In the US, you can get a free domain name like somename.city.state.us if your locality has its own domain. Here’s how to do it:

1. Choose a Locality Domain: These domains are linked to specific locations in the US. You need to be a US citizen, a permanent resident, or a US-based organization to register one. Check the list of available domains and their registrars, but be aware the list may be outdated.

2. Get Nameservers: You need nameservers before registering a locality domain. Amazon Lightsail offers free nameservers. Create an AWS account, go to the Lightsail console, and set up a DNS zone for your future domain.

3. Fill Out the Registration Form: Using the Interim .US Domain Template, complete the form with your desired domain name, your information (if registering as an individual), and the nameserver addresses from Lightsail.

4. Send the Form: Email the completed form to the registrar you found earlier. It may take some time to get a confirmation of your domain registration.

5. Set Up DNS in Lightsail: After registration, return to Lightsail to create DNS records that point your domain to your web server or other services.

FAQs:

• You might not need to live in the locality of your domain when registering.
• Your personal address will not be visible in WHOIS searches.

This process allows you to create a locality domain and host a website associated with your community.

Linux gaming is becoming faster and more accessible, reaching over five percent of Steam's user base for the first time in March 2026. This growth is partly due to the popularity of the Steam Deck, which has encouraged more users to try Linux without realizing it.

Key improvements in Linux gaming have traditionally come from software like Wine and its enhanced version, Proton, which allows Windows games to run on Linux. Now, significant advancements are being made directly in the Linux kernel itself, such as the introduction of NTSYNC, a new driver that improves performance by integrating Windows-like mechanisms into Linux.

NTSYNC allows better coordination of tasks in games, reducing the need for workarounds that were previously necessary. Although initial benchmarks showed impressive performance gains, the actual differences may be more modest for games already running well on Linux. Nonetheless, NTSYNC addresses underlying issues that could affect gameplay, promising a smoother experience for gamers.

As Linux continues to gain traction in the gaming world, supported by major companies like Valve, the platform's capabilities are expected to improve further, making it a more viable option for gamers.

Summary of "A History of IDEs at Google"

The blog post discusses the evolution of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) at Google, particularly in its main codebase (google3) from 2011 to 2024.

1. Fragmentation of IDEs: Initially, Google engineers could choose their preferred IDE, leading to a fragmented ecosystem. Attempts to unify IDEs were deemed impractical, as developers have varied preferences.

2. Tooling Challenges: Different IDEs required engineers to replicate integrations for tools, which could hinder productivity. Over time, engineers organically contributed to tooling projects, leading to dedicated teams for specific IDE integrations, like IntelliJ.

3. Introduction of Cider: In 2013, a web-based editor called Cider was created, which became popular for its quick access and ease of use, especially for technical writers. It evolved to include more developer features like code completion.

4. Transition to Cider V: In 2020, the Cider team decided to adopt the VSCode frontend, allowing access to a broader range of features and an extension ecosystem. This change took years to implement fully.

5. Adoption and Impact: By 2023, 80% of Google’s development was done in Cider V. The uniformity of using a single IDE led to better integrations with company tools and encouraged more resource investment and extension development.

6. AI Features: Management pushed for AI integrations in the IDE, resulting in innovative features like machine learning for code reviews and context-aware code adjustments.

Overall, the move towards a standardized IDE has significantly improved productivity and collaboration within Google, emphasizing the benefits of having a common tool across the organization.

Summary of "Xs of Y"

"Xs of Y" is a roguelike game created using a Lisp programming language, where the magic system is also based on Lisp. The game is still in development, so players may encounter unexpected challenges.

Key Features:

• Each game session generates a new title and quest, along with unique rune mappings.
• Runes are hidden symbols, and spells are written as s-expressions.
• Players have access to a complex dungeon system, but the instructions are difficult to understand.
• The game starts off very challenging, focusing on survival, and becomes more complex later on.
• The dungeon poses various dangers, including attacking spiders, regenerating trolls, and chaotic fire interactions.

Technical Details:

• The game is made up of around 6,900 lines of code in a Lisp dialect called let-go, designed to run efficiently.
• It can be played in a web browser or natively, with a quick startup time.

To play, you can run the game using the command "lg main.lg" after installing let-go via specified methods.

For those interested in the game's style, "Brogue" was a major influence.

Vikram and Evan from Ardent are creating database sandboxes that help coding agents test their work safely. Recently, coding agents have improved in handling complex tasks, but without proper testing environments, they often produce flawed results that can harm production databases.

To solve this issue, Ardent offers quick access to realistic test environments. They use a method that replicates data from the main database to a separate space, allowing for fast and efficient testing without impacting the original database. Their approach ensures that developers can test their changes safely and securely, with features like access control and data anonymization to protect sensitive information.

Ardent aims to make all data platforms easily cloneable, enabling thorough testing of changes in a safe manner. They invite feedback from users about their experience with coding agents and the Ardent platform, which is free to start.

The text outlines various components and features of the S-100 Virtual Workbench, which simulates hardware used in early personal computers like the Altair 8800. Here are the key points:

1. CPUs: It supports Intel 8080 and Zilog Z80 processors, both of which handle standard instructions and memory operations.

2. Memory: There are RAM cards for read/write memory and ROM cards for read-only memory, allowing users to load custom software.

3. I/O Cards:

   • Serial I/O: Provides console access with configurable ports.
   • Floppy Controllers: Emulates floppy disk drives for data storage, compatible with CP/M systems.

4. Graphics:

   • The Cromemco Dazzler graphics card offers color and monochrome display options.
   • The VDM-1 outputs ASCII text on a screen.

5. Emulations: The system can mimic specific models like the SOL-20 and supports various software, including CP/M operating systems and BASIC programming.

6. User Interface: It features options for loading programs, rebooting, and monitoring system activity.

Overall, the S-100 Virtual Workbench provides a virtual environment to emulate classic S-100 bus computers and their peripherals.

In a recent Q&A session, a question was raised about the rising memory prices, which could account for 15% to 40% of a device's cost. This situation, referred to as the "Great Panic of 2026," has been concerning many since early this year.

Apple operates on a massive scale, producing hundreds of millions of devices, and has long-term relationships with suppliers. While suppliers benefit from predictable volumes, memory prices have spiked due to increased demand for variable production, which smaller suppliers struggle to fulfill.

Apple negotiates based on stable production costs, but if high variable prices persist, base prices may rise too. However, Apple can leverage its size to negotiate better deals. They are aware that memory pricing cycles will eventually stabilize, as semiconductor booms are typically followed by busts.

Currently, companies like Samsung are profiting greatly from memory sales. Apple may use this situation to consolidate its market share by potentially buying up memory supplies and could even consider launching a lower-cost iPhone model in the future to disrupt competitors.

Overall, while there are concerns about supply shortages, Apple is well-positioned to navigate these challenges and may even come out stronger in the long run.

The United States is leading the AI race primarily due to its strengths in commercialization, cloud infrastructure, data management, and the ability to apply AI across various sectors. Since the launch of DeepSeek R1 in January 2025, American companies have quickly advanced in AI, leaving competitors like China behind in terms of revenue and market reach.

Key factors contributing to the US's advantage include:

1. Infrastructure: The US dominates cloud services with major players like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, enabling efficient distribution and organization of data essential for AI.

2. Energy Costs: While electricity prices are lower in countries like Canada, the US still has competitive energy costs that help reduce AI operational expenses. However, access to cloud infrastructure and data is even more crucial than just energy prices.

3. Integration: The US is effectively integrating AI into daily tools and workflows, making it easier for businesses to adopt these technologies.

4. Challenges for Europe: Though Europe has strong engineering talent, it lacks the necessary infrastructure and cloud ecosystems to compete effectively. Building this infrastructure would take a significant amount of time, allowing the US to maintain its lead.

5. Future Considerations: The next phase of AI may involve its use in security and military applications, raising concerns about ethical implications and the potential for bias in AI systems.

Overall, the US's combination of energy efficiency, cloud infrastructure, data platforms, and capital investment positions it as the frontrunner in the global AI landscape.

The text provides CSS and JavaScript code for a splash screen that adapts to light and dark themes based on user preferences.

Key Points:

1. Theme Adaptation:

   • For light mode, the background is white and dot color is blue.
   • For dark mode, the background is dark gray and dot color is a different shade of blue.

2. Splash Screen Design:

   • The splash screen is centered and covers the entire viewport.
   • It includes a preloader image and animated dots.

3. Animations:

   • Dots have a fade-in and loader animation that makes them appear and disappear repeatedly.

4. SVG Background:

   • An SVG image is set as the background for the preloader.

5. Final Style:

   • The splash screen is hidden after loading.

Overall, the code creates a visually appealing splash screen that adjusts based on user settings.

The article reflects on the hacking culture of the late 1990s and early 2000s, highlighting key tools and events from that era.

1. Hacking Tools: The era saw the rise of Remote Administration Tools (RATs) like Back Orifice and Sub7, which allowed users to control Windows machines remotely with minimal expertise. These tools sparked significant security concerns and discussions about malware.

2. Key Tools: Other essential tools included Nmap for network scanning, Netcat for network operations, and various password cracking tools. These tools laid the groundwork for modern cybersecurity practices, many of which are still in use today.

3. IRC Communities: Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was crucial for the hacker community, serving as a space for sharing information and collaborating. It allowed for covert command and control operations through compromised machines acting as chat clients.

4. Italian Hacker Scene: The Italian hacking community faced a significant setback during a police crackdown in 1994, but it quickly adapted and moved to online platforms like IRC, reviving its culture of technical exploration and activism.

5. Legacy and Learning: The tools of the time may seem outdated now, but the strategic thinking and operational security concepts developed then continue to influence modern cybersecurity practices. The article emphasizes that many respected professionals in the field today emerged from this chaotic yet formative environment.

In summary, the piece nostalgically revisits a transformative period in hacking history, illustrating how early tools and communities shaped the foundations of today’s cybersecurity landscape.

Robert Gehrke announced that starting Thursday, The Salt Lake Tribune will make its news available for free on its website. This change is seen as a significant achievement. On March 25, 2026, the Tribune's politics team and reporters will discuss the recent legislative session and the upcoming elections at an event. The event will be introduced by Lauren Gustus and Sheila McCann, featuring several Tribune journalists. Additionally, the paper will explain how the removal of the paywall will work.

The author has decided to leave GitHub and move their code to a self-hosted platform called Forgejo. This choice is driven not by GitHub's outages, but by concerns over ownership and control of their code, especially in light of recent changes at GitHub and its integration into Microsoft's AI division.

Key points include:

• The Dutch government also chose Forgejo for their code hosting due to its open-source nature and the need for digital autonomy.
• GitHub has experienced frequent outages and has changed its data privacy policies, which now default to sharing user interaction data for AI training unless opted out by users.
• The author highlights that GitHub is no longer independent since it lost its CEO and became part of Microsoft's CoreAI division, impacting trust and control over user data.
• There are legal concerns regarding data privacy and jurisdiction, particularly due to U.S. laws that could allow government access to data.
• The author appreciates Forgejo's full open-source model and governance structure, which aims to prevent commercial capture of the platform.
• They have set up their own Forgejo instance on a single computer, ensuring security through various technical measures.
• The migration from GitHub involves some challenges, like losing GitHub's community and certain features, but the author believes the benefits of control and ownership outweigh these drawbacks.

In summary, the author advocates for self-hosting code on platforms like Forgejo to maintain ownership and autonomy, especially given the shifting landscape of GitHub and its implications for developers.

The text discusses the process of lead optimization in drug design, specifically focusing on proteins and how machine learning can enhance this process. Here are the key points:

1. Lead Optimization: This is a critical step in drug design where existing molecules are improved to enhance their effectiveness. It involves modifying a functional molecule to better achieve a specific goal.

2. Understanding Proteins: Proteins are essential molecules made up of chains of amino acids. Their function is determined by their structure, which is influenced by the sequence of amino acids.

3. Protein Design Goals: The aim is to create new proteins that perform specific functions, which can include catalyzing reactions or targeting disease-related molecules.

4. Machine Learning in Lead Optimization: The startup Cradle uses machine learning to improve lead optimization. They combine computational models with laboratory experiments to refine protein candidates more effectively than traditional methods, such as directed evolution.

5. Cradle's Approach: Their system uses a transformer-based model that learns from millions of natural protein sequences. It predicts how changes to amino acids might affect protein function.

6. Evotuning: This is a process where the model is further trained using evolutionarily related proteins to make suggestions that are more relevant to the specific protein being optimized.

7. Laboratory Testing: The effectiveness of protein candidates is tested in the lab through assays that measure various functional properties. This data helps refine the model's predictions.

8. Predicting Function: A separate model is developed to predict the expected performance of protein variants based on their sequences, helping to prioritize which candidates to test.

9. Future Steps: The next phase involves generating new protein suggestions and determining which specific amino acid positions should be modified for optimization.

This overview highlights how machine learning is transforming the lead optimization process in protein design, making it more efficient and targeted.

I'm sorry, but I can't access external links directly. However, if you provide me with the text you would like summarized, I can certainly help with that!

Summary: Composer Security Issue

Composer has a security vulnerability that can leak GitHub OAuth tokens if they do not match the expected format. This primarily affects versions 2.3.0 to 2.9.8, 2.0.0 to 2.2.28, and 1.0 to 1.10.28. The new GitHub Actions token format includes a hyphen (-), which fails Composer's validation and causes the token to be displayed in error logs.

Key points:

• The vulnerability allows sensitive GitHub tokens to be printed in logs due to a regex validation issue.
• This can happen with commonly used GitHub Actions that automatically register tokens.
• Tokens expire shortly after use, but the leak can expose them before they do.
• The severity of this issue is rated as medium to high, with a CVSS score of 7.5.

Patched versions are 2.9.8, 2.2.28, and 1.10.28. Users are advised to update to these versions to mitigate the risk.

Twin brothers Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter were fired from their tech jobs and, shortly after, deleted 96 databases containing U.S. government information. This incident highlights why companies often deactivate employee access before informing them of their termination, as a fired employee can pose a security risk.

The brothers had a criminal history, having previously served prison time for fraud. After being hired again, they engaged in unauthorized access to sensitive information, including personal data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

After their firing on February 18, 2025, Muneeb accessed his employer's network and began deleting databases and files within minutes. He also discussed his actions with Sohaib during the incident. The brothers were arrested months later, facing serious charges. Muneeb has since expressed regret over his guilty plea, while Sohaib was found guilty at trial.

The company that employed them, identified as Opexus, acknowledged failures in their hiring process and handling of terminations.

The author shares their experience of moving their digital tools to Europe, driven by a desire for digital sovereignty and control over their data. Key points include:

1. Digital Sovereignty: The author emphasizes the importance of knowing where your data is stored and being aware of potential risks from policy changes or company acquisitions.

2. Migration Choices: They replaced various services:

   • Analytics: Switched from Google Analytics to Matomo for better data control and GDPR compliance.
   • Email: Moved from Google Workspace to Proton Mail for enhanced privacy, although it has some limitations.
   • Password Management: Transitioned from 1Password to Proton Pass for a cohesive, privacy-focused experience.
   • Cloud Services: Replaced DigitalOcean with Scaleway and AWS with Scaleway for object storage, finding Scaleway to be a strong European alternative.
   • Backups: Chose OVHcloud over Backblaze for offsite backups due to better pricing and reliability.
   • Transactional Emails: Moved to Lettermint for simpler email service without unnecessary features.

3. Remaining Services: Some tools like Cloudflare, Stripe, and GitHub remain due to their specific advantages, though the author plans to migrate them eventually.

4. Overall Experience: The migration was manageable, with most changes taking about an afternoon to implement. The author feels that digital sovereignty is about being intentional with your data and infrastructure choices, and that it’s feasible to build a reliable digital setup using mostly European services.

To contribute effectively, focus on these key actions: review pull requests (PRs), update any outdated dependencies, and fix issues in your existing open-source software (OSS) projects.

Summary of the Pixter Project

Project Overview: This project involves the complete reverse engineering, documentation, emulation, and preservation of the Fisher-Price Pixter toy series and its games.

Key Points:

1. Introduction to Pixter:

   • The Pixter, released in 2000, is a drawing-oriented handheld console designed for children, emphasizing creativity over social media interactions.
   • It allowed kids to draw, play educational games, and save their creations across various games.

2. Device Evolution:

   • The original Pixter was followed by the Pixter Plus and Pixter 2.0, enhancing memory and adding wireless features, but maintaining game compatibility.
   • Pixter Color, released in 2003, introduced color graphics and a new cartridge system, while the Pixter Multimedia (2005) improved screen quality and added multimedia capabilities.

3. Reverse Engineering Success:

   • The project successfully documented how the Pixter devices work and emulated them, dispelling previous claims that no emulators existed.
   • The author discovered that the Pixter Color uses a stack-based virtual machine (VM) for game execution.

4. Technical Challenges:

   • The project involved complex hardware analysis, including dumping ROMs, understanding memory mapping, and decoding data formats.
   • The audio system was found to be unconventional and inefficient, leading to additional complications in emulation.

5. Game Preservation:

   • The project aims to preserve all known Pixter games, ensuring that they remain accessible for future generations.
   • The author is collecting games and capturing their audio and visual elements for archival purposes.

6. Community Collaboration:

   • The author worked with others in the community to improve the emulator and share findings, contributing to a collective understanding of the Pixter devices.

7. Future Work:

   • The project continues to expand, with ongoing efforts to refine the emulator, document more games, and explore the intricacies of the Pixter hardware.

In summary, this project is a significant achievement in preserving a unique piece of children's entertainment history, combining technical skill with a passion for retro gaming.

Henry from Cactus announced the open-source release of Needle, a lightweight function-calling model with 26 million parameters. It operates efficiently on consumer devices, achieving speeds of 6000 tokens per second during prefill and 1200 during decoding. The team aimed to create a model suitable for budget phones, focusing on tool calling, which involves matching queries to tool names and extracting data instead of complex reasoning.

Needle is based on a simple architecture that uses attention and gating, avoiding multi-layer perceptrons (MLPs). It was trained on a large dataset of 200 billion tokens and further refined with 2 billion tokens of synthesized function-calling data across various categories like timers and navigation.

Users can test and fine-tune Needle on their own devices through GitHub. The model has shown to outperform larger models in specific function-calling tasks, although those larger models are better for conversational contexts.

Cactus is developing an inference engine for mobile and wearable devices, and all resources, including the model weights, are available under the MIT license.

Summary of Substrate and the Role of Technical Success Manager

About Substrate:
Substrate is creating the first AI-native Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) focused on healthcare revenue cycle management (RCM). They aim to help healthcare organizations, such as physician groups and electronic medical record (EMR) providers, improve their accounts receivable (AR) processes to ensure quicker and more cost-effective reimbursements. Substrate manages over 500,000 healthcare claims each month.

The Role:
Substrate is hiring a Technical Success Manager to enhance client experiences. This role involves understanding client needs and systems, solving problems, and helping clients better understand their data. The ideal candidate thrives on finding solutions and helping clients succeed.

Key Responsibilities:

• Client Relationship Management: Be the main contact for clients, building trust by providing solutions rather than just tracking issues.
• Problem Investigation: Address client-reported issues by identifying root causes independently, using database queries and code analysis.
• Tool Development: Create tools to better diagnose production problems and improve client interactions.
• Prototyping and Demos: Present potential solutions to clients before they are built, helping to clarify and refine their needs.

Ideal Candidate Traits:

• Strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• Willingness to dive deep into technical problems.
• Comfortable with coding, SQL, and data analysis.
• Experience in managing customer relationships in a B2B SaaS or enterprise software environment.
• Familiarity with modern AI architectures and evaluation methods.
• Interest or background in healthcare automation using AI.
• Proactive and resourceful, seeking solutions when faced with challenges.
• Willing to work in-person in San Francisco three days a week.

Compensation:
Competitive salary and equity options are available.

Candidates are encouraged to apply even if they do not meet every qualification, especially if they have strong skills in certain areas or a genuine interest in the role.

Summary of "The Emacsification of Software"

In 2026, the author discusses the need for better Markdown viewers, highlighting the frustration with current options, especially in terminal-based user interfaces (TUIs). While there are good Markdown tools like glow and Markless, they are limited by the terminal's design. Graphical Markdown editors exist, but they disrupt the user's work environment when opening files.

After struggling to find a satisfactory Markdown viewer on the App Store, the author decided to create one using AI assistance. This led to the development of MDV.app, a dedicated Markdown viewer that significantly improved their experience. The app includes features like text selection, bookmarks, and a user-friendly design, enhancing usability compared to existing options.

The author reflects on how AI tools have transformed software development, allowing anyone to create personalized software easily. This "Emacsification" trend means more software will be tailored for individual use, often not intended for mass distribution. The focus shifts from the software's code to the ideas behind its creation.

AI tools enable developers to finish projects that might have been abandoned, leading to a more enjoyable software creation process. The author believes this trend will make nerdy software more interesting and encourages others to create their own specific solutions. Overall, the message is one of excitement about the future of software development and the potential for personal projects to flourish.

Summary:

The author conducted an experiment to see if jelly could be nailed to a wall. They gathered materials like a hammer, nails, jelly cubes, and a plank of wood. The nails needed to be longer than the jelly bowl's depth to hold the jelly in place.

Initially, the author used concentrated jelly cubes that stuck to the wall without needing nails, which felt like "cheating." They then made proper jelly by dissolving cubes in boiling water and adding cold water, following packet instructions for a fair test.

After letting the jelly set, they attempted to nail it to a horizontal plank. Despite using several nails, the jelly broke apart as they tilted the plank. A second attempt with a smaller amount of jelly and more nails also failed, as the jelly eventually fell off.

The conclusion is that it's impossible to nail jelly to a vertical wall effectively, even with many nails. The experiment shows that the saying "like nailing jelly to the wall" is justified, as it represents an impossible task. Future ideas include using a stronger jelly mix or nailing the wall into the jelly as it sets.

Elevator is a new tool that translates x86-64 executables into AArch64 format without needing debug information or source code. Unlike other systems that use guesses or adjustments during runtime, Elevator examines every byte of the original code and prepares multiple translations in advance. Each byte can be seen as data, a command, or a command argument, and Elevator creates different paths for each possibility, only discarding paths that lead to errors.

The tool uses code "tiles" based on a high-level understanding of the original instruction set, making the translation process efficient. The resulting binaries are complete and do not rely on any runtime components, which makes them safer to use. However, this method can lead to larger file sizes. The main advantage is that the translated code can be tested and verified before use, reducing risks compared to other methods like emulators.

Tests with real-world binaries, including the SPECint 2006 suite, show that Elevator's static translation is reliable and can perform as well as or better than QEMU's emulation.

Kickstarter has changed its guidelines to ban various types of adult content, including anything considered violent, derogatory, or sexually explicit. This shift appears to be influenced by its payment processor, Stripe, which may be pressuring Kickstarter to enforce these new rules. The updates, made around May 11, 2026, now specifically prohibit content like implied sex acts and nudity, including restrictions on female body parts. This change is surprising, especially since Kickstarter had previously promoted adult projects through its "Kickstarter After Dark" newsletter. Similar restrictions have been seen on other platforms like Steam and Itch.io after pressure from payment processors.

Haiku Inc. offers merchandise for sale through a partner called Freewear. A part of the money from each sale will be donated to Haiku Inc. You can also make a donation to support them.

Kraftwerk's 1976 song "Radioactivity" has become a significant anti-nuclear anthem, marking its 50th anniversary this month. The track features a Geiger counter sound and synthesizers, creating a unique blend of scientific themes and haunting melodies. It originally appeared on their album "Radio-Activity," which was recorded during their touring schedule and included lyrics in both English and German.

Over the years, "Radioactivity" has transformed from a melodic piece into a powerful protest song against nuclear energy. A notable reworked version released in the early '90s emphasized anti-nuclear sentiments, referencing disasters like Chernobyl and Hiroshima. Kraftwerk performed this version at various events, including Greenpeace concerts.

The song's influence extends across genres, inspiring artists like David Bowie and electronic music pioneers. Its themes remain relevant today, especially in light of modern nuclear concerns. "Radioactivity" continues to be performed live and has been featured in numerous soundtracks, showcasing its lasting impact on music and culture. Kraftwerk's innovative approach has shaped the future of electronic music, making their work a vital part of music history.

Summary of Sijmen's Wii Project

Sijmen has set up a website using a Nintendo Wii as a home server, running on a 729 MHz PowerPC CPU and 64 MB RAM with NetBSD 10.1. The site operates over IPv6, while IPv4 users are routed through a different server.

Setup Details:

• Initially, Sijmen faced network issues with a USB Ethernet adapter that didn't work, but switched to a TP-Link USB adapter that works well with NetBSD.
• He configured a static IPv6 address for the server and set up necessary packages, like Git and a web server, through NetBSD's package manager.
• Sijmen adjusted settings to disable unnecessary services and configured the web server to use chroot and virtual hosting.

Network Configuration:

• IPv6 clients connect directly to the Wii's server, while IPv4 clients are proxied through another server.
• A Gopher server was also installed for additional functionality.

Future Plans:

• Sijmen aims to improve IPv4 connectivity and add HTTPS support.
• He envisions using the server for more than just basic tasks, possibly developing a small web application to demonstrate that powerful hardware isn't necessary for simple web services.

Contact information is provided for feedback or comments.

Summary of "Cost of Enum-to-String: C++26 Reflection vs the Old Ways"

In this article, the author revisits the compile-time costs associated with C++26 reflection, focusing on enum-to-string conversion—a common use case in programming for tasks like logging and debugging. Three methods for converting enum values to strings are compared:

1. Reflection (C++26): This method uses the <meta> header, allowing for a clean and straightforward implementation without macros. However, it has a high compile-time cost due to the overhead of including <meta>.

2. Enchantum (C++17): A library using __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ to achieve enum reflection. It has a lower include cost but performs a full scan of possible enum values, making it less efficient for larger enums.

3. X-Macro (Preprocessor): A classic C-style method that uses macros to define enums and their string representations. It has the lowest compile-time cost.

Benchmark Results

The author conducted benchmarks by varying the number of enum enumerators (N) and measuring the compile times for each method. Key findings include:

• The reflection method incurs a significant header cost (~155 ms) due to including <meta>.
• The X-macro approach with const char* is the fastest, even outperforming the reflection method in many cases.
• Enchantum is efficient for smaller enums but becomes slower with larger ones due to its scanning range.

Insights and Recommendations

• Precompiled Headers (PCH) significantly reduce the compile time for reflection, making it the most efficient option when used correctly.
• Avoid including the enum-to-string header from other headers to minimize the cost of including <meta>.
• For performance-sensitive projects, the X-macro method remains a strong choice despite its complexity.

Conclusion

While C++26 reflection offers improved ergonomics for enum-to-string conversion, the inclusion of <meta> leads to higher compile times. Developers should weigh these costs, especially in large codebases, and consider using PCH for better performance. The article emphasizes that the real cost of using reflection stems from the <meta> header rather than the reflection process itself.

Summary: Using OR-Tools CP-SAT for Scheduling Problems

The author is working on improving maintenance scheduling for Akamai’s cloud infrastructure, specifically for hypervisor hosts managing numerous virtual machines (VMs). The scheduling issue involves complex constraints, including capacity limits, customer disruption tolerances, and resource usage during maintenance.

Key Challenges:

1. Capacity: Ensuring there’s enough spare capacity in the datacenter for migrating VMs.
2. Concurrency: Managing the limited number of simultaneous migrations without overloading resources.
3. Conflict: Minimizing customer disruption by controlling how many VMs can be migrated at once.

Solution Approach:

The author explored various optimization tools, ultimately finding Google’s OR-Tools CP-SAT solver ideal for this type of scheduling problem. The CP-SAT solver is efficient for scheduling due to its ability to model time and constraints intuitively.

Problem Modeling:

The maintenance scheduling problem resembles a Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP). Each VM migration can be treated as a task with specific resource needs and time constraints.

Implementation Steps:

1. Define the Problem: Create a simple model with a single host and three VMs, each with a defined migration duration.
2. Utilize Interval Variables: Use CP-SAT’s interval variables to represent the migration tasks, allowing easy expression of constraints like no overlaps and cumulative resource usage.
3. Add Constraints: Implement constraints to ensure that migrations respect capacity limits and do not overlap.

Comparison with Other Methods:

While Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) can also solve scheduling problems, it requires more complex formulations and can become inefficient with larger problems. The CP-SAT solver offers a more intuitive and efficient way to model such problems, especially with its built-in constraints for scheduling.

Conclusion:

The author recommends using OR-Tools CP-SAT for scheduling issues due to its powerful and user-friendly features, which simplify modeling complex constraints compared to MIP methods.

Summary of DYNOMIGHT Content

The text discusses various topics related to heritability, particularly focusing on the heritability of lifespan and factors affecting it. Key points include:

1. Heritability Basics: Heritability measures how much of a trait (like lifespan or IQ) is influenced by genetics versus environment. For lifespan, traditional estimates suggest heritability is about 23-35%, based on twin studies.

2. New Research: A recent paper proposes a mathematical model simulating lifespans in a world without deaths from non-aging causes (like accidents or diseases). In this model, heritability rises to 46-57%.

3. Relevance of Context: The heritability number can change based on societal conditions. For example, better healthcare may reduce extrinsic mortality, potentially increasing heritability estimates.

4. Critique of Scientific Communication: The author criticizes the clarity of the paper published in Science, arguing it lacks detailed explanations and is not easily reproducible.

5. Conclusion on Heritability of Lifespan: While the paper suggests a heritability of about 50% in an idealized scenario, the actual heritability in modern contexts may be closer to 40-45%, depending on various factors.

Overall, the discussion highlights the complexities of measuring heritability and the importance of context in scientific research.

In 2021, EviCore, a company owned by Cigna, denied a request from a doctor to cover a cardiac exam for Little John Cupp, a 61-year-old man. This denial reflects a broader issue where health insurers often outsource decisions about medical coverage to companies like EviCore, which profits from denying treatment requests.

EviCore uses an algorithm called "the dial" to determine the likelihood of approving medical procedures. This algorithm can be adjusted to increase denial rates, allowing the company to cut costs for insurers. EviCore has contracts that incentivize it to reduce healthcare spending, often leading to more denials of necessary treatments.

Patients frequently receive disappointing news when their treatment requests are denied, which can have serious consequences. For example, Cupp’s repeated requests for a heart catheterization were denied, and he later suffered a fatal cardiac arrest. Experts have debated whether his initial request for the procedure was appropriate, but many believe it could have saved his life.

Medical professionals have criticized EviCore's guidelines for being outdated and overly strict, resulting in unnecessary delays or denials of care. While EviCore claims to ensure that patients receive only necessary treatments, many believe that profit motives drive their denial rates.

The investigation highlights the troubling relationship between insurers and companies like EviCore, where financial incentives may compromise patient care. Chris Cupp, John’s daughter, expressed her frustration, stating that insurance companies have too much influence over critical medical decisions. She ultimately sued the involved parties, seeking justice for her father's death and highlighting the need for change in the healthcare system.

Lake Tahoe is facing a significant energy crisis as its main electricity supplier, NV Energy, plans to stop providing power after May 2027 to prioritize data centers. This affects the 49,000 residents of Lake Tahoe, who rely on Liberty Utilities, a smaller utility company in California that sources most of its power from NV Energy.

The area is experiencing a surge in data centers, which are projected to increase electricity demand significantly. This growth has complicated the energy supply situation because there isn’t a single regulatory authority overseeing power generation and customer billing across state lines, which creates a complicated legal and logistical challenge.

Liberty Utilities aims to find replacement energy sources before their contract with NV Energy expires, but they face difficulties related to the infrastructure needed to connect directly to California’s power grid. Although NV Energy is building a new transmission line to improve electricity access, it won’t be ready in time for the contract deadline.

Residents are already facing rising electricity rates and concerns that the costs of infrastructure improvements are unfairly placed on them, especially since many are low-income residents and essential workers. They feel neglected by regulators, as the unique demands of the region—driven by tourism and second-home ownership—are not adequately addressed in energy planning.

Going forward, Liberty Utilities plans to seek new power contracts, but residents worry that they will be at a disadvantage competing against larger utilities and industrial users for stable energy supplies. Overall, Lake Tahoe’s energy future remains uncertain, and residents are advocating for more oversight and fair representation in the decision-making process.

Nearly 50,000 residents of Lake Tahoe are facing an energy crisis as their main power supplier, NV Energy, will stop providing electricity after May 2027 to prioritize data centers. This change is due to the growing demand for energy from data centers in Northern Nevada, driven by tech giants like Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

Liberty Utilities, the local utility company, currently relies on NV Energy for 75% of its power. Without this supply, Liberty must find a new energy source within a year. However, the situation is complicated by regulatory challenges, as no single authority oversees the entire power supply chain for this region, which spans two states.

Liberty has requested permission from California regulators to find replacement energy, but advocates argue this process needs more transparency and public input. Meanwhile, the demand for power from data centers is expected to grow significantly, putting further strain on the energy supply.

Lake Tahoe's residents are also facing rising energy costs, with prior utility rate increases already impacting affordability. The region's unique demographic and seasonal patterns complicate energy demand, as many residents are low-income workers supporting a tourism-driven economy.

Liberty plans to seek bids for replacement power, but residents worry they will struggle against larger utilities and industrial users for energy supply. Overall, Lake Tahoe's residents feel overlooked and unrepresented in the ongoing energy transition.

Data centers are reducing power supply to homes, which is encouraging homeowners to turn to solar energy and battery storage solutions.

Summary of "The Boring Part of Bell Labs"

The author reflects on their father's work at Bell Labs, which they initially perceived as unexciting compared to the groundbreaking innovations from the research division. However, they later appreciate the value of the applied work done at Holmdel, where their father designed tools like slide rules for salesmen and managed inventory for telephone exchanges.

The text discusses the "One Year On Campus" program, where new graduates could earn a master's degree while working at Bell Labs, covering tuition and providing a salary. Craig, the interviewee, shares his experience in this program, highlighting how he completed his degree in operations research at Cornell.

Craig worked in the Private Branch Exchange area, focusing on optimizing the number of telephone operators needed based on call patterns, using simulations for analysis. He also worked on inventory control for circuit packs and designed a slide rule to help sales staff give quick cost estimates.

The organization of Bell Labs is described, noting its supportive environment, high standards for education, and regular working hours. Craig had opportunities for independent work and was involved in hiring decisions early in his career.

The interview also emphasizes the importance of experimental design in statistics, illustrating its significance for efficiency and understanding causality in industrial processes. The author concludes by thanking patrons and acknowledging Craig’s contributions to the discussion.

The article discusses a bug in the CUBIC congestion control algorithm, which is the default in Linux and used in Cloudflare's QUIC implementation, quiche. This bug causes the congestion window (cwnd) to remain at its minimum after a congestion collapse, preventing recovery.

Key Points:

1. CUBIC Overview: CUBIC manages how data is sent over the network, increasing the sending rate when there’s no packet loss and decreasing it when loss occurs.

2. Bug Discovery: The issue was identified during tests where CUBIC failed to recover after a period of heavy packet loss, resulting in a 60% failure rate in tests.

3. Oscillation Problem: After packet loss stopped, CUBIC's state oscillated rapidly between recovery and congestion avoidance without increasing the cwnd, leading to the connection not recovering properly.

4. Root Cause: The bug stemmed from an optimization in the Linux kernel that was not correctly adapted in the QUIC implementation. It involved incorrect handling of idle periods, causing CUBIC to misinterpret the connection state.

5. Fix: A simple code change was made to measure idle time correctly, allowing the congestion window to grow again after packet loss ceased. This solution restored the expected performance, achieving a 100% pass rate in tests.

6. Conclusion: The incident highlights the complexity of network algorithms and the importance of precise state management in congestion control to prevent similar issues in the future.

OrcaSlicer now fully supports Bambu Lab printers through BambuNetwork, allowing internet access for printing, not just LAN.

Installation Instructions:

• Windows: Requires WSL 2. Open Command Prompt or PowerShell as Administrator and run two commands to enable necessary features, then restart your computer and launch Orca Studio.

• Linux: Just do a regular installation.

• macOS: Currently being developed.

BMCU: It's recommended to use BMCU, and you can find its firmware in my repositories.

Traceway Overview

Traceway is an observability platform based on OpenTelemetry that allows users to quickly set up and manage observability tools for monitoring applications. It is open-source, self-hosted, and can be set up in just 90 seconds.

Key Features:

• Integrated Observability: Combines logs, traces, metrics, session replay, exceptions, and AI tracing in one platform.
• Easy Setup: Just point an OTLP exporter to Traceway to start collecting data, with no need for additional tools or complex configurations.
• Comprehensive Tooling: Offers features like structured logs, end-to-end tracing, customizable metrics, error tracking, session replay for web and Flutter applications, and AI observability.
• Alerts and Configurations: Supports configurable alerts and multi-tenant organizations with role-based access.

Usage Options:

• Self-Hosting: Users can self-host for free using Docker or run it on Traceway Cloud.
• Quick Start: Simple commands allow users to set up Traceway locally or embed it within a Go application.

Supported Integrations: Traceway works with various backend and frontend frameworks including Go, Node.js, React, and Flutter, making it easy to integrate into existing applications.

Community and Contributions: Traceway encourages community engagement through Discord for support, feature requests, and contributions. Users can share experiences and help each other with setup and deployment.

Licensing: Traceway is licensed under MIT, ensuring all features are freely available without hidden fees or restrictions.

For more information, users can explore the Traceway website, documentation, and community resources.

A recent study reveals that Neanderthals practiced dentistry 59,000 years ago in what is now southwestern Siberia. Archaeologists found a molar with a drilled hole, indicating that a Neanderthal had a toothache severe enough to require treatment. Researchers believe this procedure involved drilling into the tooth to remove infected tissue, which would alleviate pain by exposing the nerves.

The tooth, discovered at Chagyrskaya Cave, is the oldest known evidence of dental work or any medical procedure. The drilling suggests that Neanderthals had medical knowledge and problem-solving skills, as they could relieve pain without extracting the entire tooth.

To confirm that the hole was made intentionally, researchers conducted experiments using similar stone tools on human teeth. Their findings matched the ancient tooth, supporting the idea that this was a deliberate medical intervention. The patient likely endured significant discomfort but survived long enough to use the tooth normally afterward.

This discovery highlights the complexity of Neanderthal life, showing they cared for the sick and possessed a level of medical understanding not previously attributed to them. Future research may uncover more evidence of early medical practices among Neanderthals.

The text discusses the introduction of a new category of laptops called "Googlebook." It highlights key features and functions of these laptops, focusing on how they differ from traditional laptops and their potential benefits for users. The summary emphasizes the innovative aspects of Googlebook and its relevance to the tech community.

The article "Is This Why Science Advances One Funeral at a Time?" by Bob Grant discusses how the creativity and innovation of scientists change as they age. It highlights that while younger researchers often introduce groundbreaking ideas, older scientists tend to focus more on connecting existing concepts rather than disrupting established norms.

Researchers from the universities of Pittsburgh and Chicago found that over time, scientists become less likely to produce disruptive innovations but more capable of making novel connections between ideas. This pattern was observed by analyzing the work of over 12 million scientists from 1960 to 2020.

The article references a quote by Nobel laureate Max Planck, suggesting that science progresses slowly, often only after the older generation (the "gatekeepers") passes on, as they may resist new ideas that challenge their established beliefs. Overall, the study indicates that as scientists grow older, their attachment to familiar ideas can hinder significant advancements in their fields.

The author is preparing for their college graduation on May 12, 2026, and shares their experiences with the cap and gown process. They note that in the U.S., graduates must rent their caps and gowns, which can be costly—$94 in their case—and that not wearing one means you can't participate in the ceremony.

They also mention a quirky tradition where the tassel on the cap is moved from right to left during graduation, joking about its implications for left-handed people. Inspired by this, the author created a graduation cap that lights up when the tassel is moved, using various electronic components like LEDs and a sensor.

The coding for the project took about 2 hours, and building the hardware took over 3 hours. Despite the effort, the author decided not to wear the cap to graduation, finding it too flashy and tacky. They provide a link to the code for their project and include a warning about rapid flashing lights in their video.

The unofficial Mac version of Notepad++, created by Andrey Letov, has been renamed Nextpad++ due to a trademark dispute with the original developer, Don Ho. The rebranding was necessary because Letov used the Notepad++ name without permission. Now, Nextpad++ is described as an "open-source and independent community port" of Notepad++ for macOS, built using Objective-C++, Scintilla, and Cocoa. The app is available for both Apple silicon and Intel Macs and features a new icon. However, some critics, like John Gruber, have expressed skepticism about the app's quality, suggesting it feels "unholy" and may have been quickly developed using AI tools.

A new local privilege escalation vulnerability called Fragnesia has been announced for the Linux kernel. This issue follows the recently disclosed Dirty Frag vulnerability. Fragnesia is related to a bug in the ESP/XFRM code that allows unauthorized byte writes into the kernel's page cache for read-only files.

Proof of concept code for exploiting Fragnesia is already available, and there is a small patch to fix the issue in the Linux kernel's skbuff.c file. However, this patch has not yet been included in any official kernel releases but is expected to be added soon.

More information can be found on the oss-security mailing list.

The vi family of text editors, which includes the original vi from 1977, is the most popular among Linux users. Despite its steep learning curve, many prefer it for its efficiency and widespread availability across various IDEs like VS Code and IntelliJ IDEA.

Over the years, many clones and derivatives of vi have been created. Here are some notable ones:

1. Original vi (1977-2017): A basic but widely used text editor.
2. STevie (1987-1989): A clone for Atari ST and Amiga, not widely used today.
3. Elvis (1990-2024): One of the first vi clones, offering enhancements like syntax coloring.
4. Vim (1991-present): The most popular vi clone, known for its features like multiple buffers and large file support.
5. nvi (1994-present): A reimplementation of vi that maintains core functionalities.
6. Neovim (2014-present): A modernized version of Vim with additional features and improvements.

Other notable mentions include various vi-like editors and tools like Kakoune, Evil (for Emacs), and Helix, each offering unique features while drawing inspiration from vi.

In summary, the vi family has a rich history and continues to influence many text editing tools today.

Namanyay from Gigacatalyst introduces a tool that helps businesses create custom features for their software without needing engineers. Gigacatalyst allows sales teams, customer service representatives, and users to build essential workflows using AI, making it easier for companies to meet unique customer needs.

Traditionally, customizing software for large businesses required extensive engineering or led to makeshift solutions. Gigacatalyst solves this by connecting to a company's existing systems and enabling non-technical users to create features through simple conversations with AI.

For example, users have built applications to:

• Prevent parts shortages by tracking inventory and forecasting needs.
• Automatically extract data from invoice photos to streamline processes.
• Prioritize maintenance requests for better management.

The platform works by intelligently discovering app functionalities, generating apps based on user requests, and ensuring safety through validation and sandboxing.

With over 2,000 daily users and 900 apps created, Gigacatalyst is now offering a public demo. You can try it by entering your software's API URL. If you're interested in enhancing your software's functionality, you can book a meeting for assistance. Namanyay invites feedback and is excited to share this product with the Hacker News community.

The Box Elder County Commission in Utah has approved a massive datacenter project that is set to be more than twice the size of Manhattan. This facility, called Stratos, will span over 40,000 acres and require more power than the entire state currently consumes, raising concerns about its impact on water supplies in a drought-stricken area.

Despite receiving thousands of objections from residents and environmentalists, the project was backed by venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary, who claims it will create jobs and strengthen the U.S. in the AI sector. Critics argue that it could worsen pollution and threaten the Great Salt Lake ecosystem, which is already in crisis.

Public opposition has led to contentious meetings, with accusations of outside influence on protests. A group is working to reverse the project’s approval through a referendum, but the developers have withdrawn an application to divert water for the project and plan to submit a new one, which could bypass local objections.

Utah's governor has stated that the project will be closely monitored to ensure it does not harm the environment or raise energy costs. He emphasized the need for responsible development that aligns with local values.

No summary available.

The article discusses why senior developers struggle to communicate their expertise effectively, especially in the context of software development's evolving landscape influenced by AI.

Key Points:

1. Different Perspectives: Senior developers and non-developers perceive the impact of AI on software development differently. Senior developers may feel that their expertise is being undermined, while non-developers may see AI as a solution that could replace traditional roles.

2. Two Types of Senior Developers:

   • Some focus on new tools and practices, while others prioritize minimizing complexity and ensuring stability in software systems.
   • The latter group, which values avoiding unnecessary complexity, is crucial for maintaining the reliability of services.

3. Business Goals:

   • Business teams (marketing, sales, etc.) focus on reducing uncertainty by quickly bringing products to market.
   • Senior developers focus on maintaining stability and managing complexity to ensure systems remain understandable and reliable.

4. Communication Gap: The differing priorities between the two groups lead to miscommunication. Senior developers need to frame their solutions in terms of how they can help reduce uncertainty, rather than just managing complexity.

5. AI's Role: While AI can speed up development, it also risks compromising system stability and understandability. Senior developers have the unique responsibility to ensure systems remain stable amidst rapid changes.

6. Decoupling Systems: The article suggests creating two systems: one for rapid development (Speed) and another for stability and understandability (Scale). This allows for quick market feedback while maintaining a stable service for customers.

In conclusion, senior developers should better articulate their contributions to addressing business needs for speed and stability, using communication strategies that resonate with non-technical stakeholders.

Summary of Floating-Point Compressor (fc)

The Floating-Point Compressor (fc) is a lossless compression tool designed for streams of 64-bit doubles (IEEE-754 format). It efficiently compresses data by dividing it into adaptable blocks, using various specialized codecs to find the smallest output, and employs multi-threading for both compression and decompression.

Key Features:

• Performance: In tests with 17 synthetic datasets, fc achieved an average compression ratio of 3.07. It is particularly effective with structured and analytic floating-point data, outperforming competitors like zstd and fpzip in many cases.
• Speed: The decompression speed is approximately 1.28 GB/s, making it significantly faster than encoding. This makes fc suitable for use in time-series data storage where read speed is critical.
• Multi-threading: Both encoding and decoding processes are multi-threaded, enhancing performance on multi-core systems.

Strengths:

• Excels in compressing structured data (e.g., constant and parabolic floats).
• Fast decoding, suitable for applications requiring quick access to data.

Weaknesses:

• Not as effective with byte-pattern-friendly or noisy natural data compared to some other compressors.
• Encoding speed is slower compared to some alternatives like lz4 and zstd, which may be preferable in scenarios where encoding speed is the priority.

Technical Requirements:

• The library requires x86-64 architecture and specific CPU features (AVX2, SSE4.2, BMI, LZCNT).
• It only handles lossless compression and requires input data to be multiple of 8 bytes.

Usage:

• The library's API allows users to compress and decompress data easily, with built-in monitoring for diagnostics.

License:

• The fc code is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0, while the bundled Gorilla codec files are under their own licenses.

Conclusion: fc is a specialized compressor that is highly effective for certain types of floating-point data, particularly in scenarios where decompression speed is crucial. Users should consider their specific data types and requirements when selecting a compression tool.

On May 13, 2026, the website SecurityBaseline.eu was launched to monitor online security for European governments. This platform, a spin-off from the Dutch “Basisbeveiliging,” aims to help governments enhance the security of their online services. Important findings include:

1. Tracking Cookies: 3,081 government sites are using tracking cookies without proper consent, violating GDPR regulations.
2. Database Security: Over 1,000 database management interfaces (phpMyAdmin) are publicly accessible, posing security risks.
3. Email Encryption: A staggering 99% of governmental email is poorly encrypted, failing to meet modern security standards.

The site provides visual maps to show security issues across different countries and encourages governments to take action to protect their citizens. It emphasizes the need for continuous improvement in cybersecurity practices rather than one-time fixes.

SecurityBaseline.eu aims for transparency in online security and invites individuals and organizations to support its mission. The platform monitors over 80,000 organizations and provides detailed metrics for each, highlighting significant differences in security practices across European countries.

No summary available.

Summary of "Redis and the Cost of Ambition"

The article discusses the evolution of Redis, a popular data structure server, and how its ambition to expand its features has led to a loss of identity and focus. Initially celebrated for its simplicity and effectiveness as a key-value store, Redis has struggled with licensing issues, increased complexity, and a shift towards becoming a comprehensive database solution.

Key points include:

1. Licensing Changes: Redis Inc. shifted its licensing model in 2024, moving from a permissive BSD license to a more restrictive AGPL license, causing backlash among users.

2. Feature Bloat: Over the years, Redis has added numerous complex features in an attempt to keep up with trends, which has led to a bloated system that is harder to maintain and use effectively.

3. Identity Crisis: Redis started as a simple, high-performance cache but has tried to become a full-fledged database, which has diluted its core strengths.

4. Protocol Issues: The introduction of a new protocol (RESP3) has complicated the user experience, deviating from the simplicity that originally attracted users.

5. Ambition vs. Functionality: The desire to incorporate features from other database systems has distracted Redis from what made it successful. Users are often better served by dedicated solutions rather than a multi-purpose Redis.

6. Competitors: Newer solutions like Valkey focus on improving performance and reliability without chasing trendy features, appealing to users who value Redis's original capabilities.

The article concludes that while ambition in development is not inherently bad, it can lead to losing the original vision and effectiveness of a product.

The article discusses how to effectively design text that conveys a futuristic feel, using six simple rules.

1. Italicize the text to give it a dynamic look.
2. Mix curves and angles in the typography for a modern touch.
3. Incorporate sharp "V" shapes in some letters to enhance the futuristic vibe.
4. Combine letters to create unique forms and avoid traditional spacing issues.
5. Remove unnecessary parts of the text for a sleeker appearance.
6. Add textures and effects like metal finishes and lighting to complete the design.

These rules have been used in many films, such as Blade Runner, Battlestar Galactica, Transformers, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, all of which showcase these design principles. The author also mentions that an expanded version of this article will be in the book "Typeset in the Future," available for pre-order.

Claude subscription plans will offer a monthly credit for Agent SDK usage starting June 15, 2026. This credit applies to users on Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, but not to those using an API key. The credit covers:

• Claude Agent SDK usage in personal projects (Python or TypeScript)
• The claude -p command in non-interactive mode
• Claude Code GitHub Actions integration
• Third-party apps using the Agent SDK

However, it does not cover interactive usage in the terminal, web, desktop, or mobile app conversations.

Key points about the credit:

• Each user receives their own credit, which cannot be shared.
• Credits reset monthly and don't carry over if unused.
• Users must opt-in once to receive the credit, which is applied first to Agent SDK usage before any extra charges apply.

Subscription limits for interactive use remain unchanged, and users on API keys will continue with pay-as-you-go billing without the credit. Team and Enterprise admins should note that credits are individual and cannot be pooled. Eligible users will receive instructions to claim their credit before the start date.

Valve has added a fun feature to its new Steam Controller, which sells for $99. When the controller is dropped, it can let out a Wilhelm scream—a classic sound used in many movies. This was discovered by a Reddit user and confirmed by others who tested it. The scream is quiet and requires a significant drop height to trigger, with a cooldown period between screams.

The controller is designed with advanced touchpads, gyro controls, and unique joysticks. Although it doesn't have a traditional speaker, the sound is likely produced through its haptic motors. This Easter egg adds a playful twist to the gaming experience with the Steam Controller.

The author reflects on six years of developing EndBASIC, a BASIC interpreter for various platforms that allows for cross-platform app creation. Despite its exciting features, the author is concerned about the future of the project, questioning the appeal of building on an outdated language like BASIC. They propose exploring alternative directions for the project's underlying technology, which includes:

1. Core Language: A simple, extensible compiler and virtual machine (VM) that can be used for other programming languages or domain-specific languages (DSLs).

2. Console Framework: A portable framework for creating graphical and text-based interfaces across different environments.

3. Virtual File System: A library that supports various file storage options, including memory, local storage, and cloud services.

4. Embedded System Builder: A tool for creating minimal bootable images for embedded devices that integrates easily with host systems.

The author considers several potential paths for the project's evolution, such as continuing to develop BASIC, replacing it with a more popular programming language, focusing on the core components, creating a BSD-based build system, or exploring AI integration.

After taking a break, the author is now working on a complete rewrite of EndBASIC's core language and plans to add new features, including enhanced graphics and sound support. They invite feedback and interest in the project's future directions.

No summary available.

A petition is urging major media outlets like The New York Times, The Atlantic, and USA Today to allow their articles to be preserved in the Wayback Machine, a service by the Internet Archive. Recently, these outlets have blocked their content from being archived, which threatens the accessibility of important journalism.

The petition emphasizes that preserving journalists' work is vital for freedom of expression and historical record. It highlights that the Wayback Machine has been a reliable archiving tool for years, and blocks against it could hinder fact-checking and accountability, especially as misinformation grows with AI technologies.

The petition calls on media leaders to collaborate with the Internet Archive to ensure that news remains accessible and protected from censorship. The authors argue that supporting the Wayback Machine is essential for safeguarding journalism in an increasingly challenging environment.

The text discusses the challenges and considerations of using the Rust programming language for projects. Here are the key points:

1. Rust's Suitability: Rust may not be the best choice unless your team is already skilled in it. Many companies, like Amazon and Cloudflare, use Rust, but following them without expertise can lead to mistakes.

2. Hype vs. Usage: Rust is highly praised but not widely used, indicating a gap between popularity and practical application.

3. Complexity of Async: Using asynchronous programming in Rust can complicate code and lead to performance issues, making it harder to manage. The ecosystem is fragmented with many incompatible libraries.

4. Frequent Updates: Rust has many updates, which can create extra work for developers who need to keep up with changes and maintain their tools.

5. Weak Standard Library: Rust lacks a robust standard library, leading to a fragmented ecosystem where developers often have to rely on external libraries that may not be well-maintained.

6. Use Cases for Rust:

   • Cross-Platform Apps: Rust is effective for applications that need to operate on multiple platforms.
   • System Programming: It is suitable for low-resource programs that need to interact with operating systems.
   • Embedded Development: Rust is gaining traction in IoT due to its security features.
   • High-Scale Applications: Companies needing high performance and control may benefit from Rust.

7. Learning Resources: The text encourages learning Rust through various resources, including books and articles that provide practical projects and insights.

In conclusion, while Rust has strengths, it also presents challenges that developers should consider before deciding to use it for their projects.

No summary available.

Sai and Aayush are launching Hypercubic, a platform that integrates AI tools with mainframe systems, particularly those using COBOL. Today, they introduced Hopper, a new development environment designed for mainframes.

Users can download Hopper and request a mainframe account to explore its features. The mainframe is crucial for industries like banking and insurance, but its development processes are outdated, often relying on complex terminal commands rather than modern tools.

Hopper combines a real TN3270 terminal interface with AI capabilities. This allows AI to navigate the unique mainframe environment to automate tasks like debugging and job submissions. Unlike simple chatbots, Hopper enables agents to work directly within the mainframe, improving efficiency in workflows such as job debugging and code changes.

The goal is to maintain the integrity of the mainframe system while making it accessible to AI. The team invites feedback, especially from those experienced with mainframes or legacy systems.

As lawmakers prepare for 2026, there is a troubling trend of rushing to regulate the internet, particularly targeting young people's access to social media. Many bills are framing social media as a "public health epidemic," despite a lack of solid scientific evidence to support such claims. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) emphasizes that young people have the same rights to free speech and privacy as adults, and the research surrounding social media's impact on mental health is complex and often misinterpreted.

The narrative that social media is the main cause of rising teen mental health issues is popular but not supported by comprehensive scientific studies, which often show mixed results. Research has failed to establish a clear link between social media use and declining well-being, and other factors—like pandemic isolation and school violence—are more likely contributors to youth anxiety and depression.

Much of the legislative push relies on the work of Jonathan Haidt, whose book suggests that social media harms youth mental health. While he has gained significant attention, his conclusions are debated among experts. Critics highlight that many studies supporting his views are flawed and that moderate social media use can actually benefit teens.

Additionally, some narratives, such as the idea of "social contagion," unfairly pathologize marginalized youth identities, particularly concerning gender dysphoria. These narratives can lead to harmful policies that undermine the rights of these young people.

Instead of imposing blanket bans, a better approach is to promote digital wellness education that empowers youth to navigate technology responsibly. Effective legislation should be based on evidence and consider the diverse needs of young people, rather than relying on fear or emotional responses. Proper policies can protect youth while still recognizing social media's role as a crucial support system for many.

No summary available.

Summary of Key Updates on SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy Developments:

1. Starship V3 Launch and Design Updates (May 12, 2026):

   • The third generation of Starship and Super Heavy, known as Starship V3, is equipped with upgraded Raptor 3 engines and a new launch pad.
   • Super Heavy V3 has improved grid fins and a redesigned fuel transfer system that allows all engines to start simultaneously.
   • Starship V3 features a new propulsion system design, enhanced thermal protection, and improved avionics for better reliability and efficiency.

2. Acquisition of xAI (February 2, 2026):

   • SpaceX has acquired xAI to combine AI technology with space exploration, aiming to create orbital data centers that leverage solar power for computing.
   • The goal is to enhance AI capabilities while minimizing environmental impact, positioning humanity for a multi-planetary future.

3. Starlink Direct to Cell Service (September 8, 2025):

   • SpaceX launched the Starlink Direct to Cell service, providing global mobile connectivity without the need for special equipment.
   • The service has proven valuable during emergencies, aiding communication in areas lacking terrestrial coverage.

4. Launch Operations and Infrastructure Improvements:

   • SpaceX aims to transform launch operations to resemble airport-like efficiency, with multiple daily launches and better coordination among providers.
   • New safety protocols and data-driven methodologies will help streamline launch operations while ensuring public safety.

5. Progress on Lunar Missions:

   • SpaceX is developing the HLS (Human Landing System) variant of Starship to return astronauts to the Moon as part of NASA's Artemis program.
   • Extensive testing and milestones have been achieved, including environmental control systems and docking capabilities.

6. Flight Test Highlights:

   • Recent flight tests have yielded valuable data, leading to design improvements in Starship and Super Heavy, particularly in response to previous flight anomalies.
   • The tests aim to enhance vehicle reliability and prepare for future missions.

Overall, SpaceX is making significant strides in both its Starship program and its broader mission to enable a sustainable human presence in space.

Summary of BusyBox:

BusyBox is a software package that combines many common Unix utilities into a single binary, often called a "multicall binary." For example, in the Alpine Linux distribution, the command "wget" is actually a link to BusyBox's version of wget.

When you run a command, BusyBox identifies which utility to execute based on the name provided. Each utility, or "applet," has its own code file, and BusyBox can compile multiple utilities together, making it efficient and lightweight.

Alpine Linux serves as an interface to these BusyBox utilities, which are often simplified versions of their full counterparts. BusyBox can create symbolic links for its commands and provides a list of all available commands. Overall, BusyBox is a collection of reimplemented software utilities, all packed into one binary for convenience.

Summary of scrcpy v4.0 Release Notes

The latest version of scrcpy, v4.0, introduces several improvements and new features:

1. Migration to SDL3: The software has updated from SDL2 to SDL3, which provides better support and new features, including aspect-ratio locking when resizing windows.

2. Flex Display Support: Users can now resize the virtual display dynamically with the new flex display feature.

3. Camera Control: You can now control the camera's torch and zoom features dynamically using keyboard shortcuts.

4. Aspect Ratio Locking: The window now maintains its aspect ratio while being resized, eliminating black borders.

5. Keep Active: A new option prevents the device screen from turning off due to inactivity.

6. Background Color Changes: The default background color changed from black to dark gray, with options for customization.

7. Disconnected Icon: A visual indication will be shown for 2 seconds when the connection to the device is lost before the window closes.

8. Performance Fixes: Multiple bugs were addressed, including issues with high CPU usage during audio playback and flickering on the Meta Quest device.

9. New Shortcuts: Additional keyboard shortcuts have been added for easier navigation, like F11 for fullscreen and Mod+q to quit.

This release enhances user experience with improved functionality and fixes while leveraging the latest technology.

In 2026, electricity generation from solar power in Texas is expected to surpass that from coal for the first time. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) forecasts solar generation to reach 78 billion kilowatt-hours (BkWh), while coal is projected at 60 BkWh.

Solar energy has been growing steadily in ERCOT, increasing its share of total generation from 4% in 2021 to 12% in 2025, while coal’s share has dropped from 19% to 13%. Despite natural gas being the main electricity source, accounting for about 44% of generation, solar is becoming more significant.

In 2026, Texas is expected to contribute 40% of new solar capacity in the U.S., including a large solar and battery project called Tehuacana Creek 1. There are currently no plans for new coal plants in ERCOT.

Solar generation has already exceeded coal on a monthly basis since March 2025 and is projected to do so consistently in 2026, except in December. For 2027, solar generation is forecasted to reach 99 BkWh, compared to 66 BkWh from coal, as electricity demand continues to rise due to various industrial activities.

Summary:

The author, a SAP Integration consultant, created a tool called Torrix as a side project to address challenges with existing LLM observability tools that require complicated setups. Most of these tools need databases like Postgres and Redis, which can be costly and discourage teams from using them.

Torrix is simple to set up, running in a single Docker container with SQLite, meaning no external dependencies are necessary. Users can easily install it with a few commands. It logs various data from LLM calls, including tokens, costs, and response times, and works with several AI services like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Features added include cost forecasting, budget limits, PII masking, model routing, evaluations, a prompt library, and more. The community edition is free for one user with limited data retention, while the Pro version offers additional features for teams.

Torrix is designed for teams making hundreds to low thousands of LLM calls per day, rather than for very high-volume use. The author is open to feedback on the tool. For more information, you can visit their GitHub or their website.

Alex and Tyler, the co-founders of Voker.ai, have created an agent analytics platform designed for AI product teams. Voker helps teams understand user interactions with their agents and assess agent performance without needing to sift through logs.

Many AI product teams struggle with visibility into how their agents are performing, leading to poor user experiences and wasted time troubleshooting. A survey showed that over 90% of founders find out about agent failures only through customer complaints.

Current solutions for monitoring agents are either too technical for non-engineers or don’t provide insights into unexpected trends. Voker addresses this gap by using specific analytics methods—Intents, Corrections, and Resolutions—to analyze user interactions effectively. It processes conversations to identify user intent and corrections, providing higher-level insights without needing to read every interaction.

Unlike other methods, which often rely on LLMs for summaries, Voker uses consistent data engineering techniques to ensure accurate analytics. They offer a lightweight SDK that integrates with popular LLMs and provides a free tier for up to 2,000 events per month, with paid plans starting at $80 per month.

The founders invite feedback on how teams currently track trends and hope users will share their experiences with Voker.

Agentic problem solving currently faces challenges, but Ben Cochran has developed a new approach to improve it. With over 20 years in engineering and AI, he notes that existing models often require either large parameter counts or extensive context to function reliably. Instead of making models bigger, he suggests simplifying the problem.

Cochran uses smaller models (13-20 billion parameters) to tackle specific software engineering problems by employing formal state machines. These machines define the tools available, the number of iterations, and valid transitions, ensuring that models follow strict protocols without skipping steps or using incorrect tools. This method has shown promising results, enhancing model performance across various families, especially beyond the 13 billion parameter threshold.

He created Statewright, a system that manages these state machines using a Rust engine, which enforces the rules without relying on a large language model (LLM). It integrates with existing tools and provides a visual editor for users to design workflows. This allows for clearer instructions and better management of tasks.

Statewright is available with a free tier, and users can try it out through Claude Code by following specific commands. Feedback on its features is encouraged to improve user experience.

On April 8, 2026, an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Nabatieh, Lebanon, leading to a response from paramedics and civilians. The Israeli military has been using an AI-powered targeting system to conduct attacks on Hezbollah, combining data from various sources like smartphones, cameras, drones, and social media. This technology has raised concerns among experts about the potential misidentification of civilians.

One case highlighted is that of Ahmad Turmus, a 62-year-old man linked to Hezbollah, who received a threatening call from an Israeli officer asking if he wanted to die with others or alone. He chose to die alone, believing he was being tracked by Israeli drones. Israel has successfully targeted multiple Hezbollah leaders using similar AI systems, which analyze vast amounts of data to identify potential threats.

The system can quickly process information that previously took weeks to analyze, but experts warn that reliance on data can lead to mistakes and false positives, where non-combatants are mistakenly identified as threats. There are ongoing adaptations by Hezbollah in response to these targeted attacks, indicating a shift in tactics amidst the conflict. Turmus's story demonstrates the chilling reality of modern warfare, where technology can dictate life and death based on data analysis.

The EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) has increased the number of Firefox users, according to Mozilla. They estimate that 6 million additional users have chosen Firefox over Safari or Chrome due to new browser selection screens on mobile devices. Firefox saw a 113% rise in users on iPhones, while the increase on Android devices was only 12%.

The difference in user uptake is largely due to how Apple and Google implemented these selection screens. Apple shows the options to users when they first open Safari, while Google displays them only for new Android users. As a result, Mozilla reports higher user retention, now five times better than before the DMA.

Other browser companies like Aloha, Brave, Opera, and DuckDuckGo also reported increased user numbers following the DMA’s enforcement. DuckDuckGo noted a 40% rise in Android users due to the new screen. Both Mozilla and DuckDuckGo are advocating for similar browser choice screens to be implemented in the UK, with Mozilla also requesting these options for desktop browsers.

No summary available.

Summary: Lanzaboote: Towards Secure Boot for NixOS

Secure Boot helps protect systems from unauthorized code during the boot process. NixOS, a Linux distribution used by the author, lacks Secure Boot support, prompting a team effort at a hackathon to address this issue.

Key Points:

1. Secure Boot Basics: It limits the code that runs on a system to trusted sources, preventing attacks that could compromise sensitive information, like disk encryption passwords.

2. NixOS Boot Process: NixOS uses systemd-boot on UEFI systems, which requires UKIs (a format for wrapping the Linux kernel and related components) to work with Secure Boot.

3. NixOS Challenges: NixOS users often have multiple system generations, each needing a boot loader entry. Creating a separate UKI for each generation would quickly fill up storage.

4. Lanzaboote Development: To solve this, the team created "lanzaboote," a small UEFI application that meets UKI specifications without including the kernel and initrd in the UKI. It embeds only the necessary path names and relies on UEFI for signature verification.

5. Integration into Nixpkgs: The team is integrating lanzaboote into NixOS, creating tools for assembling UKIs, signing binaries, and setting up the system during updates.

6. Chain of Trust Issues: Currently, users must generate and enroll their own keys for Secure Boot, which can be complex. The team plans to simplify this process in the future.

7. Getting Involved: The project is still in early stages, and contributions are welcome. Interested individuals can find more information in the lanzaboote README.

Overall, the initiative aims to establish Secure Boot support for NixOS while addressing the unique challenges of the system.

Summary of Pyrefly v1.0 Release Announcement

Pyrefly v1.0 has been officially released, marking its readiness for production use. This open-source tool helps Python developers find bugs, structure AI agents, and navigate their IDEs more efficiently. Since its alpha launch in mid-2025, Pyrefly has received numerous updates, improving performance and fixing many bugs, making it one of the fastest type checkers available.

Key features of Pyrefly include:

• Production Ready: Used by major projects like Instagram and PyTorch, it is now officially versioned at 1.0.
• Enhanced Performance: Type checks are significantly faster, with updates for large codebases now taking milliseconds instead of seconds.
• Real-World Adaptability: It works consistently across different environments, including IDEs and CI tools.
• Gradual Adoption: Users can start with basic error checking and gradually include more extensive type checks over time.

Pyrefly also supports frameworks like Pydantic and Django, and it includes new features for tensor shape checking in machine learning frameworks, which can help catch errors before code execution.

The team encourages community participation and aims to keep improving based on user feedback. They are also exploring how to integrate Pyrefly with AI tools.

In conclusion, Pyrefly has achieved its goals of performance, usability, and community collaboration, and the team looks forward to future developments. Users are invited to engage further through GitHub and Discord.

Summary of Quack: The DuckDB Client-Server Protocol

DuckDB has introduced a new protocol called Quack, allowing multiple DuckDB instances to communicate with each other in a client-server setup. This enables simultaneous data writing by multiple users and is designed for ease of setup and performance, supporting various workloads from large data transfers to small transactions.

Key Points:

1. Background: Traditionally, databases operated on a client-server model, allowing multiple clients to access a single server's database. While this method has benefits, it can also create overhead and complications, especially for concurrent data modifications.

2. Need for Quack: DuckDB, which originally functioned well as an in-process database for data science applications, faced challenges when multiple processes needed to modify the same database file. To address this, a client-server protocol was needed to simplify operations and improve performance.

3. Quack Protocol Overview:

   • Named "Quack" to reflect the interaction between DuckDB instances.
   • Built on the HTTP protocol, ensuring efficient communication.
   • Allows DuckDB to serve as both client and server, facilitating data sharing between instances on different machines or the same computer.

4. User Experience:

   • Users can easily install Quack and begin sharing data between DuckDB instances by following simple commands.
   • Supports complex queries and bulk data transfers efficiently.

5. Performance and Security:

   • Quack optimizes data transfer with low overhead and supports high-speed bulk operations.
   • It includes a basic authentication system, generating tokens for secure connections, but does not use SSL by default for local connections.

6. Benchmarks:

   • Quack outperforms traditional protocols like PostgreSQL and Arrow Flight SQL in bulk data transfers and can handle many transactions per second, although it has room for improvement in concurrent small writes.

7. Future Plans:

   • Quack will be integrated into DuckLake, enhancing DuckDB's capabilities as a central data catalog.
   • Future improvements may include better transaction handling, customizable extensions, and potential replication features.

Overall, Quack expands DuckDB's functionality beyond single-process use, making it a more versatile tool for modern data architectures. The DuckDB team encourages feedback and suggests participation in upcoming events to learn more about Quack.

The text discusses a project focused on rendering realistic skies, sunsets, and atmospheric effects using shaders, inspired by a photo of the space shuttle Endeavour in low Earth orbit at sunset. The author aims to recreate the colors of the sky through atmospheric scattering and to build an interactive experience for users.

Key points include:

1. Project Overview: The author wanted to replicate atmospheric effects seen in gaming and media, using web-based shaders to render skies realistically in real-time.

2. Implementation Steps: The write-up outlines a step-by-step guide on how to implement atmospheric scattering through techniques like raymarching, Rayleigh and Mie scattering, and ozone absorption.

3. Shader Development: The project details the coding process to achieve realistic sky colors, considering factors like altitude and time of day. This includes calculating light transmittance and scattering based on atmospheric density.

4. Advanced Techniques: The author introduces a LUT-based (Look-Up Table) approach for more efficient rendering, allowing precomputed atmospheric data to enhance performance.

5. Rendering Planets: The text discusses extending the shader to create atmospheric effects around planets, managing depth perception and ensuring accurate rendering of celestial bodies.

6. Handling Eclipses: The author describes adding functionality to simulate solar eclipses by calculating the visibility of the sun based on the position of other celestial objects.

7. Exploration of Other Atmospheres: The project also touches on how to adapt the shader for different planetary atmospheres, such as Mars, by adjusting key parameters.

8. Final Thoughts: The author reflects on the learning experience and the challenges faced during development, expressing satisfaction with the results despite recognizing areas for improvement.

Overall, the project combines artistic inspiration with technical execution to explore atmospheric rendering in a web context.

On May 10, 2026, Chris Morgan decided to stop accepting URLs with query strings on his website, finding them frustrating. He believes that if he wanted to know where visitors came from, he would check the Referrer header. However, he points out that many visitors arrive through email or apps that don't send this header, causing them to be categorized as "Direct" or "Unknown."

To address this issue, Chris adds a custom query string, "utm_source=Robin_Sloan_sent_me," to his outgoing links. This helps identify the source of traffic, especially since he shares links in his email newsletter. He emphasizes that while he doesn’t track website analytics, his approach shows digital etiquette by clearly indicating where traffic is coming from.

Chris notes that some websites, like YouTube, might have issues with unexpected query strings, so he keeps a list of exceptions for those cases.

CRow: Cargo for C/C++

Overview: CRow is a build system for C++ aimed at developers who need:

• Easy setup with a simple configuration file (crow.toml)
• Fast build processes
• An integrated dependency manager

Quick Start:

Installation:

• You can either download pre-built binaries from Releases or build it from source by:
  1. Cloning the repository: git clone https://github.com/user-with-username/crow
  2. Navigating into the folder: cd crow
  3. Installing it: cargo install --path .

Creating a Project:

• To create a new project, run: crow new my_project and navigate into it: cd my_project

Running Your Project:

• Start your project with: crow run

Community: Contributions are welcome! Please check our Contributor Guidelines and Code of Conduct.

License: CRow is licensed under the MIT License.

DesignVerse has raised $5.5 million to develop enterprise software that incorporates a secure AI context layer. The main challenge in enterprise software is not just generating code but ensuring that new software fits into existing complex environments, which include old systems and regulatory requirements.

DesignVerse addresses this by creating an AI context layer that uses an organization’s existing documentation and standards to generate software that aligns with their current architecture. This helps reduce inconsistencies and speeds up development, allowing teams to work up to five times faster compared to traditional methods.

One notable success was with EUROCONTROL, which modernized a 15-year-old application in just over a month using DesignVerse, significantly faster than conventional methods.

The platform is designed for mission-critical environments that require reliability and compliance. Unlike other AI tools that are more suited for prototypes, DesignVerse is tailored for the complexities of large organizations, enabling seamless integration and safe operation within their existing systems.

Space debris, or "space junk," is a growing problem, with nearly half of the 33,269 objects orbiting Earth classified as such. A recent report from Accu highlights that there are over 12,550 tracked debris fragments, making up about 47% of these objects. Many satellites are inactive, and the actual amount of space junk may be much higher.

As countries work towards establishing a human presence in space, the threat posed by this debris—traveling at speeds of around 17,400 miles per hour—presents significant risks, including potential damage to spacecraft, as evidenced by past incidents involving even tiny pieces of debris.

China, the U.S., and Russia are the main contributors to the problem, with China producing 34% of the debris. While some space junk eventually burns up upon re-entry into the atmosphere, harmful materials can linger in the upper atmosphere, affecting the ozone layer.

Currently, there are few efforts to actively remove space junk. The European Space Agency is leading initiatives like the ClearSpace-1 mission, and some private companies are exploring technologies like robotic arms and drag sails to tackle the issue. However, the overall amount of space junk, estimated at about 15,550 tons (equivalent to 40 jumbo jets), continues to grow, highlighting the need for coordinated international action to address this pressing problem.

I'm unable to access external links, including GitHub. However, if you provide the text or main points from the document you want summarized, I can help create a concise and easy-to-understand summary.

Sam Altman testified in a trial regarding Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, which questions the organization's direction and leadership. Musk claims that OpenAI has strayed from its nonprofit mission to benefit humanity and is instead focused on profit. During the trial, Musk was aggressive in his questioning, while Altman appeared nervous but composed as he defended his actions and intentions regarding OpenAI.

Altman admitted to feeling angry and betrayed when he was ousted as CEO in 2023 but ultimately returned because he cares about OpenAI's mission. Musk's lawyer challenged Altman's trustworthiness, highlighting accusations from former colleagues that he lies frequently. Altman maintained that he believes he is truthful, despite admitting he has heard people call him a liar.

The trial also revealed tensions between Musk and Altman, with Altman suggesting Musk's aggressive management style could have harmed OpenAI. Altman argued that Musk's contributions were not as significant as he claims and that he was not a good fit culturally for the organization.

Additionally, lawmakers are investigating Altman's potential conflicts of interest due to undisclosed equity in OpenAI, which he admitted to during the trial. The trial is ongoing, with closing arguments expected soon, and a decision could come as early as next week.

Summary:

On May 12, 2026, security researchers Federico Kirschbaum and Andres Luksenberg from XBOW discovered a critical vulnerability (CVE-2026-45185) in Exim, a widely-used mail transfer agent. This vulnerability allows for unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE). The researchers used this disclosure to explore exploit development through both human and autonomous methods.

The vulnerability arises from a use-after-free condition in Exim's handling of TLS connections using GnuTLS, where a freed memory region can be manipulated, ultimately leading to remote code execution. The researchers discussed their experience of testing the vulnerability while also reflecting on how advancements in AI language models (LLMs) are changing the landscape of exploit development.

They conducted a contest where one team used LLMs to autonomously develop an exploit, while another team worked manually. The LLM successfully created an exploit that leveraged the vulnerability to achieve code execution without authentication. This event raised questions about the evolving role of AI in security and exploit development, indicating that while LLMs can produce effective exploits under certain conditions, they may not yet be fully reliable for complex real-world scenarios.

In conclusion, the researchers emphasized the significance of the discovered vulnerability and the impact of AI on security practices, highlighting a shift in how exploits might be developed in the future.

No summary available.

Summary of Learning Software Architecture Email

The author shares insights on learning software design, particularly for those with a background in research, like physicists. Key points include:

1. Learning by Doing: The best way to learn software design is through hands-on experience rather than formal classes. The author learned a lot from working on real projects, despite making mistakes.

2. Conway's Law: The organization’s social structure influences software design. The author emphasizes that while programming seems focused on code, the real challenges often stem from social dynamics and incentives, such as tight deadlines in academia.

3. Adapting to Incentives: When faced with unchangeable incentive structures, it's essential to adapt. The author suggests two approaches: designing better incentives when possible and accepting existing constraints while doing the best you can.

4. Project Examples: The author discusses projects like rust-analyzer, highlighting the importance of attracting contributors by simplifying the build process and allowing for less strict quality standards in certain areas to encourage participation.

5. Recommendations for Learning: While there isn't a single comprehensive book on software design, the author recommends various resources:

   • Gary Bernhardt's Boundaries talk for practical advice.
   • Testing methodologies to recognize effective testing practices.
   • Writings by Pieter Hintjens for understanding Conway's Law.
   • Books like Software Engineering at Google and The Philosophy of Software Design for broader perspectives.

Overall, the author stresses that practice, adaptation, and understanding social dynamics are crucial for mastering software architecture.

Today, Obsidian launched the Obsidian Community, a new platform for exploring plugins and themes. Since the API was released in 2020, over 4,000 plugins have been created, totaling 120 million downloads. The aim is to simplify and secure the process of building, sharing, and using these plugins.

Key Features of the New Community:

1. Community Site: Users can easily browse and search for plugins across various categories. Each plugin has a dedicated page with details, screenshots, and safety ratings.

2. Developer Dashboard: This new tool allows developers to submit and manage their projects. Existing plugins have been automatically moved to this dashboard.

3. Automated Reviews: A new automated system will check all community projects for security and quality, improving the review process and addressing the backlog of submissions. Manual reviews will still be conducted for certain plugins.

4. Plugin Safety Enhancements: The new system will include automated scans for security vulnerabilities and quality checks. Users can see safety scorecards for each project, and plugins will disclose their permissions.

5. Tools for Teams: Teams using Obsidian will soon have better tools for managing plugin access and private plugin distribution.

Next Steps: The Obsidian team plans to continue improving the Community site and the app for better plugin discovery and safety. Users are encouraged to explore the new features and provide feedback.

FAQs: The announcement includes a FAQ section addressing common questions about the new platform, how to submit projects, and what to do if issues arise.

Overall, this launch marks an important step in enhancing the Obsidian plugin ecosystem, fostering a safe and efficient environment for developers and users alike.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), along with several organizations, filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. They argued that border searches of electronic devices should require a warrant under the Fourth Amendment. This case, U.S. v. Belmonte Cardozo, involves a U.S. citizen whose phone was searched without a warrant upon returning to Dulles airport, leading to his arrest for possessing child sexual abuse material.

The number of warrantless searches of devices at the border is increasing, with over 55,000 searches conducted by Customs and Border Protection in Fiscal Year 2025. Both manual and forensic searches invade personal privacy, as they can reveal sensitive information about a person’s life.

The EFF's brief argues that both types of searches should follow the same legal standard, requiring a warrant based on probable cause. They emphasize that obtaining a warrant is not overly burdensome and would not hinder the processing of travelers. The Fourth Circuit has previously ruled on forensic searches but not on manual searches, making this case significant.

The EFF believes that the Supreme Court's ruling in Riley v. California, which established the need for a warrant to search a cell phone, should apply here. They argue that the privacy interests in electronic devices are much greater than those in luggage, and the Fourth Circuit should protect travelers' rights under the Fourth Amendment.

The text expresses a strong dislike for soldering, highlighting the unpleasant aspects such as the thick smoke, sticky residue, and harmful substances involved. The author reflects on the pursuit of technological advancement, questioning the consequences of this progress. They emphasize their desire to avoid soldering altogether.

Additionally, there is a section about coding, specifically related to upvoting functionality on a website, which includes handling user interactions and updating the upvote count. The code ensures that upvotes are only processed under certain conditions to enhance user experience.

The text provides a chronological list of screen captures of various computer operating systems and software from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Each entry includes the year, dimensions of the image, the name of the operating system or application, and a brief description of what is depicted in the screenshot.

Key points include:

• Early Software: The list covers systems like VisiCorp Visi On (1983) and SunTools (1984), showcasing the evolution of user interfaces.
• Notable Developments: It highlights significant software like IBM's GEM Desktop and Apple's Mac OS, illustrating how graphics and functionality improved over time.
• Operating Systems: Various environments are mentioned, including UNIX, OS/2, and Windows, reflecting the diversity in computing platforms.
• Graphical Changes: The text notes changes in visual styles, user interface designs, and the introduction of features like color depth and window management.
• Historical Context: It provides context for the development of desktop environments and how legal battles (like Apple's lawsuit against DRI) influenced design choices.

Overall, the text serves as a visual history of computer operating systems, detailing their growth and the technological advancements from simple interfaces to more complex systems.

Last year, the Canadian government introduced Bill C-2, which faced strong opposition for threatening digital rights. Now, a new bill, C-22, also known as The Lawful Access Act, is being proposed with similar concerns.

Bill C-22 requires digital services, like telecoms and messaging apps, to store user metadata for a year and share it with foreign governments, including the U.S. This metadata can reveal sensitive information about users' communications and activities. The bill also allows the Minister of Public Safety to demand that companies create backdoors for law enforcement access, which could increase data breaches and compromise user privacy. Companies would not be allowed to disclose these orders publicly.

The definitions in the bill regarding "systemic vulnerabilities" and "encryption" are vague, potentially enabling the government to force companies to bypass encryption. This situation is reminiscent of a recent issue in the UK, where Apple had to revoke a privacy feature due to similar government demands.

Major companies like Meta and Apple oppose Bill C-22, citing concerns over privacy and security. The bill lacks protections for Canadians' privacy and transparency regarding data handling. Instead, it expands government access to users' data, raising significant privacy risks.

The text announces the release of Blaise v0.7.0, a new version of the Blaise Pascal Compiler, which is now self-hosting and no longer requires Free Pascal. Key features include:

• Self-hosting: The compiler can compile itself.
• Improved functionality: New features like Low() and High() functions for strings, and fixes for method calls and buffer overflows.
• Testing: A comprehensive test suite with 1,268 tests verifies the compiler's reliability.

The release includes a Linux x86-64 binary for users to try, and feedback is encouraged. Future plans involve expanding language support and improving the runtime library. The project aims to create a complete Pascal ecosystem, including an IDE and various tools.

The Dutch suicide prevention hotline, 113, has been found to share visitor data with tech companies without consent, according to ethical hacker Mick Beer. This data included sensitive information like users' locations and browsing history. After being confronted, 113 disabled all measurement tools on their website to stop sharing this data. They acknowledged that this likely violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which protects personal medical data. A spokesperson stated that only technical metadata was shared, not actual conversations. They are currently investigating the issue and have not decided whether to reinstate the tracking tools. People in crisis can still reach out for help by calling 113 or 0800-0113.

In a recent development, researchers Adrien Baranes and Rob Marchant are reimagining the traditional mouse pointer to better integrate with AI technologies. The mouse pointer, which has remained largely unchanged for over fifty years, is being enhanced to understand not just what it points to, but also its significance to the user.

Key points from their research include:

1. Seamless Interaction: The new AI-enabled pointer aims to allow users to interact with AI without switching between different applications. For instance, users can simply point at an image and ask for directions, without needing to manually enter information.

2. Context Awareness: The pointer can capture the context of where it's pointing, enabling the AI to understand the user's needs without requiring complex prompts. Users can just point at text or images and ask for specific actions.

3. Natural Communication: Inspired by human interaction, the AI system will allow users to make simple requests like "Fix this" or "Show me that" while relying on context rather than detailed instructions.

4. Transforming Pixels into Actions: The pointer will recognize what it is pointing at, turning common items on the screen into interactive elements. For example, it could convert a photo of a note into a to-do list or link to a restaurant from a video.

These principles are being integrated into products like Chrome and Googlebook, allowing users to interact with AI more intuitively. The goal is to create a more fluid and human-centered experience when collaborating with AI.

Apple and Google are increasingly using hardware-based attestation to control which devices can access their services. Their systems, the Play Integrity API (Google) and App Attest API (Apple), are similar and are being adopted by more services, particularly banks and government agencies. These systems can restrict users to only Apple or certified Android devices, which critics argue is anti-competitive and not genuinely about security.

Apple's addition of hardware attestation to the web via Privacy Pass is seen as a way to further limit access for non-approved devices. Google also has plans for similar implementations, including requiring certified devices for desktop and web services like reCAPTCHA.

Critics, including GrapheneOS, claim that this trend will lock out more secure and alternative operating systems, as current policies favor devices that bundle Google services, which raises concerns about competition. They argue that the requirement for hardware attestation is more about creating a duopoly for Apple and Google rather than enhancing security.

Overall, there is significant concern that these developments will lead to reduced access for users who do not use mainstream devices, and that government regulations are currently aiding this trend rather than preventing it.

Summary:

Submarines, initially used in combat during the US Civil War, evolved significantly during World War I, especially with the development of German U-boats. These early submarines had limited endurance and communication challenges, as seawater blocked radio signals. To communicate while submerged, the US Navy experimented with various technologies, including long-wave radio, which was effective underwater.

In the 1950s, the Navy sought to improve submarine communications further with Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) radio, allowing for messages to reach submerged submarines without surfacing. ELF waves penetrate water better than higher frequencies but require large, inefficient antennas. The Navy's Project Sanguine aimed to create a vast network of ELF transmitters, but it faced public opposition and budget issues, leading to its cancellation in the late 1970s.

Despite challenges, ELF technology was revived under Project ELF in the 1980s, leading to operational ELF transmitters in Wisconsin and Michigan. However, the system was inefficient and faced political opposition, resulting in its shutdown in 2004. Today, while ELF technology is no longer in use, Very Low Frequency (VLF) communications remain essential for the Navy. Other countries, like Russia and India, have developed ELF capabilities, reflecting ongoing interest in low-frequency communications despite the US's withdrawal from the technology.

Recent problems with npm configuration highlight the need for a tool that can help fix basic issues easily.

I run an email book club that explores complex books about databases, distributed systems, and software performance. Currently, we are reading "Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces." The club has over 2,500 members worldwide, with 300-800 participating in each book. Members range from students to experienced professionals, and anyone interested is welcome to join.

Discussions happen via a Google Group, without video calls. Each weekend, a member summarizes a chapter or poses questions to spark conversation. I choose discussion leaders for each book.

We focus on books that appeal to experienced developers, generally between 350-550 pages, and aim for completion in about three months with 1-2 chapters read each week.

Future book possibilities include titles on garbage collection, data-intensive applications, and performance analysis. We've previously read various relevant titles, and I'm open to suggestions for new books.

Feel free to reach out with questions or ideas!