Boris Vallejo, a prominent fantasy painter, significantly influenced 1980s and 90s fantasy book covers, computer game art, and the demoscene, a subculture focused on producing demos or computer art.
The article discusses the history of fantasy art, demoscene controversies, and the creation of a Boris Vallejo-inspired graphic using only four colors, emphasizing the beauty of working within constraints.
Vallejo's art, often featuring idealized warriors and princesses, continues to inspire artists, despite debates about originality and artistry in the demoscene, where his style is frequently replicated.
Boris Vallejo, a renowned fantasy illustrator, remains influential and active, regularly attending conventions like Illuxcon in Reading, PA.
Vallejo's work has significantly impacted various artistic mediums, including the demoscene, a subculture focused on creating computer art and demos.
The demoscene community reminisces about the technical challenges and inspirations drawn from artists like Vallejo during the Amiga and early Windows era, highlighting the labor-intensive process of hand-pixeling graphics.
MusicBrainz is an open music encyclopedia that collects and shares music metadata, aiming to be a universal music identification system.
It is maintained by a global community and operated by the non-profit MetaBrainz Foundation, with most data released into the Public Domain for free use.
Developers can utilize the XML web service or development libraries to create applications that integrate with MusicBrainz.
MusicBrainz is an open music encyclopedia known for its global reach and accuracy in managing music libraries, with companion software Picard praised for tagging and organizing music collections.
Alternatives such as beets and ListenBrainz are also recommended, though users note MusicBrainz's detailed and sometimes complex tagging process.
Despite occasional issues with data accuracy and user interactions, MusicBrainz is highly valued for its integration with various music players and tools, making it a significant resource for music enthusiasts.
A QR code generator was developed as a resume project using Rust, with a web interface for customization.
The project utilizes a Rust library via WebAssembly (wasm) for data generation and JavaScript for rendering, allowing output as SVG or on an HTML canvas.
Inspired by qrbtf.com, the project includes unique style options and additional custom styles.
qrframe is a JavaScript-based QR code generator that uses Rust via WebAssembly (wasm) for data generation and allows customization through editable JavaScript for rendering SVGs or HTML canvas.
Inspired by qrbtf.com, qrframe offers unique and artistic QR code styles, though some users report scanning issues, particularly with more complex designs.
The project has received mixed feedback, with some users finding it works well on specific devices, while others suggest simpler designs for better reliability.
Y Combinator is under scrutiny for supporting PearAI, an AI startup accused of cloning another project, Continue, and initially using a misleading license.
PearAI's founder, Duke Pan, acknowledged the error and re-released the project under the correct Apache open source license, but the controversy has led to accusations of a lack of originality and transparency.
Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan defended PearAI, highlighting the advantages of open source, while the incident has prompted questions about YC's selection process and the trend of VCs rapidly funding AI startups.
YC is under fire for supporting PearAI, an AI startup accused of cloning another AI editor, Continue, which was under the Apache open-source license.
PearAI rebranded the code with a fabricated closed license created by ChatGPT, violating the original open-source license terms and sparking ethical and business practice debates.
Critics argue that YC's recent batches include many low-quality, hype-driven projects, raising concerns about the incubator's current standards and focus.
Borg 2.0.0b11 is a major release with breaking changes, requiring users to transfer archives from older versions using "borg transfer" for improved security and performance.
New features include support for rclone:// URLs, parallel operations, and an archive series feature for efficiency, along with various fixes and performance improvements.
Command line changes include syntax updates, removal of deprecated options, and new commands like borg repo-create, borg repo-list, and borg repo-info.
BorgBackup 2.0 now supports Rclone, allowing backups to over 70 cloud providers in addition to SSH, enhancing its versatility.
Users recommend pairing BorgBackup with tools like borgmatic for easier management, while some prefer GUI options like Vorta or Pika Backup.
Borg 2.0 is still in beta, and users are advised to test it on new repositories only, with common concerns about backup verification and testing suggesting automation.
Mozilla disabled the uBlock Origin Lite add-on by Raymond "gorhill" Hill, citing alleged violations such as unauthorized data collection, minified code, and absence of a privacy policy.
Hill refuted these claims, asserting that the extension does not collect data, contains no minified code, and has a privacy policy, leading him to self-host the extension on GitHub.
Mozilla later admitted their mistake and restored the extension, but Hill chose to remove it from Mozilla's Add-ons repository, highlighting flaws in the automated review process.
Blocking, deleting, and reporting junk texts on iOS is recommended over replying STOP, especially due to phishing risks.
Replying STOP can sometimes cause issues, such as blocking important SMS from apps or banks, and may not be effective against political texts or persistent spammers.
Alternatives like using authenticator apps or hardware MFA devices are suggested over SMS 2FA due to security concerns.
The world is not running out of sand, but the issue is complex due to its crucial role in construction and environmental impacts of sand mining.
Manufactured sand from crushed rocks can be more environmentally friendly and produce stronger concrete, though it is more costly.
The construction industry is adapting to changes in sand economics, with increased awareness of environmental impacts and potential for recycling concrete.
The video by Practical Engineering addresses the misconception that desert sand is unsuitable for construction, providing a detailed explanation of different types of sand and their uses.
The discussion highlights the importance of sand in various industries, including construction and semiconductor manufacturing, and the potential impact of supply chain disruptions.
The video is praised for its clear, concise presentation and educational value, making complex engineering topics accessible and engaging to a broad audience.
Spruce Pine, North Carolina, a key global supplier of high-purity quartz, was severely impacted by Hurricane Helene, which caused extensive infrastructure damage and power outages.
The town's quartz is essential for manufacturing silicon chips and solar panels, and the disruption has led to the halting of operations by local suppliers, The Quartz Corp and Sibelco.
Experts caution that prolonged disruption could significantly affect global supply chains for semiconductors and solar panels, highlighting the town's critical role in the tech industry.
A crucial quartz factory in North Carolina, vital for semiconductor manufacturing, was impacted by Hurricane Helene, potentially disrupting the global semiconductor supply chain.
Although alternative quartz sources exist, they are more expensive, prompting discussions on the supply chain's fragility and the need for resilience.
Experts are divided on the impact, with some suggesting that existing inventories and alternative sources may mitigate the disruption, while others see it as an opportunity for new vendors to enter the market.
AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems has filed for an IPO and plans to trade under the ticker "CBRS" on Nasdaq.
The company reported a net loss of $66.6 million on $136.4 million in sales for the first half of 2024, highlighting its competitive stance against Nvidia with chips offering more cores and memory.
Cerebras, founded in 2016 and based in Sunnyvale, California, has raised significant funding, including a $1.43 billion order from UAE-based Group 42, with Citigroup and Barclays leading the IPO.
AI chipmaker Cerebras has filed for an IPO, aiming to raise funds to enhance its technology and compete in the AI hardware market.
Cerebras' WSE-3 chip is significantly larger than NVIDIA's H100 but only offers 8 times the performance improvement, raising concerns about its efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
The company faces challenges with memory integration and has not submitted MLPerf results, indicating potential performance issues.
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released the most detailed infrared map of the Milky Way, featuring over 1.5 billion objects.
Using the VISTA telescope, the team collected 500 terabytes of data over 13 years, revealing hidden regions and providing a 3D view of the Galaxy's inner areas.
The project, part of the VVV and VVVX surveys, has resulted in over 300 scientific articles and is expected to continue contributing to astronomical research for decades.
The ESO telescope has produced the most detailed infrared map of the Milky Way, resulting in over 300 scientific articles.
The VVV and VVVX surveys have uncovered new star clusters, mapped dust reddening, stellar metallicity, and ages, and cataloged other galaxies.
Interactive datasets and 3D visualizations from these surveys are available online, sparking discussions on future space exploration and the challenges of interstellar travel.
Ryujinx, a Nintendo Switch emulator, has been removed from GitHub following contact from Nintendo, who offered the developer an agreement to cease work on the project.
This incident has ignited debates about intellectual property rights and the ownership of purchased games, with differing opinions on whether Nintendo is overreaching or simply protecting its IP.
The situation underscores the persistent tension between emulator developers and game companies, highlighting the complex legal landscape surrounding emulation.
CodeFryingPan announced their product and company on Twitter but acknowledged the announcement was poorly executed and offensive to the open-source community.
The company admitted to making two significant mistakes in their announcement.
PearAI, a startup that forked an open-source code editor, received funding from Y Combinator, sparking controversy over their practices and ethics.
Critics argue that PearAI's founders, who left high-paying jobs and claimed ignorance about licensing, are not genuine "indie hackers" but rather opportunistic and manipulative.
The incident highlights broader concerns about the ethics of venture capital funding, the integrity of startup accelerators, and the potential exploitation of open-source projects.
ProductHunt has over 1 million user signups, with more than 60% identified as bots, primarily generating automated comments using tools like ChatGPT.
Since 2018, bot activity has surpassed real user activity, significantly impacting comment and upvote trends, especially after ChatGPT's release in late 2022.
Bots influence daily rankings by forming voting rings; products with up to 15% bot votes can reach first place, but those with over 60% bot votes rarely do.
Social media platforms, especially Twitter, are criticized for being overrun by bots, leading to fake followers and spam.
Discussions on Hacker News highlight concerns about bots affecting the quality of discourse, with some praising HN's moderation for maintaining integrity.
The rise of AI-generated content and the need for improved identity verification are identified as ongoing challenges for online communities.
Tavus, an AI research company, has developed Phoenix-2, an AI video model that achieves less than 1 second of latency, sometimes as fast as 600 ms, on lower-end hardware.
The company faced significant challenges in balancing latency, scale, and cost, initially requiring an individual H100 GPU for each conversation, which was unscalable and expensive.
Phoenix-2 optimizes various components (vision, ASR, LLM, TTS, video generation) to enhance inference speed, making it suitable for real-time conversational video interfaces.
Tavus, an AI research company, has developed Phoenix-2, an AI video model that achieves under 1 second of latency, making conversational video feel natural.
Phoenix-2 is optimized to run faster and on lower-end hardware, addressing previous issues of cost and scalability.
Potential applications for this technology include interactive experiences, digital twins for celebrities, and personalized ads, with current users reporting higher engagement and satisfaction rates.