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The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard created by Anthropic to facilitate seamless integration of AI assistants with external data sources, tools, and systems. It addresses the challenge of delivering real-time, structured, and relevant information to AI models while ensuring security, privacy, and modularity. MCP is rapidly gaining traction, transforming the way AI connects with external systems. Businesses can now use AI to manage real-time operations, drive data-informed decisions, and automate processes seamlessly. MCP acts like a universal adapter that lets AI models connect to any system using a standard method. Instead of building custom connections for every data source, MCP provides a single plug-and-play interface that any AI model can use to fetch information or execute tasks. ...

Since 421 AD, Venice has stood atop millions of wooden piles driven deep into the clay bed of the lagoon. Unlike modern cities built on steel and concrete, Venice’s foundations rely primarily on alder wood, with some oak, chosen for its durability in water. This intricate network of submerged timber supports the entire city, allowing it to rise above the water. Over centuries, constant exposure to saltwater has petrified these wooden pillars, hardening them into a stone-like state. This natural preservation process has enabled Venice to withstand the test of time. St. Mark’s Campanile alone rests on a staggering 100,000 piles, while the grand Basilica della Salute required over a million. To create this massive foundation, ancient builders drove the tree trunks into the seabed with precise craftsmanship, forming an immense submerged forest beneath the city. ...

Diogo Alves was one of Portugal’s most notorious criminals, often considered its first serial killer. Born in Galicia, Spain, around 1810, he moved to Lisbon, where he worked as a servant before turning to crime and leading a gang that terrorized the city. Between 1836 and 1839, he robbed and murdered victims at the Águas Livres Aqueduct, throwing them from a height of over 60 meters. Authorities initially mistook the deaths for suicides, allowing the killings to continue. He is believed to have murdered 60 to 70 people. When security increased, his gang shifted to home invasions and killings. Captured and sentenced to death for murdering a family, he was hanged in 1841. In 1867, Portugal became the first country in the world to abolish the death penalty. ...

The software observability landscape is radically transforming as artificial intelligence becomes deeply woven into our digital infrastructure. Traditional monitoring paradigms—once sufficient for predictable, human-written code—now face unprecedented challenges in an era where system behavior emerges from complex AI interactions rather than explicit programming. From Reactive to Predictive: Entering the AI Era of Observability

The oldest human-made structures we know — the pyramids — have endured for a few thousand years. Now, Sweden is constructing something meant to endure for a staggering 100,000 years. Their nuclear waste storage facility is designed to surpass the lifespan of every bridge or building ever created by humanity—by a factor of 100. This facility will store approximately 12,000 tonnes of nuclear waste at a depth of 500 meters in rock that is 1.9 billion years old. The spent fuel will be sealed in corrosion-resistant copper canisters, each five meters long, and surrounded by clay before being buried. ...

​In the article, Dave Wang examines MicroStrategy’s aggressive Bitcoin acquisition strategy, which has raised concerns among critics who liken it to a Ponzi scheme. Since August 2020, MicroStrategy has been accumulating Bitcoin, funding these purchases through new debt and equity, leading some to question the sustainability and legitimacy of this approach. Critics argue that MicroStrategy’s continuous Bitcoin accumulation, financed by issuing new shares and taking on debt, resembles characteristics of a Ponzi scheme, where returns for earlier investors are generated through the capital of newer investors. This strategy has sparked debates within the financial community, with some analysts expressing skepticism about the company’s long-term viability under this model ...

When it comes to PC case cooling, there’s a fine line between optimizing airflow and turning your system into a mini oven. Does adding more fans always improve temperatures? Does simply removing the side panel offer the best cooling solution? If you think more fans automatically mean better cooling, think again—sometimes, less is more.

Retrofuturism is a fascinating artistic and cultural movement that envisions the future through the lens of the past. It blends nostalgia with speculative imagination, reflecting both the hopes and anxieties of earlier generations about what the future might hold. (illustrations and preparatory drawings for “cutaway of the passenger moon ship’s crew module” by Fred Freeman, 1952) (Predicting the Romba) (What A Futuristic Living Room Could Have Looked Like) ...

This was the first electronic toy I ever owned. Back in 1984, when I was still living in São Paulo, my father surprised me with it on my birthday. It felt like pure magic. The gameplay closely mimics Space Invaders, where players control a stationary turret at the bottom of the screen and must shoot descending alien invaders. The Gakken LSI Game Invader 2000 is a vintage handheld electronic game released by Gakken, a Japanese company known for its educational toys and electronics, during the early 1980s. It is part of the LSI (Large Scale Integration) Game series, which were electronic tabletop and handheld games featuring simple LCD or VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) screens. ...

Google ad on a magazine from 1999