Web Review, Week 2025-07
Let’s go for my web review for the week 2025-07.
Wikipedia Prepares for ‘Increase in Threats’ to US Editors From Musk and His Allies
Tags: tech, wikipedia, knowledge, politics, privacy
Some powerful bullies want to make the life of editors impossible. Looks like the foundation has the right tools in store to protect those contributors.
The Future Is Too Easy
Tags: tech, business, marketing, criticism
Alright, this piece is full of vitriol… And I like it. The CES has clearly become a mirror of the absurdities our industry is going through. The vision proposed by a good chunk of the companies is not appealing and lazy.
https://defector.com/the-future-is-too-easy?ref=DenseDiscovery-325
Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared”
Tags: tech, ai, machine-learning, gpt, ux, cognition, research
This is clearly pointing in the direction of UX challenges around LLM uses. For some tasks the user’s critical thinking must be fostered otherwise bad decisions will ensue.
https://www.404media.co/microsoft-study-finds-ai-makes-human-cognition-atrophied-and-unprepared-3/
Poisoning for propaganda: rising authoritarianism makes LLMs more dangerous
Tags: tech, ai, machine-learning, gpt, politics, criticism
Of course it would be less of a problem if explainability was better with such models. It’s not the case though, so it means they can spew very subtle propaganda. This is bound to become even more of a political power tool.
https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2025/poisoning-for-propaganda/
The skill of the future is not ‘AI’, but ‘Focus’
Tags: tech, ai, machine-learning, copilot, programming, focus, learning, criticism
This is an interesting way to frame the problem. We can’t rely too much on LLMs for computer science problems without loosing important skills and hindering learning. This is to be kept in mind.
https://www.carette.xyz/posts/focus_will_be_the_skill_of_the_future/
How does a Linux machine connect to the internet, really?
Tags: tech, linux, networking
Due to NetworkManager you forgot how to setup an interface and the networking stack manually? Here is a good summary of the important steps.
https://pjg1.site/linux-internet-from-scratch
You Should Use /tmp/ More
Tags: tech, habits
Surprising idea… I guess I’ll mull this one over and maybe try. This is not a small change of habit though.
https://atthis.link/blog/2025/58671.html
Thread-safe memory copy – Daniel Lemire’s blog
Tags: tech, memory, multithreading
What do you want? Speed or safety? Ultimately you’ll have to choose one.
https://lemire.me/blog/2025/02/07/thread-safe-memory-copy/
Refined: simple refinement types for Rust
Tags: tech, type-systems, rust
A good example of what can be done when you have a rich type system.
https://jordankaye.dev/posts/refined/
How Does Ada’s Memory Safety Compare Against Rust?
Tags: tech, system, rust, ada, memory
Interesting comparison. Ada doesn’t fare as good as I’d have expected as soon as pointers are in the mix… but there is a twist, you can go a very long way without pointers in Ada.
https://ajxs.me/blog/How_Does_Adas_Memory_Safety_Compare_Against_Rust.html
About GPU Conditionals
Tags: tech, gpu, 3d, shader, optimization
This is indeed something easy to get wrong. Also this misconception is very widespread, so it’s good to debunk it.
https://iquilezles.org/articles/gpuconditionals/
Reassessing Wayland
Tags: tech, linux, wayland
This is obviously all good news on the Wayland front. Took time to get there, got lots of justified (and even more unjustified) complaints, but now things are looking bright.
https://dudemanguy.github.io/blog/posts/2025-02-03-wayland-xorg-2/wayland-xorg-2.html
Operational and Denotational Strategies for Understanding Code
Tags: tech, programming, teaching
A good reminder that you should always bring several perspectives when teaching something. This a a simple framework which can be used widely in our field.
https://noelwelsh.com/posts/operational-denotational-understanding/
Less-Than Estimation
Tags: tech, estimates
Nice and tiny estimation approach. I can see projects where this could work.
https://chrisdone.com/posts/less-than-estimation/
Managing Your Time as a Middle Manager
Tags: management, time
A couple of interesting ideas. This fluid focus concept definitely require communication around it when applied.
https://newsletter.canopy.is/p/managing-your-time-as-a-middle-manager
Bye for now!