1. CrowdStrike Update: Windows Bluescreen and Boot Loops
Total comment counts : 424
Summary
The article discusses a request being blocked due to a network policy. It suggests logging in or creating an account to continue browsing and states that if running a script or application, registering or signing in with developer credentials may be necessary. It also advises ensuring the User-Agent is not empty and is unique and descriptive. If using an alternate User-Agent string, switching back to default is recommended. The article provides a link to Reddit’s Terms of Service and mentions filing a ticket if the block is believed to be incorrect or if assistance is needed. The IP address and Reddit account information should be included when contacting support.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article describes how a single update resulted in a complete shutdown of an emergency department, causing disruptions to emergency services and leading to significant financial implications. The neighboring hospitals were also affected, leaving no alternative options for redirecting patients. This incident highlights the magnitude of the damage caused by the update.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a personal experience of the author, who made a mistake with a patch they submitted to the Microsoft BitLocker team. In their patch, they did not annotate the code as non-paged, which caused a page fault in the kernel. The author explains that they were not aware at the time that the Windows kernel was paged, as their previous kernel development experience was with Linux. The mistake resulted in a circular dependency in the BitLocker storage driver code, causing a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) for those who had BitLocker enabled. The author points out that the controls in place should have caught this issue before it made it into production and emphasizes the importance of proper qualification for kernel drivers.
2. Type in Morse code by repeatedly slamming your laptop shut
Total comment counts : 40
Summary
The article provides instructions on how to type in Morse code by repeatedly slamming one’s laptop shut. It also includes additional information on wayland support, file locations, and how to configure scripts and system settings for handling the lid switch on a laptop.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a mobile app called “Send Me to Heaven” which was developed by Carrot Pop. The app measures the height at which a mobile phone is thrown, and users can compete against each other to throw their phones higher than others. However, this game comes with the risk of damaging the phones.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions a subplot in the book “Cryptonomicon” by Neil Stephenson, where one of the main characters used morse code or other layered encoding techniques on his keyboard to write software and secretly communicate, despite his screen being recorded.
3. FCC votes to limit prison telecom charges
Total comment counts : 27
Summary
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted unanimously to limit the rates that prison telecoms can charge for phone and video calls from prisons and jails. The new order reduces the per-minute rate caps for all prison and jail phone calls by more than half, and establishes interim rate caps for video calls. It also bans all fees, including deposit fees. The regulations, which are part of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act, are expected to impact 83% of incarcerated individuals, saving families at least $500 million annually. The FCC’s decision aims to improve the well-being and reentry success of incarcerated people, provide financial stability for families with incarcerated loved ones, rein in the prison telecom industry, and reverse the expansion of mass surveillance in correctional facilities. The new rules will go into effect in early 2025, forcing rate reductions for state prison systems and jails. The prison telecom industry is expected to face significant revenue losses, and several states have already made prison calls free.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author recounts their experience in jail in 2013, where they were required to purchase a $20 phone card each month to make a 25-minute call. They express disbelief at the legality and morality of this practice. The author suggests that there are many other similarities and experiences in the corrections system that people may not believe until they or someone they know is incarcerated.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article highlights the issue of the prison system charging higher rates for long-distance calls compared to other places in the country. The author mentions helping families set up Google Voice numbers in order to save money when communicating with their loved ones in prison.
4. Foliate: Read e-books in style, navigate with ease
Total comment counts : 32
Summary
The article discusses a Linux eBook reader called Foliate. It provides a range of features including the ability to read EPUB, Mobipocket, Kindle, FB2, CBZ, and PDF files in paginated or scrolled mode. Users can customize the font, spacing, margins, and color scheme. The window controls hide automatically to minimize distraction. Navigating through the eBook is easy with touchpad and touchscreen gestures, a table of contents, and a find in book feature. Users can also add bookmarks and annotations, which are stored in plain JSON files for easy export or syncing. Foliate supports various advanced features such as word lookup in Wiktionary and Wikipedia, translation with Google Translate, text-to-speech with Speech Dispatcher, and is open source software under the GNU General Public License.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the benefits of using Foliate, a reading app, which allows users to add bookmarks and annotations to their reading materials. The app stores reading progress, bookmarks, and annotations in plain JSON files, making it easy to export or sync them with other tools or storage services. Each book’s data is stored in a JSON file named after its identifier, which is generated by Foliate using the prefix “foliate:” and the MD5 hash of the file. The author appreciates this feature as it prevents modifications to their PDFs when they annotate them. In conclusion, the author expresses a desire for music playlists to also use hashes.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the ability to open PDFs on different operating systems without any issues. However, when it comes to opening ebooks, it is difficult to find a program that only allows users to view an epub file without also managing their library. The author is seeking a tool that just lets them open an epub file without automatically adding it to their bookshelf or library.
5. SpreadsheetLLM: Encoding Spreadsheets for Large Language Models
Total comment counts : 18
Summary
The article discusses arXivLabs, a framework that enables collaborators to develop and share new features on the arXiv website. Both individuals and organizations working with arXivLabs embrace the values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. The article also mentions that arXiv only partners with those who adhere to these values. The article concludes by offering status notifications through email or slack.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The CEO of V7 labs presented a demo of their LLM + Spreadsheet product at the Databricks summit. LLMs in spreadsheets can serve as an advanced autofill, similar to the CoPilot feature in VSCode. The demo showcases the potential benefits of using LLMs in spreadsheets.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the author’s reliance on ChatGPT for using Google Sheets. It has accelerated their understanding of Excel language and they express the desire for ChatGPT to have the capability to directly read and write at the sheet level.
6. Double trouble: ESA’s Gaia hit by micrometeoroid and solar storm
Total comment counts : 5
Summary
ESA’s Gaia spacecraft, launched in 2013, is designed to map the locations and movements of stars in the Milky Way with precision. However, it has encountered difficulties in recent months. A micrometeoroid struck the spacecraft, damaging its protective cover and allowing stray sunlight to disrupt its sensors. Additionally, one of Gaia’s charge coupled devices (CCDs) failed, causing false detections of stars. The Gaia team worked together to address these issues, modifying the software to reduce false detections. Despite these challenges, Gaia has returned to routine operations and is producing high-quality data.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article discusses spacecraft that continue operating beyond their intended mission lifetime and sometimes require software hacks to continue functioning. The author mentions Voyager 1, which recently required a remote update to avoid corrupted memory, and Hubble, which now operates with only one gyroscope due to the failure of the others. The article mentions the satisfaction that software engineers feel when they can prolong the mission life of expensive, hard-to-service hardware.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The Gaia mission has resumed normal operations after teams worked effectively together. Engineers also took advantage of the disruption to recalibrate the telescopes, resulting in Gaia producing high-quality data.
7. Want to spot a deepfake? Look for the stars in their eyes
Total comment counts : 26
Summary
New research presented at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting suggests that artificial intelligence-generated deepfake images can be detected by analyzing the reflections in a person’s eyes. Researchers from the University of Hull analyzed the reflections of light in the eyeballs of both real and AI-generated images and used methods typically used in astronomy to quantify the reflections. They found that fake images often lack consistency in the reflections between each eye, while real images generally show the same reflections in both eyes. However, it is important to note that this method is not a foolproof way of detecting fake images.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article argues that the claim that “generative AI doesn’t know physics” is not true. The consistency of reflection patterns in both eyes is another statistical regularity found in real photographs, and better training, larger models, and larger datasets can help capture this regularity. Therefore, there is no need for any special measures to address this issue.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article emphasizes that photoshopped portraits often include “catch lights” in the eyes to enhance the liveliness of the picture. These lights serve as clues that the image has been processed but do not suggest that the people in the picture are non-existent or created using deepfake technology.
8. Crowdstrike Outage Causing Widespread Issues
Total comment counts : 1
Summary
A software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused a major IT failure, crashing many Microsoft Windows computer systems worldwide. Microsoft and CrowdStrike are working on fixing the issue, but recovery will take time.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a Windows Bluescreen and Boot Loops issue that was caused by a Crowdstrike update. There is a related live discussion on the Hacker News forum with 140 points and it was posted 1 hour ago. You can find more information about it in the provided link.
9. Show HN: NetSour, CLI Based Wireshark
Total comment counts : 9
Summary
The article discusses a network packet sniffer and analyzer tool called NetSour, which is built using Python and Scapy. It recommends installing the tool’s dependencies using pip, and running the script with root privileges. The tool is intended for educational and network administration purposes, and it emphasizes the importance of obtaining proper authorization before monitoring network traffic. The tool is released under the Gpl V3 license.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author laments the absence of screenshots in Github projects, as it is frustrating to come across interesting projects without visual representation.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article recommends using Termshark, a TUI (Text User Interface) that has a similar look to Wireshark. It is suggested as an alternative to tcpdump for users who require greater interactivity. The link to Termshark’s website is provided.
10. End Poem by Julian Gough
Total comment counts : 9
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The article recommends a blog called “The Egg and the Rock” by Julian, which discusses a theory called “evolved-physics holism”. The blog explores the concept of the cosmos and presents compelling visions of phenomena occurring on different scales and in distant galaxies. The article suggests that reading the blog will change one’s perspective on the universe.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article admits having a hard time understanding it and suggests that maybe their brain is not able to comprehend the writing style. They express gratitude for others who are able to appreciate it.