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2023-07-13

I Am Leaving

  • The video is dedicated to people who have a strong belief in tech billionaires and their products, as well as those who write updates as if they are writing a letter to an absent editor.
  • The video took a significant amount of time to make, so the creator is asking for support either through Open Collective or by purchasing official merchandise.
  • The video includes mentions and spam messages from Julian Assange and also provides links to the creator's website, as well as their social media accounts on Twitter and Mastodon.

Industry Reactions

  • Users express dissatisfaction with social media platforms like LiveJournal, MySpace, and Facebook, citing issues with content quality, lack of valuable features, and virtue signaling.
  • LinkedIn is praised for its usefulness in professional networking but criticized for inaccurate profiles and the potential negative consequences for job seekers.
  • Users discuss the challenges of verifying employment and weeding out dishonest candidates on LinkedIn, highlighting the need for a community-moderated accuracy platform.

Creating a search engine with PostgreSQL

  • PostgreSQL provides building blocks for creating a search engine for full-text search.
  • The main building blocks include the tsvector and tsquery data types, match operators, ranking functions, and the GIN index type.
  • These building blocks allow for advanced functionality such as relevancy tuning, typo-tolerance, and faceted search.

Industry Reactions

  • Some developers share their experiences with using PostgreSQL for search integration, discussing the performance issues they encountered and alternatives like ElasticSearch.
  • Suggestions are given for keeping PostgreSQL and ElasticSearch in sync, such as using cron jobs or treating ElasticSearch as rebuildable at any time.
  • There is a discussion on the use of other tools like Logstash, Solr, and tools for streaming replication, full-text search, and cross-database synchronization.

Vale's first prototype for immutable region borrowing

  • Vale has developed a new approach to memory safety using generational references and region borrowing, which can make code faster and eliminate memory safety overhead.
  • Region borrowing is an opt-in feature that allows programmers to optimize specific parts of their code while maintaining a normal programming experience.
  • The first prototype of Vale's memory safety approach has been successful, with benchmark results showing no observable overhead compared to unsafe modes.

Industry Reactions

  • Vale is a new programming language that focuses on memory safety and performance.
  • It uses a technique called generational references to ensure memory safety with speed and flexibility.
  • Vale's goal is to provide a high-performance language that is safe to use for servers and games.

Official Mastodon server of the Dutch government

  • The Dutch government has launched its own Mastodon server for social media.
  • This initiative is part of the government's agenda for value-driven digitalization.
  • It aims to provide an alternative platform for government organizations to communicate and share important information with the public.

Industry Reactions

  • The Dutch government has launched an official Mastodon server for its elected officials and government agencies.
  • The move is seen as a way to have more control over the content and privacy policies of the platform compared to mainstream social media platforms.
  • Other European governments, such as the EU and Germany, have also adopted Mastodon for similar purposes.

Telling the Bees

  • Telling the bees is a tradition in many European countries where beekeepers inform their bees about important events in their lives such as deaths, births, marriages, and departures and returns in the household.
  • If the custom is omitted or forgotten, it was believed that the bees would leave their hive, stop producing honey, or even die.
  • This tradition has been recorded in various countries including England, Ireland, Wales, Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Bohemia, and the United States. Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Beekeeper even informed the bees of her passing and the ascension of King Charles III.

Industry Reactions

  • The article discusses the existential dread of death and the realization that all humans are mortal, providing different perspectives on death.
  • Beekeepers traditionally inform their bees about significant events, such as deaths or weddings, as a custom rooted in superstition and symbolism.
  • Telling bees highlights the deep connection between humans and nature, providing insight into historical cultural beliefs and the significance of bees in different societies.

"Computer security 80% solved if we deprecate technology shown in this graphic"

  • Computer security would be significantly improved if outdated technologies shown in the graphic were deprecated.
  • Microsoft's legacy tech, NTLM, is a malware compatibility layer that compromises the security of high-value systems.
  • The presence of legacy technologies poses a significant risk to the security of critical infrastructure.

Industry Reactions

  • Linux's low desktop market share contributes to its lower malware target compared to Windows.
  • Linux's security advantage comes from its trust in open-source software and the ability to review and vet the code.
  • Linux is vulnerable to IoT botnets and Android malware.

RPCS3 – Open Source Playstation 3 Emulator

  • RPCS3 is an open-source Playstation 3 emulator that allows users to play PS3 games on their computers.
  • The project relies on community support and contributions to improve the emulator and push the boundaries of PS3 emulation.
  • The emulator is constantly evolving and progressing thanks to the hard work of developers and the support of patrons.

Industry Reactions

  • Emulators have been a lifeline for people who couldn't afford consoles in their childhood, allowing them to experience games on now obsolete platforms.
  • The precedent set by a case in the US has made emulation legal and has had a global impact, allowing people from around the world to enjoy emulated games.
  • Emulation software developed in the US has had a significant impact on the rest of the world, as fewer people and companies would have been able to legally contribute without it.

Milan Kundera has died

  • Milan Kundera, the acclaimed author of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," has passed away at the age of 94.
  • Kundera's novel was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film in 1988, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche.
  • Kundera was a significant figure in literature, known for his notable fiction and influential essay work.

Industry Reactions

  • Milan Kundera, a renowned writer, has passed away.
  • Readers praise Kundera's ability to provide contrasting perspectives and deep analysis in his books.
  • The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a popular book that has had a significant impact on readers.

Calls to investigate tax sites for sharing financial information with Meta

  • Democratic senators are calling for an investigation into popular tax filing companies for allegedly sharing taxpayers' financial data with Meta and Google.
  • The senators claim that TaxSlayer, H&R Block, and TaxAct violated taxpayer privacy laws by embedding tracking pixels that revealed sensitive user information.
  • The companies confirmed that they shared extensive taxpayer data through Meta's pixel but have since removed it from their websites.

Industry Reactions

  • Tax sites have been sharing users' financial information with Meta and Google through the use of tracking pixels.
  • The tax code and the lobbying efforts of tax-prep companies are contributing factors to the complexity of taxes and the need for third-party services.
  • There is a debate around simplifying the tax code, creating return-free filing options, and mandating more data sharing with the government for automated tax processes.

Stubhub buying their own tickets under fake names?

  • There is speculation that Stubhub, a popular ticket reselling platform, may be buying their own tickets using fake names.
  • The theory is that Stubhub is doing this to drive up prices and create a false sense of demand for certain events.
  • This practice, if true, could be considered unethical and potentially illegal.

Industry Reactions

  • Stubhub is suspected of buying their own tickets under fake names and flipping them for a profit.
  • The email addresses associated with the tickets have domains that appear to be businesses but don't have websites or a presence in Google search results.
  • Stubhub may be using the fake domains to avoid being identified by Ticketmaster and other ticketing companies and to obscure their involvement in ticket resales.