computing

This article examines the historical rise and fall of Direct File, a file handling technology in computing.

ANIMA is a new intelligence system that maintains context, acquires knowledge, and uses tools to accomplish objectives, functioning as an Intelligence Operating System beyond traditional chatbots.

An embedded engineer from a third-world country responds to the article 'RISC-V: They Should Have Known Better', offering insights on RISC-V architecture and its implications.

An article profiling Russ Cox as part of the ACM's 'People of ACM' series, highlighting his contributions to computing and technology.

Martin Casado asks for book recommendations about how the math and physics communities reacted to early computers solving integrals previously thought impossible to solve analytically, noting this reception is a missing piece of tech history knowledge.

This IEEE Spectrum article recounts the story of Colossus, the world's first large-scale programmable electronic digital computer, built by Tommy Flowers to crack Germany's advanced Lorenz cipher during World War II, and notes its upcoming IEEE Milestone dedication ceremony at Bletchley Park.

A detailed historical account of the launch of the IBM Personal Computer in 1981, describing the fragmented personal computer market of the early 1980s and how IBM's entry eventually standardized the industry.

China's LineShine supercomputer becomes the world's fastest, crossing 2 exaflops and outpacing US systems despite trade restrictions, using only CPUs instead of GPUs.

Explores parallel algorithms for matching parentheses, a fundamental problem in compilers and text processing.

A personal account of hunting for million-digit prime numbers using a home computer setup.

This article discusses how China has rapidly advanced in AI despite being a latecomer, questioning the sources of datasets, computing power, and algorithms that enabled companies like DeepSeek to catch up with US leaders like OpenAI and Google.

Researchers at UC San Diego are repurposing retired smartphones into a low-carbon computing platform, with Google's support to deploy a datacenter built from 2,000 Pixel phones for cloud computing.

Lenovo's CTO Tolga Kurtoglu details the company's transformation into an AI-first company with a hybrid AI approach that orchestrates distributed data, devices, models, and compute for personal and enterprise AI experiences.

Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya believes the current high-interest-rate environment is a necessary 'wake-up call' for the tech industry. Early-stage venture capital has historically performed best during periods of rising interest rates. The two major drivers for the next decade are the marginal costs of energy and computing approaching zero.

A historical retrospective on the early adoption of Unix in East Germany (GDR), detailing efforts at the Technical University Karl-Marx-Stadt to port a C compiler and bring Unix to ESER IBM-compatible mainframes in the 1980s.

The article explores the origin and meaning of the phrase 'Halt and Catch Fire' in computing, tracing it from a joke mnemonic to actual CPU behavior in the Motorola 6800 and IBM System/360.

The author reflects on the concept of 'ascetic computing'—a personal philosophy of doing without unnecessary distractions, resisting shiny obsessions, and focusing on simplicity and purpose in computing. The essay explores principles like fearlessness in missing out and resisting the endless pursuit of new things.

The article analyzes how SpaceX is emerging as a major compute provider for AI companies, with deals supplying GPUs to Anthropic and Cursor, and Google exploring orbital data centers through SpaceX.