Interesting Things #45 — Synthetic AI

Hi,

This is Beng Tan and welcome to Interesting Things, a curation of interesting stories and links from tech, work, biz, science and society.

Happy reading!

#tech

Are You Still Using Real Data to Train Your AI? — Synthetic data can make AI systems better and maybe even more ethical. (hn)

What Is Rust’s Hole Purpose? — An oft-cited selling point is that Rust offers safety. (hn)

AI Overcomes Stumbling Block on Brain-Inspired Hardware — Algorithms that use the brain’s communication signal can now work on analog chips which closely mimic our energy-efficient brains. (hn)

Zabbix - A Case Study of Unsafe Session Storage — We discuss the security of client-side session storages and analyze a vulnerable implementation in the IT monitoring solution Zabbix. (hn)

Mob Programming – Remote Teams in the Flow — In which an entire team works together and at the same time on the same code. (hn)

The Russian Internet — An interwoven story of the control of information from paper to sound waves to Internet packets aimed at philosophy, conspiracy, and journalism. (hn)

Off-The-Record Messaging part 1: the problem with PGP — Its (relatively) simple genius is in how it arranges old tools in novel patterns. We don’t need to pore over pages of mathematical proofs. (hn)

Python and the Legend of Zelda — Using brute force to solve a classic grid-based puzzle. (hn)

how I think when I think about programming — A whirlwind tour through the guts of the system. (hn)

Year 2038 problem is still alive and well — Year 2038 problem? Wasn’t that supposed to be solved once and for all years ago? Not quite. (hn)

#work

Tech industry’s ‘three-day work week’ may change the future of the office forever Monday and Fridays remote. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in the office. (hn)

Your Next Staff Plus Role — Your impact is not about product features or delivery of a project. It is more about being the force multiplier. (hn)

A product manager’s guide to web3 — How PM’ing in web3 is different, the pros and cons of going web3, how to break in, and how to be successful. (hn)

Do You Know Who That Worker You Just Hired Really Is? — Psychologists say nearly everyone uses some form of deception to get a job. (hn)

#science

Russia expected to ditch GLONASS for Loran in Ukraine invasion — Russian forces are expert at jamming and spoofing GNSS. (hn)

Scientists demonstrate self-awareness in fish — Researchers have shown the fish L. dimidiatus to indeed have Mirror Self-Recognition. (hn)

Flies Possess More Sophisticated Cognitive Abilities than Previously Known — Immersive virtual reality and real-time brain activity imaging showcase remarkable links between the cognitive abilities of flies and mammals. (hn)

Brains do not slow down until after age of 60, study finds — Findings go against the assumption that mental processing speed declines from a peak at age 20. (hn)

SmartWater: The forensic spray helping keep women safe — Police forces in England are trialling it as one of their domestic violence tools. (hn)

A Billion Years Before Sex, Ancient Cells Were Equipped for It — Molecular detective work is zeroing in on the origins of sexual reproduction. The protein tools for cell mergers seem to have long predated sex. (hn)

Meet Twist: MIT’s Quantum Programming Language — Keeping tabs on data entanglement keeps reins on buggy quantum code. (hn)

#society

What’s the Appeal of Deep Voices in Men? — Low-pitched male voices are frequently seen as signs of dominance, strength, and sex appeal. Is this true or a stereotype? (hn)

it’s beautiful, I just don’t always see it — The biggest way I’ve surrendered in the past lol couple years is by letting go of my anxiety. And I had a lot of anxiety to let go of. (hn)

The Moon Is Underrated — New research hints at what makes Earth’s moon special. (hn)

Bionic eyes: Obsolete tech leaves patients in the dark — Hundreds of people who had retinal implants rely on a technology that is now obsolete. (hn)

What makes writing more readable? — An examination of translating text to make it as accessible as possible. (hn)

#random

The Trip to Rose Cottage — Visiting the abandoned island of Swona. (hn)

#end

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Enjoy your reading and have a good day, Beng