Hasty Briefsbeta

Bilingual

Vimeo starts layoffs after acquisition by Bending Spoons
9 hours ago
- Vimeo is laying off a portion of its global staff following its acquisition by Bending Spoons.
- Bending Spoons confirmed the layoffs but did not disclose the number of affected employees.
- The layoffs are reported to impact a 'large portion' of Vimeo's workforce, including senior leadership.
- Vimeo has struggled to compete with YouTube and has recently focused on AI-powered tools.
- Bending Spoons has acquired several other tech platforms, including Meetup, Evernote, and WeTransfer.
Finland sets tougher guidelines: No social media or smartphones for under-13s
4 hours ago
- Finland issues stricter guidelines for children’s digital gadget use, including a ban on social media or smartphones for under-13s.
- Recommendations suggest no smartphones or social media for under-13s, with limited screen time for younger children.
- Age limits for games, TV shows, videos, and films must be followed to avoid harmful content.
- The guidelines are stricter than the draft version, with strong support from parents and experts.
- Prime Minister Petteri Orpo calls for a social media ban for under-15s, with legislative action expected soon.
- Associate professor Silja Kosola supports the ban, criticizing the uncontrolled digital exposure of young children.
- Kosola warns against the Danish model, emphasizing the need for uniform age limits without parental exceptions.
Proton Spam and the AI Consent Problem
3 hours ago
- Proton sent an email about Lumo despite the recipient having opted out of Lumo emails.
- Recipient contacted Proton support, who initially provided incorrect guidance on opting out.
- Proton later claimed the email was part of the 'Proton for Business newsletter', not Lumo updates.
- The incident highlights a broader issue of non-consent in the AI and tech industry.
- Microsoft/GitHub also sent unsolicited emails about GitHub Copilot, despite the recipient never opting in.
- Criticism of the tech industry's disregard for user consent and privacy preferences.
The US national debt will soon be growing faster than the economy itself
5 hours ago
- The U.S. national debt has reached 100% of GDP, raising concerns about potential fiscal crises.
- The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) warns of six possible crisis scenarios: financial, inflation, austerity, currency, default, and gradual crises.
- An 'Austerity Crisis' could lead to severe economic contraction, similar to Greece's experience during the Great Recession.
- A 'Financial Crisis' might occur if investors lose confidence in U.S. Treasury markets, leading to cascading bank failures.
- An 'Inflation Crisis' could arise if the Federal Reserve monetizes debt, sparking hyperinflation like in Argentina or the Weimar Republic.
- A 'Currency Crisis' could weaken the U.S. dollar, undermining its global reserve status and increasing import costs.
- A 'Default Crisis,' though unlikely, would be catastrophic, freezing global credit markets and triggering a deep recession.
- A 'Gradual Crisis' could lead to slow economic decline, as seen in Japan, with stagnant growth over decades.
- Potential triggers include recessions, poor Treasury auctions, or debt limit breaches.
- Interest costs on U.S. debt surged to $1 trillion last year, consuming 18% of federal revenue.
TI-99/4A: Leaning More on the Firmware
4 days ago
- The author revisited the TI-99/4A home computer, focusing on mastering its graphics chip and exploring enhanced support for sound and sprites.
- The Graphics Programming Language (GPL) was used extensively, with attention to its integration with the system's firmware capabilities.
- The TI-99/4A's memory structure includes ROM and GROM (Graphics ROM), with specific address spaces and conventions for hexadecimal constants.
- Sound lists were explored for music playback, but limitations were noted, such as the lack of looping and large data requirements.
- An alternative approach using explicit I/O in GROM was discussed, though it offered minimal advantages over manual sound list management.
- Sprite motion and collision detection were implemented, with detailed explanations of the VDP's memory layout and sprite attribute tables.
- A collision detection system was developed using the COINC instruction, which checks for overlaps between sprites based on a collision mask.
- The author highlighted challenges with GROM code, including limitations and wonky features, and suggested hybrid ROM/GROM cartridges as a solution.
Amazon planning job cuts next week after axing 14,000 due to AI: report
5 hours ago
- Amazon is planning a second round of job cuts next week, targeting around 30,000 corporate workers.
- The company previously cut 14,000 jobs in October, citing AI as a transformative technology.
- CEO Andy Jassy clarified that the cuts were due to bureaucracy, not financial or AI-driven reasons.
- Affected departments include Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video, and HR (People Experience and Technology).
- Amazon's corporate workforce is expected to shrink over time due to AI-driven efficiencies.
- The total layoffs would represent nearly 10% of Amazon's corporate workforce but a small portion of its 1.58 million employees.
- Affected workers from the October cuts have until Monday to find new roles internally or externally.
The Uncomfortable Math of Working for Yourself
7 hours ago
- Self-employment often means working more, not less, with thin financial margins and theoretical flexibility.
- Entrepreneurship is frequently romanticized by survivors, creating a biased narrative that ignores the high failure rate and stress.
- The median outcome of starting a business is uncertain returns, not guaranteed wealth or freedom.
- Joining a growing organization can offer stability, professional growth, and better odds of building wealth over time.
- Self-employment can be isolating, lacking the professional development and mentorship found in traditional employment.
- Investing consistently in index funds and real estate through a stable job often yields better long-term financial outcomes than entrepreneurship.
- The decision to start a business should be based on personal traits and realistic expectations, not guilt or societal pressure.
- Success can be achieved through traditional employment, with better boundaries and less risk than entrepreneurship.
Writing First, Tooling Second
4 days ago
- Advocates for independent personal websites on personal domains to maintain web diversity and decentralization.
- Emphasizes writing content first before worrying about tooling, suggesting plain HTML as a starting point.
- Shares personal experience of starting with simple HTML files and gradually incorporating tooling over years.
- Discusses the evolution of his website from basic HTML to using PHP and eventually Common Lisp for generation.
- Argues against the necessity of blogs, suggesting websites can be simple collections of pages.
- Recommends using plain text formats like Markdown or AsciiDoc if HTML is disliked, with minimal tooling for conversion.
- Warns against spending excessive time on perfecting website setup before creating content.
- Concludes that the essence of a website is the content and ideas, with tooling being secondary.
Talking to LLMs has improved my thinking
7 hours ago
- LLMs help articulate thoughts that were previously understood but not clearly expressed.
- Much of our knowledge is tacit, especially in fields like programming, where intuition often precedes explicit understanding.
- LLMs excel at converting vague structures into clear language, aligning with our internal models and producing a sense of recognition.
- Articulating thoughts in words makes them easier to inspect, refine, and improve.
- Writing down ideas transforms vague intuitions into named distinctions and visible assumptions.
- Using LLMs speeds up the process of refining thoughts and encourages deeper thinking.
- Regularly articulating thoughts with LLMs improves one's ability to notice and express what they truly think.
The lost art of XML
7 hours ago
- XML was abandoned not due to inadequacy but because JavaScript and browser dominance favored JSON.
- XML offers schemas (XSD) for type checking, namespaces for document composition, and comments for documentation—features JSON lacks.
- JSON lacks built-in validation, namespacing, and comments, leading to ad-hoc solutions and potential errors.
- XML's structure is similar to Lisp's s-expressions, emphasizing nested, tagged data representation.
- Developer convenience over technical merit led to JSON's adoption despite XML's superior features for rigorous data interchange.
- XML separates the conceptual model from serialization, allowing formats like Fast Infoset and EXI for efficient binary encoding.
- The industry ignored binary XML solutions, later creating new formats to address JSON's shortcomings.
- Microsoft's use of XML in complex systems highlights its reliability and suitability for formal data representation.
- The preference for JSON reflects a prioritization of keystroke economy and familiarity over semantic precision and rigor.
- XML's core features—schemas, namespaces, validation—remain sound, offering advantages over JSON for durable, correct data interchange.
Tesla patents 'clever math trick' for HW3, but nothing points to promised FSD
9 hours ago
- Tesla has published a new patent titled 'Bit-Augmented Arithmetic Convolution' to enhance performance of its HW3 self-driving computers.
- The patent describes a method to emulate higher-precision AI models on HW3's 8-bit hardware by splitting 16-bit numbers into two 8-bit pieces.
- Despite the clever engineering, the patent does not address HW3's critical limitations, such as insufficient memory (8 GB RAM) and lower-resolution cameras (1.2 MP vs. HW4's 5 MP).
- Tesla's FSD v13 requires approximately 7.5 GB of RAM per node, leaving HW3 vehicles stuck on older software versions (v12.6) while HW4 runs v14.
- The patent acknowledges potential latency issues, which could degrade user experience and autonomous driving performance.
- Tesla's 'V14 Lite' update for HW3, expected around Q2 2026, will be a watered-down version of the already-supervised FSD v14, not fulfilling the promise of unsupervised self-driving.
- Elon Musk admitted in January 2025 that HW3 cannot support unsupervised self-driving, but Tesla has no public plan for hardware retrofits or refunds.
- Tesla's website has changed its language from 'all cars have self-driving hardware' to 'designed for autonomy,' acknowledging the original promise was incorrect.
- The patents represent a temporary solution to extend HW3's usability but do not resolve the fundamental hardware limitations or deliver on Tesla's original FSD promises.
A Massacre in Mashhad
7 hours ago
- Mass protests erupted in Mashhad, Iran, following economic collapse and government oppression.
- Security forces violently suppressed protests, using tear gas and live ammunition, resulting in numerous deaths.
- Internet blackouts were imposed to obscure the extent of government violence and casualties.
- Witnesses report hundreds, possibly thousands, killed, including children, with bodies piled in parks and hospitals.
- Protesters used Starlink to bypass internet restrictions, despite severe government crackdowns and threats.
- Families were forced to sign false death certificates to retrieve their relatives' bodies.
- The U.S. and Israel were seen as potential allies by protesters, though no substantial aid materialized.
- A sense of despair and fear persists among survivors, with ongoing arrests and executions.
- The government continues to suppress dissent, raiding homes and confiscating satellite dishes.
Bugs Apple Loves
8 hours ago
- Apple's persistent bugs waste significant human time globally.
- The calculation of wasted time considers users affected, frequency, and time per incident.
- Additional time is wasted by users attempting workarounds for unfixed bugs.
- The duration a bug remains unfixed and its urgency factor into the total waste.
- The total human hours wasted could have been used to fix the bugs multiple times over.
Rent-Only Copyright Culture Makes Us All Worse Off
10 hours ago
- Participation in Copyright Week to discuss and support principles guiding copyright policy.
- Digital media access limits ownership, leading to rental models with restrictive terms.
- US copyright law struggles with digital copying and resale rights.
- 50th anniversary of the 1976 Copyright Act prompts calls for reform.
- First sale doctrine (Section 109) is eroding, impacting consumer rights.
- First sale allows resale and lending but doesn't cover digital reproduction.
- Digital media restricts second-hand markets, swaps, and libraries.
- Subscription services offer convenience but lack permanence and ownership.
- California's AB 2426 requires disclosure of revocable licenses for digital purchases.
- Federal efforts to establish digital ownership rules face resistance.
- Courts may need congressional intervention to correct misinterpretations of copyright law.
- Reforming Section 109 could restore consumer agency and spur innovation.
ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy arriving home, say school officials
9 hours ago
- ICE detained a five-year-old Minnesota boy, Liam Ramos, and his father, transporting them to a Texas detention center.
- Liam is one of four children in the Columbia Heights school district detained by ICE in recent weeks.
- An ICE agent allegedly used Liam as 'bait' by having him knock on his own door to check if others were home.
- The family has an active asylum case and entered the U.S. legally at a port of entry.
- School officials and the family's attorney argue the detentions are unjust and traumatizing for the community.
- DHS claims ICE targeted Liam's father, an 'illegal alien,' and did not intend to detain the child.
- Multiple other students, including a 17-year-old and a 10-year-old, have been detained by ICE in similar operations.
- ICE agents have been reported near schools, causing fear and trauma among students and families.
- School staff are working to support affected families and navigate the legal system to protect children.
Rate Limiting, Cells, and GCRA
6 days ago
- Rate limiting is essential for controlling access to services and preventing abuse.
- A simple rate limiting method uses a bucket with a fixed limit that expires after a set time, but it can be harsh on users and servers.
- The leaky bucket algorithm provides smoother rate limiting by allowing gradual quota replenishment but relies on a background process that can fail.
- GCRA (Generic Cell Rate Algorithm) is a sophisticated rate limiting method that avoids the need for a background process by tracking theoretical arrival times.
- GCRA was originally used in ATM networks and is now implemented in modern tools like the Throttled library.
- Throttled is an open-source Go library that implements GCRA and is used in production by companies like Stripe and Heroku.
- Consistent time synchronization is crucial for GCRA to prevent false positives in rate limiting.
- GitHub's API uses a naive rate limiting approach, which can be problematic for users who exhaust their limits quickly.
Metastable Failures and Interactions Between Systems
10 hours ago
- Metastable failures are self-sustaining performance failures caused by positive feedback loops.
- A classic example is a retry storm where overloaded systems lead to more retries, worsening the problem.
- Systems interact via signals and actions, but signals can be ambiguous, leading to incorrect responses.
- Avoiding metastable failures involves minimizing unnecessary interactions, avoiding positive feedback actions, and reducing signal ambiguity.
- Some actions are unavoidable due to system requirements or algorithm designs, making complete avoidance difficult.
- Mitigation strategies include minimizing feedback loops and using multiple signals to disambiguate states.
Stunnel
10 hours ago
- Stunnel is a proxy that adds TLS encryption to existing clients and servers without modifying their code.
- Optimized for security, portability, and scalability, including load-balancing for large deployments.
- Uses OpenSSL for cryptography, supporting all algorithms compiled into the library, including FIPS 140-2 validated OpenSSL FIPS Provider.
- Free software by Michał Trojnara, distributed under GNU GPL v2+ with OpenSSL exception, but not a community project.
- Commercial support and non-GPL licenses available; community support via stunnel-users mailing list.
- Offers various commercial support levels, including 24/7/365 helpline.
- Latest version available for download.
Why medieval city-builder video games are historically inaccurate (2020)
10 hours ago
- Medieval city-builder games often depict linear settlement growth, which is historically inaccurate as medieval villages were often on the edge of subsistence with stable populations.
- Historical medieval settlements were carefully planned, with specific layouts like circular manors, street settlements, and exploitation villages, often initiated by monasteries or feudal lords.
- Medieval village life was complex, involving land ownership by lords or monasteries, taxes, tithes, and seigneurial duties, which drained resources and manpower.
- Settlements faced threats like bad weather, diseases, epidemics, warfare, and social unrest, which could devastate communities.
- An accurate medieval city-builder game should include features like initial settlement planning, flexible road tools, flood mechanics, and tax collection to reflect historical realities.
- Current games avoid historical accuracy due to gameplay preferences, fear of punishing players, technical limitations, and marketing concerns tied to romanticized medieval imagery.
Build an agent into any app with the GitHub Copilot SDK
17 hours ago
- GitHub Copilot SDK is now in technical preview, enabling the integration of Copilot's agentic core into any application.
- The SDK provides programmatic access to Copilot CLI's execution loop, including planning, tool use, and multi-turn execution.
- Features include support for multiple AI models, custom tool definitions, MCP server integration, and real-time streaming.
- Copilot CLI has been enhanced with persistent memory, infinite sessions, and intelligent compaction for better workflow.
- The SDK allows building GUIs, personal productivity tools, and custom internal agents for enterprise workflows.
- Examples of applications built with the SDK include YouTube chapter generators, speech-to-command workflows, and AI games.
- GitHub handles authentication, model management, and other backend services, allowing developers to focus on building applications.
- Mario Rodriguez, GitHub's Chief Product Officer, has led the AI strategy and Copilot product line, emphasizing developer tools and education.

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Bilingual

Vimeo starts layoffs after acquisition by Bending Spoons
9 hours ago
- Vimeo is laying off a portion of its global staff following its acquisition by Bending Spoons.
- Bending Spoons confirmed the layoffs but did not disclose the number of affected employees.
- The layoffs are reported to impact a 'large portion' of Vimeo's workforce, including senior leadership.
- Vimeo has struggled to compete with YouTube and has recently focused on AI-powered tools.
- Bending Spoons has acquired several other tech platforms, including Meetup, Evernote, and WeTransfer.
Finland sets tougher guidelines: No social media or smartphones for under-13s
4 hours ago
- Finland issues stricter guidelines for children’s digital gadget use, including a ban on social media or smartphones for under-13s.
- Recommendations suggest no smartphones or social media for under-13s, with limited screen time for younger children.
- Age limits for games, TV shows, videos, and films must be followed to avoid harmful content.
- The guidelines are stricter than the draft version, with strong support from parents and experts.
- Prime Minister Petteri Orpo calls for a social media ban for under-15s, with legislative action expected soon.
- Associate professor Silja Kosola supports the ban, criticizing the uncontrolled digital exposure of young children.
- Kosola warns against the Danish model, emphasizing the need for uniform age limits without parental exceptions.
Proton Spam and the AI Consent Problem
3 hours ago
- Proton sent an email about Lumo despite the recipient having opted out of Lumo emails.
- Recipient contacted Proton support, who initially provided incorrect guidance on opting out.
- Proton later claimed the email was part of the 'Proton for Business newsletter', not Lumo updates.
- The incident highlights a broader issue of non-consent in the AI and tech industry.
- Microsoft/GitHub also sent unsolicited emails about GitHub Copilot, despite the recipient never opting in.
- Criticism of the tech industry's disregard for user consent and privacy preferences.
The US national debt will soon be growing faster than the economy itself
5 hours ago
- The U.S. national debt has reached 100% of GDP, raising concerns about potential fiscal crises.
- The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) warns of six possible crisis scenarios: financial, inflation, austerity, currency, default, and gradual crises.
- An 'Austerity Crisis' could lead to severe economic contraction, similar to Greece's experience during the Great Recession.
- A 'Financial Crisis' might occur if investors lose confidence in U.S. Treasury markets, leading to cascading bank failures.
- An 'Inflation Crisis' could arise if the Federal Reserve monetizes debt, sparking hyperinflation like in Argentina or the Weimar Republic.
- A 'Currency Crisis' could weaken the U.S. dollar, undermining its global reserve status and increasing import costs.
- A 'Default Crisis,' though unlikely, would be catastrophic, freezing global credit markets and triggering a deep recession.
- A 'Gradual Crisis' could lead to slow economic decline, as seen in Japan, with stagnant growth over decades.
- Potential triggers include recessions, poor Treasury auctions, or debt limit breaches.
- Interest costs on U.S. debt surged to $1 trillion last year, consuming 18% of federal revenue.
TI-99/4A: Leaning More on the Firmware
4 days ago
- The author revisited the TI-99/4A home computer, focusing on mastering its graphics chip and exploring enhanced support for sound and sprites.
- The Graphics Programming Language (GPL) was used extensively, with attention to its integration with the system's firmware capabilities.
- The TI-99/4A's memory structure includes ROM and GROM (Graphics ROM), with specific address spaces and conventions for hexadecimal constants.
- Sound lists were explored for music playback, but limitations were noted, such as the lack of looping and large data requirements.
- An alternative approach using explicit I/O in GROM was discussed, though it offered minimal advantages over manual sound list management.
- Sprite motion and collision detection were implemented, with detailed explanations of the VDP's memory layout and sprite attribute tables.
- A collision detection system was developed using the COINC instruction, which checks for overlaps between sprites based on a collision mask.
- The author highlighted challenges with GROM code, including limitations and wonky features, and suggested hybrid ROM/GROM cartridges as a solution.
Amazon planning job cuts next week after axing 14,000 due to AI: report
5 hours ago
- Amazon is planning a second round of job cuts next week, targeting around 30,000 corporate workers.
- The company previously cut 14,000 jobs in October, citing AI as a transformative technology.
- CEO Andy Jassy clarified that the cuts were due to bureaucracy, not financial or AI-driven reasons.
- Affected departments include Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video, and HR (People Experience and Technology).
- Amazon's corporate workforce is expected to shrink over time due to AI-driven efficiencies.
- The total layoffs would represent nearly 10% of Amazon's corporate workforce but a small portion of its 1.58 million employees.
- Affected workers from the October cuts have until Monday to find new roles internally or externally.
The Uncomfortable Math of Working for Yourself
7 hours ago
- Self-employment often means working more, not less, with thin financial margins and theoretical flexibility.
- Entrepreneurship is frequently romanticized by survivors, creating a biased narrative that ignores the high failure rate and stress.
- The median outcome of starting a business is uncertain returns, not guaranteed wealth or freedom.
- Joining a growing organization can offer stability, professional growth, and better odds of building wealth over time.
- Self-employment can be isolating, lacking the professional development and mentorship found in traditional employment.
- Investing consistently in index funds and real estate through a stable job often yields better long-term financial outcomes than entrepreneurship.
- The decision to start a business should be based on personal traits and realistic expectations, not guilt or societal pressure.
- Success can be achieved through traditional employment, with better boundaries and less risk than entrepreneurship.
Writing First, Tooling Second
4 days ago
- Advocates for independent personal websites on personal domains to maintain web diversity and decentralization.
- Emphasizes writing content first before worrying about tooling, suggesting plain HTML as a starting point.
- Shares personal experience of starting with simple HTML files and gradually incorporating tooling over years.
- Discusses the evolution of his website from basic HTML to using PHP and eventually Common Lisp for generation.
- Argues against the necessity of blogs, suggesting websites can be simple collections of pages.
- Recommends using plain text formats like Markdown or AsciiDoc if HTML is disliked, with minimal tooling for conversion.
- Warns against spending excessive time on perfecting website setup before creating content.
- Concludes that the essence of a website is the content and ideas, with tooling being secondary.
Talking to LLMs has improved my thinking
7 hours ago
- LLMs help articulate thoughts that were previously understood but not clearly expressed.
- Much of our knowledge is tacit, especially in fields like programming, where intuition often precedes explicit understanding.
- LLMs excel at converting vague structures into clear language, aligning with our internal models and producing a sense of recognition.
- Articulating thoughts in words makes them easier to inspect, refine, and improve.
- Writing down ideas transforms vague intuitions into named distinctions and visible assumptions.
- Using LLMs speeds up the process of refining thoughts and encourages deeper thinking.
- Regularly articulating thoughts with LLMs improves one's ability to notice and express what they truly think.
The lost art of XML
7 hours ago
- XML was abandoned not due to inadequacy but because JavaScript and browser dominance favored JSON.
- XML offers schemas (XSD) for type checking, namespaces for document composition, and comments for documentation—features JSON lacks.
- JSON lacks built-in validation, namespacing, and comments, leading to ad-hoc solutions and potential errors.
- XML's structure is similar to Lisp's s-expressions, emphasizing nested, tagged data representation.
- Developer convenience over technical merit led to JSON's adoption despite XML's superior features for rigorous data interchange.
- XML separates the conceptual model from serialization, allowing formats like Fast Infoset and EXI for efficient binary encoding.
- The industry ignored binary XML solutions, later creating new formats to address JSON's shortcomings.
- Microsoft's use of XML in complex systems highlights its reliability and suitability for formal data representation.
- The preference for JSON reflects a prioritization of keystroke economy and familiarity over semantic precision and rigor.
- XML's core features—schemas, namespaces, validation—remain sound, offering advantages over JSON for durable, correct data interchange.
Tesla patents 'clever math trick' for HW3, but nothing points to promised FSD
9 hours ago
- Tesla has published a new patent titled 'Bit-Augmented Arithmetic Convolution' to enhance performance of its HW3 self-driving computers.
- The patent describes a method to emulate higher-precision AI models on HW3's 8-bit hardware by splitting 16-bit numbers into two 8-bit pieces.
- Despite the clever engineering, the patent does not address HW3's critical limitations, such as insufficient memory (8 GB RAM) and lower-resolution cameras (1.2 MP vs. HW4's 5 MP).
- Tesla's FSD v13 requires approximately 7.5 GB of RAM per node, leaving HW3 vehicles stuck on older software versions (v12.6) while HW4 runs v14.
- The patent acknowledges potential latency issues, which could degrade user experience and autonomous driving performance.
- Tesla's 'V14 Lite' update for HW3, expected around Q2 2026, will be a watered-down version of the already-supervised FSD v14, not fulfilling the promise of unsupervised self-driving.
- Elon Musk admitted in January 2025 that HW3 cannot support unsupervised self-driving, but Tesla has no public plan for hardware retrofits or refunds.
- Tesla's website has changed its language from 'all cars have self-driving hardware' to 'designed for autonomy,' acknowledging the original promise was incorrect.
- The patents represent a temporary solution to extend HW3's usability but do not resolve the fundamental hardware limitations or deliver on Tesla's original FSD promises.
A Massacre in Mashhad
7 hours ago
- Mass protests erupted in Mashhad, Iran, following economic collapse and government oppression.
- Security forces violently suppressed protests, using tear gas and live ammunition, resulting in numerous deaths.
- Internet blackouts were imposed to obscure the extent of government violence and casualties.
- Witnesses report hundreds, possibly thousands, killed, including children, with bodies piled in parks and hospitals.
- Protesters used Starlink to bypass internet restrictions, despite severe government crackdowns and threats.
- Families were forced to sign false death certificates to retrieve their relatives' bodies.
- The U.S. and Israel were seen as potential allies by protesters, though no substantial aid materialized.
- A sense of despair and fear persists among survivors, with ongoing arrests and executions.
- The government continues to suppress dissent, raiding homes and confiscating satellite dishes.
Bugs Apple Loves
8 hours ago
- Apple's persistent bugs waste significant human time globally.
- The calculation of wasted time considers users affected, frequency, and time per incident.
- Additional time is wasted by users attempting workarounds for unfixed bugs.
- The duration a bug remains unfixed and its urgency factor into the total waste.
- The total human hours wasted could have been used to fix the bugs multiple times over.
Rent-Only Copyright Culture Makes Us All Worse Off
10 hours ago
- Participation in Copyright Week to discuss and support principles guiding copyright policy.
- Digital media access limits ownership, leading to rental models with restrictive terms.
- US copyright law struggles with digital copying and resale rights.
- 50th anniversary of the 1976 Copyright Act prompts calls for reform.
- First sale doctrine (Section 109) is eroding, impacting consumer rights.
- First sale allows resale and lending but doesn't cover digital reproduction.
- Digital media restricts second-hand markets, swaps, and libraries.
- Subscription services offer convenience but lack permanence and ownership.
- California's AB 2426 requires disclosure of revocable licenses for digital purchases.
- Federal efforts to establish digital ownership rules face resistance.
- Courts may need congressional intervention to correct misinterpretations of copyright law.
- Reforming Section 109 could restore consumer agency and spur innovation.
ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy arriving home, say school officials
9 hours ago
- ICE detained a five-year-old Minnesota boy, Liam Ramos, and his father, transporting them to a Texas detention center.
- Liam is one of four children in the Columbia Heights school district detained by ICE in recent weeks.
- An ICE agent allegedly used Liam as 'bait' by having him knock on his own door to check if others were home.
- The family has an active asylum case and entered the U.S. legally at a port of entry.
- School officials and the family's attorney argue the detentions are unjust and traumatizing for the community.
- DHS claims ICE targeted Liam's father, an 'illegal alien,' and did not intend to detain the child.
- Multiple other students, including a 17-year-old and a 10-year-old, have been detained by ICE in similar operations.
- ICE agents have been reported near schools, causing fear and trauma among students and families.
- School staff are working to support affected families and navigate the legal system to protect children.
Rate Limiting, Cells, and GCRA
6 days ago
- Rate limiting is essential for controlling access to services and preventing abuse.
- A simple rate limiting method uses a bucket with a fixed limit that expires after a set time, but it can be harsh on users and servers.
- The leaky bucket algorithm provides smoother rate limiting by allowing gradual quota replenishment but relies on a background process that can fail.
- GCRA (Generic Cell Rate Algorithm) is a sophisticated rate limiting method that avoids the need for a background process by tracking theoretical arrival times.
- GCRA was originally used in ATM networks and is now implemented in modern tools like the Throttled library.
- Throttled is an open-source Go library that implements GCRA and is used in production by companies like Stripe and Heroku.
- Consistent time synchronization is crucial for GCRA to prevent false positives in rate limiting.
- GitHub's API uses a naive rate limiting approach, which can be problematic for users who exhaust their limits quickly.
Metastable Failures and Interactions Between Systems
10 hours ago
- Metastable failures are self-sustaining performance failures caused by positive feedback loops.
- A classic example is a retry storm where overloaded systems lead to more retries, worsening the problem.
- Systems interact via signals and actions, but signals can be ambiguous, leading to incorrect responses.
- Avoiding metastable failures involves minimizing unnecessary interactions, avoiding positive feedback actions, and reducing signal ambiguity.
- Some actions are unavoidable due to system requirements or algorithm designs, making complete avoidance difficult.
- Mitigation strategies include minimizing feedback loops and using multiple signals to disambiguate states.
Stunnel
10 hours ago
- Stunnel is a proxy that adds TLS encryption to existing clients and servers without modifying their code.
- Optimized for security, portability, and scalability, including load-balancing for large deployments.
- Uses OpenSSL for cryptography, supporting all algorithms compiled into the library, including FIPS 140-2 validated OpenSSL FIPS Provider.
- Free software by Michał Trojnara, distributed under GNU GPL v2+ with OpenSSL exception, but not a community project.
- Commercial support and non-GPL licenses available; community support via stunnel-users mailing list.
- Offers various commercial support levels, including 24/7/365 helpline.
- Latest version available for download.
Why medieval city-builder video games are historically inaccurate (2020)
10 hours ago
- Medieval city-builder games often depict linear settlement growth, which is historically inaccurate as medieval villages were often on the edge of subsistence with stable populations.
- Historical medieval settlements were carefully planned, with specific layouts like circular manors, street settlements, and exploitation villages, often initiated by monasteries or feudal lords.
- Medieval village life was complex, involving land ownership by lords or monasteries, taxes, tithes, and seigneurial duties, which drained resources and manpower.
- Settlements faced threats like bad weather, diseases, epidemics, warfare, and social unrest, which could devastate communities.
- An accurate medieval city-builder game should include features like initial settlement planning, flexible road tools, flood mechanics, and tax collection to reflect historical realities.
- Current games avoid historical accuracy due to gameplay preferences, fear of punishing players, technical limitations, and marketing concerns tied to romanticized medieval imagery.
Build an agent into any app with the GitHub Copilot SDK
17 hours ago
- GitHub Copilot SDK is now in technical preview, enabling the integration of Copilot's agentic core into any application.
- The SDK provides programmatic access to Copilot CLI's execution loop, including planning, tool use, and multi-turn execution.
- Features include support for multiple AI models, custom tool definitions, MCP server integration, and real-time streaming.
- Copilot CLI has been enhanced with persistent memory, infinite sessions, and intelligent compaction for better workflow.
- The SDK allows building GUIs, personal productivity tools, and custom internal agents for enterprise workflows.
- Examples of applications built with the SDK include YouTube chapter generators, speech-to-command workflows, and AI games.
- GitHub handles authentication, model management, and other backend services, allowing developers to focus on building applications.
- Mario Rodriguez, GitHub's Chief Product Officer, has led the AI strategy and Copilot product line, emphasizing developer tools and education.

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