We need to better educate non-technical users about making multiple local backups of things like password managers, TOTP seeds, etc.
Yes, even writing the most important ones on a piece of paper and keeping it somewhere safe (like a safe in your house) is an option, as long as you have a low threat model, of course.
Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware And Software by Charles Petzold.
I read it in my second year of studying computer-science during the summer break, and it completely changed how I view computing.
First of all, the contents alone are quite valuable, even though it is an old book, as it basically walks you through building a simple relay computer on paper, with a CPU, RAM, simplified input devices, teaches you Intel 8080 assembly as an example of assembly programming, and then even goes over a simplified BIOS, OS, GPU and higher-level languages at the end, and it does not assume you have any previous knowledge; it starts from the basic physics behind electricity, then goes into boolean algebra, logic gates, etc. It's basically computer-architecture for the layman.
Beyond the content of the book, I think the biggest mark it left on me is that it taught me that there is no magic behind the layers of abstraction, and that breaking problems and concepts down into simpler ones can make what initially seems like a very complex topic into something that someone can easily follow and understand.
After I read the book, a lot of things I had already learnt at university felt like they made more sense, and I then took courses like Computer Architecture and Digital Circuit Design, where I felt a lot more confident than I probably would have, had I not read that book. It definitely colored how I viewed a lot of the courses I took at university after having read it.
In my career as a software developer, I still often think about that book, and I love to learn things by re-inventing the wheel and building simpler versions of complex existing software.
Go to the local smaller CCC conferences, where you can pay with things like GNU Taler or cryptocurrency, and the entry is often free anyway, with a donation being appreciated or buying event merch being a nice alternative to simply donating.
I think the hacker spirit is definitely alive & kicking in those smaller CCC events.
I'd never heard of GNU Taler but the FAQ left me even more confused.
> Can I send money to my friends with Taler?
Taler supports push and pull payments between wallets (also known as peer-to-peer payments). While the payment appears to be directly between wallets, technically the operation is intermediated by the payment service provider which will typically be legally required to identify the recipient of the funds before allowing the transaction to complete.
Also the funds have an expiration date (forced spending). Who is this for? My naive read seems like it has all the downsides of bitcoin and more with none of its upsides
The doc won't point it out explicitly and I apologize if my explanation offends anybody, but the intention is basically leftist, state-friendly bitcoin. The authors took a look at the anarchy of real cryptocurrencies and realized they don't actually like anarchy, so instead they want to make something "wholesome" that governments would be willing to go along with (since they can tax it).
They are funded by EU and banks in an attempt to claw back some market share from cryptocurrencies which are slowly getting banned.
> The doc won't point it out explicitly and I apologize if my explanation offends anybody, but the intention is basically leftist, state-friendly bitcoin. The authors took a look at the anarchy of real cryptocurrencies and realized they don't actually like anarchy, so instead they want to make something "wholesome" that governments would be willing to go along with (since they can tax it).
While this is correct, I want to add a point:
Many hackers are not per se opposed to taxation (how else should public services be financed), but deeply distrustful about the red tape involved (the taxation laws in Germany are insanely complicated). Basically, their attitude is: if the government wants to tax "my" cryptocurrency, it is the government's responsibility to make the taxation laws as elegant, privacy-conscious and hassle-free as humanly possible.
In other words: if the government does not create taxation laws that are as hassle-free and privacy-conscious as possible (in a very strong sense: if in terms of effort (including the time to understand and apply the laws), it is much easier to ignore the laws than to turn in your taxes, the government failed its job), the government failed its job, so it does not deserve a concession from the cryptocurrencies' developers side.
> In addition, charging an exchange fee would allow the central bank to implement negative interest rates, if deemed necessary. The central bank could also impose a conversion limit per customer for AML/CFT (“cash” limits) or financial stability reasons (to prevent hoarding or bank runs), if desired.
Well goody.
The idea of blind signatures is cool, as is the fact that the merchant doesn't need to identify the customer, as is the fact that you could deploy neat local currencies with something like this, but AFAIK you still can't give 20€ to your friend without the exchange knowing and approving, or it becoming a race to see who spends the tokens corresponding to the 20€. And that's not very privacy-preserving.
IIRC isn't part of the idea that there are multiple central banks, you can choose which one you want to use, and currencies are exchanged automatically when needed?
To others reading, it's just gimped Chaumian ecash, as the privacy is removed for the receiver. It actually seems like it could be useable now (was just terrible for a long time) but Cashu (bitcoin based ecash) is streets ahead.
It's the usual open source problem of building a protocol and neglecting the network that runs it... Imagine a perfectly coherent messaging protocol... what are the messages that are sent? Out of scope! Just use our protocol!
If you live in Germany and would like to experience this on a smaller scale THIS WEEKEND, come to the CCC conference in Dresden, called Datenspuren, run by our local CCC Erfa-Kreis C3D2. It takes place from 18.09 - 20.09 in Zentralwerk Dresden.
It is a beautiful and inclusive environment that highlights not only a lot local hackers, but also a lot of artists.
I was there last year and it was amazing! I totally recommend it.
You can find more info about the event and the featured talks and events here:
If you live in Germany and would like to experience this on a smaller scale THIS WEEKEND, come to the CCC conference in Dresden, called Datenspuren, run by our local CCC Erfa-Kreis C3D2. It takes place from 18.09 - 20.09 in Zentralwerk Dresden. Entry is completely free of charge, with a donation being appreciated.
It is a beautiful and inclusive environment that highlights not only a lot local hackers, but also a lot of artists.
I was there last year and it was amazing! I totally recommend it.
You can find more info about the event and the featured talks and events here:
This year will be the first time I go to Interfug. I found it while browsing the CCC event calendar 2 weeks ago. I have no idea what to expect, especially because the program preview currently up only lists a few talks (but it clearly says it is still not the full program).
Still, even if there aren't many talks, I like the spirit of these conferences and very interesting conversations you get to have with very interesting people who go there.
Plus, it's only a 90 min train ride away from Dresden, so if I don't like it, I will just go home.
It's called the "hallway track" when you spend your time talking to people around, instead of going to one of the conference rooms to watch the talks at any conference.
For learning that may be a fine approach, but CUDA (in C++) really tries to hide what is going on behind the scenes, which is roughly:
1) code gets split between a host part that goes through your normal compiler, and a device part that goes through the GPU compiler. You may as well write the kernels separate and compile them via a separate compilation step, and keep your trusted host compiler for the host-side code.
2) data needs to move between the host and devices via explicit buffer transfers and synchronization steps, CUDA tries to hide this with annotated pointers, but it is really easier to think about those as just buffers that you allocate and transfer IMO, instead of trying to transparently share pointers between host and device like CUDA does.
3) kernel launches can we wrapped in a function similar to:
Instead of the funky <<< >>> syntax that CUDA for C/C++ imposes. The problem is that once you start putting that in your code, it stops being C++ and stops being portable to non-CUDA GPUs. The launching and grid settings can be a bit hard to grasp at first, but sugarcoating that in bastardized C++ syntax does not absolve from having to understand it eventually.
So a good place to start might be an OpenCL or Metal primer, depending on the hardware you have available. D3D12 (and probably Vulcan too) makes this much harder than it should be, with too much boilerplate but is overall a mature and well-designed API should you wish to develop for Windows. Starting with WebGPU might also be good these days. It has a very different shader language than the others, but the rest of the concepts are similar, and it has a strong emphasis on making things async, which is what you want for performance anyways.
Claude/Codex should be able to get you moving very quickly.
Thank you very much for the effort you put into your advice!! I think I will start with WebGPU (wgpu), even though I have an Apple Silicon Macbook. I would really prefer to work with Rust instead of C++ because I am not good with C++. (I believe) I am good with C, so my C++ code looks like C code, and I am kinda learning the differences as I learn CUDA, which is a terrible way to learn C++, I guess.
We moved from Gemini to Claude recently, and while I absolutely love Claude's coding capabilities, I often find myself extremely overwhelmed whenever I ask Claude to explain something to me, whereas that was a breeze with Gemini Pro models.
It generates pages for what could be explained in 1-2 paragraphs.
I use to love using Gemini CLI to have Gemini explain a module for me before I dive into the code and point out specific points of interest, but I can't do that with Claude Code without feeling overwhelmed and starting to heavily procrastinate
I recently started noticing myself using the term "candidly" instead of "honestly" a lot more. The only term I doubt I will ever use is "churn". I still don't understand why Claude likes to plug that term into random sentences every now and then.
Yes, even writing the most important ones on a piece of paper and keeping it somewhere safe (like a safe in your house) is an option, as long as you have a low threat model, of course.
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