ReHacked #57: Theoretical Computer Science & AI Theory Founded by Goedel, 4 day workweek and more

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In Argentina, cheap government-issued netbooks sparked a musical renaissance #culture #technology

When he first opened his Conectar Igualdad netbook in 2014, the 10-inch black screen reflected Mateo Palacios Corazzina’s face back at him: a 12-year-old-boy from La Boca, one of Buenos Aires’ historic slums, about to turn on his first computer. What neither he — nor those who had handed out the device — knew, was that a new era of Argentine music was about to be launched by that 1GB RAM machine. Using his netbook as a makeshift studio, Mateo became the star that millions today know as Trueno, one of the fastest rising stars in Latin American rap.

1931: Theoretical Computer Science & AI Theory Founded by Goedel #history #science #technology

In 2021, we are celebrating the 90th anniversary of Kurt Gödel's groundbreaking 1931 paper which laid the foundations of theoretical computer science and the theory of artificial intelligence (AI). Gödel sent shock waves through the academic community when he identified the fundamental limits of theorem proving, computing, AI, logics, and mathematics itself. This had enormous impact on science and philosophy of the 20th century. Ten years to go until the Gödel centennial in 2031!

The 88x31 GIF Collection #fun #internet

A collection of 3182 classic 88x31 buttons from the 1990’s, 2000’s, and today in GIF format. I try to update this page regularly. Feel free to copy buttons to your website, but avoid hot-linking if possible.

'Positive deviants': Why rebellious workers spark great ideas #psychology

Why rebels rule

There is psychological evidence that rebelliousness is essential for creativity. Harvard psychiatrist Albert Rothenberg spent more than five decades researching individuals who had made ground-breaking contributions to science, literature and the arts, seeking to understand what drove their creativity. As part of a broader research project that encompassed structured interviews, experimental studies and documentary analysis, Rothenberg interviewed 22 Nobel Laureates. He found that they were strongly emotionally driven by wanting to create something new, rather than extend current perspectives. He found they consciously saw things with a fresh mindset rather than blindly following established wisdom – two qualities that would seem to suggest a rebellious, rather than conformist, personality.

Brave, the false sensation of privacy #privacy #security

Brave is a chromium based browser, which comes with a built-in adblocker and with a “rewards” program, that is supposed to make you earn money. But the relevant part today is that Brave is advertised as a “private browser by default”.

Brave has taken the false privacy approach similar to other companies (yes Apple, I’m looking at you), they use “privacy“ for marketing but in reality they provide a hypocritical service that “blocks tracking” but instead tracks you and profits from you.

Julia: faster than Fortran, cleaner than Numpy #software #datascience

Julia is a pretty new language, which, among other things, aims to solve the so-called “two-language problem” in scientific computing.

That is, we usually test ideas in a rapid-prototyping language like Matlab or Python, but when the testing is done, and its time to do some serious computation, we need to rely on a different (compiled) programming language.

Many tools exist to ease the transition, and wrapping Fortran libraries into Python has been my preference so far. For example, wrapping up some Fortran with F2PY seems like a very convenient way to use (and distribute) efficient Fortran code that anybody can run. I also keep track of various ways of using Fortran in Python in this post.

4-Day Workweeks Can Boost Happiness and Productivity #career #culture

Over the past couple of years, companies and governments around the world have become more open to the possibility that a four-day workweek could be better for businesses and the people who make them run. Before the pandemic, Microsoft Japan and the burger chain Shake Shack tried the schedule out with some employees, with positive results. The international conglomerate Unilever’s New Zealand offices are currently in the middle of a year-long four-day experiment, the results of which could inform the schedules of the company’s 155,000 employees worldwide. The governments of Spain and Scotland are planning trials that would subsidize employers that give workers an additional day off, and politicians in Japan and New Zealand have spoken favorably of the idea of a shorter workweek.

An unwanted update to your Google Account #privacy #internet

North Carolina Board Tells Retired Engineer He Can’t Talk About Engineering #copyrights #freespeech

Wayne Nutt is an engineer. He graduated with a degree in engineering and worked most of his career in North Carolina without ever needing a license to actually work as an engineer. But now, the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors is telling Wayne that speaking publicly about engineering without a state license could lead to criminal charges. Today, Wayne teamed up with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to file a federal lawsuit to protect his First Amendment right to speak from his expertise and experience.

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Dainius