TL;DR summary of stories on the internet
The Shire of Quairading in Western Australia has put up signs warning drivers not to rely on Google maps for directions due to GPS-based instructions leading to unsafe roads. The council has attempted to have the online maps corrected, but with little success. The specific road in question, Old Beverley Road, can be dangerous in […]
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In a blog post, the author discusses their mathematical modeling of the game of dreidel. They explain the rules of the game, where players spin a dreidel and take certain actions based on the outcome. The author recounts how a previous simulation of the game found that it took an average of 860 spins to […]
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a lightweight foam made from carbon nanotubes that can absorb the kinetic energy caused by an impact nearly 30 times better than current helmet liners used in the US military. The foam has the potential to significantly reduce the likelihood of concussions in military personnel and sportspeople. […]
Autorize is an extension for Burp Suite that helps security testers with automatic authorization and authentication tests. It was developed by Barak Tawily, an expert in application security. To install Autorize, you need to download Burp Suite and Jython standalone JAR. Once installed, the Autorize tab will be available in Burp and you can configure […]
In this article, the author investigates the randomness of xkcd’s “random” button. They explain that randomness is important in things like cryptography and there are several ways to test the randomness of a random number generator. The author used the NIST Statistical Test Suite to test 10,000 xkcd-random numbers and found that they all passed […]
In this web content, the author discusses the use of soft gradients in graphics programming despite their design flaws. Soft gradients often produce color banding, or posterization, which can be visually unappealing. The author presents WebGL examples to illustrate the issue of color banding on different types of screens. They introduce a one-line solution using […]
Foundations is a collection of articles written by Greg Egan that explore the theories of twentieth-century physics that have influenced modern science fiction. Unlike historical or philosophical essays, these articles focus on providing detailed and quantitative predictions of the real physical effects resulting from each theory. The series covers topics such as special relativity, general […]
The author reflects on their experience growing up programming in the late 1980s and early 1990s and compares the text-based integrated development environments (IDEs) of that era to the IDEs of today. They highlight the impressive features and usability of the old IDEs, such as text-based windows, drop shadows, colors, and mouse support. The author […]
Meera Gupta, in her paper submitted on December 2, 2023, introduces an innovative approach called Graph Convolution Neural Network (GCN) with Attention Mechanism to enhance Knowledge Graph Reasoning. The Attention Mechanism is employed to analyze the relationships between entities and their neighboring nodes, which aids in developing comprehensive feature vectors for each entity. By incorporating […]
The Small Web, also known as the Smol Internet or The Dork Web, offers an alternative to the Big Internet dominated by corporate gatekeepers. It aims to create a niche for individuals to freely express themselves, with simple and transparent tech, where publishers have freedom and consumers have choice. The Finger Protocol, a 50-year-old technology, […]