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Amazon to pay $500 million in bonuses to workers most exposed to coronavirus | Amazon recently announced that it will pay out a one-time bonus to its front-line employees who worked for the company through June. The company had cut its $2-an-hour hazard pay for workers at the start of June. Front line workers will get between $150 to $3,000 depending on hours worked and their position in the company. The e-commerce giant has been criticized heavily for its health and safety response to the virus. While it has instituted a variety of safety measures to protect employees, it has also eliminated programs designed to support workers during the pandemic. | 4Miscellaneous
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There are an insane amount of cool space things happening in 2021 | 2020 was a big year for the space industry, with three missions launched to Mars, NASA getting back into the human spaceflight game, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft touching an asteroid, a Japanese vehicle returning with several grams of asteroid regolith, China bringing back some Moon rocks, and many Starships in Texas. In 2021, the three Mars missions will reach the planet. There will be more Starship flights, with SpaceX rapidly producing Starship vehicles at its Boca Chica Launch site. The James Webb Space Telescope will likely stick to its launch date in October. | 4Miscellaneous
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Ask HN : How to negotiate continuing to work remotely? (Hacker News Thread) | Many people started working remotely as COVID started. Some employers are starting to ask workers to return to the office. This thread contains a discussion on how to talk to employers about remaining remote. Opinions vary widely, but the general advice is to state that remote work is a requirement to their employers and to move on if they don't agree. Many tech companies have moved to remote work now, and the job market appears to be healthy for developers. | 4Miscellaneous
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How to build your own TinyPilot | TinyPilot is a device for controlling computers remotely. It works before the operating system boots, so it can be used to install new OSes and debug boot failures. It can be created for under $100 using a Raspberry Pi. A complete walkthrough is provided in the article. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Ninja announces he is leaving Twitch to stream exclusively on Mixer | One of Twitch's most popular stars, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, is leaving the platform to stream exclusively on Mixer. Mixer is a streaming service owned by Microsoft and was previously known as Beam. Ninja will continue to stream Fortnite and says that his streams will be the same on the new platform. Twitch has congratulated Ninja on his accomplishments in the gaming community. Fortnite has recently held its inaugural World Cup Finals in New York City, where Ninja was both a competitor and a commentator. Ninja has also appeared on the cover of ESPN and on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. He will be appearing at Lollapalooza in Chicago this week. | 4Miscellaneous
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Awesome Uses (GitHub Repo) | This repository contains a list of /uses pages that detail apps and gear used by professional web developers, along with a short description of what each developer does. Web developers are encouraged to submit their own pages to contribute to the list. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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WeWork lays off 2,400 employees | 2,400 WeWork employees will be laid off as the company cuts costs and resizes its business. WeWork is aiming to create a more efficient and focused organization. This layoff represents 19 percent of WeWork's total workforce. Former employees will receive severance, continued benefits, and other forms of assistance. The job cuts have been rumored for some time now. WeWork pulled its IPO filing after investors expressed concerns over the company's mounting losses and unusual corporate governance structure. Adam Neumann, one of WeWork's cofounders, has since stepped down from his role as CEO. WeWork almost ran out of money but secured a bailout from SoftBank, its biggest investor. It continues to bleed cash, with $1.25 billion in reported losses for the third quarter. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Ultimate Python study guide (GitHub Repo) | This study guide serves as a resource for Python newcomers and as a pure guide for those who want to revisit core Python concepts. It contains a collection of standalone modules with carefully crafted comments to guide the reader through programs step-by-step. The guide covers Syntax, Data Structures, Classes, and more. Links for other learning resources are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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GitUI (GitHub Repo) | GitUI is a git GUI that works in terminal. It features fast and intuitive keyboard-only control, context-based help, a scalable terminal UI layout, an async git API, and more. A GIF demo is available in the repository. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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A new generation of nanobots can kill bacteria in your teeth with heat | Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science and startup Theranautilus have developed a set of nano-sized cleaning robots that can clean the hard-to-reach areas deep inside dentinal tubules to kill bacteria. The nanobots are made of silicon dioxide coated with iron and they can be controlled using a low-intensity magnetic field. They are able to reach depths of up to 2,000 micrometers inside dentinal tubules, where they generate heat to flush out bacteria. The nanobots can be retrieved once the operation is done. The technology is almost ready for deployment in a clinical setting. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Scientists have found a way to decode brain signals into speech | Scientists in California have successfully decoded brain signals into decipherable speech. Brain activity was recorded from patients who were undergoing brain surgery as they spoke from a list of phrases. The recorded activity was then analyzed by a computer model. In a testing phase, humans were able to understand 50-70% of the synthesized words. This method analyzes the brain signals that control the movement of vocal muscles rather than the thoughts of the subjects. External methods of recording brain activity are unable to reproduce the same results as the signals become mixed and difficult to read. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Epic’s new RealityScan app can make 3D models from smartphone photos | RealityScan is an app from Epic Games that can construct 3D models of objects using a series of smartphone photos. It can be used to scan real-world objects and bring them into games or other projects. The app is in a limited (and currently full) beta. Epic is hosting a 'State of Unreal' event today at 11 AM ET. A video that shows how RealityScan works is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Apple offering engineers $180,000 bonuses to prevent poaching | The employee poaching war between Apple and Meta is heating up, with Apple now offering top engineering talents stock bonuses worth up to $180,000 to prevent them from defecting. Around 10% to 20% of engineers have been approached with the bonuses, which range from $50,000 to $180,000 in restricted stock, set to vest over four years. Meta has recently poached key engineers across several divisions at Apple. Apple has also been hiring talent from other companies. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Huge iPhone 12 changes inside & out leak in Apple 2020 roadmap report | The new line-up of iPhones could include four new smartphones, a 5G upgrade, and an infusion of iPad Pro styling and tech. Apple has supposedly reduced the size of the notch on the screen panel, flattened out the glass on the 2020 iPhone Pro, and increased the screen size of the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s successor. The 2020 iPhone Pro is expected to have three cameras and a LIDAR Scanner, and the iPhone 11’s successor will have two cameras. A new HomePod will be launched that will be roughly half the size of the original and will feature a smarter Siri. Apple AirTags are also expected to launch this year. There could be a delay in the release of some models due to the pandemic. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Vaccination by inhalation | MIT researchers have developed an inhalable vaccine that can create an army of T cells in the mucosal surfaces that are vulnerable to viral infection. The vaccine is modified to bind to a protein naturally present in mucus. It was effective in inducing a strong memory T cell response in the lungs of mice. These types of vaccines could potentially be used to treat or prevent cancer. | 4Miscellaneous
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Discord now has Threads | Discord has a new feature called Threads that allows users to branch off a conversation away from the main channel feed. It creates a separate feed, which server admins can still moderate. Public threads will let any members of the channel participate. Private threads will only let certain members view them. Threads will be automatically archived within 24 hours. Screenshots showing the feature are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Datadog Monitoring and Analytics (Sponsor) | Datadog's single, unified platform for monitoring allows teams to pull metrics, traces, logs, UX, and network performance data all in one place. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Exponent - Ace your next technical interview and save 10% (Sponsor) | Try our interview prep courses, classes, and mock interviews. Trusted by 100,000+ engineers. | 4Miscellaneous
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Mark Zuckerberg on taking his massive workforce remote | Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday that Facebook will be making most of its open roles in the US open for remote recruiting and hiring. Later this year, many of Facebook's employees will be able to request to switch to remote work, and within the next decade, most of Facebook's workforce will likely be remote. Remote work may not necessarily reduce costs as the company will still require offices and will still need employees to attend some events. Facebook is known for paying employees to live closer to its offices, but the company has decided that this is not critical for the way it will move forward, especially with technologies such as AR and VR. Moving to remote work will mean that Facebook will have wider access to talent. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Build In-App Chat + Feeds, Faster (Sponsor) | Stream Chat makes it easy to add a powerful messaging experience to any dev project, with free UI kit downloads and customizable components for 5 popular use cases: livestream chat, team collaboration, social messaging, customer support, and gaming. Try for Free! | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Research Opens the Door to Fully Light-Based Quantum Computing | A team of researchers have announced the development of a fully photonics-based approach to quantum computing. The team's approach could lead to the development of rack-sized, mostly maintenance-free large-scale quantum computing systems. Photonics-based quantum computing takes advantage of emerging quantum properties in light. The new design allows for a reduction in required raw materials without the complexity of controlling multiple quantum computing units. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Pico.css (GitHub Repo) | Pico.css is a minimal CSS framework for semantic HTML. It uses simple HTML tags as much as possible and requires no dependencies, package manager, external files, or JavaScript. Pico.css features elegant styles for all native HTML elements without .classes and dark mode automatically enabled. A short demo video is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Mark Zuckerberg warns staff Facebook will be ‘turning up the heat’ to weed out underperformers | Meta is cutting back on hiring as slow growth and macroeconomic headwinds push the company to downgrade its economic outlook. It will hire 30% fewer engineers this year than planned. The company will also start weeding out staff who are unable to meet certain KPIs. Meta ended the first quarter of 2022 with 28% more full-time employees than it had a year earlier. It started a hiring freeze in May as user growth and ad revenue started decreasing. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Cancer cells hibernate like "bears in winter" to survive chemotherapy | A new study suggests that all cancer cells can enter into states of dormancy as a survival mechanism. The mechanism is similar to embryonic diapause, a process used by hibernating animals. Some mammals can undergo embryonic diapause when environmental conditions are unfavorable, essentially pausing an embryo's development until conditions become more favorable. Disabling this process makes chemotherapy much more effective. The study sheds light on why some people have been resistant to chemotherapy. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Giant flywheel project in Scotland could prevent UK blackouts | A new project in Scotland could prevent blackouts across Britain by stabilizing the energy grid's electrical frequency. The project will cost around £25m. Spinning turbines in a traditional power station help balance out Britain's power grid's frequency to about 50 hertz. Currently, renewable energy sources are shut down when there is an excess of energy. An imbalance in the frequency of the grid can cause a nationwide blackout. The project will build a flywheel to imitate the spinning turbines to keep the grid's frequency steady so that more renewable energy can be used. It will not produce any emissions. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Apple CEO Tim Cook says digital privacy 'has become a crisis' | The state of online privacy has become a crisis, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Unlike companies like Google or Facebook, Apple does not focus on advertising and customer data. While other companies may sell or use customer data as a product, Apple focuses on keeping data safe and private. The issue of people’s increasing use of Apple’s devices was addressed, as Apple had removed apps that allowed people to remotely manage screen time on other devices. Apple stated that these apps were removed as they used Mobile Device Management technology designed to handle sensitive data for businesses. | 4Miscellaneous
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Apple vs. Epic hearing previews a long, hard-fought trial to come | Epic's request for a temporary injunction in its case against Apple was heard recently. The case centers around Epic's contention that Apple's control over the iOS App Store constitutes an illegal monopoly that hinders competition. Apple argued that iOS is just one of the many platforms available for Fortnite, so there was no monopoly. Other competing platforms charge the same 30 percent fee that Apple charges. Players who aren't able to play Fortnite on iOS can still play on other platforms, though they might not have the means to do so. Epic argues that even if Apple is allowed to maintain control of its App Store, it should allow developers to make and use their own payment systems. Apps like Uber can charge customers without using the in-app purchase system, and Epic wants the same opportunity for its games. Epic was reprimanded for the actions that led to the court case as the company deliberately broke its agreement with Apple. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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wifi-password (GitHub Repo) | wifi-password is a tool for fetching Wi-Fi passwords and generating QR codes for phones to easily connect to a network. It works on macOS, Linux, and Windows. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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First meat grown in space lab 248 miles from Earth | Israeli food technology startup Aleph Farms has successfully grown meat in a lab on the International Space Station. Bovine cells were harvested on Earth and sent to space, where they were grown into small-scale muscle tissue using a 3D bioprinter. The technique could potentially be used to provide meat for people living on the space station. In December, Aleph Farms was successful in growing a strip of steak from cells in two weeks, but it admitted that the taste could be improved. One kilogram of natural beef requires 10,000 to 15,000 liters of water to produce. Aleph Farms' technology could potentially ensure food security for the future while preserving our natural resources. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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The Google Assistant gets more visual | Google will be rolling out a new version of Assistant over the next few weeks. The updates will give users more visual feedback for tasks like checking the weather and managing smart home devices instead of relying solely on voice commands. However, the most exciting part of this update in my opinion is for developers. Assistant will now allow developers to sell digital goods as well as recurring subscriptions directly through Assistant. In addition, developers can sync their applications with Assistant by signing users in using Google Sign In with a simple tap or even a verbal confirmation instead of requiring users to type in a full username and password. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Intel and Samsung’s new demo shows how blisteringly fast a PCIe 5.0 SSD setup will be | Samsung’s new PM1743 PCIe NVMe SSD can hit data speeds over 13GB/s in real world tests. A recent video demo from Intel shows the hard drive working with Intel’s Core i9-12900K CPU to hit speeds more than twice as fast as the PlayStation 5's PCIe Gen 4 SSD. The drive will likely come with a hefty price tag when consumer-grade versions are released. A video showing a speed test of the drive is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Realtime Face Movement Tracking (GitHub Repo) | This repository contains code for basic face movement tracking that can convert face movement into keyboard commands. Two demo games are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Better than the Scoville scale? Chili-shaped device can rate pepper hotness | There are several methods for measuring how much capsaicin, the compound responsible for how hot a chili is, is inside a pepper. A team of scientists from the Prince of Songkla University in Thailand has developed a portable sensor device that can connect to a smartphone to show how much capsaicin is inside a chili pepper sample. It is shaped like a red-hot chili pepper. A picture of the sensor is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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A Cryptocurrency Millionaire Wants to Build a Utopia in Nevada | Jeffrey Berns is a lawyer turned crypto-millionaire who made hundreds of millions from investing in Ethereum. Now he wants to use that money to create a city run by the blockchain in the middle of the Nevada desert, complete with a high tech park, college, and e-gaming arena. He spent $170 million buying a huge tract of land larger than Reno, and has spent over $300 million in total on the project for offices, planning, and a staff of 70. He's going to give away all of the decision making power to a blockchain run by residents, and 90% of any dividends will go to residents, employees, and future investors. Every resident and employee will have what amounts to an Ethereum address, which they will use to vote on local measures and store their personal data. Construction will begin in 2019. Berns believes that his city will "either be the biggest thing ever, or the most spectacular crash and burn in the history of mankind. I don't know which one. I believe it's the former, but either way it’s going to be one hell of a ride." | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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a18n (GitHub Repo) | a18n is an automated I18n tool for JavaScript, TypeScript, and React. It wraps and extracts text in js/ts/jsx/tsx files using AST manipulation. A GIF demo is available in the repository. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Apple developing new ‘Apple Pay Later’ service to let customers buy any Apple Pay purchases in monthly installments | Apple is working on a new service called Apple Pay Later that will allow users to buy products and pay them off in monthly installments. It will be directly integrated with Apple Pay. Apple will partner with Goldman Sachs for the service. The rollout will likely draw scrutiny from regulatory bodies. Apple is currently under investigation by the European Commission over claims that it unfairly advantages Apple Pay over rival contactless payment systems on the iPhone. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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How Nextdoor Courts Police and Public Officials (16 minute read) | Nextdoor is an ad-supported social network that connects people within neighborhoods, creating a sort of digital 'neighborhood watch', as well as a local message board. Users can share urgent alerts, community events, and other information to residents who have verified that they live in the area. The company works with public agencies so that both the social media platform and the government can do their jobs better. It recruits police departments to help grow the service. Nextdoor plans to build a monetized, premium version of Nextdoor for public agencies. Its marketing strategies generally do not conflict against city policies, but there are concerns about the company's practices. Endorsements by public officials can cause issues as the company exists for profit, rather than public welfare. | 4Miscellaneous
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Top Announcements of AWS re:Invent 2021 | AWS re:Invent is on from November 29 to December 3. This page provides a summary of each announcement along with a link to the Amazon press release. It will be updated daily with some of the most noteworthy launches from the event. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wage of $21 per hour while on a trip | Uber has proposed a policy that would give drivers a minimum $21 per hour while on a trip, paid time off, sick leave, and compensation if they are injured while driving, and also a voice when Uber is making decisions regarding their work. A new website called Independent Driver has been launched by Uber in support of drivers who want to remain independent contractors. Lyft and Uber are both circulating petitions against a bill which would reclassify drivers as employees rather than independent contractors. The bill would ensure gig economy workers are entitled to minimum wage, workers' compensation, and other benefits. Gig Workers Rising, one of the organizations leading the effort to unionize, has rejected Uber and Lyft's efforts to stop the bill, stating that these attempts show how worried the companies are regarding the new laws. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Scientists Have Finally Mapped the Whole Human Genome | A team of scientists have created a gapless human genome sequence, making the complete human genome accessible for the first time. 8% of the information in the sequence is new and could provide insights into our evolutionary journey and other information. The Human Genome Project presented a nearly complete version of the genome in 2003, but the project was limited by the technology available at the time. It took many advances in genetic sequencing to make it possible for scientists to complete the project. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Virgin Orbit loses its first rocket shortly after engine ignition | Virgin Orbit ignited its LauncherOne rocket over the Pacific Ocean on Monday. Shortly after ignition, an anomaly occurred and the rocket was lost. The crew that ran the test made it safely back to base. Virgin Orbit states that the test ran as expected and that it now has plenty of data to analyze. The company eventually plans to be able to launch payloads of up to 300kg to low-Earth orbit at a base price of $12 million. The LauncherOne rocket has been in development for seven years. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Dask (Website) | Dask is a flexible library for parallel computing in Python. It features dynamic task scheduling optimized for computation and 'Big Data' collections that extend common interfaces to larger-than-memory or distributed environments. Dask can run on a laptop or be scaled to a cluster of hundreds of machines. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Hacker News Books (Curation Tool) | This tool organizes the top books mentioned on Hacker News each week, archives old lists, and has a newsletter where you can receive a book list every Thursday. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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For the first time, humans have been placed in biostasis | Scientists have been able to place humans into biostasis for the first time by replacing a person's blood with a very cold saline solution, rapidly cooling the person's body to about 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. The technique was developed to give doctors more time to work with patients who have acute trauma. Putting the body into biostasis slows down or stops all chemical reactions, which means the body's cells need less oxygen. It is unknown how long humans can safely remain in biostasis. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Facebook, telcos to build huge subsea cable for Africa and Middle East | Facebook and a group of telecom companies are collaborating to build a subsea cable to serve the African continent and Middle East region. Nearly a billion people are still offline in the region. The companies will lay a 37,000km cable through Europe, the Middle East, and 21 landings in 16 countries in Africa. It will have the capacity to handle up to 180Tbps on key parts of the system when it goes live in 2023 or 2024. The companies involved have not disclosed how much the project will cost. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Australia Just Hosted the World’s First Drag Race Between Two Flying Cars | Two teams of flying cars from Alauda Aeronautics recently completed a drag race in Southern Australia. Sporting competition helps accelerate technological progress, and the race organizers hope that its new racing series will help drive technical development and build public acceptance for the new mode of transportation. A remote-piloted EXA racing series is set to kick off next year, and a global piloted flying car racing series will hopefully be held in 2023. A video of the aerial drag race is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Microsoft’s new $249 Surface Laptop SE is its first true Chromebook competitor | Microsoft has unveiled a new $249 Surface Laptop SE. It will be sold exclusively to schools and students. The laptop will be running Windows 11 SE, a new student edition designed to compete with Chrome OS. It will feature an all-plastic body, an 11.6-inch display with 1366x768 resolution, a 1-megapixel front camera, a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, and more. Schools will be allowed to replace components inside the laptop and it will come with standard screws. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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'Smile with your eyes': How to beat South Korea's AI hiring bots and land a job | Top Korean firms are rolling out artificial intelligence in hiring, and job seekers are learning how to beat the bots. Career consultants are now offering classes on how to handle recruitment screening by computers. These systems use facial recognition technology to analyze potential employees, so job seekers have to learn techniques, such as smiling with their eyes, in order to deal with the AI. Nearly a quarter of the top 131 corporations in Korea currently use or have plans to use AI in hiring. AI video interviews analyze people's emotional responses to questions and also their performance in a certain set of tasks. Some tests don't really have a correct answer, as the goal is only to analyze behavior. Many students are feeling disheartened with the introduction of AI as they feel like they are underprepared for these types of interviews, and they are concerned because the systems can easily detect if they make something up. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Watch YouTube videos at the exact same time as your friends with free Airtime app | Airtime is an app that allows people to video chat with friends while watching movies, shows, and YouTube videos on the same screen. Anyone in the chat will be able to pause the video for discussion at any time. The app is able to share videos from many sources, including from YouTube, SoundCloud, and directly from devices. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Switching Off Anger With an Electrode | Researchers have discovered that anger can be suppressed by sending a current to a certain area of the brain through an electrode. They designed an experiment where participants played a game in which they were cheated, causing them to become angry. Using an fMRI, they are able to measure anger by scanning a particular region of the prefrontal cortex. When they sent a current through the electrode to a particular region of the brain, they were able to detect less activity in this region of the prefrontal cortex. The researchers believe these results could lead to "a non-invasive adjuvant to improve anger coping capabilities". | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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New robotic arm opens up musical worlds for “cyborg” drummer | The Georgia Institute of Technology recently unveiled a drum-enabling robotic arm. It allows amputee drummers to perform three distinctive stick patterns simultaneously. A video is available showing Jason Barnes, a below-the-elbow amputee, demonstrating the arm by playing the drums. The arm works using electromyography, reading signals from Barnes' upper arm. It is possible for fully-abled people to use the robotic arm, and the researchers are now exploring the possibilities. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Elon Musk picks Berlin for Tesla’s Europe Gigafactory | Tesla's European gigafactory will be built in Berlin, near the new airport. The factory will build batteries, powertrains, and vehicles. Tesla will also create an engineering and design center in Berlin. According to Musk, Berlin has some of the best art in the world, and some of the best cars in the world are made in Germany. Part of the reason that Tesla's gigafactory will be in Germany is due to Germany's outstanding reputation for engineering. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Salesforce is in talks to buy Slack, deal could be announced next week | Slack shares closed almost 38% higher on Wednesday after it was reported that Salesforce was in talks to acquire the company. A deal could be announced as soon as next week. Salesforce has taken advantage of its growth and acquired multiple companies in recent years. The deal is set to be one of the biggest software deals in history. Microsoft had considered buying Slack for up to $8 billion in 2016, but no deal was finalized. Slack had more than 12 million daily active users in October last year. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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New AI Dupes Humans into Believing Synthesized Sound Effects Are Real | AutoFoley is an AI that can synthesize background sound effects based on a scene. It analyzes the movement in video frames and then creates artificial sound effects to match the scene. In a study, a majority of people who viewed clips generated with AutoFoley believed that the fake sound effects were real. Three examples of sound effects generated by AutoFoley are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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The YouTubers Union Is Not Messing Around | The YouTubers Union has joined forces with IG Metall, Europe's largest trade union, and launched FairTube. Due to demands by advertisers, YouTube has demonetized or removed videos from channels due to unclear rules about content. YouTube has been inconsistent with its rules and its communications to content creators. Content creators are now making less money, have less stability, and risk being demonetized for putting out the wrong type of content. FairTube is asking for fairness, transparency, better communication, and for YouTubers to have a say when it comes to decision making. FairTube plans to use Europe's General Data Protection Regulation and establish that the categorizations for creators constitute personal data in order to make YouTube agree to their requests. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Researchers propose AI system that reverse-engineers black box apps | Researchers at DeepMind and the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security have proposed an AI system capable of reverse-engineering the black-box functions of programs written in Karel. Karel was chosen as it uses structures that make reverse-engineering applications more difficult. Given access only to the inputs and outputs of an application, the system was able to eventually create a functionally equivalent copy of the original program with a 78% success rate. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Kickstarter CEO: Let's try a 4-day work week | Kickstarter plans to experiment with a four-day workweek to offer workers more flexibility and time. CEO Aziz Hasan was motivated to try out the arrangement due to the effects of the pandemic on the workplace. He noticed that other companies were also experimenting with alternative work arrangements. Kickstarter's newly formed union is supportive of the idea. | 4Miscellaneous
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SpaceX is hosting a new fellowship on space-based surgery. It could save lives | SpaceX has partnered with the University of Arizona and Banner Health to host an Aerospace Surgery Fellowship. It will be the first-ever fellowship training program in the US that delves into the field of aerospace surgery. The program will train astronaut surgeons for future space programs. Graduates of the program will be eligible for board certification in aerospace medicine. Fellows have the opportunity to spend six months conducting research with SpaceX. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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SpaceX confirms Starlink internet private beta underway, showing low latency and speeds over 100Mbps | SpaceX's Starlink internet service has demonstrated low latency speeds and download speeds over 100Mbps. Its capabilities far exceed the capabilities of most options in poorly covered areas. SpaceX expects more features to be unlocked as the network is updated. Starlink recently completed its first inter-satellite link between its satellites. The ability for Starlink satellites to communicate with each other via optical laser will be a core feature of the network. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Carbonated Ice Cream Is a Feat of Physics—and It Actually Tastes Good | Ice cream manufacturers often have to race against time to put their products on shelves, an expensive task that produces massive amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. A pair of researchers at Cornell University have created a system that uses pressurized carbon dioxide to create instant ice cream. When fluids expand from high pressure to low pressure, it can cause a cooling effect under the right conditions. The scientist's ice cream machine uses this principle with pressurized carbon dioxide to produce a scoop of ice cream every three seconds. With the machine, shop owners can potentially keep shelf-stable mixtures on hand and produce ice cream as required. The system can also be potentially used to create instant soda slushies. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Google’s AirDrop competitor, Nearby Share, is reportedly getting a big upgrade | Android's Nearby Share feature is getting a new 'self-share' mode that will let users send files between their own devices with a single tap. The feature will only send files between devices that are physically close to the user and signed into the user's Google account. Other devices can still receive files using Nearby Share, but they will have to accept each file request. There is no release date yet for the feature. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Algorithms can now detect your heart rate and stress levels over video chat | A startup called Binah.ai has created a system that uses plethysmography to detect slight changes in facial coloring in order to monitor stress levels. Studies have shown that slight facial color changes can indicate breathing and oxygen levels. The system can also test for heart rate, stress level, oxygen saturation, respiration, and heart rate variability using its AI algorithm. Affective computing is a field of artificial intelligence that tries to understand a person's emotional state. There are no published studies on the effectiveness of Binah.ai's technology. The system can be extremely helpful in healthcare settings as patients' vitals can be measured without human contact while they are waiting to be treated. Several healthcare institutions are already testing Binah.ai's algorithms. It may also have applications in law enforcement. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Elon Musk wanted The Onion; he got Thud (12 minute read) | In 2017, Elon Musk recruited two of The Onion’s leaders and created a startup called Thud. It was a dream deal for the pair, who were told to create a satire media network that was not required to make any money, as long as Musk continued to back the project. Thud created many projects and grew to 13 people over a year. Eventually, Musk backed out of the project, leaving the team with about six months of funding, which the team had to use to figure out how to generate revenue. Thud launched and failed without ever releasing its biggest projects, as launching an independent media company in 2019 is a difficult venture. | 4Miscellaneous
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New P2P botnet infects SSH servers all over the world | A botnet that focuses on infecting SSH servers has been discovered targeting millions of servers around the world. The botnet distributes its administration among many infected nodes rather than relying on a central server, making it harder to spot and more difficult to shut down. There have been at least 20 versions of the software binary since January. Researchers have developed a program to analyze the botnet. Servers that don't have both a strong password and a cryptographic certificate may already be infected with the malware. A detailed report is linked. The report includes a script that can spot infected machines. | 4Miscellaneous
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Luxa CSS (GitHub Repo) | Luxa CSS is a lightweight and minimalist CSS framework that can be easily implemented in any development context. It uses simple class names and a simple modifier system. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Giant rhino unearthed in China was one of largest mammals ever to live | A new species of giant rhino has been unearthed in north-western China. A completely preserved skull and jawbone was found in the Linxia Basin of Gansu Province, where people have been looking for mammal fossils since the 1980s. The giant rhino had a long neck, slender skull, and two cone-shaped upper first incisors. It would have looked more like a horse than a rhino, but with a head height of 7 meters. The rhino is estimated to have weighed about 21 tonnes. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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k3s (GitHub Repo) | Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration system for automating application deployment, scaling, and management, originally designed by Google. k3s is designed to be a fully compliant Kubernetes distribution that is much lighter. It removes older and non-default features and plugins, and simplifies the process of running a Kubernetes system. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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caffeine (GitHub Repo) | caffeine is a basic REST service for JSON data. It can be used for prototyping and MVPs. All data is managed in-memory, and it features schema validation, search using jq-like syntax, CORS, and more. A sample Vue app using caffeine is available as a demo. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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World’s First Ocean Hybrid Platform Converts Tidal Waves Into Energy | Tidal motions, waves, and currents have a lot of energy that can be harvested to produce electricity. They are also easily forecasted and available 24/7. There have been many attempts at harvesting energy from the seas, but it is difficult due to the corrosive water and unpredictable winds. Sinn Power, a German green-energy startup, has begun building and testing the world's first ocean hybrid platform. The floating platform can harness energy from waves, wind, and the sun. It is scalable and can be adapted to customers' needs and location requirements. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Verizon Exploring Sale Of Its Media Assets Led By Yahoo, AOL | Verizon is exploring a sale of Yahoo and AOL for a potential $4 billion to $5 billion. Apollo Global Management is rumored to be involved in the deal. Yahoo and AOL merged into a new venture called Oath after their acquisitions by Verizon. Oath was later renamed the Verizon Media Group after it failed to remain competitive in the domestic digital advertising industry. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Trickbot—the for-hire botnet Microsoft attacked—is scrambling to stay alive | Trickbot is a for-hire botnet that has infected more than one million devices since 2016. Microsoft and a host of industry partners recently took coordinated action to disrupt the network. After identifying Trickbot's servers, Microsoft and its partners initiated legal actions to get hosting providers to take them down. While the botnet is currently out of action, the operators can still revive it. | 4Miscellaneous
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Ask HN: Burned Out. What Now? (Hacker News Thread) | What should you do when you are experiencing burnout? This thread explores what someone should do when they start showing the symptoms of occupational burnout. It discusses the mental and physical aspects of resolving burnout, as well as how someone should approach the issue with their employers and co-workers. Burnout can take some time to heal and the most important thing to do is rest. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Google’s personalized audio news feature, Your News Update, comes to Google Podcasts | Google has published its Your News Update feature to Google Podcasts. The feature has been available for Google Assistant since last year. It customizes news content to listeners' likes and interests and creates a personalized playlist of audio news. The personalization uses data that the user has explicitly provided Google and its products. Users can subscribe to Your News Update within the Explore tab in the Google Podcasts App. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Concorde 2.0: NASA shares incredible video of 'quiet' supersonic jet with 925mph speeds | NASA's X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) is an experimental supersonic jet designed to reach speeds of Mach 1.4 (925mph). It is slower than the Concorde, but its cutting-edge design allows it to emit a sonic boom about as loud as the sound of a car door closing. Lockheed Martin was awarded a $247.5 million contract to assemble the aircraft in 2018. A timelapse clip that shows the aircraft being assembled is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Researchers one step closer to bomb-sniffing cyborg locusts | Locusts can smell explosives and technology can help us direct them and receive signals from them to determine what they are smelling. Scientists at the McKelvey School of Engineering have developed a biorobotic sensing system that can be implanted into locusts to detect and discriminate between different explosive scents, returning the information within a few hundred milliseconds of exposure. The system can determine how strong a scent is, making it ideal for use in searching for explosives. | 4Miscellaneous
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Google bans its employees from using Zoom over security concerns | Google employees are now banned from using the Zoom teleconferencing platform due to security concerns. Google-provided machines will soon stop working if the Zoom app is still installed. Employees are still allowed to use Zoom through a web browser or via mobile. Zoom had been facing criticism over its lax privacy and security protections since before its recent boom in popularity. The service was not designed for consumer use at this scale, with the user base growing from 10 million to 200 million users in the past three months. To give feedback please reply to this email or message me on Twitter @tldrdan! If you don't want to receive future editions of TLDR, please click here. | 4Miscellaneous
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Early mouse fetuses generated without sperm or eggs for first time | Scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have created artificial embryos without sperm or eggs using pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells have the ability to turn into all three cell types found in early embryos. The scientists coaxed the stem cells into turning into these three embryo cell types and implanted the artificial embryos into female mice. These embryos were then removed via cesarean section. Examinations showed that they had started to form fetal structures. The fetal structures were majorly malformed, but this is the first time artificial embryos have been able to develop into fetal tissue in a uterus. Future research will fine-tune the process so that the fetuses can develop further. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Onefetch (GitHub Repo) | Onefetch is a command line tool that displays information from a Git project directly in Terminal. It currently supports 20 different languages, and more can be added upon request. Screenshots are available that show the output. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Apple is reportedly working on a foldable iPhone for 2023 | Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple plans to launch an 8-inch foldable iPhone by 2023. The phone will use QHD+ flexible OLEDs from Samsung Display, DDI display controllers from Samsung Foundry, and silver nanowire tech supplied by TPK. Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Honor are expected to launch new foldable phones in late 2021 or early 2022. Apple may drop the project if foldable phones don't become popular. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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An AI for Image Recognition Spontaneously Gained a ‘Number Sense’ | An AI that was only trained for image recognition spontaneously gained the ability to estimate the quantity of a number of objects. Researchers found that the AI had neurons sensitive to certain numbers. The way these neurons worked is very similar to the same ‘number sense’ mechanism that exists in humans. Neurons distinguish more between lower numbers and generalize larger numbers. This research suggests that human cognition and AI should be studied together, as each field can help develop understanding in the other. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Meta is launching an avatar store, and designer clothes are the first products | Meta is launching an online store where Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger users can purchase digital clothes for their avatars. The store will feature brands such as Prada, Balenciaga, and Thom Browne. There is no information on how much the items in the store will cost. The store is set to launch 'soon'. Pictures of Mark Zuckerberg's avatar wearing different digital outfits are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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This plane flies itself—we went for a ride | Commercial airliners already use automation to control planes after takeoff. However, these features still mean that pilots are required to control the plane for takeoff and landing, as well as in some other situations. The pilot's primary role in the air is to take instructions from air traffic control and to adjust the automated system accordingly. Xwing has replaced pilots with ground-based controllers, similar to military drone operators. The system means that pilots can manage many flights from one central base. Xwing is attempting to build an autonomous cargo fleet but it requires licensing and approval from the FAA. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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A neural network can help spot Covid-19 in chest x-rays | COVID-Net is a convolutional neural network that is trained to identify signs of COVID-19 in chest x-rays. It is being released as an incomplete solution and the firm that created the system is encouraging others to help make it complete. Other research teams have announced AI tools that can diagnose COVID-19 from x-rays, but none of these tools have been made fully available to the public. While COVID-Net as yet to prove itself, public releases have historically proven to be effective methods of improving software. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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6 things I wish I knew about state management when I started writing React apps | Many sites have complex front ends that 'know' a lot of things and can make these things interact with each other in non-trivial ways. This is all achieved through state management, which is the core problem when developing a UI. Developers need to figure out how to store global states that can be accessed anywhere in order to build a non-trivial React application. Prop drilling becomes impractical as an app gets bigger, so it is better to just focus on state management. An application may have several different types of state, and the needs of each state should be considered individually. There are multiple state management libraries available, so it's worth the time to learn what each library offers. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Gmail’s big merger with Google Chat, Meet, and Docs launches for everyone | Google is bringing Google Chat and Gmail's merger with Google Chat, Google Docs, and Google Meet to consumer accounts. The features were rolled out to paid Google Workspace accounts last August. The new Gmail UI has a segmented sidebar with Google apps on it. Users can open Google Docs files inside Gmail through links in Google Chat. Google Hangouts users will be upgraded to Google Chat at some point, after which Hangouts will finally shut down. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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The Hero Generator (Website) | A hero image is a large web banner image and text, commonly placed in the front and center of a web page. The Hero Generator is a site that generates code for a hero image based on parameters that you set. Users can control the gradient overlay, gradient reduction, button radius, title spacing, button, and gradient colors, and upload custom images. The code for the generated hero image is available with just a click. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Tampa teenager and two others arrested for Twitter Bitcoin hack | A 17-year-old was arrested as the mastermind behind the Twitter Bitcoin hack on July 15th. Two other individuals were also charged for their involvement. 30 felony charges have been filed against the teen. The IRS Criminal Investigation Cyber Crimes Unit found the identity of the attackers by analyzing the blockchain and de-anonymized bitcoin transactions. According to Twitter, the hackers used a phone spear-phishing attack to access Twitter's internal systems. They targeted 130 accounts in total, tweeting from 45 of them. Twitter has improved its security protocols in response to the attack. | 4Miscellaneous
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Canon can’t get enough toner chips, so it’s telling customers how to defeat its DRM | Many major printer brands embed chips inside their cartridges for their printers to check the authenticity of the cartridge. Canon is having issues procuring chips, so it is telling its German customers how to defeat its printers' warnings about third-party cartridges. Users just have to press 'OK' on the menu when the error message appears after inserting toner. There should be no negative effects on printing quality, but the printer will stop giving low-toner warnings. | 4Miscellaneous
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Boston Dynamics unveils Stretch: a new robot designed to move boxes in warehouses | Boston Dynamics has unveiled a robot called Stretch that is designed to move boxes in warehouses. It has a square mobile base with wheels and a huge robotic arm with a suction pad array at the end that can grab and move boxes up to 50 lbs. Stretch can provide automation to environments that don't have automation infrastructure. It can move up to 800 cases an hour and can operate for 8 hours at a time between recharges. 80 percent of the world's warehouses don't have any automation equipment, so there could be a big market for the robot. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder? (Hacker News Thread) | This is a long thread with a lot of good advice for solo founders to get projects off the ground. Build something where you have domain expertise, start small and launch as soon as possible, focus on marketing/growth/sales, and lots of other good advice. | 4Miscellaneous
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Samsung Electronics to Showcase Successful ‘C-Lab Inside’ Projects and ‘C-Lab Outside’ Start-ups at CES 2020 | Samsung Electronics will be showcasing five innovative projects from its C-Lab Inside program and products from four start-ups participating in its C-Lab Outside program at CES2020. C-Lab Inside is an in-house incubation program that encourages Samsung employees to develop innovative ideas. The C-Lab Inside projects to be unveiled this year focus on creating a convenient and healthy lifestyle. They include a virtual keyboard solution, a smart highlighter pen, a home care solution for scalp treatment and hair loss prevention, a window-shaped artificial sunlight, and an ultraviolet monitoring sensor and service. C-Lab Outside is a startup acceleration program that provides startups with financial support, business collaboration, and opportunities to participate in global IT exhibitions. This year, C-Lab Outside will showcase a companion robot, a healthcare data-based ICT service, a gesture control technology, and a multi-party video call service. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Working From Orbit (26 minute read) | Paul Tomlinson has spent 40-50 hours in virtual reality each week for the last two and a half years for work. He uses the virtual environment to create an office space that is comfortable, practical, and free from distractions. The article talks about the experience of working full-time in VR. It covers the setup and how it is used, the pros and cons of using VR for work, the future of the technology, and more. | 4Miscellaneous
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Strange Forest 'Superorganism' Is Keeping This Vampire Tree Alive | A leafless stump of a kauri tree continues to stay alive in a forest as its roots share resources with other trees in the forest. By grafting its roots on to its neighbor's roots, the tree stump is able to continue to receive nutrients even though it doesn't have any green tissue of its own. Scientists attached sensors to measure the movement of water and sap on the stump and its closest neighbors and found that the trees were drinking up water from the ground at different times, with the stumps taking up water at night and its leafy neighbors working during the day. The interconnectedness of the forest may mean that it should be viewed as a superorganism rather than a collection of individual organisms. While resources can be shared more effectively by combining roots, it may also mean that some diseases may spread faster through the network. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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How Indian lawyers, scientists gave Sci-Hub its first legal defence team | Sci-Hub is a website that hosts over 87 million research papers and makes them available for free to students and academics. There have been many attempts to sue the creator of the site in the US and across Europe. The owner of the site had always responded by doing nothing. In December 2020, three academic publishing giants filed a lawsuit against Sci-Hub in India, the country with the second-largest number of Sci-Hub users in the world. This article tells the story of how Sci-Hub gained legal representation in India and some of the arguments in the case. The next hearing for the case is on September 21. | 4Miscellaneous
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Face to Emoji (Twitter Video) | This seven second video demonstrates a facial recognition app that converts facial expressions into emojis. In the video, a man is seen making several facial expressions with the corresponding emoji displayed below. A link to the web app is available. | 4Miscellaneous
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faasd (GitHub Repo) | faasd is a lightweight faas engine that can run on a single host with very modest requirements. It uses the same core components and ecosystem as OpenFaaS and works with multiple architectures out of the box. faasd is designed to be set up and left alone, without requiring the same maintenance burden as a Kubernetes cluster. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Facebook has begun hiding likes | Facebook has started hiding the number of reactions, views, and likes on posts in Australia, making them only visible to the author of a post. During the trial of this feature, Facebook will gather feedback to understand whether this change will improve people's experiences. A majority of Australian users will be part of the test. Facebook had tested hiding likes on Instagram earlier this year with the aim of removing the pressure from how many likes a post will receive. Instagram likes are now hidden in seven countries. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Aura Theme (GitHub Repo) | Aura Theme is a dark theme designed for completing long-term work without discomfort to the eyes. It is available for Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, CodeSandbox, and a variety of terminals, browsers, and apps. Screenshots and examples are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Wuhan scientists: What it’s like to be on lockdown | Travel to and from Wuhan has been closed off by Chinese authorities in an attempt to stop the recent virus outbreak from spreading. More than 35 million people were stuck in the city on the eve of the Lunar New Year. The streets of the city are nearly empty, and everyone who ventures outside wears surgical masks. Most people are choosing to stay home to avoid catching the virus. It has affected travel plans and work for many, but people are understanding of the travel ban. | 4Miscellaneous
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A new underwater greenhouse could reveal the future of agriculture | Nemo's Garden is an underwater greenhouse project that uses the ocean's environmental qualities to create a habitat for growing fresh produce. It was designed for regions where environmental, economic, or morphologic factors make plant development challenging. More than 100 different plants have been grown using this method. Tests showed that plants produced in the environment were richer in nutritional content than those grown using traditional methods. The concept is now being exported around the world. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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