1. Localsend: Open-Source Airdrop Alternative
Total comment counts : 46
Summary
The article discusses a free and open-source app called LocalSend, which is a cross-platform alternative to AirDrop. LocalSend allows users to securely share files and messages with nearby devices over a local network without an internet connection. Unlike other messaging apps, LocalSend does not rely on external servers, making it a fast and reliable solution for local communication. The app uses a secure communication protocol with a REST API and HTTPS encryption for maximum security. Users can contribute to the app by translating it to other languages or opening a pull request for improvements.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the implementation of a communication protocol called LocalSend, which claims to ensure maximum security by using a REST API and sending data securely over HTTPS. The TLS/SSL certificate is generated on each device to enhance security. However, the article questions how maximum security can be achieved while generating X.509 certificates on the device. The article also mentions that a HTTP non-encrypted mode exists, and the fingerprint of the certificate is used to avoid discovery collisions. It suggests that sharing fingerprints through out-of-band methods, such as visual comparison or QR code scanning, could help prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. However, the article notes that the documentation does not provide clear information about this aspect. Overall, the article raises concerns about the implementation and discovery protocols of LocalSend.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the convenience and impressive capabilities of Airdrop. It highlights how being able to locate and connect to another device effortlessly, even without being on the same network or without an internet connection, is a remarkable feature of Airdrop.
2. Bandcamp’s Entire Union Bargaining Team Was Laid Off
Total comment counts : 35
Summary
Bandcamp’s entire union bargaining team, which consisted of eight members, were laid off after the company was sold to Songtradr. Songtradr claims that they did not have access to union membership information when deciding which employees to keep, but an invitation from Songtradr’s CEO to the bargaining team suggests otherwise. Songtradr defends its actions, stating that it conducted a comprehensive evaluation of each role and considered various factors before making employment offers.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the risks of using an asset deal to eliminate employees and their benefits in Germany. The labor courts in the country have specific criteria to determine if the new company is essentially a continuation of the old one. If certain conditions are met, such as employees performing the same tasks, using the same office space, and having similar salaries or contracts, the transaction could be considered a “hidden transfer of business.” In such cases, all employees and their benefits would automatically transfer to the new company, making it difficult to dismiss anyone. The article suggests that only poorly informed managers would attempt to use this tactic in Germany.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article states that it is illegal to discriminate against employees because of their union activities or sympathies. Although enforcement may be weak, the act of discrimination is still against the law.
3. DRM-free e-books are a big deal (2019)
Total comment counts : 30
Summary
The article discusses the use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology in e-books sold to libraries. While DRM helps prevent piracy, it also places restrictions on readers, such as limitations on printing and checkout duration. This can be problematic for researchers and those with disabilities. However, content aggregators have been advocating for DRM-free access to e-books in libraries, and some publishers have started offering DRM-free titles. DRM-free e-books provide a richer user experience and greater flexibility, benefiting both libraries and publishers. However, librarians still need to navigate the pricing and purchasing models for DRM-free content. Strategic investment in DRM-free titles based on usage trends can help librarians serve their patrons effectively.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the author Brandon Sanderson’s views on DRM (digital rights management) and how he ensures that his books are DRM-free. The author expresses a desire for more authors and publishers to release their works without DRM. The author also mentions using a jailbroken Kindle and a Calibre plugin to remove DRM from purchased books before transferring them to their device.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article provides a list of big stores where DRM-free e-books and audiobooks can be purchased. The list includes stores such as ebooks.com, Bloomsbury, libro.fm, and downpour.com. It also mentions other resources and tips for finding DRM-free content, such as libreture.com and aperiodic.net. The author notes that in Norway, e-books usually do not have DRM, but there may be watermarks on some books, which is deemed acceptable.
4. Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas
Total comment counts : 109
Summary
The author, a Python and Pandas instructor, shares their experience of being banned for life from advertising on Facebook (now Meta). Despite offering courses in programming languages, Meta mistakenly associated the author’s content with the trade of live animals, resulting in the ban. The author’s attempts to appeal the decision were also met with automated responses. The author highlights the absurdity of Meta’s AI-based judgment and the lack of human review, ultimately leading to their inability to reinstate their advertising account. The author explores potential legal options but acknowledges the challenging nature of pursuing them. Disappointed with Meta’s actions, the author plans to advertise their courses elsewhere.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article highlights various instances where certain words or substrings unintentionally caused issues or restrictions in different technological systems. Examples include AOL preventing users from setting their hometown to Scunthorpe due to the presence of the substring “cunt,” Amazon banning Guns N’ Roses merchandise due to the word “guns,” and bank transfers causing problems for people named Miranda due to the substring “Iran.” Other cases mentioned involve games misinterpreting the nickname “Nasser” as a racial slur, Alexa struggling to pronounce “pussycat,” parental control software filtering innocent words like “anal,” and an incident where an entire school’s computer system malfunctioned after a software update removed files with the word “sex” in the name. Additionally, it is mentioned that British politician Dominic Cummings faced difficulties in setting up a Twitter account.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author expresses frustration over their tea-of-the-month business being turned down by Stripe when they incorporated an LLC. They suspect that the rejection came from an AI and find it confusing since their business was previously acceptable as a sole proprietorship. The author is now using PayPal as an alternative and wonders if they can re-attempt opening an account with Stripe.
5. Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years
Total comment counts : 40
Summary
A new study has found evidence that early Europeans consumed seaweed and other aquatic plants. Researchers analyzed fossilized dental plaque from the remains of 74 early humans and detected chemical biomarkers of seaweed and aquatic plants in 26 samples. The findings suggest that early humans were eating or chewing these plants as early as the Mesolithic period and continued to do so into the Neolithic period and early Middle Ages. The presence of these biomarkers challenges the assumption that the introduction of farming during the Neolithic era led to the abandonment of aquatic plants as food. The researchers also found evidence of aquatic plants in teeth from a site located far from the coast. However, it remains unclear how the plants were prepared and the extent to which they were consumed. The study hopes to encourage people to incorporate seaweed and aquatic plants into their modern diets due to their nutritional benefits and environmental sustainability.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a lesser-known seaweed dish called Dulce in Northern Ireland. It mentions that Dulce is usually difficult to find fresh and is commonly found in small greengrocers or at the Auld Lammas fair. The dish is described as very salty but edible and is believed to be nutrient-dense.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions that laverbread, a gelatinous paste made from seaweed, is still consumed in certain parts of Wales. The link provided provides more information about laverbread.
6. Build your own BitTorrent
Total comment counts : 28
Summary
This article discusses a challenge to build a BitTorrent client that can parse a .torrent file and download a file from a peer. It explains the structure of torrent files, HTTP trackers, the BitTorrent Peer Protocol, and pipelining. It also mentions Bencode, a binary serialization format used in the BitTorrent protocol. The article concludes by mentioning that these programming challenges are for seasoned developers.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author, Sarp, shares their experience of finding motivation in programming after being laid off from their job. They discovered Codecrafters and enjoyed the gamification aspect of the platform. After completing all the challenges, they decided to build a BitTorrent client, learning about the BitTorrent protocol, torrent file structure, encoding issues, network requests, and using Channels in Go. The author welcomes feedback on the challenge and is available to answer questions.
Top 2 Comment Summary
Jon Gjengset is currently doing a livestream on the challenge in Rust on his YouTube channel. The livestream can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSTkEPPiULs.
7. Scientists discover links between Alzheimer’s disease and gut microbiota
Total comment counts : 23
Summary
New research has found a link between gut bacteria, inflammation, and brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The study shows that Alzheimer’s symptoms can be transferred to a healthy organism through the gut microbiota. Researchers discovered that Alzheimer’s patients had higher levels of inflammation-promoting bacteria in their fecal samples, which were directly associated with their cognitive status. This research suggests that the composition of our gut microbiota plays a causal role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists are now exploring the potential for therapeutic interventions based on understanding the role of gut microbes in early-stage dementia.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article discusses a new finding that suggests Alzheimer’s symptoms can be transferred to a healthy organism through the gut microbiota. This confirms the causal role of gut microbiota in Alzheimer’s disease. The article also mentions that Alzheimer’s can be attributed to a combination of diet/lifestyle factors and a congenital form of Cushing’s syndrome, which leads to increased glucocorticoid levels and other changes in the brain. It suggests that omega-3 and B+D vitamins may help prevent Alzheimer’s by reducing inflammation. The article provides additional information and resources for those interested in learning more about the topic.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The user is asking if there is any data that shows a correlation between a gastrointestinal (GI) reboot with antibiotics and a reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. They are seeking information on how to find such data.
8. Google-hosted malvertising leads to fake Keepass site that looks genuine
Total comment counts : 35
Summary
Google has been hosting a malicious ad that mimics the open source password manager Keepass, potentially deceiving security-savvy users. The ad redirects to a URL that appears to be the genuine Keepass site, but upon closer inspection, it is encoded to display a different URL associated with the FakeBat malware. The ads have been running since Saturday, paid for by a verified advertiser called Digital Eagle. The encoding scheme used, called punycode, makes it difficult to detect fraudulent Google ads or encoded URLs. It is recommended to manually type URLs or inspect the TLS certificate to ensure legitimacy.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article mentions that the ads were paid for by Digital Eagle, an advertiser whose identity has been verified by Google. The author criticizes Google’s verification process, suggesting that it is based on accepting money. They also express frustration with Google’s lack of response to emails and the effectiveness of reporting phishing and spam. The author concludes by stating that it is time to move on from Google, as they believe it is no longer safe to use as a search engine. Additionally, the author shares a list of domains they have blocked due to clients being sent to phishing sites through Google’s ads.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author suggests that advertising intermediaries should be held partly responsible for fraudulent advertisements or that advertising should be made less anonymous. The author is not a fan of German-style “impressum” requirements for general publishing, but believes that advertising is different because it aggressively inserts itself onto other sites without the user’s control. The author proposes that it should be possible to click on an advertisement and easily find the company’s number and business address. The author also thinks that overseas advertisements originating from different countries should be heavily checked, as it is more difficult to take action against fraudulent ads even if they are not anonymous.
9. Zero ASIC is out of stealth
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
Zero ASIC, a semiconductor startup, has unveiled its ChipMaker platform, which aims to simplify the process of designing and ordering custom Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). Traditional chip design is expensive and time-consuming, but ASICs offer significant cost and energy advantages. Zero ASIC’s platform utilizes chiplet-based design, which hides circuit complexities inside a reusable, validated chiplet, reducing development costs and time. The company has also developed eFabric, a 3D interposer that improves die-to-die communication efficiency. Zero ASIC’s composable chiplet ASICs are suitable for various applications such as robotics, automotive safety, and high-performance computing. The ChipMaker platform is accessible immediately, and customized ASIC sampling is expected in Q3 2024.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a 10x10 mm active interposer with 64 “management-class” cores, a lot of interconnect, and a decent amount of I/O. This interposer can support up to a 5x5 array of chiplets bonded on top, which can be quad-core processors, FPGAs, or AI-related chips. The author wonders if there are pins on the interposer that allow for additional I/O capability from the chiplets. They also mention the use of UCIe links or similar technology for high-speed data transmission.
Top 2 Comment Summary
Andreas Oloffson was involved with the Parallela project. For more information, you can visit their blog at https://parallella.org/blog/.
10. Bill Gates demonstrates Visual Basic (1991) [video]
Total comment counts : 30
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article was the lead developer of Ruby, a project that became the “visual” side of Visual Basic. Originally, Ruby was intended to be a customizable desktop for Windows 3.0 with a scripting language, but Microsoft decided to use Basic as the scripting language instead. The author’s notable contribution was the VBX (Visual Basic eXtension) interface, which was originally called the Gizmo API.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article emphasizes that although Visual Basic (VB) may not have been considered high-quality or elegant, it played a significant role in enabling small and medium-sized businesses to benefit from computers. It highlights examples such as DVD/VHS rental stores and government line of business applications that were developed using VB. The article argues that VB allowed people with minimal computer knowledge to create useful applications that were essential for the economy. It also encourages not losing sight of the importance of creating systems that serve humans and recognizing the usefulness of our systems.