OpenSCAD is a solid 3D CAD modeller favored by programmers for its simplicity and text-based modeling but has limitations in features like chamfers, fillets, and exporting STEP files.
Alternatives such as CadQuery, Build123D, Replicad, PythonSCAD, Fornjot, ImplicitCAD, and BRL-CAD are recommended for more complex projects and those who prefer different syntax or additional features.
Despite its limitations, OpenSCAD's community and libraries like NopSCADlib and BOSL2 are highly valued, providing significant resources for users.
A new lightweight utility library has been released for preparing inputs, locating information, and creating evaluators, focusing on CPU usage and being fast and easy to install.
The library uses average pooled token embeddings from large language models (LLMs) and includes tools for ranking, filtering, clustering, deduplication, and similarity, with some cython implementations for efficiency.
It supports Linux and Mac but not Windows, and offers binarized models using hamming distance for faster similarity calculations with reduced memory usage.
Wordllama is a lightweight utility for working with Large Language Models (LLMs), offering tools for tasks like input preparation and evaluation, without requiring deep learning runtimes.
The library includes a small model (4MB) using average pooled token embeddings, trained with multiple negatives ranking loss and matryoshka representation learning, and supports various utilities like ranking, filtering, clustering, and deduplication.
Currently, it supports Linux and Mac, with plans for Windows builds, and features binarized models using hamming distance for efficient similarity calculations.
Lazarus Group, linked to North Korea, laundered $200M from over 25 cryptocurrency hacks between 2020 and 2023, using P2P marketplaces and mixing services like Tornado Cash and ChipMixer.
Key hacks include CoinBerry, Unibright, CoinMetro, Nexus Mutual, EasyFi, Bondly, MGNR, PolyPlay, bZx, Steadefi, and CoinShift, with stolen funds often converted to fiat over time.
Investigations led to $374K USDT being blacklisted by Tether and $3.4M frozen by stablecoin issuers, with ongoing efforts to track and freeze additional stolen funds.
The Lazarus Group laundered $200 million from 25 cryptocurrency hacks into fiat currency, highlighting significant vulnerabilities in crypto security.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) discovered $650 million laundered from U.S. fentanyl sales for Chinese crime groups, emphasizing the global scale of money laundering.
Despite stringent regulations, money laundering laws often fail, with criminals using legitimate fronts and innocent people getting caught in the crossfire, particularly in countries like Australia lacking robust protections.
Google has officially removed cache links, a feature introduced 25 years ago to access saved versions of web pages.
The removal was confirmed by Google’s Search Liaison Danny Sullivan, who cited improved web stability as the reason.
Although users can still view cached pages by typing "cache:" before the URL, this feature will also be phased out, with potential future collaboration with the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine as an alternative.
The post discusses the stress caused by Scrum, a popular Agile framework, and critiques its implementation in many organizations.
Key points of contention include the excessive focus on meetings and ceremonies, which some argue primarily serve to keep managers informed rather than aiding developers.
The debate highlights a common misconception that Agile and Scrum are synonymous, with many asserting that true Agile principles focus on empowering developers without the overhead introduced by Scrum.
The post argues that aspiring entrepreneurs should focus on improving existing ideas rather than obsessing over innovation, suggesting that effort and execution are more critical than originality.
It highlights that even small changes can be impactful and that copying successful products can be a viable strategy for bootstrappers, who should innovate later based on feedback.
The discussion includes various opinions on the balance between innovation and practicality, with some emphasizing the importance of market timing, customer connection, and the potential pitfalls of overemphasizing new ideas.
The 6.11 kernel has been officially released, announced by Linus Torvalds from Vienna.
Key updates include new io_uring operations, nested bottom-half locking patches, Rust block driver support, and atomic write operations in the block layer.
Additional features are a dedicated bucket slab allocator and a vDSO implementation of getrandom().
Twelve defendants, including Remy Ra St Felix and Jarod Gabriel Seemungal, were sentenced for violent home invasion robberies targeting cryptocurrency, stealing over $3.5 million.
St Felix received a 47-year prison sentence, while Seemungal was sentenced to 20 years and ordered to pay over $4 million in restitution; other sentences ranged from 5 to 25 years.
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina.
Twelve individuals have been sentenced for violent home invasion robberies aimed at stealing cryptocurrency, highlighting the physical risks associated with digital assets.
The lead criminal had a history of violent offenses, including a previous charge of attempted murder, which underscores the severity and danger of these crimes.
The incidents involved extreme violence and threats, such as threatening to mutilate and rape victims, to coerce them into surrendering their cryptocurrency holdings.
Emily F. Gorcenski has curated and deleted a significant portion of her 40,000 lifetime tweets, inspired by the ethical notion of forgetting and controlling her digital legacy.
The process involved coding a script to expedite deletions, manually preserving tweets of historical value, and dealing with the emotional and physical strain of revisiting past interactions.
Gorcenski has moved on from Twitter to platforms like Bluesky, which offers a more promising environment with open APIs and better moderation tools, while also retiring from activism to focus on personal growth and health.
People in their late 20s and 30s debate how others manage to engage in online drama despite busy lives, suggesting it might be escapism, addiction, or social activism.
The discussion includes balancing work and personal time, the impact of social media, and the ethical implications of forgetting past online actions.
Opinions vary on whether spending excessive time online is harmful, with comparisons to TV addiction, while others argue that fulfillment is subjective.
CSCI 181G PO: Game Engine Programming course covers topics like Rust programming, game interactivity, and various game engines such as Unity, Godot, and Bevy.
Key deliverables include a Simulation Game due on Feb 4 and a Game Projects Demo Day on April 30, with multiple topics and assignments scheduled weekly.
Resources include long-form notes on graphics pipelines, Rust setup, 3D programming, and optional books on game AI, procedural content generation, and game physics.
CSCI 181G PO: Game Engine Programming is a course at Pomona College that covers a wide range of topics in game engine development, including rendering, asset management, physics, UI, scripting, and more.
The course provides an overview and top-to-bottom orientation on game engines, with projects like modifying an existing WebGPU program.
Discussions highlight the use of Rust and Unity, noting a shift from traditional C++ in teaching game engine development, and the course's theoretical approach if students are already familiar with Rust.
ImplicitCAD, an open-source programmatic CAD tool, received renewed attention despite being abandoned years ago and never completed.
The author no longer believes ImplicitCAD was the right approach, citing issues with its variant of f-rep (function representation).
Community comments suggest alternatives like Blender for design and OpenSCAD for CAD, with some recommending build123d over both OpenSCAD and ImplicitCAD.
"The Mom Test" is highly recommended for startups to validate ideas with potential customers before investing, focusing on customer use cases and frustrations.
Other essential reads include "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries, "Four Steps to the Epiphany" by Steve Blank, and "Running Lean" by Ash Maurya, all emphasizing customer understanding and continuous innovation.
Books like "Deep Work" by Cal Newport, "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" by Ben Horowitz, and "Zero to One" by Peter Thiel offer valuable insights into productivity, overcoming challenges, and building unique businesses.
Inspired by games like Turing Complete and Logic World, a new tool allows users to build digital circuits using pixel art, combining aseprite and wired-logic.
The tool features a unit-delay event-driven simulation algorithm, Lua scripting for external system communication, and a sandbox mode with various puzzles.
Developed in C with raylib and Lua/luajit scripting, the game is available on Steam and GitHub, with a web demo on itch.io.
Transform your Raspberry Pi into a low-latency home security camera using v4l2 DMA hardware encoder and WebRTC, supporting multiple users for live streaming without a media server.
Note: Raspberry Pi 5 and other SBCs (Single Board Computers) do not support v4l2 hardware encoding; use software encoding mode instead.
Detailed setup instructions include downloading binaries, installing essential libraries, configuring hardware, and running the application, with options to run as a Linux service for continuous operation.
An open-source security camera project using Raspberry Pi is being discussed, with various users sharing their experiences and preferences for similar projects.
Some users prefer commercial options for better finishes, while others aim for full local control using technologies like Tor and WebRTC for secure, private connections.
Discussions also cover technical aspects such as hardware encoding support on Raspberry Pi 5, performance optimization for AI tasks, and the use of C++ for real-time person detection.