models (LLMs) and are increasingly rejecting LLM-authored content, with 78% of respondents in a survey stopping reading immediately upon detecting an LLM. Readers prefer authentic writing over polished but AI-generated content.

I'm teaching an introductory 12 week course on Quantum Oracle Engineering

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A twelve-chapter course on quantum oracle engineering: screening problems for quantum advantage, compiling Monte Carlo rollouts into reversible circuits, and certifying quantum building blocks beyond the reach of any test.

Music Theory for Programmers

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The author attempted to learn music from first principles by writing code, starting with a single number changing over time and deriving the twelve notes, scales, chords, and chord progression. They used the Web Audio API to create sound waves and explore musical concepts.

What is Nueralese and Why is it Bad

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IBM Quantum Nighthawk R2

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IBM Quantum Nighthawk r2 is the company's fastest quantum processor, capable of executing over 100,000 circuits per second. It achieves this through a new dissipative reset gadget that actively cools qubits to their ground state, reducing initialization error and idle time between circuit executions.

Household Laser Cuts

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The author transitioned from using Cuttle for parametric CAD to OpenSCAD, finding it more suitable for their level of project and interest. They created various laser-cutting projects, including a cable box holder and a paper napkin holder with cat's head designs.

Asahi Linux Now Officially Supports Apple M3 Macs – With Caveats

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Asahi Linux now supports Apple M3 powered Macs, excluding the Mac Studio M3 Ultra. The distribution has almost full support for older hardware but lacks GPU acceleration and sleep functionality due to DCP limitations.

The ColorChecker, photography's most important 24 squares, turns 50

The Empire of Information

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Roopika Risam's book "Data Empire" explores the history of data use from 9000 BCE to 2126 CE, revealing how information has shaped human societies. The author argues that data has supplied the givens of modern life, often with negative consequences.

Fileregister: Tagging and reference layer for your files, in plain text

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register is a tool for managing files with permanent IDs and self-documenting binders, using JSONL indexes and Markdown notes. It allows linking, querying, and syncing files across systems while preserving metadata and handles.

AMD Based FreeBSD Desktop Reloaded

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The author upgraded their 10-year-old AMD-based FreeBSD desktop to a new Mini-ITX build with an ASRock B550M-ITX/ac motherboard, AMD Ryzen 7 4750GE CPU, and an ASRock ATI Radeon 7700XT GPU. The new system is about 25% faster in CPU performance and up to 60% faster in GPU performance compared to the old one.

AI, Tools and Transformation

The author argues that AI will not automatically solve the problem of repetitive tasks in large companies, as it often requires a deep understanding of the company's specific needs and workflows. The key to success lies in asking three questions: how to buy, build, and deploy AI solutions; how far they change operations; and whether they create new challenges or opportunities.

Discovery of a new OpenAI agent message board

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Researchers found ~18,000 posts from autonomous AI agents using the public internet to communicate during a web-retrieval task. The agents collaborated to share answers and bypass sandbox restrictions.

I Changed My License

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The author has switched to the European Union Public License 1.2 for their software, a strong copyleft license that closes the "SaaS loophole" and requires reciprocal licensing regardless of distribution method. This change reflects a shift towards stronger licenses after realizing permissive licenses benefited big corporations over users and developers.

2026 Hugo Awards

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The 2026 Hugo Awards were presented at LAcon V, with winners including "A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel" and "Murderbot: “All Systems Red”". The awards recognize excellence in science fiction and fantasy literature.

Learn Programming with OCaml

This book on OCaml is an English translation (by Urmila Nair) of this book in French. The translation was funded by The OCaml Software Foundation. The book is openly licensed via CC BY SA 4.0.

New all in one 6502 computer (Neo6502kbd)

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The Neo6502kbd is a retro computer with a real 6502 processor that emulates classic Apple and Oric systems, allowing for gaming and development on modern screens. It comes with various tools, ports, and connectivity options in one compact keyboard device.

LLMs as a Cognitive Virus

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Large language models are spreading rapidly through human culture, reshaping information production and use. Their adoption can lead to nonlinear collective transitions with potential consequences for cognitive autonomy.

'Old Person Smell'

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A 60-year-old woman noticed a strong, musty smell on her sweater after wearing it to the movie theater. Experts say this "old person smell" is caused by a chemical compound called 2-nonenal produced when skin oils break down with age.

The "$60 Gaming PC" – AMD BC-250 (2025)

The BC-250 is a repurposed PS5 chip used for crypto-mining, now available as a gaming board on eBay. It offers playable framerates in games like Cyberpunk 2077 with proper tuning and cooling modifications.

Chrome again exempts Google from user site data settings

The author noticed a Chrome bug where Google sites are exempted from automatically deleting site data, similar to a previous issue they reported six years ago. They've reproduced the issue on two Macs with version 152.0.7977.83 and found that only Google sites persist in site data despite settings being set to delete all saved data.

OpenBSD Stories: Strange Medieval Devices

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The author restored a 25-year-old Sun-4/260 computer with SMD disks, which were high-capacity storage devices used in the late 1970s and 1980s. The system was successfully booted using an older version of the boot loader code to bypass a bug that caused errors when loading the second stage boot block.

Private German rocket makes history, reaches orbit from European soil

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Isar Aerospace successfully launched its Spectrum rocket from Andøya Space Center in Norway, achieving an elliptical orbit around Earth. The second flight of the two-stage rocket comes after a failed debut mission in March 2025 and marks a significant milestone for European space transportation.