Saturday, August 22, 2026

GeoNames: free geo db download

 GeoNames

The GeoNames geographical database covers all countries and contains over eleven million placenames that are available for download free of charge.


The GeoNames geographical database is available for download free of charge under a creative commons attribution license. It contains over 25 million geographical names and consists of over 12 million unique features whereof 4.8 million populated places and 16 million alternate names. All features are categorized into one out of nine feature classes and further subcategorized into one out of 645 feature codes. (more statistics ...).
The data is accessible free of charge through a number of webservices and a daily database export.

On geonames.org itself, that's the "Free Gazetteer Data" link on the Download page

https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/



Express.js => Fiber.go

 From Express to Fiber: A Translation Guide | Fiber

Fiber's API was inspired by Express, and it shows: routes look the same, parameters use the same :name syntax, middleware chains work the way you expect. If you know Express, you already know most of Fiber - you just do not know the spelling yet.

// Express
const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.send('Hello, World!');
});

app.listen(3000);
// Fiber v3
package main

import "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v3"

func main() {
app := fiber.New()

app.Get("/", func(c fiber.Ctx) error {
return c.SendString("Hello, World!")
})

app.Listen(":3000")
}


Friday, August 21, 2026

Web SRI: Subresource Integrity

best security practice for web apps 

Subresource Integrity - Security | MDN

Subresource Integrity (SRI) is a security feature that enables browsers to verify that resources they fetch (for example, from a CDN) are delivered without unexpected manipulation. It works by allowing you to provide a cryptographic hash that a fetched resource must match.

<script src="https://cdn.example.com/script.js" integrity=" sha384-Tk2Yjg3YmYzMWNkZTdhMTFkM2FlNDg4ZjE3MzEzNTk3ZDlh sha384-DEzZmZhMGFkMGQ0OTQ3MzZkNGY0OTg4NGIwN2ZiMMTM3YmQ sha512-ZmQ5NjNiYWJjYTM3MjRhMGI4MTQzNWRmZTZkZGYyMzQyOGYYTZkYjBm sha512-OGUwYThkZDc2YzFlZGI5MDEzZmZhMGFkMGQ0OTQ3MzZkNGYZTEzODk2" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>


Thursday, August 20, 2026

NodeBook: book about node.js

 NodeBook - A Serious Node.js Book, Free Online | NodeBook

Learn how Node.js works, from the runtime and event loop to networking, data, security, production, and architecture. Every published chapter is available to read for free.


Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Color Wheels: RGV vs CMY

 Advanced Color Theory: Color Wheels, Impossible Colors, & the Primary Color Debate






RGB Color Wheel / RGB|CMY Color Wheel. Digital Color Wheel Primer - Additive Color Introduction for Artists, Designers, Teachers and Students | Petronio Bendito - RGB|CMY DIGITAL COLOR WHEEL





Alpha School, AI tutor powered

Top Principal: Stop Sending Your Kids to School | Joe Liemandt - YouTube
The Knowledge Project Podcast

Summary

In this episode of The Knowledge Project Podcast, host Shane Parrish interviews Joe Liemandt, the founder of Alpha School and former tech entrepreneur (founder of Trilogy). After walking away from his billion-dollar software empire, Liemandt has spent the last decade redesigning K-12 education from the ground up.

The core thesis of Alpha School is that traditional schooling wastes roughly 90% of a student's time. By leveraging personalized AI tutors, students can master standard curriculum material in just two hours a day. This frees up the remaining school hours to focus on high standards, motivation, life skills, and habit engineering.


Key Points

  • The 2-Hour Academic Day: Alpha School operates on the belief that core academic subjects (like math and reading) can be completely crushed in just two hours a day when utilizing highly adaptive, personalized AI tutors instead of traditional lectures.

  • AI Tutors vs. Guides: The educational model replaces traditional "teachers" with "guides." AI handles the hard instruction, adapting dynamically to what a child knows, doesn't know, and enjoys. Meanwhile, human guides focus on coaching, motivation, and character development.

  • The Motivation Problem: Liemandt argues that the primary issue with modern schooling isn't the technology or curriculum, but motivation. He believes children actually thrive under, and secretly desire, high standards.

  • The "Time Audit" Reality Check: To combat screen addiction and poor habits, middle schoolers participate in a week-long audit where they track every hour of their lives. They then contrast their actual time allocation with the person they claim they want to become, teaching self-regulation and grit.

  • The Private School Illusion: Liemandt highlights a silent crisis in elite private schools, claiming that many "A students" are actually three to seven grade levels behind in true mastery due to inflated grading and lack of strict pacing.


Key Data & Evidence Points

  • Top 1% Performance: Despite only spending two hours a day on academic subjects, Alpha School students score in the top 1% nationally.

  • Elite Credentials: The school's model has successfully produced perfect SAT scores, Ivy League acceptances, and scientific research papers submitted to Nature before students even graduate high school.

  • Financial Commitment: Joe Liemandt has committed over $1 billion of his own money to scale and roll out this educational model.

  • Trilogy Software Heritage: Before transitioning to education, Liemandt built Trilogy into a billion-dollar software company.



Tuesday, August 18, 2026

DeFlock: Crowdsourced ALPR surveillance map

DeFlock Maps | ALPR Camera Map & Privacy Routes

Crowdsourced ALPR surveillance map. Data from DeFlock & OSM contributors.




visualization: Cytoscape.js

 Cytoscape.js

Graph theory (network) library for visualisation and analysis



Monday, August 17, 2026

Safe Nuclear?: Valar Atomics, industrial manufacturing

The New Atomic Age | Valar Atomics



How Nuclear Will Unlock Energy Abundance with Valar Atomics Founder Isaiah Taylor - YouTube
No Priors: AI, Machine Learning, Tech, & Startups

The video features Sarah Guo interviewing Isaiah Taylor, the founder and CEO of Valar Atomics, at their nuclear facility in Utah. Unlike traditional companies in the nuclear industry that rely heavily on paper designs and simulations, Valar Atomics focuses on hardware iteration and rapid deployment. The company recently achieved a milestone by powering an NVIDIA Blackwell chip directly with a live nuclear reactor to launch the world's first nuclear-powered website. The discussion highlights how Valar is leveraging unique regulatory pathways and vertical integration to deliver cheap, abundant atomic energy to meet the massive power demands of modern technology and AI.


Key Points

  • Practical Hardware Iteration: Valar Atomics distinguishes itself by actively building and running physical hardware rather than getting stuck in the theoretical or simulation phase of reactor design.

  • The NVIDIA Blackwell Milestone: To demonstrate immediate capability, Valar successfully used a live nuclear reactor to directly power an NVIDIA Blackwell chip, establishing the first-ever nuclear-powered website.

  • Regulatory Workaround: Isaiah Taylor explains how Valar utilized a lesser-known pathway through the Department of Energy (DOE)—revived by a Trump administration executive order—to successfully develop and operate their advanced reactor, bypassing traditional decades-long stalling points.

  • AI Driving Energy Demand: The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence requires massive amounts of power. Valar positions nuclear energy as the primary solution to meet the grid demands of AI data centers.

  • Vertical Integration & Venture Funding: Valar employs a venture-backed financing model and a highly verticalized approach to manufacturing and scaling, which allows them to move faster than traditional government-backed nuclear projects.

  • Vision of Energy Abundance: The ultimate goal of Valar Atomics is "hyper-techno industrialism"—using cheap, abundant atomic energy to fundamentally upgrade human infrastructure and quality of life.



No Nuclear Startup Has Ever Done This, Until Now | Valar Atomics - YouTube

Here is the summary and key points for Episode 74 of S3 (Science, Startups, & Stories) featuring Valar Atomics:

Summary

This episode follows the rapid timeline of Valar Atomics, a startup that achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first startup in history to successfully build and generate power from a critical nuclear reactor—taking the project from an initial idea on an Apple Note to operational reality in just three years. To meet a strict self-imposed deadline of July 4th, the team completely built the reactor, airlifted it across the country using three military C-17 cargo planes, reassembled it, and successfully brought the core to criticality to generate electricity.


Key Points

  • The "Toyota Camry" Philosophy: Unlike other advanced nuclear startups chasing exotic chemistry or unproven cutting-edge designs, Valar purposefully uses a High-Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) architecture. It relies on a simple, historically proven design—graphite blocks, helium cooling, and TRISO fuel pellets—built for boring predictability and mass-manufacturing scale rather than "high science."

  • The 3-Year Operational Sprint: Founder Isaiah Taylor managed to scale the company from a mere concept pitch to a physically functioning, electricity-generating nuclear reactor in an unprecedented three-year window.

  • Logistical Feat: To achieve their target launch, the company packed up their nuclear reactor infrastructure, airlifted it across the United States via three C-17 transport aircraft, and reassembled it on-site to successfully hit their deadline.

  • Focus on Cost and Speed over Complexity: Chief Nuclear Officer Mark Mitchell emphasizes that the company bypasses the traditional, decades-long "one-shot" engineering approach of the legacy nuclear industry. Instead, they focus on building plain, iterable hardware so they can learn, iterate rapidly, and drive the cost of clean electricity down as fast as possible.