Japan has enacted a law to promote competition in smartphone app stores, preventing companies like Apple and Google from blocking the sale of competing apps and services.
The law could require Apple to allow third-party app stores and direct payment methods, raising questions about compliance with Apple's terms of service.
This legislation aims to challenge the dominance of IT giants and foster a more competitive market, potentially benefiting both consumers and developers.
The article introduces "abliteration," a technique to uncensor Llama models without retraining by removing their refusal mechanism.
Abliteration identifies and removes the "refusal direction" in the model's residual stream, allowing it to respond to all prompts.
The technique was applied to the Daredevil-8B model, resulting in the NeuralDaredevil-8B, an uncensored LLM with top performance in the 8B category, though it required further training to recover performance drops.
The text discusses the user's experience with a new AI model that provides speculative answers rather than outright refusals, which the user finds refreshing and enjoyable.
The debate centers around the ethics and safety measures of AI models, with arguments for and against censorship, and the potential misuse of uncensored models for harmful activities.
The text highlights the challenges of balancing AI safety with freedom of information, emphasizing the need for ethical guidelines and the potential legal implications of AI-generated content.
Meta is focusing on AI research to address the large-scale computation needed for training large language models (LLMs), requiring a rethinking of software, hardware, and network infrastructure.
They adapted existing hardware, including modifying the Grand Teton platform with NVIDIA H100 GPUs, and optimized their data center layout to maximize compute capability while maintaining an air-cooled environment.
Meta built two 24k GPU clusters using RoCE and InfiniBand fabrics to train Llama 3, optimizing network communication and load balancing to ensure high performance and efficient data transfer.
Meta had to adapt its mechanical and thermal designs to remain in an air-cooled environment due to time constraints, leading to a validation cycle for large-scale deployment.
Questions remain about how Meta collects and prepares data for training, particularly concerning Personally Identifiable Information (PII), which is inaccessible by default and requires special access.
The text discusses the competition between tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Meta in developing their own chips, highlighting the performance and cost-efficiency of Nvidia's GPUs versus Google's TPUs.
A whistleblower, Andrew Harris, claims Microsoft ignored warnings about a critical security flaw to avoid losing government business, which was later exploited by Russian hackers in the SolarWinds attack.
Harris, a cybersecurity expert, discovered a vulnerability in Microsoft's cloud-based program that could allow undetected access to sensitive information, but his warnings were dismissed due to potential financial implications.
Despite Harris's efforts and subsequent breaches, Microsoft maintained that no product or service was exploited, leading to criticism of the company's prioritization of profits over customer security.
Whistleblower Andrew Harris, a former Microsoft cybersecurity specialist, revealed that Microsoft delayed addressing a serious flaw in Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) to secure a lucrative government deal, leading to the SolarWinds cyberattack.
ProPublica’s investigation highlights a culture within Microsoft that prioritizes business growth over immediate security concerns, reflecting broader tech industry issues of balancing profit with customer security.
The text discusses the challenges faced by whistleblowers and cybersecurity professionals in advocating for swift action on security issues within profit-driven corporations, emphasizing the need for a cultural shift to prioritize security.
On June 12, 2024, Chromium Blog announced that ChromeOS will integrate large portions of the Android stack to expedite the delivery of Google AI features and innovations.
This integration will include components like the Android Linux kernel and Android frameworks, aiming to accelerate AI innovation, simplify engineering, and enhance device compatibility.
Despite these changes, ChromeOS will maintain its security, consistency, and management capabilities, with regular updates and new innovations continuing in the interim.
ChromeOS will soon be developed using large parts of the Android stack, leveraging Android's architecture to reduce OS fragmentation and improve update consistency.
Chromebooks have longer support lifecycles compared to Android devices, and ChromeOS handles fragmentation better, despite not being suitable for smartphones.
The integration of ChromeOS and Android could lead to a more unified platform, potentially enhancing the desktop experience on mobile devices and addressing current performance issues.
The author has extensive experience in programming, starting in 1962, and has worked with various early computers like the IBM 790, 650, and 1620.
The text emphasizes the creative and abstract nature of programming, comparing it to art forms like poetry, architecture, and music, and highlights the importance of understanding and managing complexity.
The author discusses significant concepts in programming and computer science, such as the eval and apply process in Lisp, debugging, and the philosophical aspects of identity and mutation in data structures.
Gerald Sussman emphasizes programming as a means of storing and understanding knowledge in fields like math, physics, and biology, highlighting its deeper educational value.
The text underscores the importance of maintaining fun in computer science, as advocated by Alan J. Perlis, and warns against becoming gatekeepers of computing knowledge.
The discussion includes the shift from teaching Lisp to Python in universities, noting that while Python is commercially popular, the primary goal of education should be to develop abstract thinking rather than focus solely on commercially relevant languages.
An Indian startup has successfully 3D printed a rocket engine in 72 hours, significantly reducing production time.
The machine used for printing automatically generates a report detailing any deviations, potentially eliminating the need for post-production checks, though some experts dispute this claim.
The development highlights India's growing tech scene and the potential for 3D printing in complex manufacturing, despite ongoing debates about quality assurance and the necessity of post-production testing.
AMD's MI300X accelerator outperforms NVIDIA’s H100 SXM in real-world AI workloads, achieving 33% higher throughput in a chat use case.
Despite NVIDIA’s mature software ecosystem, AMD's MI300X is a strong competitor, offering better performance, cost efficiency, and availability for large-scale cloud inference.
Benchmarks show the MI300X excels in both offline and online inference tasks, making it ideal for scaling AI inference capabilities with higher throughput and faster response times.
AMD's MI300X outperforms Nvidia's H100 in LLM (Large Language Model) inference, according to TensorWave, a cloud provider specializing in AI workloads.
The report's validity is questioned due to AMD's chip having double the transistors and memory but only performing 33% better, and the AMD setup being significantly cheaper.
The discussion highlights Nvidia's dominance in AI workloads, their market position, and the potential competition from AMD, emphasizing the importance of microarchitecture design skills and software in driving hardware performance.
On May 25th, 2024, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX experienced a Dutch Roll mid-flight, leading to substantial structural damage, though the crew landed safely in Oakland, CA.
The FAA classified the event as an accident, and the aircraft was moved to Everett, WA, for further repairs after a temporary fix in Oakland.
Discussions among users highlight technical aspects, potential passenger alarm, and suggestions for Boeing to add a second independent Yaw Damper system for enhanced safety.
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8 Max experienced a Dutch Roll, a phenomenon involving oscillations due to coupling between roll and yaw dynamic modes.
Dutch Roll incidents have historical precedence, with notable cases involving different aircraft models, including a fatal crash of a Japan Airlines Boeing 747SR in 1985.
The discussion highlights concerns about Boeing's engineering standards, the impact of management decisions, and the safety of commercial aviation, despite recent issues with the 737 Max.
Meta has developed the Meta Low Bitrate (MLow) codec to improve audio quality for users with slow connections and lower-end devices, offering twice the quality of the Opus codec while using 10% less computational power.
MLow has been launched on Instagram and Messenger calls, with a rollout on WhatsApp, enhancing user engagement and audio quality, especially in low-bitrate conditions.
MLow, a CELP codec, supports SuperWideBand audio and better Forward Error Correction, improving audio quality even in packet loss scenarios, and aims to enhance audio recovery in future updates.
Meta has introduced a new low-bitrate audio codec, which may not be ideal for real-time communications due to high packet rates and overhead but can be beneficial in circuit-switched or VoIP systems using header compression.
The codec is designed to reduce bandwidth consumption while maintaining or improving reliability and perceived audio quality, making it suitable for platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The codec's performance in real-world applications depends on its ability to handle bit errors and reduced channel capacity, with Forward Error Correction (FEC) playing a crucial role in maintaining call quality.
Arm is attempting to remove Qualcomm from the Windows market to introduce its own Cortex design, leading to a legal dispute over licensing rights for custom Arm chips.
Rumors suggest Nvidia, MediaTek, and AMD may enter the Windows ecosystem with Arm chips, potentially by CES 2025, with MediaTek possibly using Arm's Cortex cores.
Arm claims Qualcomm's use of Nuvia designs violates contractual obligations, seeking to halt shipments and destroy Snapdragon X series chips, though such disputes typically end in financial settlements.
Arm is demanding the destruction of all Snapdragon X Elite laptops due to a licensing dispute with Qualcomm over the use of Nuvia's server cores in the Snapdragon X Elite SoC.
The core issue is whether Qualcomm's acquisition of Nuvia invalidated Nuvia's specific license with Arm, which was originally for server/datacenter usage only.
The outcome of this legal battle could significantly impact future licensing deals and the broader tech industry, with potential implications for how intellectual property (IP) is transferred and used post-acquisition.
Google has open-sourced Shpool, a tool initially developed for maintaining persistent terminal sessions in remote workflows.
Shpool aims to enhance remote work efficiency by allowing continuous terminal sessions without interruptions.
This release is significant as it provides developers with a robust solution for managing remote terminal sessions, potentially improving productivity in distributed teams.
Shpool, a terminal session persistence tool developed by Google, has been open-sourced as a lightweight alternative to Tmux.
Shpool is designed for managing persistent sessions without extra features, making it suitable for long-running processes and system services.
The tool emulates a console to view state and re-render on attach, but currently does not support multiple terminal emulators or heavy use of terminal escape codes.
Anna’s Archive, Library Genesis, and Sci-Hub have created a unified torrent list to preserve a vast amount of human knowledge, totaling 521.1TB, with 60% already copied in at least four locations.
Users are encouraged to seed torrents, especially those with low seeders, to help reach 100% preservation. Large contributors (50TB or more) can contact the team for updates on deprecated torrents.
The list is divided into three parts: managed by Anna’s Archive, managed by others like Library Genesis and Sci-Hub, and miscellaneous torrents. Some torrents may be temporarily embargoed.
Anna's Archive, a mirror of Library Genesis and Sci-Hub, seeks help seeding over 500 TB of books and papers for preservation, with 40% currently seeded by fewer than 4 nodes.
The project faces significant copyright infringement challenges, similar to other online libraries like LibGen, Sci-Hub, and Z-Library, which have faced legal actions and domain seizures.
The shift from IPFS to BitTorrent for preservation is due to BitTorrent's ease of use and lower infrastructure requirements, with the community debating the ethical and legal implications of torrent seeding for long-term data preservation.
Lisa Su, before becoming AMD CEO, worked at IBM and contributed to the design of the PlayStation 3's Cell processor, which was based on IBM's PowerPC and focused on parallelization.
Despite the PlayStation 3 being one of Sony's least successful consoles, it sold 87.4 million units by March 2017 and led to visually stunning games like Uncharted 3.
Under Lisa Su's leadership, AMD has provided hardware for both PlayStation and Xbox for two consecutive console generations, marking a significant achievement for the company in the gaming industry.
AMD CEO Lisa Su shared insights on designing the PS3's Cell processor, highlighting its advanced architecture and challenges in game development.
The PS3's Cell processor was powerful but difficult to program, leading to mixed success and limited market adoption compared to X86_64 and ARM CPUs.
The PS3's unique hardware, including the Cell processor and Nvidia GPU, made it a complex but innovative console, influencing the evolution of gaming consoles and their development environments.
iTerm2 3.5.2 is the latest stable release, recommended for macOS 10.15 and newer, built on June 13, 2024.
The latest beta version, iTerm2 3.5.1beta4, is available for testing, built on June 3, 2024, with frequent updates but occasional instability.
Nightly builds are created daily if changes are committed, but they may contain serious bugs; the latest and older builds are available in the archives.
The iTerm 3.5.1 update removes automatic OpenAI integration, now requiring users to opt-in, sparking debate among users.
Concerns were raised about potential data security risks in corporate environments, even with the opt-in feature, highlighting the need for strict network-level controls.
The backlash against the AI integration led to criticism of IT professionals for not properly vetting software updates and allowing auto-updates without sufficient oversight.