Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 2d

Want to save BIG money on Big Data?

It all starts with understanding Hashes! My new blog post breaks down the fundamental concept of hash functions—the secret sauce that lets you trade accuracy for resource.

Dive into Part 1 of this technical series:

How to Save Money with Big Data: Understanding Hashes (Part 1)

Aha! Now you are getting to the tradeoff here. I can take anything and turn it into a number, but the number of possible sentences in the universe have to be greater than the number I can generate in...

zhach.news

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 3d

Are AI agents about to fundamentally break the internet’s business model? How will publishers adapt?

#AIagents #DigitalTransformation #FutureofWork #AdTech
buff.ly/sFEU933

AI agents for your digital chores - Stack Overflow

Ryan welcomes Dhruv Batra, co-founder and chief scientist at Yutori, to explore the future of AI agents, how AI usage is changing the way people interact with advertisements and the web as a whole,…

buff.ly

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 3d

But here's the catch: If AI agents are operating purely on purpose, they won't click ads or browse affiliate links. As this becomes widespread, the entire ad-supported economy of news sites, blogs, and small businesses could take a revenue hit...

buff.ly/sFEU933

AI agents for your digital chores - Stack Overflow

Ryan welcomes Dhruv Batra, co-founder and chief scientist at Yutori, to explore the future of AI agents, how AI usage is changing the way people interact with advertisements and the web as a whole,…

buff.ly

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Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 3d

The future of the web might be...webless? 🤯 Just listened to Dhruv Batra (from Yutori) talk about proactive AI agents that handle our "digital chores” (waiting for a ticket sale or tracking a price drop). The vision is to give us "Yutori" (mental spaciousness) by automating tasks...
buff.ly/sFEU933

AI agents for your digital chores - Stack Overflow

Ryan welcomes Dhruv Batra, co-founder and chief scientist at Yutori, to explore the future of AI agents, how AI usage is changing the way people interact with advertisements and the web as a whole,…

stackoverflow.blog

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Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 4d

Whether it’s an extreme physical challenge or learning a complex new skill, pushing into new territory forces your brain and body to adapt, build new pathways, and become more resilient.

Don't wait for change; seek out the challenges. What uncomfortable challenge are you taking on this week?

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 4d

🧠 Just finished watching the Chris Hemsworth series, Limitless, and I think to overarching theme is "Growth lives outside your comfort zone".

We often seek comfort, but the most powerful piece for human growth (both mentally and biologically) is to embrace the unfamiliar and be uncomfortable...

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Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 5d

Huge congratulations to Maria Corina Machado, the recipient of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize! 🇻🇪

www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace...

Her incredible work promoting democratic rights and fighting for a peaceful transition in Venezuela is a powerful and inspiring testament to civilian courage.

Nobel Peace Prize 2025

The Nobel Peace Prize 2025 was awarded to Maria Corina Machado "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful…

www.nobelprize.org

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 6d

Just spent a week in the Indiana Sand Dunes, and it was incredibly refreshing. 💕

Remember take time for yourself sometimes and refoundate. It can be wondefully helpful!

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 7d

And it’s not so much a component for early-career developers in some ladders.

If you're an IC looking to grow your career, I highly recommend reading both the book and the article to redefine how you view your contributions and influence.

What is your experience with "glue work"?

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 7d

I realized that a lot of my most impactful work in my previous role was exactly this "glue work.” The key takeaway for me? To make "glue work" a force multiplier, you must be intentional and make its strategic value visible. It's not just "soft skills"—it's a critical component of leadership.

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Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 7d

The book led me to Tanya Reilly’s article "Being Glue,” (www.noidea.dog/glue) and it immediately resonated with my own experience. Reilly captures the essential, yet often invisible, work that holds a team together: mentoring, documentation, facilitating, and anticipating organizational needs

Being Glue — No Idea Blog

Slides and notes for the Being Glue talk.

www.noidea.dog

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Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 7d

I just finished reading "Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track" by Will Larson (staffeng.com/book/) and it was an incredibly insightful look into the Staff role. The interviews with Staff+ engineers were especially valuable.

Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track

Buy Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track

staffeng.com

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Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 8d

Really great read. Highly suggest it

Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 8d

A new book argues that when easy money ran out, Silicon Valley’s billionaires looked for someone to keep the good times rolling. They found him in Donald Trump.

What Really Drove Silicon Valley’s Shift to the Right

In Gilded Rage, journalist Jacob Silverman argues that a decade of free cash turned tech’s utopians into power brokers and made Trump their unlikely ally.

bloom.bg

Reposted by Zach with 2 Hs

🕸️🕷️ 🥀 Nani🥀🕷️🕸️ @sinmachine.is.severed.fyi · 8d

Politicians are NOT coming to “save us.”

We are our liberators.

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Reposted by Zach with 2 Hs

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 8d

Why is this Fox News host speculating about AOC’s sex life? | Arwa Mahdawi

Even his colleague has dubbed Jesse Watters’s claim about Ocasio-Cortez and Stephen Miller ‘creepy’

www.theguardian.com

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Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 9d

Check out my new blog post! We explore computational journalism, the superpower giving reporters new ways to fight misinformation, automate fact-checking, and uncover stories hidden in big data.👇

Read it here: zhach.news/math-behind-...

#journalism #datascience #misinfo

The Math of Truth: How Data is Reshaping Journalism

It’s not just about crunching numbers or creating fancy charts; it’s about using these tools to find, analyze, and tell stories in new ways.

zhach.news

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 18d

Are you getting generic, unhelpful answers from AI? My new blog post shares my secrets for crafting prompts that get you the specific, detailed responses you're looking for. Stop guessing and start getting the most out of every conversation.

zhach.news/how-to-talk-to-ai/

How to Talk to AI and Get Exactly What You Want

As we continue to integrate AI into our daily routines, the ability to prompt it effectively will become a fundamental skill. It moves us from a world of information consumption to one of active…

zhach.news

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 25d

Look down. How are you sitting right now? If you're hunched over, you're not alone. My latest post tackles the serious health risks of a desk job and offers simple, actionable steps you can take today to fix your posture and improve your health.

zhach.news/your-desk-job-is-killing-you/

Your Desk Job Is Killing You (But It Doesn't Have To)

Also, the constant demands of a fast-paced work environment often lead to increased stress. Deadlines, pressure to perform, and the blurred lines between work and personal life can erode our capacity…

zhach.news

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 27d

Is your computer "thinking" or just performing incredibly fast calculations? I break down the so-called "black magic" of machine learning in my latest blog post, demystifying how these systems learn from data, not magic. Read it here!

zhach.news/is-your-computer-thinking/

Is Your Computer "Thinking"? Demystifying the Black Magic of Machine Learning.

Is the computer thinking? This is a profound question, and the answer depends heavily on how one defines "thinking." In the traditional human sense of consciousness, self-awareness, and…

zhach.news

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Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · 28d

By the way, check out my blog at zhach.news

Let's make News better 📰 ☺️

Zhach's News & Views

Thoughts, stories, and ideas related to journalism, AI, and personal growth

zhach.news

Reposted by Zach with 2 Hs

bryan newbold @bnewbold.net · Sep 19

excited to share that we are following through on our earlier commitments and putting together an independent+neutral organization to house the DID PLC system, includes the directory service

Creating an Independent Public Ledger of Credentials (PLC) Directory Organization | Bluesky

The Bluesky Social app is built on an open network protocol that refers to each user by a unique Decentralized Identifier, or DID (a W3C standard). The most popular supported DID method was developed ...

docs.bsky.app

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Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · Sep 4

This is an interesting concept. Instead of avoiding evil data all together, they explicitly show it to ensure the model knows what "evil" is.

"The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know." – Harry S. Truman

www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/01/1...

Forcing LLMs to be evil during training can make them nicer in the long run

New Anthropic research shows that undesirable LLM traits can be detected—and even prevented—by examining and manipulating the model’s inner workings.

www.technologyreview.com

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Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · Sep 3

The Union of Concerned Scientists is great! Their new article provides a clear playbook with 9 ways to effectively counter disinformation and protect the integrity of climate science. It's not just about debunking—it's about reframing the conversation.

blog.ucs.org/kate-cell/9-...

9 Ways to Counter Disinformation Now that the Trump Administration Has Made It US Climate Policy

As US-based scientists and science-supporting advocates, we have an important role to play worldwide when we stand up to our own government’s climate propaganda.

blog.ucs.org

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · Sep 2

Is your feed feeling a bit... generic? A new article argues that the flood of AI-generated content is fundamentally changing online discovery. When low-quality information is easy to produce, the good stuff gets lost in the noise.

creatorscience.com/algorithm-pr...
bsky.app/profile/jay....

Algorithm-proofing

Why the explosion of AI means the end of easy discovery on social media

creatorscience.com

Zach with 2 Hs @zhach.bsky.social · Sep 1

By casting a group as the enemy, leaders can divert attention from their own shortcomings and build a loyal following. It's a pattern we've seen before, and it's essential to recognize. #Immigration #Politics #Democracy #History