Greetings, my technological nomads!
Today’s all about learning. But not every style works for us. Some of us can sit in a lecture hall and consume what’s on the projector screen. If that’s your thing, then some leading university findings on AI and Local-first software may be just what you need.
Others need something a little easier on the ears. In that case, you can dive into browserless speed tests, and other lifehacks, for those with more ‘finite’ listening skills. Video games might be a problem. But if you can’t beat them – join them – with an expert list of HTML5 game-building features. Finally, if privacy is the only thing that means anything to you, then explore Tails 4.0.
Scepticism and optimism stretch to their limits in this latest issue, as we discover why the world is in for a show tonight.
Stay sneaky.
Sincerely,
Dan’ the Man’ Kowalski
Editor-in-Chief, the Hacker’s Tribute
Grab the Net by the Cloud!
Reclaim your dignity and data back from the computing goliaths. Local-first software, though only at its theoretical stage, might be the way. Imagine having complete proprietary control over your data, even with giving it up to the cloud. Martin Kleppmann is a data safety sensation, outlining in his Cambridge University paper how we’ll soon enjoy Conflict-free Replicated Data Types. Get up to speed on CRDTs in this riveting report!
School of the Streets
Scott Hanselman, the bad-boy of the internet, explains the much-in-demand lessons they don’t teach in the classroom. Beat the system today, with code pages, character encoding, Unicode, UTF-8 and the BOM. It’s the second in the series by the rebels’ rebel of tech. He even includes an earth-shattering YouTube video. Tear up your textbooks (or sell them, as they’re expensive), and take the revolution to the road!
When A.I. Becomes B.S.
These days, any electric toaster oven can be passed off as AI, provided it has the right marketing. Here at The Hacker’s Tribute, we don’t tolerate that sort of nonsense. Princeton University’s Arvind Narayanan explores flawed AI claims and how to recognise them. Learn more on our toxic relationship with uncharted AI in this eye-opener of a report.
https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~arvindn/talks/MIT-STS-AI-snakeoil.pdf
Browserless Speed Test
Few individuals push the limits of human achievement. Neil Armstrong, who? When seeking a measurement of site speed, then Speedtest.net is our tried and tested method. But what if you’re looking to run a test on a remote server? Here, Putorious demonstrates running speed tests from the Linux command line. Browser, begone!
Quick & Quiet – Tails 4.0
If speed boosts, updated apps, and privacy in a Linux package are some of your favourite things, then this might be the browser for you! Tails 4.0, boasts feature improvements based on Debian 10. Why is it so special? It frequently runs from a USB stick, running as a live, non-persistent operating system. Default apps tickle the spy in all of us, from Tor browser, Onion Share, LibreOffice, KeePassXC password manager, and Electrum Bitcoin wallet, among other James Bond-style perks.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/24/tails_4_privacy_linux/
Build Your Dream Game!
Machinen-Mensch, a small Berlin game studio, and founders of Curious Expedition share their tips on building a custom game engine using HTML5’s 2D Canvas support. Without hitting its boundary, they built a premium game on Steam, even scoring 200,000 downloads and an 89% rating. Now they share their secrets! Read the list, build the game, defeat the monsters, marry the princess. Go!
https://www.codecks.io/blog/2019/creating-a-hit-steam-game-in-html5/
Knowledge is free and shared. We’re always on the lookout for new insights into the world of App Development. Get in touch with us, and we’ll give you a heads up on your next big idea.
We’ll be in touch with more news, as it happens!
