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Happy 2025!
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Performance of the StarFive VisionFive2 is underwhelming at this point: my kludged Python-based builds are about 6 times slower on it than my Pi5, at about the same
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price point. But it runs! Despite my preference for open technology (RISC-V), the ARM based Pi5 is still the best platform for a neo-retro connect-to-your-TV-and-start
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-coding computer.
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Digging into inferencing over first order logic, this paper looks like it could help stretch my formula simplification muscles.
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According to an article on The Guardian, a malicious pdf file could install aggressive spyware. Are Linux pdf tools and web browsers vulnerable?
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I'm moving Peter Smith's βBeginning Mathematical Logicβ upward in my TBR pile.
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AI trained on Internet content is being used to generate Internet content - a global AI feedback loop. Human generated content will dwindle, and the computers will
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mostly be talking to each other. What will AI gossip of the future look like, when nothing has been written by humans for some time?
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Otep has grown on me. Metal+Female Vocals has been my go-to for a couple of years now, but Otep had felt strained - maybe it's a sound for our times.
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A plethora of new puzzles is on the horizon from SmartGames, the hugely successful Belgian puzzle publisher. Raf Peeters, one of their prolific designers, shares
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details of his process on his website and gives us a preview of what's coming. I can't wait to add these to my collection: IQ-Hexagon IQ-Pentagon IQ-Square IQ-Circle
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Next up in the book of whale sized full-page Nikoli puzzles is a Shakashaka puzzle - I think it's going to be a real challenge!
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Edward Gorey should never be forgotten. AI generated books, movies and video games (I'm sure even AI generated reality-TV is coming) will end human work on commercial
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media (don't forget the news and the politicians: Trump might have a deepfake version in the works, just to keep his soul alive - you'll be able to see him shaking
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your hand even if you've never met!) But, for the love of it, we can still create.
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While I never knew Jim Keller, I did meet him once when I worked at AMD. Starting the effort on the Zen architecture, he made it a point to meet with everybody in
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engineering in small groups (even the GPU folks). From that brief encounter, I'd describe him as a βrock and rollβ kind of guy - unrestrained and ready to shake
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things up. That'll be good for RISC-V - ARM has been around for 40 years or so (I first worked with it on the 3DO; and x86 is more ancient than, although I have met
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actual dinosaurs) and the last few years have finally seen some really performant ARM cores. RISC-V, with it's more recent and academic heritage, hasn't been in the
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competition pressure cooker where an architecture has to deliver exceptional performance. Software maturity is less critical, but cycles of the multi-year feedback
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loop between compilers and hardware does make a difference - I saw features come and go in GPUs, and the compiler team was integral to generational improvements.
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The worlds remaining human coders seem to be transitioning to Rust, but a modern language that doesn't use whitespace to delimit blocks? When will the oppressive
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reign of curly braces come to an end! Oh well, I may just have to learn it anyway...
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I'm enjoying working through βPath Puzzlesβ by Roderick Kimball - highly recommended! Basic clues indicate how many path segments are in a row or column of the grid,
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but non-rectangular grids and other variations make for a unique logic puzzling experience.
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Procrastinated much of the day by learning to build the Linux Kernel in the hopes of running Debian Trixie (aka Debian 13, currently Debian Testing) on the StarFive
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VisionFive2 RISC-V Single Board Computer I've got. I upgraded an existing Micro-SD install to Trixie and everything but the GPU seems to work fine. I'll post updates
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if I get anywhere.
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The glorious Brookline Ma local puzzle shop, Eureka! got in copies of IQ-Noodles and IQ-Bubbles. Both combine traditional SmartGames IQ Puzzle challenges with unique
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design aesthetics, fun and colorful, each featuring 120 new puzzles to keep your brain happy!
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I don't know if it was the same for everybody, but on Netflix, watching βMonty Python's Flying Circusβ was always a bit frustrating - the seasons and episodes were
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indexed backwards and trying to binge the show was laborious. Turns out it's available on Prime Video in an amazing restoration: sequences shot on video have been
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cleaned up and upscaled brilliantly and the animations are clean and detailed - if not re-shot, re-scanned meticulously from film. While some may rightfully be
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offended by βoutdatedβ ideas, the show brilliantly pioneered absurdist humor.
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A path-tracing processor is an awesome thing - I love it, I want it, I need it. But, given Artificial Neural Networks can generate photorealistic renderings based on
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textual descriptions, a GPU for graphics is only for those of us who are interested in the math and algorithms behind simulating light transport to generate
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photorealistic imagery. The rest of the world is just going to tell their ChatGPT TV "I wanna see a new Batman movie" and a brand new, never before seen (nor again,
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probably) movie will flow from their TV into their eyeballs (and an original score to their ears, mind you). It'll be tuned based on their web browsing history:
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Batman may be a devout Christian, proselytizing with his fists and gadgets by night while Bruce Wayne is an organized crime boss during the day!
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I finished βPath Puzzlesβ (everything but the βhintβ ones at the end). Is there another volume?
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Based on my years in school and working in industry Logitech's program to improve the workspace in space for women is a good thing - sad it's still necessary, but the
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world is full of jerks.
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Faster Micro SD in RISC-V VisionFive 2: I haven't done any careful benchmarking to compare the StarFive VisionFive2 to the RPis, but a new, faster & larger micro SD
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card seems to have sped things up a bit!
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True Citrus products include unsweetened citrus extract and βadesβ with stevia and a little sugar. They use plant based ingredients for coloring, such as beta
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carotene (the orange stufff in carrots) and juice from beets and other vegetables. Perfect for those of us improving our hydration and getting away from sugar.
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I just started SmartGames' IQ Noodles and, so far, it's a perfect mix of logic and design! The material used for the pieces has a slightly soft-to-the-touch feel,
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similar to those found in IQ Waves and the colors go beyond primaries.
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Viola Davis for President! The Commander in Chief should be an action hero! I'm disappointed to learn that, while she was defending Cape Town from terrorists, Viola
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Davis didn't ask my wife and I to dinner: we were in her hometown in 2024, during filming, to visit her family. I'm sure it was a simple oversight, and she will have
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to have a chat with her people, and us our people, to find out what went wrong.