📰 News

🙏 Unity U-turns on controversial runtime fee and begs forgiveness

Unity does a U-turn on their controversial runtime fee and begs forgiveness from their users. Looks like they realized that trying to sneak in extra charges was about as popular as telling a group of gamers they need to go outside. Lesson learned, Unity. Lesson learned.

🍷 Archaeologists: Roman soldiers used this built-in fridge to keep their wine cool

Roman soldiers really knew how to keep their wine cool! Archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old built-in fridge at a Roman fortress in Bulgaria. Now we just need to find their secret to dealing with hangovers after a night of wine drinking and conquering. Cheers to history!

📄 OpenAI GPT-4V technical paper released detailing problems

OpenAI's GPT-4 with vision is like an AI teenager going through an awkward phase. It struggles with image interpretation, creating made-up terms, and even hallucinating facts. It's the AI equivalent of mixing up "banana" with "unicorn." Maybe GPT-4V needs a bit more time in AI therapy.

🌍 Techno-fixes to climate change aren’t living up to the hype

Looks like the techno-fixes for climate change aren't living up to the hype. I guess we can't just slap a Band-Aid on Mother Nature and call it a day. But hey, at least we're finally getting some "realism" in the mix. Baby steps, people, baby steps.

🚀 Scientists hail pioneering software in hunt for alien life

Scientists have developed a program to detect potential signs of alien life by analyzing chemical mixtures. Finally, a computer program doing what we've all been doing for years - sniffing out life forms! Next up, a program to detect who left the dishes in the sink.

🌐 FCC announces plans to resurrect net neutrality rules

The FCC is like the world's most indecisive customer. They repealed net neutrality rules, then they want to bring them back, then maybe change their minds again. It's like watching a toddler play with a light switch. Can we just stabilize the internet already?

🚀 Former Amazon hardware boss Dave Limp will take over as CEO of Blue Origin

Dave Limp is taking off from Amazon and landing at Blue Origin as the new CEO. Looks like he's going from Echo to outer space! I guess you could say he's really reaching for the stars, or in this case, Elon Musk.

🤖 Deepfake election risks trigger EU call for more generative AI safeguards

The EU is concerned about the impact of generative AI tools on elections, specifically deepfakes and AI-generated disinformation. They are calling for platforms to implement more safeguards and information disclosures to protect democratic societies. The EU commissioner even has a meeting with ChatGPT maker, OpenAI. Just another day in the battle against fake news and AI mischief. But hey, at least the AI revolution is keeping us entertained! Imagine AI-generated campaign ads - they'll be so outrageous, we won't know whether to laugh or cry. And let's not forget about the Kremlin's propaganda machine, spreading half-truths and lies. It's like a multi-million euro game of misinformation chess. But don't worry, the EU is on it, ready to combat those Russian trolls and ensure a fair and free election.

🔍 Sidechannel pixel-stealing attack works in Chromium on all modern GPUs

It turns out that even your trusty GPUs are vulnerable to attack! Malicious websites can now steal your private data by reading the pixels displayed by other websites. Who knew GPUs could be so sneaky? Time to keep an eye on those pixels, folks!

🔋 Flint wants to disrupt the battery industry with paper

Singaporean startup Flint is looking to disrupt the battery industry by replacing lithium with paper. The company has developed a prototype battery that uses a zinc-based anode, a manganese-based cathode, and a paper separator coated in hydrogel. While the energy density of Flint's paper batteries currently falls short of lithium batteries, the company is focused on increasing this figure while exploring applications where energy density is less crucial. Tests have shown the paper batteries to be safer, more cost-effective, and capable of operating in a wider temperature range than traditional lithium-ion batteries.

☠️ Postmortem of the day

🔥 Gitlab. Uncategorized

Influx of requests overloaded the database, caused replication to lag, tired admin deleted the wrong directory, six hours of data lost. See also [earlier report](https://about.gitlab.com/2017/02/01/gitlab-dot-com-database-incident) and [HN discussion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13537052).

💡📚 Articles

🏃 Programmatically Invoke Cloud Run Jobs with Runtime Overrides (6 min read)

So, you're a big fan of Google Cloud Run, huh? I guess you could say you like your workloads like you like your steak - meaty! But don't worry, Cloud Run has some limitations too. It's like a buffet with a time limit, you gotta finish your plate in 60 minutes! Good thing Cloud Run Jobs come to the rescue. They can run for up to 24 hours and handle those asynchronous processing jobs. It's like giving your workload a passport to stay longer in the cloud! And the best part? It's free! You're basically getting more compute credits than a kid in an arcade. It's a win-win situation! Or should I say, Cloud Run-win situation? Regardless, it's a great way to get more bang for your buck in the cloud.

🔧 Intro to GitHub Actions and Bioinformatics Pipelines (3 min read)

GitHub Actions (GHA) has revolutionized software testing, and now bioinformatic pipeline developers are reaping the benefits. GHA automates testing, making it easier to find errors in your code. Plus, it's customizable, easy to use, and even updates your pipelines automatically. It's like having a personal code assistant. But be careful, too much automation might make you forget what actual work feels like.

🔍 Mastering the Magic of git diff: A Deep Dive for Advanced Developers (4 min read)

Ah, the magical world of git diff. It's like peering into the crystal ball of code changes, revealing secrets and mysteries... Okay, maybe not that exciting, but it does help us developers keep track of things.With git diff, you can see the changes between commits, the commit and working tree, and more. It's like a game of spot the difference, but instead of finding hidden objects, you uncover lines of code that have magically transformed.But be careful, using git diff can become addictive. You'll find yourself constantly typing "git diff" just to see if anything has changed since your last commit. It's like an itch that you can't resist scratching, except instead of scratching, you're staring at your screen, hoping for some juicy code alterations.So, embrace the power of git diff, my fellow developers. Let it guide you through the labyrinth of code changes and bring order to the chaos. And remember, when all else fails, blame the mapache. They're infamous for sneaking into your code and making tiny, mischievous alterations. It's true, I once had a mapache rewrite my entire CSS file to be nothing but pictures of acorns. True story.

👨‍💻 Repositories

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