OpenAI are quietly adopting skills, now available in ChatGPT and Codex CLI

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OpenAI has implemented Anthropic's Skills mechanism in their Codex CLI tool and ChatGPT, allowing users to access and use skills. Skills are folders with Markdown files and optional resources, enabling LLM tools to use them.

macOS 26.2 enables fast AI clusters with RDMA over Thunderbolt

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The macOS 26.2 SDK supports developing apps for Mac computers running Tahoe 26.2 and comes bundled with Xcode 26.2. It fixes several issues including device discoverability and Allocations instrument failures.

Photographer Built a Medium-Format Rangefinder, and So Can You

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Photographer Albert Cornelissen built the MRF2, a medium-format rangefinder camera that combines old and new technology for a unique analog photography experience. The open-source project is available on Github for anyone to access and build their own custom version.

Beautiful Abelian Sandpiles

Abelian sandpiles are grids of sand that topple when four or more grains are present, forming symmetric patterns. They form an abelian group, allowing addition of sandpiles in any order, with a unique identity sandpile that leaves other sandpiles unchanged.

GNU Unifont

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Gnu unifont contains glyphs for every printable code point in the unicode basic multilingual plane (bmp) a user has asked if unifont can be used with commercial (non-free) software. the licenses also provide acknowledgement of previous unify font contributors. gnuunont is based on the open source project openunicode.org, which has contributed to the project since 2004. for more

1300 Still Images from the Animated Films of Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli (2023)

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「君たちはどう生きるか」の場面写真を提供致します。 現在、劇場公開中の「君たちはどう生きるか」の場面写真 14枚を、本日から提供いたします。 これまでの分と同様に、常識の範囲でご自由にお使いください。 君たちはどう生きるか14枚 2023.08.04 提供開始 2020.12.18 提供開

Rats Play DOOM

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We built an open-sourced, modular VR setup for rats to play DOOM, featuring motion tracking, a panoramic headset, and rewards. The system, designed for rodents, enables research but needs behavioral validation.

A 'toaster with a lens': The story behind the first handheld digital camera

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In 1975, a young engineer in the company that made Kodak film took the first picture on a handheld digital camera. Photography would never be the same again. When Steve Sasson started working at Eastman Kodak, the American photographic film manufacturer was a vibrant symbol of American industrial ingenuity. Set up by George Eastman in the 1870s, the company became synonymous with film ...

Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

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To avoid smart TV tracking and ads, consider using a non-smart TV, such as an Apple TV box, a laptop, or a projector, or opt for a digital signage display, but be aware of potential image and sound quality tradeoffs. Alternatively, you can use a TV antenna to watch free, untracked TV channels, but be aware of limitations such as limited channel selection and potential performance issues.

Ferrari's Formula 1 Handovers: Handovers from Surgery to Intensive Care 2008;pdf

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) benchmarked its handoff from cardiac surgery to the intensive care unit against Ferrari Formula One pit stop techniques. This led to a new 12-page handover protocol and improved patient safety.

Show HN: Tiny VM sandbox in C with apps in Rust, C and Zig

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uvm32 is a minimalist C99-based virtual machine for microcontrollers offering a RISC-V emulator with a management interface. It aims for safety over speed and is designed for executing custom scripts, not hardware simulation.

Gild Just One Lily

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Adding a touch of ornamentation to a solid design can communicate care and attention, but be careful not to overdo it and distract from the experience. Small details like subtle color variations, comfortable lettering, and a touch of color can contribute to a polished design that may not be noticed but still imparts a sense of trust and care.

Show HN: I made a spreadsheet where formulas also update backwards

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Bidicalc is a spreadsheet-like tool that allows changing the output of a formula and updating the inputs to match the formula, with a custom root-finding solver for backward updates. The tool is open-source, written in TypeScript, and has limitations such as floating point precision and available computation time, with potential improvements in domain restriction, solver, and UX.

Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help

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A loyal Apple customer with 25 years of service has been locked out of their Apple ID due to a failed $500 gift card redemption, resulting in bricked devices and lost access to digital life. They seek a human review of their case, suspecting an automated response triggered by the gift card issue.

Easel Now Has Stencils

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Easel has new features including stencils for camera rendering, improved text rendering, and upgraded physics engine. These updates enhance game development with effects like scene transitions and improved performance.

Go is portable, until it isn't

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The author initially thought Go would allow a single, portable agent binary for every Linux distro, but encountered several constraints. They had to use a C API for systemd journal log support and deal with dynamic linking issues.

Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence

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The US President issues an executive order to promote national and economic security through AI leadership, and to prevent State laws from hindering innovation. The order establishes a task force to challenge conflicting State laws and proposes a national framework to ensure AI dominance.

So What Should We Call This – A Grue Jay?

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Biologists at UT Austin discovered a hybrid bird resulting from a green jay and blue jay mating, likely due to climate change. The bird is the first observed vertebrate hybrid resulting from two species expanding their ranges due to climate change.

50 years of proof assistants

Formal verification has made significant progress over the past 50 years, from initial proof assistants like LCF and HOL to modern systems like Isabelle and Coq. Today, proof assistants are used in various applications, including hardware verification, cryptographic protocols, and even operating system kernels, with AWS and Apple using them in their products.

Freeing a Xiaomi humidifier from the cloud

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The user built a smart home platform with Home Assistant but struggled to find a compatible humidifier, so they decided to modify a Xiaomi Mi Smart Antibacterial Humidifier with ESPHome firmware. They disassembled the humidifier, removed the WiFi module, and prepared it for flashing with a new firmware using ESPHome's build-in web flasher or esptool.py.

Koralm Railway

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The Koralm Railway is part of Austria's new Southern Line and shortens travel time between Graz and Klagenfurt from 3 hours to 45 minutes. It enhances rail transport, reduces CO2 emissions, and boosts Austria's economy through increased competitiveness.

The Coming Need for Formal Specification

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A senior engineer predicted that with AI writing code, engineers would focus on writing tests and specifications. However, AI models are now good at generating tests, shifting the focus to holistic system behavior verification.

Slax: Live Pocket Linux

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To choose the best Slax version, decide on a Linux distribution, such as Debian, and select a 32bit or 64bit processor architecture. You can then choose to download and set up Slax manually or purchase a pre-installed DVD or USB disk.

Google Removes Sci-Hub Domains from U.S. Search Results Due to Dated Court Order

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ACS requested Google to deindex 34 Sci-Hub domains in the US citing a 2018 injunction. Google complied, but it's unclear if this is a legal requirement or voluntary cooperation.

Capsudo: Rethinking sudo with object capabilities

capsudo is a project that reframes privilege escalation as a mediated interaction with a service called capsudod, providing narrowly scoped capabilities. This object-capability model makes privilege boundaries visible, composable, and easier to reason about, shifting from identity to possession.

The Checkerboard

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Two hunters, Brad and Phil, encountered a problem accessing Elk Mountain in Wyoming due to its unique checkerboard land ownership pattern. They successfully corner crossed the land, but the ranch owner disagreed, leading to a five-year legal battle that ultimately ruled in favor of the hunters' right to access public land.

Doxers Posing as Cops Are Tricking Big Tech Firms into Sharing People's Data

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A hacking group is exploiting a loophole in the US law enforcement system by sending fake emergency data requests to tech companies, tricking them into handing over sensitive personal data. The group, led by a hacker named Exempt, claims to have made over 500 successful requests in recent years, earning them over $18,000 in August alone.

String theory inspires a brilliant, baffling new math proof

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Mathematicians have made a major breakthrough in classifying polynomial equations, using techniques from string theory to prove that four-folds are not parameterizable. The proof, posted in August, has sparked excitement and skepticism among the mathematical community, with many experts struggling to understand the new techniques.

Motion (YC W20) Is Hiring Senior Staff Front End Engineers

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Motion is building an end-to-end agentic work suite with AI agents at its core, aiming to boost productivity by an order of magnitude. The company is seeking a senior frontend engineer to drive major technical initiatives and make lasting technical decisions.

Computer Animator and Amiga fanatic Dick Van Dyke turns 100

The user watched a 2004 video of Dick Van Dyke and found him charming with a British accent. They mentioned his work in Mary Poppins and the use of the sodium vapour process for matte effects.