1.
Attention Media ≠ Social Networks
(Attention Media ≠ Social Networks)

The article discusses the shift in social networks from genuine connections to platforms focused on capturing user attention. Initially, social networks allowed users to follow friends and receive meaningful updates, creating a sense of community. However, between 2012 and 2016, features like infinite scrolling and irrelevant notifications changed the experience. Notifications became less about personal connections and more about random content, leading to a diluted social experience.

The author expresses frustration with the current state of these platforms, feeling overwhelmed by irrelevant content. They found a solution in Mastodon, which resembles the early days of Twitter, allowing for a more authentic social networking experience where users can follow only those they find interesting without distractions. The author hopes this more genuine way of connecting remains.

Author: susam | Score: 377

2.
Fix Your Tools
(Fix Your Tools)

Summary:

In a recent experience, the author faced a challenging bug in an open-source library. Initially, they tried to use a debugger to find the problem, but it ignored their breakpoints. Frustrated, they attempted other methods to diagnose the issue but had no success. Eventually, they realized that the debugger itself needed fixing, which was a simple configuration change. Once fixed, the debugger helped them analyze the program and solve the bug. The author reflects that their eagerness to fix the bug led them to overlook the need to improve their tools first. The key takeaway is to always ensure your tools are working properly, as they can greatly aid in problem-solving.

Author: vinhnx | Score: 93

3.
Fresh File Explorer – VS Code extension for navigating recent work
(Fresh File Explorer – VS Code extension for navigating recent work)

Fresh File Explorer Overview

Fresh File Explorer is a Visual Studio Code extension designed to help users manage their files and changes more effectively. Here are the key features:

  1. Recent Changes Navigation: Easily see and navigate recent changes based on your ongoing work and Git history.
  2. Time Window Selection: View either uncommitted changes or files modified within specific time frames.
  3. Smart File Tree: Files are organized by directory, showing counts of files in folders and supporting deleted files.
  4. Heatmap Coloring: Files are color-coded based on their last edit time for quick identification.
  5. Pinned Section: Users can pin important files for easy access, regardless of current views.
  6. Sync Status Notifications: Alerts about your sync status with remote repositories.
  7. Filtering and Grouping: Filter files by author or commit and group them in various ways (e.g., by author, commit hash).
  8. Quick Open: Quickly access files from the Fresh File Explorer view with advanced filtering options.
  9. Multi-Repository Support: Works with multiple repositories and submodules.

Search Tools: Includes specific searches for file history, line/function history, and diff searches, allowing users to trace changes efficiently.

Use Cases: The extension simplifies common tasks like recovering deleted files with a single click, maintaining an overview of recent changes after commits, and managing large repositories.

Comparison with GitLens: Fresh File Explorer complements GitLens but focuses on immediate visibility and usability rather than extensive Git management features.

This extension aims to enhance productivity by providing a clear overview of recent file activities and making file management easier within VS Code.

Author: frehu | Score: 17

4.
3D Mahjong, Built in CSS
(3D Mahjong, Built in CSS)

Sure! Please provide the text you'd like me to summarize.

Author: rofko | Score: 48

5.
What Is a Database Transaction?
(What Is a Database Transaction?)

Summary of Database Transactions

Database transactions are crucial for SQL databases, allowing many actions (like reading, creating, updating, or deleting data) to be executed as a single operation. They start with the command "begin;" and end with "commit;". If something goes wrong, changes can be undone using the "rollback;" command.

Transactions help ensure that multiple processes can work with the database simultaneously without interfering with each other. For example, one transaction can make changes that other transactions won't see until the first one commits.

There are two main methods for handling data consistency during transactions:

  1. Postgres uses multi-versioning, which creates new versions of rows whenever they are updated, allowing different transactions to view the data consistently.
  2. MySQL employs an undo log that keeps track of changes, allowing transactions to see previous versions of data without needing to maintain multiple copies.

Both databases support various isolation levels that determine how much one transaction is protected from changes made by others. The levels, from strictest to least strict, are: Serializable, Repeatable Read, Read Committed, and Read Uncommitted. Higher isolation levels prevent issues like dirty reads (seeing uncommitted data) but may impact performance.

When two transactions try to modify the same data, MySQL uses locks to manage access, while Postgres uses optimistic conflict resolution without blocking, resolving conflicts after detection.

Understanding these transaction concepts is essential for effective database management.

Author: 0x54MUR41 | Score: 156

6.
Xweather Live – Interactive global vector weather map
(Xweather Live – Interactive global vector weather map)

No summary available.

Author: unstyledcontent | Score: 76

7.
Linuxulator on FreeBSD Feels Like Magic
(Linuxulator on FreeBSD Feels Like Magic)

The author has been using Visual Studio Code (VS Code) as their preferred editor for a while but faced challenges when trying to use FreeBSD daily due to a need for an ARM64 machine. After experiencing superior performance on Apple’s M1/M2 Macs, they found that no ARM64 laptops running FreeBSD or Linux matched that performance.

They struggled with remote development over NFS and SSHFS, which hindered their productivity due to slow file access and permission issues. However, upon experimenting with the VS Code Remote SSH extension, they found it surprisingly effective on OpenWRT, allowing smooth file editing directly on the device.

Encouraged by this success, the author attempted to use Remote SSH on FreeBSD, despite it being officially unsupported. They discovered a GitHub repository that provided instructions for setting up the Linuxulator on FreeBSD, enabling them to run Linux binaries. After configuring the appropriate settings, the author was able to connect seamlessly to their FreeBSD project.

The outcome was a fast and efficient remote development experience on FreeBSD, demonstrating the stability of the Linux ABI and the effectiveness of FreeBSD's Linuxulator. This setup has significantly improved the author's workflow, making them excited about its potential.

Author: vermaden | Score: 7

8.
Git's Magic Files
(Git's Magic Files)

Git has several special files in its repositories that control its behavior and configuration. These files are committed along with your code and affect how Git manages files. Here’s a summary of the key files:

  1. .gitignore: Specifies files that Git should ignore, like build artifacts or sensitive information. Patterns can include wildcards and directories.

  2. .gitattributes: Defines how Git should handle specific files, such as setting filters for file types, normalizing line endings, and configuring language detection for tools like GitHub.

  3. .lfsconfig: Contains settings for Git Large File Storage (LFS), allowing teams to share LFS configuration in a repository.

  4. .gitmodules: Stores configuration for Git submodules, which are separate repositories included in a main repository.

  5. .mailmap: Maps author names and emails to a single identity, helping to unify contributor statistics.

  6. .git-blame-ignore-revs: Lists commits that should be ignored in the blame output, useful for suppressing noise from formatting changes.

  7. .gitmessage: Provides a template for commit messages, requiring manual setup for each clone.

  8. Forge-specific Folders: Directories like .github/ or .gitlab/ provide additional configuration for CI/CD workflows and templates, specific to platforms.

  9. Other Conventions: Files such as .gitkeep allow tracking of empty directories, and .gitconfig suggests repository-specific settings.

These files help maintain consistent behavior across different environments and teams when working with Git repositories. It's important for tools interacting with Git to recognize and respect these configurations.

Author: chmaynard | Score: 45

9.
International box-sizing Awareness Day
(International box-sizing Awareness Day)

Summary of International Box-Sizing Awareness Day

On February 1, 2014, Chris Coyier declared it International Box-Sizing Awareness Day to highlight the importance of the CSS property "box-sizing." This property allows developers to control how the width of an element is calculated, making it much easier to work with layouts.

The default setting, "content-box," makes the width of an element expand when padding or borders are added, which can complicate design. In contrast, "border-box" ensures that the width you set for an element is the actual width it takes up, including padding and borders. This simplifies layout calculations, especially with percentages.

To apply "border-box" universally, you can use the following CSS code:

*, *:before, *:after {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

This practice is supported by most modern browsers, and using it makes CSS development smoother and more predictable. Coyier encourages everyone to celebrate this day and spread awareness about the benefits of using box-sizing.

Author: hisamafahri | Score: 10

10.
Back to FreeBSD: Part 1
(Back to FreeBSD: Part 1)

The website is checking your browser. If you own the website, there’s a link you can click to resolve the issue.

Author: enz | Score: 173

11.
We hid backdoors in ~40MB binaries and asked AI + Ghidra to find them
(We hid backdoors in ~40MB binaries and asked AI + Ghidra to find them)

The article discusses a study where researchers tested AI agents, including Claude Opus and Gemini, to find hidden backdoors in binary files of software applications without access to their source code. They collaborated with a reverse engineering expert to create a benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of these AI models in detecting malware.

Key findings include:

  1. Detection Capabilities: The AI agents could identify some backdoors, but the success rate was low. For instance, Claude Opus 4.6 found backdoors in only 49% of tested binaries, while Gemini 3 Pro achieved 44% and Claude Opus 4.5 37%.

  2. False Positives: A significant challenge was the high rate of false positives, with agents incorrectly flagging clean binaries as malicious in 28% of cases.

  3. Binary Analysis Complexity: Analyzing binaries is complicated because the original code structure and variable names are lost during compilation, making it difficult for AI to recognize malicious patterns without extensive reverse engineering.

  4. Limitations of Current Models: AI struggles with larger files and often fails to recognize backdoors that are disguised as legitimate code. Their lack of strategic thinking can lead them to overlook critical areas while focusing on benign code.

  5. Tooling Gaps: The open-source tools used (like Ghidra and Radare2) lag behind commercial options in terms of performance and accuracy, particularly with certain programming languages.

  6. Future Potential: While current AI capabilities in malware detection are not ready for practical use, there is potential for improvement. Future models may benefit from better tools and techniques, enabling more effective initial security audits and analyses by developers without reverse engineering expertise.

In conclusion, AI can assist in binary analysis and malware detection, but significant advancements are needed before it becomes a reliable solution in cybersecurity.

Author: jakozaur | Score: 150

12.
Man accidentally gains control of 7k robot vacuums
(Man accidentally gains control of 7k robot vacuums)

A software engineer named Sammy Azdoufal accidentally accessed live feeds and data from nearly 7,000 DJI robot vacuums while trying to control his own vacuum with a gaming controller. By using an AI coding tool, he discovered a security flaw that allowed him to see camera feeds, audio, and location data from other users' vacuums. Fortunately, he reported this issue to DJI instead of exploiting it.

DJI has since fixed the vulnerability, but this incident highlights concerns about the security of internet-connected devices, especially as more households adopt smart home technology. Experts warn that these devices can be targets for hackers, raising privacy issues for users. With the rise of advanced home robots, the potential for misuse increases as these devices collect more personal data.

Author: Brajeshwar | Score: 121

13.
Monkey Patching in VBA
(Monkey Patching in VBA)

Summary of the Advanced Scripting Framework (ASF)

What is ASF?

  • ASF (Advanced Scripting Framework) is a scripting language similar to JavaScript, designed for use within VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) in Office applications like Excel and Access.

Key Features:

  • JavaScript-like Syntax: Familiar for web developers.
  • Object-oriented Programming: Supports classes and inheritance.
  • Functional Programming: Includes first-class functions and closures.
  • Modern Array Methods: Features like map, filter, and reduce.
  • Template Literals: Allows string interpolation using backticks.
  • Regular Expressions: For pattern matching.
  • VBA Integration: Works seamlessly with existing VBA code.

Benefits of Using ASF:

  • Write more expressive and complex code in Office applications.
  • Use JavaScript programming patterns within a VBA environment.
  • Share and reuse code across web and Office platforms.

Getting Started:

  • To use ASF, import several class modules into your VBA project.
  • Example of a simple "Hello, World!" program in ASF:
Sub HelloWorld()
    Dim engine As New ASF
    Dim code As String
    code = "print('Hello, World!');"
    Dim idx As Long
    idx = engine.Compile(code)
    engine.Run idx
End Sub

Basic Language Features:

  • Syntax: Uses semicolons to terminate statements, which are optional at the end of the script.
  • Data Types: Includes numbers, strings, booleans, null, arrays, and objects.
  • Variables: Can be declared using let or assigned directly without declaration.
  • Operators: Supports arithmetic, comparison, logical, and bitwise operations.

Control Flow:

  • If Statements: Used to execute code based on conditions.
  • Switch Statements: Handle multiple conditions without fall-through.
  • Loops: Includes standard for, while, for-in, and for-of loops for iteration.

Functions:

  • Functions can be declared using the fun keyword, and can return values.

Overall, ASF brings modern programming capabilities to Office applications, allowing for more efficient and powerful scripting within VBA.

Author: n013 | Score: 29

14.
How Taalas “prints” LLM onto a chip?
(How Taalas “prints” LLM onto a chip?)

A startup called Taalas has created a specialized chip (ASIC) that runs the Llama 3.1 8B model, achieving an impressive speed of 17,000 tokens per second—equivalent to writing 30 A4 pages in one second. Their chip is claimed to be 10 times cheaper and more energy-efficient than conventional GPU systems.

Taalas’s chip is unique because it physically engraves the model's weights onto the silicon, bypassing the traditional memory bottlenecks faced by GPUs. In a standard GPU setup, data must frequently move between memory and processing cores, causing delays and high energy use. Taalas avoids this by allowing data to flow directly through the chip's physical transistors.

The chip uses a small amount of on-chip SRAM for temporary memory and fine-tuning but does not rely on external memory. Although designing a custom chip for each model can be costly, Taalas has streamlined the process by creating a base chip that can be quickly adapted for different models. It took them only two months to develop their chip for Llama 3.1.

Overall, Taalas’s technology represents a significant advancement in the efficiency of running large language models, and there is hope for wider availability of such hardware in the future.

Author: beAroundHere | Score: 340

15.
Gamedate – A site to revive dead multiplayer games
(Gamedate – A site to revive dead multiplayer games)

No summary available.

Author: msuniverse2026 | Score: 277

16.
How far back in time can you understand English?
(How far back in time can you understand English?)

No summary available.

Author: spzb | Score: 697

17.
Iran students stage first large anti-government protests since deadly crackdown
(Iran students stage first large anti-government protests since deadly crackdown)

Students in Iran have organized large anti-government protests at several universities, marking the first significant demonstrations since a deadly crackdown in January. The protests began at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology, where students chanted anti-government slogans and clashed with government supporters. Demonstrations also took place at other universities, with students honoring those killed by authorities in past protests.

The protests occur amid rising tensions between the US and Iran, with President Trump considering military action due to concerns over Iran's nuclear program. While US and Iranian officials recently reported some progress in talks to limit Iran's nuclear activities, Trump warned that a decision on military action could come soon.

Eyewitness reports indicate that thousands of protesters participated, peacefully marching and calling for freedom. However, there are conflicting narratives about the protests and their support, with some groups urging US intervention and others opposing it. The situation remains tense, with ongoing protests and heightened military readiness from both sides.

Author: tartoran | Score: 245

18.
Llama 3.1 70B on a single RTX 3090 via NVMe-to-GPU bypassing the CPU
(Llama 3.1 70B on a single RTX 3090 via NVMe-to-GPU bypassing the CPU)

The author is interested in retrogaming and has been experimenting with running transformer models. They wondered if it is possible to connect a GPU directly to NVMe storage, bypassing the CPU and RAM. They found that this method works, even on consumer GPUs, although it performs better on professional GPUs. The details and a linked library repository can be found in the readme.

Author: xaskasdf | Score: 340

19.
How I use Claude Code: Separation of planning and execution
(How I use Claude Code: Separation of planning and execution)

The author shares their unique workflow for using Claude Code, an AI coding tool, which differs significantly from typical usage. Here are the key points:

  1. Core Principle: Before Claude writes any code, the author insists on reviewing and approving a detailed written plan. This separation helps maintain control over architecture decisions and enhances results while conserving resources.

  2. Phase 1: Research: The author starts with a thorough research phase where Claude analyzes the relevant codebase and documents findings in a markdown file. This ensures a deep understanding of the system, which is crucial for accurate planning.

  3. Phase 2: Planning: After reviewing the research, the author requests a detailed implementation plan from Claude, including code snippets and file modifications. They prefer using their own markdown files for editing and tracking purposes.

  4. Annotation Cycle: This is a critical part of the workflow, where the author reviews the plan, adds notes for corrections or clarifications, and sends it back to Claude for updates. This process may repeat several times until the plan is satisfactory.

  5. Phase 3: Implementation: Once the plan is finalized, the author issues a command for Claude to implement the tasks without interruption. This phase is highly structured and focuses on execution without creative input.

  6. Feedback During Implementation: The author's role shifts to supervision, providing brief corrections or references to existing code as needed. They maintain control over the project direction and make judgment calls to ensure the implementation aligns with project goals.

  7. Continuous Sessions: The author prefers to conduct research, planning, and implementation in one long session, allowing for better context retention and understanding.

  8. Summary of Workflow: The workflow can be summarized as: read deeply, write a plan, annotate until it's correct, and then let Claude execute it all without stopping. This structured approach avoids pitfalls common in AI-assisted coding.

Overall, this disciplined pipeline emphasizes the importance of planning and review to leverage AI effectively in coding tasks.

Author: vinhnx | Score: 814

20.
Japanese Woodblock Print Search
(Japanese Woodblock Print Search)

No summary available.

Author: curmudgeon22 | Score: 175

21.
TLA+ Workbench skill for coding agents (compat. with Vercel skills CLI)
(TLA+ Workbench skill for coding agents (compat. with Vercel skills CLI))

The text describes a GitHub repository named "agent-skills" owned by the user "younes-io." The repository contains a main directory called "tlaplus-workbench," which includes several folders: "agents," "references," and "scripts," as well as a file named "SKILL.md."

Key points:

  • The repository is public and contains different types of files and directories.
  • Recent updates to the repository include modifications to the contents of these directories and files.
  • Users must be signed in to change notification settings for the repository.

Overall, the repository appears to be focused on skills related to tlaplus and organizing related resources.

Author: youio | Score: 19

22.
Two Bits Are Better Than One: making bloom filters 2x more accurate
(Two Bits Are Better Than One: making bloom filters 2x more accurate)

A bloom filter is a fast, probabilistic data structure used to quickly determine if an element is definitely not in a set. It can produce false positives but never false negatives, making it useful for speeding up SQL queries, especially in databases.

Key Points:

  1. Bloom Filter Basics:

    • It uses an array of bits, initially set to 0.
    • To add an element, it hashes the element with multiple hash functions and sets corresponding bits to 1.
    • To check for an element, it hashes it again and checks if all relevant bits are 1; if any bit is 0, the element is not in the set.
  2. Importance in Databases:

    • Bloom filters help avoid unnecessary data processing, especially during hash joins in databases. They prevent the decompression of rows that do not match, improving efficiency.
  3. Implementation in Floe:

    • Bloom filters are used in two main areas: adaptive filtering in the storage engine and during hash joins.
    • The adaptive filter only decompresses necessary columns and adjusts based on how many rows it can skip.
  4. Performance Improvement:

    • A new implementation combines two bits in one memory unit, which improves accuracy and reduces the false positive rate significantly (from about 11.7% to 5.7%) with minimal performance cost.
  5. Why Two Bits?:

    • Using two bits per element balances memory use and efficiency, allowing for a higher capacity without significant complexity.
  6. Future Developments:

    • The team is also exploring advanced methods like SIMD for even faster checks in the future.

Overall, the use of bloom filters in Floe significantly enhances query performance by reducing unnecessary data processing and improving accuracy.

Author: matheusalmeida | Score: 173

23.
zclaw: personal AI assistant in under 888 KB, running on an ESP32
(zclaw: personal AI assistant in under 888 KB, running on an ESP32)

No summary available.

Author: tosh | Score: 246

24.
ReferenceFinder: Find coordinates on a piece of paper with only folds
(ReferenceFinder: Find coordinates on a piece of paper with only folds)

No summary available.

Author: icwtyjj | Score: 57

25.
Volatility: The volatile memory forensic extraction framework
(Volatility: The volatile memory forensic extraction framework)

No summary available.

Author: transpute | Score: 31

26.
Claws are now a new layer on top of LLM agents
(Claws are now a new layer on top of LLM agents)

The provided text includes a link to a status update by a user named Karpathy and a related link about claws. The summary of the content is not available as the actual text or details from the status update are not provided. To summarize effectively, specific information or key points from the linked content would be needed.

Author: Cyphase | Score: 377

27.
Evidence of the bouba-kiki effect in naïve baby chicks
(Evidence of the bouba-kiki effect in naïve baby chicks)

No summary available.

Author: suddenlybananas | Score: 180

28.
Parse, Don't Validate and Type-Driven Design in Rust
(Parse, Don't Validate and Type-Driven Design in Rust)

The article discusses the concept of "Parse, Don't Validate" and Type-Driven Design in Rust, aimed at helping Rust developers, especially beginners, improve their API design.

Key Points:

  1. Concept Overview: The idea is to embed invariants (like ensuring a number isn't zero) into types instead of using validation functions that check values at runtime. This approach uses Rust's strong type system to prevent errors early in the development process.

  2. Examples of Division: The article explains how dividing numbers can cause runtime errors (like division by zero) and shows how to handle this in different ways:

    • Using Option to represent possible failure.
    • Creating a new type, NonZeroF32, to enforce that a float can never be zero, thus moving validation from runtime to compile-time.
  3. Advantages of New Types: By defining types that encapsulate constraints (like non-zero or non-empty), developers can avoid repetitive checks for validity throughout their code. This leads to clearer, more robust code.

  4. Real-world Applications: The article provides examples from the Rust ecosystem, such as how the String type is a newtype over Vec<u8> that ensures valid UTF-8 strings, which simplifies error handling.

  5. Design Principles:

    • Make Illegal States Unrepresentable: By using types to prevent invalid states from being created, developers can avoid errors.
    • Prove Invariants Early: Validation should happen as soon as possible to ensure that data is correct before it's used.
  6. Recommendations: Developers are encouraged to create new types instead of using raw types directly, as it enhances code clarity and correctness.

Conclusion:

The article advocates for leveraging Rust's type system to encode invariants and reduce runtime errors, promoting a more robust and clear coding style. By utilizing new types and focusing on type-driven design, developers can improve the safety and maintainability of their Rust programs.

Author: todsacerdoti | Score: 237

29.
How I launched 3 consoles and found true love at Babbage's store no. 9 (2013)
(How I launched 3 consoles and found true love at Babbage's store no. 9 (2013))

No summary available.

Author: zepearl | Score: 60

30.
The Four-Color Theorem 1852–1976
(The Four-Color Theorem 1852–1976)

The Notices of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) is a journal that aims to share mathematical research and news with the global community, supported by AMS members. The journal includes links to the table of contents and PDF files for each issue. The text also contains technical code related to how the website displays content, including styles for text, links, and layout, but these details are mainly for web developers and not essential for understanding the journal's purpose.

Author: bikenaga | Score: 48

31.
Carelessness versus craftsmanship in cryptography
(Carelessness versus craftsmanship in cryptography)

The article discusses the contrast between carelessness and craftsmanship in cryptography, using two libraries, aes-js and pyaes, as examples.

Key Points:

  1. Initialization Vectors (IV): Both libraries reuse a default IV of zero, leading to security vulnerabilities like key/IV reuse bugs. This can severely compromise the security of encrypted messages.

  2. Widespread Usage: A large number of projects depend on aes-js and pyaes, making the consequences of these vulnerabilities significant.

  3. Lack of Modern Features: These libraries do not support modern cipher modes that provide better security, such as AES-GCM, which includes authentication to prevent attacks.

  4. Developer Responses: When a security issue was raised, the maintainer of aes-js responded dismissively, which is seen as careless. In contrast, the maintainer of strongMan VPN Manager took immediate action to fix a related issue by updating to more secure practices and integrating user feedback.

  5. Craftsmanship vs. Carelessness: The article emphasizes that mistakes are common in cryptography, but the key difference lies in how developers respond to those mistakes. A responsible developer will fix issues thoroughly, while a careless one may ignore them.

Overall, the piece advocates for a commitment to craftsmanship in cryptography, highlighting the importance of addressing vulnerabilities proactively.

Author: ingve | Score: 86

32.
Unreal numbers
(Unreal numbers)

The text discusses the progression of mathematical concepts from natural numbers to real numbers, highlighting how different types of numbers are defined and understood.

  1. Natural Numbers (ℕ): Constructed using a base of zero and a successor function, which allows us to define addition and multiplication through simple rules.

  2. Integers (ℤ): To include negative values, integers are defined as pairs of natural numbers. Addition and multiplication of these pairs are established through defined rules, though care is taken to represent equivalence correctly.

  3. Rational Numbers (ℚ): Defined as ratios of integers, rational numbers can be represented as pairs that encode division. Their size is shown to be countable through clever arrangements of pairs.

  4. Computable Numbers: These are numbers that can be approximated by algorithms. They share the same size as natural numbers, as each computable number can be linked to a finite set of instructions.

  5. Real Numbers (ℝ): These numbers form a continuum that includes all rationals and irrationals. They are defined using Dedekind cuts, which describe each real number in terms of rational numbers. The set of real numbers is shown to be uncountably larger than natural numbers, indicating that uncountable numbers are mostly uncomputable.

The text concludes by suggesting that many real numbers cannot be precisely defined or computed, raising philosophical questions about the nature of numbers and mathematics.

Author: surprisetalk | Score: 51

33.
CXMT has been offering DDR4 chips at about half the prevailing market rate
(CXMT has been offering DDR4 chips at about half the prevailing market rate)

No summary available.

Author: phront | Score: 252

34.
Yet Another Fix Coming for Older AMD GPUs on Linux – Thanks to Valve Developer
(Yet Another Fix Coming for Older AMD GPUs on Linux – Thanks to Valve Developer)

Valve's Timur Kristóf has been improving support for older AMD Radeon GPUs on Linux. Last year, his work helped switch older GPUs to the AMDGPU driver by default, enhancing performance and fixing many bugs. Recently, he focused on a specific issue with the Radeon R9 M380 in older iMacs running Linux, which caused boot problems and errors.

After investigating, Timur found that disabling the memory clock dynamic power management allowed the GPU to function correctly. He identified that the AMDGPU driver didn't properly manage voltage for the display clock, which was causing issues.

Timur has created initial fixes for this problem and plans to submit them for review soon. These updates should help older iMacs with GCN ~1.1 GPUs work better on Linux using the AMDGPU driver.

Author: Bender | Score: 28

35.
I verified my LinkedIn identity. Here's what I handed over
(I verified my LinkedIn identity. Here's what I handed over)

The author wanted to verify their identity on LinkedIn to earn a blue checkmark, which signifies authenticity. To do this, they used a service called Persona, which collects extensive personal information during the verification process.

When verifying, the author provided:

  • Full name, passport, and selfie
  • Biometric data like facial geometry
  • National ID number, email, phone number, and more
  • Behavioral data, such as hesitation and typing patterns

Persona also cross-referenced this information with various third-party databases, essentially conducting a background check. Additionally, the images provided are used to train Persona's AI system, raising privacy concerns.

The author discovered that once their data is collected, it can be accessed by several companies, including major tech firms like OpenAI and AWS, and is subject to US laws, meaning it can be shared with law enforcement without the user's knowledge. The data can be stored in different countries, but under the US CLOUD Act, US authorities can access it regardless of where it is stored.

Furthermore, if there’s a data breach, Persona limits its liability to just $50, and users can only pursue claims individually through arbitration, not in court.

The author advises others to think carefully before verifying their identity online, as the risks to personal data may outweigh the benefits of a verification badge. If someone has already verified, they should request their data and consider asking for its deletion.

Author: ColinWright | Score: 1380

36.
Amazon, Meta, Alphabet report plunging tax bills thanks to AI and tax changes
(Amazon, Meta, Alphabet report plunging tax bills thanks to AI and tax changes)

No summary available.

Author: epistasis | Score: 15

37.
Keep Android Open
(Keep Android Open)

Summary of "Keep Android Open" - February 20, 2026

In a recent discussion at FOSDEM26, F-Droid users expressed relief about Google supposedly canceling plans to restrict Android. However, F-Droid clarified that these plans are still in place, leading to confusion about Google's intentions. To raise awareness, F-Droid has introduced a banner in their app to remind users about the potential risks of Android becoming more controlled by Google.

F-Droid is also updating their Basic app with new features, including improved translations and app history tracking. Several apps were updated, including Buses, Conversations, and Dolphin Emulator, while five apps were removed. The community continues to receive regular updates, highlighting the importance of keeping Android an open platform.

Users are encouraged to stay informed about these developments and participate in discussions about the future of Android.

Author: LorenDB | Score: 2147

38.
A16z partner says that the theory that we’ll vibe code everything is wrong
(A16z partner says that the theory that we’ll vibe code everything is wrong)

I'm sorry, but I can't access external content like YouTube videos. However, if you provide me with the text or main points from the video, I’d be happy to help you summarize it!

Author: paulpauper | Score: 179

39.
Coccinelle: Source-to-source transformation tool
(Coccinelle: Source-to-source transformation tool)

No summary available.

Author: anon111332142 | Score: 120

40.
Toyota’s hydrogen-powered Mirai has experienced rapid depreciation
(Toyota’s hydrogen-powered Mirai has experienced rapid depreciation)

Summary of "The Modern Toyota That Lost 65% Of Its Value In One Year"

The Toyota Mirai, the first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, has seen a dramatic drop in value, losing 65% of its worth within a year. The main reasons for this depreciation are limited hydrogen fueling infrastructure, primarily available only in California, and the rise of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), which are favored by consumers and the government.

Despite an initial starting price of over $50,000, used Mirai models are now selling for under $10,000, showcasing the challenges of owning a hydrogen car. The lack of investment in hydrogen infrastructure, with only 54 hydrogen stations in the U.S., further complicates its appeal.

Toyota continues to produce the Mirai and is investing in hydrogen research, but sales remain low, with only 210 units sold in the U.S. last year. Other manufacturers, like BMW, are also exploring hydrogen technology, but the future of hydrogen cars appears uncertain as the automotive industry increasingly shifts towards electric vehicles.

Author: iancmceachern | Score: 167

41.
Canvas_ity: A tiny, single-header <canvas>-like 2D rasterizer for C++
(Canvas_ity: A tiny, single-header <canvas>-like 2D rasterizer for C++)

No summary available.

Author: PaulHoule | Score: 116

42.
Don't create .gitkeep files, use .gitignore instead (2023)
(Don't create .gitkeep files, use .gitignore instead (2023))

Summary

Git tracks files, not directories, so to ensure a directory exists in a repository, you might need to "track" it. There are two methods to do this: the common but flawed .gitkeep technique and a simpler .gitignore method.

  1. .gitkeep Technique:

    • Create an empty file named .gitkeep in the directory you want to track.
    • Use a .gitignore file to ignore all files in that directory except for .gitkeep.
    • Downsides: Requires editing two files, needs updates if the directory is renamed, and lacks clear documentation.
  2. Better .gitignore Technique:

    • Instead, use a .gitignore file in the directory with the contents:
      *
      !.gitignore
      
    • This ignores all files except the .gitignore file itself, simplifying the tracking process.
    • The directory can be tracked with just this single file, making it easier to manage.

In conclusion, the .gitignore method is recommended for tracking directories in Git without complications.

Author: frou_dh | Score: 168

43.
A Botnet Accidentally Destroyed I2P
(A Botnet Accidentally Destroyed I2P)

On February 3, 2026, the I2P anonymity network suffered a massive attack with 700,000 hostile nodes, severely disrupting its usual operation of 15,000 to 20,000 devices. This was one of the worst Sybil attacks on an anonymity network. For three years, I2P had faced similar attacks in February, which were thought to be from the same state-sponsored group. However, the 2026 attack was actually caused by the Kimwolf botnet, which had infected many devices like streaming boxes and routers.

The Kimwolf botnet was attempting to use I2P for command-and-control operations after losing many of its servers due to security measures. Following the attack, the I2P team quickly released an updated version of their software that included advanced encryption and improvements to prevent future attacks.

Author: Cider9986 | Score: 141

44.
I Analyzed Every Nootropic Study on PubMed
(I Analyzed Every Nootropic Study on PubMed)

The author reviewed all studies about nootropics available on PubMed.

Author: paulpauper | Score: 18

45.
Scientists discover recent tectonic activity on the moon
(Scientists discover recent tectonic activity on the moon)

No summary available.

Author: bookmtn | Score: 67

46.
Introduction to Out of Time Order Correlators (OTOCs)(2025)
(Introduction to Out of Time Order Correlators (OTOCs)(2025))

No summary available.

Author: rolph | Score: 5

47.
Padlet (YC W13) Is Hiring in San Francisco and Singapore
(Padlet (YC W13) Is Hiring in San Francisco and Singapore)

Summary:

The text emphasizes the importance of work and the contributions of past generations to our daily comforts and joys. It highlights various aspects of life, from simple pleasures like coffee and air conditioning to significant life moments. The message encourages us to honor the efforts of those who worked before us by being proactive and dedicated in our own work. It urges everyone to take action and "get to work" to continue this legacy.

Author: coffeebite | Score: 1

48.
Cryphos – no-code crypto signal bot with Telegram alerts
(Cryphos – no-code crypto signal bot with Telegram alerts)

I created a platform that lets you set up your own technical indicators and receive trading signals directly on Telegram, without needing any coding skills. I'm looking for feedback on what is good, what could be improved, and what features you would like to see added.

Author: duckducker | Score: 3

49.
Fungicide vinclozin causes disease via germline for 20 generations in rats
(Fungicide vinclozin causes disease via germline for 20 generations in rats)

No summary available.

Author: stevenwoo | Score: 34

50.
AI uBlock Blacklist
(AI uBlock Blacklist)

Summary: AI uBlock Origin Blacklist

The AI uBlock Origin Blacklist is a personal list created to block websites that generate low-quality AI content. Users can automatically subscribe to the list or import it manually into uBlock Origin.

Purpose: The list aims to filter out websites with AI-generated content that lacks useful information and is often filled with ads. The creator believes that real human experiences and insights are necessary for meaningful online information.

Concerns: AI-generated content can be unreliable or even dangerous, as it may contain incorrect or harmful advice. The creator manually adds sites to the blacklist, focusing on recognized patterns of AI content farms, such as unnecessary introductions, lack of credible sources, and excessive referral links.

Adding Websites: Users can report suspected AI spam sites or contribute to the list by following specific guidelines on how to format entries.

Identification Patterns: Content farms often include features like vague content, poor formatting, and a focus on SEO to rank high in search results. The creator provides specific criteria for recognizing these sites.

Tools: The text mentions Google search techniques (Google Dorks) to find AI-generated content easily.

Related Projects: The blacklist is different from other projects that aim to block all AI-related content, focusing instead on filtering out only the low-quality sites.

Author: rdmuser | Score: 269

51.
Inputlag.science – Repository of knowledge about input lag in gaming
(Inputlag.science – Repository of knowledge about input lag in gaming)

Welcome to the guide on input lag in gaming.

Input lag is the delay between when a player makes a move and when it shows up on the screen. Over the years, this issue has increased unnoticed, making it hard to find gaming systems with low latency like those from the early 2000s. High input lag can lead to significant problems in gaming and negative press coverage.

The rise in input lag is mainly due to the growing complexity of gaming systems, which can confuse developers about what affects latency. This website aims to help both developers and gamers understand and address these latency issues.

There are three main components that contribute to input lag:

  1. The controller
  2. The game engine
  3. The display

The site provides knowledge on these components, especially the first two, and offers guidance on how to measure them accurately.

Author: akyuu | Score: 102

52.
Permacomputing
(Permacomputing)

The Canon Cat uses a programming language called Forth, which allows users to write scripts easily.

Author: tosh | Score: 167

53.
Conway's Arcade
(Conway's Arcade)

The text provides addresses for two office locations:

  1. In New York at 20 Jay Street, Suite 902, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA.
  2. In Madrid at Calle Pedro Campos 5 Local, 28019, Madrid, Spain.
Author: redbell | Score: 9

54.
What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)
(What not to write on your security clearance form (1988))

No summary available.

Author: wizardforhire | Score: 477

55.
Met police using AI tools supplied by Palantir to flag officer misconduct
(Met police using AI tools supplied by Palantir to flag officer misconduct)

The Metropolitan Police, the UK's largest police force with 46,000 officers and staff, is using AI technology from the US company Palantir to monitor officer behavior. This initiative aims to identify potential issues among staff, focusing on patterns related to sickness, absences, and overtime. However, the Police Federation criticized this approach as "automated suspicion," warning that it could misinterpret legitimate work pressures as misconduct.

The Met stated that analyzing this data could help improve standards and culture within the force. Critics, including MP Martin Wrigley, expressed concerns about employee privacy and the implications of using such technology for monitoring. The Labour Party supports responsible AI use in policing and plans to invest in AI tools for police forces in England and Wales.

Palantir is also involved in other public sector projects in the UK, raising questions about transparency in its government contracts.

Author: helsinkiandrew | Score: 27

56.
Microsoft team creates data-storage system that lasts for millennia
(Microsoft team creates data-storage system that lasts for millennia)

Microsoft researchers have developed a groundbreaking data-storage system that can preserve information for at least 10,000 years, using a method involving mini plasma explosions to encode data in borosilicate glass. This new technology can store 4.8 terabytes of data—equivalent to about two million printed books—within a small device. Unlike traditional magnetic tapes and hard drives, which degrade quickly, this glass storage method offers a long-lasting solution without the need for regular maintenance or temperature control.

The process involves using a high-energy laser to create tiny deformations in the glass, which represent data. While accessing the data is more complex than with standard storage devices, its durability and security make it a promising option for preserving critical information long-term. The project, known as Project Silica, aims to revolutionize data centers by providing a practical and efficient storage solution.

Author: gnabgib | Score: 95

57.
EDuke32 – Duke Nukem 3D (Open-Source)
(EDuke32 – Duke Nukem 3D (Open-Source))

EDuke32 is a free, open-source game engine that allows players to enjoy the classic first-person shooter Duke Nukem 3D on various platforms like Windows, Linux, and macOS. It has been enhanced with many new features for players and developers, making it the leading port of the original game.

Key features of EDuke32 include:

  • High Compatibility: Works on modern operating systems without needing emulation.
  • Advanced Graphics: Supports high resolutions, dynamic lighting, real-time shadows, and various modern rendering techniques.
  • Improved Stability: Fixes many bugs from the original game, resulting in fewer crashes.
  • Extensive Mod Support: Allows for gameplay modifications and includes a powerful scripting system.
  • Community Driven: Developed by a dedicated team and has an active community for support and engagement.

EDuke32 also includes support for various audio formats, enhanced controls, and a modern user interface. It has been under continuous development for over twenty years, making it a reliable choice for fans of the original game.

Author: reconnecting | Score: 200

58.
Finding forall-exists Hyperbugs using Symbolic Execution
(Finding forall-exists Hyperbugs using Symbolic Execution)

No summary available.

Author: todsacerdoti | Score: 45

59.
Holo v0.9: A Modern Routing Stack Built in Rust
(Holo v0.9: A Modern Routing Stack Built in Rust)

Summary of Holo Routing v0.9.0 Release

The latest release of Holo Routing (version 0.9.0) includes several key updates:

  1. Holo-Isis Improvements:

    • Added support for generic cryptographic authentication.
    • Enhanced protection against corrupted LSP lifetimes and replay attacks.
    • Introduced purge originator identification and node administrative tags.
    • Implemented a three-way handshake for point-to-point connections.
    • Added support for MSD signaling and reduced distributed flooding.
  2. Holo-OSPF Update:

    • Added support for virtual links.
  3. Holo-Daemon Enhancements:

    • Version output now includes the git commit hash.
  4. Continuous Integration (CI) Updates:

    • Added provenance attestations for Docker images and spell checking.
  5. Documentation Improvements:

    • Introduced a SECURITY.md for reporting vulnerabilities and added a conformance testing section.
  6. Other Changes:

    • Refactored internal APIs for easier maintenance.
    • Added fuzz targets for protocol testing and implemented panic supervision to prevent denial-of-service attacks.
    • Several bug fixes and performance improvements.

For more details, you can check the full changelog or the Docker packages.

Author: WarOnMosquitoes | Score: 25

60.
Computer History Museum unveils comically large Macintosh Plus
(Computer History Museum unveils comically large Macintosh Plus)

The Computer History Museum has introduced a giant version of the 1986 Apple Macintosh Plus, dubbed the "Big Mac," to celebrate Apple's 50th anniversary. Although the overall design is much larger, the monitor is still only about 20 inches diagonally, making it appear small compared to modern screens. The oversized keyboard, which features 58 keys including arrow keys (absent in earlier models), has drawn particular attention.

The Macintosh Plus was known for its user-friendly graphical interface and was popular among graphic artists. It originally launched at $2,599, which is equivalent to over $7,500 today. The museum hinted at more information about the "Big Mac" coming soon as part of their Apple anniversary celebrations.

Author: rbanffy | Score: 3

61.
Minions: Stripe's one-shot, end-to-end coding agents – Stripe Dot Dev Blog
(Minions: Stripe's one-shot, end-to-end coding agents – Stripe Dot Dev Blog)

Summary of Stripe's Minions: Coding Agents

Stripe has developed its own coding agents, called "minions," which automate coding tasks without human intervention. These unattended agents can handle tasks like merging pull requests completely on their own, producing over a thousand pull requests weekly, all of which are human-reviewed but contain no human-written code.

Minions are designed to help developers manage their time better by allowing them to work on multiple tasks simultaneously. They can be easily initiated through Slack, where engineers can trigger them directly from discussions about changes. Minions operate within Stripe's unique codebase, which is complex and includes many custom libraries, making it challenging for generic coding agents to effectively contribute.

The minion's operation starts in a secure developer environment and utilizes a customized agent loop to ensure that important coding steps, such as testing and linting, are always followed. They also gather context from internal documentation and tools to perform their tasks effectively.

While minions strive for a "one-shot" completion of their tasks, they can still receive feedback and make adjustments based on automated tests. This method enhances developer productivity by ensuring that issues are caught early in the coding process.

Overall, minions have transformed coding practices at Stripe, making them a valuable part of the development workflow. The blog post series will continue with more technical details on how minions are built and function.

Author: kiyanwang | Score: 89

62.
Iron-Wolf – Wolfenstein 3D source port in Rust
(Iron-Wolf – Wolfenstein 3D source port in Rust)

The aim is to create a pixel-perfect, mod-friendly version of Wolfenstein 3D using the Rust programming language.

Author: ragnaroekX | Score: 77

63.
Lean 4: How the theorem prover works and why it's the new competitive edge in AI
(Lean 4: How the theorem prover works and why it's the new competitive edge in AI)

Summary: Lean4 and Its Role in AI Reliability

Lean4 is an open-source programming language and interactive theorem prover that enhances the reliability and safety of AI systems. Unlike traditional large language models (LLMs), which can produce unpredictable and incorrect outputs, Lean4 ensures that every theorem or program is rigorously verified for correctness. It does this through strict type-checking, meaning results are either proven true or false, eliminating ambiguity.

Key advantages of Lean4 include:

  1. Precision and Reliability: It uses strict logic to validate reasoning steps.
  2. Systematic Verification: Lean4 can confirm that solutions meet specified criteria.
  3. Transparency: Anyone can independently verify proofs, contrasting with the opaque nature of neural network reasoning.

Lean4 is particularly valuable for addressing AI hallucinations—instances where AI confidently presents false information. By requiring AIs to prove their claims using Lean4, systems can catch errors in reasoning before they lead to incorrect outputs. For example, startups like Harmonic AI use Lean4 to create "hallucination-free" AI that validates its answers through formal proofs.

Additionally, Lean4 is set to transform software security by enabling AI-assisted programming that can verify code correctness, potentially eliminating bugs and vulnerabilities. As organizations increasingly adopt Lean4, it is becoming a critical tool for ensuring AI systems are reliable, especially in high-stakes fields like finance and healthcare.

Despite its promise, challenges remain, including the complexity of formalizing real-world problems and the limitations of current LLMs in generating correct proofs. However, as AI technology continues to evolve, the integration of formal verification tools like Lean4 may enhance trust and safety in AI applications, making verifiable correctness a new standard in the industry.

Author: tesserato | Score: 138

64.
Oops, You Wrote a Database (2025)
(Oops, You Wrote a Database (2025))

The website is checking if your browser is safe. If you own the website, there’s a link you can click to resolve any issues.

Author: tamnd | Score: 10

65.
I found a vulnerability. they found a lawyer
(I found a vulnerability. they found a lawyer)

In February 2026, a diving instructor and platform engineer shared his experience of discovering a serious vulnerability in the user portal of a diving insurance company while on a dive trip. He found that users could access personal data by guessing sequential user IDs and using a common default password that was never required to be changed.

He reported the vulnerability on April 28, 2025, giving the organization 30 days to fix it before going public. After fixing the issue, the organization’s response came from their legal team, not their IT staff. They acknowledged the problem but criticized his decision to involve authorities and threatened him with legal action for potentially harming their reputation.

The organization argued that users should change their own passwords, despite having assigned the same default password to all accounts. This situation highlights a common issue in the security field, where organizations often prioritize their reputation over user safety and threaten researchers instead of addressing vulnerabilities responsibly.

The article emphasizes the need for companies to have clear vulnerability disclosure policies, thank researchers for their efforts, and ensure proper notification to affected users. It also advises security researchers to document their communications and not to sign NDAs that prevent them from discussing vulnerabilities, while also involving national cybersecurity teams in the reporting process.

Author: toomuchtodo | Score: 875

66.
Minimalist Glitch Art Maker (100% client-side)
(Minimalist Glitch Art Maker (100% client-side))

Glitch Art Maker Summary

  • The Glitch Art Maker processes videos locally, without needing uploads, and it can use your webcam in real-time.
  • Users can adjust settings like:
    • Line Thickness (6px): Controls the thickness and spacing of horizontal lines.
    • Jitter (4px): Adjusts how much the lines shift for a glitchy effect.
    • Threshold (0.55): Balances black and white; lower values make more white, while higher values increase black.
  • There's a Raw Mode to view the original video for comparison.
  • You can export your creations as WebM files.
  • The system is currently waiting for an input source.
Author: yz-yu | Score: 24

67.
Be wary of Bluesky
(Be wary of Bluesky)

The text discusses concerns about Bluesky, a social media platform built on an open protocol called ATProto. It highlights the following key points:

  1. User Control Promise: Bluesky claims that users own their data and can easily leave if they don't like the platform. However, most users rely on Bluesky's centralized servers to host their data, making it difficult to switch to alternatives.

  2. Dependence on Bluesky: As more apps use the ATProto protocol, users become increasingly dependent on Bluesky’s infrastructure. This growing reliance makes it harder for users to leave, despite the promise of decentralization.

  3. Centralized Control: Bluesky controls key components like the data relay, app view, and identity directory. This centralization means they can control what users see or can do, even if technically anyone could run their own services.

  4. Acquisition Risks: If Bluesky were acquired, the new owner would control all user data and could restrict access, making it difficult for users to leave or use third-party apps.

  5. Historical Context: The text compares Bluesky’s situation to past platforms, emphasizing that users rarely take proactive steps to self-host or protect their data, leading to centralization despite open protocols.

  6. Financial Incentives: The need for returns on investments may push Bluesky towards monetization strategies that could limit user freedom and control.

In summary, while Bluesky promotes user ownership and decentralization, the reality shows that its structure may lead to increased centralization and control, especially in the event of an acquisition.

Author: kevinak | Score: 341

68.
Ggml.ai joins Hugging Face to ensure the long-term progress of Local AI
(Ggml.ai joins Hugging Face to ensure the long-term progress of Local AI)

Summary of Announcement: ggml.ai Joins Hugging Face

On February 20, 2026, ggml.ai, the team behind the llama.cpp project, announced their partnership with Hugging Face (HF) to support the ongoing development of Local AI. This partnership aims to ensure that future AI development remains open and community-driven.

Key Points:

  1. Open and Community-Driven: ggml projects will continue to be open-source and community-focused. The ggml team will maintain their leadership and support for the ggml and llama.cpp libraries full-time.

  2. Long-Term Sustainability: The partnership with Hugging Face is intended to provide sustainable resources, helping the projects grow and thrive while improving user experience.

  3. Technical Improvements: Future efforts will focus on:

    • Simplifying integration with the Hugging Face transformers library for better model support.
    • Enhancing user experience for deploying local AI models.
  4. Shared Vision: Both teams aim to make open-source AI accessible and efficient on consumer devices, striving to create a robust inference stack.

  5. Collaboration Success: The collaboration between ggml.ai and Hugging Face has already led to significant contributions, such as improved functionalities and a user-friendly interface.

Overall, this partnership is expected to enhance the capabilities and reach of the ggml/llama.cpp projects while maintaining their open-source nature.

Author: lairv | Score: 820

69.
I Don't Like Magic
(I Don't Like Magic)

The author expresses a strong dislike for the "magic" of technology marketing, which refers to seamless design that requires little thought from users but can reduce their control over their experience. They prefer to understand and write their own code rather than rely on external libraries and frameworks, such as React, which impose additional complexity and can harm user experience with bloated sites.

The author acknowledges that while many developers embrace these abstractions for efficiency, they create maintenance challenges when the understanding of the code becomes unclear or lost. They feel that relying on tools like large language models for coding is another layer of abstraction that complicates things further.

Ultimately, the author values working with raw HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for long-term projects, emphasizing the importance of understanding the underlying code to ensure maintainability. They conclude by reiterating their aversion to the "magic" of technology, preferring a more hands-on, craft-oriented approach to coding.

Author: edent | Score: 153

70.
A New Perspective on Drawing Venn Diagrams for Data Visualization
(A New Perspective on Drawing Venn Diagrams for Data Visualization)

VennFan is a new method for creating Venn diagrams that look like fan blades by using polar coordinates and trigonometric shapes. This approach focuses on making the diagrams easy to read and customizable with shaped sinusoids and adjustable sizes. There are two versions of VennFan based on sine and cosine shapes. Additionally, it includes a smart way to place labels automatically in these fan-like diagrams. VennFan can be accessed as a Python package.

Author: IdealeZahlen | Score: 16

71.
Unicode's confusables.txt and NFKC normalization disagree on 31 characters
(Unicode's confusables.txt and NFKC normalization disagree on 31 characters)

The article discusses the discrepancies between two Unicode standards: confusables.txt and NFKC normalization.

Key Points:

  1. Purpose of Standards:

    • confusables.txt: A list designed to detect and reject visually similar characters (like Cyrillic “а” vs. Latin “a”). It's not meant for normalization.
    • NFKC Normalization: Converts characters to their canonical forms (e.g., fullwidth letters to ASCII) for storage and comparison.
  2. Conflict:

    • There are 31 characters where confusables.txt and NFKC produce different mappings. For example, the Long S (ſ) is mapped to "f" in confusables.txt but to "s" in NFKC, leading to potential errors if not handled properly.
  3. Implications:

    • If NFKC is applied before checking confusables, the 31 entries will not be detected, leading to security oversights.
    • If confusables are used without NFKC, they may produce incorrect results.
  4. Recommendations:

    • For best practices, filter confusables to exclude characters already handled by NFKC.
    • Use a generator script to maintain an updated confusable map that aligns with NFKC.
  5. Broader Lesson:

    • Unicode includes various independent specifications, and the interaction between them isn’t always clear, which can lead to issues like those identified with the 31 conflicting entries.

The article emphasizes the importance of understanding how these standards operate and how to effectively implement them to avoid security loopholes.

Author: birdculture | Score: 3

72.
Acme Weather
(Acme Weather)

Fifteen years ago, the creators of the Dark Sky weather app began their journey, which eventually led to its acquisition by Apple. After enjoying their time at Apple, they decided to create a new weather company due to dissatisfaction with existing weather apps and a desire to return to their roots.

Key Features of Acme Weather:

  1. Embracing Uncertainty: Acme Weather acknowledges that weather forecasts are not always accurate. Instead of providing a single forecast, it offers multiple possible outcomes to help users understand forecast reliability and plan better.

  2. Community Reporting: Users can submit real-time weather reports, helping others get accurate updates about current conditions.

  3. Useful Maps: The app includes a variety of weather maps (like radar, temperature, and storm paths) to give users a complete picture of the weather situation.

  4. Notifications: Users can set up notifications for important weather events, ensuring they stay informed without needing to check the app constantly.

  5. Acme Labs: This feature highlights fun meteorological phenomena, such as rainbow alerts and sunset notifications.

  6. Privacy Commitment: Acme Weather prioritizes user privacy by limiting data collection and ensuring no information is sold to third parties.

In conclusion, Acme Weather combines the creators' extensive experience with innovative features to provide a comprehensive and user-friendly weather app. It is available on the iOS App Store for a $25/year subscription, with a two-week free trial. An Android version is planned for the future.

Author: cryptoz | Score: 236

73.
Forward propagation of errors through time
(Forward propagation of errors through time)

Summary of "Forward Propagation of Errors Through Time"

Authors: Nicolas Zucchet, Guillaume Pourcel, Maxence Ernoult
Date: February 17, 2026

Key Points:

  • The authors explore a new approach for training recurrent neural networks (RNNs) by proposing a method to propagate errors forward in time, instead of the traditional backward approach known as backpropagation through time (BPTT).
  • Their method involves a two-phase process:
    1. Warm-up Phase: Initializes the network to determine initial conditions.
    2. Error Calculation Phase: Uses these conditions to propagate errors forward, allowing for exact gradient calculations without reversing time.

Findings:

  • The proposed forward propagation method can successfully train RNNs on complex tasks, but it faces significant numerical stability issues, especially when the network starts to forget information.
  • Key challenges include:
    • Memory constraints, as the traditional BPTT requires storing all hidden states.
    • The need for the Jacobian matrix to be invertible, which can be problematic in practice.

Limitations:

  • The forward propagation method is sensitive to the initial conditions and requires specific eigenvalue ranges for effective learning.
  • The approach may not scale well, as it needs multiple passes through the data for networks with multiple layers, increasing computational demands.

Conclusion: While the forward propagation of errors provides an intriguing alternative to traditional methods, its current instability and dependency on specific conditions limit its practical application. The authors hope their findings will inspire further research into RNN training methods and alternative computing approaches.

Author: iNic | Score: 26

74.
Wikipedia deprecates Archive.today, starts removing archive links
(Wikipedia deprecates Archive.today, starts removing archive links)

The text references discussions from a website called Hacker News about issues related to Archive.today. One post mentions that Archive.today is allegedly launching a DDoS attack against a blog, while another asks about unusual behavior from the site. Both topics have generated a significant number of comments, indicating active engagement and concern from users.

Author: nobody9999 | Score: 597

75.
Turn Dependabot off
(Turn Dependabot off)

On February 20, 2026, it was recommended to turn off Dependabot, which generates excessive and often irrelevant security alerts in the Go programming ecosystem. Instead, it's suggested to use scheduled GitHub Actions that run a tool called govulncheck to check for vulnerabilities and test against the latest dependency versions.

A case study highlighted the issue: after a minor security fix in a library, Dependabot opened thousands of pull requests against unrelated projects, causing confusion with false alerts. This was due to Dependabot's inability to filter out irrelevant notifications effectively.

The Go Vulnerability Database can help identify real vulnerabilities, and tools like govulncheck can provide accurate analysis by checking if a project's code actually uses a vulnerable library. This reduces unnecessary alerts and allows developers to focus on significant security issues.

Additionally, it's suggested to run continuous integration (CI) tests against the latest dependency versions without updating them immediately. This way, potential issues are caught early, and security risks are minimized by limiting exposure to newly introduced vulnerabilities.

In summary, turning off Dependabot and using a more reliable vulnerability scanning process can lead to less noise, reduced risk, and better security outcomes.

Author: todsacerdoti | Score: 630

76.
Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst
(Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst)

The text is a personal account from a former CIA analyst reflecting on their experiences with polygraph tests during their career.

Key points include:

  1. Initial Polygraph Experience: The author took a polygraph as part of their CIA application process, where they prepared by reading about how the test works. Despite answering truthfully, they failed the test and felt confused and anxious afterwards.

  2. Subsequent Tests: They had to retake the polygraph, which they eventually passed. The author notes that polygraph tests often involve inexperienced examiners who can make unreasonable accusations, leading to a stressful experience.

  3. Job Security: Once employed at the CIA, the author felt more secure regarding polygraphs, as established employees rarely lost their jobs due to these tests. However, the tests were still a source of anxiety and frustration.

  4. Changing Environment: After the arrest of a CIA officer, the polygraph process became more intense, and random tests were introduced, increasing stress among employees.

  5. Transition to Contract Work: After leaving the CIA for family reasons, the author continued to face polygraphs in contractor roles, leading to mixed experiences—some tests felt less confrontational, while others were stressful.

  6. Cynicism and Refusal: Over time, the author became increasingly cynical about the effectiveness of polygraphs, ultimately deciding to refuse a test when asked by the DIA, resulting in severe professional repercussions.

  7. Conclusion: The author advises against pursuing careers that require polygraphs, believing the tests are flawed and detrimental to mental well-being. They express pride in their earlier work but feel the polygraph has overshadowed the benefits of their profession.

Overall, the narrative critiques the reliability and psychological impact of polygraph testing within intelligence and security fields.

Author: grubbs | Score: 230

77.
Online Pebble Development
(Online Pebble Development)

Summary of Online Pebble Development

  • Easy App Creation: You can write apps easily, without needing to worry about complex setups like Linux or compilers.

  • No Installation Needed: Start coding directly in your web browser—no downloads or setup required!

  • User-Friendly Interface: Manage your app resources through a simple interface, without needing to edit code like JSON.

  • Accessible Anywhere: Since it's online, you can access your work from anywhere.

  • Future Updates: This platform is just getting started, and more features will be added soon!

Author: teekert | Score: 31

78.
Facebook is cooked
(Facebook is cooked)

The author shares their disappointment with Facebook after returning to the platform for the first time in eight years. They note that the site is now filled with uninteresting content, primarily AI-generated images of young women and memes, rather than posts from friends or pages they follow. The author finds the content to be low-quality and concerning, especially when some images appear to involve underage girls. They question whether this experience is typical for all users or just a result of their outdated algorithm. Ultimately, they feel disillusioned and plan to avoid Facebook in the future, only considering it for specific needs like school updates.

Author: npilk | Score: 1460

79.
A solver for Semantle
(A solver for Semantle)

Summary: A Solver for Semantle

Semantle is a variant of Wordle that scores guesses based on semantic similarity rather than lexical similarity. Players guess words, receiving scores that indicate how closely their guesses relate to the correct answer. The game is challenging, requiring players to refine their guesses based on previous scores.

Ethan Jantz and the author created a solver that can find the correct answer in about three guesses. The game uses word embeddings to represent words as 300-dimensional vectors and measures similarity using cosine similarity. However, a single score provides limited direction, making it hard to pin down the answer.

Instead of trying to solve for the target word directly (which would require too many guesses), the solver uses a filtering approach. Each guess narrows down the list of potential words based on the similarity score. The solver keeps a list of candidate words, randomly selects a guess, and retains only those words that match the similarity score from the game.

The filtering process is effective because the word embedding space is sparse, leading to a rapid decrease in candidate words after just a few guesses. For example, from millions of candidates, it can narrow down to just one answer quickly.

The solver and human players both aim to identify the correct word but use different strategies. While humans make guesses based on meaning, the solver uses geometric properties to eliminate impossible options until the correct answer remains. Both methods ultimately lead to the same solution.

Author: evakhoury | Score: 50

80.
Trump's global tariffs struck down by US Supreme Court
(Trump's global tariffs struck down by US Supreme Court)

President Trump has announced an increase in global tariffs to 15%, up from the previous 10%. This decision follows a Supreme Court ruling that struck down his earlier tariffs. Trump is using a law from the 1974 Trade Act that allows him to impose these tariffs for 150 days, after which Congress must intervene. He criticized the Supreme Court's decision as "ridiculous" and "anti-American." Some lawmakers, including Democratic congressman Ted Lieu, argue that Trump is misdirecting his anger at the court onto the American people and predict that the tariffs will be legally challenged. Internationally, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed concerns about the impact on the global economy, while the UK anticipates maintaining its special trade relationship with the US.

Author: blackguardx | Score: 1505

81.
The Biophysical World Inside a Jam-Packed Cell
(The Biophysical World Inside a Jam-Packed Cell)

Summary: The Biophysical World Inside a Jam-Packed Cell

Recent advancements in imaging and genetic engineering have uncovered that the inside of a cell is much more crowded and dynamic than previously thought. Traditionally, cells were depicted as orderly factories, but new research shows they function more like bustling nightclubs, where molecular crowding plays a crucial role in chemical reactions essential for life.

Scientists have found that the density and crowding of molecules in the cytoplasm (the fluid inside a cell) significantly affect cellular health and growth. For instance, if cells are too crowded, molecules can become stuck and unable to react, while too little crowding leads to inefficient reactions. This balance is vital for processes like metabolism and protein synthesis.

Researchers have used genetically engineered nanoparticles to study molecular movement in cells, leading to surprising findings. In multicellular organisms like worms, the cytoplasm was found to be much denser than in cultured cells, raising questions about how molecules can effectively interact in such a crowded environment.

These insights suggest that cells have developed various mechanisms to regulate crowding based on their specific needs. Overall, this research highlights the complexity of cellular environments and the importance of studying cells in their natural settings rather than just in lab cultures. The ongoing studies aim to explore differences in crowdedness across various tissues and conditions, including cancer, further expanding our understanding of cell biology.

Author: tzury | Score: 8

82.
Approaches to writing two-sentence journal entries
(Approaches to writing two-sentence journal entries)

Summary of Approaches to Writing Two-Sentence Journal Entries

The author shares their experience with a two-sentence journal method that has gained unexpected popularity. They provide various approaches to writing these entries, emphasizing that these are personal strategies that others might adapt for their own use.

  1. Scratching at Scrap Paper:

    • The author often starts writing on scrap paper during work breaks, quickly jotting down ideas. They refine these entries throughout the day before transferring the final version to their main journal.
  2. Revising a Google Keep Note:

    • Using Google Keep, the author creates a daily note for their journal entries. They jot down noteworthy occurrences throughout the day, revise them, and finalize the entry at night before copying it into their physical journal.
  3. Writing Directly in the Journal:

    • On busy days, the author writes entries just before bed. They either write the first thought that comes to mind or reflect on their day to choose a topic.

Journal Format:

  • The author maintains both a handwritten (analog) and a digital version of their journal. The analog journal uses a specific formatting style for readability, while the digital version is organized in markdown for ease of access and editing.

The author encourages readers to find their own style and adapt these methods as needed, wishing them enjoyable days to remember.

Author: fi-le | Score: 91

83.
Uncovering insiders and alpha on Polymarket with AI
(Uncovering insiders and alpha on Polymarket with AI)

No summary available.

Author: somerandomness | Score: 149

84.
The AI apocalypse for enshitification has started
(The AI apocalypse for enshitification has started)

No summary available.

Author: rhspeer | Score: 8

85.
“Playmakers,” reviewed: The race to give every child a toy
(“Playmakers,” reviewed: The race to give every child a toy)

I'm sorry, but I can't access external links. However, if you can provide the text you'd like summarized, I would be more than happy to help!

Author: fortran77 | Score: 18

86.
Cloudflare outage on February 20, 2026
(Cloudflare outage on February 20, 2026)

On February 20, 2026, Cloudflare experienced a significant service outage lasting over 6 hours, starting at 17:48 UTC. The outage affected customers using Cloudflare's Bring Your Own IP (BYOIP) service, which connects their IP addresses to the Internet.

Key Points:

  • Cause of Outage: A configuration change made by Cloudflare unintentionally withdrew around 1,100 customer IP prefixes from the network. This was not due to a cyberattack but a software bug related to automating the removal of IP addresses.
  • Impact on Customers: Affected customers could not access their services, leading to connection failures. The outage also caused errors on Cloudflare's DNS resolver (1.1.1.1).
  • Response and Recovery: Cloudflare engineers quickly identified the issue and began reverting the changes. Customers were advised to re-advertise their IP addresses through the Cloudflare dashboard to restore service. Most of the service was restored by 23:03 UTC.
  • Lessons Learned: The incident highlighted flaws in Cloudflare's Addressing API and the need for better testing and monitoring of configuration changes. Cloudflare is committed to improving its systems to prevent similar outages in the future.

Cloudflare has apologized to its customers and is working on enhancements to ensure greater resilience and stability moving forward.

Author: nomaxx117 | Score: 181

87.
The Human Root of Trust – public domain framework for agent accountability
(The Human Root of Trust – public domain framework for agent accountability)

The author has focused their career on identity, trust, and distributed systems. They point out that most digital systems are designed with the assumption that a human is involved. However, this is changing as AI agents now operate independently, handling transactions and contracts without human input.

To address this shift, the author introduces the concept of "The Human Root of Trust," which outlines a solution based on three main ideas: proof of humanity, device identity linked to hardware, and verifying actions. They propose a trust chain that connects humans to cryptographic confirmations and suggest two ways to implement this framework. The work is shared publicly with no patents or commercial interests, encouraging others to build on these ideas.

For more information, visit humanrootoftrust.org.

Author: eduardovega | Score: 27

88.
A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI
(A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI)

A developer has created a native macOS desktop client for Hacker News and is sharing it as open source under the MIT license. Here are the key features:

  • Layout: A split-view design with a sidebar for browsing stories and a main area for reading articles and comments.
  • Ad and Pop-up Blocking: Built-in features to block ads from major networks and prevent pop-ups.
  • User Authentication: Full login capabilities, storing sessions securely in macOS Keychain.
  • Bookmarks: Save stories for offline access, which are searchable and filterable.
  • Search and Filtering: Allows users to filter content by type and date, using the Algolia HN API.
  • Reading Progress: Visual indicator of reading progress.
  • Auto-updates: The app updates automatically.
  • Dark Mode: Supports system-wide dark mode.

The app is built with Swift and SwiftUI and includes advanced features like structured concurrency and data from the official HN Firebase and Algolia APIs. The developer also shares insights on the CI/CD process for distributing the app.

Feedback is welcome, especially on potential new features like keyboard navigation and notifications for comment replies. The project is hosted on GitHub, where contributions and issues can be submitted.

Author: IronsideXXVI | Score: 252

89.
The bare minimum for syncing Git repos
(The bare minimum for syncing Git repos)

The author discusses their experience with syncing personal Git repositories across devices, like dotfiles and macros. Initially, they used GitHub for this, but sought alternatives to reduce reliance on U.S.-based cloud services and avoid unnecessary features. They realized that a simpler solution was available using Git itself.

Key points include:

  1. Understanding Git Repos: Git repositories consist of a .git folder that holds the entire history and state of the repo. Copying this folder can create another repo, but for regular syncing, using Git's built-in commands (push and pull) is safer as they handle merging changes.

  2. Bare vs. Non-Bare Repositories: Non-bare repositories have a working directory for editing files and a .git folder. Bare repositories only contain the .git folder, making them safe for receiving pushes since there’s no working directory to conflict with.

  3. New Setup: The author set up a bare repository on an external drive connected to a home desktop. Other devices connect to this bare repo over SSH, allowing them to sync their repositories easily.

  4. Benefits: This method is simple, avoids third-party hosting, and doesn't require managing additional services. While lacking features like issue tracking and collaboration tools, it suits their personal needs.

  5. Reflections: The author notes that sharing code on GitHub didn’t lead to meaningful engagement. Instead, they find it more effective to create clear, standalone snippets and blog posts, emphasizing that simplicity and direct file management are sufficient for their personal projects.

Author: speckx | Score: 64

90.
Trunk Based Development
(Trunk Based Development)

Summary of Trunk-Based Development

Trunk-Based Development (TBD) is a code management approach where developers work collaboratively in a single branch called the 'trunk,' or 'main.' This method prevents issues related to long-lived branches, such as complicated merges and build failures, allowing teams to maintain a stable and releasable codebase.

Key Points:

  1. Continuous Integration and Delivery: TBD supports Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) by encouraging frequent commits to the trunk, ensuring that the code is always ready for release.

  2. Team Size and Commit Rates: The transition from small to scaled teams in TBD depends on team size and how often they commit code. Small teams may commit directly to the trunk, while larger teams might use short-lived feature branches for code review.

  3. Short-Lived Feature Branches: In larger teams, developers can use temporary branches for reviews and testing before merging into the trunk. These branches should not be used for creating release artifacts.

  4. Release Strategies: Depending on the release strategy, teams may create release branches from the trunk or release directly from the trunk, allowing for quick bug fixes.

  5. Build Verification: A build server is necessary for teams with multiple developers to ensure that code changes do not break builds after integration.

  6. Flexibility in Team Size: Teams can easily adjust their size without impacting productivity. Notable organizations like Google use TBD effectively with thousands of developers.

  7. Comparison to Other Models: TBD is similar to GitHub flow but differs in release practices. In contrast, it is quite different from GitFlow and other traditional branching models.

  8. Historical Context: TBD is not a new concept; it has been utilized since the mid-1990s and is practiced by major tech companies today.

This approach is widely endorsed in literature related to Continuous Delivery and DevOps, emphasizing its importance in modern software development.

Author: handfuloflight | Score: 68

91.
MeshTNC is a tool for turning consumer grade LoRa radios into KISS TNC compatib
(MeshTNC is a tool for turning consumer grade LoRa radios into KISS TNC compatib)

Summary of MeshTNC

MeshTNC is a tool designed to facilitate the transfer of LoRa data using consumer-grade radios.

Key Features:

  • Simple command-line interface (CLI) for communication.
  • Ability to transmit raw data (hex) over LoRa.
  • Logging of LoRa packets.
  • BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) packet sniffing.
  • Operates in KISS-TNC mode for compatibility with existing software.

Getting Started:

  1. Installation:

    • Use PlatformIO in Visual Studio Code to compile the tool.
    • Clone the MeshTNC repository and explore example applications.
  2. Flashing Firmware:

    • Download precompiled firmware from the releases page.
    • Flash the firmware using MeshCore flasher or OEM tools.
  3. Hardware Compatibility:

    • Ensure your device is supported by MeshCore.

Using the Serial CLI:

  • Connect via a serial terminal (default baud rate: 115200).
  • Use commands like txraw to transmit packets and rxlog to log data.

KISS Mode:

  • Activate KISS mode to use the LoRa radio as a modem compatible with various software (e.g., APRS).
  • To switch modes, use serial commands.

Applications:

  • APRS Over LoRa: Connect to APRS tools via KISS mode.
  • AX.25 Over LoRa: Set up a network using AX.25 protocol for direct communication.
  • Ethernet Over LoRa: Create an Ethernet network over LoRa by using tncattach on connected devices.

For more details, you can find the code and support information on GitHub and Ko-fi.

Author: todsacerdoti | Score: 31

92.
Sewage Spill in the Potomac River
(Sewage Spill in the Potomac River)

Summary of Sewage Spill in the Potomac River

On January 19, a sewer line in Montgomery County, Maryland, collapsed, releasing over 200 million gallons of wastewater into the Potomac River. DC Water quickly established a bypass to reroute the wastewater, and additional spills occurred in early February.

Key Points:

  • Drinking Water: Fairfax Water, which uses the Potomac River as its main water source, is not affected because its intake is several miles upstream. DC Water has confirmed that its drinking water is safe.

  • Shellfish Closures: Virginia’s shellfish areas are currently safe, as recent tests showed no harmful bacteria. However, Maryland has closed shellfish growing areas near the spill site from January 25.

  • Recreation Advisory: The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has issued a recreational water advisory for the Potomac River, urging residents to avoid water activities due to potential contamination. This advisory will remain until repairs are completed, which may take 4-6 weeks.

Safety Recommendations:

  • Avoid contact with water in the advisory area.
  • Wash any skin that comes into contact with the water.
  • Seek medical advice if you experience health issues after exposure.

For ongoing updates and safety information, refer to local health department resources.

Author: geox | Score: 21

93.
Gemini 3.1 Pro
(Gemini 3.1 Pro)

The text provides links related to Google’s Gemini 3.1 Pro model. It includes a preview link for accessing the model on Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform and a card link for detailed information about the Gemini model on DeepMind's website.

Author: MallocVoidstar | Score: 952

94.
Gitas – A tool for Git account switching
(Gitas – A tool for Git account switching)

Gitas Summary

Installation:

  • For Linux & macOS: Run the command curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/letmutex/gitas/main/install.sh | sh.
  • For Windows PowerShell: Use irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/letmutex/gitas/main/install.ps1 | iex.
  • If using Homebrew: Run brew tap letmutex/tap followed by brew install gitas.
  • For Cargo users: Execute cargo install gitas.

Usage:

  • Start the interactive interface with gitas to manage accounts.
  • To add a new account, use gitas add (you can do this manually or via GitHub login).
  • To run git commands with a specific account (like cloning private projects), use gitas git clone <url>.

How It Works:

  • Gitas changes your git configuration to switch accounts easily and saves your credentials for quick access.
  • It runs git commands with a temporary identity without altering config files, ideal for single-use commands.
  • Credentials are securely stored in your system's keychain (like macOS Keychain or Windows Credential Manager).

Data Storage:

  • Configurations are stored in dirs::config_dir()/gitas/accounts.json.
  • Secrets are stored in the System Keychain.

Uninstallation:

  • For Linux/macOS, run rm -rf ~/.gitas.
  • For Windows, use Remove-Item -Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\gitas" -Recurse -Force.
  • To uninstall using Homebrew: brew uninstall gitas.
  • For Cargo: Execute cargo uninstall gitas.

License:

  • This project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
Author: letmutex | Score: 68

95.
macOS's Little-Known Command-Line Sandboxing Tool (2025)
(macOS's Little-Known Command-Line Sandboxing Tool (2025))

Summary of sandbox-exec: macOS's Command-Line Sandboxing Tool

sandbox-exec is a command-line utility in macOS that allows users to run applications in a secure, isolated environment, limiting their access to system resources. This helps protect against malicious software and unintended actions, enhancing security and privacy.

Key Benefits of Sandboxing:

  • Protection from Malicious Code: Prevents unfamiliar applications from accessing sensitive files or data.
  • Damage Limitation: Reduces the impact of vulnerabilities in trusted applications.
  • Privacy Control: Restricts access to personal directories.
  • Testing Environment: Allows developers to test applications with limited permissions.
  • Resource Restriction: Controls how much resources an application can use.

Getting Started: To use sandbox-exec, you must create a sandbox profile that defines what the application can and cannot do. The syntax is:

sandbox-exec -f profile.sb command_to_run

Profiles are written in a Scheme-like syntax, specifying rules for access.

Two Approaches to Sandboxing:

  1. Deny by Default: Starts by blocking all access and only allows specific operations. This is the most secure method.
  2. Allow by Default: Allows all operations except specific ones. This is easier but less secure.

Practical Examples:

  • You can create a terminal session that cannot access the network by using a specific sandbox profile.
  • macOS provides pre-built profiles for common use cases.

Debugging: If applications fail in a sandbox, you can use the Console app or Terminal commands to identify blocked operations.

Limitations:

  • sandbox-exec is being phased out in favor of App Sandbox.
  • Complex applications may require extensive testing for proper sandboxing.
  • It lacks a graphical interface and may be affected by system updates.

Conclusion: sandbox-exec is a powerful tool for users who want to enhance security on macOS, particularly for running untrusted code. It allows for customizable security profiles, though it requires some technical knowledge to use effectively. For detailed guidance, an extended handbook titled "sandbox-exec: The Missing Handbook" is available for early access.

Author: Igor_Wiwi | Score: 212

96.
The Dance Floor Is Disappearing in a Sea of Phones
(The Dance Floor Is Disappearing in a Sea of Phones)

Your computer network has shown unusual activity, which requires you to confirm you're not a robot by clicking a box.

To resolve this issue, ensure your browser is enabled for JavaScript and cookies, and that these features aren’t being blocked.

If you need assistance, contact the support team and provide the reference ID: 33f3209c-1022-11f1-9da1-22a85049a537.

You can also subscribe to Bloomberg.com for important global market news.

Author: blondie9x | Score: 64

97.
Wave Twisters (2001)
(Wave Twisters (2001))

Summary:

"Wave Twisters" is a 2001 animated film directed by Eric Henry and Syd Garon. It is based on DJ Q-Bert's album of the same name and is recognized as the first musical focused on turntablism. The film combines live-action, computer graphics, and cel animation. It features music from DJ Q-Bert and includes various songs. The video has gained significant views and is available on DJ YOM's YouTube channel.

Author: hyperific | Score: 11

98.
CERN rebuilt the original browser from 1989 (2019)
(CERN rebuilt the original browser from 1989 (2019))

In December 1990, the first web browser called WorldWideWeb was created at CERN. This browser is the foundation of what we know as "the web" today. To celebrate its 30th anniversary in February 2019, developers at CERN recreated the original browser, allowing people to experience its early form. This project was supported by the US Mission in Geneva.

To use the WorldWideWeb browser, you need to launch it, select "Document" from the menu, enter a URL, and click "Open."

The project includes several sections:

  • A brief history of the browser's development.
  • A timeline of events related to the web over the past 30 years.
  • Instructions for using the recreated browser.
  • Information on the fonts used in the original browser.
  • Insights into the original code of WorldWideWeb.
  • A look at how the browser was rebuilt for modern use.
  • Additional resources about the history and technology of WorldWideWeb.
  • A note about the team behind the project.
Author: tylerdane | Score: 250

99.
DHS pausing TSA PreCheck, Global Entry programs amid funding lapse
(DHS pausing TSA PreCheck, Global Entry programs amid funding lapse)

The TSA PreCheck program will continue operating despite earlier plans to suspend it due to a funding lapse in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A TSA spokesperson stated that they will assess operations based on staffing needs. However, some services, like “courtesy escorts” for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow TSA officers to focus on security.

The PreCheck program speeds up security check-ins for vetted travelers, while the status of the Global Entry program remains unclear. The funding lapse began on February 14, affecting various DHS personnel, though critical workers like those at the TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard will still report for duty without pay. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem criticized congressional Democrats for the funding issues, emphasizing the potential dangers to national security and the financial strain on DHS employees.

Author: LopRabbit | Score: 41

100.
Fedify 2.0.0: Modular architecture, debug dashboard, and relay support
(Fedify 2.0.0: Modular architecture, debug dashboard, and relay support)

Summary of Fedify 2.0.0 Announcement

Fedify is a TypeScript framework designed for building ActivityPub servers in the fediverse. The latest version, Fedify 2.0.0, introduces significant updates, including:

  1. Modular Architecture: The framework has been restructured into smaller, independent packages. This allows for easier management and smaller application sizes.

  2. Real-Time Debug Dashboard: A new dashboard provides insights into ActivityPub traffic during development, making it easier to troubleshoot and monitor federation activities.

  3. ActivityPub Relay Support: A new package allows smaller instances to participate in content distribution, improving connectivity across the fediverse.

  4. Ordered Message Delivery: New features ensure that messages are delivered in the correct order, addressing the "zombie post" issue where deleted posts might still appear.

  5. Permanent Delivery Failure Handling: The framework can now properly handle failed delivery attempts, allowing for better management of unreachable followers.

  6. Content Negotiation Improvements: Content type handling has been improved by moving checks to middleware, enhancing compatibility across different content types.

  7. New Packages and Tools: Several new packages have been introduced for vocabulary management, project creation, and consistent code quality.

  8. Breaking Changes: There are several changes that require attention when upgrading from the previous version, such as removed deprecated APIs and updated data handling methods.

Overall, Fedify 2.0.0 represents a collaborative effort to enhance the framework's capabilities, making it easier for developers to create and manage ActivityPub servers. For detailed changes and migration guides, users are encouraged to refer to the official documentation.

Author: dahlia | Score: 12
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