Article: 17 min
The article discusses the process of defeating a 40-year-old copy protection dongle used for an older accounting software package. The author, involved in helping a friend's accounting firm transition from using legacy software, discovered that running this software requires a hardware dongle attached to the computer’s parallel port. After examining the disk image and disassembling the executables with Reko, the author found clues suggesting the copy-protection routine communicates over the parallel port. The routine was eventually patched by brute force, allowing the software to run without the physical dongle.
Discussion (63): 4 min
The comment thread discusses various opinions on hardware dongles as copy protection methods used in software, particularly in professional and business contexts. The effectiveness of these methods is debated, with some suggesting they were more effective than CD keys while others argue that reverse engineering tools made them vulnerable.
Article: 12 min
NanoClaw is a lightweight personal assistant application that runs securely in Apple containers, offering core functionality with a codebase easy to understand. It provides AI-driven assistance for tasks like message management, scheduling, and web access.
Discussion (45): 2 min
The comment thread discusses a personal project called NanoClaw as an alternative to OpenClaw. The developers highlight its security features, sandboxing capabilities, and suitability for specific needs. There are concerns about permissions and scalability, but overall the discussion is neutral with some positive feedback.
Discussion (1):
More comments needed for analysis.
Article: 8 min
The article is about the introduction of Apple's first low-cost microcomputer system in 1976, which includes a video terminal and 8K bytes of RAM on a single PC card. The system offers advantages over traditional teletype machines, such as faster processing speed, less noise, and more information display capabilities. It also highlights the use of new memory chips that are faster and take up less space and power.
Discussion (113): 22 min
The comment thread discusses various opinions and arguments about Apple's software philosophy, backward compatibility, legacy support, market cap, revenue, and the impact of these factors on users. There is a debate around Apple's decision to deprecate older OS versions and hardware rapidly, with some users questioning their investment in legacy support compared to industry practices. The thread also touches upon historical advertisements, personal anecdotes, and the evolution of technology.
Article: 16 min
The author discusses their experience with a machine learning model (MLX LLM) on different Apple devices, encountering discrepancies in results between an iPhone 15 Pro and an iPhone 16 Pro Max, which led to the discovery of potential hardware issues.
Discussion (53): 4 min
The comment thread discusses the performance of an LLM on a specific Apple device, comparing it to graphing calculators and questioning its efficiency. Opinions vary regarding real debugging vs conspiracy theories, phone usage, and hardware issues.
Discussion (13):
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Article:
The article discusses how to prevent malware infections and suggests running antivirus scans on personal devices or asking network administrators to check corporate networks for misconfigured or infected devices.
Discussion (241): 54 min
The comment thread discusses various alternatives to Tailscale for network connectivity, focusing on self-hosted solutions and zero trust networking. Users share opinions on the pros and cons of different services, with a general sentiment leaning towards neutral. Key themes include the importance of sovereignty considerations, the desire for open-source alternatives, and the need for efficient and secure network management.
Article: 7 min
Adventure Game Studio is an open-source software for creating graphical point-and-click adventure games, offering a platform to create and play games on multiple platforms. It features an active community for support and showcases user-created games.
Discussion (49): 6 min
The comment thread discusses the revival and continued use of AGS (Adventure Game Studio), a game creation tool that has been influential in software development. Participants reminisce about classic games created with AGS, share their experiences using it for creating games, and discuss its impact on the gaming industry.
Discussion (0):
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In the past 13d 23h 46m, we processed 2635 new articles and 113189 comments with an estimated reading time savings of 50d 13h 30m