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There's a Reliable Way to Trigger Lucid Dreams, Scientists Have Found | A common Alzheimer's drug used to treat memory decline may promote lucid dreaming. In a study of 121 participants who had experience in lucid dreaming, those who took the drug were able to enter the dream state at a significantly higher rate than those who took a placebo. The method could help scientists finally conduct proper research on lucid dreaming. The safety of the technique still hasn't been fully researched. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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SpaceX Starship prototype rocket explodes on landing after test launch | A SpaceX Starship prototype rocket exploded on landing during an experimental launch on Tuesday. The previous test rocket was destroyed in a similar accident. Starship SN9 initially performed a flawless liftoff, but one of its Raptor thrusters failed when it began its final landing. Video and images of the explosion are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Facebook needs regulation to combat fake news, say MPs | With deep-fake technology becoming more common, politicians are becoming more concerned with disinformation and fake news being propagated without restrictions. Damian Collins, a politician in the UK, has spoken out against social media giants such as Facebook, calling for stronger policies and action against such content. He states that social media companies have a responsibility to identify and remove content that is designed to spread misinformation. With the current algorithms, if a user engages with specific content, they are served with more of the same material, causing users to be stuck in feedback loops. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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2020 Developer Survey (Website) | In February, StackOverflow surveyed nearly 65,000 developers to find out how they learn and level up, which tools they're using, and what they want. The survey focused on increasing the diversity of respondents and it is important to note that it was conducted before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by WHO. This year, Python fell from second to third most-loved technology, with Rust and TypeScript filling up the first two spots respectively. Site reliability engineer and DevOps specialist are the highest-paid roles. Over 75% of developers work overtime at least occasionally, with 25% working overtime 1-2 days per week or more. More responses and detailed breakdowns of the data are available in the article. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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The Pentagon Has Officially Released Three Videos Showing UFOs | The Pentagon has released three declassified videos showing Navy pilots interacting with UFOs. A spokesperson for the Department of Defense said the videos were being released in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether the footage was real or not. The Pentagon had determined that the videos did not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems and that the release of the videos would not impinge on any subsequent investigations. A link to the videos is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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YouTubers Will Enter Politics, And The Ones Who Do Are Probably Going To Win (10 minute read) | Kim Kataguiri is a Brazilian 22 year old who has just been elected to Brazilian Congress, he's part of a movement called Movimento Brasil Livre (MBL) that's sort of like the Brazilian Breitbart/Tea Party (right wing news/political party). MBL's Youtube channel has grown from 0 to 1 million subscribers this year, 40% of their revenue comes from Youtube ads, and they plan to have all of the group's members have their own Youtube channels. The group's other growth strategy is through WhatsApp memes (nearly all Brazilian internet users use WhatsApp). They study the ways Breitbart and the Tea Party have gained popularity in the United States and try to apply those lessons to Brazil. One MBL candidate who was just elected as a state representative rose to fame after he released a video of himself getting beaten up so badly by left wing protesters that he passed out on Youtube. He ended up getting 500,000 votes, in a state election where candidates usually get around 20,000. Right now MBL's main audience is between the ages of 13-24, and many of them still cannot vote. Until that voting bloc comes of age, MBL's plan is to be part of the Democrats, Brazil's right-wing party dedicated to economic liberalism and Christian democracy. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Virtual Modules for Fun and Profit | Virtual modules are an amazing but underrated feature for JavaScript. Using virtual modules provides internal functionality without the boilerplate weight and without compromising extensibility. This article talks about how virtual modules were used in the development of Fastify DX. Frameworks typically bundle their internals as external npm packages, but Fastify DX packs most of its internals as virtual modules. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Niantic CEO shares teaser image of AR glasses device | John Hanke, CEO of Niantic, recently posted a cropped image on Twitter of what could be a first-party head-mounted wearable. The company has been actively investing in the Augmented Reality hardware space and has been working with Qualcomm on its XR hardware platform. Niantic also recently announced an AR title based on Pikmin and the company showed off a proof-of-concept version of Pokemon Go running on Microsoft's HoloLens 2 earlier this month. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Tesla blocks access to anonymous workplace chat app Blind amid crackdown on employee leaks | Blind, an app that allows employees to discuss workplace matters anonymously through public and private forums, has been blocked by Tesla. Employees noticed that their verification emails were not being received in their work inboxes and that they couldn’t access the app when using Tesla’s Wi-Fi networks. Tesla has not commented on its reasons for blocking the app. However, it is believed that it may be linked to the theft and leaking of confidential information by a former employee last year. | 4Miscellaneous
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A Former Walmart Executive Wants to Build 'the Most Sustainable City in the World' | Marc Lore, a former Walmart CEO, is planning to build a city from scratch in a desert somewhere in the western US, potentially in Nevada or Idaho. The city of Telosa will be built on land that will be donated to a community endowment to help fund the city's development and improve the lives of citizens. The project will use eco-friendly building materials and processes and will be built with bikes and pedestrians in mind. Telosa will be built on the principles of inclusivity and openness. Concept images of the city are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Patreon’s building native video hosting for creators to sidestep YouTube | Patreon is building a video hosting solution and native player so that its creators can upload and share videos without leaving the platform. The feature could help creators rely less on YouTube and other services. Patreon's CEO Jack Conte hosts a podcast that focuses on the people who build and fund tools for creators. It is available on all platforms and episodes will be released seasonally. | 4Miscellaneous
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Malaria 'completely stopped' by microbe | A microbe was discovered in mosquitoes in Kenya that can completely protect mosquitoes from malarial infections. Microsporidia are closely related to fungi and most are parasites. Data from studies suggest that the microbes can completely block malaria in mosquitoes. Researchers are investigating different strategies for increasing the number of infected mosquitoes. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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DeepFaceLab (GitHub Repo) | DeepFaceLab is a tool that uses machine learning to replace faces in videos. It includes a working standalone Windows binary. A gallery of examples is available, as well as a series of links with materials and examples of deepfakes, both SFW and NSFW. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Ask HN: Resources for introverted devs to learn workplace politics? (Hacker News Thread) | Being at least somewhat aware of office politics is critical to your career success, especially in larger organizations. If you're an introvert, this is definitely worth a read. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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'BioSolar Leaves' are better at cleaning the air than trees, say the technology’s developers | A British start-up, Arborea, creates panels of photosynthetic organisms such as microalgae, diatoms, and phytoplankton, which use energy from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make food and grow. These panels can be installed on buildings and land, much like solar panels. The start-up claims that the panels are 100 times more efficient than real trees at converting carbon dioxide to oxygen and that the biomass generated from the panels can be converted into ingredients for sustainable, plant-based food products. Arborea aims to create food to help sustain the planet, as the human population is set to rise to nearly 10 billion people by 2050. The expanded population will demand 70 percent more food than is consumed today. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Liz Parrish Is Patient Zero in Her Own Anti-Aging Experiment (11 minute read) | Liz Parrish, CEO of BioViva, is patient zero for two anti-aging therapies that the company is researching. BioViva is a biotechnology company that focuses on developing therapies to intervene with human aging. One of the treatments involves injections of a myostatin inhibitor which is expected to prevent age-associated muscle loss. The other therapy is a telomerase gene therapy expected to lengthen telomeres. Early results show that the length of the telomeres of T-lymphocytes in blood samples taken from Parrish had grown in length in the six months since the therapies started. The article contains an interview with Parrish about the therapies and her feelings about being the first test subject. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Boston Dynamics starts selling its Spot robot | Spot from Boston Dynamics is now available commercially. The Spot Explorer developer toolkit is $74,500 and it includes the robot, two batteries, a battery charger, a tablet controller, a robot case, a power case, and the software APIs. Additional Spot payloads will be available for purchase. Customers will receive free shipping for a limited time. The current estimated shipping time is six to eight weeks. Businesses are limited to two units each, or they can contact the sales team for additional units. A list of additional add-ons, as well as videos of Spot and other robots from Boston Dynamics, is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Google’s latest virtual tour lets you walk the Great Wall of China | Google's Arts & Culture team has launched an online experience that lets users virtually walk the Great Wall of China. It features a 360-degree virtual tour of one of the wall's best-preserved sections, 370 images of the Great Wall, and 35 stories. The experience lets users learn about the Great Wall's history and experience parts of it that might be otherwise hard to access. Google has launched numerous 360-degree virtual tours, and students can create their own VR tours using Google's Tour Creator tool. A link to the Walk the Great Wall of China tour is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Google Maps (App) | Google Maps is releasing integrations with Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play Music this week. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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The Composable Architecture (GitHub Repo) | The Composable Architecture is a library of core tools that can be used to build applications in a consistent and understandable way. It can be used in SwiftUI, UIKit, and more, on any Apple platform. The repository contains many examples of how to solve common and complex problems. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Apple releases Chrome extension for iCloud passwords | Apple has released iCloud Passwords, an official iCloud Keychain Chrome extension for Windows and Mac. Users will now be able to sync passwords across Windows and Mac with ease. Passwords created in Chrome for Windows will sync back to iCloud. iCloud Passwords is available now in the Chrome Web Store. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Sheetfu (GitHub Repo) | Sheetfu interacts with Google Sheet using a simple, intuitive, and fast API. It can easily get or set cell values, background colors, font colors, or any other cell attributes. Installation instructions and examples are provided. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Modern city dwellers have lost about half their gut microbes | Scientists comparing the genomes of intestinal bacteria in primate and human populations have found that humans have lost many microbes that have been present in our guts since before humans became human. Certain gut microbes are found in almost all primates, suggesting that they share a common ancestor. Gut bacteria can influence mood and how the immune system responds to pathogens and allergens, making the researchers concerned about how these absent gut microbes could affect human health. It may be possible to restore them with probiotics. | 4Miscellaneous
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Apple no longer sells third-party audio accessories ahead of AirPods Studio announcement | Apple will no longer stock Bose, Sonos, Logitech, and other third-party headphones in its stores. The company is rumored to be releasing its own over-ear headphones called 'AirPods Studio' later this year. AirPods Studio will be able to customize its shape to the wearer and it will feature an advanced equalizer aimed at professional users. Apple is expected to announce the headphones at a special event this month along with the new line of iPhones. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Google reportedly set a goal of being a top-two cloud player by 2023 | Top executives at Alphabet debated whether the company should stay in the public cloud business back in 2018. They decided to aim to become a top-two player by 2023. Google's main business is web search and advertising, but it has a cloud computing department that rents out computing and storage resources to other companies, schools, and governments. Alphabet stated in July that Google Cloud generated $8 billion in annualized revenue. Its performance lags behind Amazon Web Services, Alibaba, and Microsoft Azure. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Tiny KABOOM (GitHub Repo) | Tiny KABOOM is a teaching aid designed to help with the understanding of raytracing for explosions in C++. It is written in 180 lines of code and it is accompanied by a guide that explains the theory and reasoning behind the code. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Could video games be making kids smarter? A new study says yes | A study by a team of European researchers has found that playing video games may boost a child's intelligence. The study followed a cohort of children over two years and looked at their self-reported screen time. Children who played video games gained about 2.5 IQ points more than the average child over the two years. While the study had many limitations, it suggested that not all screen time is detrimental. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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An ex-Verizon employee explains why it's not worth helping customers | Verizon employees are required to upsell products, but one of the strategies to do this is by not offering lower-priced options. Higher-priced packages can contain inferior products, such as third-party technical support lines. During the pandemic, Verizon took away upgrades as a way for employees to earn commissions, requiring them to sell new lines, accessories, tablets, and insurance instead. The company also adjusted commissions based on the results of customer surveys. This resulted in employees refusing to serve customers if there was a chance of a negative survey result. | 4Miscellaneous
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Sonic (GitHub Repo) | Sonic is a fast, light-weight, and schema-less search backend. It is able to normalize natural language queries, autocomplete, and provide the most relevant matches for a query. It uses an identifier index rather than a document index, which can be altered and committed to the server while it is running. A live demo on a real website is available to show the speed and capabilities of Sonic. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Samsung’s C-Lab class features a diaper sensor, smart guitar, and modular robot | Samsung's C-Lab division allows employees to create personal pet projects. While the projects aren't always practical, they're often fascinating, displaying ideas that are traditionally outside of Samsung's scope. This year at CES, C-Lab will split its products into three categories: C-Lab Inside, C-Lab Outside, and projects that have effectively spun out from Samsung. CES will run in Las Vegas from January 5 to January 8. A list of products and companies from C-Lab Inside and Outside is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Squeezer (GitHub Repo) | Squeezer helps new-entry developers create serverless dApps without needing to understand a blockchain’s complex infrastructure. It uses ChainKit to integrate all the major blockchains’ interfaces into one single normalized API. It requires node.js to run and there is also plugin functionality. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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3D Printing Bone Directly Into the Body | Bones are a mixture of living and inorganic compounds in a highly structured mineral matrix, which presents a huge challenge for bioengineers trying to 3D print the material. A team in Australia has developed a ceramic ink that could eventually be used to print bone directly inside a patient's body. The technology has many medical and research applications. The team is currently working on printing larger samples and it has begun to start animal testing. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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California-based game company Blizzard bans pro esports player and confiscates his prize money after he voices support for Hong Kong protesters | A Hong Kong-based player has been fined his prize money and given a year-long ban after he voiced support for Hong Kong's protestors during a postgame interview. Blizzard also announced that the two commentators who appeared on the stream will no longer work with the company. Blitzchung, whose real name is Chung Ng Wai, said it was his duty to speak out about the Hong Kong protests, even though it could affect his personal safety in real life. Blizzard is a US-based company, but it has a partnership with China-based company Tencent. Tencent is also a partner of the NBA, who has recently faced backlash in China when Houston Rockets' general manager, Daryl Morey, tweeted in support of Hong Kong protestors. Rockets games will no longer be broadcasted on China Central Television or Tencent's platforms. Blizzard stands behind their decision, saying that Chung violated rules of the competition by offending a portion or group of the public or damaged the company's image. The company has disabled comments on its blog post announcing the ban. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Peloton’s app indicates a rowing machine may finally be coming | Peloton's Android app contains code that hints at the company's rumored rowing machine. The company has been rumored to be developing the rowing machine for years now. Other companies have already produced machines, so Peloton won't be first to the smart-rower market. Peloton has been working to make its treadmills safer in recent months due to a string of injuries and the death of a child. The company is also rumored to be working on an armband to monitor heart rates. | 4Miscellaneous
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DoorDash partners with California restaurant to build new brick-and-mortar location | DoorDash has partnered with a restaurant to build a brick-and-mortar store called Burma Bites. The restaurant will do delivery and takeout with menu items priced between $12 and $19. DoorDash has seen a sales increase during the pandemic and is reportedly planning a traditional IPO before the end of the year. Burma Bites is set to open on October 28th in Oakland, California. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Genetic Link to Fear Memories Found Hiding Within Mice's "Junk DNA" | Scientists from Australia have found a link between specific genes and the ability to decondition fear in mice. When the expression of the gene was removed in mice, the mice remained fearful of stimulus after training sessions to downregulate their fear. It is still unknown if the same effect will be seen in humans, but many fundamental molecules are conserved across species. The findings could lead to new therapies for PTSD and phobia. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Pig heart transplant failure: Doctors detail everything that went wrong | A recently published paper goes through everything that happened to prepare for the transplant and the weeks following. | 4Miscellaneous
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Apple will use Tesla’s ‘megapack’ batteries at its California solar farm | Apple will use Tesla battery packs at its big battery storage project in Northern California. The setup will consist of 85 Tesla lithium-ion megapacks, which will store up to 240 megawatt-hours of energy. They will allow Apple to store energy generated by its 130-megawatt solar array. The battery system could power more than 7,000 homes for a whole day. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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New secret-spilling flaw affects almost every Intel chip since 2011 | Zombieload, a new vulnerability discovered in Intel chips, is made up of four bugs which allow for a side-channel attack to target Intel chips by exploiting design flaws. Almost every computer with Intel chips dating back to 2011 is affected by the vulnerability. AMD and ARM chips are not affected. A proof of concept by researchers demonstrates that they can surveil someone else’s computer while they are browsing the internet. Cloud and virtual machines are also affected by the bug. No real-world attacks have been recorded, and Intel has already released code to patch some of their chips. | 4Miscellaneous
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Practical Cryptography for Developers (Open Source Book) | This is a free introductory book on cryptography for developers, it explains a lot of fundamental concepts like hash functions, symmetric and asymmetric key ciphers, digital signatures, quantum-safe cryptography and more. All code examples are in Python and there are exercises at the end of each chapter. Really cool stuff, it's written by Svetlin Nakov. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Google Will Soon Let You Automatically Scrub Your Location And Web History From Your Account Every Few Months | It is well known that Google collects a lot of data about its users, including past searches, location history, and browsing history. The data can already be manually removed, but in the next few weeks, users will start seeing an option to automatically remove the data every three or 18 months. This option will only remove location, web, and app history, but it is likely the feature will remove more information in the future. Removing data will make Google’s services less personalized, as features such as recommendations, Google Assistant, and ads rely heavily on user history. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Toyota's autonomous pod to transport athletes around Tokyo 2020 Olympics | Tokyo's 2020 Olympic Games is set to be a showcase of both technology and human sporting achievement. The medals will be made using scrap metal recovered from electronic waste, and a full line-up of robots will be assisting the public and staff. Toyota will supply 20 special edition e-Palette people movers for the Games. The vehicles will transport athletes throughout the Olympic and Paralympic villages. The special edition e-Palettes will have sport benches and lift-up seating, and will be able to transport up to four wheelchair users and seven standing passengers at a time. They will feature large sliding doors, low floors, and electric ramps. The design includes contrasting colors to help those with color blindness. A safety operator will be on board, but the vehicles will be using an autonomous driving system that can travel up to 12 mph with Level 4 autonomy. They will have a range of just over 90 miles per charge. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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The Psychological Trap of Freelancing | Freelancing may provide freedom from having to go to a workplace every day for a certain amount of hours in exchange for a paycheck, but this freedom may come with some unforeseen problems. One of those problems is that once you start freelancing, your livelihood is completely dependent on your own effort and your time becomes significantly more valuable than if you just got a steady paycheck. This results in freelancers becoming increasingly more anxious as they monitor their time more closely. In the end, the article suggests that freelancers need to have stronger boundaries with themselves and their time in order to have a healthy work-life balance. | 4Miscellaneous
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Exploiting custom protocol handlers for cross-browser tracking in Tor, Safari, Chrome, and Firefox | This article describes a vulnerability that allows for third-party tracking across different desktop browsers on the same device. The vulnerability affects Tor users. It allows for targeted advertisement and user profiling without consent. The exploit has been possible for more than five years. Until it is fixed, the only way to have private browsing sessions not associated with your primary device is to use another device altogether. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Ramping Up Its COVID Response, EU Will Buy Up To 1.8B Doses Of Pfizer Vaccine | The European Union has signed a deal for up to 1.8 billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. The deal guarantees 900 million doses, with 900 million options to cover future unknowns, such as whether a booster shot will be required and what will happen with variants. Vaccine production will happen within the EU, and the contract will likely extend into 2023. Other contracts and vaccine deals are also being discussed. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Blackstone to acquire Ancestry.com for $4.7 billion | Blackstone Group Inc has agreed to acquire Ancestry.com Inc for $4.7 billion, including debt, from private equity firms Silver Lake, Spectrum Equity, and Permira. GIC, a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, will continue to maintain a significant minority stake in the company. Ancestry.com is the world's largest provider of DNA services, with three million paying customers in about 30 countries. Customers use the service to trace their genealogy and identify genetic health risks using home test kits. The deal is the first acquisition out of Blackstone's $26 billion Blackstone Capital Partners VIII private equity fund. | 4Miscellaneous
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TikTok’s parent company is gearing up to invest a lot of money in VR | ByteDance is planning to invest 'tons of money' to develop VR-related content. Over 40 job listings have popped up for Pico, a VR headset maker that ByteDance acquired last year. Pico may be looking to establish a presence in the US. It launched its flagship headset in Europe last month for €449. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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FDA clears Synchron's brain-computer interface device for human trials | The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Synchron's Stentrode implantable brain-computer interface in clinical trials with human patients. Stentrode is currently being tested in clinical trials in Australia. Two of the four patients in the Australian trials were able to control the computer with their thoughts, completing work-related tasks, sending messages, and going online banking and shopping. It takes around two hours to implant the device in a minimally invasive procedure. The device will be available to buy within five years. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Viral App FaceApp Now Owns Access To More Than 150 Million People's Faces And Names | FaceApp has been downloaded by more than 100 million people on Google Play and it is the top-ranked app in the iOS App Store in 121 countries. The app has gone viral by giving people the power to change their facial expressions, looks, and age. According to the terms and conditions of the app, once a user submits their face to be altered, Wireless Labs has the right to do whatever they want with the image. The images could be used in advertising, but more likely, they will be used to train machine learning algorithms. Once data is uploaded to the cloud, you lose control of your content, which is why Apple is working on on-device AI. Users should be mindful of their privacy and security, especially for apps like FaceApp, as it requires users to grant it almost full access to their personal devices. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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With GPT-3, I built a layout generator where you just describe any layout you want, and it generates the JSX code for you (Twitter Thread) | By giving GPT-3 two code samples for context, Sharif Shameem was able to create a layout generator that can generate JSX code from just a word description. A 2-minute video is available that shows multiple examples of the generator creating code from word descriptions like 'a button for every color of the rainbow'. Shameem commented that it would be easy to generate an HTML/CSS version of the app by feeding GPT-3 the same two samples written in HTML/CSS. A link to the generator is available in the thread. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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India is now a larger smartphone market than the US | India has taken over the US as the second-largest smartphone market in the world, with 158 million phones shipping to the country in 2019. Many Chinese manufacturers offer aggressively-priced devices. 72 percent of devices shipped to India came from brands like Xiaomi, Vivo, Realme, and Oppo. Non-Chinese brands had mixed results in performance. It isn't surprising that India has surpassed the US in phone sales due to its population, and it wouldn't be surprising if phone-makers start designing more phones with India in mind. | 4Miscellaneous
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Hayabusa2 Rover Video (15 second Twitter video) | The Japanese probes that landed on an asteroid earlier this week have sent back their first video. I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about, it's just 15 seconds of looking at grainy rock footage, but people on Twitter seem very excited about this, so here it is! | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Amazon focuses on another use for Alexa as Echo Frames smart glasses are now available | Amazon is moving its Echo Frames smart glasses from invite-only to general availability. The glasses were first launched in September 2019 to a select group of users to generate feedback and continue development. Echo Frames feature Alexa connectivity and they allow users to make phone calls, listen to music, hear notifications, and more, without wearing anything in their ears. The lens do not feature a display. Echo Frames are available for $249.99 and will ship on December 10. They will come with non-corrective lenses, but they are compatible with most prescription lenses. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Rivian Soars Past $100 Billion Following America's Biggest IPO Since Facebook | Rivian had one of the biggest initial public offerings in the last 9 years, raising a total of $11.9 billion. Its estimated value is now more than $100 billion, making it the second highest-valued US carmaker behind Tesla. The IPO's success was likely due to the positive reception to its electric R1T pickup and its close ties to Amazon. Amazon is contracted to buy 100,000 of Rivian's electric vans. | 4Miscellaneous
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YouTube to Make New Originals Available for Free, Ad-Supported Viewing With 'Single Slate' Strategy | Youtube's new original shows will be freely available in an ad-supported format. Its current original shows like "Cobra Kai" and "Step Up: High Water" will remain behind the Youtube Premium paywall for now, but will be moved to an ad-supported model by 2020. Youtube Premium is Youtube's Netflix competitor that costs $12/month, I'm editorializing here this isn't in the article, my sense from reading this is that the subscription service isn't doing well so they're pivoting to just making everything free and ad-supported. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Xbox Cloud Gaming now supports Steam Deck through Microsoft Edge | Microsoft has released a beta version of Microsoft Edge for the Steam Deck that includes support for the Steam Deck's controls. Steam Deck owners can now play Xbox Cloud Gaming games through the device. There are several Xbox Games Studios titles that can run natively on the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck can now run Windows. A link to Microsoft's instructions on how to use Xbox Cloud Gaming on the Steam Deck is available. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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The Rust CUDA Project (GitHub Repo) | The Rust CUDA Project is an ecosystem of libraries and tools for writing and executing GPU code in Rust. It aims to make Rust a tier-1 language for extremely fast GPU computing using the CUDA toolkit. This repository contains libraries and tools to make CUDA usable with Rust, with crates for all corners of the CUDA ecosystem. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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A week-long iOS App Store bug wiped out over 20M ratings | A bug on the iOS App store removed 22 million app reviews from 300 apps over a week. The bug affected apps from all of the 155 countries that Apple supports. Affected apps saw an average of a 50 percent decrease in ratings. Some apps were more affected by others, for example, Hulu lost 95 percent of its ratings in the US. Both positive and negative ratings were removed. Some of the missing ratings have been restored. Apple has acknowledged the issue and has stated that it was only the data displayed that was affected and that no ratings were ever deleted. A similar occurrence happened last year, where thousands of iOS apps lost have their ratings over a weekend. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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10 best JavaScript practices recommended by Top Developers (10 minute read) | Often, developers jump into a language without knowing its fundamentals. This article provides 10 best JavaScript practices to help developers write better code. The tips include how to delete an array like a pro, how to eliminate decimals without killing performance, and how to use function expressions. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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zenv (GitHub Repo) | zenv is an enhanced env command for setting environment variables using various methods. It can load environment variables through static values, reading file contents, or by command-line argument. zenv can securely save, generate, and get secret values with Keychain and replace command-line arguments with loaded environment variables. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Scaling our Spreadsheet Engine from Thousands to Billions of Cells (10 minute read) | Causal is a spreadsheet with a complex calculation engine that executes formulas on an in-memory, multidimensional database. This article discusses how Causal plans to scale from millions to billions of cells. Causal still doesn't smoothly support one billion cells yet, but its team is confident in its ability to iterate to its goal. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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100+ No Code Resources (Trello Board) | This Trello board list contains over 100 No Code resources. Categories include tools, newsletters, communities, online courses, podcasts, and more. Each card contains a link and a short description. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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With Seven Floors in 12 Days, China Builds Hotel in Record Time | The China State Construction company recently put together a seven-story hotel in just 12 days. Most of the hotel was built in an automated factory. Once the parts and components of the building were ready, the workers simply had to piece them together on-site. Each component was digitally monitored to quickly identify faults and fix them. The process reduces material waste, construction waste, and energy consumption, as well as noise pollution on-site. A 30-second video showing the construction process is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Mitochondrial transplants between living cells could save dying organs | Mitochondrial transplantation is an experimental therapy that has shown promise in animal studies as a way to rejuvenate tissues affected by mitochondrial dysfunction. Scientists at ETH Zurich have developed a method of mitochondrial transplantation that is minimally invasive and has a high success rate with unparalleled efficiency. It involves using a specially-developed nanosyringe to transplant mitochondria. The research could result in new ways to treat diseased organs and methods to rejuvenate cells damaged by age. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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The Surprisingly Big Business of Library E-books (11 minute read) | The demand for ebooks has risen significantly since the pandemic, especially with libraries allowing patrons to access ebooks to minimize the spread of Covid-19. The shift to ebooks had enormous practical and financial implications for both digital content providers and libraries all over the country. Digital content distributors charge high prices for ebook rights, which could become untenable for libraries in the long run. Readers are likely to want even more digital content in the future. This article discusses the ebook industry, how digital books are lent out by libraries, and the business behind licensing and digital rights. | 4Miscellaneous
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Android Developer Roadmap - MindOrks (GitHub Repo) | This is a roadmap for learning Android App Development. It lists core components with subtopics in each section. All the resources required to learn each section are provided through a linked course. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Now Dollar General will do same-day deliveries via DoorDash | DoorDash has partnered with Dollar General to provide same-day deliveries in more than 9,000 locations. Customers will not need to book time slots and there is no minimum order size. DoorDash plans to list more than 10,000 locations by December. The partnership will open up access and independence for customers who haven't had access to similar services before, but it will also put more pressure on Dollar Store employees and local independent retailers. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Lasers can send a whispered audio message directly to one person’s ear | Scientists have been able to send targeted, quiet messages from several meters away, in a way that nobody else nearby would be able to hear. Using a laser beam, sound was transmitted at 60 decibels over a distance of 2.5 meters. In theory, this technique can be used to directly send messages without any special receiving equipment, and further research will continue to increase range and working conditions. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Indian Prime Minister Modi’s Twitter account was ‘briefly compromised’ | The Twitter account of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hacked on Sunday. People became suspicious after the account tweeted that India had officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender. The tweet contained a link to a sketchy website with information supporting the claim. The account has now been fully secured. | 4Miscellaneous
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Did Uber Steal Google's Intellectual Property? (20 minute read) | Anthony Levandowski, once a top exec in Google's self driving car program left to start his own autonomous truck company called Ottomotto in January 2016. A month later, the company was acquired by Uber for $600 million. Google needed a way to stop the deal, so they fished around Levandowski's old workplace activities. He had downloaded fourteen thousand files, including hardware schematics, transferred them to an external drive. Waymo (Google's new self-driving division) sued Uber in February of 2018 for stealing trade secrets. However, Levandowski's 14000 files weren't as damning as they seemed, the files were so unimportant Google had considered storing them outside of the company's own servers. Levandowski had been unpopular at Google, and was unpopular at Uber as well, he was fired soon after the case started, and Uber stated to the Jury "Uber regrets ever bringing Anthony Levandowski on board. All Uber has to show for Anthony Levandowski is this lawsuit." Even worse for Google, if they lost the case, the court might unseal the records and cause all the trade secrets to fall into the public domain. They had to settle for about $250 million in stock. What Google did get is now a fear that any employees that leave Waymo might find themselves the target of a lawsuit. Uber is still working on autonomous cars. Levandowski is considering starting another self-driving truck company. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A Swedish company offers plant based burger, and it tastes like human meat | Oumph! is a Swedish company that created human-flavored plant-based meat to encourage people to try out plant-based meats. | 4Miscellaneous
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The Online Library and Learning Platform for Professional Developers (Sponsor) | Packt's Spring Sale is on and for a limited period, all eBooks and Videos are only $10. Our Products are available as PDF, ePub, and MP4 files for you to download and keep forever. All the practical content you need - by developers for developers. Learn more. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Meta employees say goodbye to perks like on-site laundry | Meta is cutting the free laundry and dry-cleaning services at its offices. It will also begin serving dinner after the last shuttle departs campus, meaning that employees will have to choose between a free meal or a free ride home. Meta will be increasing annual employee wellness stipends from $700 to $3,000 per year to account for the changes. | 4Miscellaneous
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Flowrift Space (GitHub Repo) | Flowrift is a collection of beautifully designed Tailwind CSS UI blocks. It features a responsive preview and code view. Users can easily copy and share blocks. This repository links to Flowrift's site and development pages. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Engineers Build Tweezers So Tiny They Can Pick Up Individual Molecules | Engineers at Vanderbilt University have built optical tweezers that can pick up individual proteins and DNA molecules without damaging them. The opto-thermo-electrohydrodynamic tweezers use a laser to trap and lift individual objects as small as ten nanometers. It does this without exposing the objects to high-intensity light or heat. The technology could help doctors diagnose diseases like Alzheimer's sooner. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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PayPal might buy Pinterest | PayPal has made an offer to acquire Pinterest for $45 billion. It plans to finance the purchase mostly in stock. Acquiring Pinterest will help PayPal gain a foothold in the growing social commerce space. The social network is a safe purchase as it has avoided many of the problems that other social networks have faced. PayPal has spent much of the past year expanding outside of its usual business, investing in cryptocurrency trading and in the buy-now-pay-later space. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Tim Cook says Apple wants to use AR to make conversations better | Tim Cook offered some hints about Apple's thinking on augmented reality and cars in a recent interview with The New York Times. Augmented reality is critically important to Apple's future. It could be used to enhance conversations with imagery in many fields, such as health, education, retail, and gaming. The latest leaks suggest that Apple plans to launch a mixed reality device next year. Cook hinted at the company's plans to develop a car, but he also noted that not every project eventually ships. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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NASA Has a $3.46 Billion Plan to Cool Yellowstone and Harvest it for Energy | The supervolcano underneath Yellowstone National Park is one of the greatest natural threats to human civilization, even though it is not predicted to erupt any time in the next 10,000 years. NASA plans to ensure that the volcano remains dormant by drilling holes into the side of the volcano's lower sides and then pumping high-pressure cold water in and out. The outgoing water would reach temperatures of approximately 350 degrees Celsius and could be used to generate electricity. The plan is only theoretical as there is a lack of data on the risks of drilling into the side of a volcano. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Rocket Lab unveils details of new reusable Neutron launcher | Rocket Lab has unveiled details about its Neutron rocket. The rocket will be made out of a special carbon composite and will be mostly reusable. It will have its second stage inside of the first one, so the first stage remains with the rocket after its fuel is spent. The second stage will be attached to the payload and stay housed inside the body of the rocket. The top of the rocket will open up once in space to release the second stage and payload. The payload will then be released through a hinged fairing. A video featuring Rocket Lab's CEO Peter Beck eating a hat and then explaining the design is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Want to become a supervillain? Here’s a step-by-step guide (15 minute read) | Ryan North is the author of 'How to Take Over the World: Practical Schemes and Scientific Solutions for the Aspiring Supervillain', a book that guides readers through a step-by-step process towards world domination. North is a webcomic pioneer and has written several Marvel Comics series. This article features an interview with North that discusses the new book and North's process in writing it. | 4Miscellaneous
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This ‘smart’ face mask can translate what you say into eight languages | Donut Robotics in Japan has developed a face mask that can translate what the wearer is saying into eight different languages. The C-FACE Smart Mask works by connecting to a smartphone app to translate words into text messages or speech. It will be available in Japan in September for around $40 per mask. The company plans to sell the masks in China, the US, and Europe. | 4Miscellaneous
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This Amplifier Chip for Light Is Faint No More | A new device is able to boost light signals up to 1,000 times. | 4Miscellaneous
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This Tool Lets You Program an Entire App With One Voice Command | CodeVox is a tool that can generate lines of code from natural speech. It works with Python and JavaScript. CodeVox uses OpenAI's Codex AI system to translate natural language to programming languages. Codex is trained on a data set of publicly available code. Its current version can execute about 37 percent of tasks users give it, and it is prone to bias. CodeVox demonstrates how Codex can be used to help make coding accessible to a larger audience. A video demonstration of CodeVox is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Could these robots be more realistic? (3 minute video) | A company called Engineered Arts is making extremely life-like robots. This is a video showing them off, it's actually pretty incredible, especially how smoothly the robots blink. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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ByteDance picks Oracle as partner to try to save TikTok U.S | Oracle will partner with ByteDance to keep TikTok operating in the US. US officials had concerns over the user information that the app could potentially pass to China, so President Donald Trump ordered TikTok to be sold to a US entity or be shut down. Oracle will assume management of TikTok's US user data and is negotiating a stake in TikTok's US operations. The deal includes a commitment to creating a US-headquartered company with 20,000 new jobs. It is unknown whether the deal will be approved. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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whereami (GitHub Repo) | whereami uses Wi-Fi signals and machine learning to predict your location. It works for small distances of between 2 to 10 meters. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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First Death Reported in China After Monkey B Virus Infection | A 53-year-old veterinarian from China has died from a Monkey B virus infection. Monkey B is a type of Herpes virus that is transmitted horizontally and through direct contact with bodily fluids. It is rare in humans, with only one other case documented in the 1990s. The victim was dissecting two dead monkeys in early March and developed symptoms a month later. He died in late May. There were over 500 macaques infected with the virus in The Silver Springs State Park in Florida last year. | 4Miscellaneous
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Robinhood will give retail investors access to IPO shares, a longstanding Wall Street realm | Amateur investors will soon have access to initial public offering shares through Robinhood. Retail traders usually have to wait until companies are listed on an exchange to begin trading. Robinhood's IPO Access will give retail traders the same opportunity to access IPOs previously reserved for Wall Street's institutional investors or high-net-worth individuals. Medical scrubs company Figs will be the first company to offer its IPO shares on the platform. Robinhood will go public in the first half of 2021, but it is unclear whether its clients will be able to invest in its IPO. | 4Miscellaneous
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The average age of employees at all the top tech companies, in one chart | Older employees in tech have had a harder time getting hired or keeping their jobs in recent years, and older startup founders have had difficulty securing funding due to their age. A market research firm decided to investigate the median age of employees at the top tech companies in the US and found that most employees in the tech world are in their late 20s. The resulting chart of the median employee ages at top tech companies is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Algorithms for Love: Japan Will Soon Launch an AI Dating Service | Japan's population has shrunk every year for the last 13 years. Possible reasons for this could be economic insecurity, women prioritizing careers over raising a family, and strict immigration standards. Young people in Japan seem to have lost interest in marriage, dating, and sex. This has become a concern for the Japanese Government, so it recently announced a 2 billion yen ($19.2 million) artificial intelligence matchmaking initiative. Government-aided matchmaking in Japan is already offered in 25 out of 47 of Japan's prefectures, so it is not a new concept. The Japanese government hopes that using AI will result in more compatible matches. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Coinbase removes ‘backed by US dollars’ claim for USDC stablecoin | Coinbase has made an important update on the USD Coin page following an audit. The page previously stated that all of the coin's reserves were held in cash, but the audit found that USDC's reserves were not fully backed by US dollars held in a bank account. Coinbase's USDC page now states that each USDC is backed by one dollar or asset with equivalent fair value. Users can always redeem one USDC for one US dollar. Circle, the company that oversees USDC, recently announced plans to become a full-reserve national digital currency bank in the US. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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The former CEO of Google has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus | Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, and his family have won approval to become citizens of Cyprus. It is unclear exactly why the Schmidt family applied for citizenship in the Mediterranean nation. Other billionaires have controversially purchased citizenship in countries such as New Zealand, but it is uncommon for Americans to apply to the Cyprus program. Anti-corruption activists have grown concerned with citizenship purchase programs as it allows criminals to purchase foreign citizenship to escape prosecution in their home countries and to commit further crimes. | 4Miscellaneous
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Tesla drivers can now request Full Self Driving beta tests | Tesla has begun rolling out a Full Self Driving beta button for drivers to test out the technology before its wider release. The company will assess driver behavior for a week before allowing them to use the software. Critics are accusing Tesla of irresponsible marketing as FSD technology could be dangerous if misused. Tesla has been unresponsive to official recommendations for improvements by the National Transportation Safety Board. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Tinder Will Let You Swipe Around the Globe for Free While Social Distancing | Tinder will allow users to change their location for free until April 30. The feature is usually reserved for paid members, but the company is enabling it in order to make self-quarantining more bearable for its users. Users can change their location through the app's settings. Other dating apps and sites have started implementing virtual and video dating services. Mixer events have now moved to online chat rooms. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A Russian Start-Up Wants to Project Giant Billboards in Space | Russian startup StartRocket plans on launching dozens of CubeSat satellites into the sky to create gigantic billboards. These billboards would display advertisements for a year at a time. The ads would be visible from evening to morning twilight. They say the tech will be ready by 2021. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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TiVo confirms its customers will soon see ads before DVR recordings | All TiVo customers will start seeing video advertisements before DVR recordings, including customers with lifetime subscription plans. The change will be rolled out to all devices within the next 90 days. Customers will have an option to skip the ads as soon as they start up, but there will be a slow delay before content will be displayed. The reaction from customers is as expected, with many threatening to cancel their subscriptions as soon as the changes begin. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California if it's forced to classify drivers as employees | Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that Uber will likely shut down temporarily in California if the ruling that the company must reclassify its drivers as full-time employees is not overturned. Khosrowshahi is advocating an alternate solution to the law that would have gig companies paying into a fund that provides workers paid time off or health-care benefits. If Uber's appeal is not successful, the company will likely pause operations and resume later at a more limited capacity. The service will likely shut down until November, when voters will decide on a law that would exempt drivers for app-based transportation and delivery companies from being considered employees. Khosrowshahi emphasized that pausing the service will have negative impacts on drivers' livelihoods in the state during a time of hardship. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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What’s a five-letter word for “acquire”? NYT buys Wordle for “low 7 figures” | The New York Times has announced that it will purchase Wordle for a number in the low seven figures. It will remain free to play and no changes will be made to its gameplay. Current players' win records and streaks will be retained. While NYT has many free games that can be played without signing in or registering, some games require a subscription to play a full version or for more features. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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The coronavirus crisis could pave the way to universal basic income | Countries around the globe have effectively shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic and this is likely to cause a global financial crisis. Leaders around the world are starting to consider implementing a Universal Basic Income. A UBI is a regular cash payment to the population with minimal or no conditions. Some experts believe that the economy may not be able to revive itself without a UBI. Spain is looking to implement a UBI as soon as possible. The US recently released its first wave of stimulus relief checks, but these checks are unlikely to have a positive effect on the economy as people are hesitant to spend money if they don't know when they will get paid next. Give feedback by replying here or messaging me on Twitter @tldrdan! If you don't want to receive future editions of TLDR, please click here. | 4Miscellaneous
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When Autonomous Cars Teach Themselves to Drive Better Than Humans | Humans and autonomous vehicles (AVs) see the world in very different ways. AVs can view everything in their vicinity and make constant predictions, while humans drive around with limited situational awareness and deal with uncertainty on a subconscious level. Many AVs learn how to drive from humans, which can make uncertain situations harder to train. Cruise recently unveiled an AI that can detect cyclists, predict their movements, and then maneuver to give them more space. A 6-second clip of the AI giving way to a cyclist coming from behind is linked in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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