Open-source Linux became the industry standard for cloud computing and mobile devices due to its modifiability, affordability, and advanced features, similar to the expected trajectory of AI.
Meta has released Llama 3.1 405B, the first frontier-level open-source AI model, along with improved 70B and 8B models, emphasizing better cost/performance and suitability for fine-tuning.
Meta collaborates with companies like Amazon, Databricks, and NVIDIA to support developers, aiming to make open-source AI the industry standard, promoting transparency, security, and economic growth.
Meta has launched Llama 3.1, an open-source AI model, featuring a 405 billion parameter model and enhanced 70 billion and 8 billion parameter models.
This release is perceived as a strategic move to challenge competitors like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft by offering advanced AI models for free, with restrictions for companies exceeding 700 million users.
Critics argue that without access to the training data and infrastructure, these models are more akin to freeware than genuinely open-source, sparking debate on Meta's true intentions and the broader implications.
The "Thundervolt" project involves modifying a Nintendo Wii by trimming down its PCB (Printed Circuit Board) to retain only essential components like DRAM (Dynamic Random-Access Memory) and processors, and adding an external DCDC (Direct Current to Direct Current) board for power.
The project aims to create a keychain-sized Wii, named "Kawaii," which is smaller than other miniaturized versions like the GC Nano, but still requires a dock for full functionality, including power input and controller connections.
This project highlights the ongoing interest and innovation in retro gaming and console miniaturization, showcasing the community's dedication to preserving and enhancing classic gaming hardware.
Timeshift for Linux is a system backup tool similar to Windows System Restore and Mac OS Time Machine, focusing on system files and settings.
It supports two modes: RSYNC (using rsync and hard-links) and BTRFS (using BTRFS filesystem features), with the latter requiring a specific subvolume layout.
Developed by Tony George and now part of the Xapp project by Linux Mint, Timeshift offers features like multiple snapshot levels, cross-distribution restores, and post-restore hooks, with installation instructions available for various Linux distributions.
Timeshift is a system restore tool for Linux, similar to macOS's Time Machine and Windows' System Restore, allowing users to create filesystem snapshots using rsync and hardlinks.
Users discuss various backup solutions and configurations, including restic, rclone, ZFS, BTRFS, and LVM snapshots, highlighting the importance of atomic snapshots for database consistency and reliable backups.
The conversation emphasizes the need for robust backup strategies, comparing tools like restic, Borg, and kopia, and discussing the pros and cons of different filesystems and snapshot methods.
Intel has identified instability in its 13th and 14th Gen desktop processors caused by elevated operating voltage from a microcode algorithm.
A microcode patch to address this issue is expected by mid-August, and Intel advises affected customers to contact support for assistance.
Users have expressed concerns about potential long-term CPU damage, the need for BIOS updates, and have reported RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) issues while seeking guidance on managing the instability until the patch is released.
Intel's July 2024 update indicates a microcode issue in 13th/14th Gen desktop CPUs causing incorrect voltage requests, though some users suspect a hardware fault.
Concerns arise due to Intel's delay in addressing the problem and reports of non-faulty CPUs shipping without updated microcode, potentially leading to long-term CPU degradation.
Intel plans to release a microcode patch, but its effectiveness and impact on performance are uncertain, with users reporting mixed experiences regarding CPU stability.
The tutorial by Alexey Makhotkin provides a comprehensive guide on designing database tables for a Google Calendar clone, following the approach from the upcoming book “Database Design using Minimal Modeling.”
It covers the logical model extensively, detailing how to handle basic all-day events, time-based events, and repeated events, and then transitions to creating physical SQL tables.
The tutorial is aimed at readers with a general understanding of databases, helping them move from conceptual ideas to complete database table definitions, and includes practical steps for implementing the design.
A discussion on Google Calendar's database design suggests optimizing an iCalendar parser for fast event scanning instead of creating a complex schema.
Concerns were raised about the need for SQL-like range searches and user-specific queries, which traditional databases handle well.
The debate included challenges like timezones, daylight savings, and recurring events, with a consensus that SQL's ability to manage relationships and queries makes it suitable for calendar applications.
The ASCII table, standardized in 1963, assigns meanings to 100 of 128 possible 7-bit binary codepoints and remains relevant today, especially with UTF-8 encoding being backward-compatible.
The table includes control codes, printable characters, and follows specific binary patterns, with the space character being the first printable character for sorting purposes.
ASCII’s design is logical and aesthetically pleasing, making it coherent for humans to learn and understand, reflecting its historical significance and refined logic.
The post discusses the elegance and utility of the ASCII table, a character encoding standard used in computing.
It highlights how users can access the ASCII table on Linux systems via the command man ascii, which is useful for shell escape codes and regular expressions (regex).
The conversation includes historical context and personal anecdotes about learning various technologies through manpages, emphasizing the ASCII table's longstanding relevance in computing.
The salary gap between FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) and non-FAANG companies is substantial, with FAANG engineers receiving significantly higher compensation packages.
A Staff Engineer at a typical startup might earn a $250k base salary plus a 10-20% bonus, whereas a FAANG Staff Engineer could receive a similar base salary plus $1 million in stock over four years.
The post questions if individuals outside of FAANG and big banks/high-frequency trading (HFT) firms earn comparable amounts, and seeks to identify who they are and their roles.
Earning FAANG-level salaries outside of FAANG companies is possible but rare, often involving niche or high-stress roles.
High-paying alternatives include hedge funds, high-frequency trading firms, specialized consulting, niche software companies, legacy systems expertise, and entrepreneurship.
These roles typically come with high stress, intense competition, or significant risk and effort, making them less common and straightforward compared to FAANG jobs.
Llama 3.1 is an open-source AI model available in three versions: 8B, 70B, and 405B, catering to different performance and cost needs.
It supports advanced use cases, including coding assistants, multi-lingual agents, and complex reasoning, with capabilities for real-time and batch inference, fine-tuning, and synthetic data generation.
The model has been evaluated on over 150 datasets, showing high performance in general, code, math, reasoning, tool use, and multilingual benchmarks.
Llama 3.1, an open-source AI model by Meta, is showing competitive performance against closed-source models like GPT-4.
The 405B model demonstrates significant benchmark improvements but is impractical for home use without cloud support, highlighting challenges in running large models locally.
Meta's release of powerful open models aims to disrupt the competitive landscape, sparking interest in hardware requirements, quantization solutions, and the broader implications for AI development and accessibility.
Button Stealer, a Chrome extension, raises security concerns due to its broad permissions, which could allow it to scrape data from any webpage.
Users suggest reviewing the code on GitHub and installing it locally to avoid potential malicious updates, while others argue such risky extensions should not be in the Chrome store.
The discussion emphasizes the need for more specific permissions and improved security practices for browser extensions.
The author discusses the personal significance of maintaining a blog for nearly twenty years, despite indifference from people in real life (IRL).
The blog serves as a form of self-expression and freedom, contrasting with the pressures of social media and big tech.
Responses from readers highlight various perspectives, including the benefits of blogging for personal clarity, concerns about AI exploitation, and encouragement to write without analytics.
Wiz has decided to abandon a $23 billion acquisition deal with Google and will pursue an Initial Public Offering (IPO) instead, as announced by CEO Assaf Rappaport.
The decision was influenced by antitrust and investor concerns, with Wiz aiming for $1 billion in annual recurring revenue.
Founded in 2020, Wiz has quickly grown, achieving $350 million in annual recurring revenue last year, and offers cloud security products.
Wiz has withdrawn from a $23 billion deal with Google, possibly due to Google re-evaluating the deal after an internal data review.
Wiz claims they walked away because they believe their valuation is higher, though skepticism exists about their high valuation, reportedly over 60 times their Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).
The deal's collapse raises questions about Wiz's actual value and future, despite their rapid growth to $100 million ARR since their founding in 2020.
Let’s Encrypt is ending support for Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) in favor of Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) due to privacy risks and resource efficiency.
This change will not affect websites or visitors but may impact some non-browser software; users are advised to ensure their software functions without an OCSP URL.
The CA/Browser Forum's decision makes OCSP optional for publicly trusted Certificate Authorities (CAs), with Microsoft being the only exception; a timeline for shutting down OCSP services will be announced once Microsoft also makes it optional.
Let's Encrypt plans to discontinue its OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) service due to issues with Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) and the complexity of OCSP systems.
Proposals include using a binary format for CRLs to improve efficiency and mandatory OCSP stapling to address privacy concerns, though this could disrupt many websites.
The shift away from OCSP may affect non-browser applications and embedded devices, but users of standard web servers like Nginx or Caddy should not need immediate changes.
The article provides a comprehensive overview of the Linux audio stack, explaining sound basics, human sound perception, and digital audio processing.
Key components of the Linux audio stack include ALSA for low-level hardware control, JACK for low-latency real-time audio, and PulseAudio for higher-level audio management, with PipeWire emerging as a unifying solution.
PipeWire is highlighted as a versatile option that integrates features of both JACK and PulseAudio, potentially replacing them in future Linux distributions.
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) praises the U.S. for declassifying its nuclear warhead numbers, enhancing nuclear transparency.
As of September 2023, the U.S. has 3,748 nuclear warheads, with only 69 dismantled last year, the lowest since 1994.
The Biden administration's disclosure reinstates transparency paused by the Trump administration, and FAS encourages other nuclear states to adopt similar transparency to prevent mistrust and misinformation.
The United States has revealed its nuclear warhead numbers, reinstating nuclear transparency and sparking discussions on production capacity and strategic importance.
Key topics include the speed of potential production ramp-up, the impact of stockpile size on global safety and geopolitics, and the maintenance challenges like plutonium aging and tritium replacement.
The disclosure aims to reassure allies and deter adversaries by showcasing the U.S.'s significant nuclear capabilities.
A developer named codr7 is working on a Lisp implementation in C# and seeking optimization help from the community.
Significant performance improvements have been achieved by community suggestions, such as changing how ArrayStack is accessed and using Span and ReadOnlySpan for data slicing.
The project is not aiming for standard compliance but rather for practical performance and usability, with ongoing discussions about integrating features like macros and Fexprs (function expressions).