FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices (ftc.gov | comments) The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated a lawsuit against Uber, alleging deceptive billing practices related to its Uber One subscription service. The complaint states Uber charged consumers without their consent and failed to adequately inform them regarding subscription terms and cancellation policies.

• Another dark pattern is consistently underestimating the time to be picked up by a driver. The estimate is always something like 3 minutes, but often the wait time is more like 7 minutes. Same for Uber Eats. They estimate 25 minutes for a drop off, but it's often more like 45 minutes.

Fossil fuels fall below 50% of US electricity for the first month on record (ember-energy.org | comments) Fossil fuels have accounted for less than 50% of U.S. electricity generation for the first time on record. This shift highlights the growing impact of renewable energy sources as they gain market share.

• Despite all the data about climate change, the thing that is actually shifting us away from fossil fuels is that solar panels are cheap.
• I'd like to get solar, but I'm starting with a battery pack and a smaller solar install to cover those things that I would normal use a diesel generator for. It's amazing that the "cleaner" energy deniers won't be able to hold back cheaper energy.
• Is it bc solar is subsidized or is it bc it's cheaper? Every time I walk into Lowes I'm sold on solar but they say it's bc the government is heavily subsidizing it

Reworking 30 lines of Linux code could cut power use by up to 30 percent (ieee.org | comments) Engineers have found that modifying 30 lines of Linux kernel code can reduce energy consumption in data centers by up to 30%. This tweak leads to cost savings while promoting sustainable practices in data management.

• This is really cool. As a high-performance computing professional, I've often wondered how much energy is wasted due to inefficient code and how much that is a problem as planetary compute scales up. For me, it feels like a moral imperative to make my code as efficient as possible, especially when a job will take months to run on hundreds of CPU.

How Thai authorities use online doxxing to suppress dissent (citizenlab.ca | comments) Thai authorities have engaged in a sustained online doxxing campaign, dubbed JUICYJAM, aimed at suppressing the pro-democracy movement since August 2020. Analysis of social media posts reveals the campaign's inauthenticity and lack of credible sourcing, highlighting a coordinated effort to harass dissenters.

• Thai authorities can also arrest and jail you if you leave bad reviews on Google maps. If you visit Thailand it's best not to say anything but positive things about the country on social media.
• In my country platforms that do not force users to self dox are suppressed. Much cleaner for the authorities so they don't have to tip their hand and be seen doxxing.
• The bigger government gets, the less freedoms the people have. It is critically important not to ask government to solve problems (government is bad at solving most problems), and to seek ways to shrink government.

Blog hosted on a Nintendo Wii (infected.systems | comments) This blog showcases the experiment of hosting on a Nintendo Wii, leveraging the NetBSD operating system. The author reflects on the history of unconventional hardware use, exploring transitioning from outdated systems to modern deployments. They detail the process of setting up the blog as a production workload, contemplating the Wii's technical capabilities and historical significance of the PowerPC 750 architecture.

• > Rebooting NetBSD reboots the whole console, and not just the NetBSD ‘app’, so you’ll find yourself back at the Wii Menu after any kernel patch or system upgrade. This can be mitigated by installing Priiloader, and having it autoboot into either the Homebrew Channel or the NetBSD .dol file

Synology Lost the Plot with Hard Drive Locking Move (servethehome.com | comments) Synology's controversial decision to limit features exclusively to its branded hard drives in the upcoming 2025 Plus models has sparked backlash among users. Critics argue that this move undermines the open nature of storage solutions, raising concerns about consumer choice and compatibility with third-party hardware.

• I currently run 2 Synology NAS's in my setup. I am very satisfied with their performance, but nevertheless I will be phasing them out because their offerings are not evolving in line with customer satisfaction but with profit maximization through segmentation and vertical lock-in.

The Future of Compute: Nvidia's Crown Is Slipping (mohitdagarwal.substack.com | comments) Nvidia's stronghold in the computing sector is threatened by factors like demand consolidation, a shift in computing needs, increased adoption of custom silicon, and advancements in distributed training. These trends indicate a potential decline in Nvidia's dominant position as competitors adapt to evolving market dynamics.

• Seems like another article based on the assumption that Nvidia just sits there doing nothing while everyone who has so far proven unable to compete suddenly figures it out and steals their lunch. At some point one of these Nvidia doomers will be right but there is a long line of them who failed miserably.

How I use Kate editor (akselmo.dev | comments) Kate editor, a long-standing tool in programming, is integral to the author's workflow, emphasizing its customizable features. This piece details settings, plugins, session management, and shortcuts, highlighting practical use cases to enhance productivity. The author's goal is to encourage more users to adopt Kate for their projects.

• > I remember having two CMake extensions where both had something I needed, but they both also overlap in some basic features, so it got very confusing. The easy strictly equivalent solution is to just one extension. Or does Kate have a single included plugin that covers everything those two extensions cover?

LLM-powered tools amplify developer capabilities rather than replacing them (matthewsinclair.com | comments) Recent advancements in large language model (LLM) tools are enhancing the productivity of software developers instead of supplanting them. These AI-driven enhancements are designed to assist developers by automating repetitive tasks and suggesting code, ultimately fostering stronger collaboration and creativity in software development.

• Keep believing it is augmentation. The end game is outsourcing, instead of team mates doing the actual programing from the other side of the planet, it will be from inside the computer. Sure the LLMs and Agents are rather limited today, just like optimizating compilers were still a far dream in the 1960's.

Local LLM inference – impressive but too hard to work with (medium.com/aazo11 | comments) Local inference of large language models (LLMs) showcases significant advancements but remains challenging for developers. The author, Amir Zohrenejad, details his journey from attempting to create a text-to-SQL application to experimenting with incorporating complex generative embedded stacks directly in web browsers, highlighting the limitations currently impeding adoption.

• Download the model in background. Serve the client with an LLM vendor API just for the first requests, or even using that same local LLM installed on your own servers (likely cheaper). By doing so, in the long run the inference cost is near-zero and allows to use LLMs in otherwise impossible business models (like freemium).

Pipelining might be my favorite programming language feature (herecomesthemoon.net | comments) Pipelining is presented as a favorite programming language feature, allowing the omission of single arguments by passing previous values. The piece discusses its benefits, particularly in the context of Rust programming, showcasing code examples that illustrate how pipelining improves code clarity and efficiency.

• I'm personally someone who advocates for languages to keep their feature set small and shoot to achieve a finished feature set quickly. However. I would be lying if I didn't secretly wish that all languages adopted the `|>` syntax from Elixir. ``` params |> Map.get("user") |> create_user() |> notify_admin() ```

Getting Forked by Microsoft (philiplaine.com | comments) The author's journey in developing Kubernetes clusters faced significant downtimes due to image registry failures. After a particularly challenging incident, they conceived Spegel, a solution for scalability issues. However, excitement turned to dismay when Microsoft’s Azure team appeared to create Peerd, a similar tool, potentially inspired by Spegel, without due collaboration.

• I suspect that what's happening internally (at Microsoft) is that someone's leveraging your work towards their next promotion packet. They went to their manager with "hey I've got this great idea" and followed it up with your code a few weeks later. Of course, this only works if they claim they were "inspired" by Spegel to "write their own code".

Evertop: E-ink IBM XT clone with 100+ hours of battery life (github.com/ericjenott | comments) The Evertop is an innovative e-ink laptop reminiscent of the IBM XT, boasting over 100 hours of battery life. Designed for portability and extended usage, it targets users needing a reliable computer for basic tasks without frequent charging. The focus on efficiency and longevity could appeal to minimalistic tech enthusiasts.

• Take my money. No, really, this is precisely the sort of thing I've wanted for ages, and I don't have the time or resources to build it myself.
• Not an XT clone per se. XT had 8088 CPU, CGA/Hercules display adapter, and a 640KB RAM with a PC speaker. This one has 80186 and 1MB RAM with MCGA (VGA) and Adlib emulation too. It's better than an XT.

An update to our pricing (windsurf.com | comments) The company has simplified its pricing model, aiming to enhance clarity for customers. This update is expected to make the cost structure more straightforward, facilitating better understanding and decision-making for users engaging with the firm's offerings.

• I really dislike credits based pricing. It just doesn't feel good. Cursor $20/mo plan lasts me about a week before it becomes unusably slow. I'm fine with slow requests, but recently it will literally not even begin a response for over a minute. Really hoping costs come down or someone figures out a real unlimited plan for these agent coders.

Show HN: Dia, an open-weights TTS model for generating realistic dialogue (github.com/nari-labs | comments) Dia is an open-weight Text-to-Speech (TTS) model designed to generate realistic dialogue, offering flexibility in voice simulation for applications in conversational AI. The model emphasizes user accessibility and can be adapted for various interactive tasks, making it a significant contribution to TTS technologies.

• Hey, do yourself a favor and listen to the fun example: > [S1] Oh fire! Oh my goodness! What's the procedure? What to we do people? The smoke could be coming through an air duct! Seriously impressive. Wish I could direct link the audio. Kudos to the Dia team.

A new form of verification on Bluesky (bsky.social | comments) Bluesky introduces a new verification system featuring a recognizable blue checkmark, aiming for user-friendliness. Additionally, the platform allows independent organizations to authenticate accounts through a feature called Trusted Verifiers, enhancing the credibility and trustworthiness of user profiles.

• Not convinced by this. We need a way to reflect that human "social trust" is born distributed, and centralising trust subverts it. But here, while they introduce third party verifiers, rather than individuals deciding which verifiers to trust, bsky is going to bless some. So this is just centralised trust with delegation.

Taking Notes with Joplin (lwn.net | comments) Joplin is an open-source note-taking application enabling users to manage various types of notes, including code snippets and documents. It features Markdown support, a plugin system, and multimedia integration, with options for local storage or synchronized access using end-to-end encryption. Recent updates include multi-window support and enhanced accessibility.

• I have used Joplin daily for years. The only thing I _REALLY_ wish they did was allow you to just store and display notes as plain text. Instead, there is always either markdown or rich text formatting involved. And there's no ability to disable that. That always seemed odd to me to force that kind of decision on users.

Python's new t-strings (davepeck.org | comments) Python 3.14 will introduce template strings (t-strings), enhancing string processing flexibility and safety. Unlike f-strings, t-strings evaluate to a new type, 'string.templatelib.Template', which must be processed for proper output, reducing risks of SQL injection and cross-site scripting. This feature advances safe handling of dynamic content in applications.

• Why does this need to be a language feature. This could just be a separate library, we could use brackets instead of a letter before a string. I fear, Python is going down the path of C++
• How do these interact with i18n? Can I load a translated t-string with `_(t"")` from a .po file? Can it include variable names and arbitrary code inside lambdas?

Is 1 Prime, and Does It Matter? (mathenchant.wordpress.com | comments) The debate over whether the number 1 qualifies as a prime number centers on its properties in mathematics. A prime number is defined as a natural number greater than 1 that has no positive divisors other than 1 and itself. Since 1 does not meet this definition, it is generally not considered prime, affecting various mathematical theories and applications.

• One reason that 1 is often excluded from the prime numbers is that if it was included, it would complicate the theorems, proofs, and exposition by the endless repetition of "not equal to 1".
• Just a note from your friendly philosophy degree holder: Axioms are arbitrary. Use the axioms that are the most useful.

Astronomers confirm the existence of a lone black hole (phys.org | comments) Astronomers from the Space Telescope Science Institute, alongside colleagues from the University of St Andrews and the European Southern Observatory, have confirmed the existence of a solitary black hole. Their findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal, result from analyzing updated data about an object previously identified.

• What I don't understand is how big bang could exist if such relatively "small" mass concentration creates black holes?
• Does anyone else find this...unsettling? Floating around in the void of space, alone, is an almost invisible monster that can gobble planets and stars.

AI assisted search-based research works now (simonwillison.net | comments) Recent advancements in AI-assisted search, particularly through large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Gemini, have made search-based research tasks significantly more effective. Systems released in 2025 demonstrate improved accuracy and reduced hallucinations, enabling real-time, reliable results and transforming the research process.

• My main observation here is 1. Technically it might be possible to search the Internet, but it might not surface correct and/or useful information. 2. High-value information that would make a research report valuable is rarely public nor free. This holds especially true in capital-intensive or regulated industries.

Haskelling My Python (unnamed.website | comments) This post details the implementation of Haskell's lazy infinite lists using Python generators. The author shares a technique derived from Haskell, demonstrating how to create an infinite generator for positive integers in Python and offering guidance on executing similar functions in a recursive manner.

• Well, definitely very cool, but: the Haskell code is delightfully readable while the Python code takes effort for me to read. This is not meant as a criticism, this article is a neat thought experiment.
• Excited to read their next blog where they discover functools.partial and return self.

The Effect of Deactivating Facebook and Instagram on Users' Emotional State (nber.org | comments) A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research evaluates the impact of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional well-being, finding that reduced usage correlates with improved mental health outcomes. The research examines user experiences, providing quantitatively analyzed data supporting the mental health benefits of decreased social media engagement.

• The surprise here is how little of an effect it has. Deactivating facebook makes you only 1/16th of one standard deviation happier. And instagram even less. And this was measured during elections, when the effect is likely to be greatest. Kinda crazy that the magnitude is so small! (my next [admittedly rather cynical] thought is "who funded this?")