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Run highly efficient multimodal agentic AI with NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano Omni using vLLM

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Tags cloud ai streaming cio machine-learning

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano Omni delivers unmatched multimodal efficiency with 9x throughput for agentic AI workloads, combining vision, audio, and text in a single model. By NVIDIA Nemotron Team.

Some pojnts discussed in the blog post:

  • Unified multimodal model reduces latency and fragmentation.
  • 9x throughput vs. open alternatives for video/document tasks.
  • MoE architecture minimizes active parameters per pass.
  • Supports FP8/NVFP4 for cost-effective deployment.
  • 3D convolutions enable efficient video reasoning.
  • 256K-token context length for complex reasoning.
  • 20% accuracy improvement over prior models.

Nemotron 3 Nano Omni represents a significant advancement in multimodal efficiency, combining architectural innovations (MoE, 3D convolutions) with quantized inference to enable scalable, low-cost agentic systems. Its performance on benchmarks and leaderboards underscores its potential to redefine enterprise multimodal workflows. Nice one!

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Monitoring Fabric mirroring for SQL 2025

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Tags sql cloud analytics big-data azure

Monitor SQL 2025 Fabric mirroring via Fabric Portal, DMVs, and OneLake files to ensure reliable data replication. By Meagan Longoria.

The article explains monitoring SQL Server 2025 Fabric mirroring using the Fabric Portal (table-level metrics), SQL Server DMVs like sys.dm_change_feed_log_scan_sessions, and OneLake files. It emphasizes tracking replication status, delays, errors, and log usage to maintain data consistency.

Key points in the blog post:

  • Use Fabric Portal for quick status checks and delay metrics.
  • Monitor sys.dm_change_feed_log_scan_sessions for session health and stalled phases.
  • Check sys.dm_change_feed_errors for persistent replication issues.
  • Validate OneLake files (tables.json, Manifest_1.json) for data integrity.
  • Schema changes may inflate schema_change_count due to multiple log records.
  • Log truncation delays require balancing mirroring performance with log size limits.
  • Extended Events provide deep troubleshooting but should be used sparingly.

This article provides actionable monitoring strategies for SQL 2025 Fabric mirroring, bridging SQL Server and Fabric ecosystems. While incremental (e.g., new file structures), it’s critical for ensuring replication reliability. It advances troubleshooting by tying SQL-side metrics to OneLake artifacts, though schema change tracking nuances may require deeper analysis. Good read!

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The streaming monetization infrastructure: From volume to value

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Tags cloud cio streaming cio

Streaming platforms are shifting from “more users” to “more value per user,” rebuilding their revenue infrastructure with tiered pricing, ad‑supported options, and tighter account controls. By KAPUALabs.

A systemic view of the streaming industry reveals a strategic pivot from subscriber‑volume growth to revenue‑per‑household optimization. Analysts cite tiered pricing experiments, account‑monetization tools, and password‑sharing enforcement as the core levers reshaping the “revenue architecture.” Ad‑supported tiers now attract roughly 60 % of new sign‑ups in markets where they exist, yet they deliver about $11 less monthly revenue per user than ad‑free plans. The net benefit hinges on whether advertising revenue—subject to Google/Meta concentration, measurement disputes, and CPM volatility—can offset this shortfall.

On the demand side, households are hitting a spending ceiling (~$69 / month) and employ rotation, seasonal subscriptions, and bundling to curb costs, creating churn risk for price hikes. On the supply side, soaring content and sports‑rights fees threaten margin expansion. EU consumer‑protection rules and ongoing audience‑measurement disputes add regulatory friction.

Netflix’s recent moves—ad tier rollout, password‑sharing crackdown, and tolerance of slight subscriber decline for higher margins—are portrayed as a prototype for the industry. The article recommends close tracking of ARPU composition, ad‑revenue dynamics, consumer‑spend behavior, and regulatory/cost shocks to evaluate the success of this monetization overhaul. Interesting read!

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Two schools of TDD explained

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Tags tdd cloud programming tdd software-architecture

TDD approaches—classic (state-focused) and London (interaction-focused) — explained through Kotlin examples using test doubles like stubs and mocks. By Michal Przysucha.

The article demonstrates classic TDD through a property price calculator test, where the system under test (SUT) interacts with a stubbed collaborator (MarketPricesProvider) to return predefined values. Verification occurs via the SUT’s direct output (e.g., calculated price).

For the London school, the example extends to an orchestrator that generates reports and sends emails. Here, interactions between the orchestrator and its collaborators (calculator, templates, email sender) are verified using mocks, ignoring the final state. The author introduces test doubles: stubs (for indirect inputs), mocks (for interactions), fakes (simplified implementations), and spies (tracking invocations).

Two testing strategies emerge: Inside-Out (bottom-up, classic) and Outside-In (top-down, London), each with trade-offs—e.g., mock fragility vs. classic decoupling.

This article provides a clear, practical comparison of TDD schools using Kotlin examples, demystifying test doubles without framework bias. It’s valuable for developers transitioning between TDD styles but doesn’t introduce novel concepts. Its impact lies in clarifying trade-offs, making it a recommended resource for teams refining their testing strategy. Nice one!

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Palo Alto networks Portkey deal highlights AI security and valuation story

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Tags infosec ai bots cloud cio

PaloAlto Networks strengthens its AI security portfolio by acquiring Portkey, an AI Gateway specialist, to enhance governance and control of autonomous AI agents through integration with its Prisma AIRS platform. By Simply Wall St.

Palo Alto Networks’ $181.08-per-share acquisition of Portkey aims to integrate its AI Gateway technology into Prisma AIRS, offering enterprises enhanced visibility and protection for autonomous AI agents.

For investors watching AI related security, this move suggests that Palo Alto Networks is actively building out its toolset for enterprises deploying autonomous agents. The planned integration of Portkey into Prisma AIRS highlights a focus on governance and control of AI workloads, an area that could become increasingly important as adoption rises across sectors.

The integration could solidify PANW’s market leadership in AI-driven security, though funding for the deal and its impact on future earnings remain key considerations. Interesting news.

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The AI compute demand story is a lie

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Tags cloud ai management performance big-data cio

The AI “compute‑demand” hype is a mirage built on hyperscaler subsidies; without Amazon, Google and Microsoft’s deep pockets, OpenAI and Anthropic could never have scaled. By Ed Zitron.

Ed Zitron dismantles the “AI compute demand” narrative by exposing how hyperscalers are using their vast resources to prop up startups like Anthropic and OpenAI, creating an illusion of market need. For instance, Amazon and Google’s $65 billion combined investment in Anthropic—despite its $30 billion fundraising—reflects desperation rather than organic demand. Anthropic’s financials, projected to lose $29 billion in 2026 but claim $18 billion in revenue, highlight unsustainable models reliant on hyperscaler subsidies. Similarly, OpenAI’s Azure dependency (80% of Microsoft’s AI revenue) and Amazon’s $12 billion annual spend on Anthropic underscore a closed-loop system where hyperscalers fund their own AI ecosystems.

The article critiques circular financing, such as Google’s TPU sales to Anthropic via SPVs, which recycles capital without generating external revenue. Data center construction, though massive (e.g., 15.2GW under construction by 2027), lacks corresponding revenue streams, requiring $157 billion annually to monetize—far exceeding current AI compute demand estimates. Zitron also notes that non-hyperscaler players struggle to compete, as building AI infrastructure requires expertise and capital beyond most startups. This centralization risks creating systemic weaknesses in smaller cloud providers like CoreWeave, which depend on hyperscaler contracts. Nice one!

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European open digital ecosystems strategy

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Tags open-source cloud miscellaneous linux cio ai

Open source powers Europe’s digital economy, contributing €65–95B annually to GDP. From energy (Baltic RCC) to cloud (NUBO), finance (Deutsche Bank), and mobility (EV charging), real-world use cases show how it boosts resilience, innovation, and sovereignty. By Paula Grzegorzewska.

More detailed feedback is provided in the accompanying document, while the key points are summarised as follows:

  • Open source is a basis of successful business ventures and is widely used across industries, with most modern software built on open source components, whether proprietary or not. It is a diverse ecosystem spanning multiple governance, sustainability, and commercial models, and the Linux Foundation welcomes the Call for Evidences acknowledgment of this reality and its pursuit of pragmatic, evidence-based approaches to strengthen EU competitiveness and technological autonomy.
  • Europe should build on and influence the global open source commons rather than pursue isolated notions of European Open Source, as existing global projects already underpin cloud, AI, and emerging digital infrastructure. Strategic upstream investment and participation in these commons - alongside scaling local commercial open source companies through funding instruments, market-access initiatives, and updated procurement practices - offers the most realistic path to technological sovereignty, innovation, and talent retention.
  • Critical open source infrastructure should be hosted under neutral governance to ensure balanced decision-making, mitigate single-vendor and lock-in risks, and foster rapid de facto standardisation.

Europe’s commercial open source scale-up pipeline remains underdeveloped, making it difficult to turn strong open source projects into globally competitive product and services companies, as well as retain talented European founders, especially when compared to the US. Good read!

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Ubuntu 26.04 LTS features: What's new in Resolute Raccoon

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Tags open-source linux servers software

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) brings Linux kernel 7.0, GNOME 50, TPM‑encrypted installs, and Rust‑based sudo for a hardened, performance‑focused release. By John Britto.

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS builds on two years of development since the 24.04 cycle, delivering a feature‑rich LTS aimed at desktop users, developers, and server administrators. The kernel jumps to version 7.0, adding native support for Intel Panther Lake (Xe3) processors, NPU optimizations, full Xe2/Arc Battlemage graphics, and NVIDIA Dynamic Boost.

A real‑time kernel is now available in the main archive without Ubuntu Pro. GNOME 50 introduces HDR color management, grouped notifications, improved remote desktop/touch input, and new default apps (Showtime, Resources, Papers) while dropping legacy X11 sessions in favor of a Wayland‑only desktop (XWayland provides backward compatibility). The installer gains better wireless (Wi‑Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4) handling and automated TPM encryption setup; dracut replaces initramfs‑tools, and APT 3.1 ships a faster dependency resolver.

Security is tightened: AppArmor now prompts for snap access to camera/mic/files, TPM 2.0‑based full‑disk encryption is enabled by default, sudo‑rs replaces the C sudo, and Livepatch extends to ARM64. Systemd moves to v259, removing cgroup v1 support and ending System V init script compatibility. Performance tweaks include optional x86‑64‑v3 packages (AVX2/BMI2/FMA) for Haswell‑plus CPUs, VA‑API video acceleration, and crash dumps enabled by default for better post‑failure diagnostics. Nice one!

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How to become a better Unity C# Programmer in 2026

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Tags performance miscellaneous app-development software

In the age of AI-assisted coding, the sharpest Unity C# programmers are the ones who still write, debug, and understand code the old-fashioned way. By Darko Tomic.

Writing for Unity developers at any level, Darko Tomic makes the case that AI tools, while impressive, can erode the foundational skills that distinguish competent programmers from copy-paste operators.

His advice spans six areas: deliberately coding without AI assistance to build mental models, treating every Unity error message as a diagnostic tool rather than noise, making debugging the first resort rather than the last, adopting Git from the very start of a project, memorizing the Unity MonoBehaviour lifecycle execution order, and stepping away from the keyboard when stuck.

Some main ideas mentioned:

  • Coding without AI for a few hours each week builds mental models that make you a better developer and a better prompter.
  • Treating every Unity error message as a diagnostic story—rather than noise to outsource to an LLM—drastically reduces debugging time.
  • Debugging is a core skill, not a fallback; use logs and stepping to verify assumptions before changing code.
  • Start every project with Git from day one, learn it in the terminal first, and don’t rely on GUI clients as a crutch.
  • Memorize the Unity MonoBehaviour execution order page to eliminate an entire category of initialization bugs.
  • Step away from the keyboard when stuck—your brain continues solving problems in the background.
  • The differentiator in 2026 is not output speed but the ability to understand, debug, and extend code that AI produced.

The underlying thesis is that AI accelerates output but not understanding, and that the developers who invest in fundamentals now will be the ones called upon when AI-generated code inevitably breaks in ways only human insight can resolve. Good read!

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The value of Open Source AI for the Canadian economy

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Tags open-source ai miscellaneous performance cio

The fifth report in our Meta-sponsored series examines the open source AI opportunity for Canada. Key findings show that despite the country’s early momentum in policy development, funding, and academic excellence, it faces challenges in the commercialization of AI. By Hilary Carter, Anna Hermansen, the Linux Foundation.

Canada’s AI sector, despite its significant research and investment contributions, faces challenges in AI commercialization and scaling adoption. The article posits that open source AI can help address these issues. Open source can lower barriers to entry, enable model fine-tuning, and provide cost-effective access to technology. It also supports workforce training and data privacy, fostering innovation and public trust.

To leverage this, Canada should strengthen its open source infrastructure, accelerate workforce reskilling, and improve commercialization pathways for startups. This can be achieved by building on existing AI strategies, incentivizing adoption in key sectors, and fostering public trust through transparency. Good read!

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