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pre-commit (Website) | pre-commit is a framework for managing and maintaining multi-language pre-commit hooks. Developers can specify a list of hooks and pre-commit will manage the installation and execution of any hook in any language before every commit, without requiring root access. Pre-commit supports all repositories with installable packages or executables. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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How a Whale Crashed Bitcoin to Sub-$7,000 Overnight | Scammers who had duped investors of more than $2 billion in bitcoin recently started selling their coins via over-the-counter markets. This resulted in a domino effect, causing mass liquidations in the market, which led to bitcoin's price dropping to below $7,000 within 30 minutes. Some of the scammers have been selling their coins since June when bitcoin reached its year-to-date high of around $14,000. Around the same time, Chinese authorities detained some of the people suspected of being involved with the PlusToken scam. The scammers still have a large amount of bitcoin yet unliquidated, so there is a chance that they may continue selling and push the market down further. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Scientists will test the world’s first nuclear fusion reactor this summer | The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) will begin its inaugural test runs this summer. If successful, it will be the first fusion reactor capable of producing more energy than it takes to operate. Creating energy from fusion is hard as it has to be controlled so it doesn't produce too much. The kind of dangers that can occur with fission are essentially impossible with fusion. ITER will begin low-power operations in 2025. If the project works according to plan, we could be within decades of solving the global energy crisis. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Hello IPv6: a minimal tutorial for IPv4 users (24 minute read) | IPv6 was published in 1998 and ratified as a standard in 2017. It does more than just provide for a larger address space than IPv4. Many of the terms and protocols in IPv4 either radically changed or disappeared in IPv6. This article explains how IPv4 concepts work in IPv6, with a focus on home and small office networks. It aims for a practical understanding and is not a complete description of IPv6. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Pixel Watch is powered by a 300mAh battery and offers cellular connectivity | The Pixel Watch will have a 300mAh battery. There have been three models leaked so far. Cellular connectivity will be offered on at least one model. The watch could be powered by Samsung Exynos, the same chip as the Galaxy Watch 4, which has a 247mAh battery that lasts between 24 to 40 hours, depending on the model size. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Scientists Pinpoint Axolotl Genes Involved in Their Unique Body Regeneration | The axolotl was named after the Aztec god Xolotl, a hybrid deity who represented many things. Sometimes known as Mexican walking fish, axolotls are able to regenerate entire body parts if they go missing. Other salamanders are able to regenerate limbs, but the axolotl is also able to regenerate organs, including parts of the eyes, brain, and heart. The axolotl genome, which is about 10 times larger than the human genome, was sequenced in 2018. Last year, scientists identified and mapped structures within the genome, and in the process identified two genes that were involved in the axolotl's tissue regeneration. The research is still in its infancy and there may be more genes still involved in regeneration. Scientists hope to be able to find ways to one day enable humans to replicate the axolotl's regenerative abilities. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Sealed Cache of Moon Rocks to Be Opened by NASA | Between 1969 and 1972, the Apollo missions collected 842 pounds of lunar rocks, core samples, pebbles, sand, and dust. While many of these samples have already been studied, some were sealed away until technology had sufficiently improved so they could be more effectively studied. NASA has finally decided, on the year of the 50th anniversary to the Apollo 11 landing, to allow nine teams to study the locked samples. The new studies could start to unravel the mysteries of how the moon evolved, the impact history of the moon, how much water is on the moon, and also determine and improve the effectiveness of sample storage methods. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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My (somewhat) | Nicholas Zakas has been nice enough to publish his own full salary history in order to help other developers see if they're being paid fairly. He's worked at 5 companies including Yahoo and Box, where he made $208,000 as a principal architect in 2014. That's a big jump from the $48,000 he made as a webmaster at Radnet in 2000. He goes into a good amount of detail about each job, nothing in particular is that interesting but the story as a whole is an interesting point of reference to see the full career path of someone who's been in the industry for a lot longer than most of us. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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CSS Tips | CSS is a language used for describing the presentation of a document. It is one of the main technologies of the web. This website contains many CSS tips and tricks that aren't seen in most tutorials. Each tip comes with an interactive example. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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The Farm Of The Future Might Be In Compton. Inside A Warehouse. And Run Partly By Robots (11 minute read) | Plenty is a San Francisco-based startup that uses vertical farming to grow crops in enclosed and controlled environments. It wants to build at least 500 of these farms around the planet in densely populated cities. The first Plenty farm went into production in 2018 and its second site is in Compton. It hopes to start its first customer deliveries from the Compton farm sometime in 2021. Vertical farms can produce food efficiently all year round while taking up significantly less space than a traditional farm. They also make the food supply chain more resilient due to the controlled environment. The article contains many pictures from within Plenty's farms. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Google's open sources low-bandwidth Lyra audio codec for data calls | Google has published the code for Lyra, an audio codec that uses machine learning to power voice calls with low bitrates. It can compress raw audio down to 3kbps while retaining quality. Lyra is still in development, so the API and bitstream may change as developers send their feedback. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Square launches business bank accounts | Square Banking is a new product from Square that features a checking account, savings accounts, debit cards, and loans. Small business owners who already use Square to process payments will be able to access other banking services directly through Square Banking and won't require a second business bank account. There are no monthly fees, no credit checks, and no minimum balance. The accounts will be provided by Sutton Bank, so funds are FDIC-insured. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Top 10 architectural oddities of 2021 | Some pretty wild architecture popped up in 2021. This article highlights 10 projects from around the world that offer something a little different. Entries include a house with a built-in skateboard ramp, a building that looks like a mirrored mixing bowl, an ultra-thin skyscraper, and a 100-foot-high sky pool between two high-rise buildings. | 4Miscellaneous
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Solved by Flexbox (GitHub Website) | Flexbox gives CSS proper layout mechanisms in order to solve problems that were previously hard or impossible to solve with CSS alone. A showcase of examples is available. Each example details a problem and then shows how Flexbox fixes the issue. Flexbox is supported in every modern browser. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,’ Better Known as UFOs, Deserve Scientific Investigation | The Pentagon officially released videos earlier this year showing 'unidentified aerial phenomena' (UAP) in our skies. While there was a lot of interest in studying UAPs in the 1960s, interest has waned for various reasons. An international and interdisciplinary approach to studying UAPs would be more viable now. UAPs are generally ignored due to their transient nature and the topic being taboo, but there may be many things we can learn from them using a modern scientific approach. | 4Miscellaneous
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git-o-matic (GitHub Repo) | git-o-matic is a tool to monitor git repositories and automatically pull and push changes. Go 1.11 or higher is required for installation. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Prehistoric "eagle shark" combined traits of sharks and rays | Aquilolamna milarcae, also known as the eagle shark, was the ancestor of both the whale shark and the manta ray. The 93 million-year-old remains of the ancient shark were unearthed in Mexico in 2012. It was recently determined to be a new species. The specimen was likely an adolescent. It was 1.65 meters long, with a 1.9-meter wingspan. A 3-minute video that shows images of the shark and its fossils is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Scientists Added a Sense of Touch to a Mind-Controlled Robotic Arm | A new type of robotic arm prosthesis uses a direct connection to the brain to provide a sense of touch without connecting to nerves and muscles. Patients using the device were able to complete tasks in half the time compared to using an arm without feedback. The sensory information received from the arm is still rudimentary, but it was enough to improve performance in a pretty significant way. Adding a sense of touch may give patients a greater sense of ownership over their replacement limbs. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Amazon opens its first Amazon Fresh physical grocery store in LA | Amazon has opened its first Amazon Fresh supermarket in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. The supermarket is a new grocery store experience designed from the ground up, targeting a different type of customer to Amazon's Whole Foods and Go stores. Amazon Fresh will stock a range of big brands along with Amazon's own-label lines. The stores will use Amazon's Dash Cart feature and Prime Members who shop at the store will receive free delivery. Employees at the store will have to follow Amazon's own set of health guidelines to control the spread of the novel coronavirus. A list of confirmed Amazon Fresh locations is available at the beginning of the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Walmart drone delivery service will bring your orders by air | Walmart has partnered with DroneUp to deliver items via drone to customers within a 1.15-mile radius from a base in Farmington, Arkansas. Customers will be able to use the service seven days a week from 8 am to 8 pm. Flight engineers will control the drones to ensure orders arrive safely. The service will be expanded to more areas in the coming months. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Google Maps’ AR directions will soon show landmarks to help orient you | Google is adding new features to the augmented reality mode of Google Maps. Users will now be able to see visual cues marking landmarks in Live View, including information for how far away the landmark is and directions to the landmark. The feature will go live soon on both Android and iOS, with support for 25 cities. Additional features to Live View include location sharing, increased accuracy, and easier access to some features. There are two GIF demos showing Live View's new AR features in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Magic Leap’s lost work The Last Light gets a surprise release after its developers were laid off | The Last Light is a mixed reality experience that is essentially a 40-minute short film. It had a surprise release this week and is now available as a free download. Produced by Magic Leap, the project was set to premiere at SXSW in March before the festival was canceled. Magic Leap laid off around 1,000 developers in April, including many of the game's developers, and made an announcement that seemed to indicate the company was moving away from content like The Last Light. A download link is available at the end of the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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The bitcoin blockchain is helping keep a botnet from being taken down | Infected computers that are part of a botnet receive their commands through a command-and-control server. These servers are routinely dismantled by security defenders in a process known as sinkholing. A botnet was recently observed using the bitcoin blockchain to update the IP address of a command-and-control server. The attackers would send a tiny amount of cryptocurrency to a bitcoin address, and then the bots would use scripts to decode the transactions into IP addresses. It is simple for security researchers to disrupt this method, and it could be potentially costly for attackers. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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A.I. and robotics will create almost 60 million more jobs than they destroy by 2022, report says | A World Economic Forum report based on a survey of executives at 300 global companies across a variety of industries found that while automation and AI would replace 75 million jobs by 2025, it will also create 133 million new jobs. Machines are expected to perform about 42% of all current tasks in the workplace by 2022, compared to only 29% now, and the nature of the jobs human do may change. In fact full-time, permanent employment may potentially fall, as companies move towards temporary workers, freelancers and specialist contractors. It's worth noting that in the report, nearly half of all companies expect their full-time workforce to shrink over the next several years. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Inside the Podcast that Hacks Ring Camera Owners Live on Air | The NulledCast is a podcast that is live-streamed on Discord where hackers take over people's Ring and Nest smart home cameras and use the speakers to harass unsuspecting owners. Ring cameras are home surveillance devices that have been heavily marketed by Amazon. The devices have been wildly popular, with even some police departments around the country signing partnerships with Amazon to sell the devices to citizens. Recently, software to hack Ring devices has become popular on some forums. The hacks have gained mainstream media attention and the Nulled forums have removed all posts regarding the hacks as a response. They have also banned all discussion about Ring hacks. The podcast will continue to run. | 4Miscellaneous
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Apple will reportedly allow iPhones to accept contactless payments | Apple may soon be rolling out a feature that will let small businesses accept payments using their iPhones without any extra hardware. The feature will use the phone's NFC reader to accept credit card payments. Apple has been working on the feature since it purchased Mobeewave in 2020. Before its acquisition, Mobeewave had partnered with Samsung to create Samsung POS, a similar service that turned Samsung phones into contactless payment terminals. Apple's new payment feature will likely be released with the final version of iOS 15.4 coming out this spring. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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learning (GitHub Repo) | This repository contains a large collection of resources for learning data science. The resources include courses, books, papers, articles, and videos. They are grouped by specific skills, such as implementing models in PyTorch, framing ML problems, or manipulating data in spreadsheets. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Would You Trust a Cartoon Cat with Your Money? | eGirl Capital is a crypto investment firm staffed by 12 anonymous cartoon characters and two real identities. It started as a joke in 2019, but it has since made an impression in the crypto VC world, investing up to $10 million in a range of serious projects. The group does not take money from outside investors, preferring to spend the money that its partners made through cryptocurrency trading. While traditional markets might not accept a group of anonymous investors, the crypto space has been receptive. | 4Miscellaneous
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This Is What Happens When a Drone Light Show Fails | Drone light shows have been popular in China over the last few years. Sometimes these extravagant displays can go wrong. Drones began falling out of the sky during a recent performance above a mall in Zhengzhou, hitting buildings and vehicles as they fell. Around 5,000 people were at the event, but no injuries were reported. It is unclear what caused the accident. A video of the event is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Gilead stock pops 16% after report says coronavirus drug trial shows encouraging early results | Gilead Sciences recently completed a clinical trial of its antiviral drug Remdesivir. The results showed promising results for the drug's use in treating COVID-19. Patients treated with the drug had rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms and were discharged from hospital in less than a week. Gilead's stock price has risen by more than 16% in response to the news. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Ask HN: How to come up with monetizable side project ideas? (Hacker News Thread) | A user (sunilkumarc) on Hacker News asked for ideas to come up with side projects that would generate a few hundred dollars of revenue a month. I think a lot of the advice in this thread (especially the top comment by a13n) was really informative. Definitely worth checking out if you're thinking about starting a side project to generate some passive income. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Twitter to expand into long-form content with upcoming Twitter Notes feature | Twitter is preparing to launch Twitter Notes, a feature that supports the direct publishing of long-form content. The feature will allow users to create articles using rich formatting and uploaded media. It is currently in testing with select users. Twitter Notes is expected to launch in the coming weeks. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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SpaceX is launching a NASA spacecraft that will crash into an asteroid | NASA launched its Double Asteroid Redirection Test on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early this morning. The mission aims to hit the smaller of a pair of two asteroids at a speed of about 15,000 miles per hour with the 610-kilogram spacecraft to see how the impact changes the asteroid's trajectory. It will take 10 months to reach the asteroid, which is not a current threat to the planet. A small cube satellite will be deployed before impact to take photos of the event. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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The challenges of teaching software engineering | Graham Lee reflects on the challenges he faced while teaching a four-day course introducing software engineering for the first time. Lee was too comfortable with tools that beginners would find daunting, for example, the command line. He found he needed to be more specific and focus on what needed to be taught. There were many things he felt he didn’t have time to teach, while other topics he felt like he shouldn’t have introduced. Overall, there needs to be a balance between introducing information and demonstrating the value of the information that is taught. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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TinaCMS (GitHub Repo) | TinaCMS is a toolkit for building content management directly into a website. It allows teams to have a contextual and intuitive editing experience without sacrificing code quality. A demo is available on the main website. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Bugs bogging down code? Never miss an error with Airbrake (Sponsor) | Built by developers for developers. As one user said, "Airbrake is the only tool I use for real-time bug monitoring & my team can react in a manner of minutes." Get started with a free dev account & receive unlimited monitoring for 30 days with Airbrake. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Bitcoin Halving Arrives: Mining Rewards Drop for Third Time in History | Bitcoin's third halving has finally happened. The 630,000th block was produced at 19:23 UTC on May 11, triggering the halving event. Bitcoin was designed to reduce the rewards for mining each block by half every 210,000 blocks. The mining reward is paid to those who contribute computing power to secure the Bitcoin network. Mining rewards are reduced in order to slow down the injection of new supply into the network as time goes by. The mining reward is now 6.25 bitcoin per block. Bitcoin's mining difficulty is expected to increase by 4.9% in the next week. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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'Pandemic drones' could single people out in a crowd for coughing, sneezing, or running a temperature, developers say — here's how they work | Canadian drone company Draganfly will work with the Australian Department of Defense and the University of South Australia to develop pandemic drones that will use sensors and computer vision to monitor people's temperature and heart rates. The drones will be able to detect people coughing in crowds. Images of the pandemic drones and the software are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Forget AR glasses. Augmented reality is headed to your windshield (10 minute read) | Envisics has developed a headset-free, in-car holography system that can give drivers an Augmented Reality Heads-Up Display. One of the biggest challenges for makers of AR headsets is people moving their heads, which is less of a problem in cars. Envisics' Retina-grade displays can produce sharp and clear images three to four times the resolution of the human eye. Its first-generation displays are available in current Jaguar Land Rovers and the second-generation version will appear in GM's Cadillac Lyriq in 2023. A one-minute video is available in the article that demonstrates some functions of Envisics' AR HUD. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Google releases Android 13 developer preview #1 | Google released the Android 12L Developer Preview #3 on February 9 and the Android 13 Developer Preview #1 on February 10. The final version of Android 12L is due in March. Android 13 will feature more Material You color options, a new notification opt-in system for users, per-all language preferences, themed icons, a new photo picker that doesn't need storage access, and much more. It is due for release later in the year. More details about the new features in Android 13 are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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YouTube’s new AR Beauty Try-On lets viewers virtually try on makeup while watching video reviews | YouTube has a new feature that will allow viewers to try on makeup products while watching video reviews. AR Beauty Try-On will show a stream of the viewer’s face below the video that they are watching and allow the viewer to test out different products using augmented reality. During testing, YouTube found that while only 30 percent of viewers tried the feature, these users were engaged and spent more than 80 seconds trying out different products. Other apps also offer features for users to try on virtual makeup. YouTube’s AR Beauty Try-On is one of the first types of AR-powered ad campaigns. Google has also recently introduced Swirl, allowing users to view products in a 360 format. These new tools will be open to all brands and advertisers this Summer. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Crypto Theses for 2022 (Book) | The Crypto Theses is a report that covers key trends, people, companies, and projects to watch across the crypto landscape, with predictions for 2022. It includes sections on Bitcoin, American crypto policy, market infrastructure, NFTs, Web 3, DeFi, DAOs, Ethereum, and more. The report was created by employees of Messari, a crypto market intelligence platform that provides data and research products and services. | 4Miscellaneous
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Physicists in China challenge Google’s ‘quantum advantage’ | A team in China claims to have demonstrated quantum advantage by performing a computation which is practically impossible on normal computers. The calculation was complete within a few minutes. Unlike Google's first demonstration of quantum advantage, this test cannot be completed with a classical computer. The calculation that was made has potential practical applications in graph theory, quantum chemistry, and machine learning. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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China starts large-scale testing of its internet of the future | China has launched a large-scale experimental network to test the future of internet technology. It connects 40 of the country's leading research universities with huge bandwidth and far lower latency than the existing internet. The network will connect to almost everything for seamless communications in an AI-driven society. China launched a massive effort to replace Western hardware in its information infrastructure after it was revealed how Western technology was riddled with back doors. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Going IPv6 only | IPv6 is almost 25 years old, yet the technology is still not being used widely. It is possible to set up a v6-only network, but users are bound to run into problems. This article discusses the setup procedure and some of the issues. Many websites, such as Reddit, Hacker News, Twitter, and GitHub aren't available on IPv6. Running a v6-network for daily use is impractical as there are still too many services that fully rely on IPv4 to function. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Why no one really knows how many jobs automation will replace | Expert estimates about the impact of automation on jobs are all over the place (there's a chart in the article with estimates from reputable sources between 5 million and 80 million jobs destroyed in the next 20 years). This is because we don't know if a technology will actually be used due to legal or social hurdles, jobs actually include a multitude of tasks (this is why conveyor belts haven't replaced human waiters), and it's really hard to know what you don't know (always a problem when trying to predict the future!). For example, John Maynard Keynes predicted that by 2030, we would have 15 hour workweeks due to productivity gains. While the productivity gains materialized, the 15 hour workweeks unfortunately have not, even though it probably seemed intuitively obvious at the time that higher productivity would lead to less work. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Brains are the last frontier of privacy | Several startups and a major tech company are now developing brain-computer interfaces, with some rudimentary versions already popping up in online stores. The concern for these devices is that they are able to read thoughts, which might open up the possibility of discrimination based on what goes on inside a person's head. Devices can already recognize basic emotional states, unspoken words, and imagined movements. The technology has been applied to the area of prosthetics, allowing people to regain control of their limbs. Companies are aiming to create devices that allow typing with thoughts or even merging with AI. These devices will generate huge amounts of neural data, which is potentially one of the most sensitive forms of personal information. This data could be exploited for marketing and has the potential to be used against people who show particular brain patterns, for example, it can be used to tell whether a person had propensities for addiction, depression, or neurological disease. | 4Miscellaneous
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The Army's New Night-Vision Goggles Look Like Technology Stolen From Aliens | The army's new Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binoculars are a huge upgrade from traditional night vision goggles. They use white tubes that produce better contrast and brighter images. The goggles offer stereo vision and can see through obstructions like dust and smoke even with zero illumination. Augmented reality enhancements allow the goggles to enhance and outline objects, and they can wirelessly communicate with an electronic scope so soldiers can aim without exposing themselves. Images of the goggles are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Microsoft starts testing Edge Chromium browser on Xbox | Alpha Skip-Ahead Xbox testers can now access the new Microsoft Edge on Xbox One or Xbox Series S/X consoles. There is no keyboard or mouse support. A Chromium browser allows more access to the web, and it increases compatibility with web-based services. The Xbox version of Edge supports extensions, vertical tabs, Collections, and most other desktop features. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Cascadia Code | Cascadia Code is a monospaced font from Microsoft that provides a fresh experience for command-line experiences and code editors. It is designed to be used with terminal applications and text editors. Cascadia Code supports programming ligatures. It is open source and is available publicly on GitHub. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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A Meta prototype lets you build virtual worlds by describing them | Mark Zuckerberg recently showed off a prototype of an artificial intelligence system that lets people build parts of virtual worlds by verbally describing them. Builder Bot can create 3D scenes with sound effects and background audio. It is unknown if it generates the designs or if it uses a library of human-created models. Many unique moderation problems will come with the tech, so it probably won't be available any time soon. A video from Meta with Zuckerberg demonstrating the technology is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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InfluxDB as an IoT Edge Historian: A Crawl/Walk/Run Approach (Sponsor) | Three approaches to collecting data from edge devices. Edge devices have different capabilities, so finding the right solution for your use case may require a bit of trial and error, but here is how to get started. Learn more. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Google Working On VR Shoes That Let You Walk Forever In Your Living Room | Google has patented the idea to create a pair of shoes that lets you walk forever in place (basically they're like little conveyor belts that always carry you back to wherever you started, so you can "walk" without moving anywhere). The point is to allow for more immersive VR experiences, where you can walk around in virtual worlds without having to randomly walk around in the real world. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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The Future of Micro-Frontends (11 minute read) | This article looks at the current state of micro-frontends and how the approach can be improved in the future. It shares ideas and trends that are interesting to those in the micro-frontends community. Micro-frontends are components that can be built by different teams using different technologies and put together into a web application. The architecture is still young, but it has seen success across enterprise organizations globally. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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GPT-3 Bot Posed as a Human on AskReddit for a Week (17 minute read) | GPT-3 was released by OpenAI in June this year. It can generate large amounts of texts from prompts. Many experts agree that GPT-3's generated text is shockingly good for a computer program. A Reddit user used a version of GPT-3 to generate long answers on AskReddit threads within minutes of the thread being posted. After this raised suspicions, a company that offered GPT-3 services admitted that one of their customers was abusing their service and the posts stopped. All the posts by the bot are still available for viewing, with 13 examples embedded in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Self-transforming robot blocks jump, spin, flip, and identify each other | MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has created self-assembling robotic cubes that can climb over and around one another, leap through the air, and roll across the ground. Using radio signals or infrared to communicate can cause a lot of interference, especially at scale. M-Blocks are able to identify other blocks and faces using a barcode-like system. A fleet of blocks can currently accomplish simple tasks such as forming a line, following arrows, or tracking light. In the future, the blocks may be able to self-assemble into structures such as stairs. M-Blocks use a flywheel for movement and magnets for attachment. The blocks are inexpensive, robust, and can be easily scaled. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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GitHub Says Hackers Breach Dozens of Organizations Using Stolen OAuth Access Tokens | GitHub has discovered evidence that hackers are using stolen OAuth user tokens to download private data from several organizations. OAuth tokens are one of the most common tools used for accessing data without having to share credentials. The stolen OAuth tokens were believed to have been obtained through a set of unspecified private NPM repositories and not through a breach of GitHub or its systems. GitHub is still assessing the extent of the attack. | 4Miscellaneous
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Lima: Linux-on-Mac (GitHub Repo) | Lima launches Linux virtual machines on macOS. It features automatic file sharing, automatic port forwarding, built-in support for containerd, and more. Lima has not been tested on ARM processors, but it should work. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Robot Room service At The Axiom Hotel In San Francisco (4 minute video) | The Axiom Hotel has a room service robot. It has an interactive screen which has instructions for guests to call it. When summoned, Astro moves to collect the delivery item and then to the elevator. The robot uses the elevator with some help. It moves to the guest's front door, and then there is a cut in the video, after which it shows the guest picking up their item after interacting with the screen. There is plenty of space in the robot to carry items. Once the item is delivered, Astro heads back home. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Meet the first NASA astronauts SpaceX will launch to orbit | Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first astronauts to launch in SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. The pair will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 27th. They will be the first people that SpaceX has ever launched into space and the first people to launch to orbit from the United States since 2011. It is unclear when the astronauts will return home. NASA will decide on a return date once the astronauts are on board the International Space Station. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Ecco (GitHub Repo) | Ecco is a python library that explains Natural Language Processing models using interactive visualizations. It creates interactive visualizations in Jupyter notebooks to explain the behavior of Transformer-based language models. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Apple's 'Netflix for Magazines' Getting a Chilly Reception | Apple bought an app called Texture in March, which gave Netflix-style unlimited access to about 200 magazines for a monthly subscription. Now it's going to relaunch it as a premium product within Apple News for $10/month. Apple is trying to get papers like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times to join, but there is concern that this service could cannibalize their existing subscribers. Still, Apple News is a default app on 1.3 billion devices, so it's possible they will be the ones to figure out Netflix for news. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A new technique successfully fried up to 75 percent of tumors using ultrasound | Scientists from the University of Michigan used ultrasound waves to eliminate up to 75% of liver tumor material in rat bodies. The rats' immune systems were then able to remove the leftover cancerous tissues and prevent reemergence. The technique is already being deployed in human trials in the US and Europe. Liver cancer is one of the top 10 causes of cancer-related deaths in the world, with survival rates at less than 18% in the US. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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iOS 14 is available today | iOS 14 is now available as a free software update. The update brings major changes to the Home Screen, with Widgets and a new App Library. Incoming calls and Siri interactions have a new compact design. FaceTime now has Picture-in-Picture support, so users can watch videos while on a call. App Clips are features of apps designed to be discovered when they are needed. They can be discovered and accessed through App Clip codes, NFC tags, QR codes, and links. Messages received an update that allows users to better organize their chats. Maps now has new cycling directions, electric vehicle routing, and curated Guides. Users will have more access and control to their privacy settings. There are many other changes in the update. A list of additional iOS 14 features is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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The family in 2050: artificial wombs, robot carers and the rise of single fathers by choice (10 minute read) | Many of the predictions about what 2020 would be like for families didn't pan out, but things have definitely changed in the last couple of decades. Women are working more, the number of people choosing not to have children is increasing, and same-sex and transsexual parents are becoming more common. As reproductive technology develops, the definition of a typical family is likely to change significantly. Science will soon be able to create artificial sperm and eggs, as well as wombs. A change in the process of reproduction may mean that women can continue to work while being 'pregnant', and people who could not produce their own children previously (eg. single men, transgender and same-sex couples) can have their own children. Genetically modified designer babies will also likely become a reality. Many other factors such as an aging population, increased travel, and economic inequality will also affect the future of the family unit. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Scientists just broke the record for the highest efficiency solar cell | Researchers from the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory have created a solar cell with a record efficiency of 39.5% under 1-sun global illumination. It has the highest efficiency recorded for any type of cell ever measured in real-world conditions. Earlier experimental cells have reached higher efficiencies, but they only did so under extremely concentrated light. The new cell performs at 34.2% efficiency in space. It is expensive to produce, so researchers will have to reduce the costs before the cell can become widespread. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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15 People Lived 40 Days in a Sunless Cave Without Clocks to Study Time | 15 people spent 40 days living in a cave in France without sunlight, clocks, or contact with the outside world as part of an experiment called Deep Time. Deep Time was designed to probe the human brain's conception of time and to study the group's response to life in isolation. There were no natural cues to regulate circadian rhythms in the darkness of the cave. Participants had to pass mental and physical examinations before the experiment, and they were monitored even after their exit. The experiment could help scientists anticipate the challenges of long-term submarine and space missions. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Best-practice-for-network-segmentation (GitHub Repo) | This repository contains best practices for segmentation of the corporate network of any company. It discusses four levels of network segmentation and outlines the advantages and disadvantages of each implementation. Detailed diagrams are provided in each section. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Scientists developed a clever way to detect Deepfakes by analyzing light reflections in the eyes | A new AI tool developed by computer scientists from the University of Buffalo can spot Deepfake images by looking at the light reflected in the eyes. It was 94% effective at detecting Deepfake images in tests on portrait-style photos. The corneas of the eyes reflect patterns when illuminated by light. Deepfake generators typically fail to capture this reflection accurately. The method only works on clear portrait images with a good source of lighting. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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GM reveals Ultra Cruise ‘hands-free’ system that covers ‘95 percent’ of driving scenarios | General Motors has unveiled its next-generation 'hands-free' driver-assist technology, Ultra Cruise. Ultra Cruise can be used in 95 percent of driving scenarios. A light bar will communicate to the driver when they need to take control. Ultra Cruise will be available in a handful of premium vehicles in 2023. GM's driver-assist systems have been praised as safer and more capable than Tesla's Autopilot thanks to its camera-based driver monitoring system that ensures drivers keep their eyes on the road. Ultra Cruise is a Level 2 system, which means that a human is required to be ready to take control in the driver's seat at any time. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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James Webb Space Telescope: Sun shield is fully deployed | The James Webb telescope has successfully deployed its giant kite-shaped sun shield. The sun shield will give the telescope the required sensitivity to detect signals coming from the most distant objects in the universe. Deploying the five-membrane sun shield was a major triumph for the engineering teams at NASA and Northrop Grumman. The sun shield will cast a shadow that will lower the environment around the telescope's mirrors and instruments to below minus 230C. A diagram showing how the telescope will unfold in space is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Shopify's payment option to be added to Facebook, Instagram | Shopify is expanding its Shop Pay payment option to all users selling on Facebook and Instagram. It will be available to Instagram users in the US from Tuesday, and to Facebook users in the coming weeks. Customers will be able to use Shop Pay alongside other payment options such as Facebook Pay. This is the first time the feature has been made available outside Shopify's platform. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Company Unveils Robot Boots for VR Locomotion With Half-Life Demo | Ekto VR has unveiled a pair of robotic boots called the Ecto One. The boots allow users to move through VR environments using real steps without moving through the room. It doesn't require any wires or straps. The shoes are made from carbon-fiber material and Ekto claims they are lightweight. There are rotating plates at the bottom of the boots that can twist with the user's motion and a series of wheels to control the user's position. It is equipped with brakes to stop the boots from moving when the user is standing still. A 3-minute video is available in the article that demos the boots being used to play Half-Life: Alyx. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Jovo (GitHub Repo) | Jovo is a cross-platform framework for building conversational and multimodal experiences on the web, Alexa, Google Assistant, Messenger, Instagram, Google Business Messages, mobile apps, and more. It is component-based and extensions are available through a marketplace. Jovo works with many NLU and CMS services. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Garden eels 'forgetting about humans' need people to video-chat | Tokyo's Sumida Aquarium has been closed since March 1 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Its garden eels have started to dive into sand whenever their keepers walk past, making it hard to check if they're healthy. This may be due to the eels starting to forget humans, so the aquarium is asking people from around the world to call in for a video chat with the eels. From May 3 to 5, people can call one of five tablets using Apple's FaceTime app to keep the eels company. Links to further details are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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The Meltdown of IRON | The IRON stablecoin was partially collateralized with USDC, with the rest coming from TITAN, a volatile asset. If the price of IRON fell below $1, arbitrage traders could buy it and then redeem it with the IRON treasury for $0.75 USDC and $0.25 worth of TITAN. This caused traders to dump IRON and collect risk-free profit, which then devalued TITAN to nothing. The smart contract that holds the USDC to be redeemed requires the price of TITAN to be above zero for it to be unlocked, so now all the coins are stuck. This could have been easily prevented with a code audit. | 4Miscellaneous
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Iowa caucus debacle is one of the most stunning tech failures ever | Iowa Democratic Party officials found irregularities in the data collected by its caucusing app during the recent elections, causing them to switch from the app to counting votes manually. The Iowa Democrats were using an app made by a startup named Shadow Inc, which is managed by a nonprofit investment company called Acronym. According to the party, the issue only affected reporting and did not affect how accurate the data was. The Iowa Democratic Party used an application made by Microsoft in 2016 and the reason they chose to switch to using the untested startup's app is unclear. In August, the Democratic National Committee had recommended Iowa stop using an app altogether. The fact that it has taken so much time for the party to recover from the coding issue shows how unprepared they would have been in the event of an actual cyberattack. | 4Miscellaneous
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Osmedeus (GitHub Repo) | Osmedeus is a collection of reconnaissance and vulnerability scanning tools. It is able to scan subdomains, provide basic information such as IPs, discover ports and vulnerabilities, and more. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Twitter Users in China Face Detention and Threats in New Beijing Crackdown | China is escalating its crackdown on Twitter. Many political activists use VPNs to access Twitter (China only has about 3 million Twitter users because the service is banned). One activist was chained to a chair for 8 hours, while another spent 15 days in a detention center. They both promised to stop using Twitter. One activist says "In this era, we certainly know fear, but I can't control myself. We've been living a very suppressed life. We're like lambs. They’re taking us one after another. We have no ability to fight back." | 4Miscellaneous
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Google is making some big upgrades to directions in Google Maps | New features were recently announced for Google Maps, including tools for indoor navigation and eco-friendly driving routes. Live View augmented reality directions will soon be available at airports, transit stations, and malls in select cities. A revamped interface for picking transportation modes is rolling out globally over the next few months. Users in Australia, India, and the US will soon be able to view air quality in Maps, and a weather layer is rolling out globally. Screenshots of the new features are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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GitHub Copilot is generally available to all developers | GitHub Copilot is now generally available to individual developers. Developers can get a 60-day free trial, after which the service will be billed at $10 per calendar month or $100 per year. Verified students and maintainers of popular open source projects will be able to use GitHub Copilot for free. GitHub Copilot will be available for companies later this year. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Aino (GitHub Repo) | Aino is an experimental HTTP framework for writing HTTP applications in Elixir. It is built on top of elli, a web server designed for building high-throughput, low-latency HTTP APIs. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Starlink-for-vehicles plan has ruggedized terminal for extreme heat and cold | SpaceX's Starlink terminals for moving vehicles will be ruggedized to withstand harsh environments. The vehicle terminals will operate with higher gain and lower transmit power compared to standard Starlink terminals. They will communicate with satellites above a minimum elevation angle of 25 degrees. The terminals will be designed for aircraft, ships, large trucks, and RVs. SpaceX currently has about 90,000 users in 12 countries. Some users have been having trouble getting a line-of-sight connection in areas with tall trees or other obstacles due to the low elevation angle of the satellites. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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'Apple Music TV' Launches in U.S. | Apple has just launched Apple Music TV, a 24-hour stream of music videos, live shows, and events. It is now available for users in the US through the Apple Music and Apple TV apps. New videos will be debuted on Apple Music TV every Friday. The station will also show interviews and other content by Apple Music 1 radio host Zane Lowe. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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deepfakes_faceswap (GitHub Repo) | Faceswap is a tool that uses deep learning to swap faces in pictures and videos. While the technology has the potential to be abused, the developers encourage users to follow strict ethical standards, such as not using it for inappropriate or illegal content, seeking consent from the people being swapped, and to be open and honest when a deepfake is being used in a video. A video of Steve Buscemi's face swapped on Jennifer Lawrence during a question and answer session is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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With Lens Cloud, Snap offers backend services for its developer platform | Snap has launched Lens Cloud, a server-side component for its developer platform that will help developers build dynamic, multiplayer experiences. Lens Cloud will let developers take advantage of multi-user services, use location-based services to anchor Lenses to places, and store assets on Snap's servers and load them on demand. Lenses are augmented reality apps that can be accessed in Snapchat. The storage service will launch in the coming months. Lens Cloud is free for Snap AR developers. | 4Miscellaneous
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Tech Stocks Killing Your Portfolio? De-risk It with This App (Sponsor) | Tech Stocks Killing Your Portfolio? De-risk It with This App . With the NASDAQ down 23% YTD, investors with tech heavy portfolios are singing the blues (cough cough, Cathie Wood).So how do you de-risk your portfolio? | 0Sponsor
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Zingg (GitHub Repo) | Zingg is a package that features scalable fuzzy matching for data mastering, deduplication, and entity resolution. It can be used to quickly integrate data silos and build unified views at scale. Zingg works for English, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, and other languages. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Youtube is now showing ad-supported Hollywood movies | Youtube is now showing about 100 full-length movies for free, including "Legally Blond", "Terminator", and "Rocky". The terms of Youtube's deal with Hollywood studios are undisclosed, but Youtube Director of Product Management Rohit Dhawan says that the selection is expected to expand, and that eventually advertisers could have a way to sponsor individual movies, and even offer complimentary views and exclusive screenings. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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California is cracking down on the gig economy | A new bill has been passed by the state Assembly in California that will make it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees, as is common practice for many companies that wish to skirt state and federal labor laws. Hundreds and thousands of workers, ranging from Uber and Amazon drivers to manicurists and exotic dancers, would likely become employees under the new bill. As employees, workers will gain labor protections and benefits such as unemployment insurance, health care subsidies, paid parental leave, overtime pay, workers’ compensation, and guaranteed minimum hourly rates. Many companies have fought back against the bill as it adds to the costs of running a business. The bill will still have to pass through the state Senate before it becomes law. | 4Miscellaneous
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Airbnb says it plans to temporarily house 20,000 Afghan refugees | Airbnb will house 20,000 Afghan refugees around the world in the properties listed on its platform. The stays will be funded by Airbnb, but the company has not specified how much it plans to spend or how long the refugees will be housed. The US has evacuated roughly 48,000 people from Afghanistan in recent days. The Taliban has set an airlift deadline of August 31, and thousands are still trying to escape. Brian Chesky, Airbnb's CEO, hopes that his company's actions will inspire other business leaders to help the refugees. Airbnb has hosted 75,000 people in times of crisis since 2012. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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The First Hologram Machine That Projects Life-Size In Full-Color | PORTL is a fully self-contained hologram machine that projects life-sized holograms in full color. It can be used to project a live image of a person anywhere in the world. An in-built camera allows the person in the hologram to view their audience, and it features a touchscreen so people can interact with the image. They are starting to appear worldwide in malls, airports, and museums. Each machine costs $60,000. A miniature version of the device will be released in the future. There are videos in the article that show the device in action. | 4Miscellaneous
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PayPal to allow cryptocurrency buying, selling and shopping on its network | PayPal users in the US will soon be able to buy, sell, and hold bitcoin and other virtual coins on the platform. Cryptocurrency payments will be settled using fiat currencies. The feature will be rolled out in the coming weeks, with plans to expand to Venmo and some other countries in the first half of 2021. PayPal's launch is noteworthy due to its vast reach. It has 346 million active accounts worldwide and it processed $222 billion in payments in the second quarter. | 4Miscellaneous
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Getting Started with React Cosmos (10 minute read) | React Cosmos reduces component complexity by providing a testing sandbox for developing and testing React components in isolation. The library allows developers to isolate components, see what they look like, make changes, and iterate quickly. Changes reflect in the sandbox instantly. This article shows how React Cosmos works by testing the components of a food ordering app in isolation. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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San Francisco bans cashless stores | San Francisco has become the third city or state to ban cashless stores, citing that cashless stores unfairly discriminate against economically disadvantaged people. The ban exempts pop-up stores, rideshare companies, online stores, and food trucks, as they may not have the capabilities to accept cash as payment. While the city acknowledges the future will probably be cashless, many citizens are not yet ready for the transition. Many citizens still do not have bank accounts, let alone the cards that will allow them to live in a cashless society. | 4Miscellaneous
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The transhumanists who are 'upgrading' their bodies | A growing number of people who call themselves 'transhumanists' believe that they can improve beyond their physical and mental limitations and upgrade their bodies by incorporating technology. Modifications can include implanting RFID chips to make interaction with technologies easier, magnets to sense electromagnetic fields, and LED implants for cosmetic reasons. Not all the modifications are practical. Microchips are usually delivered by a syringe to the back of the hand and can be programmed to do various tasks. RFID chips are used for many technologies, for example, key cards, bank cards, public transport tickets, and sharing other information. Buying parts online and performing the procedures at home can be risky. Most tattoo artists and body piercers are covered to do implants. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Delta Lake (GitHub Repo) | Delta Lake is an open-source storage layer that brings ACID transactions to Apache Spark and big data workloads. In addition to ACID transactions, it features scalable metadata handling, data versioning, an open format, unified batch and streaming source and sink, schema enforcement and evolution, and it is 100% compatible with the Apache Spark API. Planned features include an audit history and full DML support. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Vision-based AI drones outfly world-class human pilots | A trio of champion drone racers recently faced off against vision-based AI drones in a race and lost. The drones used onboard vision systems and their own computers to fly. They did not have the aid of motion-capture systems or off-board computers. Motion capture systems can provide near-perfect state estimation, making a race between humans and AI completely unfair. Several drone racing clips are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Elon Musk has a ticket to ride on Richard Branson’s spaceplane | Elon Musk bought a ticket to space from Virgin Galactic before Richard Branson's flight on Sunday. Virgin Galactic has sold around 600 tickets for SpaceShipTwo. Musk is friends with Branson. Buying the ticket was a friendly endorsement of Virgin Galactic's rocket-powered plane. SpaceX has its first astronaut mission in September. It will be a longer trip into orbit. A picture of Musk and Branson together hanging out the morning before Branson went to space is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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5 reasons the iPhone XR will succeed where iPhone 5c failed | The iPhone 5C failed because it was literally just the parts from an iPhone 5 put into a new plastic shell. It was also pitched as a "budget" iPhone, and had a new unproven design. The iPhone XR can succeed where the iPhone 5C failed because it is actually a premium phone (it costs $749), it is meant for people who bought the iPhone 8 last year instead of the iPhone X (which introduced a sort of "super flagship" $999 price point). The iPhone XR looks like an iPhone X from the front and the iPhone 8 from the back, so it's a proven design, and given Apple's scale (they now sell over 220 million iPhones a year, whereas when the 5C came out they only sold about 150 million per year) it will be much easier for the iPhone XR to succeed. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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