Facebook's Little Red Book

In 2012, Facebook's rapid growth led to internal communication issues. To address this, they created an internal "Little Red Book" that summarized their company culture and vision.

This book, designed by Ben Barry, outlined core values like rapid innovation and bold thinking. It served as a cultural touchstone, maintaining a unified vision amidst expansion.

A high-quality digital version of this rare book is now available online, showcasing how successful companies manage cultural identity during periods of rapid growth.

Static IPs for Serverless Containers

Modal, a serverless platform, created a VPN proxy called vprox using WireGuard for static outbound IPs from containers globally. This ensures consistent IPs even with node failures, enabling quick reconnections.

Initially, Modal used SOCKS5 proxies, but this proved cumbersome for developers. Switching to WireGuard at Layer 3 offered a simpler, more effective solution by routing all container traffic through a VPN, masking source IPs for consistency.

Vprox manages multiple IPs per server for efficiency and uses policy-based routing and traffic shaping to handle multi-tenant containers. It includes automatic IP re-allocation and failure recovery mechanisms, ensuring high availability and seamless operation.

Optimality of Gerver's Sofa

Wiskundigen hebben de ‘bewegend bankstelprobleem’ opgelost. Gervers ontwerp, met 18 gebogen delen, blijkt de maximale oppervlakte te hebben.

De maximale oppervlakte van het bankstel is vastgesteld op ongeveer 2,2195. Dit is een belangrijke doorbraak in de meetkunde.

Het onderzoek, bestaande uit 119 pagina's en 21 illustraties, is gepubliceerd en beschrijft de berekeningen achter deze ontdekking.

Black Hole Puzzle

A physics puzzle presents a scenario: 101 starships fall into a massive black hole. The question explores the perspective of the 51st captain, considering the effects of relativity on their view of the other ships.

From an outside observer's viewpoint, the ships would seem to slow down and redshift as they approach the event horizon, never quite reaching it. In contrast, from the perspective of the infalling captains, each would cross the horizon in finite time.

The 51st captain would see 50 starships ahead and 50 behind at all times, with those ahead crossing the horizon simultaneously. Due to the lightlike nature of the horizon, the 51st captain's view of the previous ships' horizon crossing happens precisely as they cross it themselves; the ships would appear increasingly redshifted.

A better approach to gravity: how we made EGM2008 faster

Researchers significantly sped up the Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM2008), a high-precision model of Earth's gravity. What previously needed substantial computing power now runs in milliseconds, opening doors for enhanced satellite operations and constellation management.

EGM2008's enhanced accuracy stems from data collected by various satellites, including GRACE, which measured subtle gravity variations. This surpasses older techniques, like ground-based pendulum experiments, providing a far more detailed view of Earth's gravitational field and its dynamic shifts.

The speed increase was achieved by reworking the model's mathematical implementation to better align with the JAX library, thereby enabling vector computation. The optimized model runs orders of magnitude faster than previous implementations and can perform real-time simulations on a standard laptop.

Show HN: Open-sourced (road) traffic counting application

A Windows desktop application for counting road traffic, previously sold commercially, has been open-sourced. The application utilizes Multiple Hypothesis Tracking (MHT) and Darknet Yolo for vehicle detection.

Development was under the Roadometry brand; however, due to slow sales, the creator decided to release the application for free. The source code is now available on Github.

The application includes a complex tool-chain for creating video-based training sets. The creator plans to eventually integrate a combined detector/associator network as a future development step.

When a Telescope Is a National-Security Risk

The Vera Rubin Observatory, a new telescope, is causing national security concerns due to its ability to detect spy satellites. Negotiations took place to prevent the observatory from inadvertently revealing sensitive information about US military space assets.

The telescope's advanced capabilities allow for detection of billions of celestial objects, including any previously unseen ones. This includes the potential for the unintentional discovery and broadcast of classified spacecraft locations, leading to security concerns.

A compromise was reached involving a dedicated secure network to process the telescope's data. Images are encrypted, analyzed for sensitive information, and then released to the public after a delay to allow classified objects to move from their initial locations.

Apple Illegally Surveilled and Censored Workers, Employee Lawsuit Says

A lawsuit claims Apple illegally surveilled and censored employees. A current Apple employee alleges the company's policies, requiring use of Apple devices and iCloud, enabled invasive surveillance and data collection.

The lawsuit, filed in California, contends Apple's policies violate employee rights by monitoring personal data and restricting communication about working conditions, including compensation.

This legal action follows an October report by the National Labor Relations Board accusing Apple of using illegal confidentiality and social media policies nationwide. Apple has yet to comment publicly.

Tempest Anderson: Pioneer of Volcano Photography (2015)

Tempest Anderson, a Victorian volcanologist, undertook extensive travels to photograph volcanic eruptions. His expeditions, often to remote locations, led to advancements in volcanology and photography. He utilized innovative photographic techniques and shared his findings through lectures and publications.

Anderson's 1902 Caribbean expedition, commissioned by the Royal Society, yielded significant scientific results and dramatic photographs documenting the aftermath of major eruptions, particularly his detailed observation of pyroclastic flows.

Beyond the Caribbean, his explorations extended to Iceland, the Canary Islands, North America, Mexico, Guatemala, and Indonesia. His work highlighted the broader environmental impacts of volcanoes, incorporating insights from his medical background, before his death in 1913.

FreeBSD 14.2-Release Now Available

FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE is out, the third release of the 14 branch. Key features include OCI container image support, firmware installation during setup, and updates to OpenZFS and OpenSSL.

The release supports various architectures like amd64, i386, and aarch64, installable from ISO images or network. Multiple image types are available, including DVD, disc, and memory stick options, with varying package inclusions.

Support for FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE lasts until September 30, 2025, with the 14 series supported until November 30, 2028. The release is dedicated to the memory of Mike Karels.