TL;DR summary of stories on the internet
debunking the myth that performance is the ultimate measure of success in databases. The author discusses how factors like ease of use, ecosystem integration, and user experience play a bigger role in choosing the right database. They highlight the importance of looking at performance from the user’s perspective, not just the database’s speed. The article […]
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In March 2024, the author explores the idea of what makes the best essay by delving into the importance of surprising content. While a well-written essay is crucial, the topic itself is what sets the best essays apart. Science, as shown by Darwin’s essay on natural selection in 1844, plays a significant role in crafting […]
Today in Tedium, Ernie explores the surprisingly overlooked topic of the red circle and slash symbol, a common but seldom discussed sign of negation. Used in various ways, it’s an easy tool to add visual language to existing content. With origins dating back to European road signage efforts in the 1930s, the symbol has evolved […]
Research has linked quaternary ammonium compounds (quats) used in disinfectants to reproductive and developmental issues in animals. While data on human toxicity is inconclusive, there are concerns about potential risks, especially with the widespread use of quats during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies show quats can disrupt cellular processes, affect fertility, and potentially interfere with cholesterol […]
The Idea Factory documents the impressive accomplishments of Bell Labs, where groundbreaking technologies like the transistor, the first satellites, and the Unix operating system were developed. Jon Gertner highlights the importance of tackling “wicked problems” through innovative techniques established by directors like Mervin Kelly, emphasizing a culture of open collaboration and curiosity. The book explores […]
The author discusses the Betrusted project, aiming to establish a secure supply chain for password managers. They express concerns about the lack of transparency and trust in current hardware components, highlighting the challenges of expensive FPGA-based solutions due to limited user-side verification. They introduce the concept of Infra-Red, in situ inspection of silicon to democratize […]
Tenstorrent, led by chip architect Jim Keller, has launched the Grayskull RISC-V alternative to GPUs. The Grayskull processors, available as e75 and e150 DevKits, excel at handling run-time sparsity and conditional computation, making them great for AI development. The Milestone launch comes after a partnership with Japan’s LSTC to build a 2nm AI Accelerator. The […]
Kākāpō is a web bundler for Nix strings that adds context, inspired by the flightless parrot. The author’s motivation stems from an illness and an interest in quirky hacks like //users/sterni/nix/html/README.md. Basic usage involves writing a bundle from a derivation. Bundling a file tree from an attribute set can be done using kakapo.bundleTree. The tool […]
S3, hailed as an “object store,” is actually a cloud filesystem for files, not objects. The unix file API consists of five basic functions handling numerous concerns in a “deep” module fashion. S3’s API, simpler than the unix file API, lacks partial overwrites crucial for databases, limiting its capabilities. While S3 excels in high bandwidth […]
LlamaGym simplifies fine-tuning Large Language Model (LLM) agents with reinforcement learning (RL) in a Gym-style environment for web data extraction. Although LLM-based agents typically don’t learn online via RL, LlamaGym’s abstract class streamlines the process, allowing for easy experimentation with agent prompting and hyperparameters across different environments. By following a few simple steps to implement […]