redundancy

Tech Optimizer
August 25, 2025
Doctor Web’s antivirus laboratory has identified a sophisticated Android backdoor malware named Android.Backdoor.916.origin, which has been evolving since January 2025. This spyware primarily targets Russian businesses through focused attacks, disseminated via private messages as a fake antivirus application called “GuardCB.” The app's icon resembles the Central Bank of the Russian Federation's emblem and is presented in Russian. Variants of the malware include names like “SECURITY_FSB” and “FSB,” falsely claiming to be security tools linked to Russian law enforcement. Upon execution, the malware simulates an antivirus scan, requesting extensive system permissions for surveillance and data exfiltration, including access to geolocation, audio recording, SMS, contacts, call logs, media files, and camera functions. It establishes connections to command-and-control servers, allowing attackers to send and receive sensitive data, initiate audio and video feeds, and execute commands. The malware employs keylogger functionality to intercept keystrokes and monitor specific applications for content theft. Doctor Web has notified domain registrars to disrupt the malware's infrastructure and confirms that all known variants are detected and neutralized by their antivirus solutions. Organizations are advised to enforce strict APK sideloading policies and verify app authenticity to counter such threats.
AppWizard
August 19, 2025
Kazakhstan has announced the implementation of the Aitu national messenger across all government agencies, quasi-public organizations, and the Armed Forces, which will begin on September 15. This decision was made during a meeting led by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov on August 18, in alignment with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s directive for secure official communications. The Ministry of Defense will adopt the messenger in phases, with full implementation expected by the end of the year. Additionally, new regulations for data management in artificial intelligence have been approved, and a plan to integrate government information systems into the Smart Data Ukimet platform is to be completed by December 1.
AppWizard
August 17, 2025
The author has extensively explored various note-taking applications, including Google Keep, OneNote, and SimpleNote, ultimately transitioning to Outline, an open-source application that combines note-taking with personal knowledge management. Google Keep is appreciated for its simplicity but lacks depth, while OneNote's interface is seen as cluttered. Outline offers a clean, intuitive interface, supports markdown for rich formatting, and allows for interconnected note systems similar to a wiki. It integrates well with external tools and provides self-hosting options for data ownership. The author now uses Outline primarily for research, long-form writing, and journaling, finding it superior for serious note-taking compared to Google Keep and OneNote.
AppWizard
July 17, 2025
Virtuos is reducing its workforce by approximately seven percent, equating to around 300 positions. The layoffs will primarily impact its Asian operations, with 200 employees affected, 70 roles in Europe, and fewer than ten positions in France. The company aims to realign its global capabilities to enhance high-value co-development services. Virtuos will provide separation pay, job placement assistance, and opportunities for affected employees within its network. This decision reflects broader job cuts in the gaming industry, as seen with Microsoft's recent layoffs.
AppWizard
July 4, 2025
Build A Rocket Boy, the developer of MindsEye, is preparing for potential layoffs, informing its approximately 300 UK employees and those at its subsidiary PlayFusion of possible redundancies. MindsEye, launched in early June, faced a poor reception due to technical difficulties, leading the company to address these issues. Co-CEO Leslie Benzies attributed some challenges to "internal and external saboteurs," a sentiment echoed by co-CEO Mark Gerhard. However, the game's publisher has stated they do not believe any sabotage occurred during development or launch.
Tech Optimizer
July 3, 2025
PostgreSQL supports 36% of all database workloads on Kubernetes, an increase of 6 percentage points since 2022. Managing PostgreSQL workloads on Kubernetes involves complexities related to StatefulSets, deployments, and performance optimization. Two deployment options for PostgreSQL workloads are available: Azure Container Storage for low-latency, high-IOPS requirements using local NVMe, and Premium SSD v2 for price-performance optimization. Azure Container Storage is a managed solution that dynamically provisions storage backed by local NVMe drives. Benchmark results show PostgreSQL can achieve nearly 15,000 transactions per second (TPS) with low latency using Standard_L16s_v3 VM, and up to 26,000 TPS with larger VMs. Premium SSD v2 supports up to 80,000 IOPS and 1,200 MB/s per volume. Benchmark tests indicated local NVMe achieved 14,812 TPS at 4.321 milliseconds latency, while Premium SSD v2 recorded 8,600 TPS at 7.417 milliseconds latency. The CloudNativePG operator simplifies high availability PostgreSQL deployment on Azure Kubernetes Service, offering built-in replication, automated failover, and application-consistent backups.
AppWizard
June 26, 2025
Microsoft is expected to announce significant job cuts in its Xbox division next week, as part of ongoing restructuring efforts. This follows earlier reports of potential layoffs affecting thousands of positions in Microsoft's sales business. The upcoming layoffs at Xbox would mark the fourth round of job reductions in 18 months, totaling approximately 15,000 employees let go since January 2023. Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft's gaming division, confirmed the redundancy of 650 staff members in September 2024, highlighting the emotional impact of these changes and the importance of support within the team.
Tech Optimizer
June 23, 2025
The extended statistics feature in PostgreSQL allows for the collection of additional statistics on specific sets of table columns, which is beneficial for datasets with implicit relationships between columns. For instance, in the power plant dataset, the primary_fuel column is linked to the country column, affecting query results and row count estimates. When using extended statistics, more accurate cardinality estimates can be achieved, such as improving the estimate for Norway from 93 to 1 row after implementing statistics on country and primary_fuel. Extended statistics can be defined in three types: MCV (Most Common Values), ndistinct, and dependencies. MCV is effective for common value combinations, while ndistinct is useful for estimating group counts in operations like GROUP BY. Despite their advantages, extended statistics are rarely used due to concerns about the time-consuming ANALYZE command and the complexity of determining when to create these statistics. Two rules of thumb guide the creation of appropriate statistics: Rule 1 suggests creating statistics based on index definitions, while Rule 2 focuses on real-world filter patterns. The extension concept involves collecting created object IDs and managing the timing for adding statistics definitions to the database. A columns_limit parameter and a stattypes parameter help manage the computational cost of generating extended statistics. Testing the extension showed that running ANALYZE took longer with the extension activated, particularly when including dependencies. Deduplication procedures were introduced to minimize redundant statistics, resulting in modest gains in time and a significant reduction in the volume of statistics. Comparisons with another statistics collector, joinsel, indicated that while it provides some benefits, it lacks the full capabilities of extended statistics, particularly in terms of dependencies.
Search