Hasty Briefsbeta

Why Is Good Friday Called Good Friday?
19 hours ago
- Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, a pivotal event in Christianity.
- The term 'Good' in Good Friday historically means 'holy', signifying its religious importance.
- Jesus was crucified after being sentenced by Pontius Pilate, enduring flogging and wearing a crown of thorns.
- The Stations of the Cross depict the 14 events from Christ's sentencing to his burial.
- Good Friday is a day of solemn reflection, not celebration, with various global observances.
- In Christianity, Good Friday is considered 'good' because it represents Christ's sacrifice for humanity's sins.
- Traditions include fasting, prayer services, and reenactments of Christ's Passion.
- Unique customs include predicting futures with egg whites and planting gardens for guaranteed growth.
- Good Friday is part of Holy Week, leading to Easter Sunday, celebrating Christ's resurrection.
- The date of Easter changes annually, based on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.
1,700 Year Old Egg Never Broke
4 days ago
- A 1,700-year-old intact Roman egg was discovered in a wishing well near London.
- The egg, found among broken shells, is the oldest preserved avian egg known.
- Micro CT scans revealed the egg still contains liquid, preserved by anaerobic conditions.
- Scientists plan to extract the liquid carefully for further study, including DNA testing.
- The egg may provide insights into Roman rituals, particularly those related to birth and fertility.
- Chickens were revered in Roman times for healing and symbolic connections to rebirth.
- The egg will eventually be displayed at London’s Natural History Museum.
Trek tells retailers of immediate price increases
20 hours ago
- Trek and Electra bike prices are increasing immediately due to a 10% tariff surcharge announced on April 2.
- Trek is minimizing the impact on entry-level models and applying the price increase to all backorders.
- The price increase aims to prevent inventory shortages and ensure fairness among retailers.
- Retailers will see an increase in the value of their current inventory and higher GP dollars for bikes sold.
- Specialized Bicycles will list the 10% tariff surcharge as a separate line item on B2B invoices after May 1.
Europe deplores America's 'chlorinated chicken.' How safe is our poultry?
a day ago
- Europe bans U.S. chicken processed with chlorine, citing food safety concerns.
- Less than 5% of U.S. poultry facilities still use chlorine; most now use organic acids like peroxyacetic acid.
- European regulators view chemical washes as masking poor hygiene rather than addressing root causes.
- U.S. and Europe have different food safety approaches: Europe focuses on pre-harvest interventions, while the U.S. relies on post-slaughter chemical treatments.
- Salmonella and Campylobacter infections remain prevalent in both regions despite differing regulations.
- Consumers should practice proper cooking hygiene, including avoiding washing raw chicken and cooking it to 165°F.
Four charts sum up the state of AI and energy
21 hours ago
- AI is significantly increasing electricity demand, with data centers expected to use nearly 1,000 terawatt-hours by 2026, surpassing Japan's current consumption.
- In the near term, fossil fuels like coal and natural gas will power data centers, but renewables and nuclear energy are projected to play a larger role post-2030.
- Data centers account for just over 8% of expected electricity demand growth this decade, with EVs, air-conditioning, and appliances driving more demand.
- Data centers are clustered near urban areas, posing unique challenges for local power grids and potentially increasing fossil fuel use in these regions.
A 1980s toy robot arm inspired modern robotics
21 hours ago
- The Armatron, a 1980s toy robotic arm, inspired modern robotics and AI applications.
- Designed by Hiroyuki Watanabe at Tomy, the Armatron was purely mechanical yet highly functional.
- Watanabe's inspiration came from radio-controlled helicopters, leading to the toy's innovative dual-joystick controls.
- The Armatron was praised by robotics engineers and researchers, bridging the gap between toys and industrial robotics.
- Childhood experiences with the Armatron influenced engineers like Adam Borrell (Boston Dynamics) and Eric Paulos (UC Berkeley).
- Modern robotics and AI still grapple with challenges the Armatron introduced, such as object manipulation and grip optimization.
- The Armatron's legacy continues through online communities, DIY modifications, and its impact on hands-on engineering curiosity.
Soldiers in combat can kill without moral injury
a day ago
- Killing another person does not necessarily harm a soldier's mental health; context matters more than the act itself.
- Norwegian soldiers in combat (Afghanistan) showed no significant psychological differences whether they killed or not.
- Peacekeepers (Lebanon) who killed had higher PTSD, depression, anxiety, and lower quality of life compared to those who didn't.
- Peacekeepers' psychological wellbeing was more affected by threats to safety or witnessing suffering than combat soldiers.
- Combat soldiers operate under rules geared towards fighting, which may mitigate moral injury from killing.
- The study challenges the belief that killing inherently causes moral injury, suggesting it depends on mission context.
- Researchers acknowledge limitations, such as the time gap between deployment and response for peacekeepers.
- Findings highlight the need for context-aware psychological support and clear rules of engagement to minimize harm.
- Raises ethical questions about combat soldiers' potential willingness to harm captives or civilians classified as 'enemy'.
What the Critical Erlang SSH Vulnerability Means for Elixir Developers
a day ago
- CVE-2025-32433: Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in Erlang/OTP SSH server.
- Affects all users running Erlang/OTP SSH server, regardless of version.
- Critical severity (10/10) with potential for exploitation if SSH daemon is exposed to the public internet.
- Patched versions available for OTP-27.3.3, OTP-26.2.5.11, and OTP-25.3.2.20.
- Most Elixir/Phoenix applications not affected by default unless Erlang SSH daemon is manually exposed.
- Nerves/IoT devices vulnerable if SSH is exposed to the internet; otherwise safe if SSH is off or tunneled via VPN.
- Check exposure using Shodan or nmap to identify servers running Erlang SSH.
- PaaS providers (Gigalixir, Fly.io, Heroku) inherently safe as they don’t allow port exposure.
- Paraxial.io customers can use Network Scans feature to check SSH versions automatically.
Gemini Advanced is free for college students through finals 2026
a day ago
- Gemini Advanced is free for US college students until June 30, 2026.
- Includes AI tools like Gemini Advanced, NotebookLM Plus, and Whisk.
- Offers 2TB of Google storage and integration with Google Docs.
- Features exam prep tools like study guides and practice tests.
- Provides writing assistance for essays, emails, and resumes.
- Homework help includes step-by-step explanations and summaries.
- Deep Research and Audio Overviews enhance learning efficiency.
- Eligibility requires a .edu email and US residency.
- Must sign up by June 30, 2025, and re-verify student status.
- Existing subscribers must cancel to avail of the free offer.
OpenBSD IO Benchmarking: How Many Jobs Are Worth It?
a day ago
- The post details fio benchmarking on OpenBSD 7.7-current, focusing on random reads, writes, and latency.
- Test setup includes a 1TB Crucial P3 Plus SSD, 64GB test file size, 4 KiB block size, and I/O depth of 32.
- Random read performance peaks at 8 jobs with 1,712.0 MiB/s bandwidth and 439,728 IOPS.
- Random write performance peaks at 18 jobs with 1,428.1 MiB/s bandwidth and 366,830 IOPS.
- Latency increases significantly beyond 8 jobs, with read latency reaching 180.56 µs and write latency 230.42 µs at 32 jobs.
- OpenBSD scales I/O well up to 6-8 jobs, beyond which performance degrades due to contention and CPU overhead.
- Comparison with Linux shows OpenBSD has lower bandwidth and higher latency, with potential for improvement.
- Optimal performance on OpenBSD is achieved with 6-8 parallel jobs, balancing throughput and latency.
- Future tests may explore RW performance on USB sticks to stress additional subsystems.
The Impact of MCP and LLMs on Software Development – A Practical Example
a day ago
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) enhances LLMs by enabling them to perform complex tasks in software development with minimal manual intervention.
- MCP allows for one-shot task completion, such as exploring API schemas, writing GraphQL queries, or configuring routers, without deep domain knowledge.
- Scenario 1: MCP helps frontend developers by fetching GraphQL API schemas and verifying queries, streamlining feature implementation.
- Scenario 2: The 'dream query workflow' uses MCP to propose and validate GraphQL schema changes, simplifying API design.
- Scenario 3: MCP aids in configuring complex software like Cosmo Router by leveraging JSON Schema and documentation search.
- MCP is inspired by LSP (Language Server Protocol) and is model and tool agnostic, enhancing various developer tools.
- Security considerations include risks of running MCP servers locally or over SSE, with potential vulnerabilities.
- MCP combined with Agent Mode transforms software development, enabling developers to automate multi-step processes efficiently.
Adult Daycare Where Developer Dreams Go to Die
a day ago
- Big Tech companies offer high salaries and good work-life balance but leave employees feeling unfulfilled.
- Employees work on small parts of large projects, spend time in meetings, and deal with office politics.
- Big Tech uses 'talent capture' strategies to recruit and retain young developers, preventing them from working elsewhere.
- Techniques include high compensation, equity vesting, and creating risk-averse environments.
- Over time, employees become trapped by financial incentives and lose the courage to leave.
- The article encourages developers to recognize the trap and consider building something independently.
- Setting an exit plan and saving money can help those already in the system.
- The ultimate goal is to solve real problems rather than contribute to shareholder wealth.
Solving the Nasty Code Migration Problem with Assisted AI Agents
a day ago
- The 2024 DORA Report highlights that 67% of developers use AI to improve their code, primarily for writing new functionalities and smarter code completion.
- Developers spend more time modifying existing code than writing new code, making maintenance a significant challenge.
- Code migrations, such as renaming APIs or refactoring, are time-consuming, error-prone, and often boring, yet inevitable due to business needs like security or performance.
- Traditional methods like AST transformations are precise but difficult to write and require extensive coordination, especially in large organizations.
- LLMs face challenges like lack of context and hallucinations, making them unreliable for unsupervised code migrations.
- An assisted LLM approach, where AI agents work under human supervision, can streamline migrations by defining changes, generating suggestions, and executing them at scale.
- AI-assisted maintenance can handle framework upgrades, API deprecations, and security fixes effectively when scope and requirements are well-defined.
- This approach transforms code migrations from a tedious process into an efficient workflow, freeing developers to focus on building new features.
Students at Military Base Schools Walk Out to Protest Trump Policies
21 hours ago
- Hundreds of military children at Defense Department schools worldwide walked out to protest book bans, curriculum changes, and restrictions on extracurricular activities.
- The walkouts occurred at schools on U.S. military bases in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., marking the largest collective action by military children under the Trump administration.
- Students faced warnings of unexcused absences, detention, and sports restrictions for participating in the walkouts.
- Protesters demanded a voice in their education, citing concerns over the removal of books and alterations to curricula related to minorities, women, and LGBTQ+ issues.
- Advanced Placement psychology classes have been affected, with sections on sexuality and gender no longer taught, disadvantaging students in year-end tests.
- Previous protests in February and March occurred without incident, but Thursday's walkouts were met with explicit warnings of consequences.
- Some schools reportedly backed out of the walkouts due to fear of repercussions.
- Despite administrative pushback, the walkouts received support from some parents and the European Parent Teacher Student Association.
- The DoDEA stated it does not support student walkouts, citing disruptions to classroom instruction and resource allocation.
- The outcome of the threatened consequences remains unclear, with participants uncertain if penalties were enforced.
US judge rules Google is an online advertising monopoly
a day ago
- Google ruled to have illegally built 'monopoly power' in web advertising by a federal judge in Virginia.
- This marks the US government's second major court victory over Google in less than a year regarding antitrust violations.
- The ruling could force Google to divest part of its $31 billion online ad business, though appeals may delay outcomes.
- Judge Brinkema sided with the DOJ, stating Google's practices harmed competition, publishers, and consumers.
- Google plans to appeal part of the decision, defending its ad tech tools as beneficial for publishers.
- The case reflects broader regulatory efforts to check the power of tech giants like Google, Apple, Meta, and Amazon.
- Tech critics and media organizations hailed the ruling as a win against Big Tech's monopolistic practices.
Trying (and failing) to hack the Wall of Sheep (2022)
3 days ago
- The Wall of Sheep at DEF CON displays usernames and passwords captured from insecure Wi-Fi networks.
- The author attempts to hack the Wall of Sheep using Cross Site Scripting (XSS) by injecting JavaScript into the login field.
- Assumptions include the Wall being automated, rendered by a web browser, and not particularly secure.
- The attack involves setting up a webserver with HTTP Basic authentication and using a fake username containing JavaScript.
- Despite efforts, the attack fails because the Wall of Sheep is manually moderated, not automated.
- The author plans to try again next year with better preparation, including a burner device and more common authentication methods.
- Social engineering plays a role in the attempt, with the help of fellow DEF CON participants.
- The author emphasizes the importance of not ruining the fun for others with inappropriate content.
You Can't Outrun AI in Tech Interviews, So We Designed Around It
a day ago
- The article discusses the limitations of traditional technical interviews, such as whiteboard challenges and take-home tests, which are seen as outdated and unfair, especially in a virtual setting.
- It introduces the 'McDougall Method', a new approach to technical interviews developed at HelloBetter, focusing on real-world tasks, pair programming, and allowing the use of AI tools.
- The method aims to assess candidates' practical skills, problem-solving abilities, and understanding of coding principles rather than memorization or algorithmic prowess.
- Key phases of the McDougall Method include an introduction, a pair programming session with a pre-shared codebase, reflection and follow-up questions, and a wrap-up with candidate questions.
- The approach addresses common issues like long hiring times, AI-assisted cheating, and the stress of traditional interviews, aiming for a fairer and more efficient process.
- Outcomes include a 30% reduction in time-to-hire and improved candidate experience, with a focus on matching candidates to the right role level rather than pass/fail assessments.
- Future improvements include refining the reflection phase criteria and enhancing documentation and training for interviewers.
HP agrees to $4M settlement over claims of "falsely advertising" PCs, keyboards
a day ago
- HP Inc. agrees to a $4 million settlement over false advertising claims.
- The settlement addresses misleading original pricing on HP's website for computers and peripherals.
- Eligible customers can receive $10 to $100 per product purchased between June 5, 2021, and October 28, 2024.
- The settlement covers products like HP Spectre, Chromebook Envy, Pavilion laptops, and more.
- Plaintiffs may receive up to $5,000 each as part of the settlement.
- HP was accused of violating FTC laws against deceptive pricing, with examples provided in the complaint.
The Size of Packets
a day ago
- Packet size in Internet communications typically ranges between 20 and 1,500 octets to avoid fragmentation and header truncation issues.
- Ethernet's original design in the 1970s influenced modern packet sizes, with a minimum frame size of 46 octets and a maximum of 1,500 octets, balancing efficiency and collision detection.
- The speed of light and electromagnetic propagation in conductors plays a crucial role in determining Ethernet's minimum packet size and network diameter.
- Ethernet evolved from 10Mbps to 1Tbps while maintaining the same packet size range, increasing processing demands to keep pace with network speeds.
- Jumbo frames (up to 9,000 octets) exist but lack standardization, leading to compatibility issues across different network equipment.
- Path MTU discovery is often avoided due to time overheads, with hosts preferring a default MTU of 1,500 octets for reliability.
- Larger packets improve carriage efficiency but increase the risk of undetected bit errors and network jitter.
- QUIC protocol defaults to a smaller MTU (1,200 octets) to simplify operations and avoid fragmentation issues.
- Despite advancements in network speeds, the optimal packet size remains between 46 and 1,500 octets, as established decades ago.
DHL suspends B2C shipments over 800 USD until further notice
a day ago
- Transit delays for U.S.-bound shipments with customs value over USD 800 due to regulatory updates.
- Temporary suspension of B2C shipments to private U.S. individuals exceeding USD 800 starting April 21, 2025.
- B2B shipments over USD 800 to U.S. companies continue but may face delays.
- Formal entry processing now required for shipments over USD 800, down from USD 2,500.
- Increased customs clearances causing multi-day delays for shipments over USD 800.
- Temporary suspension is a measure to manage the surge; updates will follow as the situation evolves.

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Hasty Briefsbeta

Why Is Good Friday Called Good Friday?

1,700 Year Old Egg Never Broke

Trek tells retailers of immediate price increases

Europe deplores America's 'chlorinated chicken.' How safe is our poultry?

Four charts sum up the state of AI and energy

A 1980s toy robot arm inspired modern robotics

Soldiers in combat can kill without moral injury

What the Critical Erlang SSH Vulnerability Means for Elixir Developers

Gemini Advanced is free for college students through finals 2026

OpenBSD IO Benchmarking: How Many Jobs Are Worth It?

The Impact of MCP and LLMs on Software Development – A Practical Example

Adult Daycare Where Developer Dreams Go to Die

Solving the Nasty Code Migration Problem with Assisted AI Agents

Students at Military Base Schools Walk Out to Protest Trump Policies

US judge rules Google is an online advertising monopoly

Trying (and failing) to hack the Wall of Sheep (2022)

You Can't Outrun AI in Tech Interviews, So We Designed Around It

HP agrees to $4M settlement over claims of "falsely advertising" PCs, keyboards

The Size of Packets

DHL suspends B2C shipments over 800 USD until further notice