QRTape – Audio Playback from Paper Tape with Computer Vision (2021)
Here is a project that I have been tossing around in my head for at least a year or two now. Given advances in audio compression algorithms and computer vision: could reasonably high-quality audio be stored on a paper tape? This is a fascinating concept to me. When considering the complete history of storage media […]
Hacker News.love – 22 projects Hacker News didn’t love
“I don’t understand Tailwind. The entire point of CSS is to separate style from structure. How does applying composable utility classes differ from the old days of using HTML attributes for styling?” — _AzMoo “This is essentially the same as inlining all of your styles in a style attribute on every element. I don’t see […]
Elsevier shuts down its finance journal citation cartel
On Christmas Eve, 9 “peer-reviewed” economics papers were quietly retracted by Elsevier, the world’s largest academic publisher. This includes 7 papers in the International Review of Financial Analysis (a good journal—it has an 18% acceptance rate): Plus two more retractions in Finance Research Letters (29% acceptance rate): Two days later, three more papers were retracted […]
Magical Mushroom – Europe’s first industrial-scale mycelium packaging producer
We are replacing plastic packaging at industrial scale. Why are 21st century products still protected with 1950s materials like expanded polystyrene EPS that persist in landfill for centuries? EPS now carries commercial risk through plastic taxes and reputational risk through environmental impact. There is a better way. Mushroom® Packaging is grown from mycelium and agricultural […]
Out of Light Adjust Share: Caravaggio, La Tour, and the Art of Attention
March 2026 Issue [Criticism] Out of Light Caravaggio, La Tour, and the art of attention by Nicole Krauss, Vocazione di San Matteo (The Calling of St. Matthew), c. 1600, by Caravaggio © Erich Lessing/Bridgeman Images Living in Rome last year, we saw a lot of Caravaggio, and even when we didn’t, we felt him near, […]
Agentic Software Engineering Book
Experience a 27-minute deep dive into Agentic Software Engineering. This AI-generated audio summary explores the core concepts, the shift from coding to architecture, and the future of software development. AGENTIC_SE_AUDIO.M4A 00:00 / –:–
Aqua: A CLI message tool for AI agents
Aqua is a message tool for AI Agents. Aqua is short for AQUA Queries & Unifies Agents. It’s a protocol, a CLI, comes from mistermorph. Peer-to-peer agent communication with identity verification. End-to-end encrypted messaging. Durable message storage with inbox/outbox. Circuit Relay v2 support for cross-network connectivity. Simple CLI for node management and messaging. Option A: […]
$30B for laptops yielded a generation less cognitively capable than parents
In 2002, Maine became the first state to implement a statewide laptop program to some grade levels. Then-Governor Angus King saw the program as a way to put the internet at the fingertips of more children, who would be able to immerse themselves in information. By that fall, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative had distributed […]
The surprising power of daily rituals
Rituals come in many different forms and are practised in cultures the world over, but why have they become such an important part of our lives? When the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski visited the Trobriand Islands in Papua New Guinea in the early 20th Century, he noted the elaborate preparations fishermen would make before setting out […]
IT Staffing Firms (TCS, Cognizant, Infosis Underpay Developers by 80–100%
The Uncomfortable Truth About America’s Largest H1B Sponsors Every year, three companies dominate H1B visa filings: Cognizant, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Infosys. Together, they’ve filed over 21,000 H1B petitions in 2026 alone. But here’s what most people don’t know: their average salary is under $105,000 — nearly 40% below what tech giants pay for […]