Hasty Briefsbeta

Bilingual

Paris prosecutors raid France offices of Elon Musk's X
21 hours ago
- Paris prosecutors raided the France offices of Elon Musk's social media platform, X.
- The raid is part of an investigation opened in January 2025 regarding complaints about X's algorithm and recommended content.
- Elon Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino have been summoned for hearings in April as part of the probe.
- The investigation was expanded in July 2025 due to reports of sexually explicit deepfakes and holocaust denial content on X.
- X has previously called the investigation 'politically-motivated' and denied allegations of algorithm manipulation.
- The prosecutor's office announced it is leaving X and will communicate via LinkedIn and Instagram moving forward.
Show HN: Safe-now.live – Ultra-light emergency info site (<10KB)
a day ago
- Active disasters include severe winter storms in WV, NC, IN, KY, TN, and AR.
- Quick reference guides for various emergencies like earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, fires, gas leaks, chemical spills, active threats, CO alarms, lightning, tsunamis, power outages, heat stroke, hypothermia, and civil unrest.
- Emergency kit essentials: water, food, medical supplies, tools, communication devices, documents, shelter items, and sanitation products.
- Home preparation tips: know evacuation routes, family communication plans, utility shutoffs, and safety measures like testing smoke/CO detectors.
- Financial help options: FEMA aid, SBA loans, local aid via 211, and benefits.gov.
- Recovery steps: wait for official clearance, document damage, food safety, mold prevention, and avoiding scams.
- Resources: emergency guides, first aid, shelter info, crisis lines for veterans, domestic violence, and mental health support.
What's up with all those equals signs anyway?
a day ago
- People are sharing old email excerpts on Twitter, questioning the presence of equals signs.
- The equals signs are not a code or OCR artifact but a result of poor email format conversion.
- Emails from the 80s used encoding like 'quoted printable' to handle long lines and special characters.
- Equals signs at line ends indicate a line continuation, meant to be removed during proper decoding.
- Incompetent processing led to equals signs remaining, sometimes incorrectly interpreted as character encodings.
- Special characters like non-breakable spaces were encoded with equals signs (e.g., =C2=A0).
- The issue stems from technical encoding standards and poor handling by those converting the emails.
Chinese scientists achieve breakthrough in quantum computing with 'Zhuangzi 2.0'
a day ago
- Chinese scientists achieve breakthrough in quantum computing with 'Zhuangzi 2.0'.
- Researchers mastered the 'rhythm' of quantum systems using a 78-qubit processor.
- Discovery of 'prethermalization' helps preserve quantum information temporarily.
- Random Multipolar Driving technique extends stable phase for quantum calculations.
- Quantum interactions' complexity surpasses classical computers' simulation capabilities.
- Collaborative efforts in experiments, simulations, and theory were key to the breakthrough.
A century of hair samples proves leaded gas ban worked
a day ago
- The EPA's 1970s crackdown on lead-based products like lead paint and gasoline significantly reduced lead concentrations in humans, as shown by a 100-fold decrease in lead levels in hair samples over 100 years.
- Recent concerns arise due to the Trump administration's potential deregulation of EPA rules, including possible loosening of enforcement on the 2024 Lead and Copper Rule for replacing old lead pipes.
- Co-author Thure Cerling emphasizes the importance of historical regulations, acknowledging their positive effects despite industry pushback.
- Thomas Midgley Jr., developer of leaded gasoline and CFCs, publicly defended leaded gasoline's safety despite personal lead poisoning, later dying tragically in 1944.
Rust in the NetBSD Kernel, and other odd decisions
a day ago
- The email discusses a question about NetBSD's potential adoption of Rust in the kernel, similar to FreeBSD's consideration.
- The author questions the motive behind FreeBSD's Rust adoption, suggesting it's more about memory-safety than appealing to younger developers.
- NetBSD has previously incorporated Lua into the kernel for rapid development and prototyping of kernel drivers.
- NetBSD is generally more conservative in technical decisions compared to FreeBSD or Linux.
- Several reasons make Rust adoption in NetBSD unlikely:
- - Rust is not available on many architectures NetBSD supports.
- - Maintaining Rust in pkgsrc is challenging and relies on a few developers.
- - NetBSD's source-only, self-contained distribution conflicts with Rust's binary bootstrap requirements.
- - Adding Rust to the base system would introduce significant code and maintenance overhead.
- - Rust's rapid release cycle is incompatible with NetBSD's support for older major releases.
Mattias Krantz Built a Guitar Held Together by Magnets with Strings That Float
a day ago
- Mattias Krantz created a guitar with strings held in place by magnetic force, eliminating the need for traditional pegs or bridges.
- Initial attempts with neodymium magnets resulted in unstable strings that were easily disrupted by strumming or even breath.
- Stronger, commercially available magnets were used to maintain string tension, allowing thin metal wires to hover between strings.
- Early 3D printed plastic bodies warped under magnet strength, leading to a switch to metal for stability.
- Magnetic forces require precise spacing and alignment to prevent instability and unintended clashes.
- Tuning is challenging due to magnetic field interactions between strings, requiring experimentation with string thickness and length.
- The final design offers a unique playing experience with springy, trampoline-like strings and natural modulation effects.
- The guitar produces a distinct sound with added depth and harmonic richness compared to traditional guitars.
Minority births make up the majority in the US for the first time
2 days ago
- White births in the U.S. have fallen below 50% for the first time, marking a historic demographic shift.
- Minority women now account for the majority of births in the U.S., with white births at 49.6% and other groups (Hispanic, Black, Asian) at 50.4%.
- Hispanic women tend to have children earlier and more frequently than white women, who often delay childbirth and have fewer children.
- Current policies restricting immigration and cutting Medicaid negatively impact minority women, who are key to sustaining U.S. birth rates.
- Addressing maternal health disparities and supporting minority women is crucial for increasing birth rates and demographic growth.
Phenakistoscopes (1833)
4 days ago
- The Phenakistoscope was a popular Victorian toy and an early form of animation.
- It worked by spinning a disc with slits and viewing the reflection in a mirror to create moving images.
- Invented simultaneously in 1832 by Joseph Plateau in Brussels and Simon von Stampfer in Berlin.
- Plateau, a physicist with an art background, hand-painted the original designs.
- Von Stampfer, a mathematician, created a similar device called the Stroboscope.
- Mass-produced versions were marketed under names like Phantasmascope and Fantoscope.
- Mclean’s Optical Illusions or Magic Panorama (1833) was among the earliest mass-produced Phenakistoscopes.
- Later replaced by the Zoetrope and then film, the Phenakistoscope was largely forgotten.
- The concept has resurfaced in the internet age with short, looping animations like GIFs.
Flying Around the World in under 80 Days
3 days ago
- The project aims to create an autonomous airship drone capable of circumnavigating the globe in under 80 days.
- Key considerations include achieving a minimum speed of 10 m/s, using hydrogen for buoyancy, and designing a lightweight, durable outer shell.
- The airship will utilize solar panels for power during the day and batteries at night, with a target daily distance of 500 km.
- Navigation will leverage trade winds for efficiency, with a proposed route starting in Southern Spain and crossing the Americas, Pacific, and Asia.
- Challenges include maintaining buoyancy over time due to hydrogen leakage, legal and political hurdles, and ensuring the airship can withstand varying weather conditions.
- The estimated weight budget is 8.1 kg, with components including the enclosure, gas bag, structure, battery, solar panel, and electronics.
- The project draws inspiration from historical airship designs and modern solar-powered drones like the Airbus Zephyr.
- Potential routes must avoid hostile regions and take advantage of favorable wind patterns, with a proposed journey length of approximately 41,000 km.
- Communications will rely on technologies like LoRa or SigFox for telemetry, though coverage may be patchy in some regions.
- The project is motivated by the desire to break endurance records and explore the feasibility of autonomous airship travel.
Coding assistants are solving the wrong problem
a day ago
- AI coding assistants increase task completion by 21% but show no improvement in company-wide delivery metrics.
- Experienced developers are 19% slower with AI assistants but believe they are faster.
- 48% of AI-generated code contains security vulnerabilities.
- Developers' main job is to reduce ambiguity, but AI assistants often increase it.
- AI assistants require clearly-defined requirements but often bury requirement gaps in code.
- AI-generated code leads to more downstream code reviews and security patches.
- Seasoned developers benefit from AI by focusing on architecture while AI handles implementation.
- Junior and mid-level engineers face increased pressure to ship faster with unreliable AI output.
- Only 16% of a developer's time is spent writing code; the rest is operational work.
- AI assistants save 10 hours per week but inefficiencies elsewhere cancel out gains.
- Technical debt is often created in product meetings, not in code.
- Developers frequently discover unexpected codebase constraints after committing to a product direction.
- Key desired improvements: reducing ambiguity upstream and clearer picture of affected services and edge cases.
- Most costly defects stem from misalignment between requirements and architecture.
- LLMs can better map existing code structures than generate fully-functional code.
- Developers are open to tools that augment workflows but want flexibility in deployment.
- Bicameral aims to deploy AI pragmatically, focusing on human needs and context-sharing.
NNSA conducts aerial radiation surveys over San Francisco ahead of Super Bowl
a day ago
- NNSA to conduct aerial radiation surveys over San Francisco Bay Area from February 2-4, 2026.
- Flights aim to measure background radiation ahead of Super Bowl LX for public safety.
- Helicopter (Leonardo AW-139) equipped with radiation sensors will fly at low altitudes.
- Surveys are routine security and emergency preparedness activities.
- Public awareness campaign to prevent alarm over low-flying aircraft.
To Build a Fire:Inside Russia's Campaign of Sabotage in Europe
a day ago
- A Ukrainian woman, Anna, was recruited by an old acquaintance to pick up a suspicious package in Vilnius, Lithuania, which turned out to contain detonators.
- Anna cooperated with Lithuanian counterterrorism police, leading to a sting operation where the package was tracked via GPS.
- The package was retrieved by Daniil Bardadim, a 17-year-old Ukrainian, who was arrested after being tracked by police.
- Bardadim admitted to committing arson and was on his way to Riga to carry out another attack.
- Bardadim and his friend Oleksandr were recruited by Serhiy Chaliy, a criminal figure linked to Russian intelligence, to carry out sabotage operations in Europe.
- Bardadim set fire to an IKEA store in Vilnius and was involved in the arson of a shopping center in Warsaw.
- European intelligence agencies identified a pattern of 'single-use agents'—individuals recruited for minor sabotage tasks to create chaos and fear.
- Russia's military intelligence agency, the G.R.U., is believed to be behind these operations, using proxies to maintain deniability.
- The operations aim to disrupt Western support for Ukraine, sow societal divisions, and test European security responses.
- Bardadim was sentenced to three years in prison in Lithuania, while Chaliy and other handlers remain at large.
Floppinux – An Embedded Linux on a Single Floppy, 2025 Edition
a day ago
- FLOPPINUX is an embedded Linux distribution designed to run from a single floppy disk.
- The 2025 edition (v0.3.1) includes updates like the latest kernel (6.14.11) and persistent storage support.
- Main project goals include creating a minimal Linux distribution for educational purposes, supporting 32-bit x86 CPUs since Intel 486DX.
- Core features include a working text editor (Vi), basic file manipulation commands, and 264KB of persistent storage.
- Minimum hardware requirements: Intel 486DX 33MHz, 20MB RAM, and an internal floppy disk.
- The tutorial covers setting up a working directory, compiling the Linux kernel, and configuring BusyBox for essential tools.
- Filesystem setup includes creating necessary directories, configuration files, and a welcome message.
- The boot image is created by formatting a floppy disk image and copying the kernel, filesystem, and configuration files.
- Testing is done using QEMU before burning the image to a real floppy disk.
- Summary includes key details like kernel size (881KiB), tools size (137KiB), and free space left (253KiB).
How Vibe Coding Is Killing Open Source
a day ago
- Vibe coding, or LLM-assisted software development, may risk the Open Source ecosystem by reducing user interaction with OSS projects and making it harder to start new ones.
- LLMs can steer developers towards libraries prevalent in their training data, potentially reducing visits to project websites and community forums.
- AI-assisted coding may lead to more bugs, with reports indicating a 41% increase in bugs when using tools like GitHub Copilot.
- Experienced developers report decreased productivity (19%) and cognitive skill degradation when relying heavily on LLMs.
- OSS projects may suffer from reduced bug reports and community engagement as developers delegate more to LLMs.
- Some developers find LLMs helpful for mundane tasks and debugging, but caution against over-reliance to maintain coding skills.
- The debate includes concerns about the democratization of coding vs. the potential for lower-quality contributions to OSS projects.
- LLMs can empower non-coders to create software, but may also lead to a loss of deep technical understanding among developers.
- Stack Overflow and similar forums see reduced traffic as developers turn to LLMs for quick answers.
- The future of OSS with widespread LLM use remains uncertain, with potential for both innovation and ecosystem degradation.
Banning lead in gas worked. The proof is in our hair
a day ago
- Prior to the EPA's establishment in 1970, lead exposure in the U.S. was high due to industrial sources, paint, water pipes, and tailpipe emissions.
- A study by University of Utah scientists analyzed hair samples spanning 100 years, showing lead levels were about 100 times higher before EPA regulations.
- Lead is a neurotoxin that accumulates in tissues, linked to developmental deficits in children, but regulations have significantly reduced exposure.
- The study highlights the importance of environmental regulations, noting recent weakening of lead rules under the Trump administration.
- Lead was widely used in paint, pipes, and gasoline for its useful properties, despite its toxicity being well-established by the 1970s.
- Utah's unique family history preservation allowed researchers to collect hair samples dating back a century, providing insights into lead exposure over time.
- Hair analysis revealed lead levels dropped from 100 ppm before 1970 to less than 1 ppm in 2024, paralleling reductions in leaded gasoline.
- The study underscores the role of the EPA in reducing environmental lead and protecting public health.
Trump urges Republicans to 'take over' and 'nationalize' voting
a day ago
- Trump calls on Republicans to 'take over' and 'nationalize' voting, alleging crooked practices.
- Claims noncitizen voting influences elections, though experts say it's rare and illegal.
- Constitution grants states authority over federal elections, with Congress having oversight.
- White House cites SAVE Act as Trump's push for uniform voting standards.
- Senate Minority Leader Schumer criticizes Trump's remarks as unconstitutional.
- Midterm elections crucial for Trump's agenda, with Republicans holding narrow majorities.
- Trump continues to dispute 2020 election results, spreading fraud claims.
- FBI seizes 2020 voting records in Georgia, a key swing state in Biden's win.
Adobe Animate will be discontinued effective March 1, 2026
a day ago
- Adobe Animate will be discontinued on March 1, 2026, and removed from Adobe.com.
- Enterprise customers retain access, downloads, and support until March 1, 2029.
- Non-enterprise customers have support and access until March 1, 2027.
- Users should export FLA/XFL files to formats like SWF, SVG, or MP4 before support ends.
- Creative Cloud Pro users can use After Effects or Adobe Express for animation needs.
- Animate will remain functional but unsupported after the respective end dates.
- Older versions of Animate can be accessed via Creative Cloud desktop under 'Show Older Apps'.
Trump, ICE set to be handed access to Australians' biometric data, ID documents
a day ago
- The Trump administration and ICE are being granted access to Australians' biometric data and ID documents by the Albanese government.
- This is in response to a US demand for tighter security under the Visa Waiver Program.
- Australians currently travel to the US visa-free via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).
- Since December, ESTA users must provide biometric information and social media histories when entering the US.
- Fingerprinting has long been a requirement in many US airports.
- Crikey offers subscription options for unlimited access to articles and newsletters, supporting independent journalism.
Carnegie Mellon Unversity Computer Club FTP Server
6 days ago
- The text describes the Computer Club mirrors service at Carnegie Mellon University, listing various mirrored directories like HVSC, gnu, knoppix, and others.
- It mentions the 6-hour mirroring interval for directories such as HVSC, gnu, knoppix, aminet, scene.org, and more.
- Requests for additional mirrors are considered based on relevance and disk space, with contributions welcomed via email.
- A specific file was removed in 2015 due to being flagged as malware by an antivirus vendor, affecting the domain's rating.
- A legal notice is included regarding U.S. Export Regulations on cryptographic software, mentioning export under License Exception "TSU".

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About Login

Bilingual

Paris prosecutors raid France offices of Elon Musk's X
21 hours ago
- Paris prosecutors raided the France offices of Elon Musk's social media platform, X.
- The raid is part of an investigation opened in January 2025 regarding complaints about X's algorithm and recommended content.
- Elon Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino have been summoned for hearings in April as part of the probe.
- The investigation was expanded in July 2025 due to reports of sexually explicit deepfakes and holocaust denial content on X.
- X has previously called the investigation 'politically-motivated' and denied allegations of algorithm manipulation.
- The prosecutor's office announced it is leaving X and will communicate via LinkedIn and Instagram moving forward.
Show HN: Safe-now.live – Ultra-light emergency info site (<10KB)
a day ago
- Active disasters include severe winter storms in WV, NC, IN, KY, TN, and AR.
- Quick reference guides for various emergencies like earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, fires, gas leaks, chemical spills, active threats, CO alarms, lightning, tsunamis, power outages, heat stroke, hypothermia, and civil unrest.
- Emergency kit essentials: water, food, medical supplies, tools, communication devices, documents, shelter items, and sanitation products.
- Home preparation tips: know evacuation routes, family communication plans, utility shutoffs, and safety measures like testing smoke/CO detectors.
- Financial help options: FEMA aid, SBA loans, local aid via 211, and benefits.gov.
- Recovery steps: wait for official clearance, document damage, food safety, mold prevention, and avoiding scams.
- Resources: emergency guides, first aid, shelter info, crisis lines for veterans, domestic violence, and mental health support.
What's up with all those equals signs anyway?
a day ago
- People are sharing old email excerpts on Twitter, questioning the presence of equals signs.
- The equals signs are not a code or OCR artifact but a result of poor email format conversion.
- Emails from the 80s used encoding like 'quoted printable' to handle long lines and special characters.
- Equals signs at line ends indicate a line continuation, meant to be removed during proper decoding.
- Incompetent processing led to equals signs remaining, sometimes incorrectly interpreted as character encodings.
- Special characters like non-breakable spaces were encoded with equals signs (e.g., =C2=A0).
- The issue stems from technical encoding standards and poor handling by those converting the emails.
Chinese scientists achieve breakthrough in quantum computing with 'Zhuangzi 2.0'
a day ago
- Chinese scientists achieve breakthrough in quantum computing with 'Zhuangzi 2.0'.
- Researchers mastered the 'rhythm' of quantum systems using a 78-qubit processor.
- Discovery of 'prethermalization' helps preserve quantum information temporarily.
- Random Multipolar Driving technique extends stable phase for quantum calculations.
- Quantum interactions' complexity surpasses classical computers' simulation capabilities.
- Collaborative efforts in experiments, simulations, and theory were key to the breakthrough.
A century of hair samples proves leaded gas ban worked
a day ago
- The EPA's 1970s crackdown on lead-based products like lead paint and gasoline significantly reduced lead concentrations in humans, as shown by a 100-fold decrease in lead levels in hair samples over 100 years.
- Recent concerns arise due to the Trump administration's potential deregulation of EPA rules, including possible loosening of enforcement on the 2024 Lead and Copper Rule for replacing old lead pipes.
- Co-author Thure Cerling emphasizes the importance of historical regulations, acknowledging their positive effects despite industry pushback.
- Thomas Midgley Jr., developer of leaded gasoline and CFCs, publicly defended leaded gasoline's safety despite personal lead poisoning, later dying tragically in 1944.
Rust in the NetBSD Kernel, and other odd decisions
a day ago
- The email discusses a question about NetBSD's potential adoption of Rust in the kernel, similar to FreeBSD's consideration.
- The author questions the motive behind FreeBSD's Rust adoption, suggesting it's more about memory-safety than appealing to younger developers.
- NetBSD has previously incorporated Lua into the kernel for rapid development and prototyping of kernel drivers.
- NetBSD is generally more conservative in technical decisions compared to FreeBSD or Linux.
- Several reasons make Rust adoption in NetBSD unlikely:
- - Rust is not available on many architectures NetBSD supports.
- - Maintaining Rust in pkgsrc is challenging and relies on a few developers.
- - NetBSD's source-only, self-contained distribution conflicts with Rust's binary bootstrap requirements.
- - Adding Rust to the base system would introduce significant code and maintenance overhead.
- - Rust's rapid release cycle is incompatible with NetBSD's support for older major releases.
Mattias Krantz Built a Guitar Held Together by Magnets with Strings That Float
a day ago
- Mattias Krantz created a guitar with strings held in place by magnetic force, eliminating the need for traditional pegs or bridges.
- Initial attempts with neodymium magnets resulted in unstable strings that were easily disrupted by strumming or even breath.
- Stronger, commercially available magnets were used to maintain string tension, allowing thin metal wires to hover between strings.
- Early 3D printed plastic bodies warped under magnet strength, leading to a switch to metal for stability.
- Magnetic forces require precise spacing and alignment to prevent instability and unintended clashes.
- Tuning is challenging due to magnetic field interactions between strings, requiring experimentation with string thickness and length.
- The final design offers a unique playing experience with springy, trampoline-like strings and natural modulation effects.
- The guitar produces a distinct sound with added depth and harmonic richness compared to traditional guitars.
Minority births make up the majority in the US for the first time
2 days ago
- White births in the U.S. have fallen below 50% for the first time, marking a historic demographic shift.
- Minority women now account for the majority of births in the U.S., with white births at 49.6% and other groups (Hispanic, Black, Asian) at 50.4%.
- Hispanic women tend to have children earlier and more frequently than white women, who often delay childbirth and have fewer children.
- Current policies restricting immigration and cutting Medicaid negatively impact minority women, who are key to sustaining U.S. birth rates.
- Addressing maternal health disparities and supporting minority women is crucial for increasing birth rates and demographic growth.
Phenakistoscopes (1833)
4 days ago
- The Phenakistoscope was a popular Victorian toy and an early form of animation.
- It worked by spinning a disc with slits and viewing the reflection in a mirror to create moving images.
- Invented simultaneously in 1832 by Joseph Plateau in Brussels and Simon von Stampfer in Berlin.
- Plateau, a physicist with an art background, hand-painted the original designs.
- Von Stampfer, a mathematician, created a similar device called the Stroboscope.
- Mass-produced versions were marketed under names like Phantasmascope and Fantoscope.
- Mclean’s Optical Illusions or Magic Panorama (1833) was among the earliest mass-produced Phenakistoscopes.
- Later replaced by the Zoetrope and then film, the Phenakistoscope was largely forgotten.
- The concept has resurfaced in the internet age with short, looping animations like GIFs.
Flying Around the World in under 80 Days
3 days ago
- The project aims to create an autonomous airship drone capable of circumnavigating the globe in under 80 days.
- Key considerations include achieving a minimum speed of 10 m/s, using hydrogen for buoyancy, and designing a lightweight, durable outer shell.
- The airship will utilize solar panels for power during the day and batteries at night, with a target daily distance of 500 km.
- Navigation will leverage trade winds for efficiency, with a proposed route starting in Southern Spain and crossing the Americas, Pacific, and Asia.
- Challenges include maintaining buoyancy over time due to hydrogen leakage, legal and political hurdles, and ensuring the airship can withstand varying weather conditions.
- The estimated weight budget is 8.1 kg, with components including the enclosure, gas bag, structure, battery, solar panel, and electronics.
- The project draws inspiration from historical airship designs and modern solar-powered drones like the Airbus Zephyr.
- Potential routes must avoid hostile regions and take advantage of favorable wind patterns, with a proposed journey length of approximately 41,000 km.
- Communications will rely on technologies like LoRa or SigFox for telemetry, though coverage may be patchy in some regions.
- The project is motivated by the desire to break endurance records and explore the feasibility of autonomous airship travel.
Coding assistants are solving the wrong problem
a day ago
- AI coding assistants increase task completion by 21% but show no improvement in company-wide delivery metrics.
- Experienced developers are 19% slower with AI assistants but believe they are faster.
- 48% of AI-generated code contains security vulnerabilities.
- Developers' main job is to reduce ambiguity, but AI assistants often increase it.
- AI assistants require clearly-defined requirements but often bury requirement gaps in code.
- AI-generated code leads to more downstream code reviews and security patches.
- Seasoned developers benefit from AI by focusing on architecture while AI handles implementation.
- Junior and mid-level engineers face increased pressure to ship faster with unreliable AI output.
- Only 16% of a developer's time is spent writing code; the rest is operational work.
- AI assistants save 10 hours per week but inefficiencies elsewhere cancel out gains.
- Technical debt is often created in product meetings, not in code.
- Developers frequently discover unexpected codebase constraints after committing to a product direction.
- Key desired improvements: reducing ambiguity upstream and clearer picture of affected services and edge cases.
- Most costly defects stem from misalignment between requirements and architecture.
- LLMs can better map existing code structures than generate fully-functional code.
- Developers are open to tools that augment workflows but want flexibility in deployment.
- Bicameral aims to deploy AI pragmatically, focusing on human needs and context-sharing.
NNSA conducts aerial radiation surveys over San Francisco ahead of Super Bowl
a day ago
- NNSA to conduct aerial radiation surveys over San Francisco Bay Area from February 2-4, 2026.
- Flights aim to measure background radiation ahead of Super Bowl LX for public safety.
- Helicopter (Leonardo AW-139) equipped with radiation sensors will fly at low altitudes.
- Surveys are routine security and emergency preparedness activities.
- Public awareness campaign to prevent alarm over low-flying aircraft.
To Build a Fire:Inside Russia's Campaign of Sabotage in Europe
a day ago
- A Ukrainian woman, Anna, was recruited by an old acquaintance to pick up a suspicious package in Vilnius, Lithuania, which turned out to contain detonators.
- Anna cooperated with Lithuanian counterterrorism police, leading to a sting operation where the package was tracked via GPS.
- The package was retrieved by Daniil Bardadim, a 17-year-old Ukrainian, who was arrested after being tracked by police.
- Bardadim admitted to committing arson and was on his way to Riga to carry out another attack.
- Bardadim and his friend Oleksandr were recruited by Serhiy Chaliy, a criminal figure linked to Russian intelligence, to carry out sabotage operations in Europe.
- Bardadim set fire to an IKEA store in Vilnius and was involved in the arson of a shopping center in Warsaw.
- European intelligence agencies identified a pattern of 'single-use agents'—individuals recruited for minor sabotage tasks to create chaos and fear.
- Russia's military intelligence agency, the G.R.U., is believed to be behind these operations, using proxies to maintain deniability.
- The operations aim to disrupt Western support for Ukraine, sow societal divisions, and test European security responses.
- Bardadim was sentenced to three years in prison in Lithuania, while Chaliy and other handlers remain at large.
Floppinux – An Embedded Linux on a Single Floppy, 2025 Edition
a day ago
- FLOPPINUX is an embedded Linux distribution designed to run from a single floppy disk.
- The 2025 edition (v0.3.1) includes updates like the latest kernel (6.14.11) and persistent storage support.
- Main project goals include creating a minimal Linux distribution for educational purposes, supporting 32-bit x86 CPUs since Intel 486DX.
- Core features include a working text editor (Vi), basic file manipulation commands, and 264KB of persistent storage.
- Minimum hardware requirements: Intel 486DX 33MHz, 20MB RAM, and an internal floppy disk.
- The tutorial covers setting up a working directory, compiling the Linux kernel, and configuring BusyBox for essential tools.
- Filesystem setup includes creating necessary directories, configuration files, and a welcome message.
- The boot image is created by formatting a floppy disk image and copying the kernel, filesystem, and configuration files.
- Testing is done using QEMU before burning the image to a real floppy disk.
- Summary includes key details like kernel size (881KiB), tools size (137KiB), and free space left (253KiB).
How Vibe Coding Is Killing Open Source
a day ago
- Vibe coding, or LLM-assisted software development, may risk the Open Source ecosystem by reducing user interaction with OSS projects and making it harder to start new ones.
- LLMs can steer developers towards libraries prevalent in their training data, potentially reducing visits to project websites and community forums.
- AI-assisted coding may lead to more bugs, with reports indicating a 41% increase in bugs when using tools like GitHub Copilot.
- Experienced developers report decreased productivity (19%) and cognitive skill degradation when relying heavily on LLMs.
- OSS projects may suffer from reduced bug reports and community engagement as developers delegate more to LLMs.
- Some developers find LLMs helpful for mundane tasks and debugging, but caution against over-reliance to maintain coding skills.
- The debate includes concerns about the democratization of coding vs. the potential for lower-quality contributions to OSS projects.
- LLMs can empower non-coders to create software, but may also lead to a loss of deep technical understanding among developers.
- Stack Overflow and similar forums see reduced traffic as developers turn to LLMs for quick answers.
- The future of OSS with widespread LLM use remains uncertain, with potential for both innovation and ecosystem degradation.
Banning lead in gas worked. The proof is in our hair
a day ago
- Prior to the EPA's establishment in 1970, lead exposure in the U.S. was high due to industrial sources, paint, water pipes, and tailpipe emissions.
- A study by University of Utah scientists analyzed hair samples spanning 100 years, showing lead levels were about 100 times higher before EPA regulations.
- Lead is a neurotoxin that accumulates in tissues, linked to developmental deficits in children, but regulations have significantly reduced exposure.
- The study highlights the importance of environmental regulations, noting recent weakening of lead rules under the Trump administration.
- Lead was widely used in paint, pipes, and gasoline for its useful properties, despite its toxicity being well-established by the 1970s.
- Utah's unique family history preservation allowed researchers to collect hair samples dating back a century, providing insights into lead exposure over time.
- Hair analysis revealed lead levels dropped from 100 ppm before 1970 to less than 1 ppm in 2024, paralleling reductions in leaded gasoline.
- The study underscores the role of the EPA in reducing environmental lead and protecting public health.
Trump urges Republicans to 'take over' and 'nationalize' voting
a day ago
- Trump calls on Republicans to 'take over' and 'nationalize' voting, alleging crooked practices.
- Claims noncitizen voting influences elections, though experts say it's rare and illegal.
- Constitution grants states authority over federal elections, with Congress having oversight.
- White House cites SAVE Act as Trump's push for uniform voting standards.
- Senate Minority Leader Schumer criticizes Trump's remarks as unconstitutional.
- Midterm elections crucial for Trump's agenda, with Republicans holding narrow majorities.
- Trump continues to dispute 2020 election results, spreading fraud claims.
- FBI seizes 2020 voting records in Georgia, a key swing state in Biden's win.
Adobe Animate will be discontinued effective March 1, 2026
a day ago
- Adobe Animate will be discontinued on March 1, 2026, and removed from Adobe.com.
- Enterprise customers retain access, downloads, and support until March 1, 2029.
- Non-enterprise customers have support and access until March 1, 2027.
- Users should export FLA/XFL files to formats like SWF, SVG, or MP4 before support ends.
- Creative Cloud Pro users can use After Effects or Adobe Express for animation needs.
- Animate will remain functional but unsupported after the respective end dates.
- Older versions of Animate can be accessed via Creative Cloud desktop under 'Show Older Apps'.
Trump, ICE set to be handed access to Australians' biometric data, ID documents
a day ago
- The Trump administration and ICE are being granted access to Australians' biometric data and ID documents by the Albanese government.
- This is in response to a US demand for tighter security under the Visa Waiver Program.
- Australians currently travel to the US visa-free via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).
- Since December, ESTA users must provide biometric information and social media histories when entering the US.
- Fingerprinting has long been a requirement in many US airports.
- Crikey offers subscription options for unlimited access to articles and newsletters, supporting independent journalism.
Carnegie Mellon Unversity Computer Club FTP Server
6 days ago
- The text describes the Computer Club mirrors service at Carnegie Mellon University, listing various mirrored directories like HVSC, gnu, knoppix, and others.
- It mentions the 6-hour mirroring interval for directories such as HVSC, gnu, knoppix, aminet, scene.org, and more.
- Requests for additional mirrors are considered based on relevance and disk space, with contributions welcomed via email.
- A specific file was removed in 2015 due to being flagged as malware by an antivirus vendor, affecting the domain's rating.
- A legal notice is included regarding U.S. Export Regulations on cryptographic software, mentioning export under License Exception "TSU".

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Show HN: Safe-now.live – Ultra-light emergency info site (<10KB)

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A century of hair samples proves leaded gas ban worked

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Carnegie Mellon Unversity Computer Club FTP Server