Many people start their work with AI by prompting the machine to imagine it is an expert at the task they want it to perform, a technique that boffins have found may be futile.

Persona-based prompting – which involves using directives such as "You're an expert machine learning programmer" in a model prompt – dates back to 2023, when researchers began to explore how role-playing instructions influenced AI models’ output.

It's now common to find online prompting guides that include passages like, "You are an expert full-stack developer tasked with building a complete, production-ready full-stack web application from scratch."

But academics who have researched this approach report it does not always produce superior results.

In a pre-print paper titled "Expert Personas Improve LLM Alignment but Damage Accuracy: Bootstrapping Intent-Based Persona Routing with PRISM," researchers affiliated with the University of Southern California (USC) find that persona-based prompting is task-dependent – which they say explains the mixed results.

For alignment-dependent tasks, like writing, role-playing, and safety, personas do improve model performance. For pretraining-dependent tasks like math and coding, using the technique produces worse results.

Has Microsoft finally reckoned with Windows 11's many failings - or has its OS chief, Pavan Davuluri, simply offered more soothing platitudes to users fed up with bugs and unwanted AI?

Davuluri wrote a lengthy post on the Windows blog that was long on promises that things will get better, but short on words like "sorry," "apologize," or even the Americanism "our bad."

According to Davuluri, the movable taskbar dropped from Windows 11 is returning. Windows Update will stop forcing restarts quite so relentlessly. File Explorer will work as it should. And Windows itself will be less of a resource hog, faster, and more reliable.

Microsoft has also promised to rethink its obsession with AI. Davuluri said: "We are reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad."

Not that Copilot is going away. "You will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows, focusing on experiences that are genuinely useful and well‑crafted," Davuluri said.

This implies that, up to now, the changes have not been intentional. So spraying Windows with the assistant, regardless of how users felt about it, was somehow an accident?

Windows 11 has become a bit of a car crash in the last few years - borked update after borked update. Rather than fixing problems, Microsoft instead focused on adding AI to Notepad and Paint. Users cried out for the return of seemingly minor functionality, such as the ability to move the taskbar, but Microsoft instead offered widgets and more Copilot.

Citing national security fears, America is effectively banning any new consumer-grade network routers made abroad.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has updated its Covered List to include all foreign-made consumer routers, prohibiting the approval of any new models.

For clarification, the FCC says this change does not prevent the import, sale, or use of any existing models that the agency previously authorized.

That Covered List details equipment and services covered by Section 2 of The Secure Networks Act, which, by their inclusion, are deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to US national security.

According to the FCC, this move follows a determination by a "White House-convened Executive Branch interagency body with appropriate national security expertise," in line with President Trump's National Security Strategy that the US must not be dependent on any other country for core components necessary to the nation's defense or economy.

Its determination was that foreign-produced routers introduce a supply chain vulnerability which could disrupt critical infrastructure and national defense, and pose a severe cybersecurity risk that could harm Americans.

TurboQuant looks like a pretty massive deal for running local models efficiently. The core issue they are tackling is the memory bottleneck caused by the key value cache during generation. When you are doing long context inference storing all those high dimensional vectors eats up VRAM extremely fast. Traditional vector quantization helps but usually introduces memory overhead because you have to store scaling factors or constants in full precision for every small block of data. That overhead can easily add an extra bit or two per parameter which ruins the compression targets people are aiming for.

TurboQuant solves the problem by combining two clever mathematical tricks to eliminate that overhead entirely and get the cache down to 3 bits without losing accuracy. The first part is an algorithm called PolarQuant. Instead of looking at the vectors in standard cartesian coordinates it converts them into polar coordinates. This basically separates the magnitude from the direction. Because the angles map onto a fixed predictable circular grid the model no longer needs to store those dynamic bounding boxes or normalization constants that traditional methods require. That step handles the bulk of the compression to capture the main signal of the vector.

The second piece of the puzzle is where they use something called Quantized Johnson Lindenstrauss or QJL to clean up the residual error left over from the first step. QJL uses a mathematical transform to shrink that leftover error down to just a single sign bit of positive or negative one while preserving the relative distances between the data points. This acts as a mathematical error checker that fixes any bias in the attention scores. Because it only uses one bit and preserves the geometry of the space the attention mechanism can still calculate accurate logits without needing full precision data.

They tested this on open weights models like Gemma and Mistral across heavy needle in a haystack and LongBench tasks. They managed to compress the KV cache down to 3 bits with literally zero drop in accuracy and they did not even need to do any fine tuning or calibration. On top of saving a massive amount of VRAM the 4 bit version actually speeds up attention logit computation by up to 8x on H100 GPUs compared to standard 32 bit floats. This seems like a massive leap forward for anyone trying to run long context models on constrained hardware or scale up huge vector search databases.

A New Mexico jury on Tuesday ordered Meta to pay $375m in civil penalties after it found the company misled consumers about the safety of its platforms and enabled harm, including child sexual exploitation, against its users.

This is the first jury trial to find Meta liable for acts committed on its platform.

“The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety,” said New Mexico’s attorney general, Raúl Torrez.

“Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew. Today the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough.”

The lawsuit was brought by Torrez’s office in December 2023. The lawsuit followed a two-year Guardian investigation published in April of that year revealing how Facebook and Instagram had become marketplaces for child sex trafficking. That investigation was cited several times in the complaint.

The jury ordered Meta to pay the maximum penalty under the law of $5,000 per violation, totaling $375m in civil penalties for violating New Mexico’s consumer protection laws. The jury found Meta liable for both claims brought by the state of New Mexico under the Unfair Practices Act.

I'm old enough that digital cameras only came out about the time I was legal to drink. Photos were a way to capture vacation moments, not food styling with a conspicuous bite missing. I rarely even take photos anymore, despite having been heavily into photography in college, to the extent that I developed my own Tri-X in the newsroom darkroom and going E-6 Velvia 50 when I wanted to do landscapes in colour. I bought film in bulk and had one of those machines that spooled film into canisters, which worked out in my favour, as Ivy Seright charged the same for processing a 36-shot roll even if I'd squeezed 40 into the canister.

All of which is to say: What the fuck problem is MS solving?

Microsoft is rolling out technology to transform OneDrive photos into AI-infused masterpieces. Or top up the bucket of slop, depending on your perspective.

The feature, called AI Restyle, allows users to apply a range of styles to photos in OneDrive. Where users might once have been happy with contrast tweaks or lighting adjustments, Microsoft has gone further by adding the ability to create a new version of a photo using either a preset or a prompt.

Reckon your family photos would look better in anime style? Microsoft's OneDrive can now make your dreams come true.

The ability to "Ghibli-fy" images with AI is not new. However, the functionality turning up in OneDrive - which means users can skip third-party services - is.

Microsoft is rolling the feature out to iOS and Android versions of the OneDrive application, and the web for users with a Microsoft 365 subscription. We asked the company whether processing is on-device or in Microsoft's cloud, but it has yet to respond.

If processing takes place in the cloud, users will need to consider where their data is going. Then again, if you're using OneDrive, that ship has already sailed.

Finding a NEMA 1-15 power cord is like spotting that one relative who refuses to retire because they are actually the only person who knows how the family business runs. The two-prong, ungrounded devices that people consider outdated from garage sales are actually essential components of modern technology.

The NEMA 1-15 power cable becomes the most important item in the room when people discover their specialized devices cannot recharge without it. It is frankly hilarious how much we obsess over liquid cooling and fiber optics while our daily sanity relies on a design that has barely changed since the dawn of the lightbulb.

Survival of the fittest usually applies to the jungle, but in the hardware world, it applies to whatever fits into a wall socket without blowing the fuse. The NEMA 1-15 cable has stood the test of time because it cuts the nonsense and delivers power to low-draw devices without asking for a trophy.

Basics of NEMA 1-15 Power Cords

NEMA 1-15 power cords lack clear identification, making it difficult for users to determine the cause of a server failure at 3 AM that occurred without a visible reason. This standard refers to the two-prong electrical connector, which remains the industry standard.

It handles 125 volts and 15 amps without requiring an additional third grounding pin because the connected equipment is double-insulated. You will find this NEMA 1-15 cable powering everything from your essential networking switches to that ancient printer that still somehow works.

These cords are the lean, mean, ungrounded machines of the cable world. They remove excess bulk while keeping your equipment running smoothly. Using a reliable NEMA 1-15 power cable shows that sometimes the simplest tool in the shed is actually the smartest.

Safety and Quality Considerations

Selecting the right NEMA 1-15 power cord is about more than basic compatibility; safety standards and build quality are critical to protecting both equipment and the environment.

Safety of NEMA 1-15 power cords with compatible devices

People can safely use a NEMA 1-15 power cord when connecting hardware that does not require a ground connection. The cables conduct electrical power while maintaining structural integrity, meeting their operational load requirements. People need to match the voltage because basic physics explains the process and does not require advanced knowledge of rocket science.

Essential safety certifications like UL and CSA

Only a glutton for punishment would buy a NEMA 1-15 cable without UL or CSA certification. These certifications prove the copper inside isn't just repurposed coat hangers. Look for the labels or enjoy the smell of ozone when things inevitably go south.

Risks of low-quality or uncertified power cords

Cheap, uncertified junk is a fire hazard waiting for an invite to the party. A bargain NEMA 1-15 power cable might save a few pennies today, but costs a fortune when the server room turns into a bonfire. Do not let a pathetic cable be the weak link in a million-dollar network.

Maintenance Tips
Replace the NEMA 1-15 power cord as soon as the outer jacket shows cracks or loose internal wires begin to protrude.
Watch for scorched plastic or localized heat near the prongs, because a melting NEMA 1-15 cable is just a house fire in training.
Bent or loose blades are a one-way ticket to electrical arcing, so replace the cord before it welds itself to your expensive equipment.
Stop wrapping cables around your arm like a garden hose; use the "over-under" technique to prevent internal copper fatigue that kills a NEMA 1-15 power cable from the inside.
Keep your cords away from high-traffic floor zones where office chairs can crush them, because a flattened cable is a dead cable.
Final Thoughts

The NEMA 1-15 power cord remains a vital connection method for high-performance equipment, eliminating the need for cumbersome equipment.

The NEMA 1-15 power cable delivers essential power through its basic design, ensuring the operation of high-performance systems. Your equipment remains safe from electrical hazards when you choose a high-quality NEMA 1-15 power cable, which helps protect against electrical fires.

Your safety and convenience remain essential when protecting your valuable gaming system or server rack. It is high time to stop treating power delivery like an afterthought. Pick up a reliable NEMA 1-15 cable from SF Cable and give your devices the stable connection they actually deserve.

Original Blog :- sfcable.com/blog/why-nema-1-15…

A patent granted to Google on January 27, 2026 titled “AI-generated content page tailored to a specific user” describes a system that evaluates your company’s landing page in real time and, if it decides the page won’t perform well enough for a specific user, replaces it with an AI-generated version assembled on the fly. The user never sees what your team built, they see what Google's machine learning model thinks they should see instead.

This isn’t a feature announcement, it’s a patent, meaning Google has legally protected the ability to do this. Whether and when they deploy it is a separate question, but the direction is unmistakable – your website may soon be optional.

The system described in the patent is more sophisticated than a simple redirect. When a user submits a query, Google generates a standard search result page. But simultaneously, the system scores the most relevant landing page using signals like conversion rate, bounce rate, click-through rate, and design quality. If that score falls below a threshold – or if the page simply lacks the desired content – search results maybe be updated to include a navigation link to an AI-generated alternative.

That alternative page isn’t a cached copy of your site. It’s a dynamically assembled page built from the user’s current query, their search history, their account context, and whatever Google can extract from your original page. The patent describes possible elements including personalized headlines, suggested product filters, a product feed, sitelinks to product detail pages, and even an embedded AI chatbot. In other words, a complete brand experience built by Google. Not you.

On the plus side, this kills the SEO market.

cross-posted from: lemmygrad.ml/post/11107752

Archive broken: archive.ph/wip/rDQM4

China is a resource-rich country. The vast land contains many rare resources that many countries in the world desire. However, China is a helium-poor country. More than 95% of helium depends on imports, which is too large.

Moreover, most of the helium comes from the United States, which has been in constant friction with China. In the face of increasing demand for helium, this has become another "stuck neck" problem in China.

But why is the mere helium gas stuck by the United States? How does China solve the problem of scarcity of helium resources? How to solve the stuck neck problem in other fields?

What is helium?

Helium is a colorless and odorless inert gas. It ranks first among the rare gases in the periodic table. Most of it was formed during the Big Bang period. In the entire universe, helium accounts for 23% of its mass, ranking it in the entire universe. The second element.

Under normal conditions, helium does not react with other substances, and even if it is put together with water, it is difficult to dissolve in it. At 20°C, only 8.61 milliliters of helium can be dissolved per liter of water.

It is precisely because of its inactive chemical properties that helium is often used as an anti-corrosion material. Among all the elements, helium has the lowest boiling point, only 4.22K, so it often exists as a gas.

To make helium liquid or solid, not only need to change its temperature, but also pressurize it. The most amazing thing is that when the temperature of liquid helium is lower than -271°C, its properties will change and become a superfluid.

The thermal conductivity of helium in superfluid is extremely high, 800 times that of copper, and it can penetrate many common materials, such as glass and rubber.

Moreover, the density of helium is very small, the mass is far lighter than air, and it is not flammable. Therefore, helium has become one of the necessities of many high-tech industries.

Uses of helium

Helium is present in many common items, such as hydrogen balloons, thermometers, light bulbs, neon lights and other items. Someone asked if the hydrogen balloon was not lifted off by hydrogen? What is helium?

In fact, because hydrogen is flammable and explosive, there is a great safety hazard. Therefore, China has banned hydrogen filling balloons from a long time ago and replaced it with non-flammable helium.

But because everyone is accustomed to calling it a hydrogen balloon, it is not changed to a helium balloon. Helium is also well known by many diving enthusiasts. Because helium will be mixed with oxygen and then injected into the cylinder for divers to use when breathing underwater.

This can reduce the diver's breathing resistance, eliminate nitrogen anesthesia, extend the diver's time under water, and prevent the diver from suffering from decompression sickness.

Helium in gas form is also widely used in the medical industry, often used to treat asthma and wheezing, and argon helium knife can also be used to treat cancer. Helium in its liquid form has more industrial uses and can be used as a coolant and refrigerant.

Helium in superfluid form can be used to make superconducting materials. In addition, nuclear reactors, space accelerators, metal smelting and other industries have its presence everywhere.

Why was the neck stuck by the United States?

Helium is also called "golden gas" and is an indispensable role in the aerospace industry, semiconductor manufacturing, low-temperature superconducting industry and other fields. As the application range of helium becomes wider and wider, the demand is also very large.

Although the content of helium in the universe ranks second, the amount of helium stored on land is not that much. In addition, helium has a very wide range of uses, but its natural generation rate is very slow, and it is easy to escape. Scattered in the air, so helium resources are increasingly scarce.

At present, there are about 51.9 billion cubic meters of helium resources on the earth. The United States' helium reserves account for 40% of the global helium reserves, ranking first in the world. Russia's helium reserves account for 8% of the global helium reserves, but China's helium reserves only account for 2%.

China consumes more than 22 million cubic meters of helium per year, so the vast majority of helium is imported. Although the United States has a lot of helium reserves, they began to formulate laws related to helium resources as early as 1917, and set up a federal helium project.

At the same time, the relevant systems are constantly revised and improved to ensure the effective control of helium resources. Although the United States has become the world's largest exporter of helium, their control of helium is still very strict, and even included helium in one of the crisis mines in 2018.

In 2020, the import price of helium is US$82,200 per ton, an annual increase of 44%. China is a major helium-consuming country and a major helium-poor country, with an annual demand of 22 million cubic meters.

However, because the helium reserves are too low, 95% of the helium comes from imports. What is even more worrying is that with the continuous increase in demand, the amount of helium imports is also increasing year by year.

Some people say that although the United States has the largest helium reserves in the world, other countries also have helium, and we can import it from other countries. The United States has a large amount of helium gas is entirely a geographical advantage. They are in a more stable regional plate, so a large amount of helium gas is sealed.

Coupled with their development and storage capabilities, they have become the largest exporter of helium. At present, only the United States, Qatar, Russia and other countries are exporting helium.

Qatar, a country originally located in the Middle East region, has been high hopes by many people, but although Qatar has a certain amount of helium reserves, the key gas production technology is still controlled by the United States.

Moreover, the price is affected by factors such as war and technical conditions. The price of helium in Qatar is also higher than that of the United States. As a result, China's helium imports are still mainly dependent on the United States.

As a scarce resource, once the import of helium is completely stopped, it will have a shocking impact on all walks of life in China. Therefore, it is urgent to solve the problem of shortage of helium resources. How can China solve this problem?

How to deal with the problem of excessive dependence on helium?

13% are from Australia, 26% are from the United States, and 61% are from Qatar. However, Qatar's import price is higher than that of the United States, and Qatar's technology relies on the United States, so the situation of China's helium imports remains severe.

Helium is also present in China, most of which are in China's central and western basins, the eastern part of the basin, and some hot springs. However, the helium content in China's helium gas fields is very low, so the annual helium output is far from enough for use.

In order to achieve "helium freedom", China is also trying to produce helium from multiple sources. Some people say that helium will escape into the air? It's better to "pull" it out of the air. But extracting helium is not that simple.

The content of helium in the air is pitiful. It may capture half of the city's air and not extract the amount of a brick, so this idea is obviously unrealistic. But helium is also present in natural gas, so China uses a variety of methods to extract helium.

For example, methods such as "air separation method", "helium liquid method", and "low temperature liquefaction split", although the purity of helium extracted by the first two extraction methods is as high as 99.99%, the process is cumbersome and the cost is extremely high, so the most commonly used method is "Low-temperature liquefaction split flow method".

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Extract helium from natural gas. The premise of using this method to extract natural gas is that the helium content of natural gas must be above 0.5%. Secondly, various processes are required to repeat liquefaction and splitting to "filter" the helium from the natural gas little by little. Of pure helium.

In 2020, a Chinese company used an innovative "flash steam extraction method" to extract helium from natural gas waste, and it was a great success. More importantly, the helium extraction device is also independently developed and produced in China.

The “BOG (Flash Gas) Helium Extraction Device Demonstration” launched by China in Ningxia earlier can produce 40 liters of liquid helium per hour. Although the annual output is only 20 tons, which is far less than China's demand, its emergence proves that we can Do not rely absolutely on imports to avoid being constrained by others.

At present, there are about 30 factories in China that have the basic conditions for helium extraction. If this technology is promoted and implemented, China's annual production of helium can reach 3 million cubic meters, and the degree of dependence on helium imports will be reduced. China is stuck. The problem will also be effectively solved.

There is a story circulating on the Internet: If a hundred years later, if scientists knew that helium gas was used by us to inflate the ball, they would not know what it would be like to feel distressed. As one of the increasingly scarce resources, saving the use of helium is also an issue that we need to pay attention to.

Such as reducing unnecessary waste, or replacing helium with other elements. In terms of industry, increase the recovery and utilization of helium to ensure the maximum use value of helium resources.

In terms of medical treatment, Philips has recently developed a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument without liquid helium to optimize the use of liquid helium and effectively reduce the waste caused by escape during use. In addition to imported helium gas, China still has problems with choking in many fields. How to solve these problems?

How does China tackle the "stuck neck problem"?

We selected the remaining 3146 intermediate goods and capital goods that are highly related to the manufacturing industry for category research in the trade product categories with the international 6-digit code. Based on the estimation of China's dependence on each imported product (estimated by the value of each product's trade imports and the product's market share in the major exporting countries), a total of 88 imported products that China is highly dependent on (median dependent Degree level is 78.9%). These 88 products are distributed in the mid-to-high-end value chain.

In order to break the deadlock, China has solved the problem in a variety of ways. On the one hand, increase financial support to provide financial guarantee for the card neck technology. Efforts are made from financial allocations, financial institutions and social organizations to ensure long-term stability of project research.

On the other hand, optimize the layout of scientific research, "listen" the card neck technology, and make the card neck problem the top priority of research and development to ensure that there are no dead ends in scientific research. The other is to cultivate a good scientific research ecological environment, establish a good incentive mechanism, and encourage scientific researchers to do their research work.

China itself has the world's largest data circle, huge human capital, and market advantages. Although it still fails to break the monopoly barriers in some high-end and sophisticated industries, it is believed that in the near future, we will continue to overcome various stuck neck problems.

In conclusion

The importance of helium resources is self-evident, and the shortage of helium resources is still a major problem for China. How not to be "stuck" by the United States to find ways to adjust the import ratio structure, how to save helium and other methods are only superficial methods.

At its root, we must have a way to completely eliminate helium resources in order not to be controlled by others. As early as a few years ago, the country put forward the problem of tackling the neck, which shows that we have paid attention to the problem of the neck.

After several years of rapid development, the problem has been gradually solved. I believe that in the near future, we will show the true Chinese technology with firm determination and tenacious will, and use the "Chinese intelligent manufacturing" to deliver the best to the world. Beautiful answer sheet.

Wikipedia banned eight volunteer editors from making changes to articles on the Arab-Israeli conflict, following a ruling on Thursday by the online encyclopedia’s Arbitration Committee.

In June, Wikipedia editors targeted the Anti-Defamation League, declaring it an “unreliable source” whose data could not be relied upon when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

When Wikipedia first announced disciplinary action against the Wikipedia editors, the ADL issued a press release praising the decision “in the wake of a massive effort by anti-Israel editors to spread misinformation and hate across the platform.”

ADL listed all but one of the banned anti-Israel editors. It named “Iskandar323,” “Selfstudier,” “Nableezy,” “Levivich” and “Nishidani” as “being part of a bad-faith campaign in an attempt t o undermine the credibility of ADL.”