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Window Activation

You click a link in your chat app, your browser with a hundred tabs comes to the front and opens that page. How hard can it be? Well, you probably know by now that Wayland, unlike X, doesn’t let one application force its idiot wishes on everyone else. In order for an application to bring its window to the front, it needs to make use of the XDG Activation protocol. A KWrite window that failed to activate and instead is weeping bitterly for attention in the task bar In essence, an application ca

I don't read your email threads

I Don't Read Your Email Threads 08 Aug, 2025 Email threads have got to be one of the worst possible forms of communication. You've been here before. A perfectly respectable morning is passing by. You're working through your items at a chipper pace maybe humming a song you heard on Spotify that morning. Then, the dreaded email thread comes through. Innocently, you click into the top email. The only text is "[Your Name] see below." I hate this and I bet you do too. Suddenly, you're transporte

Ultrathin business card runs a fluid simulation

This repo contains all files related to the flip-card project, which is a business card that runs a fluid-implicit-particle(FLIP) simulation. The PCB design files are in the "kicad-pcb" folder. The flip-card project is inspired by mitxela's fluid simulation pendant project https://mitxela.com/projects/fluid-pendant The fluid simulation logic is contained in a standalone crate, which is in the "fluid_sim_crate" folder. This is based off the work by Matthias Müller (https://github.com/matthias-r

iOS 26: Friends Can't Decide What to Eat? Here's How to Create a Poll in Messages

Apple released the second public beta of iOS 26 on Aug. 7, and the beta brings a new Liquid Glass design, call screening and more features to the iPhones of developers and beta testers. It also introduced a host of new features to Messages. One of the more useful features is the ability to create a poll in the messaging app. Group chats can be chaotic, and sometimes it feels like only a few people are talking. Creating a poll in a group chat is a nice way to let everyone voice their opinion on

Writing a storage engine for Postgres: An in-memory table access method (2023)

With Postgres 12, released in 2019, it became possible to swap out Postgres's storage engine. This is a feature MySQL has supported for a long time. There are at least 8 different built-in engines you can pick from. MyRocks, MySQL on RocksDB, is another popular third-party distribution. I assume there will be a renaissance of Postgres storage engines. To date, the efforts are nascent. OrioleDB and Citus Columnar are two promising third-party table access methods being actively developed. Why

Age Verification Is Sweeping Gaming. Is It Ready for the Age of AI Fakes?

In July, Siyan, a UK-based Discord user, logged on one morning and found himself unable to access some of his text chats marked NSFW. The channel, a popup informed him, was now age-restricted. The United Kingdom had enacted its far reaching child safety laws, which includes an age requirement system to verify users are over 18. Discord’s updates required users to verify their age, either by government ID or a face scan. Siyan (who requested to only be referred to by his screen name for privacy

Instagram's map feature spurs user backlash over geolocation privacy concerns

The launch of an Instagram feature that details users' geolocation data illicited backlash from social media users on Thursday. Meta debuted the Instagram Map tool on Wednesday, pitching the feature as way to "stay up-to-date with friends" by letting users share their "last active location." The tool is akin to Snapchat's Snap Map feature that lets people see where their friends are posting from. Although Meta said in a blog post that the feature's "location sharing is off unless you opt in,"

I used Perplexity to make a restaurant reservation - now I'm wondering if Google is holding us back

Tang Ming Tung/Getty Images ZDNET's takeaways Perplexity's new feature lets you make a restaurant reservation straight through OpenTable. The feature uses OpenTable's system, so you don't have to trust the AI to do it for you. Instead of navigating between apps or tabs to find a restaurant and then book a table, Perplexity handles everything. Finding the perfect restaurant and making a reservation just got a whole lot easier thanks to a new feature in Perplexity. The chatbot (which ZDNET's

Writing a storage engine for Postgres: an in-memory Table Access Method

With Postgres 12, released in 2019, it became possible to swap out Postgres's storage engine. This is a feature MySQL has supported for a long time. There are at least 8 different built-in engines you can pick from. MyRocks, MySQL on RocksDB, is another popular third-party distribution. I assume there will be a renaissance of Postgres storage engines. To date, the efforts are nascent. OrioleDB and Citus Columnar are two promising third-party table access methods being actively developed. Why

Block shares pop on full-year guidance boost

Block shares jumped 6% in extended trading on Thursday after the fintech company increased its forecast for the year. Here is how the company did, compared to analysts' consensus estimates from LSEG. Earnings per share: 62 cents adjusted vs. 69 cents expected 62 cents adjusted vs. 69 cents expected Revenue: $6.05 billion vs. $6.31 billion expected Revenue fell close to 2% from $6.16 billion a year earlier. Block said gross profit rose 14% from a year earlier to $2.54 billion, beating analyst

Two teens charged in attack on former DOGE official Edward ‘Big Balls’ Coristine

In Brief Two 15-year-olds have been charged with unarmed carjacking after allegedly attacking Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, the 19-year-old software engineer and former Neuralink intern who became a prominent figure in the Trump administration’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to reports citing local authorities, Coristine — who left DOGE in June but quickly returned to federal service at the Social Security Administration to help improve the agency’s website

Apple Maps cycling directions expand to Hong Kong and Taiwan

When Apple first launched cycling directions on Apple Maps, the feature was limited to a handful of cities like New York and Beijing. Since then, Apple has gradually expanded coverage. Now, cycling directions are also available in Hong Kong and Taiwan. If you ride a bike to get around where you live, you know that some information is essential for route planning: are there bike paths? Bike lanes? Do they cover the entire route? What is the elevation along the way? Since the limited rollout in

Rocket Lab eyes big defense opportunities with new acquisition

Rocket Lab is signaling to investors, yet again, that it’s more than “just” a rocket company. Rocket Lab’s second-quarter results, which were posted Thursday, show revenues continue to be driven by its space systems business rather than launch. The results also highlighted the company’s acquisition strategy and how its purchase of a new optical payloads company will make it more competitive for lucrative government contracts. The company’s space systems brought in $97.9 million of the $144.5 m

Duolingo stock skyrockets 14% on boosted guidance as AI powers user growth

A Duolingo logo is seen on a smartphone. Duolingo shares skyrocketed nearly 14% after the language-learning platform boosted its guidance due to strong user growth driven by artificial intelligence. The mobile learning platform hiked its full-year guidance to between $1.01 billion and $1.02 billion, up from a prior range of $987 million to $996 million. Duolingo also lifted its bookings guidance to between $1.15 billion and $1.16 billion. "We exceeded our own high expectations for bookings an

Firefly Aerospace soars over 30% in market debut to land at $8.5 billion valuation

Firefly’s CEO Jason Kim reacts during the company's IPO at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, U.S., August 7, 2025. Firefly Aerospace jumped more than 34% in its Nasdaq debut on Thursday after pricing shares above its expected range. The stock closed at $60.35, valuing the company at roughly $8.5 billion. Shares initially opened at $70 under the ticker symbol FLY. Space technology has gained momentum in recent years as companies such as Elon Musk's SpaceX amass more funding and governmen

Doximity buys Pathway Medical for $63 million to help doctors get AI-powered answers

Doximity at the New York Stock Exchange for its initial public offering on June 24, 2021. Doximity is diving deeper into artificial intelligence, announcing on Thursday the acquisition of startup Pathway Medical for $63 million. Pathway has built an AI-powered clinical reference tool that doctors can use to ask questions about guidelines, drugs and trials. Pathway's answers are synthesized from medical literature, and Doximity said the Montreal-based startup has one of the largest structured d

Instacart tops estimates, issues upbeat outlook

The Instacart logo is seen on a smartphone and on a PC screen. Simo, who helped take the grocery delivery company public in 2023 and guided it through a massive growth period during the Covid-19 pandemic, will step down from her position later this month as she joins OpenAI as its new head of applications. "We delivered another strong quarter, reinforcing the essential role we play in helping families save time, money, and effort putting food on the table," wrote outgoing CEO Fidji Simo in a s

Pinterest stock falls 10% after earnings miss

Bill Ready, CEO, Pinterest, speaks at the 28th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on May 5, 2025. Pinterest shares were down more than 10% on Thursday after the company reported second-quarter earnings that missed on earnings per share. Here's how the company did, compared to analysts' consensus estimates from LSEG: Earnings per share : $0.33 cents Adj. vs. $0.35 cents expected : $0.33 cents Adj. vs. $0.35 cents expected Revenue: $998

Block shares pop 11% on full-year guidance boost

Jack Dorsey, co-founder and chief executive officer of Twitter Inc. and Square Inc., listens during the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Florida, on Friday, June 4, 2021. Block shares jumped in extended trading on Thursday after the fintech company increased its forecast for the year. Here is how the company did, compared to analysts' consensus estimates from LSEG. Earnings per share: 62 cents adjusted vs. 69 cents expected Block doesn't report a revenue figure, but said gross profit rose 1

How Tim Cook convinced Trump to drop made-in-USA iPhone — for now

In this article AAPL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT WASHINGTON, DC August 6: US President Donald Trump shakes hands with CEO of Apple Tim Cook during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday August 6, 2025. Demetrius Freeman | The Washington Post | Getty Images President Donald Trump has made clear that he wants Apple to make iPhones in the U.S. Apple CEO Tim Cook is doing what he can to appease the commander in chief, without making that ultimate concessio

Omada Health beats on revenue in first earnings report since IPO

Omada Health reported quarterly results for the first time since its IPO in June. Here's how the company did based on average analysts' estimates compiled by LSEG: Loss: Loss per share of 24 cents. Loss per share of 24 cents. Revenue: $61 million vs. $55.2 million expected The virtual care company's revenue increased 49% in its second quarter from $41.21 million a year earlier. The company reported a net loss of $5.31 million, or a 24-cent loss per share, compared to a net loss of $10.69 mil

Arm desktop: emulation

This post is part 5 of the "Let me try to use an AArch64 system as a desktop" series: Whenever people use a non-x86 system, sooner or later someone asks: “But can it run [name of x86-64 only binary]?”. So, let’s check how to make it possible. Software stack When you look for ‘how to run x86-64 apps on Fedora/Arm’, you usually end up with Asahi’s documentation about it. It is a good thing to read to understand the stack. But if your Arm system runs a 4K page size kernel, then most of that doc

Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Aug. 8, #319

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles. Today's Connections: Sports Edition is a real toughie.There's a fun word puzzle in the green category, and the purple one goes completely off the wall with one of those remove-and-add-a-letter twists. No fears, we'll help you through it. Read on for hints and the answers. Connections: Sports

Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 8, #789

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles. Today's NYT Connections puzzle is a fun mix of everything. You don't even want to know how long I looked for other video games after spotting Pac-Man in the grid. Waka waka... Read on for clues and today's Connections answers. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the

FCC Democrat: Trump admin is declaring “Mission Accomplished” on broadband

The Federal Communications Commission is hamstringing its upcoming review of broadband availability by ignoring the prices consumers must pay for Internet service, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said in a statement yesterday. "Some point to existing law to argue that availability is the only metric Congress allows to measure broadband deployment success. But the law does not require this agency to view broadband availability with one eye closed and the other one half-open," said Gomez, the only De

How to use Instagram Map and set your location-sharing preferences

This week, Instagram introduced a new Snap Map-like feature called Instagram Map that lets U.S. users share their most recent active location with others and discover location-based content. If you decide to turn on your location on Instagram Map, your location only updates when you open the app or have it running in the background, meaning it doesn’t provide continuous, real-time location updates. This is different from Snap Map, which lets users choose whether their location is updated only w

California jury rules Meta violated privacy law in case involving period-tracking app

A California jury ruled against Meta in a privacy-related lawsuit involving the alleged collection of sensitive data from Flo, a period-tracking app. The jury ruled that the plaintiffs proved that Meta violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act, according to a verdict form filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for Northern District of California. The ruling stems from a class-action lawsuit dating back to 2021 against the health-tech company Flo Health and other businesses like Meta, Go

Zero-day flaws in authentication, identity, authorization in HashiCorp Vault

Introduction: when the trust model can’t be trusted Secrets vaults are the backbone of digital infrastructure. They store the credentials, tokens, and certificates that govern access to systems, services, APIs, and data. They’re not just a part of the trust model, they are the trust model. In other words, if your vault is compromised, your infrastructure is already lost. Driven by the understanding that vaults are high-value targets for attackers, our research team at Cyata set out to conduct

Encryption made for police and military radios may be easily cracked

Two years ago, researchers in the Netherlands discovered an intentional backdoor in an encryption algorithm baked into radios used by critical infrastructure–as well as police, intelligence agencies, and military forces around the world–that made any communication secured with the algorithm vulnerable to eavesdropping. When the researchers publicly disclosed the issue in 2023, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which developed the algorithm, advised anyone using it for