Valve is contributing significantly to the Linux and open-source community via their work on the Steam Deck and SteamOS, collaborating with open-source consultancy Igalia on various improvements in the Linux ecosystem.
They've made contributions to Mesa OpenGL and Vulkan drivers, kernel graphics driver components, and have been involved in expanding support for case insensitive file-systems, the development of the Gamescope Wayland compositor.
Their support extends to immutable software updates and Flatpak. This magnitude of contributions has had a positive influence on the Linux desktop ecosystem beyond just the gaming sector.
Valve, creator of the Steam platform, is lauded for its contributions to the open-source community and its endeavors to enhance the gaming experience, despite facing initial criticism.
There is a spectrum of opinions regarding Steam's refund policy and its role in real money gambling, along with concerns about the platform's compatibility with older games.
The recent launch of Steam Deck has boosted gaming accessibility on Linux, though it's anticipated that Mac users may not reap the same benefits due to constraints within the macOS ecosystem.
The discussion focuses on personal finance management tools and methods, including the integration with Plaid for automated data imports, but with concerns about data security and a demand for standardized APIs from financial institutions.
The conversation also explores other topics such as tax models, alternative software, transaction categorization challenges, and user praises for a project called Paisa, along with debates on the availability of Linux versions.
It underscores the challenges and potential solutions for efficient personal finance management and highlights the importance of grasping bookkeeping rules and the difficulties of using open banking APIs.
Google's Threat Analysis Group and The Citizen Lab have discovered a 0-day exploit chain for iPhones, developed by the surveillance vendor Intellexa, used to install the 'Predator' spyware via a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack.
Apple has rectified this problem by patching the vulnerabilities in iOS 16.7 and iOS 17.0.1, which emphasizes the risks posed by commercial surveillance vendors.
Google proposes users to enable "HTTPS-First Mode" as a protection measure against MITM attacks, underscoring Google's ongoing efforts against these threats in the spyware industry.
The article discusses broad cybersecurity subjects including, exploit of software weaknesses by an Egyptian surveillance vendor, the difficulties in remedying vulnerabilities, and the need for skilled security professionals.
It delves into the effect of security certificates and the role of VPNs in shielding against government surveillance.
It also mentions corruption allegations and the impact of these vulnerabilities on a presidential candidate's phone, indicating the far-reaching consequences of cybersecurity issues.
The author raises concerns about GitHub Actions, emphasizing issues with debugging, possible security vulnerabilities, and the need for enhancement in workflows validation.
They propose several improvements including interactive debugging, stricter workflow validation, and better specification of types, along with a call for more official GitHub-maintained actions.
The author also criticizes the lack of community emphasis by GitHub and expresses concerns about potential security exploits within the GitHub Actions ecosystem.
The discourse revolves around users' frustrations and criticisms of GitHub Actions, a tool used for Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) workflows.
Users express difficulties with debugging, limited functionality, and integration problems. Some suggest using alternate tools and workarounds to address these concerns.
The community highlights the need for improvements in CI platforms, better support for HTML reports, and a preference for running workflows locally.
The article analyzes different methods for tracking changes in a Postgres database: Listen/Notify, direct table polling, replication, and using an audit table.
Each approach is scrutinized for its advantages and complexities to provide valuable insight.
The article endorses replication as the most potent technique, with leveraging an audit table recommended as a preferred alternative.
The discussion focuses on optimal methods for monitoring and recording changes in a Postgres database, with recommendations such as using triggers, history tables, and relying on the database clock for precision.
Extensions like "pgaudit" or "temporal_tables," logical replication, and trigger functions have been suggested; however, concerns over performance and storage requirements persist, highlighting a demand for improved and reliable change tracking methods in database systems.
Tools like Debezium are recognized while addressing the constraints in using LISTEN/NOTIFY feature in PostgreSQL.
The dialogue centers on the effects of remote work on carbon emissions, societal well-being, productivity, and the boss-worker relationship.
Differing viewpoints are highlighted, underscoring the environmental advantages of remote work and juxtaposing them with potential challenges such as social seclusion and diminished productivity.
The need for government intervention, tax incentives, and democratic instruction in workplaces to tackle these outcomes is also noted.
Java 21 has been launched as the "long term support" version, bringing improvements like pattern matching for switch statements, record patterns, sequenced collections, and virtual threads.
Notable are the virtual threads, which address concurrent request handling, and pattern matching that eases working with sealed hierarchies and records.
The release promises a substantial maintenance boost with over 10,000 bug fixes, making it an advantageous upgrade.
The text comprises diverse discussions concerning features like virtual threads in Java and pattern matching in programming languages.
The discourse also touches on the subject of software package and dependency upgrade; detailing the merits, limitations, and particular challenges associated with these functionalities.
However, the text summary lacks clarity and coherence in providing a straightforward understanding of the discussed topics.
Unity, the game development platform, has revised its new Runtime Fee policy, following backlash from the community; The company has issued an open letter of apology.
Significant changes include an increased revenue cap from $100k to $200k for the Unity Personal plan, fee exemption for games earning less than $1million, and policy application only for Unity Pro and Enterprise users from the 2024 LTS version onwards.
Unity offers payment options of a fixed 2.5% revenue share or new player-based calculated amount, billing the lesser figure. Unity invites creator queries and concerns through a live chat session.
Unity, a widely-used game development platform, is facing criticism for recent changes in its pricing policy, leading to a debate among its user community.
Users are not only demanding assurances to prevent similar decisions in the future, but they are also unsure of Unity's ability to bounce back from this controversy.
There are worries that Unity might continue making such changes without accountability, sparking a conversation about the significance of customer trust and the potential for damaging the company's reputation.
The document details PQXDH, a key agreement protocol for public key authentication, providing post-quantum forward secrecy, deniability, and designed for asynchronous settings.
It describes the protocol's phases, the roles of involved parties, and incorporates both elliptic curve and post-quantum keys with focus on post-quantum deniable mutual authentication.
It also outlines security implications, addressing threats such as communication failure, and identity misbinding attacks while emphasizing on strong randomness and the importance of contributory properties during post-quantum key encapsulation mechanism selection.
The newly released Pqxdh Key Agreement Protocol by Signal is a central topic of discussion, with users debating its privacy features and potential security vulnerabilities.
Some users are recommending alternative secure messaging apps, indicating a mixed perception of Signal's latest protocol.
Criticisms of Signal include its dependence on a centralized server and marketing strategies, yet the main focus remains on the security and privacy features of Signal and its counterparts.
The piece highlights the advantages of employing SQLite as the main database for full-stack applications due to its simplicity and enhanced performance.
Litestream, an open-source tool, is introduced, which strengthens SQLite's resilience and concurrency.
The forthcoming update of Litestream will enable live-replication of SQLite databases, offering a globally scalable database solution especially for read-intensive applications.
The article talks about using server-side SQLite within web applications, discussing its strengths and weaknesses, and the varied responses towards its use in production environments.
The discussion explores the pros and cons of running application logic in a database, using tools like triggers and stored procedures, and it gives a comparative analysis between SQLite and PostgreSQL as application backends.
The limitations of SQLite in larger, distributed systems are discussed, as well as methods for replication and synchronization, the latency of data travel in computer networks and the performance variance among different database systems.
The article is part of a series about the Roman Republic and delves into the influence and role of the Roman Senate.
Although the Senate formally lacked legal powers, it exerted control over state finance, religion-related decisions, and foreign policy via its auctoritas (Latin for authority) and political norms.
The article also explores the difficulties in integrating a comparable advisory organization within the modern US political framework.
The article delves into the Roman Republic with a focus on the Senate, sparking a conversation on societal decay, historical figures, and correlations between the Roman Empire and current issues.
Participants highlighted the enduring influence of Rome, its effects on varying life facets, and the ubiquitous nature of Roman Empire-related thought today.
Mention is made of viral internet stories and potential for a film adaptation of the topic, although an unrelated reference to YC (Y Combinator) Winter 2024 applications is also present.
An individual has created an app that visualizes sheet music in a way similar to YouTube tutorials, with a feature allowing users to import their own files.
The app introduced a subscription model for classical music access, however, this has not proven to be profitable.
The creator is currently seeking feedback and suggestions for improvement.
The dialogue revolves around different elements of sheet music, highlighting challenges in reading it, the merits and limitations of classical notation, and potential of alternative notation systems or digital apps for learning and playing music.
The importance of sheet music in the realm of music education and performance is being emphasized, while criticizing certain music learning apps and suggesting improvements.
Focus is also given to aspects like pricing, user interface, and features of specific apps, and a comparison is drawn with existing apps in the market.
The document outlines principles for constructing and scaling feature flag systems, a software development technique that enables runtime control of specific features without code deployment.
The outlined principles ensure stability, scalability, and security and include strategies like not exposing personally identifiable information (PII), evaluating flags close to users, limiting payload size, and prioritizing consistent user experience.
These principles are based on the experience from building and scaling the Unleash feature management solution, shared to guide architects and engineers in building large-scale feature flag systems.
The main focus of the article is the concepts and difficulties related to establishing and scaling feature flag systems for runtime configuration in software development.
The author recommends adopting an Open Telemetry client SDK approach for managing feature flags effectively and discusses the advantages, compromises, and best practices, along with the use of canary testing.
Various suggestions are made for distinguishing between feature flags and app configurations, with different opinions on their function and application in software development reflected in the discussion.
The speaker introduces Rapidpages, a novel online IDE (Integrated Development Environment) optimized for front-end developers.
This project requires an OpenAI key and a GitHub OAauth app to operate, featuring flexibility as it's accessible on both self-hosting and the cloud platform at www.rapidpages.io.
Rapidpages has garnered interest from tech companies like Vercel and invites users to provide feedback and support the project by starring it on GitHub.
RapidPages, an open-source competitor to Vercel's v0, strives to limit the reliance on traditional CMS platforms by offering scaffolding, quick engineering, and context-providing prompts via clickable page elements.
While RapidPages might disrupt the CMS market according to some, others assert that CMS software still possesses significance, revealing a controversial viewpoint regarding RapidPages.
Despite minor issues, such as login problems and malfunctioning prompts, which are being resolved by the developer, RapidPages has primarily received positive reviews and proposals for enhancements.
"croc" is a file-transfer tool that utilizes a relay system and end-to-end encryption for secure file and folder transfer between computers.
The tool has cross-platform compatibility and supports resumed interrupted transfers and multiple file transfers. It works with platforms such as macOS, Windows, Unix, and Android.
Features of the tool include sending text, using a proxy, changing encryption curves and hash algorithms, and self-hosting the relay. The project is open-source and backed by Github sponsors.
The article delves into various file transfer tools, namely Croc and Magic Wormhole, detailing their features, shortcomings, and user experiences.
It emphasizes the importance of security audits and vulnerability findings, shedding light on issues involving public relay servers, their maintenance cost, and alternative options.
User discussions focus on different file transfer methods including P2P, relay servers, FTP, Dropbox, and mobile clients, along with their convenience and security aspects.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has initiated a rule-making process focused on eliminating medical bills from credit reports to assist families recovering from medical crises, hinder debt collectors from enforcing payment for possibly non-owed bills, and increase credit score data accuracy.
According to CFPB's investigation, medical billing data has lower predictability concerning repayment against conventional credit obligations and is frequently riddled with errors. Proposed rules would ban companies from including medical debt in credit reports and creditors from using this information for their underwriting decisions.
Furthermore, CFPB aims to thwart debt collectors from exploiting the credit reporting system to push consumers into paying dubious debts. The bureau is also assessing several other proposals related to data brokers and continues to communicate with the public regarding high-cost specialty financial products linked to medical billing practices.
The discussion revolves around diverse issues concerning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), medical debt, the requisite for healthcare reform, and their effect on credit reports.
It accentuates mixed views on the CFPB's funding and structure, apprehensions regarding medical billing practices, lack of transparency in healthcare pricing, and the pros and cons of universal healthcare.
The conversation goes on to emphasize the impact of medical debts on credit scores, the inefficiency of the U.S insurance industry, and discussions on utilizing cost as a deterrent in healthcare, underpinning the need for improved regulation, affordable healthcare, and comprehensive reforms.
The JPL Open Source Rover, a smaller replica of Mars rovers, can be constructed using readily available components and serves as a learning experience for folks interested in robotics and mechanical engineering.
It employs the Rocker-Bogie suspension system and 6-Wheel Ackerman Steering for maneuvering over rocky terrains, and is powered by a Raspberry Pi, which allows customization and upgrades.
A roadmap and resources for constructing the rover are provided by the project, promoting hands-on learning and engineering skill development.
The JPL Open Source Rover Project is a mission to construct a remote-controlled cart utilized for off-road heavy loads, targeting individuals without a background in engineering or robotics.
Users on Hacker News are seeking advice on various components of the project like motor selection, drivetrain configurations, and steering mechanisms.
The licensing of the project sparks debate, even as the project team provides clarification, and there is growing interest in adapting the rover for varying uses due to advances in speed and cost efficiency.
Amazon plans to incorporate advertisements into its Prime Video streaming service in 2024, targeting revenue generation for its TV shows and films.
Customers in the UK, US, Germany, and Canada will start seeing these ads early next year, but they can opt for an "ad-free" subscription at an extra cost, mirroring actions of competitors Disney+ and Netflix.
While there are concerns, Amazon assures that ad frequency will be less compared to linear TV and other streaming platforms; analysts believe Amazon's convenience factors and bundled services might offset potential subscription losses.
Amazon Prime Video is considering integrating advertisements into its streaming service, causing distress amongst subscribers, many of whom are threatening to cancel their subscriptions.
Users voiced their frustration over the rising number of commercials on streaming platforms, arguing it may lead to piracy. Some even suggested alternative ways to consume ad-free content.
The discussion broadened to touch on topics like minimal branding and the influence of wealth on companies like Amazon, underlining the general disappointment and concern about the potential erosion of streaming quality for monetary gain.
Apple purportedly opposes the right-to-repair movement to monopolize repairs, using methods such as logo engraving and vehicle identification number (VIN) locking. The complexity and high cost of its repair program have garnered criticism.
Independent companies are presenting more affordable repair solutions—an alternative many consumers prefer.
The push for right-to-repair legislation is gaining momentum, with outcomes like the passage of relevant laws in California, advocating for more freedom in repair and product interoperability.
The article addresses the right-to-repair issue revolving around Apple devices, accentuating Apple's barriers to device repairability.
The discussions in the comments section spotlight debates on user choice, device serviceability, regulations pertaining to replacement parts, and the cost implications of repairs.
It also explores other related topics such as Digital Rights Management (DRM), Apple's anti-theft safeguards, parts pairing, and effects on environmental sustainability and government regulation.
The "TinyML and Efficient Deep Learning Computing" course aims to educate on efficient AI computing techniques, allowing robust deep learning applications even on devices with limited resources.
Course topics will encompass model compression, pruning, quantization, neural architecture search, and distributed training. Hands-on experience will be provided in deploying large language models, supplemented by online lectures and live streams.
Prosecuted by Professor Song Han with two teaching assistants, the course encourages real-time interaction, permitting students to ask queries on Discord. The course is set to return in Fall 2023.
The post emphasizes the importance of TinyML, the necessity of efficient deep learning computing, and recommends TinyML Talks.
It argues that energy efficiency in Machine Learning (ML) infrastructures should not obstruct cutting-edge research and technology development. It touches on the implication of banning "proof of work" schemes in cryptocurrencies.
Collaboration with universities is discussed, and the potential for bringing efficient ML projects to Africa is outlined, providing insights about Google's "step by step distillation" method.