headline
stringlengths 8
699
| content
stringlengths 43
1.82k
| category
class label 5
classes |
|---|---|---|
The Speed of Sound on Mars Is Strangely Different | High-frequency sounds travel more than 10 meters per second faster on Mars than low-frequency sounds due to the unique properties of carbon dioxide molecules at low pressure. During the day, the warming of the surface of Mars generates convective updrafts that create strong turbulence, resulting in temperature and pressure fluctuations. The discovery was made using microphones and lasers aboard the Perseverance rover. Changes in the speed of sound also helped researchers measure large and rapid temperature changes that other sensors were not able to detect. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
China Steps In the Metaverse with Baidu: Meet Xi Rang | Baidu has launched its own version of the metaverse called Xi Rang. The world will be accessible through smartphones and computers, not just with VR headsets. Xi Rang currently offers a central city, the ability to interact with avatars, creation tools, and a place for people to gather for entertainment. It is still in development and more features are expected in the near future. A video that shows the world inside Xi Rang is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Facebook’s new fantasy sports-like prediction games let you blast your boldest picks to everyone you know | Facebook Fantasy Games are fantasy sports-like prediction games that let users guess what will happen in sports, TV shows, and pop culture. The games will roll out first for mobile users in the US and Canada. Games will have public leaderboards, but users can make their own public or private leagues. Users won't be able to wager real money on the games through Facebook. Facebook launched a website for its cloud gaming service in July, and it also offers a game streaming service. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Former SpaceX engineers bring autonomous, electric rail vehicle startup out of stealth | Parallel Systems is a company founded by three former SpaceX engineers to build autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles. It aims to reduce carbon emissions in freight and solve the supply chain constraints of trucking and railway systems. The startup recently came out of stealth mode with a $49.55 million Series A raise. It will use the funds to build a second-generation vehicle and launch an advanced testing program to figure out how to integrate the vehicles into real-world operations. Parallel will have to convince a legacy railroad partner to let the startup use its rails before finding out if its tech can handle real-world operations. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Microsoft Edge is getting a built-in VPN powered by Cloudflare | Microsoft Edge Secure Network is a feature recently discovered on a Microsoft support page. It provides a service similar to a proxy or VPN that encrypts browsing data and prevents online tracking. Users will get 1GB of free data per month. The feature has not been released yet, but it is likely to be available soon. A screenshot of the feature is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Bingo (GitHub Repo) | Bingo is a package manager for golang binaries. It keeps a link between installed binaries and source packages. With Bingo, users can update binaries using the name of the binary, install binaries to any location, control the name of installed binaries, and install multiple versions of the same package. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Robert Downey Jr.'s Series on AI Is Available on YouTube Right Now | YouTube has released its new documentary series, The Age of AI. It is produced, hosted, and narrated by Robert Downey Jr. The series is eight episodes long and it looks into the future of technology and the possibilities of AI in the most humane way possible. RDJ debunks every myth about machine learning and artificial intelligence and offers insight into the latest advancements in the field. Google has recently made YouTube Originals free to watch. YouTube Premium subscribers can watch the entire show right away, while free users will have to wait a week for each new episode. A trailer for the show is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Samsung Galaxy S10 leaks in first real-life image w/ punch hole cutout, slim bezels | The first picture of the Samsung Galaxy S10 has leaked. It looks like the bezels on the top and bottom are smaller than before, and the front facing camera is just a "hole-punch" style circle in the upper right hand corner. The phone will also have the ability to wirelessly charge other compatible devices like handsets and watches. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Watch China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft land on the moon in this amazing video | China's Chang'e 5 lander spacecraft has successfully touched down on the Moon and collected the first lunar samples in 44 years. A short video of the landing and footage of Chang'e 5 collecting samples is available in the article. The spacecraft launched on November 23 and touched down on Tuesday at 11:11 pm Beijing Time. Chang'e 5 will launch back into lunar orbit on Thursday and re-enter Earth's atmosphere around December 16. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Culr (Web Tool) | I'm a big fan of this color picker, it has a bunch of color palette presets that are sort of bright and happy looking. There are options for monochromatic, triad, and tetradic color palettes. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Architects Design World's First Houses With '3D-Printed Steel Exoskeleton' | Madre Natura is a project in Sardinia that features the world's first 3D printed modular houses. The houses are designed to let wind pass through and provide renewable energy resources. An energy tower at the center of each building harvests energy from solar and wind. The homes are equipped with smart cameras and fire detectors. There are no stairs for the buildings as residents will be able to use the natural terrain instead. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Scientists Just Engineered Human Heart Tissue That Beats Like The Real Thing | Scientists have grown a heart atria (the upper chambers of the heart that pumps blood) from stem cells. It can beat, express genes, and respond to drugs, so this is going to be really great for helping scientists develop treatments for various heart diseases. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
The World’s Biggest Social Virtual Reality Gathering Is Happening Right Now | Virtual Market 4 is a Japanese expo that features virtual apparel and avatars. It is currently being held in the VRChat ecosystem. The event has drawn the attention of big brands and has created an almost CES-like feel. VRChat is the most popular social VR application, comparable to a modern Second Life. Virtual Market 3 hosted more than 710,000 people, and organizers are expecting more than a million visitors this year. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
The baseline for web development in 2022 (21 minute read) | Microsoft dropped support for Internet Explorer in 2021. After this, many other companies started dropping support for the browser. For years, Internet Explorer was the support baseline for many tools. Now that it is gone, the new baseline is low-spec Android devices for performance, Safari for Web Standards, and 4G for networks. This article discusses the support baseline for modern web development, exploring the state of technology to find the best way to optimize website performance. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
How to Handle Secrets on the Command Line | The command line wasn't designed to keep secrets, so it takes some extra care and effort to keep things secure. This article looks at three methods for handling secrets on the command line, looking at the risks of each approach and how to use each method as safely as possible. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Sourcetrail (GitHub Repo) | Sourcetrail is an open-source cross-platform source explorer that helps developers become productive with unfamiliar source code. It indexes code and gathers data about its structure, then it provides a simple interface that allows developers to search code, display the structure of the source code, and view the source locations of currently selected code snippets. It supports C, C++, Java, and Python. Sourcetrail can be connected to many popular IDEs. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Google Maps (Web App) | Google Maps now lets you walk around in the International Space Station! Click on the sides of your screen to turn and the bottom of your screen to walk forward. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
igel (GitHub Repo) | igel is a machine learning tool that can train, fit, test, and use models without code. It features a GUI and support for most dataset types, all state-of-the-art machine learning models, different data preprocessing methods, and much more. A quick start guide is available in the repository. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Google Podcasts in-episode search is coming, shows now being fully transcribed | Google Podcasts is now automatically transcribing some podcasts and then inserting the transcripts into the podcast’s page metadata. This makes content from the podcasts searchable, which means podcasts can now be found by entering certain phrases or topics into the search field. The technology behind the transcripts may be used to help more people consume content if they prefer text over audio mediums. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
The FBI’s email system was hacked to send out fake cybersecurity warnings | A hacker has managed to send emails to over 100,000 addresses using the FBI's email servers. The emails claimed that the recipients were the victims of a sophisticated chain attack orchestrated by Vinny Troia, a prominent cybersecurity researcher. Troia has identified a potential suspect, an individual who has allegedly tried damaging Troia's reputation in similar ways in the past. The accused hacker said that they could have caused much more damage, and has told media outlets about how he gained access. | 4Miscellaneous
|
Ask HN: What was your experience starting a tech consultancy? (HackerNews Thread) | A user asks for advice, warnings, and stories on starting a tech consultancy. The discussion mainly centers around making sales and hiring the right people for the job. Managing the sales process carefully is important in order to maximize income and time. While new startups might start their business thinking about the product, experienced business owners understand that the core focus for their businesses is making quality sales. | 4Miscellaneous
|
DeepTraffic (Github Repo) | DeepTraffic is a deep reinforcement learning competition run by MIT. There are 20 vehicles on a 7-lane road, with your algorithm controlling some of the vehicles while the game controls others. Your goal is to get a vehicle through the traffic as quickly as possible. There's a leaderboard for the people who manage to drive their car through the fastest. Looks like a fun way to apply deep reinforcement learning. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Ohm (GitHub Repo) | Ohm is a toolkit for building parsers, interpreters, and compilers. The Ohm language is used to describe syntax and the Ohm Library provides a JavaScript interface for creating parsers, interpreters, and more from Ohm grammars. Examples of projects built using Ohm are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Twilio to Acquire SendGrid, the Leading Email API Platform | Twilio (an API to send SMS messages) is acquiring SendGrid (an API to send emails) in an all-stock deal worth $2 billion. The deal will close in the first half of 2019. Twilio's CEO says, "Increasingly, our customers are asking us to solve all of their strategic communications challenges - regardless of channel. Email is a vital communications channel for companies around the world, and so it was important to us to include this capability in our platform." | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
CodeMiko will see you now | CodeMiko is a virtual streamer with over 640,000 followers. The streamer roleplays as a failed video game character who had dreams of being in a Triple-A game but due to glitches is unable to. Miko used to work on the production alone, but now there is a team behind the stream. Her popularity skyrocketed after a tweet went viral in November. Miko started streaming after losing a job at an animation studio in LA in March last year. She invested $20,000 into setting up her stream. | 4Miscellaneous
|
14 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Software Engineer (10 minute read) | To be a successful software engineer, you should first understand what the job entails and what skills are required to succeed. Software engineers don't just code all day. A software engineer's responsibilities also involve leading design discussions, communicating with stakeholders, and collaborating with peers. It is important to try to get as much experience as possible on real-world teams and projects. Successful engineers usually have a vision that they are able to communicate, are detail-oriented and hardworking, and are always learning. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
What's the Weather on Mars? NASA's InSight Now Providing Daily Reports | In order to tell the difference between a gust of wind and a ‘marsquake’, NASA needed to implement weather sensing capabilities into its InSight lander. The lander records daily temperatures, air pressure, and wind speed and direction. It is currently winter in Elysium Planitia, where the InSight lander is located, with temperatures ranging from 15 Fahrenheit (-9 Celsius) to -80 Fahrenheit (-60 Celsius). Other strange phenomenon has also been recorded, such as dust devils strong enough to tilt the ground beneath the lander. | 4Miscellaneous
|
First 'plug and play' brain prosthesis demoed in paralyzed person | Neuroscience researchers have created a brain-controlled interface that can be used by patients without extensive daily training. Current BCI interfaces require users to retrain for every session. The new BCI uses ECoG electrode arrays, which allow long-term, stable recordings of neural activity. It was trained using a machine learning algorithm that matches brain activity to a user's desired movements. Over time, the study participants were able to develop a consistent mental model for controlling the interface. Participants could continue using the interface even after it was reset. After learning how to use the BCI, participants were able to continue using it without retraining and could even go days without practice with little decline in performance. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Maybe you should do less 'work' | Some developers finish their assigned workloads faster than expected and then they ask for more similar work to do. Part of the reason for this is to try to reach a standard that they have already met. Constantly overworking can lead to burnout. Finding other activities to do along with work that can benefit both you and your employer, such as skill development, will help prevent burnout while improving your value as an employee. | 4Miscellaneous
|
A terrifying mechanical dog is now stalking a Singapore park to make sure people stay properly distant | Singapore is using a Boston Dynamics Spot robot to patrol park grounds to remind people to keep six feet apart. The robot currently only plays a recorded message about proper pandemic protocol. It is equipped with cameras and has the ability to help authorities keep track of potential crowding. If the current trial is successful, more robots will be rolled out to enforce social distancing measures in public spaces. A 39-second video is available in the article showing the robot on patrol. | 4Miscellaneous
|
The Popular Family Safety App Life360 Is Selling Precise Location Data on Its Tens of Millions of Users (15 minute read) | Life360, a company that makes an app marketed as a way for parents to track their children's movements using their phones, has been selling its users' location data. Two former employees of location data brokers claim that Life360 is one of the largest sources of data for the location data economy. Life360 uses data as a core part of its business model. It made $16 million in 2020, 20 percent of its revenue that year, from selling location data. The location data industry is a growing, multi-billion dollar industry with few safeguards to prevent the misuse of this sensitive information. | 4Miscellaneous
|
About 3% of SpaceX's Starlink satellites may have failed | SpaceX has launched nearly 800 Starlink satellites so far, but 3% have seemingly failed because they are no longer maneuvering in orbit. The failed satellites could be dangerous as they could potentially crash into other spacecraft and generate space debris. With plans to launch 42,000 spacecraft by the end of this decade, the 3% failure rate could eventually mean more than 1,200 dead satellites. SpaceX says the satellites will naturally deorbit and burn up in Earth's atmosphere, but the process can take up to five years. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Hands-on with the new, more colorful, M2-powered MacBook Air | Apple has revealed a new MacBook Air with an M2 chip. The new design is 11mm thick and weighs 2.7 pounds. There are two new color options, a dark blue 'midnight' and a light gold 'starlight'. Its 13.6-inch display can hit 500 nits of brightness and supports the P3 wide color gamut for a billion colors. The new MacBook Air has MagSafe charging and a full-sized Touch ID button. It has up to 18 hours of battery life. More details, including pictures of the new laptop, are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
tsParticles (GitHub Repo) | tsParticles is a lightweight TypeScript library for creating particles. It is almost completely dependency-free (it requires pathseg for the Polygon Mask feature and Icon Fonts must be included in the page). It is fully compatible with the particles.js configuration - you only need to change the script source to convert it to tsParticles. tsParticles supports custom shapes and presets. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Previously unknown bacteria discovered on the space station could help grow plants | The International Space Station has become the host for unique bacteria over the last 20 years. Four strains of bacteria have been found on the space station. The bacteria are from a family that are helpful to plants, promoting their growth and fighting pathogens that affect them. Three of the strains are new. They aren't harmful to astronauts, and they could potentially help the growth of plants in space. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Dragon scale solar tiles installed on Google buildings in Silicon Valley | Around 90,000 Dragonscale solar panels have been installed on two buildings at Google's Silicon Valley campus. The panels will generate enough electricity to cover around 40% of electricity use in the buildings. The overlapping design of the tiles allows them to reach an effective efficiency rating close to 17%. They have a warranty that covers their ability to generate electricity as well as their integrity as a building material for up to 30 years. A video showing the Dragonscale panels is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
|
Wuhan’s 11 Million People Face Quarantine as Virus Fears Spread | Wuhan, China's seventh-largest city, with approximately 11 million people, will be under a partial quarantine starting on Thursday. All transport from the city has been canceled due to the coronavirus that originated from the city. 17 people have been killed by the virus so far, which was first reported on December 31. The World Health Organization is convening on an emergency meeting regarding the coronavirus. Cases of coronaviruses infecting humans are more common in China due to close contact with domestic animals and the consumption of wild animals. The SARS epidemic in 2003 killed over 800 people. Information being released by the Chinese government regarding the virus is questionable. Mass migrations due to the Lunar New Year is a major concern as it is a perfect recipe for a worldwide epidemic. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Guy Who Reverse-Engineered TikTok Reveals The Scary Things He Learned, Advises People To Stay Away From It (15 minute read) | A Reddit user made a post detailing their findings when reverse-engineering the TikTok app. The investigation revealed that the app contained some huge security concerns, including the ability to run remote code, detailed access to device data, and the ability to set up a local proxy server on your device for transcoding media. The app tries to obfuscate its functionalities when being reverse-engineered, showing that the company has put a lot of effort into hiding what it does. Governments around the world are banning the app due to privacy concerns. The post, which includes more details on what the TikTok app does, is linked in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
|
Amazon in advanced talks about putting HQ2 in Northern Virginia, those close to process say | Amazon is very close to making Crystal City, Virginia, an urban neighborhood south of downtown Washington DC, their second headquarters. Things are far enough along that Amazon has had internal discussions about how quickly it can move employees there and Crystal City's top real estate developer has pulled some buildings off of the leasing market. Amazon says it plans to make $5 billion in capital investments in whatever city it chooses for its second headquarters, and while most cities' offers to entice Amazon to come have been secret, we know Maryland has offered an incentive package worth $8.5 billion and Newark has offered an incentive package worth $7 billion. The ultimate decision is likely to rest with Jeff Bezos, but it really looks like Washington, DC is going to be the site of Amazon's HQ2. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Apple, Hyundai set to agree electric car tie-up | Hyundai Motor and Apple Inc are planning to sign a partnership deal on autonomous electric cars by March. The companies will either build the cars at Kia Motors' factory in Georgia or will invest jointly in a new factory. They plan to produce 100,000 vehicles by around 2024. A beta version of Apple's car might be released next year. Both companies have declined to comment on the rumors. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Tilt (GitHub Repo) | Tilt is an open source project that makes it really easy to run Kubernetes locally, and gives you visibility into problems with your builds, yaml files, etc. It's a simplified alternative to kubectl, you can just run "tilt up" and your app will go live at http://localhost. There's a one minute demo video in the repo. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Breaking Down JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) | We've been talking with developers about JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) and the questions that usually come up are around how to secure them, pros and cons, and how to revoke JWTs. Here are the answers to all of your burning JWT questions. Download the eBook today! | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
A16z, Coinbase-Backed Startup Looks to Distribute Crypto to Everyone on Earth by Scanning Their Eyeballs | Worldcoin has designed an orb-shaped device that can create unique personal identifiers from iris scans. Sam Altman, Worldcoin founder and former head of Y Combinator, devised the concept when experimenting with universal basic income. Altman's interests lie in finding ways to distribute wealth globally using technology in a way that circumvents the role of the government. Worldcoin recently raised around $25 million from investors. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
map33.js (GitHub Repo) | map33.js is a JavaScript library for building 3D maps. Users can enter a location position and it will generate a 3D map of the area. A live demo is linked in the repository. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Amazon to hire 100,000 more workers and give raises to current staff to deal with coronavirus demands | Amazon will be hiring an additional 100,000 employees in the US to meet the surge in demand from online shopping due to the coronavirus outbreak. It will also raise pay for employees by $2 an hour in the US, £2 per hour in the UK, and approximately €2 per hour in many EU countries until the end of April. Amazon has experienced product shortages and delivery delays. Some fulfillment center employees have been taking time off work due to the virus. Amazon has launched a $25 million relief fund for grants that are equal or up to two weeks of pay if an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19. Extra precautions such as cleaning and enforcing hygiene standards have been implemented at Amazon's fulfillment centers. Amazon has advised global employees to work from home if they are able to. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Docker Security: Free eBook + Video Series (Sponsor) | Docker Security: Free eBook + Video Series . Learn how to audit and secure the Docker platform in this comprehensive guide authored by HackerSploit. Download the eBook and you'll also get access to the accompanying 9-episode video series. Download instantly -- no registration required. | 0Sponsor
|
Ask HN: What book to read to get a footing in CS theory? (Hacker News Thread) | Coding can be self-taught or learned quickly through coding boot camps/courses, but topics such as complexity analysis which are taught in computer science degrees may be harder to learn. This thread contains a list of books which discuss theories taught in computer science degrees without delving too deeply into the coding aspect. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
A robot apple-picker is now harvesting fruit in New Zealand orchards | One of New Zealand’s largest food producers has been working with a US startup to produce a robotic system that will work alongside humans to pick fruit 24 hours a day. The robot will not replace jobs but was created instead as there was a growing labor shortage for seasonal workers. Using lidar to navigate the rows between trees, the machine will detect whether a fruit is ripe and then use a vacuum to pick the fruit. While aspects of farming, such as weeding, have been automated for a while now, picking fruits and vegetables is a much harder task due to the careful judgment and delicate handling required to ensure quality crops. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Large genetic study finds first genes connected with ADHD | Scientists did a big study with 20,000 people with ADHD and a control group of 35,000 without ADHD. They identified 304 points with statistically significant differences in DNA between the two groups, grouped into 12 important regions. There seems to be a correlation between genetic risk for ADHD and other conditions like depression and anorexia. Some of the genes identified also affect other neurological conditions, like speech and learning disabilities, depression, and schizophrenia. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
NASA’s next decade: Build a mission to an ice giant | The astronomy community has released its second decadal survey focused on the needs of astronomers and planetary scientists who study our Solar System. The survey recommends orbiters for Uranus and Enceladus and preparations for sample returns from Mars, the Moon, and Ceres. Which projects will be launched will depend on whether planetary science budgets keep pace with inflation. Details about the proposed projects are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
|
This 2-Acre Vertical Farm Out-Produces 720 Acre ‘Flat Farms’ | Plenty is a startup in San Francisco that focuses on vertical farming technology. It uses robots and artificial intelligence in its vertical farms to optimize the farming process, with a focus on eliminating plant stress. There are limited areas in the world that can grow fresh fruits and vegetables economically, and all of that land is used up. Vertical farming can be achieved anywhere in the world as it is indoors and the environment can be controlled, producing better fruits and vegetables while using 95% less water and 99% less land. It could give independence to many areas that have to rely on imports for food. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
A Guide To New And Experimental CSS DevTools In Firefox (14 minute read) | The Firefox DevTools team has built many tools so that designers and developers can be more efficient and creative. Grid Inspector aids users in examining CSS Grid layouts using a grid outline, which helps developers visualize how their code changes the layout of a site. Shape Path Editor helps developers to easily edit shapes into code by directly clicking and dragging shapes on the page. Fonts Editor automatically detects custom axes on fonts and allows developers to adjust and visualize them. Flexbox Inspector allows developers to inspect elements and view and change the sizing of items. The Changes Panel assists developers with exporting changes to CSS code. An Inactive CSS feature grays out CSS that doesn't affect the page and also shows a tooltip to explain why that property as no effect. The Accessibility Panel has been changed into a powerful inspection and auditing tool that can run different types of checks on a page. Instructions and tips on how to use these tools are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Antibiotic Game-Changer: Phages Can Anticipate Bacteria’s Location and Destroy Them Before They Cause an Infection | Phages are viruses that specialize in invading and killing specific bacteria. Many phages have trouble fighting bacteria in the gut due to a sticky protein called mucin. Researchers have found a rare phage that can be used to target and kill specific bacteria, even in the gut. They were able to demonstrate its effectiveness on bacteria inside complex environments with lab studies. It is the first case where a bacterial infection has been treated with the use of targeted drugs. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Linux Inside (Book) | This book is about the Linux kernel and its insides. It covers how the Linux kernel works and other low-level subject matters. Topics include booting, initialization, interrupts, system calls, synchronization primitives, and memory management. The book is still a work in progress. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Senior Google Scientist Resigns Over "Forfeiture of Our Values" in China | Jack Poulson, a senior research scientist working in Google's research and machine intelligence department resigned to protest Project Dragonfly, a search engine Google built which is designed to remove content that China's authoritarian government views as sensitive, such as information about political dissidents, free speech, democracy, human rights, and peaceful protest. Once news of Dragonfly spread through Google, there were protests inside the company, and a petition with 1400 signatures demanded that an ombudsman be appointed to assess the "moral and ethical issues" posed by Dragonfly. However, Poulson believes he is one of only 5 employees to quit in protest over Project Dragonfly. He says, "It’s incredible how little solidarity there is on this. It is my understanding that when you have a serious ethical disagreement with an issue, your proper course of action is to resign." | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
The mysterious photo of a purple flower that receives 78 million hits each day | An image hosted by Wikimedia Commons has been receiving around 78 million hits a day since roughly June 29 last year. The photo of the purple daisy now accounts for 20% of data requests to the organization's servers. It is unknown where the traffic is coming from, except that it is likely to be from a mobile app. It appears that the mysterious app's developers copied code that links to the image. The app is likely an Indian TikTok clone as the traffic coincides with the date that TikTok was banned in the country. | 4Miscellaneous
|
ISS Photo Explorer (Website) | The ISS photo explorer lets you explore the millions of photographs taken from the International Space Station since the year 2000. All images are loaded directly from the NASA Gateway. The latitude/longitude location of each photo is plotted over a map of Earth. | 4Miscellaneous
|
Translator API (GitHub Repo) | This project implements a multi-lingual translation API that can be run on a single server. It supports translations between over 150 languages, and all tools used in the API are fully open source and modifiable. The prediction API can be run on both CPU and GPU instances. Translator API focuses heavily on cost savings, to the detriment of optimal performance. Tips for improving performance are provided. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Biohacking Lite (15 minute read) | The body is like a battery that can be charged indefinitely. Energy is stored to be released when food becomes scarce. The mechanism is complex, with different storage/release methods for different bodily functions. Weight loss is about removing mass and stored energy, but it isn't as simple as just burning through exercise. A lot of weight is lost through breathing. When losing weight, you should use more energy than you take in, decreasing the size of the 'battery pack'. Weight can fluctuate a lot depending on water intake. In a personal experiment, the author was able to lose around 0.58 pounds per week over a year with an average energy deficit of 500kcal per day. | 4Miscellaneous
|
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt is working to launch a university that would rival Stanford and MIT and funnel tech workers into government work | The US Digital Service Academy is a federal initiative to train a new generation of tech workers for the government. It is set to rival Stanford and MIT. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt will lead the project. The school will offer degrees for digital skills such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence has voted unanimously to recommend the university to Congress. | 4Miscellaneous
|
A self-declared space nation called Asgardia is planning a fully functioning space economy and wants help from Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos | The Space Kingdom of Asgardia is a project to set up a nation that exists entirely in space. It currently has more than 300,000 members paying its residency fees and a parliament of 150 elected representatives. Asgardia aims to transport people to a space station by 2043 in order to build a new democratic society. The space nation has considered approaching Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in order to help them to get into outer space. Asgardia aims to be a fully functioning and independent society, with its own constitution, national symbols, laws, and currency. It was founded in 2016 by billionaire Russian scientist and politician Igor Ashurbeyli, who has invested $12 million of his own money into the project to date. Asgardia plans to take a neutral stance on all Earthly matters. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
China's First-Ever 5G Remote Brain Surgery | In 2019, a doctor in China implanted a deep brain stimulation device into a patient's brain to help control Parkinson's symptoms through a 5G connection. The doctor was 3,000 kilometers away from the patient. Since then, similar surgeries have taken place throughout the country. 5G solves problems like video lag and remote control delay, ensuring a nearly real-time operation. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
GPT-3 Explorer (GitHub Website) | GPT-3 Explorer is a tool for iterating on GPT-3 prompts and settings. It requires an OpenAI API key. GPT-3 Explorer features a GUI for making GPT-3 API completion requests and iterating on prompts, full history, sharing, and the community's best-practices built-in. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Facebook rolls out 3D photos that use AI to simulate depth | Facebook is rolling out a new feature called 3D photos, which uses AI to make it so you can add make-believe depth to photos. The effect basically allows you to rotate photos and peek behind objects (there's an example gif inside), it's pretty cool kind of like looking through a window and being able to see a picture from different angles. Currently the feature only works on iPhone 7 and above, but will eventually be rolled out ot other phones. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Apple will reportedly sell the iPhone as a subscription service | Apple plans to sell iOS devices using a hardware subscription service as part of its push towards subscription services as a whole. The company has increased its emphasis on recurring subscriptions as key revenue streams over the past several years. Its AppleCare and iPhone Upgrade Programs already resemble a hardware subscription in many ways. Details on what the hardware subscription service will entail are not yet available. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
ArchiveBox (GitHub Repo) | ArchiveBox is able to save websites in multiple formats in order to capture a website completely. Many websites are complicated and rely on dynamic content, and sites such as Archive.org and Archive.is are not able to capture the original look and format of the sites completely. ArchiveBox will extract a browsable HTML clone, media, screenshots, PDFs, and more from the site so it can be stored locally. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
swift-log (GitHub Repo) | swift-log is an API package that aims to establish a common logging system for server-side or cross-platform Swift applications. It implements a simplistic and non-configurable logging backend that writes all log messages to stdout. swift-log is designed to be adopted by anybody so that all libraries can log to a shared destination, as not all logging packages support the specific style and requirements needed for every project. Developers are encouraged to configure additional logging backend implementations that log in their preferred style for real-world applications. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Open Props (Website) | Open Props provides CSS custom properties to help accelerate adaptive and consistent design. It can be easily implemented and it is useful in any framework. Props can be customized from the command line or mapped from JS. Examples of sites built with Open Props are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
We Hacked Apple for 3 Months: Here’s What We Found (1 hour read) | During a period of three months, a team of five hackers worked together to find vulnerabilities in Apple's infrastructure, applications, and other parts of its business through Apple's bug bounty program. The team found a total of 55 vulnerabilities, most of which were typically remediated within a couple of business days. Their efforts resulted in 32 payments totaling $288,500, but as Apple seems to do payments in batches, the team will likely be paid more in the coming months. This article follows the process the hackers used to discover the vulnerabilities and exploit them. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Amazon sells a $19,000 do-it-yourself tiny-home kit that takes only 2 days to build — here's what it looks like inside | Amazon has started to sell tiny homes ranging from log cabins to loft-bedroom houses. There are more than two dozen options available with prices ranging from around $5,000 to $35,000. Some of the homes have been advertised as being able to be built in two days by two people. A $19,000 ‘getaway cabin’ is reviewed, with pictures showing the design and the interior of the home. The home has bare minimal materials and only a few features, with three rooms on the main floor and an attic-level bedroom above. Amenities are sparse, and it would require extra work to set up a kitchen. To make up for the lack of electricity, the home features a window in each room for natural lighting. The kit comes with all the materials you need to build the home. However, additional work to build the home’s foundation will be required. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Are Delivery Drones Commercially Viable? Iceland Is About to Find Out | Icelandic startup Aha is using drones to deliver hot food, groceries, and electronics to households in Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik. The crazy part is that they don't have any cameras, radars, or other imaging systems; they are literally just flying by GPS coordinates along routes that have been certified to be free of trees, buildings, and other tall structures. They've completed over 500 deliveries over 5 months with no injuries. You just enter your order into the Aha app, and Aha's cook loads the food onto the drone. Then you track the delivery, go outside to meet it, and agree to accept it. Then the drone lowers your food on a line and buzzes home. Delivery is around US $7, and can be much faster than delivery drivers. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
OpenTelemetry masterclass (Sponsor) | Learn the ins and outs of OpenTelemetry, beginning with general definitions and examples of broad concepts, like telemetry, traces, and instrumentation, and ending with a hands-on workshop where you apply the concepts you learned throughout the course. Learn more. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Google’s biggest announcements at I/O 2022 | Google's two-hour-long I/O keynote on Wednesday was packed with announcements on AI, Android, and Pixel hardware. The Pixel 6A will feature the Pixel 6's Tensor ship and design, but it will have a 12-megapixel camera. Google revealed the Pixel Watch, which will run an updated version of Wear OS 3 and feature Fitbit integration. It will be released later this year. The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro were teased at the event, with renders of the devices showing a slightly different camera cutout and back panel. Many more details about the announcements made at the keynote are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Atari is opening eight video game hotels across the U.S. | Atari is in talks to build a series of gaming hotels across the country. The first hotel is set to open in mid-2020. Last year, the games industry pulled in more than $152 billion. A hotel with this focus could be a huge draw for gamers and families. Atari promises state-of-the-art venues and studios where esports and other gaming competitions can take place. There will also be virtual and augmented reality gaming options. The hotels will also have restaurants, movie theaters, gyms, and spaces for business work. Atari did not mention whether classic Atari games will be playable at the hotels. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees | Amazon will provide a minimum wage of $15/hour to all US employees. This will affect roughly 250,000 full time employees, as well as 100,000 seasonal employees. Amazon said it will also start advocating for an increase to the federal minimum wage. Jeff Bezo says "we listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead. We're excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us." | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Messenger Rooms are Facebook’s answer to Zoom and Houseparty for the pandemic | Facebook has announced Messenger Rooms, a tool for starting virtual hangouts with up to 50 people. WhatsApp video call capabilities have doubled from four people to eight. New video call features have been added to Facebook Dating, and new live-streaming features have been added to both Facebook and Instagram. Rooms will come later to Instagram Direct, WhatsApp, and Portal. Guests can join rooms regardless of whether they have a Facebook account. Rooms are not end-to-end encrypted, unlike WhatsApp video calls. Moderators will be able to kick people out of Rooms at any time. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Tinder says 'there are definitely registered sex offenders on our free products' | Match Group doesn't have clear policies or screening practices to prevent registered sex offenders from signing up. Some users have matched with sex offenders and experienced attempted sexual assault. In an analysis of more than 150 sexual assault cases, it was found that 10 percent of cases involved users who were matched with someone previously accused of or convicted of sexual assault. Match Group carries out background checks for its paid services. It doesn't collect enough information on users of free apps to conduct meaningful background checks. Match Group owns 45 online dating brands and reported $1.7 billion in revenue in 2018. | 4Miscellaneous
|
Huawei is bringing its search app to replace Google’s search engine | Since the US government has stopped Huawei from using Google’s services, Huawei has been forced to replace these apps. Huawei Mobile Services provides official services such as Mobile Cloud, AppGallery, Video, Themes, ScreenMagazine, and more. The most difficult function to replicate is Google’s search engine, but Huawei is working to develop Huawei Search to provide search functionality. The app will soon be available on all Huawei and Honor phones via AppGallery, and new models will have it pre-installed by default. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
A list of new(ish) | This page contains a list of newer command line tools. The list includes replacements for standard tools, new inventions, data processing tools, and grep tools. A link to modern-unix, another collection of modern alternatives to common UNIX commands, is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Farmers Are Creating Circular Gardens in the Sahara Desert. Here’s Why | The Great Green Wall project was launched in 2007 to help prevent desertification in Africa. Overall, the program has only managed to plant four percent of the pledged 100 million hectares due to issues with planting trees in the desert and a lack of funding. Senegalese farmers have started to build circular gardens with plants and trees that produce fruits and medicines as part of the project. The circular pattern allows roots to grow inwards, trapping liquids and bacteria and enhancing water retention and composting. The gardens were a response to the pandemic, as Senegal had to close its borders and many villages were dependent on foreign food and medicines. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
PingCAP Talent Plan (GitHub Repo) | This repository contains a series of training courses about writing distributed systems in Go and Rust. The courses mainly consist of projects where coding problems are presented. While the courses are maintained by PingCAP for training and evaluating students, new employees, and new contributors to TiDB and TiKV, they are appropriate for all Go and Rust programmers and do not require any interest or knowledge in either TiDB or TiKV. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Inside the Invasive, Secretive “Bossware” Tracking Workers (13 minute read) | Workplaces have started integrating software to track employee productivity, resulting in employers essentially being able to spy on workers inside their own homes. Bossware is generally able to access data about everything that happens on the device that it is running on. Most products take frequent screenshots and can provide live video feeds of the device. Some products even integrate keyloggers. Depending on the type of software, workers might not be able to tell when the software is surveilling them. Workers might find requests to install this software difficult to refuse, especially in times of record unemployment. Companies do not always provide work devices for employees. | 4Miscellaneous
|
Android’s latest update will let you schedule texts, secure your passwords, and more | Google recently announced new features for Android, including a password checkup tool and a way to schedule texts. Improvements to TalkBack, Maps, Assistant, and Android Auto were also announced. Password Checkup checks user credentials against a list of known compromised passwords and notifies the user if they need to change their passwords. Talkback now has a dozen new multi-finger gestures for interacting with apps and performing common actions, a single menu system, a customizable interface, and more language support. Maps is getting a dark mode. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Uber and Lyft are suing New York City after it limited the length of time drivers can cruise without passengers | Studies have shown that Uber and Lyft have increased the amount of traffic in cities. Drivers spend about half their time without passengers. A law in New York, implemented by the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission, introduced a limit on how long ride-share drivers were allowed to stay on the road without passengers. Uber and Lyft have filed lawsuits against the city in order to fight the rule. They argue that the rule is arbitrary and that it hurts both drivers and passengers in less populated areas. Both companies have disconnected drivers in times of low demand to comply with the law. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
The Ultimate Guide to Onboarding Software Engineers (16 minute read) | Onboarding is difficult for new employees as there is a lot to learn and there are things that are often missed. Creating an onboarding structure can lower turnover and help new recruits become productive workers in a shorter period. This article discusses onboarding new employees, the different aspects to consider, and tips for more effective onboarding. It provides an onboarding framework to follow with ways to check in on the progress of the new employee. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Dementia-preventing nasal spray moves to human trials | A novel nasal spray designed to prevent the neurodegeneration associated with dementia has shown promising results in mouse studies. The spray is a combination of two pre-existing drugs. Mice with neurodegenerative diseases showed improved cognition and less accumulation of toxic proteins in the brain after the spray was intranasally administered five times a week for a month. The combination of drugs was more effective at preventing neurodegeneration than each drug by itself. Human trials will start soon in several countries, including Japan and the US. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Data-Scientist-Roadmap (GitHub Repo) | This repository contains free data science resources. It is split into four parts: roadmap and fundamentals, free online courses, data science projects, and machine learning books. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
My Ordinary Life: Improvements Since the 1990s (10 minute read) | Many things have changed since the 1990s, especially in our quality of life. It is difficult to see how new things change our lives when they first come out, but one can see the impact of an invention by looking back at their downstream effects. Many small inventions have added up to create the lives that we live in today. The internet, human genetics, AI, and VR now exist, and many small changes have made everything faster, more easily usable, and more organized. People no longer need to carry around a lot of equipment to do basic tasks - in fact, almost all machines are now smaller and much more convenient, for example, hearing aids. We wear better clothes, with specially designed fabrics. Medical procedures that used to be out-of-reach for average citizens are now affordable, for example, LASIK surgery. Society is now a lot safer and interconnected. Food is widely available in many places, and food quality and cleanliness are high. Most public places now have smoking restrictions. | 4Miscellaneous
|
Police Use Fitbit Data to Charge 90-Year-Old Man in Stepdaughter's Killing | 90-year-old Anthony Aiello murdered his 67-year-old step-daughter. Unluckily for Anthony, his step-daughter was wearing her Fitbit. The police used Fitbit data to determine her exact time of death as her heart stopped, then used video surveillance from the step-daughter's security system to determine that Anthony's car had been there at the time of her death. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
SETI neural networks spot dozens of new mysterious signals emanating from distant galaxy | SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, has a new AI system which helped them discover 72 "fast radio bursts" from a mysteriously noisy galaxy 3 billion miles away by looking through their previously gathered data. The radio bursts show no pattern (at least no pattern longer than 10 milliseconds), but it is possible that a hyper-advanced civilization could cram communications into very short bursts. One fast radio burst, FRB 121102, is particularly interesting, because it is the only stellar object known to give off the signals regularly, and so is the target of continued observation. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Why Some Memories Seem Like Movies: 'Time Cells' Discovered In Human Brains | Episodic memories are memories that play like a movie. Scientists have identified the cells that make episodic memory possible. Time cells place a timestamp on memories as they are being formed, allowing events or experiences to be recalled in the right order. While time cells have been identified before in mouse brains, this is the first time they have been identified in human brains. The presence of time cells in humans explains why people with damage to the hippocampus have problems remembering events in the right order. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
|
Creepyface (Website) | Creepyface is a JavaScript library that makes your face look at the pointer. It requires an image for each angle (at 45 degree intervals). Users can create their own Creepyface on the website via webcam or download the code from GitHub to make custom versions. Examples are available on the website. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Jack Dorsey leaves Twitter's board of directors | Jack Dorsey has left the board of Twitter. Dorsey resigned from his CEO position last fall. He is friendly with Elon Musk and has discussed rolling over his 2.4% ownership stake in Twitter into Musk's takeover deal. Dorsey's next move remains unclear. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Elon Musk busts Clubhouse limit, fans stream to YouTube, he switches to interviewing Robinhood CEO (15 minute read) | Elon Musk recently made a debut on Clubhouse, a platform that lets people join rooms to listen in on conversations between hosts and guests. He talked on a range of topics, including space travel, colonies on Mars, crypto, AI, and Covid-19 vaccines. Musk also interviewed Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. More than 5,000 people viewed the stream on Clubhouse, breaking the service's previously maintained limits. Links to recordings of the stream are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
|
Apple to close US retail stores and all others outside China until March 27th | Apple will close all of its retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27 in order to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission. The online store will remain operational, as well as the stores within China. Customers will still be able to find authorized repair shops that remain open or arrange mail-in service. Employees will still be paid while the stores are closed. WWDC 2020 will be an online-only experience when it happens in June. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Redwood (GitHub Repo) | Redwood is an opinionated, full-stack, serverless web application framework that can build and deploy JAMstack applications with ease. It uses React, GraphQL, Prisma, Babel, and Webpack. Redwood features opinionated defaults for formatting, routing with dynamic parameters, automatic page-based code-splitting, boilerplate-less Graph QL API construction, and more. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Europe will reportedly launch a major probe into Amazon’s business practices in days | EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is preparing to launch a formal investigation into Amazon’s use of data from third-party merchants that sell through its platform. Amazon’s market is host to many other businesses, but Amazon also sells its own products on the same market. The investigation will look into whether Amazon is unfairly advantaged by the data it collects from other businesses. During her term, Vestager has fined Google multiple times for a combined total of $9.5 billion for antitrust violations. Vestager’s office is currently planning to fine Qualcomm more than $1 billion for allegedly trying to prevent other chipmakers from doing business with Apple. | 1Big Tech & Startups
|
Renders of Google’s gigantic San Jose campus show how it could feel more like a neighborhood | Google has released renderings of its new 'Downtown West' campus in San Jose. The campus will cover 79-acres and contain office spaces, housing, parks, retail spaces, and more. There will be 5,900 residential 'dwelling units', and 7.3 million gross square feet of office space. The article contains a couple of the renderings along with a map of the campus and a link to a 39-minute YouTube video about the plan. Google also intends to build campuses in New York City and Mountain View. | 4Miscellaneous
|
The Day AppGet Died | In August last year, Microsoft made an offer to hire the developer of AppGet and acquire the software. Microsoft had wanted to make changes to how software was distributed on Windows. After a series of meetings, Microsoft went silent, until they announced the launch of WinGet. The core mechanics, terminology, the manifest format and structure, and the folder structure of the repository were very similar to what AppGet had. AppGet is an open-source project, so code-copying or using the idea wasn't an issue, but the developer was upset that they never got credit for their work. | 4Miscellaneous
|
Rich (GitHub Repo) | Rich is a Python library for rich text and formatting in the terminal. It can add color and style, pretty tables, progress bars, markdown, syntax highlighted source code, and more. Examples are available in the repository. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
|
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.