Links für 2023 KW 33#
Zusammengefasst von LlongOrca.
Read W. H. Auden’s 1954 review of The Fellowship of the Ring.:
Sixty-nine years ago, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien published „The Fellowship of the Ring,“ the first novel in a proposed three-volume epic set in Middle Earth. This high fantasy novel features hobbits and has sold over 150 million copies. Renowned literary critic W.H. Auden praised the book for its detailed world, realism, and reflection of human nature in an imaginary setting.
How Surround Sound for Headphones Works:
This article provides a detailed explanation of how to simulate 3D hearing using FIR filters in mathematics software like MATLAB or Octave, and the coding involved in implementing real-time audio modifications for spatial localization. It covers aspects such as inter-ear timing differences, volume differences, frequency envelopes, reflections, and headphone equalizers. Additionally, it provides step-by-step instructions on designing FIR filters for surround sound simulation on headphones with bass boost.
Kommentar zum Azure-Master-Key-Diebstahl: Microsofts Reaktion lässt tief blicken:
Microsoft’s Azure cloud has been targeted by hackers who stole a signing key, potentially allowing them to create forged authentication tokens and access Exchange-Online accounts of government agencies. The incident has raised questions about Microsoft’s security infrastructure and communication regarding the breach.
KI-Update: Stimmen klonen mit KI:
The article discusses the increasing prevalence of voice cloning, with examples such as Pumuckl in RTL’s reboot having its original voice, even though the actor Hans Clarin died in 2005. Apple is also set to enable everyone to clone their voices in its upcoming iOS update, which will particularly help those who may lose their voices due to illness. Various tools have been tested, allowing not only for cloning one’s own voice but also speaking in a foreign language. The author mentions that they had previously cloned their voice and used it as an AI-based news podcast for a week. For more accurate results, extensive audio material is required to create an initial model of the voice. However, with short five-minute audio clips, a KI can now generate a voice imitation. The article also highlights two approaches in voice cloning: the quick Voice-Transfer method, which requires less data as it uses existing voices from thousands of speakers, and the detailed voice cloning that closely matches the person being cloned but takes much longer to create.
The article describes a situation where the author helps an elderly woman park her car in a Seattle parking lot, as she is unfamiliar with modern parking payment methods due to an ongoing road construction project causing disruption to local services. The parking lots have replaced pay stations with multiple mobile apps, making it difficult for users who are not tech-savvy or familiar with various apps to navigate and use them correctly.
It Conveyed Them: When The Beatles Recorded „Twist and Shout“:
The article discusses the recording of „Twist And Shout“ by The Beatles in June 1962. It mentions how they were exhausted from a long day and John Lennon was concerned about his flu-affected voice. The intense performance was due to the manner of the recording, which contributed to its energy. It became the closing track of their LP that day and every show they performed in 1963. Ian MacDonald’s book „Revolution in the Head“ calls it the first of their great records, as it stands against those coming out of Motown or Nashville at the time. The article also briefly covers the recording of „She Loves You,“ which was made with excitement and energy from Beatlemania surrounding them.
Flipping the model presents a new way to treat sleep apnoea – News:
New research suggests that combining therapies may be more effective in treating sleep apnea than relying on a single approach like Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines. Professor Danny Eckert and his team at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health found that adding combinations of treatments led to better results in patients who couldn’t tolerate CPAP machines. This study focused on identifying an individual’s specific cause of sleep apnea, or „endotype,“ before providing targeted therapies. The research team published their findings in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
Why Do Old Books Smell So Good?:
This article discusses the unique scent of old books, which is due to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released as they slowly decay over time. The specific VOCs depend on the paper, inks, and binding materials used in a book, giving old books their distinctive scents. Modern manufacturing processes produce different VOCs than older methods, making new and old books smell differently. These compounds can provide insights into a book’s age, condition, history, and origins, as well as help librarians and historians in preserving collections and matching orphaned books to their original libraries.
Learning Async Rust With Entirely Too Many Web Servers:
TODO
Police Are Getting DNA Data From People Who Think They Opted Out:
CeCe Moore, an actress and director-turned-genetic genealogist, spoke at a conference in New Jersey in late July where she discussed the potential of forensic genetic genealogy. Genetic genealogists hunt for relatives and build family trees similarly to traditional genealogists but collaborate with law enforcement agencies using commercial DNA databases to solve crime cases such as identifying unknown human remains or perpetrators. Moore believes that there is a turning point for solving crimes with the power of genetic genealogy. However, this field has sparked controversy due to the potential privacy invasion involving hundreds and thousands of innocent people in searching for criminals. The use of forensic genetic genealogy as a crime-fighting tool has the potential to put the genetic privacy of millions of Americans at risk.
CeCe Moore’s talk at Ramapo College highlighted the benefits and drawbacks of using genetic genealogy in solving criminal cases. The technology offers a powerful tool for law enforcement agencies, but raises concerns about public trust and privacy. As this technology evolves, it is crucial to strike a balance between its use as a crime-fighting tool and protecting the privacy of individuals who have not been involved in criminal activity.
The article discusses the ongoing struggle between giant telecom companies and efforts to promote competition in the U.S. broadband market. For decades, these companies have lobbied extensively against any potential threats to their monopolies, leading to higher prices for consumers and poor customer service. In recent years, however, local governments have started considering building their own fiber networks, threatening the dominance of telecom giants like Comcast and AT&T. In response, these companies are now pushing legislation that would eliminate local government regulations in order to maintain their stranglehold on the market.
It’s Official: The Leap Second Will Be Retired (a Decade from Now):
An international vote has taken place to ditch the leap second, a technical adjustment that has caused problems since its introduction 50 years ago. The International Treaty governing science and measurement standards agreed to abandon the leap second in 2035 during their meeting in Versailles, France. Metrologists from around the world celebrated the decision, which is expected to improve synchronization for crucial systems such as telecommunication networks, energy transmission, financial transactions, etc. Russia voted against this resolution and Belarus abstained due to their concerns over their GLONASS global navigation satellite system incorporating leap seconds while other systems like GPS do not.
Days on Mars Are Getting Shorter:
NASA’s InSight lander has discovered that Mars is spinning faster than previously thought, which puzzles scientists who study the red planet. The findings were made using data from the retired InSight lander. Researchers studied small shifts in radio frequencies between Earth and Mars to measure the wobbles of Mars as it spins. These measurements helped determine the size of Mars‘ molten core, its composition, and the undulations in the planet’s rotation due to seasonal changes. The cause of Mars spinning faster is still unknown and may be related to the melting of glaciers or ice accumulation at the poles.
10 Facts That Prove the World Is in a Climate Emergency:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a report stating that human influence has significantly warmed the Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, and land. The report highlights the increased frequency of extreme weather events due to rising temperatures, warning that if greenhouse gas emissions are not significantly reduced, global surface temperatures will likely exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius as set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Even with emission reductions, sea levels may continue to rise for centuries or millennia. To avoid catastrophic consequences, major action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately.
The article presents the YOLO-Driven Development Manifesto, which encourages an unconventional approach to software development. It promotes embracing ambiguity, working all-nighters, not focusing on testing until necessary, improvisation through duct tape programming and WD-40 debugging, embracing scope creep, avoiding documentation, and chaotic teamwork in pursuit of excitement and innovation. This method is for those who thrive on uncertainty and spontaneity, but may not be suitable for everyone due to its high risks.
Why Does Email Development Have to Suck?:
The article „Diving Into Email Hell“ by s0.rumi discusses the challenges of developing emails and how it differs from web development. It highlights the reasons why certain practices, like heavy usage of <table> elements and inline styles, are used in email development despite being outdated. The article also presents some examples of the limitations and issues with various email clients and suggests using projects like MJML to help streamline the process.
YouTube Ads May Have Led to Online Tracking of Children, Research Says:
YouTube’s advertising practices may have resulted in companies tracking children across the web, according to a report from Adalytics. The Canadian bank BMO ran an ad campaign using Google’s ad-targeting system and found their ad showed up on a Barbie-themed children’s video on the „Kids Diana Show,“ raising concerns about whether these practices undercut federal privacy law, COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act). This law requires parental consent for collecting personal data from users under 13 for ad targeting purposes.
The article discusses two cases of alleged squatters taking over houses in Atlanta. In one case, Tim Arko returned to his suburban Atlanta property only to encounter a stranger wielding a gun. Despite contacting the police, Arko was arrested for trespassing and is now fighting to evict the squatters from his home in court. The process has been lengthy due to legal delays. In another incident, Lt. Col. Dahlia Daure discovered someone living in her $500,000 Atlanta home while she was away on active duty. She faced a similar issue where the authorities informed her that eviction is considered a „civil matter.“
Thank you for the summary! The Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, also known as Hashimoto’s disease or chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, is an autoimmune disorder that leads to a chronic inflammation of the thyroid gland. It causes the thyroid gland to become gradually damaged by a misguided immune response involving T-lymphocytes and results in antibodies being produced against specific thyroid antigens. This disease eventually causes hypothyroidism, but is not curable and can only be managed through hormone replacement therapy. The prevalence of this condition varies between different ethnic groups with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis found in 1% to 5% of the general population. Women are more likely than men to develop this disease, and it often runs in families but can also be sporadic. Symptoms may vary greatly depending on the stage of the disease, making diagnosis challenging at times, especially during early stages. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is associated with several other autoimmune conditions such as Graves‘ disease, type 1 diabetes, vitiligo, pernicious anemia, and rheumatoid arthritis. There are a variety of methods used for diagnosis, including blood tests to detect the presence of antibodies (thyroid peroxidase antibodies -TPO-ABs) and thyroglobulin antibodies (Tg-Abs), as well as ultrasound imaging to visualize the thyroid gland. Treatment for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis typically involves hormone replacement therapy using daily oral intake of thyroid hormones, such as levothyroxine. Regular monitoring of TSH and possibly free T3 and T4 levels is necessary to adjust the dosage accordingly.
How do we save water: Stop growing alfalfa in Imperial County:
The article discusses California’s water crisis, highlighting that the top water-using activity in the state is growing alfalfa for export to Asia. The author suggests that by stopping the production of this crop, California could address its water shortage issue. Additionally, it criticizes Saudi Arabian companies extracting groundwater in Arizona without a plan to replace it and raises concerns about the ecological impacts of the Salton Sea drying up due to these practices.
The uses and abuses of Cloud Data Warehouses:
Cloud Data Warehouses (CDWs) are increasingly being used for operational workloads, but this can create problems due to the inherent differences between analytical and operational requirements. CDWs are optimized for fast, ad hoc querying, while operational systems require real-time data updates and lower latency. The rise of reverse ETL tools and increasing use of data warehouses by companies at an early stage may contribute to the growth in operational work on warehouses, but these solutions face issues with freshness as datasets grow. A better solution would be extending CDWs‘ capabilities to serve operational workloads directly, allowing them to adapt and optimize their architecture for both analytical and operational requirements.
Forget ‚quiet quitting‘ — ‚loud laborers‘ are killing workplace morale. Here’s how to spot them:
Quiet quitting has become a popular concept among workers who prioritize work-life balance over hustle culture. However, the term „loud laborers“ coined by Andr Spicer refers to employees who focus more on making their work known than actually getting it done. Loud laborers are often politically savvy and active on professional social networks, where they publicize their tasks and achievements. Experts believe some loud laborers talk excessively about their accomplishments due to low self-esteem or insecurity. This type of behavior can negatively impact team dynamics and workplace morale. To address the issue of loud laborers, leaders should recognize effort over showmanship, understand different work styles, communicate and provide feedback, and encourage a balance between self-promotion and actual productivity.
The article discusses the rewriting of LLaMa inference code in raw C++ for running a large language model locally on various hardware. With optimizations and weight quantization, it is now possible to run a 7B parameter model at 1 tokens per second on a Pixel 5. On an M2 Macbook Pro, the 7B model can be executed at approximately 16 tokens per second, while even running on a 4GB RAM Raspberry Pi is feasible though at a slower pace of 0.1 tokens per second. The memory bandwidth and compute performance are the two main advantages GPUs have for deep learning. Inference requirements for LLaMa include keeping the KV cache in memory, reading weights into on-chip memory, and performing matmuls to calculate network outputs. Memory bandwidth is generally a binding constraint, and quantization helps reduce the memory requirements of models.
Google Finds It’s Underpaying Many Men as It Addresses Wage Equity (Published 2019):
Google conducted a study to determine if it was underpaying women and minority groups in comparison to male employees. The results showed that men were actually paid less than women for doing similar work, resulting in thousands of pay raises for men at Google. This finding comes amid increasing pressure on tech companies in Silicon Valley to address gender issues in the workplace. However, critics argue that these findings give a false impression and do not address hiring at lower pay grades for women with similar qualifications. The company is currently working on reviewing their processes to ensure fairness and equity for all employees.
The article discusses Firescrew, a tool designed to spot moving objects on RTSP network cameras quickly and efficiently. It is available under the AGPL-3.0 license and has received 29 stars and 0 forks. GitHub is mentioned, but an action cannot be performed at this time.
How we reduced the cost of building Twitter at Twitter-scale by 100x:
TODO
The author announces that they will no longer be working on desktop Bluetooth, multimedia applications, and libfprint/fprintd projects due to management decisions. They express disappointment over the lack of resources for these projects, and their unavailability moving forward for reviews and maintenance. Other related work is also affected. The author advises partners, customers, colleagues, and community members to get in touch for any queries or concerns about the future of these projects.
This article discusses the rise of sadness and alienation in American society over the past few years. It attributes these issues to the decline of moral education and institutional training in recent decades, which has led to a culture of selfishness, isolation, and polarization. The author suggests that America needs to rebuild moral formative institutions, such as schools and communities, to promote empathy, compassion, and kindness among people.
CSS Selectors: A Visual Guide & Reference:
This article provides an extensive guide to CSS selectors and pseudo-classes, including universal selectors, element selectors, class selectors, ID selectors, multiple selectors, and more. It explains each selector type in detail with examples of how they can be used for styling web elements. The article also covers various advanced and lesser-known selectors, such as the :root, :is(), and :where() pseudo-classes, among others.
A Warning From the Unpublished Preface to Orwell’s Animal Farm:
George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) is a political fable that satirizes the Soviet Union’s transition to totalitarianism under Joseph Stalin. The story involves animals who overthrow their farmer and attempt to create a utopia, but eventually replicate the very practices they opposed. This allegorical work faced censorship due to its criticism of Stalin and the Soviet Union. Despite facing challenges in publishing, Orwell’s Animal Farm remains an influential critique of totalitarianism.
MeLE Quieter3C fanless mini PC review with Ubuntu 22.04, Windows 11 - CNX Software:
The MeLE Quieter3C is a small, fanless computer that offers various improvements over its predecessor, the Quieter3Q. It has an updated design with a Type-C USB port, video display output support through the mini DisplayPort, and power delivery capabilities. The system is still passively cooled using a heat spreader made of metal and measures 131x81x18.3mm. This Mini PC comes preinstalled with a 128GB eMMC drive, soldered-on LPDDR4 memory, and Intel’s Jasper Lake N5105 processor. The MeLE Quieter3C performed very similarly to its predecessor in benchmark tests, making it an easy recommendation for those who already have experience with the Quieter3Q or are looking for a small, quiet computer. It is available at around $270 on Amazon.
OpenFarm is a new project and community focused on helping people grow crops through knowledge sharing. They provide growing guides for various plants, including tomatoes, Thai basil, lettuce, potatoes, carrots, oranges, and strawberries. Users can find specific guidelines for their plant’s life stages based on environmental conditions and growing practices. OpenFarm also offers free membership where they will be in contact via email newsletters to involve users in the community.
A Quickstart Guide to Privacy:
This article provides a guide on improving online security and privacy, focusing on web browsers like Firefox, add-ons such as uBlock Origin and AdNauseam for ad-blocking, search engines like SearXNG, password managers like Bitwarden and Dashlane or self-hosted Vaultwarden, instant messaging services like Matrix and Signal, communication platforms like ActivePub and social media alternatives such as PeerTube, Mastodon, Firefish, and Lemmy. The article also suggests using email providers like Skiff* and Proton for secure messaging and provides information on how to route old emails to a new one. It acknowledges that these measures may not be completely secure but offers guidance on enhancing online security and privacy.
The data of 760,000 Discord.io users was put up for sale on the darknet:
The article discusses an unidentified individual listing the data of 760,000 Discord.io users for sale on a darknet forum. The data includes email addresses, hashed passwords, and other user-specific information. The breach was confirmed by the Discord.io team, who have shut down their services since the event. They advised users to change their passwords and activate two-factor authentication to enhance security.
Why the world’s best vanilla is so easy to steal - The Hustle:
The article discusses the challenges faced by vanilla farmers in Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico - one of the most corrupt regions of North America. Despite being part of an ancient agricultural tradition and the birthplace of vanilla, the work of growing and harvesting these beans is becoming increasingly difficult due to factors such as threats from animals like jaguars and pumas, as well as crime, with incidents of armed men walking through the woods on their land. The farmers are left fending for themselves without reliable government support or protection, and they must constantly worry about theft.
I Created the Nerdiest Game Ever | Pier-Luc Brault:
This article discusses the development of a simple 2D computer nerd game called „Nerdy Operating System.“ The game was created using Pygame for Python and WebAssembly for web compatibility. In this game, players must manage processes, CPU cores, memory pages, and swap space to prevent angering users or getting rebooted. It introduces operating system principles such as process scheduling and memory swapping.