Thiel Dumps Nvidia; AI Safety Gets Jailbroken!

Aunt Mary's Storybook

Key Points

• Records of incarcerated parents reading are mailed with books to children.
• Started in 1993 at Cook County Jail; now in 14 Illinois facilities.
• Donations via a $10/month Giving Circle help sustain the program.

$5 PlanetScale is live

Key Points

• $5/month single-node PlanetScale Postgres databases are now live and non-HA.
• Development branch pricing is reduced to $5/month.
• Scaling options include vertical scaling, HA with replicas, and future horizontal scaling via Neki.

Tangled Mess

Key Points

• Legacy colocation unreliability drove DR investments and compliance.
• Cloud adoption increased speed and availability, accelerating migration.
• Multi-region redundancy saw mixed success; Netflix is cited positively.

Writing a DOS Clone in 2019

Key Points

• Implements about half of the extended DOS API with FAT-12 and COMMAND.COM.
• Runs entirely in x86 Real Mode for MS-DOS compatibility.
• Planned additions include multi-drive support, piping/redirection, and FAT-16.

Hyundai Paywalls Brake Pads replacement on Ioniq 5 N

Key Points

• Electronic parking brake retraction on the Ioniq 5 N requires bi-directional diagnostic commands.
• Hyundai limits advanced diagnostic access to approved tools, paid software, and NASTF credentials.
• DIY brake pad replacement on the Ioniq 5 N is effectively blocked without professional access.

Ubiquiti Flex Mini 2.5G Review Ubiquiti Does a Cheap 5-Port 2.5GbE Switch

Key Points

• 5-port 2.5GbE switch with PoE-in and UniFi management
• Teardown shows shared chipset with very low-cost switches
• Compact plastic chassis uses a custom heat spreader for cooling

Writing a Data Science Book with Quarto (Using Jupyter Notebooks or Pandoc)

Key Points

• Quarto supports multi-format publishing from a single source.
• Migrating RMarkdown content to Quarto required minimal changes.
• Interactive R/Python code blocks are enabled via WebAssembly in Quarto.

Bypassing the Branch Predictor

Key Points

• Rarely taken true branch incurs misprediction (~20 cycles) and cold icache costs.
• ARM lacks explicit branch prediction hints; legacy x86 (Pentium 4) had prefixes like 0x3E.
• C++20 [[likely]]/[[unlikely]] affect layout, not predictor; compilers emit similar assembly.

Run Nix Based Environments in Kubernetes

Key Points

• Single immutable Nix-based environment across dev → CI → production in Kubernetes.
• Cross-architecture support for x86 and ARM without rebuilds.
• SBOMs by default and atomic rollbacks for security and reliability.

An exposed .git folder let us dox a phishing campaign

Key Points

• Exposed .git directory revealed source code and history of the phishing kit.
• Hardcoded Telegram bot tokens enabled targeted abuse reports and takedowns.
• Coordinated reports led to removals by GitHub, Telegram, and the hosting provider.

Why I Don't Need a Steam Machine

Key Points

• Valve unveiled a controller, VR headset, and “Steam Machine” for the Steam lineup.
• Steam Machine runs SteamOS with desktop access and is claimed to be ~6x a Steam Deck’s performance.
• The author cites multiple practical reasons they personally won’t buy it.

In Praise of Useless Robots

Key Points

• Anicka Yi’s “aerobes” at Tate Modern respond dynamically to human proximity.
• The article uses Haraway’s “companion species” to frame robots as meaningful otherness.
• Robotics is shifting beyond rigid, anthropomorphic designs toward broader forms.

UK's first small nuclear power station to be built in north Wales

Key Points

• UK’s first SMR plant will be built at Wylfa, Anglesey, with work starting next year.
• Initial configuration includes three SMRs, with potential expansion to eight reactors.
• Backed by £2.5bn government investment, the project aims to power ~3 million homes and create up to 3,000 jobs.

Maybe You're Not Actually Trying

Key Points

• Years-long cyberstalking escalated to threats and extortion via phone-number spoofing.
• Authorities (FBI, U.S. consulate in India, local police) coordinated to stop the stalker.
• The stalker was prevented from entering the United States; the author reflects on agency.

Anthropic's report smells a lot like bullshit

Key Points

• Anthropic’s report claims a Chinese state-backed group (GTG-1002) used Claude/Claude Code in a cyber campaign.
• The article says the report lacks standard IoCs, TTPs, and technical evidence needed for verification.
• Industry-standard examples (e.g., CERT-FR on APT28) include detailed artifacts and frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK.

Is our death from a hydrogen sulfide event inevitable in climate warming? (2005)

Key Points

• Volcanic CO2 warming from the Siberian Traps likely initiated ocean anoxia at the end-Permian.
• Anoxic seas enabled bacterial hydrogen sulfide production, toxic to aerobic life and potentially surface-reaching.
• Hydrogen sulfide can destroy ozone; fossil evidence indicates increased UV exposure during the extinction.

Brimstone: ES2025 JavaScript engine written in Rust

Key Points

• Rust-based JavaScript engine with >97% test262 coverage and not production-ready.
• Features include a bytecode VM, compacting GC, custom RegExp, and parser.
• Supports ES2024 and Feb 2025 stage 4 proposals, excluding SharedArrayBuffer and Atomics.

Is Perplexity the first AI unicorn to fail?

Key Points

• Article claims Perplexity’s position is vulnerable due to distribution disadvantages versus OpenAI and Google.
• Reports rapid growth metrics and funding alongside concerns about business model sustainability.
• Highlights Airtel partnership in India as potentially inflating metrics without ensuring paid conversion.

Measuring the doppler shift of WWVB during a flight

Key Points

• WWVB at 60 kHz is a stable frequency reference receivable by HackRF Pro.
• GPSDOs are common but require sky-view antennas; WWVB offers simpler indoor reception.
• WWVB’s 2012 phase modulation change affected compatibility of commercial oscillators.

“The Fall of Icarus”: Photograph of a falling skydiver in front of the Sun

Key Points

• The photo was captured in hydrogen‑alpha light, revealing solar features like sunspots.
• The team used a paramotor and coordinated in real time to align the silhouette with the Sun.
• Six attempts were required due to alignment challenges and early malfunctions.

Major Bitcoin mining firm pivoting to AI

Key Points

• Bitfarm will transition from crypto mining to AI data center services by 2027.
• 341 MW energized capacity will support Nvidia GB300 NVL72 deployments, starting with the Washington site.
• A $300M Macquarie facility is being used to fund the 350+ MW Panther Creek, PA data center expansion.

My mum was a 17-year-old free spirit – so she was locked up and put in a coma

Key Points

• Mariona was detained in a Franco-era reformatory at 17 for nonconformity.
• The Patronato de Protección a la Mujer oversaw religious-run institutions detaining young women.
• Survivors are calling for an inquiry as Spain reaches 50 years since Franco’s death.

Alchemy

Key Points

• The article applies supply-demand dynamics to argue that abundant, easily produced content loses value.
• Generative AI is presented as flooding the creative market by bypassing traditional processes.
• It asserts public perception has shifted toward devaluing AI-generated art as detection becomes common.

Running the "Reflections on Trusting Trust" Compiler

Key Points

• Explains quines with Python and Go examples as the basis for self-reproducing code.
• Details how compiler self-compilation can embed knowledge in binaries absent from source.
• Describes a method to persist a compiler-inserted backdoor across builds while source remains clean.

The Internet Is No Longer a Safe Haven

Key Points

• Scraping bots temporarily overwhelmed the site, flooding Nginx logs and causing HTTP 502 responses.
• User-agent spoofing bypassed bot checks, making header-based detection unreliable.
• IP intelligence linked the 47.79.* traffic to AS45102 (Alibaba US), prompting consideration of stronger countermeasures.

The politics of purely client-side apps

Key Points

• Two workable posting flows: PDS-proxy (Option 1) vs. app-server-to-PDS (Option 2).
• Option 1 empowers pure clients and PDS interception but suffers from delayed indexing and no in-transaction server-side computation.
• Guidance now leans toward Option 2 with OAuth, though Bluesky’s app still uses Option 1.

The MP944 was the 'real' first microprocessor, but it was top secret

Key Points

• MP944 entered service in 1970 for the F-14’s CADC, predating Intel’s 4004.
• Holt’s declassified paper details a 20-bit, pipelined, parallel MOS-based design at 375 kHz.
• The system met strict military specs, including rapid failover and wide temperature tolerance.

Garbage Collection Is Useful

Key Points

• Ohm’s incremental parsing and attributes enable structure-sharing across edits.
• Tracing-like full document walks were replaced with reference counting to find dead nodes efficiently.
• Decrementing from the old root identifies non-reused nodes without visiting most of the document.

Denial of Fuzzing: Rust in the Windows Kernel

Key Points

• Microsoft fixed the reported GDI kernel vulnerability in KB5058499 (OS Build 26100.4202).
• CPR’s fuzzing targeted EMF/EMF+ metafiles using WinAFL, WinAFL Pet, and BugId.
• Findings included potential info disclosure and arbitrary code execution, plus a recurring BugCheck crash (“Denial of Fuzzing”).

Production-Grade Container Deployment with Podman Quadlets – Larvitz Blog

Key Points

• Uses RHEL 10, Podman Quadlets, and Traefik to deploy Forgejo with a PostgreSQL backend.
• Prefers Podman and Quadlets for security, declarative systemd control, auto updates, and centralized logging.
• Implements network segmentation with an IPv6 frontend and isolated backend to protect the database.

PgFirstAid: PostgreSQL function for improving stability and performance

Key Points

• Open-source, single SQL function for PostgreSQL with prioritized health checks and actionable fixes.
• Covers 12+ checks including missing primary keys, table bloat, statistics issues, and index efficiency.
• Easy deployment: run SELECT * FROM pg_firstAid(); with filtering and summary queries for workflows.

Vintage Large Language Models

Key Points

• Vintage LLMs are trained only on data up to a defined cutoff date.
• Backtesting with an LLM-2019 is proposed to evaluate forecasting methods.
• Vintage LLMs may be scaffolded to reinvent later innovations (e.g., web, quantum computing, blockchains, transformers).

MCP: Model Context Pitfalls in an agentic world

Key Points

• MCP enables AI agents to act via standardized server/client connections and is rapidly adopted across major platforms.
• Security risks include weak permission approvals, prompt injection, cross-tool data leakage, and tool spoofing.
• The ecosystem shows scale: 28 clients, 20 example servers, multi-language SDKs, and 55 unique servers found via Shodan.

Heretic: Automatic censorship removal for language models

Key Points

• Automated censorship removal using directional ablation and Optuna’s TPE optimizer
• Lower KL divergence than manual abliterations on Gemma-3-12b-it while matching refusal suppression
• Broad model support with noted limitations; simple pip-based setup and reproducible evaluation

De Bruijn Numerals

Key Points

• De Bruijn numerals encode n as ⟨n⟩₍d₎ = λ^{S(n)} n (e.g., 4 → λ^5 4).
• Wadsworth’s adequacy result implies zero testing is not achievable for growing‑abstraction encodings.
• Succ (b k) and pred (w) are defined and proven correct via β‑reduction for this system.

FPGA Based IBM-PC-XT

Key Points

• NEC V20 CPU and Lattice FPGA form the core of the XT-compatible system.
• Custom bus controller and memory mapping enable correct 8088-style operation.
• Diagnostics and CGA output validate memory and peripherals via FPGA-based design.

A twelve-year-old on the failed promise of educational technology

Key Points

• Students routinely bypass school web filters via instructional platforms and shared links.
• Quiz and coding tools (Scratch, Blooket, Gimkit) can be repurposed as games despite blocks.
• Responsible tech use education is proposed as a more sustainable approach than blanket blocking.

Interactive Spectrum Chart

Key Points

• Interactive web app visualizes radio spectrum with pan/zoom, toggles, regulatory-domain filters, and downloads.
• Includes a derived 802.11ah channel chart based on 802.11‑2020, validated with Claude.ai.
• Built in vanilla HTML/CSS/JavaScript with a performance-first approach; code reuse is restricted.

Fourier Transforms

Key Points

• FFTs are curve-fitting of sines/cosines, not inherently diagnostic.
• Periodic tire strain signals are pulse-like, complicating spectral interpretation.
• Harmonics in FFTs don’t guarantee actual vibration at those frequencies.

Only three kinds of AI products work

Key Points

• Lab-owned chatbots dominate due to cutting-edge models and integrated harnesses.
• Explicit roleplay chatbots work commercially but face ethical and competitive pressures.
• Completion tools like GitHub Copilot deliver immediate coding value.

Owning a Cat Could Double Your Risk of Schizophrenia, Research Suggests

Key Points

• Adjusted analyses suggest cat exposure is linked to roughly double the odds of schizophrenia.
• Most studies reviewed were case-control with notable quality and confounding limitations.
• Toxoplasma gondii is a hypothesized mechanism, but causation is unproven.

Diamonds and Lasers: Thermal Management for Chips

Key Points

• Imec forecasts a ~9 °C temperature rise for 2030s transistors, threatening dense data center operations.
• Four liquid cooling methods are evaluated, each balancing effectiveness against cost and reliability.
• Laser cooling and CMOS-compatible diamond films emerge as promising, though expensive, next-wave solutions.

Holes (1970) [pdf]

Key Points

• Argle reframes “there are holes in …” as a shape predicate to avoid existential commitment.
• Counting and comparison push the limits of a predicate-only stance on holes.
• Argle concedes holes exist but controversially calls them material, despite possible emptiness.

Waiting for SQL:202y: Group by All

Key Points

• GROUP BY ALL infers non-aggregate select-list elements for grouping.
• Working draft accepted in September 2025 after June consensus.
• Complex mixed expressions are not inferred and require explicit grouping.

How to Scale Distributed Product Teams from 10 to 100

Key Points

• Plan for the next scaling stage while operating in the current one.
• Establish squads, decision frameworks, and playbooks by 10–30 people.
• Adopt tribes/chapters, async-first communication, and Team APIs at 30–75 people.

The fate of "small" open source

Key Points

• AI tools like Claude can generate small utilities, reducing dependency on packages.
• Native features (Blob.arrayBuffer, node:glob, structuredClone) are replacing many small libraries.
• The author concludes small, low-value libraries are fading, diminishing their educational role.

Don't Post Passive-Aggressive Webpages

Key Points

• Passive-aggressive links (e.g., LMGTFY) are discouraged because they feel dismissive and unhelpful.
• Direct, polite guidance is more effective than canned URLs for teaching norms.
• Provide specific search tips and cite guidelines kindly instead of posting snarky links.

I finally understand Cloudflare Zero Trust tunnels

Key Points

• Cloudflare routes most Zero Trust traffic through its edge; warp-to-warp can be p2p.
• Warp Client and Cloudflared have distinct roles: client policy enforcement vs tunnel creation.
• Argo tunnels enable connecting private networks, exposing services, and private IP access via Warp.

The Man Who Keeps Predicting the Web's Death

Key Points

• George Colony repeatedly predicted the Web’s decline from 1995 onward.
• IDC’s analysis argued the Web would evolve rather than be replaced.
• AI-era tools like an OpenAI browser are reigniting the debate about the Web’s future.

62 chapter open-source Zig book

Key Points

• Open-source, project-based Zig programming book with 61 chapters.
• Positions learning as a philosophy beyond syntax.
• States “Zero AI,” authored by @zigbook.

Tracking users with favicons, even in incognito mode

Key Points

• Favicon caching can be exploited to persistently track browsers, even in incognito mode.
• Common privacy defenses like cookie deletion, cache flushing, VPNs, and AdBlockers do not prevent this method.
• A public demo and repository provide documentation and setup via Docker or Node.js for educational study.

Linux mode setting, from the comfort of OCaml

Key Points

• Intro to KMS via libdrm-ocaml with REPL-based workflow
• Setup instructions using Nix or opam and utop
• Examples for device discovery, driver info, and KMS resources

What if you don't need MCP at all?

Key Points

• Minimal Bash + Node.js (Puppeteer Core) tools can replace heavy MCP servers for browser tasks.
• Large MCP servers consume significant LLM context (e.g., 13.7k–18.0k tokens), potentially confusing agents.
• A concise README enables agents to reliably use four core tools: start, navigate, eval JS, and screenshot.

I have recordings proving Coinbase knew about breach 4 months before disclosure

Key Points

• Author targeted on Jan 7, 2025 with phishing using detailed Coinbase account data and personal information.
• Coinbase disclosed in May 2025 that bribed TaskUs contractors in India stole sensitive customer data.
• Technical evidence indicated the phishing email used Amazon SES and passed DKIM despite suspicious sending infrastructure.

Decoding Leibniz Notation (2024)

Key Points

• df/dx denotes the derivative function symbolically, not a literal quotient.
• Second derivatives are written d²f/dx²=f′′ as a conventional shorthand, not true algebra.
• Algebra-like steps with differentials are conveniences and must be interpreted cautiously.

Dark Pattern Games

Key Points

• New review site focused on games without manipulative design.
• Initial coverage targets iOS and Android, with more platforms planned.
• Community submissions are requested to expand the review catalog.

Your Land, My Land (Offrange) – Lithium vs. Lettuce in the Imperial Valley, CA

Key Points

• Imperial Valley supplies a large share of U.S. winter produce via on-demand irrigation from the All-American Canal.
• The region sits atop significant untapped lithium resources near the Salton Sea.
• The Salton Sea originated from 1905 flooding and later became an ecological crisis due to runoff.

The Pragmatic Programmer: 20th Anniversary Edition

Key Points

• One-third of the 20th anniversary edition is new, covering security and concurrency.
• The authors applied automation and parallelism in producing the book, revealing build bugs.
• The book targets beginners but also supports mentors and those without formal CS education.

Shell Grotto, Margate

Key Points

• Underground, Grade I-listed shell mosaic site with ~4.6 million shells over ~2,000 sq ft.
• Complex layout: serpentine passage, rotunda, dome with shaft, and a 15×20 ft altar chamber.
• Origins unknown; 2006 analysis points to a medieval denehole later decorated in the 17th–18th centuries.

Peter Thiel sells off all Nvidia stock, stirring bubble fears

Key Points

• Thiel Macro LLC fully exited Nvidia, cutting a position that was nearly 40% of its portfolio.
• The fund’s long U.S. equities fell from $212M (Q2) to $74.4M (Q3), with a pivot toward three megacap names.
• Nvidia’s market cap exceeded $5T and quarterly sales rose from $39.3B to $46.7B despite Thiel’s exit.

How Your Brain Creates 'Aha' Moments and Why They Stick

Key Points

• Insight involves abrupt representational change rather than gradual problem-solving.
• Becker’s team used Mooney images and fMRI to evoke and measure 'aha' moments.
• Participants viewed 120 images across two days, 10 seconds each, to capture neural activity.

Goldman Sachs asks in biotech Report: Is curing patients a sustainable business?

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs questions the revenue sustainability of one-shot cures in its “The Genome Revolution” report.
• Gilead’s hepatitis C case shows high cure rates with declining U.S. sales post-peak.
• Strategies suggested: target large markets, focus on high-incidence disorders, and continually expand portfolios.

Show HN: Spam classifier in Go using Naive Bayes

Key Points

• Go-based Naive Bayes spam classifier with Laplace smoothing and log-probability scoring.
• Simple API: `NewSpamClassifier` for training and `Classify` for determining spam vs. non-spam.
• Supports Kaggle Spam Mails Dataset and includes tests with accuracy evaluations.

Pennies Are Trash Now

Key Points

• U.S. Mint announced an immediate halt to penny minting.
• An estimated ~300 billion pennies remain in circulation.
• No plan has been communicated for managing existing pennies.

Britney Spears' Guide to Semiconductor Physics

Key Points

• Covers core semiconductor physics topics and device concepts, including lasers and photonic crystals.
• Includes fabrication-focused content such as crystal growth and photolithography.
• Provides tools and external resources, including a calculator, references, glossary, and links to related sites.

Call Me Maybe: Eavesdropping encrypted LTE calls with ReVoLTE (2020)

Key Points

• ReVoLTE exploits keystream reuse in VoLTE caused by flawed eNodeB implementations.
• Empirical testing found 12 of 15 base stations vulnerable, mainly in Germany.
• Attack feasibility was demonstrated, disclosed via GSMA, and presented at USENIX Security 2020.

Why your mock breaks later

Key Points

• Patch where an object is used (module-level), not where it’s defined, to avoid global side effects.
• Global mocks of open can break coverage.py during test execution, especially under Python 3.14.
• Coverage.py now caches the original open at import to mitigate interference from later mocks.

PicoIDE – An open IDE/ATAPI drive emulator

Key Points

• Open-source IDE/ATAPI emulator supporting CD and HDD image formats.
• Supports PIO 0–4 and MWDMA 0–2; no UDMA, with optical performance comparable to 52X CD.
• Optional front panel with OLED, WiFi, and RGB LED; single-drive at launch, details coming soon.

A File Format Uncracked for 20 Years

Key Points

• .lin appears to be a core asset container per level segment with a possible shared common.lin.
• common.lin begins with 32-bit little-endian integers followed by zlib-compressed data (0x78 0x9c).
• The game’s assets include .xbe executables, .bik videos, and .tga images organized by level.

A new chapter begins for EV batteries with the expiry of key LFP patents

Key Points

• Core LFP chemistry patents expired in 2022, shifting competitive focus to secondary innovations.
• FTO due diligence is critical due to ongoing patents on additives, coatings, and production methods.
• Recycling mandates, supply chain dependencies, and infrastructure gaps remain key barriers.

Open Catalyst Project

Key Points

• Collaboration between Meta’s FAIR and CMU to use AI for catalyst discovery.
• Release of OC20/OC22 datasets with extensive DFT results, plus open-source baselines on GitHub.
• Public leaderboard and evaluation server support standardized benchmarking and submissions.

What Did Medieval Peasants Know? (2022)

Key Points

• Medieval life was complex and varied; historians disagree on many basics.
• Popular online claims about superior medieval living often rely on shaky evidence.
• Tuchman’s work is used to frame the need for caution and nuance in interpreting the Middle Ages.

A 1961 Relay Computer Running in the Browser

Key Points

• Browser-based simulation of the 1961 Minivac 601 relay computer.
• Interactive Simulator enables safe, hands-on circuit building.
• Includes original manuals and a 3-bit binary counter demonstration.

Listen to Database Changes Through the Postgres WAL

Key Points

• NOTIFY/pg_notify’s single queue causes contention and scaling issues.
• WAL records every change and enables deferred writes and crash recovery.
• Listening to WAL supports real-time CDC for notifications and audit logs without app changes.

Extreme Moon: The Major Lunar Standstill of 2024-2025

Key Points

• Occurs every 18.6 years and lasts nearly two years, observable worldwide.
• Griffith Observatory is hosting events and has terrace markers for precise viewing.
• Horizon positions can shift ~70° monthly; full Moon offers best visibility.

Help My LocalDate Isn't Flattened

Key Points

• EA Valhalla build flattened LocalDate arrays; source-built Valhalla did not.
• jcmd GC.class_histogram confirmed memory layout differences.
• LocalDate field-size changes (short→byte) enabled flattening under nullability constraints.

Mixing Is the Heartbeat of Deep Lakes. At Crater Lake, It's Slowing Down

Key Points

• Mixing in deep lakes is vital and is slowing at Crater Lake.
• A 2025 Secchi disc measurement recorded ~78 feet (24 m), unusually cloudy for Crater Lake.
• Long-term Secchi data show increasing clarity since 2010, prompting concern about ecosystem effects.

Building a Simple Search Engine That Works

Key Points

• A two-table schema (index_tokens, index_entries) stores tokens and precomputed weights for fast scoring.
• Multiple tokenizers with distinct weights support exact, partial, and typo-tolerant search.
• Precompute final weights using field × tokenizer × sqrt-length and add targeted DB indexes for performance.