The default web browser settings in Windows 11 remain unchanged, despite claims in a blog post that Microsoft would consider users' browser preferences.
Misunderstanding stemmed from a recent Windows 11 Insider preview build changelog, leading many to believe Microsoft had conceded to regulatory pressures.
In-depth testing reveals that Windows 11 persistently proposes Microsoft Edge as the default browser, overriding the user's chosen browser. Initial reports of changes were misinterpreted and widely circulated in the media, with no official confirmation from Microsoft.
The main discussions revolve around user dissatisfaction with Microsoft Edge's intrusive attempts to be the default browser, and limitations with the Windows operating system.
There is a notable desire for more browser diversity with users expressing concern over Google's dominance, and some prefer alternative browsers like Chromium or Brave.
Users mention alternative operating systems like Ubuntu, Arch Linux, and custom Windows distributions, meanwhile, discussing different tools such as Emacs and VSCode.
The piece recounts the fall of Knight Capital Group, a financial services firm that went under in less than an hour due to unsuccessful deployment of their automated trading system.
It highlights the imperative nature of fully automated and repeatable deployments in the DevOps realm.
The importance of correct configuration management and testing in software deployment is also stressed.
The conversation is focused on the 2014 Knightmare incident where a DevOps failure caused significant financial losses for Knight Capital due to non-backwards-compatible code writing and lack of a kill switch.
Participants underscore the necessity of automated systems, kill switches, and risk management to prevent such issues, indicating the importance of cross-collaboration between software and finance sectors.
The dialogue also addresses the risks associated with high-frequency trading, the aftermath of deployment errors, and the importance of correct frameworks, automation, and accountability within the finance industry.
The past three months have been the hottest on record for Earth, replicating a climate change pattern that's caused extreme weather events and unprecedented sea surface temperatures.
August 2023 emerged as the warmest August ever recorded, contributing to this year becoming the second warmest on record, trailing only 2016.
Scientists attribute these record-breaking climatic conditions to climate change and call for urgent action to prevent dire environmental consequences.
The discussions cover the urgency and need for action against climate change, discussing potential solutions and its various implications including extreme weather events, human related global warming, and the potential consequences of climate change.
Significant topics include geo-engineering, political implications, effects on agriculture and food production, and the responsibility of different nations in managing climate change.
There are debates around denial of climate change, emissions reduction efforts, with an overall sense of concerned urgency about the future impacts of climate change, suggesting diverse opinions and perspectives.
The Peredvizhnikov Engine is a lock-free game engine written in C++20, designed on the actor model of concurrent computation, allowing parallel logic development and inter-thread synchronization isolation.
The engine is fault-tolerant, guaranteed to persist even if worker threads are killed, includes lock-free algorithms, and is GPLV3 licensed but can be licensed differently if permitted by the creator.
Currently, the engine only supports Linux, and requires Clang++ 16 for building.
The Peredvizhnikov Engine, a lock-free game engine written in C++20, uses a unique Benaphore technique for message queueing that improves performance levels.
Key debate points in game development are consistent performance, synchronization among multiple players, the intricacy of current hardware and software, and the Peredvizhnikov Engine's limitations including debugging challenges and no Windows support.
A substantial discussion is also devoted to the distinction between mobile games and PC/console games, emphasizing the advantage of utilizing a library like SDL versus platform-specific layers for constructing a game engine.
The writer has undertaken experiments to understand how Network Address Translation (NAT) functions with regards to ICMP packets in a Linux environment.
They've delved into the structure and mechanics of ICMP echo and echo reply messages, along with the implementation of the 'ping' command and the randomness of its ICMP identifier selection.
Utilizing a tool called 'bpftrace' for tracing kernel functions, the author observed and confirmed modification in the source and destination IP addresses in ICMP packets due to the NAT process.
The articles explore a range of topics related to Network Address Translation (NAT), IPv6, and the use of ping for peer-to-peer networking, including how Linux deals with NAT and pinging.
The advantages, challenges, and restrictions of existing NAT and IPv6 configurations, as well as potential solutions for improving peer-to-peer communication, are discussed.
While there seems to be a variety of viewpoints and concerns regarding these technologies and their implementation, the articles aim to provide a comprehensive view of the topic.
Matt Steele connected his bicycle's GPS to make advance pizza orders from Casey's General Store while participating in a gravel race using a script activated when his bike exited a geofence.
On his first attempt, there was a false positive failing to order the pizza. However, after enhancing the script, Matt successfully ordered a pizza after the race.
Despite the challenges faced, Matt gained valuable lessons and aims to use the pizza ordering functionality in future races. The project's source code is publicly available on GitHub, an online hosting platform for software development.
The text focuses on a story about a cyclist who wired their bike's GPS to allow pizza ordering during a race, which sparked a debate about potential misuse of food ordering service APIs, such as a money-laundering scheme.
It discusses the difficulties of endurance racing, particularly about fueling the body, and the IFTTT-style hacks developed by users to integrate food ordering.
The article also mentions a trend of random user blocking by websites, possibly to comply with GDPR or to cut costs, with the adoption of geo-blocking by retail companies to prevent threats and reduce bandwidth usage. Cloudflare's free DDoS guard is identified as a possible reason for this trend.
The author shares their positive experiences using the static site generator, Karl Bartel Home Projects, for creating and hosting websites, highlighting its speed, simplicity, and flexibility.
They discuss various functionalities such as adding headers to HTML files, copying unchanged files, and the possibility of converting markdown content into HTML.
They propose convenience features like serving the site locally, automatically rebuilding on file changes, and uploading directly to GitHub Pages.
The article delves into methods and tools for creating and managing static websites, including the use of Makefiles, shell scripts, and static site generators, discussing their advantages and disadvantages.
It touches on using Nix, Conda, and Docker for compute environment management, discussing the challenges and strengths associated with these tools.
Personal blogging value, the use of heredocs and plaintext to HTML compilers for website generation, and limitations of current web technology regarding consistent styling across platforms are also discussed.
Former Secret Service agent Paul Landis alleges the discovery of a bullet in President Kennedy's limousine on the day of his assassination, potentially opposing the Warren Commission's "Lone Gunman" theory.
The possible presence of an additional bullet raises doubts about the official account of the incident and could demand a reconsideration of established conclusions.
Another key claim comes from Special Agent Richard Landis, who suggests a bullet was left on a stretcher at the hospital, contradicting the commission's assertion that the bullet originated from Governor Connally's stretcher.
The discussion overviews online debates about JFK's assassination and associated conspiracy theories, with topics ranging from CIA involvement to Warren Commission's report credibility.
The single-bullet theory's validity, classified document withholding, and human memory fallibility serve as key debating points in the evaluation of witness testimonies.
The discourse also highlights the role of individuals' behavior, availability of video evidence, and how these theories' relevance in today's politics.
The website offers a comprehensive checklist designed to assist senior engineers in their career progression and success, containing key tasks and principles.
It covers diverse topics such as leadership, hiring practices, technology, networking, and the cultivation of professional relations, recognising the business facets of their roles.
They are guided on handling challenging situations, work prioritization, continuous learning, maintaining open-mindedness, enforcing accountability, and discouraging system over-complication.
The conversations involve various aspects of a senior engineer's role, responsibilities, and hurdles, such as decision-making, mentorship, people management, ambiguity, communication, problem-solving, understanding business nuances, and diverse skill requirements.
There exists a disagreement over the importance of experience versus evidence-based decision-making, showing that different perspectives exist within the field.
The discussions underscore the multi-dimensional nature of senior engineering positions and the necessity for a mix of technical expertise, experience, and effective leadership skills.
Thien-Thi Nguyen, a renowned hacker, artist, and writer who made substantial contributions to GNU programs and free software packages, has unfortunately passed away.
Nguyen was recognized for his work on GNU Emacs, GNU Taler, and GNU Go. He was also the author and maintainer of various Emacs packages.
His departure signifies a considerable loss to the free software community as his contributions were invaluable.
The ocean's salinity, approximately 3.5% of the seawater's weight, is due to rain eroding land rocks, thus transferring salts and minerals into rivers and eventually into the ocean.
The most prevalent ions in seawater are chloride and sodium.
Both the USGS (United States Geological Survey) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) provide further resources for understanding the ocean's salinity and related subjects.
The author details the utility of the Make program, a tool for building software projects, specifically discussing a simplified version created using the AWK programming language.
Emphasized is the forthcoming second edition of the AWK book, featuring CSV support and an amended Make program version.
While recognizing AWK's usefulness in specific tasks, the author argues that Python is a more appropriate language for this type of program and provides a link to their GitHub repository hosting the source code.
The author shares their journey creating a variant of Make utility with Awk, a scripting language, and a failed attempt to modify GNU Awk.
Readers engage in debates over the use of Awk in comparison to other scripting languages, discussing its strengths and weaknesses.
Alternatives like pawk.py and rp receive mentions as possible tools, along with the concept of writing one-liners in Awk or creating a more streamlined Python version influenced by Awk.
The article discusses the difficulties of using Bézier curves, highlighting issues such as determining the proper placement and length of control points.
A mathematical solution is proposed that uses the local properties of curves - position, direction, and curvature - to manage the curve's shape, permitting easier drawing and alignment; it also solves inherent issues, like representing circles and maintaining curvature continuity.
The piece additionally touches on the limitations and tradeoffs of this proposed solution, hinting at potential future developments in the field.
The article explores the use, advantages, and challenges of Bézier curves in graphic design and animation.
It proposes alternative curves like quadratic Beziers, hinting at potential limitations of Bézier curves, notably their inefficiency in accurately representing circles.
There's a spotlight on the ongoing discourse and investigation of different methodologies pertaining to vector graphics.
A recent study suggests that air conditioning units amplify city temperatures, with waste heat during heatwaves significantly increasing outdoor temperatures by over 2 degrees Celsius.
Air conditioners are under debate due to their contribution to the heatwaves issue, as they emit hot air outside and consume substantial electricity, releasing planet-warming gases.
As global air conditioner usage is predicted to triple by 2050, the study recommends alternatives like cultivating green spaces, enhancing building insulation, and educating people on maintaining cool during heatwaves.
The conversation touches on a variety of topics including the influence of air conditioning, the advantages of trees and solar panels in managing temperature, and the effectiveness of swamp coolers and reflective rooftops.
Emphasized is the necessity for alternative solutions, taking into account multiple factors, to attain effective temperature control and environmental sustainability in urban contexts.
Discussions range from the benefits and costs of solar installations, the impact of such technologies on urban heat islands, to the challenges of urban overpopulation, and the environmental implications of food production and transportation in cities.
The RestGPT project is a sizeable language model that interacts with RESTful APIs in order to manipulate real-world applications like film databases and music players.
RestGPT uses a planning and executing framework to call APIs and analyze the responses.
The project presents RestBench, a test set for measuring the performance of RestGPT, and the code, data, and instructions for setting up and operating the system are accessible under an open-source license.
The central discussion is about the distinction between RestGPT and other language models, with considerations about their understanding and capacity to handle real-life situations.
The conversation covers the potential of language models like ChatGPT in home automation, personal assistants, and in DevOps, contrasting them with the limitations of virtual assistants like Siri regarding natural language understanding and context.
There is a focus on the need to challenge NVIDIA's monopoly in GPU support, suggesting a necessity for competition in the field. The use of ChatGPT, Noteable, and GOFAI techniques with language models are also discussed.
Google has transferred its domain registration service, Google Domains, to Squarespace. This development sparked discussions and raised concerns about Google's strategies and the future allocation of its resources.
Other domain registrar options like Porkbun, Namecheap, Dynadot, Cloudflare, Nearlyfreespeech, and Gandi are suggested. Concerns exist about the new management of Gandi, while Google Cloud's domain management service, Cloud DNS, remains unaffected. Conversely, concerns about the future of Google Cloud Platform (GCP) are noted.
This transition highlights the issues of trust, reliability, and risks in relying on single companies for various services. Attention is drawn to the need for considering alternative providers and Google's comparative domain management.
The US government has enacted the US Web Design System (USWDS) in an effort to modernize government websites and enhance digital services, mirroring similar initiatives in other countries.
The discussion remains divided on the success of these projects, with core areas of contention involving usability, minimalist design, and the worth of standard systems and icon libraries.
Debates surface around the use of public domain and GPL licenses in government operations, upon which concern and speculation are raised about employing existing icon systems and the expected technology maintenance.
Simple Mobile Tools is a project featuring a range of basic open-source, ad-free Android apps with customizable colors offering alternatives to existing Android apps.
The project includes apps like Simple Gallery Pro, Simple Calendar Pro, Simple Contacts Pro, Simple Notes Pro, and Simple File Manager Pro.
The apps have collectively garnered over 70 million downloads and maintain an average rating of 4.6, indicating high user satisfaction.
Users are expressing discontent with app stores that offer apps with ads and in-app purchases, advocating for ad-free applications available at a fixed price.
They are sharing experiences and features of various file browsing apps, and consider alternatives like Nintendo consoles or curated app stores for a cleaner user experience.
The debate also covers challenges and strategies of monetization for digital products with a stated desire for more transparency and better options to support software creators sans advertisements.
The author shares his evolving views on topics in software development such as commenting in code, unit testing of private methods, and the use of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) and debuggers.
The author also discusses the advantages of remote work and utilizing ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI, for certain tasks.
The importance of collaboration and openness to new ideas in software development is underscored in the post.
Researchers have discovered a naturally occurring molecule, DIM, capable of reducing dental plaque and cavities by up to 90%.
DIM works by disrupting the biofilm of bacteria that cause cavities, and it could be used to enhance oral hygiene products like toothpaste and mouthwash.
In addition to this breakthrough in dental health, the article also discusses various other scientific advancements and studies.
Researchers found a molecule, DIM, which can reduce dental plaque, leading to the creation of a probiotic tablet to compete with detrimental mouth bacteria.
Commercialization of such products has been hindered due to uncertainty about their effectiveness and concerns over their long-term persistence.
The article discusses reasons for the limited traction of this innovation, skepticism on its effectiveness, pros and cons of oral hygiene practices and products and the potential influence of dental societies on approval and promotion of new treatments.