BSD: LLVM and OpenBSD on the Desktop

• LLVM Is Playing A Big Role With Vulkan/SPIR-V Compilers

  The usage of LLVM as part of the graphics driver stack continues to be picked up now especially in the Vulkan/SPIR-V world. With the new NVIDIA 396 driver series there is their new "NVVM" compiler stack for SPIR-V, the IR used by Vulkan and OpenCL and now can be consumed by OpenGL 4.6 too.

• OpenBSD on my fanless desktop computer

   

  I’ve been using OpenBSD on servers for years as a web developer, but never had a chance to dive in to system administration before. If you appreciate the simplicity of OpenBSD and you have to give it a try on your desktop.

Mozilla News and Development

• Firefox Performance Update #6

  These updates are going to shift format slightly. I’m going to start by highlighting the status of some of the projects the Firefox Performance Team (the front-end team working to make Firefox snappy AF), and then go into the grab-bag list of improvements that we’ve seen landing in the tree.

• Announcing cargo src (beta)

  cargo src is a new tool for exploring your Rust code. It is a cargo plugin which runs locally and lets you navigate your project in a web browser. It has syntax highlighting, jump to definition, type on hover, semantic search, find uses, find impls, and more.

• Things Gateway - Series 2, Episode 1

• Firefox Data engineering newsletter Q1 / 2018

  As the Firefox data engineering teams we provide core tools for using data to other teams. This spans from collection through Firefox Telemetry, storage & processing in our Data Platform to making data available in Data Tools. [...] Most centrally, the Telemetry portal is now the main entry point to our tools, documentation and other resources. When working with Firefox data you will find all the important tools linked from there.

• Working for Good: Metalwood Salvage of Portland

  The web should be open to everyone, a place for unbridled innovation, education, and creative expression. That’s why Firefox fights for Net Neutrality, promotes online privacy rights, and supports open-source tech around the globe. We strive to make the online community a better place. We also know people everywhere work tirelessly to improve their own communities. In this series, we’re profiling businesses that work to make the world better—and use Firefox to support a healthy, open, and safe internet.

• It’s time to give Firefox a fresh chance

   

  After spending some quality time comparing the actual experience of using Chrome, Safari, and Firefox across a variety of websites, I’m confident in saying browser benchmarks are profoundly uninformative. The truth is that performance differences are not substantial enough to be noticed. If anything, you’re most likely to clash with “only works in Chrome” incompatibilities, but that’s kind of the whole reason for me to avoid Chrome: someone has to keep using the alternatives so as to give them a reason to exist.

Malware in Microsoft, Bugs in Android Apps

• Minecraft fans get a nasty surprise in malware-infected skins

  Most alarming, the skins in question were on the official Minecraft site, meaning the unwary might have been duped into thinking they were somehow okayed by Microsoft or the developers.

• Minecraft’s Official Website Distributed Malware-Infested Skins [Ed: Microsoft took over, so of course it's dead as far as security goes]

  Around 50,000 players were infected, and in some cases the malware wiped system drives and corrupted backups.

• Vulnerabilities Abound in Popular Android Apps: Report [Ed: Malicious programs exist for Windows also. One does not have to install these. But this is marketing (Insignary) disguised as 'research'.]

Spyder – The Scientific Python IDE for Data Science

I don’t know how many of our readers are research scientists, data analysts, etc. but today, we introduce an IDE that is ideal for Python development and it goes by the name of Spyder. Spyder is an Open Source IDE written in Python for Python development with a focus on research, data analysis, and scientific package creation. It boasts a well-planned User Interface with interactive options, customizable layouts, and toggle-able sections. Its features include a multi-language editor with automatic code completion, real-time code analysis, go-to definitions, etc. It also contains a history log, developer tools, a documentation viewer, a variable explorer, and an interactive console, among other perks.