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Wildtype is opening up a pre-order list for select chefs as it focuses on lab-grown, sushi-grade salmon | Wildtype is a startup that makes lab-grown salmon. The company is still at least five years from commercial production but it is already looking to partner with select chefs around the country. Wildtype has produced lab-grown meat similar to the meat that would be ordered at a sushi restaurant. The startup developed its own technology for developing scaffolding for the cells to grow on that would replicate the taste and texture of wild-caught salmon. Images of Wildtype's lab-grown salmon are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Move Fast and Don’t Break Privacy - Webinar (Sponsor) | Move Fast and Don’t Break Privacy - Webinar . Businesses are collecting, storing, and analyzing more data than ever. However, not all data is created equal. Some data, like sensitive user data, is special and requires better protection than other data.Join Skyflow’s Head of Developer Relations, Sean Falconer, to learn how leading companies like Netflix and Apple use zero trust data privacy vaults to protect and secure sensitive data. This webinar will introduce and demo Skyflow, a data privacy vault delivered as an API, and answer live questions.Join us July 6th at 10am PT for ‘Move Fast and Don’t Break Privacy’. Register now. | 0Sponsor
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Axiom (GitHub Repo) | Axiom can set up a cloud hacking box with just a single command. It is designed so hackers can quickly set up multiple instances for short-term use. Users just need to run axiom-init and it will create a new DigitalOcean instance in under two minutes containing reconnaissance tools, an OpenVPN server, and more. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Cuomo Speaks With Bezos, Furiously Trying to Get Back Amazon | Ever since Amazon decided to pull out of their plans to build a second headquarters in Queens, New York, Governor Cuomo has been working intensely to try to get the plans reinstated. Cuomo has been in contact with Amazon executives and even spoke directly to Jeff Bezos. The governor guarantees support to help Amazon build their headquarters, however, Amazon has yet to indicate whether they are still interested in the project. | 4Miscellaneous
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Deno.js in production. Key takeaways | Deno.js is a new JavaScript runtime that is basically a rewrite of the Node.js JavaScript engine. It can transition a codebase from JavaScript to TypeScript without transpilation or magicware. Teams considering switching to Golang may be interested in Deno.js as it provides a lot of overlap in terms of use cases. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Coronavirus: Spain and France announce sweeping restrictions | Spain and France have announced emergency restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus. In Spain, people can only leave home to work or buy essential supplies and medicines. Cafes, restaurants, cinemas, and most shops are now shut down in France. According to the World Health Organization, Europe is now the epicenter of the pandemic. Many other countries are now implementing self-quarantine rules and other restrictions. Italy, Spain, and France have been hit hard with the coronavirus, with 1,440, 191, and 91 deaths in each country respectively. | 4Miscellaneous
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Harvard and Sony built a tiny surgery robot inspired by origami | Researchers from Harvard and Sony have created a surgical robot inspired by origami that is around the size of a tennis ball and weighs about the same as a penny. The mini-RCM was built using a custom manufacturing technique. Three linear actuators are used to control the mini-RCM's movements in multiple directions. The mini-RCM is 68 percent more accurate than a hand-controlled tool and was able to perform some precision medical maneuvers successfully. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Amazon is opening a new store that sells items from its website rated 4 stars and above | A new store called Amazon 4-star will open today in New York's SoHo neighborhood. The store is permanent (not a pop-up store) and will only sell items that have 4 star ratings or above on Amazon. Amazon Prime members will pay "the Amazon.com price" when they shop there. The store will have digital price tags, presumably to keep prices consistent with the Amazon.com website. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A Mysterious Infection, Spanning the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy (18 minute read) | Antibiotics have been used to treat infections for many decades, and this has caused the evolution of ‘superbugs’ that have developed resistance to these drugs. An antifungal resistant fungus has caused outbreaks all over the world, killing nearly half its patients within 90 days. When testing the hospital rooms of these patients, it was found that the fungus was present on every surface tested. Despite these outbreaks, there has been little attention drawn to this fungus. Some scientists have theorized that the outbreak is caused by the use of pesticides, some of which are molecularly similar to antifungal medication. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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This Molten Salt Reactor Is the Next Big Thing in Nuclear | Elysium Technologies is a startup behind a new molten salt reactor design that can scale up to 1,200 Megawatts electric. The design uses a blend of the most cutting edge technologies. It uses up fuel in the reactor process, and it can recycle fuel from itself, other reactors, or even weapons. The reactor uses up 95% of its fuel, leaving behind fuel that is toxic for shorter periods compared to other reactors. It features low-tech and effective safety designs. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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1 in 5 corporations say China has stolen their IP within the last year: CNBC CFO survey | In a survey of North American-based corporations on the CNBC Global CFO Council, seven out of the 23 companies surveyed say that Chinese firms have stolen from them in the past decade. The council represents nearly $5 trillion in market value across a variety of sectors. Businesses are unhappy with current US-China trade negotiations as the terms against IP theft are too relaxed. China has recently issued a memo that detailed punishments for IP violators. Trade policies are now the biggest issue in Europe, as many European businesses say that US trade policies were the biggest risk to their businesses. | 4Miscellaneous
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Everything You Need to Know About Superstar CRISPR Prime Editing | CRISPR was created from a bacterial defense system and has been the only gene-editing tool for many years. It is cheap and effective, and it revived the entire field of gene therapy. A new technique has been discovered that may be able to correct nearly 90 percent of all disease-causing genetic variations. Prime editing is a search-and-replace editor for the human genome. It can change individual DNA letters, delete letters, or insert blocks of new letters into the genome, with little damage to the DNA strand. Early experiments with cultured cells have been extremely promising. CRISPR has issues with accuracy and it damages genes during editing. Prime editing is much more gentle with DNA as it is much more accurate, and this results in more control over the type of edits that can be made. It will still need rigorous testing before it becomes widely accepted. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Intel's new neuron-based computer matches brain of a small mammal | Intel's new 'neuromorphic' computing system, Pohoiki Springs, contains 100 million neurons, about the same number of neurons as in the brain of a small mammal. Traditional computer chips can process a large amount of numbers but still cannot perform well with abstract problems, such as spotting the difference between cats and dogs. Pohoiki Springs uses special neuromorphic processors designed for machine learning, a computing technology that has significantly improved performance with abstract problems. The new system will be accessible via the cloud by members of the Intel Neuromorphic Research Community. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Apple Threatens to Terminate Epic Games' Developer Accounts on August 28 | Apple plans to terminate Epic Games' access to its App Store and app development tools by August 28. This includes the development tools required to create software for the Unreal Engine. Epic has filed a court order in Northern California to remove the restrictions that Apple has placed on it. The dispute started when Epic attempted to introduce a direct payment system in its Fortnite app to defy Apple's App Store rules. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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How We Illustrate at GitHub | This blog post explores GitHub's artistic process and how it was used in GitHub's new site design. The team started with the story, which influenced the characters used, color, and other aspects of the design. Git lines were used as a common shape in the designs as the symbol best represents how GitHub works. The mix of art, design, and engineering represents a new way of telling GitHub's brand story. Concept illustrations from the design process are available in the article. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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MIT Dream Research Interacts Directly With an Individual’s Dreaming Brain and Manipulates the Content | Targeted Dream Incubation is a method to record dream reports and guide dreams towards particular themes. Dormio is a sleep-tracking device that can alter dreams by tracking dream states and delivering audio cues based on incoming physiological data. Directing dreams requires precise timing. Guided dream content can be used to complete tasks such as creative story writing. Dream studies have shown that dream incubation is tied to performance benefits in tests of creativity. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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How I Make CSS Art | This article explains how to create CSS art. Readers will learn how to create a cute ghost CSS art from scratch. It breaks down the process and explains the code. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Introducing WebContainers: Run Node.js natively in your browser | WebContainers can create full-stack Node.js environments that are immediately online and shareable in just one click. The environments load with VS Code, terminal, NPM, and more. WebContainers run entirely inside the browser and can be used to create on-demand Node.js servers that continue to work even when offline. GIF demos are available in the article. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Amazon launches Counterfeit Crimes Unit to fight knockoffs on its store | Amazon has launched a new Counterfeit Crimes Unit in an effort to fight counterfeit products on its website. The team consists of former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators, and data analysts. Counterfeit products are a big issue for Amazon, with Nike recently deciding to stop selling through the platform, citing unlicensed and imposter sellers as a contributing factor. The new unit will make it easier for Amazon to file civil lawsuits, aid brands in their investigations, and work with law enforcement. Amazon spent over $500 million in 2019 to fight fraud, abuse, and counterfeit products. It reported blocking 2.5 million suspected bad actor accounts and shutting down 6 billion suspected bad listings in 2019. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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How Have I Been Pwned became the keeper of the internet’s biggest data breaches (12 minute read) | Have I Been Pwned was launched in 2013 to help people find out if they have fallen victim to a data breach. It currently has just under 10 billion records and it processes thousands of requests each day. The site handles a lot of sensitive information. Troy Hunt, the creator of the site, had to make many judgments on what data to allow on the site and what access users should have. Hunt prioritized the safety and security of the data, and when he offered the site up for sale, it was to ensure that the site would be eventually passed on to good hands. Several parties attempted to buy the site but Hunt turned them all down in the end. Hunt will continue operating the site, loading over 102 million records into the site's database in June alone. | 4Miscellaneous
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This Incredible Skyscraper Is Also a Farm That Can Feed a Village | The Mashambas Skyscraper in Africa is a new concept for a skyscraper designed to serve as a farm, an education center, and a community center all in one. 70 percent of the African population lives in rural areas, practicing subsistence farming and barely making $2 USD a day. The Mashambas Skyscraper aims to train subsistence farmers in modern farming techniques in order to improve harvests and help the farmers pull themselves out of poverty. The design won the eVolo skyscraper competition, beating out over 400 other designs. One of the most unique features of the design is that it is moveable. The skyscraper can exist in a location for a period of time and then be rebuilt in a new location, leaving the base layer to serve as a marketplace for villagers. By providing farmers with tools, resources, and education, the Mashambas Skyscraper has the potential to promote long-term sustainable farming and improve crop yields. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Electron-boilerplate (GitHub Repo) | Electron-boilerplate contains code to kickstart creating an app with Electron. It is fully set up for cross-platform builds, has silent updates, has an app menu that adheres to system UI guidelines, and more. An example of a production app built using this boilerplate is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Is Vim Really Not For You? A Beginner Guide (17 minute read) | Many people avoid using Vim because there is a learning curve and it looks daunting. However, learning Vim can have many benefits, such as being able to edit files on remote systems where only Vi or Vim are available, being able to navigate many CLI applications that use Vim key bindings, and just because it can be a fun way to create content. Vim is completely keyboard-based, so having good keyboard technique is important. Everything in Vim is configurable, and there is even a programming language called Vimscript that can help shape the editor. Different modes will allow you to edit content in specific, efficient ways. There are some shortcuts to learn in order to get used to using the editor, but in the end, you will find that you will be able to edit and create content much more efficiently. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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How To Find Hidden Cameras & Spy Gear Like a Professional: The Definitive Guide | A surprisingly serious and comprehensive guide for sweeping a room for bugs and hidden cameras. Some beginner common sense stuff like checking sockets and turning off the lights to check for indicator lights on recording devices, and some advanced stuff about checking mirrors, thermal detection, and radio frequency detectors. | 4Miscellaneous
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Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air will arrive within a year | Apple is working on a 15-inch MacBook Air and a 12-inch MacBook. The 15-inch MacBook Air will have the same overall design as the 13.6-inch MacBook Air. It will use the same M2 processor. The new laptops could arrive in 2023, but Apple could abandon its 12-inch MacBook plans. New MacBook Pros with M2 chips could arrive as soon as this fall. The M2 Max will have 12 CPU cores and up to 38 GPU cores. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Google Tensor debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall | Tensor is Google's first custom-built System on a Chip specifically for Pixel phones. It will power the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones that will debut this fall. Tensor is built for AI and ML tasks and it will improve existing features, as well as make it possible to create new ones. The Pixel 6 will have the most layers of hardware security in any phone. It will have an upgraded rear camera system, with a camera bar rather than the traditional square. Pictures of the new phone are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Google’s next big project could give Duolingo a run for its money | Google Tivoli is a new Google service that teaches users how to speak a foreign language. It will teach foreign languages online through Search. There is little information about how the app will work, but it might be similar to Bolo and Read Along, two other language learning apps from Google. Google Tivoli is supposed to launch later this year, but as with all rumors and leaks, official plans may change. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Scientists use sound to see around corners | Researchers in Long Beach, California have developed a device - a vertical pole fitted with standard microphones and small car speakers - that uses sound to see around corners. The microphones pick up echoes resulting from a series of chirps emitted by the speakers, and after collecting echoes from different positions, the scientists used algorithms from seismic imaging to reconstruct objects that were not visible from the device’s position. Using this method was faster and more accurate than current optical techniques. While the results are promising, the technique is still years from being able to be practically applied. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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How a Tesla engineer redesigned the chocolate chip | Remy Labesque is a senior industrial designer at Tesla. His side project for the last three years has been to re-engineer the classic chocolate chip as he claims that the teardrop shape isn't suited to its function. The traditional shape was optimized for mass production rather than taste. Labesque's chocolate chips are a square, faceted pyramid, similar to a flattened diamond, with two thick edges and two thin edges. The chips stay whole throughout baking. They come in three different flavors at $30 for a 17.6 oz bag. Pictures of the chocolate chips are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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China to start building 5G satellite network to challenge Elon Musk’s Starlink | China is building a network of satellites to provide 5G coverage. Its first satellites have already been produced, tested, and launched. The network will compete with Starlink in the market for high-speed internet services in remote areas. China's constellation will have 1,000 satellites and offer download speeds of more than 500 megabits per second with low latency. China has identified the Starlink network as a threat to its national security. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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South Korean researchers create chameleon-like artificial "skin" | South Korean researchers have developed an artificial skin-like material that can quickly adjust its hues like a chameleon to match its surroundings. The skin is made with a special ink that changes color based on temperature. It is controlled by stacked multilayer silver nanowire heaters. The researchers used a robot with color-detecting sensors to demonstrate how the technology can be used for camouflage. The skin is thinner than human hair and has the potential to be further developed into wearable devices, clothing, and displays. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Playing Pictionary against computers could help AI learn common sense | The Allen Institute of Artificial Intelligence (AI2) today released an online Pictionary-style game called Iconary. Iconary is designed as a tool to help computers learn common sense by interpreting pictures that users draw, based on phrases that the computer hasn’t seen before. Users will draw scenes based on a text description, and the algorithm will have to identify what objects are in the picture, figure out how these objects relate to each other, and translate the image into text that humans can understand. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Git Explorer (Web Tool) | This is a nifty tool that lets you select a few options like "compare two commits" and "output results to a file" and it will show you the correct git command to do so. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Apple Fitness+ tidbits | Apple's Fitness+ is now available. Users will be able to share workouts with other Apple devices, but the ability to take screenshots has been blocked in the app. An Apple Watch is required to activate Fitness+, but after activation, the app can be used without the watch. While there is no leaderboard for Fitness+, there is a Burn Bar that shows users' efforts compared to others during their workouts. The data for the Burn Bar is collected anonymously from users who opt-in for the feature. A 17-minute video walkthrough of Fitness+ is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Toyota built an internal combustion engine that sips hydrogen, and it sounds awesome | Toyota recently unveiled a Corolla Hatchback fitted with a hydrogen-sipping internal combustion engine. It features an all-wheel-drive system, and its exhaust makes the same sounds as a tuned gasoline-powered vehicle. The car uses 100-percent hydrogen fuel with no gasoline content. It still emits some noxious gases, but significantly less than a pure gasoline car. The Corolla will be racing in the 2021 Super Taikyu 24 Hour Endurance Series from May 21 to 23. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Notion (GitHub Repo) | Notion is a tool to manage JavaScript packages to ensure that everyone on the project is using an identical development environment. It is operated through the command line and allows packages to be managed by project. Notion’s tool-chain allows developers to enjoy the convenience of installing global packages without having to worry about the dependencies on their machines. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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3D printed tiles help revive coral beds in Hong Kong coastal waters (3 minute video) | Marine biologists and architects in Hong Kong worked together to develop 3D-printed clay tiles that help coral grow. Coral doesn't like sand, so the clay tiles were designed to prevent sediment buildup and to create a surface for the coral to grow. The tiles were seeded with coral and 100% of the coral was still surviving after two months. The team hopes that the tiles can be used to help other reefs damaged by pollution, fishing, and bleaching. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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image2csv (GitHub Repo) | image2csv is a Python program that converts images of array numbers to corresponding CSV files. The program works better with images of higher resolution. An example is available in the repository. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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forgit (GitHub Repo) | forgit is a tool designed to help people use git more efficiently. It provides a UI and makes many of git's functions interactive. Screenshots are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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YouTube is about to pull its apps from Roku, and the fight is going all the way to Congress | Roku customers will no longer be allowed to download the YouTube or YouTube TV apps to their devices after December 9. Customers who already have the apps installed will still be able to use those apps normally. Roku claims that Google is using its dominant market power to force unfavorable terms on a competitor. Google had demanded special access to data from Roku customers as a condition for allowing its apps to be installed on the devices. A variety of bills have been introduced to prevent digital platforms from abusing their power. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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The deepest-ever dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench found litter there | Retired naval officer Victor Vescovo piloted his submarine to 10,927 meters below the sea’s surface and spent around four hours at the bottom. This was the deepest-ever dive ever in the Mariana Trench, 50 feet lower than James Cameron’s dive in 2012. While Vescovo potentially discovered four new species on his dive, he also found plastic bags and candy wrappers. According to the United Nations, there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans by 2050. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Octopuses Like to Punch Fish, New Research Suggests | Scientists have documented multiple occurrences of octopuses punching fish. It seems that the octopuses primarily do it for practical reasons, such as banishing a fish from a hunting group, but sometimes there appeared to be no immediate benefit to the behavior. Octopus and fish sometimes hunt together, sharing the spoils. Several videos of octopuses punching fish are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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HeadFi system gives dumb headphones smart functions | HeadFi is a system that features an adapter module that any set of headphones can plug into. It gives all headphones the ability to detect the wearer's heart rate, respond to touch gestures, and identify individual users. The system was 97.2 to 99.5 percent accurate at identifying people by determining the shape of the wearer's ear canal. It has only been tested on hard-wired headphones so far, but HeadFi can easily be adapted for use with wireless models. An image of a HeadFi prototype is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Phelia (GitHub Repo) | Phelia is a reactive Slack application framework that allows developers to build interactive Slack apps without webhooks or JSON. It does this by using a custom React reconciler that serializes components into a custom storage. Phelia retrieves components and performs any actions when a user interacts with a posted message. An GIF demo is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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compatlib (GitHub Repo) | compatlib makes it easy to write backward-and-forwards compatible Python libraries. It resolves the latest-usable version at runtime by comparing the overloaded methods with the interpreter version. An example is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Netflix has created a TikTok clone that lets people scroll through funny clips | Fast Laughs is a new mobile feature from Netflix that plays short clips from shows directly inside the Netflix app. It is currently only available for iOS device owners in select countries. Users who like what they see can add the show to their saved list to watch later. Netflix has a lot of content on its platform and this feature could help subscribers see things they may have missed. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Amazon is reportedly working on a new payment system that would let you check out at Whole Foods by simply waving your hand over a sensor | Amazon is developing a new payment system for its Whole Foods stores that uses the size and shape of customers' hands to identify them and authorize payments. Credit card payment systems take around three to four seconds to process, but the new system processes payments in less than 300 milliseconds. Other tech companies also use biometric sensors to authorize payments, for example, Apple's iPhones and iPads use fingerprint and facial recognition technology. Although biometric systems may be more convenient and unique than passwords, they are much harder to change if the information is compromised. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Sound waves convert stem cells into bone in regenerative breakthrough | Scientists in Australia have found a way to induce stem cells to turn into bone cells quickly and efficiently by using high-frequency sound waves. Collecting the cells needed to grow bone is usually painful and the process is hard to scale. The new method is cheap, simple to use, and can be easily scaled. It uses cells that can be obtained from fat tissue and the cells it produces can be injected into the body at the required site, removing the need for drugs to coax stem cells down a path and making the process faster and more efficient. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Russia partners with China for lunar space station | Russia and China have agreed to build and work on an International Scientific Lunar Station orbiting the Moon. NASA, the ESA, Japan, and Canada are working together on the Lunar Gateway, another planned space station. Russia was not asked to be a part of the Lunar Gateway project. Cooperating with China was one of Russia's top priorities last year. It is unclear what specific contributions Russia will make. China has also held talks with France's space agency. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Introducing draft pull requests | GitHub has introduced the ability to create draft pull requests, allowing developers to create pull requests which may not be aimed for deployment, but to create discussion and continued collaboration. Users can now opt to create a draft pull request by using the dropdown menu when selecting ‘Create pull request’. The draft pull request is styled differently, and users can choose to change the state of the draft to a full pull request by selecting the ‘Ready for review’ button near the bottom of the pull request. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Ask HN: What are weird and/or novel ways to do web UIs? (Hacker News Thread) | Some websites have weird user interfaces. There are companies that do not see the value of investing in a properly designed interface and process, resulting in developers accidentally causing entire systems to collapse. Other websites, trying to distinguish themselves, create strange ways of displaying product information. Some developers have experimented with using products such as Google Slides to create fully functioning websites. This thread is full of anecdotes on strange UI designs. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Leaked Transcript of Private Meeting Contradicts Google's Official Story on China | When Project Dragonfly, Google's censored search engine built for China, became public knowledge a couple of months ago, Google said that it was just "an exploration" without "any plans to launch". Internal documents have leaked showing that the plan was actually to launch as soon as possible, once they received approval from Beijing. Ben Gomes, Google's search engine chief, called China "the most interesting market in the world today" and said that it would bring Google its "next billion users". The project has been worked on in secret since spring 2017 by 300 employees, most of whom are working on this full time. Employees were promised, "we are working with you to make sure your careers are not affected by this. The difficult part is to maintain motivation on such a long haul." The full text of the leaked document is inside. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Grab an easy-to-remember .app or .dev domain, free for the first year with Porkbun (Sponsor) | Grab an easy-to-remember .app or .dev domain, free for the first year with Porkbun . Porkbun is a user-friendly domain registrar that prioritizes intuitive UX and timely support. Show off your new app with a .app domain (used by Square's Cash App and Shopify's Shop App) or a new project with a .dev domain (used by projects like Go, React Native, Dart, Flutter, and more!). Get your free domain today. | 0Sponsor
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Netflix Party Lets You Watch Movies Online With Friends, Mixing AOL Chatroom With Streaming Services | Netflix Party is a Chrome extension that allows people to watch shows together with a chatbox. The host just needs to select a show and then share a link. Anyone with the link can join the chatroom and watch the show together in real-time. The extension uses the host to stream video to those watching, so there is a slight delay in the video. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Hello, .dev! | Google has announced the availability of the new .dev top-level domain, aimed at developers. Developers are encouraged to use the domain to build communities and showcase their latest projects. The domain will secure websites with HTTPS by default, aiming to contribute to an HTTPS-everywhere future. From now through to 28/2, .dev domains will be available to register through Google as part of their Early Access Program. After 28/2, the .dev domain will be available through other registrars. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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A Driverless Truck Got a Shipment Cross-Country 10 Hours Faster Than a Human Driver | TuSimple, a company focused on self-driving technology for heavy-duty trucks, shipped a truckload of watermelons from Arizona to Oklahoma using the truck’s autonomous system for over 80 percent of the journey. The truck drove the route in just over 14 hours, 10 hours faster than the average time it takes a human driver to drive the same route. The cargo arrived at its destination in better condition as it was a day fresher. A human driver is still required to act as a safety and last-mile driver. The technology may be able to help fill a shortage of labor in the long-haul trucking industry. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Putin Wants His Own Internet | A new bill dubbed the ‘Sovereign Internet’ will create a single command post in which authorities can control the Russian cyberspace. While the reason given for this bill was to protect against foreign threats, as new US laws permit offensive measures against Russia and other designated adversaries, critics say that the real motivation for the new law is so that certain types of traffic can be cut off during times of civil unrest. Putin has stated that it is unlikely that the US will ever unplug Russia from the web, as it would cause them enormous damage, but the threat is real, so the country has to prepare for the scenario. The proposed Sovereign Internet will use Deep Package Inspection to analyze volumes and types of traffic in real time and selectively block or reroute the data as required. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Openpilot, its model and driving in GTA | Openpilot is an open-source self-driving car software developed by common.ai. It supports 40 of the most popular cars in the world. It is possible to control a car in GTA V using openpilot. A video of the virtual self-driving car in motion, as well as a description of how to create the set-up, is available in the article. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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A CCTV Company Is Paying Remote Workers in India to Yell at Armed Robbers | Live Eye Surveillance is a surveillance camera system that lets a remote human operator intervene whenever they see something suspicious. The operators can speak through store speakers to interact with people in the store. Live Eye's system has caused some concern with workers, especially as it could potentially make dangerous situations worse. A link to a 2-minute sample video from Live Eye demonstrating the system is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Powered by Sunlight, ‘Artificial Leaf’ Successfully Produces Clean Gas From CO2 and Water | Syngas is a gas usually created from fossil fuels that is used to produce a range of commodities, such as fuels, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and fertilizers. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have created an artificial leaf that is able to produce syngas in a sustainable and simple way. The leaf works by using a combination of two light absorbers and a cobalt-based catalyst. It is able to work in low light, even when it is rainy or overcast. The technology may be able to eventually produce a sustainable liquid fuel alternative to petrol. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Quicklink (Github Repo) | This is an open source project by the Google Chrome team that prefetches pages as soon as a link enters the viewport. Basically this means that instead of loading data when a user clicks a link, the browser will load the data when the link enters the user's view, so if the user clicks on the link it will load instantly because the data has already been loaded. I'm a big fan of this idea, and it looks like they've handled a lot of the details well (it doesn't prefetch if the internet connection is slow, it doesn't prefetch if the page is still loading, it automatically detects when links are in view, etc.). | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Spotify begins testing its first hardware: a car smart assistant | Spotify will begin public tests of their voice-controlled smart assistant for cars, a device that will help the company learn how people consume audio while they are driving. The ‘Car Thing’ will be available to some premium users for free. It plugs into the car’s 12-volt outlet and connects to devices via Bluetooth. Users activate the device by saying ‘Hey, Spotify’. There are currently no intentions to launch the device more broadly to the public, and the device is only being tested with select people. Spotify states that its focus is on becoming the world’s best audio platform, not on creating hardware. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Spotify is acquiring an audiobook company | Spotify has announced plans to acquire Findaway for an undisclosed price. Findaway is an audiobook services and distribution company that operates multiple businesses. The company pairs authors with narrators and allows creators to distribute broadly, making it a powerful platform for creators. The acquisition will make Spotify a commercial bookseller and open up new revenue streams and features for the streaming service. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Singapore vending machines now dispense salmon, crab, and even cacti | Vending machines in Singapore now sell a variety of foods, such as salmon and Wagyu beef. Many entrepreneurs are turning to vending machines as the barriers to entry are low, and a compact, densely populated city like Singapore is ideal. The variety of food is increasing, and some machines are now selling other items, such as books and cacti. Vending machines played a key role in Singapore's pandemic response, with 1,200 of them installed around the island to dispense free masks. | 4Miscellaneous
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Facebook and Google to face mandatory code of conduct to 'level playing field' with traditional news media | The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is developing a mandatory code of conduct to govern commercial dealings between tech giants and news media companies. These rules will require digital platforms to pay news media businesses for the content they produce. The Australian government believes it is unlikely that companies like Google or Facebook will reach a voluntary agreement over the issue. Media companies are facing significant financial pressure due to a sharp downturn in advertising revenue. The blame has been put onto digital platforms for not sharing traffic or revenue while still using the content that the media companies generate. | 4Miscellaneous
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The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies (15 minute read) | Okay this story is crazy. In 2015, when Amazon was considering acquiring a company called Elemental which (among other things) sold these servers that were optimized for video compression. While doing their due diligence, they were inspecting a few sample servers when they discovered a tiny microchip the size of a grain of rice that wasn't supposed to be there. Amazon reports the discovery to US authorities, who launched a secret investigation. Turns out there is this company called Supermicro, a huge motherboard manufacturer, who is part of the supply chain for tons of companies including Amazon and Apple. Nearly all Supermicro motherboards are assembled by contractors in China, some of whom were bribed and/or coerced by Chinese spies (specifically a hardware hacker division of the People's Liberation Army) to plant tiny microchips inside the motherboards (some chips were smaller than a penciltip, they fit between layers of fiberglass). Overall it is believed that 30 US companies were compromised. Bloomberg reports in this article that Amazon (AWS) and Apple were both compromised, but both companies have denied the report very vehemently. The bigger takeaway here is that the US supply chain is hopelessly tied to China, and any step of this supply chain could be potentially compromised by foreign intelligence. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A New Gene Editing Tool Rivals CRISPR, and Can Make Millions of Edits at Once | Retron Library Recombineering is a powerful tool that can simultaneously edit millions of DNA sequences and keep track of changes without breaking any DNA strands. Retrons are floating ribbons of DNA that can be converted into a single chain of ssDNA that can replace DNA during recombination. This technique results in the cells' progeny inheriting the target traits. The changes last through generations as cells divide. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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A big bet to kill the password for good | The FIDO Alliance, an industry association that specifically works on secure authentication, has published a white paper on its vision for solving the usability issues associated with passwordless features. It identifies the process for switching or adding devices as being the main thing preventing passwordless schemes from achieving mass adoption. The proposed solution involves operating systems developing a credential management system that can sync between devices. It would allow people to use existing hardware to physically authenticate new devices. Introducing passwordless schemes will make phishing a thing of the past. | 4Miscellaneous
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Grape seed chemical allows mice to live longer by killing aged cells | A chemical isolated from grape seed extract prolongs the lifespans of old mice by 9 percent and also seems to make them fitter. Scientists from China discovered the chemical when finding ways to target senescent cells. These cells increase with age and are linked with various age-related conditions. The treatment kills these cells while leaving younger cells intact. It also helps reduce the size of tumors when used alongside chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is known to accelerate the aging of cells. Future research will test whether the chemical has similar effects in humans. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Envisioning and Designing the Floating Future | Researchers are building floating buildings to test the viability of floating cities in the future. Floating structures could help make marine ecosystems healthier. They could protect coastlines from further erosion, especially in areas where densely-populated land may start sinking into the sea in the coming decades. Climate change is already affecting the world's oceans, causing habitat loss for marine species, ocean acidification, widespread coral bleaching, and even changes in ocean currents. Floating structures may be able to use their underwater surfaces to create new habitats for marine species to settle. A structure out in the sea before a coastline may be able to break up waves before they reach the shore, lessening the effects of erosion. While the work is still largely theoretical, the vision is to eventually build large modular structures that could link together to create communal, self-sustaining systems. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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World-first pig-to-human heart transplant performed in US | Surgeons in the US have successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a living human for the first time. The patient is alive and has not rejected the pig organ. The genetically modified heart had around 10 modifications to reduce the chances of rejection from a human immune system. Two transplants were performed last year on functionally dead patients who were kept alive for several days. The patient was too unwell to qualify for a regular heart transplant, so the experimental treatment was offered as a last resort. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ beta has an ‘assertive’ driving mode that ‘may perform rolling stops’ | Tesla's Full Self-Driving beta has three driving profiles that vary in terms of aggressiveness. The Assertive option has a smaller follow distance, performs more frequent speed lane changes, will not exit passing lanes, and may perform rolling stops. The Chill mode has a larger follow distance and perform fewer lane changes, and the Average option has a medium follow distance and may perform rolling stops. It is unknown if the Assertive option changes how safe the vehicles are. A video showing the three modes in operation is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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go-stash (GitHub Repo) | go-stash is a server-side data processing pipeline that takes data from Kafka, processes it, then sends it to ElasticSearch. It is fast and easy to deploy as it is only one executable file. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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‘Buy the Constitution’ Aftermath: Everyone Very Mad, Confused, Losing Lots of Money, Fighting, Crying, Etc (11 minute read) | ConstitutionDAO raised $40 million to buy an original copy of the Constitution but failed. Due to high fees, many investors in the project will lose their investments. The admin team made several controversial decisions and then reversed them, causing chaos in the community. While the project was a mess, many still think of it as a success, with the DAO allowing people to go toe-to-toe in an auction against a hedge fund CEO. | 4Miscellaneous
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Biden declares state of emergency over fuel cyber-attack | The US government declared a state of emergency after the Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the US, was hit by a ransomware attack on Friday. The pipeline was knocked offline and Colonial is still working to restore services. It carries 2.5 million barrels of oil a day. Multiple sources have confirmed that the attack was caused by a cyber-criminal gang called Dark Side. The gang is threatening to leak the data onto the internet if the ransom is not paid by Friday. | 4Miscellaneous
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Uber stopped its own investigators from reporting crimes to the police | Uber's special investigations team has rules which prevent it from escalating issues to law enforcement, filing official police reports, or advising victims of crimes to seek legal counsel. The investigators' main priority is to protect Uber and to make sure that the company is not liable for any crimes committed by its contractors. Neutral language is always to be used when communicating with victims, and investigators are not to specifically ask alleged perpetrators about claims made against them. Uber justifies its actions by maintaining that it is a business, not a unit of law enforcement, and that victims are free to file complaints directly with the police. It has a three-strikes approach to enforcing driver behavior. This approach has allowed some perpetrators to continue to assault victims until their fourth offense. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Instacart hires Facebook executive as new CEO ahead of expected IPO | Facebook executive Fidji Simo has been appointed as the new CEO of Instacart. Simo joined Instacart's board of directors seven months ago. She was formerly the vice-president and head of the Facebook app. Simo is the co-founder of Women in Product, a nonprofit organization for women in product management. Her rise to chief executive likely signals a change in how Instacart will conduct its business. | 4Miscellaneous
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HP’s Linux-based AMD laptop releases, starts at $1,099 | HP released a Linux laptop aimed at coders today. The Dev One is a 14-inch clamshell with an eight-core 16-thread Ryzen 7 Pro 5850U CPU with integrated graphics, up to 64GB RAM, a 1TB SSD, a screen with 800 nits of brightness, and 12 hours of battery life. It has two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, and a headphone jack. The Dev One runs Pop!_OS, a Ubuntu-based Linux distribution from System76. Pictures of the laptop are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Sidewalk Labs products will be folded into Google proper | Sidewalk Labs is winding down after six years. The unit had plans to build a smart neighborhood on Toronto's waterfront, but the project was shut down in May last year due to unprecedented economic uncertainty. Its CEO has also had to step down due to health-related reasons. Sidewalk products Pebble, Mesa, Delve, and Affordable Electrification will join Google. | 4Miscellaneous
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cloudquery (GitHub Repo) | cloudquery transforms cloud infrastructure into queryable SQL tables. It abstracts various scattered APIs and allows developers to define security, governance, costs, and compliance policies with SQL. cloudquery is easily extensible and it comes with built-in policy packs. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Snapchat’s flying camera | Snap has released a camera drone called Pixy. The drone weighs just 101 grams and is small enough to fit in a pants pocket. It can follow users around to capture photos or videos. Pixy's battery can last for five to eight flights at around 10 to 20 seconds each. The footage is synced wirelessly to Snapchat for editing and can be shared directly in the app or elsewhere. A video explaining the Pixy is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Remote Code Execution on most Dell computers (10 minute read) | When purchasing computers, many people do not consider what software may come prepackaged, or what vulnerabilities the computer may have. Dell laptops come with a software called Dell SupportAssist, and a Remote Code Execution vulnerability was discovered in the software. The details of how the vulnerability was discovered and then exploited are available in the article. Dell was contacted about the issue and are still investigating for a fix. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Meena is Google’s attempt at making true conversational AI | Conversational AI is a term for AI that can interpret human words, speak to people, or carry out tasks or computations with natural language. The best-known AI assistants today are not exactly conversational. Google has revealed Meena, a conversational neural network with 2.6 billion parameters that can handle multiturn dialogue. Google developed a Sensibleness and Specificity Average metric to measure the ability of a conversational agent to maintain responses in a conversation that make sense and are specific. Humans rank around 86 percent on the SSA, and Meena scores around 79 percent. Google claims that Meena is the best AI agent built for conversation and available online today. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Here's What People Across the Country Are Ordering on Uber Eats During Quarantine | UberEats has seen a more than 30 percent increase in orders from independent restaurants since mid-March. Delivery fees have been waived for independent restaurants. Uber also created an in-app feature so people can donate directly to restaurants. A list of the most popular dishes by state is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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We Spoke To Uber Drivers Who Have Taken Over The Company’s Offices In France (11 minute read) | Uber drivers across France have occupied or shut down many of the company's Greenlight Hubs in order to negotiate better working conditions. Greenlight Hubs are facilities where new drivers can be registered and be onboarded, and where existing drivers can get in-person support. Uber has attempted to move its operations over to hotels and co-working spaces. As the company grew, it increased its own cut of fares and decreased the minimum fares for trips. The drivers have nine demands in their protest. They want a driver cap and a study on Uber's market effects, dynamic pricing instead of fixed pricing, an increase in the minimum driver fare, pay for time spent driving to pick up passengers, an increase in the base pay rate, union representation, removal of the penalty for cancelling trips, the ability to review trip prices and destinations before cancelling, and a driver verification system. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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China's Infinity-Loop Skyscraper is One of the World's Most Interesting Buildings | OPPO is building a new tower in Hangzhou, China. The O-Tower will have an infinity-loop-shaped design with an open courtyard. It aims to become an iconic landmark and gateway to the larger business district. The building's form provides the large floors with the daylight access and fresh air of a slender tower. Images of the tower design are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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LeetFree (Website) | LeetFree aims to provide real leaked coding whiteboard interview questions that people can use to prepare for job interviews. All leaked interview questions are collected from the internet, and the collection includes questions from companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon. It is suggested that users try to quickly understand the solutions to the questions and practice explaining the answers on Whiteboard, as the interviewers only care about the potential employees' Whiteboard communication skills. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Sanic Omnitool (GitHub Repo) | Sanic is a complete tool for developing, building, and deploying Docker/Kubernetes projects. It focuses on developer experience and aims to make the process as streamlined and as fast as possible. Sanic supports concurrent builds, live-mounting, and templating. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Design: #noFramework (25 minute read) | This article discusses the idea of not using frameworks in development. Frameworks can be good for specific cases, but they force developers into a rigid style of work that takes a lot of investment to learn. The article introduces alternatives to frameworks such as using standard APIs, libraries, templates, and other components. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a project? (Hacker News Thread) | Lots of sound advice for getting over the fear of shipping a project here, from breaking things down into smaller subtasks to utilizing your own existential dread. | 4Miscellaneous
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IoT for Beginners - A Curriculum (GitHub Repo) | IoT for Beginners is a 12-week, 24-lesson curriculum about IoT basics. Each lesson includes a sketchnote, quizzes, readings, assignments, and more. The course is project-based, and students will have built several IoT systems by the end of the series. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Is wind power’s future in deep water? | Hywind Scotland is an offshore location in Scotland that has five 574ft-tall wind turbines that generate enough electricity for more than 20,000 homes. It is the first floating wind energy array. The turbines are held in place with mooring cables attached to anchors on the seafloor. Floating wind turbines can access deeper waters, where the world's strongest and most consistent winds blow. They can be installed out of sight of coastal residents. | 4Miscellaneous
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Crypto Mystery: Quadriga's Wallets Are Empty, Putting Fate Of $137 Million In Doubt | Quadriga's CEO, Gerald Cotten, died in late December without leaving the passwords to the wallets that held millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies for the exchange. After an investigation, it was found that the six wallets that held Quadriga's funds were emptied in April 2018, many months before Cotten’s death. Additionally, more than a dozen fake accounts were discovered which were created internally and used to trade on the cryptocurrency exchange. These accounts showed significant activity, with high trade volumes and withdrawals to addresses that were not associated with Quadringa. A full copy of the report from Ernst and Young’s investigation into Quadringa is available. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Bloomberg: New low-cost iPhone entering production next month, could be released in March | Apple's upcoming low-cost iPhone will begin mass production next month and will be officially unveiled as early as March. Production of the phone is split between Foxconn, Pegatron, and Winstron. The name of the device has not been revealed but it has been commonly referred to as the iPhone SE 2 and iPhone 9. It is said to feature Touch ID, an A13 processor, and a design similar to the iPhone 8. Reports predict that the phone will have a starting price as low as $399. The phone is mainly targeted at iPhone 6 users, who will need to upgrade their phones if they want to run iOS 13. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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MangoDB (GitHub Repo) | MangoDB is a proxy that converts MongoDB wire protocol queries to SQL and uses PostgreSQL as a database engine. It is an open-source alternative to MongoDB as MongoDB has changed its license to make it unusable for many open source and commercial projects. MangoDB will be compatible with MongoDB drivers and will work as a drop-in replacement for MongoDB in many cases. It is still in a very early stage of development. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Meet the XB-1: A prototype for a modern supersonic passenger jet | Boom Supersonic is a startup that is planning to build a new generation of supersonic passenger jets. The company has already pre-sold $6 billion worth of its aircraft. Each plane will be able to seat 65 to 88 passengers and travel at supersonic speeds over water. Boom hopes that the aircraft will be available for commercial flights before the end of the decade. It will begin flight tests for its XB-1 demonstrator aircraft in the third quarter of 2021. Boom hopes to begin flying its full-size aircraft in 2026. An image gallery featuring the XB-1 demonstrator aircraft is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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YouTube plans week-long live shopping event, following tests of livestream shopping with creators | YouTube plans to host a week-long live shopping event starting on November 15. The event will allow viewers to shop for products, unlock limited-time offers, and engage with creators and other viewers. YouTube has been testing livestream shopping as part of a larger initiative around integrated shopping on the platform. Several YouTube creators have successfully launched products on livestreams. TikTok and Facebook also have shopping features and live shopping. | 4Miscellaneous
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Tesla suffers complete network outage, internal systems and connectivity features down | Tesla suffered a complete network outage earlier. Its internal systems were down and customer connectivity features were not accessible. Staff were not able to process deliveries and orders during the outage. Starting from 11:00 AM EDT, customers could not connect to their cars using the mobile app. The Tesla webpage was returning an error beyond the main page. Tesla's energy products were also affected. The outage appeared to be global. Owners could still access and use their cars despite the connectivity issues. This isn't the first system-wide outage at Tesla, but occurrences are rare. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Amazon fires three critics of warehouse conditions in pandemic | Three employees who had criticized Amazon for its pandemic response were fired on Tuesday. Amazon claims that the employees were fired for repeated violations of internal policies and for inappropriate language and behavior. The workers criticized Amazon for not doing enough to protect staff from the novel coronavirus. Amazon has updated safety protocols and distributed protective gear in order to protect employees, but many employees feel that it is not enough and high-profile protests have been held at several Amazon warehouses. Science & | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Apple's New Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros | All Apple computers with T2 security chips will now require proprietary software to be run following repairs, making independent repairs impossible. This includes the 2018 Macbook Pro and the iMac Pro. This is the same strategy used by John Deere to prevent farmers from doing their own tractor repairs. The CEO of iFixit says "Independent repair companies have been fixing MacBooks undaunted by the user-hostile activities Apple has taken. It could be really detrimental to schools, to people who live in rural areas. If they stick with this, it seems like a huge argument in favor of right to repair." | 1Big Tech & Startups
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