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OOMProf: Profiling on the Brink

It was just a little while past the Sunset Strip They found the girl's body in an open pit Her mouth was sewn shut, but her eyes were still wide Gazing through the fog to the other side "Black River Killer" by Blitzen Trapper Introduction This one's personal! For 15 years working on DBMS systems the OOM killer has led to more than its fair share of debugging rabbit holes. Anyone who's been around the block in Linux systems programming has probably crossed paths with the Linux OOM killer. This

How I easily transfer files between my Android phone and Mac - for free

QuickDrop / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Sharing files between Android and MacOS couldn't be any easier. QuickDrop is a free app that can be used by anyone. A few extra steps to take on MacOS, but it's still quite easy. Any app that is designed to transfer files should do one thing and one thing well -- make the process simple. If it's not simple, the app shouldn't be considered for general usage. There are severa

The McPhee method for writing deeply reported nonfiction

When I first started writing for a real publication, I taught myself “reporting” with a simple self-made curriculum unfolding over six or seven articles. The first two pieces I wrote from my head, with reference to things I already knew or to books I’d read. For the third, I actually got out of the house, but didn’t yet have to play the journalist; I just wrote about taking a flying lesson in a small airplane. The fourth article required more gumption: I decided to shadow a friend of mine for a

macOS dotfiles should not go in –/Library/Application Support

#macOS dotfiles should not go in ~/Library/Application Support One of my pet peeves is when command-line tools look for user configuration files in ~/Library/Application Support when running on macOS. In addition to offering poor ergonomics for users, I believe this behavior is incorrect according to the documentation which is cited to justify it. Instead, command-line tools should implement the XDG Base Directory Specification and look for configuration files in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME , which defaul

Show HN: Timep – A next-gen profiler and flamegraph-generator for bash code

timep timep is an efficient and state-of-the-art trap-based time profiler for bash code. timep generates a per-command execution time profile for the bash code being profiled. As it generates this profile, timep logs command runtimes+metadata hierarchically based on both function and subshell nesting depth, mapping and recreating the complete full call-stack tree for the bash code being profiled. MAJOR UPDATE RELEASED: The new timep (currently v1.3) now includes the required loadable binary as

In-Memory Filesystems in Rust

In-memory Filesystems in Rust I’ve been working on a CLI tool recently, and one of the things it does is manage files on disk. I have written a lot of file management tests for Bundler, and the two biggest reasons that the Bundler test suite is slow are exec and fstat . Knowing that, I thought I would try to get out ahead of the slow file stat problem by using an in-memory filesystem for testing. A collaborator mentioned being happy with the Go package named Afero for this purpose, and so I se

Git-Annex

use case: The Archivist Bob has many drives to archive his data, most of them kept offline, in a safe place. With git-annex, Bob has a single directory tree that includes all his files, even if their content is being stored offline. He can reorganize his files using that tree, committing new versions to git, without worry about accidentally deleting anything. When Bob needs access to some files, git-annex can tell him which drive(s) they're on, and easily make them available. Indeed, every drive

Topics: annex bob drive files git

My ZIP isn't your ZIP: Identifying and exploiting semantic gaps between parsers

ZIP is one of the most popular archive formats. It is used not only as archive files, but also as the container for other file formats, including office documents, Android applications, Java archives, and many more. Despite its ubiquity, the ZIP file format specification is imprecisely specified, posing the risk of semantic gaps between implementations that can be exploited by attackers. While prior research has reported individual such vulnerabilities, there is a lack of systematic studies for

SQLite (with WAL) doesn't do `fsync` on each commit under default settings

SQLite (with WAL) doesn't do `fsync` on each commit under default settings SQLite has a WAL mode (the default is journal mode), but you’re likely using it if you want higher write throughput. SQLite also has a PRAGMA called synchronous which configures how fsync is called. The default is NORMAL . This is what the docs say: [..] but WAL mode does lose durability. A transaction committed in WAL mode with synchronous=NORMAL might roll back following a power loss or system crash. In WAL mode when

How to build a coding agent

😎 The following was developed last month and has already been delivered at two conferences. If you would like for me to run a workshop similar to this at your employer, please get in contact Hey everyone, I'm here today to teach you how to build a coding agent. By this stage of the conference, you may be tired of hearing the word "agent". You hear the word frequently. However, it appears that everyone is using this term loosely without a clear understanding of what it means or how these coding

Show HN: How to Build a Coding Agent (free workshop)

😎 The following was developed last month and has already been delivered at two conferences. If you would like for me to run a workshop similar to this at your employer, please get in contact Hey everyone, I'm here today to teach you how to build a coding agent. By this stage of the conference, you may be tired of hearing the word "agent". You hear the word frequently. However, it appears that everyone is using this term loosely without a clear understanding of what it means or how these coding

My tips for using LLM agents to create software

This post details my experiences creating software with LLM coding agents, emphasizing that what you do with AI agents is ‘creation’, not just 'coding,' and sharing what worked for me. This is not 'The One True Path To AI Success.' tl;dr: I’m not a professional developer, just a hobbyist with aspirations I wanted to accomplish a coding project beyond my skill level and have been experimenting with agentic coding tools for several months (spoiler: mostly success) You should use Anthropic’

Show HN: JavaScript-free (X)HTML Includes

This is a simple example of using browsers' built in XSL support to build a website with common theming across all pages without any server-side code, static website generators, or Javascript. See the demo site How it works When you browse to index.xml (or any of the other XML files), the browser loads the template file given at the top of the XML. This template file describes how to render the various custom tags in the XML as HTML.

APT36 hackers abuse Linux .desktop files to install malware in new attacks

The Pakistani APT36 cyberspies are using Linux .desktop files to load malware in new attacks against government and defense entities in India. The activity, documented in reports by CYFIRMA and CloudSEK, aims at data exfiltration and persistent espionage access. APT 36 has previously used .desktop files to load malware in targeted espionage operations in South Asia. The attacks were first spotted on August 1, 2025, and based on the latest evidence, are still ongoing. Desktop file abuse Altho

Google Drive now offers in-browser video editing

Google is now offering a way to edit videos right in Drive via Google Vids in a compatible browser. Whenever you're previewing a video in Google Drive, you may see an "Open" button in the top right of the screen. Clicking this opens the clip in Google Vids, where you can trim the video, add text and music and make other changes. Veo is available in the app too. After you open a file in Vids, a new file is created, and you'll have to save or export that if need be. Google for Education has a fre

How Not to Buy a SSD

If you recall, about a month ago I managed to get an Apple iMac from 2006. that looked great. Unfortunately, after replacing the SSD and adding some stuff to it, the system crashed. Today, I wanted to play with the SSD a bit and discoverd super very low transfer speeds (less than 600KB/s). After opening Disk Utility and running the “Repair Disk” option, the speed seems to have picked up, going to 2.6MB/s, which was still WAAAAY slower than either SATA III, the supported protocol on the drive, or

You can search for files in Windows using Copilot now - here's how

Microsoft ZDNET's key takeaways You can now search for files through the Copilot app. The new search requires a Copilot+ PC and Windows 11 insider access. The feature works by scanning the files in your Recents folder. Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred Google source on Chrome and Chromium browsers. Microsoft continues to expand the power and reach of its Copilot AI to provide greater assistance, especially to Windows users. A new skill now rolling out will let you use the Windows Copilot

Microsoft asks customers for feedback on reported SSD failures

​Microsoft is seeking further information from customers who reported failure and data corruption issues affecting their solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disk drives (HDDs) after installing the August 2025 security update. Microsoft told BleepingComputer on Wednesday that it is aware of reports that installing the KB5063878 security update is causing SSD and HDD data corruption and failure issues. In a service alert seen by BleepingComputer, the company added that it couldn't reproduce the i

Microsoft asks customers for feedback on SSD failure issues

​Microsoft is seeking further information from customers who reported failure and data corruption issues affecting their solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disk drives (HDDs) after installing the August 2025 security update. Microsoft told BleepingComputer on Wednesday that it is aware of reports that installing the KB5063878 security update is causing SSD and HDD data corruption and failure issues. In a service alert seen by BleepingComputer, the company added that it couldn't reproduce the i

Windows 11 test brings AI file search to the Copilot app

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Microsoft is testing out a Windows 11 update that lets you use AI to search through your files and images directly from the Copilot app. This test is currently rolling out to Windows Insiders on Copilot Plus PCs and allows you to use more descriptive language wh

Microsoft reportedly fixing SSD failures caused by Windows updates

Recently released Windows 11 24H2 updates are reportedly causing data corruption and failure issues for some SSD and HDD models on up-to-date systems. This issue was first reported on Friday by a Japanese PC building enthusiast who saw drives with Phison NAND controllers disappearing from the OS during heavy write operations (like writing large files or many files at once) after installing the KB5063878 security update and the KB5062660 preview update. While some of the impacted drives were re

D2 (text to diagram tool) now supports ASCII renders

In the latest release of D2 (0.7.1), we introduce ASCII outputs. Any output file with extension txt will use the ASCII renderer to write to it. Here is an example of their rendering from the D2 Vim extension. The user opens a .d2 file and opens a preview window, which updates upon every save. Perhaps the most useful place for ASCII diagrams is in the source code comments. Small simple diagrams next to functions or classes can serve to be much clearer than describing a flow. Here again the Vi

TikTok’s latest feature lets college students find and connect with classmates

In a move reminiscent of Facebook’s early days, TikTok is launching a new feature that allows college students to find and connect with others on their campus. The feature, called Campus Verification, lets users add their college campus to their TikTok profile and browse through a list of students at their school. To access the feature, users need to navigate to their profile and tap the “Add school” button. From there, they need to enter their school name and then select their graduation year.

How to free up and automatically manage disk space for WSL

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets you run a Linux environment directly on Windows. This is particularly useful for web development where you can develop and test applications in a Linux environment without leaving Windows. You can even run freeCodeCamp locally with it! But managing disk space can be a quite a challenge, as WSL uses virtual hard disks that do not automatically free up unused space. This tutorial will guide you through the process of manually compacting your WSL virtual har

Free up space (effortlessly) on WSL2

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets you run a Linux environment directly on Windows. This is particularly useful for web development where you can develop and test applications in a Linux environment without leaving Windows. You can even run freeCodeCamp locally with it! But managing disk space can be a quite a challenge, as WSL uses virtual hard disks that do not automatically free up unused space. This tutorial will guide you through the process of manually compacting your WSL virtual har

My internet went down - but this TV USB port trick made the outage more bearable

Adam Breeden/ZDNET ZDNET's key takeaways Most smart TVs have USB ports that are greatly underutilized. The outputs can be used to broadcast local media files, troubleshoot bugs, download updates, and more. I've been using my USB port to play older media files, especially when the internet is down. Get more in-depth ZDNET tech coverage: Add us as a preferred Google source on Chrome and Chromium browsers. These days, the internet and Wi-Fi connectivity seem to be virtually ubiquitous. In the

Topics: drive file files tv usb

Turning an iPad Pro into the Ultimate Classic Macintosh (2021)

I’ve started work on the next in my 1-bit Woodblocks series: “Tekagami” (Ito Shinsui’s “Hand Mirror”). So it’s a good time to talk about how I turned an iPad Pro into the ultimate Classic Macintosh. Emulators Both Macintosh emulators available on iOS we’re ported by @maczydeco who has done an amazing job making them feel truly at home on iOS. Many thanks! They need to be built from source using Xcode but it’s a pretty straight forward process. Mini vMac Supports System 1.1 to 7.5.5 Limited

Anna's Archive: An Update from the Team

An update from the team annas-archive.li/blog, 2025-08-17 About recent events. We are still alive and kicking. In recent weeks we’ve seen increased attacks on our mission. We are taking steps to harden our infrastructure and operational security. The work of securing humanity’s legacy is worth fighting for. Since we started in 2022, we have liberated tens of millions of books, scientific articles, magazines, newspapers, and more. These are now forever protected from destruction by natural di

Is Roblox Getting Worse?

Roblox can’t keep up. After years of criticism that its platform isn’t safe for the young gamers it caters to, the multibillion-dollar company announced in July that it was rolling out new measures to protect users, including an AI-powered age-verification system and other privacy tools. But researchers, experts, and lawyers have concerns the changes won’t stop Roblox’s bigger problem: staying ahead of individuals using the platform to exploit players. On Roblox, kids do what they want. Launche