A Communist Apple II and Fourteen Years of Not Knowing What You're Testing

4 days ago

Many UK business leaders plan to continue investing in AI even without proof of its benefits, with KPMG suggesting rebranding it as a 'strategic enabler' rather than an investment.
OpenAI has delayed its UK Stargate project due to high electricity costs and regulatory concerns, following its announcement during a Trump visit.
AMD's AI director reports that Claude Code has declined in performance since February, based on analysis of thousands of sessions, highlighting the thoroughness of AI reviews.
Reverse engineering, exemplified by Bulgaria's Правец computers, contrasts with modern AI development by focusing on understanding existing designs rather than building opaque systems.
The Правец 82, a Bulgarian Apple II clone, was widely used in schools and helped bring computing to Eastern Europe through reverse engineering and adaptation.
The ISCAS-85 benchmarks, used for decades in digital design research, were reverse-engineered in 1999 to reveal their original functions, like interrupt controllers and ALUs.
Reverse engineering connects to synthesis and diagnosis through formal methods, showing that understanding technology through analysis is as valuable as building it forward.
The essay argues for a return to patient, analytical approaches in technology, emphasizing mathematics and hands-on skills over hype and large-scale investment.

Hasty Briefsbeta