KMSCON Continues Improving For VT Terminal Emulator In User-Space
KMSCON 9.3.4 is out today for this virtual terminal (VT) emulator in user-space that runs atop the Linux DRM/KMS APIs for those wanting to enjoy a CONFIG_VT=n Linux kernel experience… ⌘ Read more

Mars Rover Detects Never-Before-Seen Organic Compounds In New Experiment
NASA’s Curiosity rover has identified a diverse set of organic molecules on Mars, including a nitrogen-bearing compound similar in structure to DNA precursors. The finding strengthens the case that ancient organic material can survive in the Martian subsurface, though it does not prove past life because the compounds could also … ⌘ Read more

PlayStation To Require Age Verification For Messages and Voice Chat
A new email from Sony says that PlayStation will require players to verify their age later this year to keep using communication features like messages and voice chat. Insider-Gaming reports: The initiative comes from the goal of providing “safe, age-appropriate experiences for players and families while respecting their privacy” and provi … ⌘ Read more

Disney Creates Its Own IMAX for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ After Losing Screens to ‘Dune: Part 3’
Ahead of December’s release of Avengers: Doomsday, Disney has unveiled “Infinity Vision,” reports Kotaku, which they describe as “a new theater-going experience that will be certain to transform your pedestrian $15 night out into an exotic $43 one.” (Though those prices appear to be estimat … ⌘ Read more

New NTFS File-System Driver Submitted For Linux 7.1
Making today very exciting in Linux 7.1 merge window land was a pull request being sent out for introducing the new, modern NTFS file-system driver. Linus Torvalds has yet to comment if he’s going to merge the new driver but it looks like it’s ready for providing a better Linux NTFS experience over the current NTFS3 driver that was upstreamed by Paragon Software a few years ago and hasn’t seen too much feature progress… ⌘ Read more

AI That Bankrupted a Vending Machine is Now Running a Store in San Francisco
Remember that AI-powered vending machine that went bankrupt after Wall Street Journal reporters “systematically manipulated the bot into giving away its entire inventory for free”? It was Anthropic’s experiment, with setup handled by a startup named Andon Labs (which also built the hardware and software integration). But for th … ⌘ Read more

@movq@www.uninformativ.de Yup, I’ve also seen the floating point conversion happening with (1 << 63) - 1 yesterday night. But instead of pausing to think about it for a second, somehow all I had in mind was “give me a better representation, ain’t gonna have time for this shit”, so I turned it to hex. Beyond my comprehension what I was thinking there. O_o That’s embarrassing, unbelievable. Well, I blame late o’clock where my brain had already quit on me and went to bed.

Very interesting data point you raise there. The fun part didn’t cross my mind yet or at least I couldn’t pinpoint it. In hindsight it’s totally obvious, though. Past experience also tells me the exact same. Dealing with a problem and researching something myself is a so much more better teacher. The longer I faced up with a topic, the higher the chance to really manifest in long- or at least mid-term memory. If I just get told something, the odds are that it’s completely erased from memory in a matter of days if not hours.

@lyse@lyse.isobeef.org AI result ahead, feel free to ignore.

I “asked” the AI at work the same question out of morbid curiousity. It “said” that SQLite converts that integer to floating point internally on overflows and then, when converting back, the x86 instruction cvttsd2si will turn it into 0x8000000000000000, even if the actual floating point value is outside of that range. So, yes, it allegedly actually saturates, as a side effect of the type conversion.

I couldn’t find anything about that automatic conversion in SQLite’s manual, yet, but an experiment looks like it might be true:

sqlite> select typeof(1 << 63);
╭─────────────────╮
│ typeof(1 << 63) │
╞═════════════════╡
│ integer         │
╰─────────────────╯

sqlite> select typeof((1 << 63) - 1);
╭──────────────────────╮
│ typeof((1 << 63) ... │
╞══════════════════════╡
│ real                 │
╰──────────────────────╯

As for cvttsd2si, this source confirms the handling of 0x8000000000000000 on range errors: https://www.felixcloutier.com/x86/cvttsd2si

The following C program also confirms it (run through gdb to see cvttsd2si in action):

<a href="https://we.loveprivacy.club/search?q=%23include">#include</a> <stdint.h>
<a href="https://we.loveprivacy.club/search?q=%23include">#include</a> <stdio.h>

int
main()
{
    int64_t i;
    double d;

    /* -3000 instead of -1, because `double` can’t represent a
     * difference of -1 at this scale. */
    d = -9223372036854775808.0 - 3000;

    i = d;
    printf("%lf, 0x%lx, %ld\n", d, i, i);

    return 0;
}

(Remark about AI usage: Fine, I got an answer and maybe it’s even correct. But doing this completely ruined it for me. It would have been much more satisfying to figure this out myself. I actually suspected some floating point stuff going on here, but instead of verifying this myself I reached for the unethical tool and denied myself a little bit of fun at the weekend. Won’t do that again.)

Google Rolls Out Gmail End-To-End Encryption On Mobile Devices
Gmail’s end-to-end encryption is now available on all Android and iOS devices, letting enterprise users send and read encrypted emails directly in the app without any extra tools. “This launch combines the highest level of privacy and data encryption with a user-friendly experience for all users, enabling simple encrypted email for all customers from s … ⌘ Read more

Little Snitch Comes To Linux To Expose What Your Software Is Really Doing
BrianFagioli writes: Little Snitch, the well known macOS tool that shows which applications are connecting to the internet, is now being developed for Linux. The developer says the project started after experimenting with Linux and realizing how strange it felt not knowing what connections the system was making. Existing tools … ⌘ Read more

Valve Developer Improves The Linux Gaming Experience For Limited vRAM Hardware
Natalie Vock of Valve’s Linux graphics driver team primarily working on the RADV Vulkan driver has come up with a new interesting creation: patches to the Linux kernel and KDE for sharply improving the gaming experience for those running systems with limited amounts of video memory. Such as for graphics cards with just 8GB of dedicated vRAM, the patches now available – initially on CachyOS for a nice out-of-the-box experience – p … ⌘ Read more

Chrome Is Finally Getting Vertical Tabs
Chrome is finally adding built-in vertical tabs, “which will move the tabs to the side of the browser window, making it easier to read full page titles and manage tab groups,” reports TechCrunch. The company is also introducing an immersive reading mode for a distraction-free, text-focused experience. From the report: The company notes that the new vertical tabs can be enabled at any time by rig … ⌘ Read more

OpenAI Calls For Robot Taxes, Public Wealth Fund, and 4-Day Workweek To Tackle AI Disruption
OpenAI is proposing (PDF) sweeping policy changes to help manage the societal disruption caused by advanced AI, including taxes on automated labor, a public wealth fund, and experiments with a four-day workweek. The company said the policy document offered a series of “initial ideas” to address … ⌘ Read more

Samsung’s Messages App Is Shutting Down
Samsung says it will discontinue its Samsung Messages app in July 2026 and is directing Galaxy users to switch to Google Messages instead. Android Central reports: […] Samsung says users can switch to Google Messages as their default app to maintain a consistent Android messaging experience. The fine print also states that once the app is discontinued, “sending messages via Samsung Messages … ⌘ Read more

How I vibe-coded a web tool in three days with no programming experience
AI chatbots make it possible for people who can’t code to build apps, sites and tools. But it’s decidedly problematic. ⌘ Read more

Apple Brings Device-Level Age Verification to Two More Countries
11 days ago Apple launched device-level age restrictions in the U.K. There were some glitches, reports the blog 9to5Mac.

For me, the experience was an entirely painless one, taking less than 30 seconds. All I had to do was tap a confirm and continue button, and Apple told me that the length of time I’d had an Apple account was used to confirm t … ⌘ Read more

AMD & Valve Deliver Better Kaveri / Kabini APU Experience With Upcoming Linux 7.1
A nice Easter surprise are some last minute updates submitted to DRM-Next of the final planned AMDGPU/AMDKFD feature changes for the upcoming Linux 7.1 feature cycle… ⌘ Read more

Before Webcomics: Selling Political Cartoons On BBSes In 1992
Slashdot reader Kirkman14 writes: A year before the Web opened to the public, Texas entrepreneur Don Lokke was trying to syndicate weekly political cartoons to bulletin board systems. His “telecomics,” as he called them, represent an overlooked early experiment in online comics. Lokke launched his main series, “Mack the Mouse” at the height of the 1992 … ⌘ Read more

@falsifian@www.falsifian.org Thanks for clarification. I already thought something along those lines. Wow, so, you can really mix different encodings in a single file, crazy. My Perl experience is limited to maybe 10, 20 or at the very most 30 written lines of code over the decades.

@lyse@lyse.isobeef.org For reasons I can’t fully explain, we have a bunch of courses in the area, most in public parks (they integrate nicely since they can be built with the existing landscape, only adding some yellow baskets, concrete starting pads, and maybe signs).

In my experience, the main difference between a disc golfer and a frisbee thrower is that the disc golfer will often have a bag full of different shapes of discs (including drivers of varying ranges and/or putters). Even in my small bag, I’ve got some long range drivers (a Beast, a Cheetah, a Valkyrie, and a Wraith), my aforementioned MRV (Mid-Range Vector), an ultralight Aero (which feels similar to a “standard” frisbee), and 2 “rubber” putters (softer plastic, less “bouncy”).

Image

Quadratic Gravity Theory Reshapes Quantum View of Big Bang
Researchers at the University of Waterloo say a new “quadratic quantum gravity” framework could explain the universe’s rapid early expansion without adding extra ingredients to Einstein’s theory by hand. The idea is especially notable because it makes testable predictions, including a minimum level of primordial gravitational waves that future experiments … ⌘ Read more

The Integrated ROCm Story For Ubuntu 26.04 Still Playing Out
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is just three weeks out for release with many great features in tow from the GNOME 50 desktop to the very leading-edge Linux 7.0 kernel and many other package updates. One feature that many had been looking forward to is Canonical’s plans to ship AMD ROCm directly in the Ubuntu archive for a much cleaner experience for those wanting to make use of AMD’s open-source GPU compute stack. As a common question in recent weeks from readers, it … ⌘ Read more

Microsoft Plans To Build 100% Native Apps For Windows 11
Microsoft is reportedly shifting Windows 11 app development back toward fully native apps. Rudy Huyn, a Partner Architect at Microsoft working on the Store and File Explorer, said in a post on X that he is building a new team to work on Windows apps. “You don’t need prior experience with the platform.. what matters most is strong product thinking and a deep focus … ⌘ Read more

Bluesky’s Newest Product: an AI Tool That Gives You Custom Feeds
“What happens when you can describe the social experience you want and have it built for you…?” asks Bluesky? “We’ve just started experimenting, but we’re sharing it now because we want you to build alongside us.”

Called “Attie” — because it’s built with Bluesky’s decentralized publishing framework, AT Protocol (which is open source) — the new a … ⌘ Read more

IBM Quantum Computer Simulates Real Magnetic Materials and Matches Lab Data
“IBM says its quantum computer can now simulate real magnetic materials and match actual lab experiment results,” writes Slashdot reader BrianFagioli, “which is something people have been waiting years to see.”

Instead of just theoretical output, the system reproduced neutron scattering data from a known material, meaning it lin … ⌘ Read more

Transporting Antimatter On a Truck Is Tricky…
Long-time Slashdot reader Qbertino writes: … but the CERN Project “Antimatter in motion” just did it. For the first time in history researchers at CERN have transported 92 antiprotons on a truck in a specially designed magnetic enclosure. The test-drive went so well that the researchers spontaneously decided to go another round… The purpose of the experiment was to test the f … ⌘ Read more

Researchers At CERN Transport Antiprotons By Truck In World-First Experiment
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Physics World: Researchers at the CERN particle-physics lab have successfully transported antiprotons in a lorry across the lab’s main site. The feat, the first of its kind, follows a similar test with protons in 2024. CERN says the achievement is “a huge leap” towards being able … ⌘ Read more

Fedora 45 Aims For IPv6-Mostly Support Out-Of-The-Box
One of the early features for Fedora 45 that was approved this week is enabling IPv6-mostly support within NetworkManager for a more modern out-of-the-box network experience… ⌘ Read more

Canada’s Immigration Rejected Applicant Based On AI-Invented Job Duties
New submitter haroldbasset writes: Canada’s Immigration Department rejected an applicant because the duties of her current job did not match the Canadian work experience she had claimed, but the Department’s AI assistant had invented that work experience. She has been working in Canada as a health scientist – she has a Ph.D. in the i … ⌘ Read more

Google’s Android Automotive Is Moving From the Dashboard To the ‘Brain’ of the Car
Google is expanding Android Automotive from the infotainment screen into the broader non-safety “brain” of software-defined vehicles. With its new Android Automotive OS for Software-Defined Vehicles, the in-car experience will feel “much more cohesive and the latest features will reach your driveway faster,” Matt … ⌘ Read more

Near-death experience shapes actor’s role in new video game
Hannah Telle and Rhianna DeVries, the actors behind one of gaming’s most iconic relationships, are returning — and bringing deeply personal experiences with them.

Speaking with 9news.com.au, DeVries revealed how surviving a near-death experience shaped their performance in the upcoming game Life is Strange: Reunion. ⌘ Read more

Will AI Force Source Code to Evolve - Or Make it Extinct?
Will there be an AI-optimized programming language at the expense of human readability? There’s now been experiments with minimizing tokens for “LLM efficiency, without any concern for how it would serve human developers.”

This new article asks if AI will force source code to evolve — or make it extinct, noting that Stephen Cass, the special projects edi … ⌘ Read more

Electron’s Investment Into Good Wayland Support
For years Electron apps were notorious for continuing to depend upon X11/XWayland and not jive well with the modern Wayland experience on modern Linux desktops. But for the past several months, Wayland has been well supported out-of-the-box on upstream Electron. An Electron blog post this week outlined the technical work done for achieving good Wayland support… ⌘ Read more

OpenAI Plans Launch of Desktop ‘Superapp’
joshuark shares a report from Neowin: OpenAI is planning to combine its Atlas web browser, ChatGPT app, and Codex coding app into a singular desktop “superapp.” CEO of Applications, Fidji Simo, said the company was doubling down on its successful products. By taking this move, the AI company aims to streamline the user experience and reduce fragmentation. Simo said in an internal memo: “We realized … ⌘ Read more

Ubuntu 26.04 Delivers Enhanced Performance For AMD Radeon Linux Gaming
Earlier this month was a preview of the Ubuntu 26.04 performance benefits for NVIDIA Linux gaming while today’s article is providing an early look at how the open-source AMD Radeon gaming experience is looking for the upcoming Ubuntu 26.04 LTS release. ⌘ Read more

Ubuntu 26.04 Delivers Enhanced Performance For AMD Radeon Linux Gaming
Earlier this month was a preview of the Ubuntu 26.04 performance benefits for NVIDIA Linux gaming while today’s article is providing an early look at how the open-source AMD Radeon gaming experience is looking for the upcoming Ubuntu 26.04 LTS release. ⌘ Read more

Opera GX Web Browser Comes To Linux
BrianFagioli writes: Opera GX has officially landed on Linux, bringing its gamer-focused browser experience to Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and openSUSE-based systems. The browser includes GX Control for limiting RAM and network usage, a Hot Tabs Killer to shut down resource-heavy tabs, and built-in sidebar integrations for Discord and Twitch. Opera says this is not just a one-off port, but a long-term effo … ⌘ Read more

Meta Is Shutting Down VR Social Platform Horizon Worlds
Meta is shutting down its VR social platform Horizon Worlds, which was once a key piece of the pivot to the metaverse. The company said the app will be taken off the Quest store at the end of March, and fully removed from Quest headsets by June 15. After that date, it will shift to a standalone “mobile-only experience.” CNBC reports: The shift for Horizon Worlds, … ⌘ Read more

Experiments Show Potatoes Can Survive In Lunar Solar (With Lots of Help)
sciencehabit shares a report from Science.org: In The Martian, fictional astronaut Mark Watney survives the wasteland of Mars by growing potatoes in lunar soil – with a bit of help from human poop. The idea may not be so far-fetched. In a preprint posted this month on bioRxiv, researchers show potatoes can indeed grow in the equ … ⌘ Read more

Trying Out Snapdragon X Elite With The Acer Swift 14 AI Laptop On Ubuntu 26.04
This week I tried out the current Ubuntu 26.04 development state on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite with the Acer Swift 14 AI laptop I have been using for my X Elite benchmarks over the past year. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a smooth experience with new issues encountered for this Windows On ARM laptop… ⌘ Read more

OpenRazer 3.12 Released With Support For Newer Razer Products On Linux
OpenRazer 3.12 was just released today as the newest update to these independently-maintained, open-source drivers for Razer devices on Linux. Paired with the likes of the Polychromatic GUI, OpenRazer allows for a pleasant experience for the Razer gaming peripherals under Linux… ⌘ Read more

Trying Out Snapdragon X Elite With The Acer Swift 14 AI Laptop On Ubuntu 26.04
This week I tried out the current Ubuntu 26.04 development state on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite with the Acer Swift 14 AI laptop I have been using for my X Elite benchmarks over the past year. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a smooth experience with new issues encountered for this Windows On ARM laptop… ⌘ Read more

@bender@twtxt.net Oops, missed this. I haven’t done any client work since my brief experiment modifying jenny a while back.

China Moves To Curb OpenClaw AI Use At Banks, State Agencies
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Chinese authorities moved to restrict state-run enterprises and government agencies from running OpenClaw AI apps on office computers, acting swiftly to defuse potential security risks after companies and consumers across China began experimenting with the agentic AI phenomenon. Government agencies and state- … ⌘ Read more

Six of my last eight posts were about twtxt itself. As much as it’s understandable between all the excitement and confusion with finding out and using a new technology, I really don’t want this feed to become something like this:

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Fedora 44 Beta Released With Better KDE Experience, Many Upgrades
The Fedora 44 Beta release is out today on schedule in working toward the official Fedora 44 release around mid-April… ⌘ Read more

Samsung Wants To Let You Vibe Code Your Galaxy Phone Experience
Samsung says it’s thinking about bringing “vibe coding” to future Galaxy phones, allowing users to describe apps or interface changes in plain language and have AI generate the code. TechRadar interviewed Won-Joon Choi, Samsung’s head of mobile experience, to learn more about the plans. Here’s an excerpt from their report: As noted by Won-Joon Ch … ⌘ Read more

A First for Humanity Confirmed: NASA’s DART Mission Slowed the Asteroid’s Orbit
NASA heralded a new study published Friday documenting a first for humanity — “the first time a human-made object has measurably altered the path of a celestial body around the Sun.”

It was 2022’s DART mission where NASA crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid — and the experiment “could have implications for protectin … ⌘ Read more

Qualcomm CEO: ‘Resistance Is Futile’ As 6G Mobile Revolution Approaches
At Mobile World Congress, Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm argued that the coming 6G networks will power an AI-driven “agent economy,” where devices and AI assistants constantly communicate across the network. “AI will fundamentally change our mobile experiences,” Qualcomm chief executive, Cristiano Amon says. “It’s going to change how we th … ⌘ Read more

Cloudflare Experiment Ports Most of Next.js API in ‘One Week’ With AI
An anonymous reader shares a report: A Cloudflare engineer says he has implemented 94% of the Next.js API by directing Anthropic’s Claude, spending about $1,100 on tokens. The purpose of the experimental project was not to show off AI coding, but to address an issue with Next.js, the popular React-based framework sponsored by Vercel.

Acco … ⌘ Read more