Microsoft open sources DOS as DeepSeek cuts AI prices

Microsoft has open-sourced the earliest discovered DOS source code, which dates back to the original 86-DOS system. This historic release provides a rare look at the foundational operating system code from the era before Microsoft acquired it.

DeepSeek Reasonix is a new open-source AI coding agent designed for use across terminals, browsers, and compatible editors. By leveraging DeepSeek's byte-stable prefix cache, the tool maintains over a 90% cache hit rate during long sessions and reduces input-token costs to one fifth. The MIT-licensed project is distributed as a single Go binary, ensuring easy installation and seamless accessibility across desktop and web platforms.

Artist Doug MacDowell spent 50 hours meticulously hand-drawing a line graph using vintage drafting techniques. Instead of relying on modern digital software, he utilized traditional analog tools like rulers, ink, and manual lettering equipment. The project highlights the intricate craftsmanship involved in creating data visualizations by hand.

Scammers are exploiting a loophole to send spam links from a trusted internal Microsoft email address normally used for official account alerts. This vulnerability makes the phishing emails appear highly legitimate, significantly increasing the risk of users falling for the deceptive campaigns.

AudioMass is a free, open-source multitrack audio editor that brings full-featured waveform editing capabilities directly to the web browser. This tool offers users a powerful, download-free alternative to traditional desktop audio software.

Migrating from Go to Rust is considered a unique transition because it is not primarily driven by basic speed or static typing. Since Go already provides strong performance and type safety, teams adopting Rust are mainly motivated by its stricter correctness guarantees. This shift ultimately highlights a growing developer focus on runtime safety and absolute code reliability.

According to an analysis by Epoch AI, high-bandwidth memory now accounts for nearly two-thirds of AI chip component costs, up from 52 percent in the first quarter of 2024. This sharp increase highlights a major shift in AI hardware economics, making memory the most expensive component for major chip designers.

A recent study highlights the fragility of large language model agents in backend code generation by identifying a phenomenon termed constraint decay, where AI systems progressively forget or fail to adhere to initial instructions. This issue causes significant errors in longer code sequences, underscoring the critical need for improved methods to help models maintain strict operational constraints throughout complex programming tasks.

OpenAI co-founder and President Greg Brockman discusses the competitive AI race and the future of artificial general intelligence in a rare new interview. He also shares the inside story of the company's origins, reflecting on the pivotal moments that built the organization and the early challenges it faced along the way.

A recent technical deep dive explores the unique font used in the Commodore 64 Dead Test diagnostic cartridge. The article uncovers a hidden Easter egg and examines the technical implementation behind the characters. Additionally, it provides downloadable Commodore 8-bit character ROMs for retro computing enthusiasts to use in their own projects.

Despite a deep appreciation for the Scheme programming language, a developer shares their ongoing struggle to successfully learn and remember its core concepts. The author highlights the irony of this difficulty, as they named their blog after the iconic Scheme textbook, using this post as a candid public admission of their inability to make the language stick.

Alexander Grothendieck revolutionized 20th century mathematics and is celebrated for his unconventional life, though he remains largely unknown outside academic circles. This piece explores the specific mathematical contributions that secured his legendary status within the field.

A recent tutorial outlines how to enable HTTP/2 cleartext in API servers using Go 1.24 and newer. This setup is especially useful for Cloud Run environments, enabling developers to leverage HTTP/2 capabilities while the platform manages TLS termination.

This personal essay recounts a parent's emotional morning routine of preparing their son, Judson, for what is ominously described as his last ride. The author shares the profound dread they have felt for over a decade as they wake, bathe, and secure their child in a safety harness for the journey.

A newly discovered exploit uses invisible text and Unicode tricks in legal contracts to manipulate large language models into providing incorrect advice to human reviewers. Although the attack targets AI systems rather than the humans signing the documents, legal experts warn it could constitute fraudulent misrepresentation, prompting discussions on mitigating the vulnerability using the Rust programming language.

An Amazon Web Services employee is expressing relief after being let go from the company, concluding a four-year tenure marked by frustration over recent organizational shifts. The departure follows the staffer's growing dissatisfaction with the company's accelerated pivot to generative AI, which they felt negatively impacted their work with open source communities.

Usborne Publishing is reviving its classic 1980s computer books to introduce a new generation of children to the fundamentals of coding. These updated educational guides aim to make programming accessible to modern kids while retaining the nostalgic appeal of the original manuals.

ClickHouse has released Silk, an open-source cooperative fiber scheduler designed to optimize high-performance computing tasks. It features fast stackful fibers and utilizes a NUMA-aware work-stealing scheduler to efficiently distribute workloads across multi-core systems.

Ruby for Good is a four-day, all-inclusive event running from August 27th to 30th that brings developers together to make the world a better place. Registration covers shared lodging and all meals while providing attendees with extensive networking opportunities and social activities.

DeepSeek announced it will permanently reduce the price of its flagship V4-Pro AI model by 75%. As a result, developers will continue to pay just a quarter of the original cost to access the technology.