YC Startup News Today

The newly published RFC 10015 officially deprecates RSA and finite field Diffie-Hellman key exchange methods for TLS 1.2 and DTLS 1.2 connections. The update also discourages the use of static Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman cipher suites to further strengthen protocol security. These cryptographic changes apply exclusively to version 1.2, as older protocol versions are already deprecated and TLS 1.3 does not utilize these algorithms.

A recent article explores four distinct time scales involved in the development and deployment of emerging technologies. Readers have noted that this framework closely parallels NASA's Technology Readiness Level, which measures technology maturity across various adoption phases.

Researcher Nozomi Asaoka is leading a new study aimed at unraveling the complex mysteries of habit formation. By investigating the underlying mechanisms of how daily routines develop, this research offers valuable insights for behavioral science. The findings could ultimately help developers create better health and productivity technologies.

A recent study by MIT Sloan researchers indicates that large language models provide surprisingly effective financial advice and encourage smart money habits when users ask the right questions. However, the study also highlights that these AI systems still struggle to offer nuanced guidance on the more subtle complexities of saving and investing.

Leonardo de Moura, creator of the Lean theorem prover and Z3 SMT solver, released a postmortem detailing the root causes and resolution of Kernel Soundness Bug 14576. The analysis provides critical insights into maintaining the integrity of formal verification systems and preventing similar vulnerabilities in future kernel updates.

AI infrastructure startup Morph, a YC S23 company, is hiring a Member of Technical Staff to optimize its inference stack for open models. The performance engineer will work directly with founders to improve system speed, cost-efficiency, and reliability by optimizing everything from individual GPU kernels to distributed execution. Ideal candidates will possess deep expertise in GPU performance and complex production systems to help scale frontier-level model serving.

Tech enthusiasts reflect on the legacy of HP graphing calculators, praising their physical buttons and specialized math capabilities while noting that smartphones and laptops have largely replaced them. Although the prospect of running Linux on a calculator is an amusing novelty, users agree that modern alternatives have rendered these dedicated devices mostly obsolete for everyday use.

A recent bug in the COLDCARD hardware wallet was traced to a flaw where the random.bytes() function executed without throwing errors but failed to produce secure randomness. The specifics of this silent failure were detailed in a revealing commit message, highlighting the hidden dangers of unverified execution in cryptographic code.

The article explores the rigorous discipline of 64-bit assembly programming, emphasizing the need for a deep, foundational understanding of hardware. It highlights that working at this low level leaves developers with no high-level abstractions, shortcuts, or runtime environments to hide behind when debugging.

A 2023 analysis examines how Google's strategic decisions, including the discontinuation of Google Reader and the push toward algorithmic feeds, significantly accelerated the decline of RSS adoption. By prioritizing proprietary, walled-garden platforms over open web standards, the tech giant fundamentally shifted user behavior away from decentralized content syndication.

CostPerPrompt offers live API pricing and real-world cost calculators for over 232 AI models, including GPT, Claude, and Gemini. The platform enables developers to accurately estimate and forecast expenses for chatbots, API budgets, and token usage across rapidly changing generative AI workloads.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has issued a new alert regarding threat actors targeting Programmable Logic Controllers in the water and wastewater sectors. This advisory highlights the ongoing cyber threats faced by critical infrastructure systems. The accompanying report also includes current internet exposure data for each affected vendor, as observed by Censys.

Accelerated by Western technology export restrictions, China has begun manufacturing its own advanced deep-ultraviolet lithography machines to secure its domestic semiconductor supply chain. While the nation still trails behind in extreme ultraviolet technology, observers note that massive state funding and long-term strategic planning are rapidly closing the existing technological gaps. Ultimately, commentators suggest these sanctions have only hastened Beijing's inevitable push toward complete technological independence.

While developing a quantum compiler named Catalyst, a software team accidentally created an LLVM compiler for the Jax machine learning framework. This unexpected tool emerged as a byproduct of extensive problem-solving and provides a novel way to optimize Jax programs.

Users of the popular command-line search tool ripgrep have reported occasional segmentation faults when executing exceptionally large directory searches using musl binaries. These crashes disrupt the tool's recursive regex functionality during heavy workloads. The issue is currently being tracked on the project's GitHub repository as developers investigate a fix.

Readers discussing Lewis Carroll's nyctography substitution cipher question its practicality for writing in the dark, noting that standard handwriting works just as well. The conversation shifts to nostalgic anecdotes about childhood attempts to learn fictional alphabets, such as Tolkien's runes, which are often forgotten over time. Ultimately, commenters reflect on DIY cryptography projects like cardboard cipher disks, concluding that creating these secret codes is far more enjoyable than actually using them.

Prompted by the topic of NetBSD 11.0, readers discuss the ongoing vitality of the broader BSD family, highlighting NetBSD's unmatched hardware portability, FreeBSD's massive scale in enterprise content delivery, and OpenBSD's strong reputation for security. The community emphasizes that despite their niche status compared to Linux, BSD operating systems remain actively developed, highly reliable, and critical to diverse specialized computing environments.

Serious Eats contributor Kenji has published a new recipe demonstrating how to use a pressure cooker to make authentic Vietnamese pho ga in just 30 minutes. By leveraging the appliance's high-pressure capabilities, home cooks can achieve a rich, aromatic broth and tender chicken in a fraction of the traditional simmering time.

Alex Davies highlights the critical but often overlooked world of test engineering in his new book, Kobuk the Destroyer. The book offers an engaging exploration of the unsung professionals who rigorously test and ensure the reliability of the technology we use every day.

Explorative modeling is a machine learning technique designed to improve AI performance by generating multiple candidate outputs and training the system on the best one. By evaluating a set of K guesses and learning from the most accurate result, this method aims to significantly enhance model accuracy and training efficiency.