Dev · Top stories
Intel Itanium Emulator Released, Boots Windows Server 2003 and XP
An Intel Itanium (IA-64) emulator capable of booting Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP 64-bit has been released. Developed by Yufeng Gao, this emulator signifies progress in non-x86 CPU emulation, albeit with limited performance.
Bowling center owner builds scoring system with ESP32, saving $118k
An owner of a rural bowling center replaced a costly scoring system with a DIY solution involving ESP32 microcontrollers, reducing costs from $120k to approximately $1,600. This development highlights the potential of affordable, open-source technologies for replacing expensive legacy systems in niche environments.
Cortex Introduces DRIVE Framework for AI-Driven Engineering
Cortex has launched DRIVE, a framework to measure the health of engineering organizations in the AI era. It focuses on five key pillars to address the changing landscape of software development as AI automates portions of the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
$5 ESP32 microcontroller builds ad-blocking DNS filter for 537,000 domains
A developer has created a DNS filter using a $5 ESP32-C3 microcontroller that blocks over 537,000 domains. This solution offers an efficient and cost-effective method of ad blocking with minimal latency, appealing to users seeking budget-friendly tech solutions.
Castor Enables Smooth Streaming from Terminal to Smart TVs
Castor allows users to cast video from any web page to a Smart TV with full quality and auto-generated subtitles. The tool circumvents common casting limitations by extracting and transcoding streams directly, making it compatible with various video platforms.
Launch of Transcribe.cpp: New Cross-Platform Transcription Library
Transcribe.cpp is a new transcription library based on ggml, supporting over 60 models with features like GPU acceleration. It aims to provide a reliable and efficient solution for cross-platform speech-to-text applications, addressing existing limitations in the ASR ecosystem.
Harness Engineering Enhances Agent Output by Improving Context and Tools
Harness engineering aims to improve AI agent performance by refining the environment around them, focusing on context and tools. This methodology allows organizations to integrate their nonfunctional requirements and operational states into the agents' processes, enhancing iterative learning and performance over time.
Q3Edit: Browser-based Editor for Quake III Maps Launched
Q3Edit allows users to edit and play Quake III maps directly in the browser using TypeScript and WebGL2. The tool supports real .map files and includes features like a Radiant-style UI and WebAssembly compilation with ioquake3.
OpenAI to Notify Parents If Teen Kicked Off ChatGPT for Policy Violations
OpenAI will now notify parents when their teen is banned from ChatGPT for violence-related policy violations. This expansion follows concerns over online safety and aims to involve parents in monitoring their child's usage of the platform.
1.44MB Game Development Contest Launched by Korean Culture Site
A new game development competition invites submissions of original games that must fit within a 1.44MB limit of a floppy disk. Hosted by Korean site 2P_Game_Arcade, the contest promotes creative coding skills, offering a ₩1.14 million prize pool (around $750).
Introduction of Regressive JPEGs Enables Incremental Image Loading
Regressive JPEGs can be constructed to allow partial image viewing during slow downloads by leveraging multiple scans. This capability could enable new forms of image delivery and efficiency over limited bandwidth, impacting how images are used in web applications.
Topcoat Framework for Rust Launches as Fullstack Solution
Topcoat, a modular Rust framework for building fullstack applications, has been introduced. It simplifies the development process by rendering all markup on the server, enabling async components, and minimizing the need for separate API layers.
S+ tree implementation achieves 40x speedup over binary search
The implementation of a static search tree (S+ tree) reportedly offers a throughput of 40x compared to traditional binary search techniques. This optimization focuses on high-throughput searching of sorted datasets, making it beneficial for applications requiring efficient query handling.
First Linux Assembly X server 'frame' launched, reduces code footprint significantly
A new X server named 'frame' has been developed entirely in Assembly, replacing existing X11 dependencies with a lightweight alternative. The server operates with approximately 20,000 lines of code and claims to reduce CPU usage compared to Xorg by almost three times when idle, appealing to users seeking efficiency in their software stack.
PennyLane Launches Open-Source Quantum Software Platform
PennyLane has launched an open-source platform designed for quantum computing, quantum machine learning, and quantum chemistry. This tool aims to simplify the creation of quantum algorithms and is compatible with various quantum hardware, contributing to collaboration in the quantum research community.
Minikotlin Compiler Converts Kotlin to WebAssembly with No External Dependencies
Minikotlin compiles Kotlin source directly to WebAssembly, eliminating the need for JVM or other backends. This allows for efficient memory management by structuring classes as garbage-collected structs, enhancing performance in web environments.
New Angular Resources Focus on Reactive Flows, AI Integration, and Events
The Angular ecosystem has introduced several new resources aimed at improving reactive architectures and AI integration. New tutorials and plugins target both beginners and advanced developers, enhancing state management and debugging capabilities in Angular applications.
LingBot-Map: 3D foundation model for real-time scene reconstruction launched
LingBot-Map, a 3D foundation model, has been introduced for reconstructing scenes from streaming data. It features a unified Geometric Context Transformer and efficient streaming inference capabilities, enhancing performance over previous methods in real-time scenarios.
Mojibake: A Low-Level Unicode Library in C Released
Mojibake, a low-level Unicode 17 text-processing library, has been released for C11 and C++17. This library allows developers to handle Unicode data effectively using simple two-file integration without installation.
Libretto Launches PR Agent to Fix Failing Playwright Scripts Automatically
Libretto has introduced a PR agent that automatically investigates and proposes fixes for failed Playwright scripts via GitHub pull requests. This tool operates at the failure boundary without altering existing logging or deployment setups, allowing developers to maintain their current workflows.
BambooGrid: Open-source web UI for power grid modeling launches
Kickstage has launched BambooGrid, an open-source web UI for power grid modeling. Built on pandapower, it allows users to interactively create and analyze power flow systems.
AttoChess Released as Compact 278-Byte Chess Program for 16-Bit DOS
AttoChess, a new chess program for 16-bit x86 DOS, has been developed in just 278 bytes. Its optimization includes eliminating unnecessary rendering and improving how the board and moves are managed, making it significantly smaller and more efficient than previous versions.
GitHub Copilot App Introduces Interactive .NET Modernization Tools
GitHub Copilot app has introduced an interactive upgrade canvas to assist in modernizing .NET applications, providing real-time workflow management. Additionally, the new .NET Modernization for Beginners course offers hands-on guidance to help developers upgrade legacy ASP.NET applications. These changes simplify the modernization process and offer educational support for developers navigating these upgrades.
Galois Connections Introduced for Numeric Casts in Rust
A new Rust crate implements Galois connections for lawful numeric type conversions. This allows safer and composable casts, ensuring consistency and clear semantics in numeric transformations.
New programming language 'bet' compiles and runs 56,000 lines of DOOM
The newly created programming language 'bet' compiles to native code and successfully runs a complete version of DOOM. This project, conceptualized as a joke language, showcases a unique approach to memory management through its arena allocation feature and serves as an experiment in AI-driven coding.
agent-talk plugin enables communication between coding agents
The agent-talk plugin allows coding agents to communicate and coordinate tasks with each other, including those operated by different users. This integration helps streamline project collaboration, reducing manual instruction copying by users.
Google Cloud Expands SQL and Python Integration with %%bqsql Magic
Google Cloud has introduced the %%bqsql IPython cell magic, enabling seamless integration of SQL and Python in data processing. This update facilitates data scientists and engineers in using SQL directly in Jupyter notebooks, enhancing productivity and collaboration across different coding environments.
Windows 11 Focus Sessions Introduce New Productivity Features
Windows 11 has integrated Focus Sessions in the Clock app, consolidating productivity tools.
Homescale Project Develops Writable Database Cloning Tool
A new project called Homescale aims to create writable database instances and point-in-time branches from immutable snapshots. The project utilizes a model similar to Docker's for managing database states and is initially designed to support Postgres.
DharmaOCR Shows Superior Performance in Brazilian Portuguese OCR
DharmaOCR outperformed Mistral OCR4 and Unlimited-OCR in Brazilian Portuguese OCR through targeted training. The model's training process enhanced extraction quality and reliability, addressing known challenges in the technology.
Vivace CSS Library Revived with New Features for Animation
Vivace CSS, a previously inactive library, has been revived to streamline web animations using HTML attributes. The library allows developers to create animations directly in markup without the need for keyframes or wrappers, enhancing integration with various frameworks.
Musklr App Adds Workout Tracking on iPhone Lock Screen with Live Activities
The Musklr app now utilizes Apple's Live Activities to display workout information on the iPhone Lock Screen. Users can view their current exercise, previous performance stats, and a rest timer without unlocking their phone, facilitating a more efficient workout experience.
Ex-Sega engineer develops realistic CRT monitor emulator for macOS
An ex-Sega engineer has launched a CRT emulator for macOS that mimics vintage monitor behavior, including a screen tapping feature to stabilize the image. This emulator utilizes software-defined radio technology to enhance the display of RF modulated video from older gaming consoles.
Reynard browser brings Gecko engine to iOS 13+ users
Reynard, a Gecko-based web browser for iOS 13 and up, allows users to bypass Apple's WebKit restrictions. This enables better support for modern websites, especially for users on older iOS versions, and includes Firefox features such as add-ons.
Database Sharding: Scaling 768 Servers for High Demand Applications
Database sharding is essential for scaling applications that handle millions of queries per second. The method allows spreading data across multiple servers to manage the performance bottlenecks associated with single database instances.
SQLite Supports NUL Characters in Strings but Causes Confusion
SQLite permits NUL characters in string values, which can lead to unexpected behaviors in SQL functions like length() and quote(). These quirks can confuse users, as demonstrated by specific SQL queries that yield inconsistent results due to the presence of NUL characters.
Using LLMs for MikroTik Network Configurations
A networking enthusiast is leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) to set up MikroTik networks effectively. This approach addresses traditional complexities in MikroTik's configuration, allowing faster network setups, although it requires careful verification of the LLM's outputs.
Sheetz migrates 11,000 VMs from VMware to StorMagic
Sheetz is migrating 11,000 virtual machines from VMware's vSphere to StorMagic’s SvHCI across 838 locations. This decision was driven by VMware's shift to a subscription model under Broadcom's management, increasing cost uncertainty for Sheetz.
SirixDB 1.0 Beta Released: Git-Like Versioning and Time-Travel Queries
SirixDB 1.0 Beta has been released, introducing Git-like versioning and the ability to run time-travel queries. This allows users to efficiently query past database states without extensive overhead or log replay practices, potentially simplifying audit processes and historical data access.
Built Technologies launches AI document intelligence solution on AWS for real estate finance
Built Technologies has launched an AI-powered document intelligence solution on AWS to enhance processing in real estate finance. This solution aims to automate complex and manual document processing, significantly reducing workflow times and supporting various document types throughout the real estate lifecycle.