News Nug
A look at content scrambling in DVDs

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: Hacker News

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The Data Structures of Roads

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/programming

In my previous blog post, I discussed my passion for road networks and how infrastructure can be viewed as art, highlighting details often overlooked in games. While I focused on the artistic side initially, many readers wanted to know the technical aspects of my work. I emphasize the importance of the data representation in software, which I believe is fundamental to its success. Many developers rush to implement a data model without proper planning, which can lead to significant issues later, similar to changing plans during construction. My aim is

Warranty Void If Regenerated

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: Hacker News

Tom Hartmann became a Software Mechanic unexpectedly, as this role did not exist seven years ago. Like many in the post-transition economy, he transitioned from a different profession; in his case, he was an agricultural equipment technician who specialized in fixing tractors and their control software. However, following the transition, the nature of software repair changed drastically—software could no longer be "fixed" but rather "regenerated" through user input. This shift meant that the job of diagnosing and fixing software problems now

Abusing Customizable Selects

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: Hacker News

The article discusses the new customizable <select> feature in web browsers, highlighting fun and creative ways to utilize it through various demos. The author shares their enthusiasm for building whimsical examples, emphasizing that the primary goal is to learn and explore. While acknowledging that the demos currently work only on recent Chromium-based browsers, they note that non-supporting browsers will still display standard <select> elements without breaking functionality. The first demo introduced involves creating a stack of folders for selection, utilizing simple HTML and CSS techniques,

Supply-chain attack using invisible code hits GitHub and other repositories

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/programming

Researchers from Aikido Security have discovered a new type of supply-chain attack involving the upload of malicious packages to repositories like GitHub. Between March 3 and March 9, they identified 151 such packages that use invisible Unicode characters to hide malicious code, making it undetectable in most code editors and review tools. This tactic complicates traditional defense mechanisms, as the visible portions of the code appear legitimate, often containing realistic changes like documentation updates and bug fixes. Aikido suspects the group

How reactive streams could be rewritten using plain Java APIs

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/programming

The content is an invitation to join or sign in to LinkedIn, emphasizing agreement to their User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy. It transitions into a discussion about handling streams of events in programming, particularly contrasting reactive streams with plain Java. The author argues that many discussions overlook the potential of using asynchronous calls and multi-threading in Java to manage events efficiently without sacrificing application responsiveness. Two examples are presented that demonstrate processing streams of messages in parallel, handling success and error cases, and implementing backpressure

How well are the tests covering the code?

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/ruby

The content discusses the importance of both code quality and automated testing in software development, particularly in Ruby. A student asks whether to prioritize tests or code, prompting a metaphor about the relationship between bridges and their components. The master’s response emphasizes that both are essential, just like tests and the code they verify. Automated tests are crucial for ensuring program correctness, especially with the rise of AI-generated code. A comprehensive test suite containing various tests is necessary, but questions arise about how many tests are sufficient and

JavaScript's date parser is out of control and needs to be stopped

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/programming

The article discusses how JavaScript handles date parsing, particularly through the `new Date(someString)` function. Unlike Python, JavaScript is quite flexible with date formats, which can lead to unexpected results. For example, it can interpret sentences or seemingly unrelated phrases as dates and produce bizarre outputs like incorrect years. The ECMAScript specification only mandates parsing for a subset of ISO 8601 formats, making the behavior of other input formats "implementation-defined." This leads to variations between different JavaScript engines

How Debuggers Work • Sy Brand

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/programming

Of course! Please provide the content you'd like me to summarize, and I'll be happy to help.

thoughtbot/test_budget: a linter for test performance

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/ruby

The content discusses the importance of managing test performance in software development to prevent slow tests from negatively impacting continuous integration (CI) times. It introduces "Test Budget," a linter that monitors test performance by reviewing test durations against predefined budgets after test runs. Test Budget currently supports only RSpec. To use Test Budget, follow three steps: 1. Collect timing data by running tests with JSON output. 2. Generate a budget configuration from the timing data, or create a default config if desired. 3.

Forget Flags and Scripts: Just Rename the File

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/programming

The content discusses a novel approach to program configuration by utilizing filenames as a means of input, creating self-contained, portable, and easily shareable applications. Unlike traditional methods that rely on command-line flags or scripts—which can complicate portability—this filename-based configuration allows a program to extract necessary parameters directly from its name. For instance, an installer (e.g., install_PY3_MODULE_NAME.exe) could read its own filename to determine which Python module to install and automatically set up required dependencies. This

Rob Pike’s Rules of Programming (1989)

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: Hacker News

Pike's rules 1 and 2 emphasize the importance of avoiding premature optimization, reflecting Tony Hoare's assertion that it leads to problems. Rules 3 and 4, rephrased by Ken Thompson, advocate for using brute force when uncertain, aligning with the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) design philosophy. Lastly, Rule 5, echoing Fred Brooks' ideas from The Mythical Man-Month, suggests simplifying coding by utilizing clever objects while writing straightforward code.

From RDS to Data Lake: Archiving Massive MySQL Tables Without Losing Query Power

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/programming

Gaurav Kumar, Co-founder, discusses a solution to the issue of accumulating "cold data" in databases, which consumes expensive SSD storage and affects performance. He describes their experience with a rapidly growing MySQL database that was operating similarly to a data warehouse. To tackle this, they moved cold data to Amazon S3 for inexpensive storage and used Amazon Athena for querying, reducing MySQL storage by 80% and improving query performance. They evaluated different options and determined that S3 with Athena was the

SSH has no Host header

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: Hacker News

The challenge involves SSH connections to virtual machines (VMs) that share the same domain and use public IPv4 addresses. Each VM is accessed via a standard URL, but due to subscription limitations, individual VMs cannot have unique IPv4 addresses. Instead, they share a pool of public IPs relative to their owners. While HTTP can route requests based on the Host header, SSH lacks this feature, complicating the routing of connections to the correct VM. To resolve this, a proxy system must be

Have a Fucking Website

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: Hacker News

The author urges businesses and individual creators to have their own websites despite the rise of social media platforms that are seen as cheaper and easier alternatives. They argue that a website allows potential clients to easily access important information like rates and hours, and emphasizes that not all clients use social media. Additionally, the author warns that social media platforms can change their policies or delete accounts without notice, leading to loss of followers and content. They highlight that users do not own their posts or follower counts on these platforms, encouraging

AI won't make you rich. But fixing bugs in AI slopware will.

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/programming

The author criticizes an older engineer for holding onto outdated views about coding and technology, suggesting that their perspective from early 2025 is obsolete as of March 2026. They argue that modern models like Claude Opus 4.6, GPT-5.2, and Gemini 3.1 Pro can produce advanced, efficient code quickly and effectively. The author also implies that many individuals in the coding community rely on large language models (LLMs) for basic tasks, questioning their ability to

Glimmer DSL for Web 0.8.3 Preventing Components from Shadowing HTML Elements

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: /r/ruby

The latest release of Glimmer DSL for Web (version 0.8.3) introduces a new feature that prevents conflicts when defining components with names that shadow existing HTML elements. If a developer tries to create a component named after an HTML element (e.g., `Input` for the `input` tag), an exception will be raised, suggesting the user rename the class or nest it within a namespace to avoid the conflict. This change ensures that both custom components and standard HTML elements can be used

The pleasures of poor product design

Published: 2026-03-18 | Origin: Hacker News

Paul shares his enthusiasm for a unique project called The Uncomfortable, created by Greek architect Katerina Kamprani, who designs intentionally inconvenient everyday objects. Notable creations include a fork with a chain handle. The project started in 2011 and has gained attention in Europe through various exhibitions, stemming from Kamprani’s desire to explore humor in design after feeling constrained by traditional architecture. She aimed to highlight the value of good design by showcasing impracticality, viewing it as a "rebell

Mamba-3

Published: 2026-03-17 | Origin: Hacker News

Together AI has introduced several advancements and offerings: 1. **FlashAttention-4**: A new attention mechanism that is up to 1.3 times faster than cuDNN for NVIDIA Blackwell architecture. 2. **ATLAS**: Runtime-learning accelerators that deliver up to 4 times faster inference for large language models (LLMs). 3. **Together GPU Clusters**: Self-service NVIDIA GPUs that are now generally available for users. 4. **Batch Inference API**:

Mistral AI Releases Forge

Published: 2026-03-17 | Origin: Hacker News

Mistral AI has launched "Forge," a system enabling enterprises to create AI models tailored to their specific internal knowledge rather than relying solely on publicly available data. While most AI models are generalized, Forge allows organizations to train models using their proprietary information, such as engineering standards and operational processes, to ensure that the AI understands their unique context. By partnering with leading organizations like ASML and the European Space Agency, Forge helps enterprises build models that can navigate their internal terminologies and workflows. This system supports