TL;DR summary of stories on the internet
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT) explosion that occurred between two galaxies in 2023, which challenges previous assumptions about these rare events. LFBOTs are among the brightest visible-light events in the universe and usually occur in star-forming regions within galaxies. However, the recent discovery, nicknamed “the Finch,” was […]
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The controversy surrounding the choice of multi-threaded executors in the Rust community is addressed in this article. Some Rust users are unhappy with this decision, believing it is a premature optimization that adds unnecessary complexity to their code. These users advocate for an alternative architecture called “thread-per-core,” claiming it is both more performant and easier […]
The author discusses using an old tablet as an extra monitor for terminal purposes. They explain that they have a couple of old Kindle Fire tablets lying around and they never have enough screens for their needs. They tried using Deskreen as an extra screen while traveling but can’t remember why they didn’t continue with […]
The Commodore PET now offers a thrilling multi-level side-scrolling platform game that will surely captivate players. Taking inspiration from iconic games like Mario and Sonic, players can run, jump, collect coins, and battle enemies as they work to rescue their friends and defeat powerful bosses. The game can be downloaded and installed on PET/CBM models […]
In the spring of 2023, Brian Kernighan co-taught a course called Literature as Data, which aimed to combine literary study with computing. The goal was to teach students enough computing skills to explore datasets that intrigued them. They used Unix command-line tools and Awk, which proved to be useful in the initial stages of exploring […]
Europe’s first exascale supercomputer, Jupiter, will be a win for Nvidia and a disappointment for Intel and AMD. The €273 million system will use SiPearl’s Rhea processor, based on ARM architecture, paired with Nvidia’s accelerator technology. The choice to exclude x86 chips, which dominate the top supercomputers worldwide, is a blow to Intel, which had […]
Welcome to the Clojure Deref, a weekly roundup of news and links related to the Clojure ecosystem. In recent news, Java 21 was released, sparking interest in the new virtual threads feature. However, virtual threads do not currently cooperate with object monitors, which can cause issues when performing blocking calls while holding a synchronized monitor. […]
In a keynote at Strange Loop, the author shares their frustration with learning complicated topics and their passion for making them easier. They recount their struggles with understanding DNS and how they eventually figured it out. However, they noticed that their friends were still facing the same difficulties and became determined to simplify complex subjects. […]
Volatile qualifier is a tool in C/C++ that can be easily misused but can be effective in a specific set of circumstances. This article explains the history of volatile and provides examples of how not to use it, while also highlighting how to use it effectively to create correct systems software. The C program is […]
In a recent cosmology discussion group, a paper by Jean-Luc Lehners and Jerome Quintin titled “A small Universe” was explored. The prevailing assumption in many cosmological models is that the universe is infinite or incredibly vast. However, the authors argue that the universe could actually be relatively small, not much larger than its currently observed […]