Tech News
← Home  ·  All topics

Silicon

150 GoKawiil briefs on this topic

Developer prototypes a custom text editor after souring on Sublime Text and VS Code

Frustrated with the state of modern software, a developer decided to build their own text editor from scratch instead of relying on Sublime Text or VS Code's Monaco-based engine. Their first prototype rendered everything on an HTML canvas element, handling basic cursor movement, typing, and line highlighting, but lacked features like text selection, undo history, and scrolling. Realizing canvas rendering was inherently inaccessible, they pivoted to using a contenteditable div with plaintext-only mode as a more practical foundation.

Slotstream lets 48GB Macs run the 104GB Qwen3.8-Flash-Next model via SSD streaming

A new open-source tool called slotstream enables Apple Silicon Macs to run the 104GB Qwen3.8-Flash-Next language model even when the machine doesn't have enough RAM to hold it, by streaming weights from disk and dynamically sizing memory use, down to an 8.1GB floor. On a 48GB Mac it delivers about 12 tokens per second in warm decode with a roughly 3-second cold start, capping memory use at 32GB so the rest of the system stays usable. It requires macOS 14+, Apple Silicon, and about 110GB of free disk space for the one-time weight download.

Perplexity adds Hybrid Compute privacy feature to its Mac app

Perplexity has rolled out Hybrid Compute in its Mac app, letting its Computer assistant start tasks in the cloud and shift sensitive steps, like those touching personal files, to a local model running on the Mac itself. An on-device classifier detects personal details such as names and account numbers, replaces them with placeholders before any cloud processing, and restores them once results return. The feature requires Apple silicon, macOS 15 or later, and at least 24GB of unified memory, with 32GB recommended, and uses no cloud credits or API key.

Perplexity adds hybrid AI mode that keeps sensitive files on local Macs

Perplexity has launched a hybrid compute feature for its Computer agentic platform that splits AI tasks between cloud-based frontier models and smaller open-weight models running locally on Apple silicon Macs. Sensitive data is automatically routed to the on-device model via a locally-run 'Privacy Gate' classifier that detects personal information before anything reaches the cloud, without interrupting the task or losing context. The feature launches today for opted-in enterprise customers plus Pro and Max subscribers on Macs running macOS 15 or later.

Tim Cook's Oval Office tribute to Trump breaks from Jobs' anti-establishment ethos

Tim Cook appeared in the Oval Office to praise President Trump and presented him with a glass-and-gold trophy in front of press cameras, an event the author calls the most embarrassing act ever done in Apple's name. The piece contrasts Cook's deferential display with Steve Jobs' history of defying authority and institutions, noting Jobs himself was the son of an immigrant on a student visa.

Report: AI demand pushed Apple to announce Mac mini and Mac Studio updates early

Apple revealed refreshed Mac mini and Mac Studio models about two weeks before its September 9 event instead of unveiling them on stage. According to The Information, the company moved up the announcement because demand for these machines for AI workloads exceeded expectations, leaving some configurations backordered for months.

New open-source DRM driver brings full HDMI support to Silicon Motion SM750 card

A developer released sm750hdmifb, an experimental Linux DRM driver specifically for the SE-DP750A-HDMI PCIe card built around the Silicon Motion SM750G10-AC GPU and SiI9024ACNU HDMI transmitter. It enables true 2048-wide output or a scaled 2560x1080 ultrawide desktop with more efficient colour conversion and update handling than the older sm750fb kernel driver it replaces.

NYT Reporter's New Book Says Tech Firms Shape US School Curricula

A New York Times reporter who has tracked tech industry influence in education for over a decade argues in a new book, 'Coding Kids: Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools,' that major technology companies help write learning standards, sit on curriculum committees, and push schools to adopt industry-aligned subjects like coding and AI. The reporter contends these efforts often function as marketing rather than neutral education, giving students and teachers a sanitized view of tech products and their risks.

Apple's MacBook heat guidance: why shade matters more than temperature alone

Apple advises keeping Mac laptops in ambient temperatures between 50 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit, warning explicitly against leaving them in parked cars. That ambient limit refers to surrounding air, not the surface temperature a MacBook can reach when sitting in direct sunlight, which Apple doesn't separately quantify. Prolonged exposure above 95 degrees can permanently shrink battery capacity, with charging in such heat causing further damage.

Open-source vphone-cli tool boots virtual iPhones on Apple Silicon Macs

A new open-source project called vphone-cli lets developers create and run a virtual iPhone on Apple Silicon Macs running macOS Sequoia, using Apple's Virtualization.framework alongside infrastructure derived from Apple's Private Cloud Compute research VM setup. The tool automates the full pipeline of downloading IPSW firmware, patching the boot chain, restoring via DFU mode, installing a custom firmware variant, and launching the resulting virtual device, with commands also available to manage, clone, export, and import VM instances.

Investors eye Gulf South as next US innovation hub beyond Silicon Valley

A venture capital commentator argues that the next major wave of American innovation is shifting from software toward physical infrastructure like energy, logistics and manufacturing, and that the Gulf South region is positioned to lead it. The region accounts for over 40% of US crude production and half of national refining capacity, alongside major LNG, aerospace and defense hubs, plus global trade links to Latin America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The author points to events like the 3rd Coast Venture Summit in New Orleans as evidence that founders and investors are already organizing around this thesis.

Steve Jobs' 1968 science fair project sells for $34,375 at RR Auction

RR Auction closed bidding on an 8th-grade science project Steve Jobs built in 1968 exploring the silicon-controlled rectifier, which included two demonstration circuits and a 10-page report. The item, kept for decades by his stepbrother John Chovanec at the Apple Garage property, sold for $34,375 as part of a larger Apple 50th Anniversary auction.