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Ghidra Software Reverse Engineering Framework (GitHub Repo) | Ghidra is a software reverse engineering framework created and maintained by the National Security Agency. The framework includes a suite of tools that enables users to analyze compiled code across a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Users can develop their own plug-in components or scripts using Java or Python. The repository is a placeholder for a full, open-source release and currently contains no code, however, Ghidra can be downloaded from the project homepage that is linked. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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This is Sony’s Airpeak drone | Sony unveiled its new Airpeak drone at CES 2021. It is the smallest drone capable of carrying an Alpha camera. The drone was designed for video content creation and professional photography. It has a quadcopter design that features two retractable landing gear extensions. A video that shows off its capabilities as a chase camera is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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youki (GitHub Repo) | youki is a container runtime in Rust. Rust is one of the best languages for a container runtime as it has memory management, unlike C, and it can use system calls. youki is still in development, but it is almost ready for practical use. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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The Internet Was Built on the Free Labor of Open Source Developers. Is That Sustainable? (15 minute read) | Collaborative programming in open source projects has been a cornerstone of software development since the birth of the internet. Many important projects are built completely by volunteers with code that can be reviewed by anyone who wishes to do so. However, while the system of open peer review and community collaboration sounds great in theory, sometimes it does not work out in practice. Vice investigates the world of open source development and its relationship to privately funded code development, highlighting examples of projects such as OpenSSL, which is used by almost everybody on the internet. | 4Miscellaneous
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Tired of Zoom calls? Company offers at-home hologram machines | PORTL Inc is a Los Angeles-based company that has created a phone booth-size device that allows people to talk in real-time with a life-sized hologram of another person. The device can be used to interact with recorded holograms of historical figures or relatives who have passed away. Standing at seven feet tall, five feet wide, and two feet deep, the PORTL device can be plugged into a standard wall outlet. The device starts at $60,000. A slideshow featuring the device is available. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Apple tried to buy Tesla for more than it’s currently worth a few years ago, report says | Apple offered to buy Tesla at around $240 per share back in 2013. Tesla’s share price has just dipped below the price that Apple was willing to pay for the company six years ago. Both Apple and Google had intentions of purchasing Tesla. Tesla has recently raised billions in funds from the market, so it is unlikely it will be looking at selling anytime soon. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Virtualbox 0-day (Github Repo) | So I've never quite seen anything like this, but a Github user (MorteNoir1) has apparently uploaded a 0-day vulnerability that allows attackers to break out of VirtualBox's guest accounts using some weird buffer overflow tricks. There are step by step instructions to reproduce the vulnerability and a demo video at the end. If you're into computer security, you'll probably think this is pretty cool. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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South Korea plans to host world’s first floating city by 2025 | Oceanix has signed an agreement to build a floating city in the seas near Busan, South Korea. The city will be made up of hexagonal modules stable enough to resist a category 5 hurricane. Oceanix plans to create a 75ha city with an initial population of 10,000, split into villages of up to 1,650 residents. It aims to have the first platforms in the water by 2025. The company is in talks with at least 10 governments about building more floating cities. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Facebook has been charged with housing discrimination by the US government | The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has filed charges against Facebook for housing discrimination due to Facebook’s ad targeting system. Facebook allows advertisers to exclude certain areas and demographics, and the HUD is claiming that limiting a person’s choices for housing or employment digitally amounts to discrimination. The lawsuit came as a surprise to Facebook, as they had been working with the HUD to resolve these issues and had already taken significant steps to prevent ad discrimination. Most of the discriminatory targeting options for real-estate advertisements have been removed already, but the charges seem to be related to Facebook’s automatic ad-targeting algorithms, which uses machine learning to target users. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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[Webinar] Dissecting the Log4j Vulnerability: Future-Proof Your Cloud for Whatever Comes Next (Sponsor) | [Webinar] Dissecting the Log4j Vulnerability: Future-Proof Your Cloud for Whatever Comes Next . Join Lacework for this live webinar where we take a closer look at the Log4j vulnerability, review its overall impact, and share tips on how to quickly reduce risk if you are compromised. | 0Sponsor
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Nikola founder charged with securities fraud over allegedly fake truck demo | The New York federal court has charged Nikola founder Trevor Milton with securities fraud. Milton allegedly made a series of false claims about the company while raising more than $500 million in investments. He used a staged video to create a false impression that the Nikola One semi-truck prototype was able to move under its own power when the vehicle was simply rolling downhill. Milton also claimed that the company was producing its own hydrogen fuels at below market rates and that it had many billions of dollars worth of committed truck orders. | 4Miscellaneous
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Startups In India Want To Build Their Own App Store To Bypass Google's | Nearly 60 executives from dozens of Indian companies are joining together to create an Indian app store as an alternative to the Google Play store. Starting next year, these companies will have to give 30% of in-app payments to Google if they continue using the Play store. Last month, Google removed an Indian payment app from the Play store, spooking Indian startups and raising questions about how much control Google had over the country's internet. 99% of smartphones sold in India use Android and there are no alternatives to the Play store for developers right now. | 4Miscellaneous
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Elon Musk reveals Boring tunnels as he aims to eliminate city traffic | Elon Musk has revealed renders of the first commercial station being built by his tunnel-digging company. The Boring Company's first commercial Loop system is set to open later this year under the Las Vegas Convention Center. It will have the capacity to transport up to 4,400 passengers per hour around the convention center's 200-acre campus. The system could potentially be expanded to connect other areas of Las Vegas and can be adapted to other cities around the world. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Iconoir (Website) | Iconoir is an open-source library with over 1,000 SVG icons. The icons can be used without any signup. There is a search function and icons are organized by categories such as actions, connectivity, finance, and navigation. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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AWS launches re:Post, a new community-driven Q&A service | re:Post is a new community-driven question and answer service designed to help AWS customers remove technical roadblocks. The service replaces the original AWS Forums. Community members can earn reputation points by providing accepted answers and reviewing answers from other users. Content on re:Post can be accessed without signing in, but a profile will be required for posting and interacting with others. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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"Schrodinger's Bacterium" Could Be a Quantum Biology Milestone | Quantum physics has been verified to work on tiny scales but we aren't sure where the cutoff mark is for the microscopic quantum world and the more intuitive macroscopic world. For example we've never seen a quantum entangled planet or living organism. Until now! Scientists have managed to successfully entangle bacteria with photons, they used bacteria that do photosynthesis, and shot light at them in such a way that the bacteria's photosynthetic systems became entangled with the light. Essentially, certain photons were simultaneously hitting and missing photosynthetic molecules within the bacteria. One of the lead researchers wants to push further, saying "The long-term goals are foundational and fundamental. This is about understanding the nature of reality, and whether quantum effects have a utility in biological functions. At the root of things, everything is quantum." | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Mailwind (GitHub Repo) | Mailwind lets users design HTML emails using Tailwind CSS. Tailwind makes it easy to design websites. Mailwind uses the same utility classes that are normally used for the web. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Nginx Quick Reference (GitHub Repo) | Nginx is an HTTP and reverse proxy server, a mail proxy server, and a generic TCP/UDP proxy server. This GitHub repository contains a quick reference to setting up and operating an Nginx server. It is recommended that the guide is used as a reference, rather than a complete walk-through, as it recommends a restrictive setup which may not be what is required for all servers. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Waymo’s robo-taxi service opens to the public in Phoenix | Waymo is relaunching its fully automated robo-taxi ride-hailing service in Phoenix. The service will offer rides in unattended minivans to people within a 100-square mile area of Phoenix. Passengers will need to use the Waymo app to book rides. Earlier this year, Waymo raised more than $3 billion, mostly from outside investors. Its vans will be monitored remotely and cleaned regularly. Passengers will be reminded to keep masks on while inside the vehicles. The vans have a system that can flush the air from inside the vehicles between each ride. There are currently no standards or safety regulations in the industry as the US Congress has failed to act on proposals to create them. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Elon Musk doesn’t back down after Ford challenges Tesla to an ‘apples to apples’ tug-of-war rematch | Ford unveiled its Mustang Mach-E last week, the company's first battery-powered SUV. Elon Musk had tweeted out his congratulations, but then later in the week he tweeted a video of the Cybertruck pulling an F-150 uphill. The clip has been viewed almost 13 million times. Critics have pointed out that the F-150 is a rear-wheel drive and that there was no payload to put more weight on its rear wheels to give it more traction. Sundeep Madra, the vice president at Ford X has tweeted back at Musk, saying that Ford would complete a real comparison if Musk would send him a Cybertruck. Musk has accepted the challenge. | 4Miscellaneous
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A Machine Learning Course with Python (GitHub Repo) | This course aims to be a simple yet comprehensive course on Machine Learning using Python. Artificial Intelligence is becoming one of the most adopted scientific fields, and there are many guides that exist on the topic. In the course, students will learn the basics of machine learning with tutorials which cover many different frameworks and algorithms. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Facebook fends off new anti-monopoly questions after UK email release | The UK Parliament released 250 pages of Facebook documents that it had seized. The documents show that when Twitter's Vine video service tried to make a "Find Your Friends" feature, a Facebook exec sent Mark Zuckerberg an email asking if they could just shut off Vine's access. Zuckerberg replied "Yup, go for it", instantly killing off Vine's feature. The documents show that Facebook keeps "a small list of strategic competitors" and limits their access to Facebook data. "Any usage beyond that specified is not permitted without Mark level sign off." Several senators have expressed their concern, and there is increasing pressure for the FTC to take a look at what could be anticompetitive behavior from Facebook. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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How Gaming Will Change Humanity as We Know It | Gaming is profoundly transforming culture and regulation. Games are typically closed systems that require time and attention to master, immersing players into new worlds with their own cultural objects. Interest in gaming has increased over the years and the industry brings in more revenue than global movies and North American sports combined. Games have created many new markets which are difficult for governments to regulate. Technology is moving faster than regulators can keep up with. | 4Miscellaneous
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Moon has more water ice than previously thought | UCLA space scientists have discovered thick ice deposits on the moon. New observations suggest that there may be a massive reservoir of frozen water beneath the surface of the moon. Due to the spin axes of the moon and Mercury, many areas never see the sun, so permanently shadowed regions have thick ice deposits. Both Mercury and the moon are covered by impact craters. When investigating the craters on Mercury, it was found that the craters near the poles were shallower, which was later found to be caused by the accumulation of ice deposits. The formation of the ice deposits on the moon suggests that the deposits may be older than the ice on Mercury. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Uber launches grocery delivery in Latin America, Canada, with US to follow | Uber has launched an app-based grocery service in several Latin American and Canadian cities through its UberEats app. The service was launched in partnership with Cornershop, a Chilean online grocery provider that Uber holds a majority stake in. A US launch is expected later in July, beginning with regions in Miami and Dallas. Uber has seen a 176% increase in grocery-convenience orders since February across its 9,500 active merchants. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Apple's Coolest iOS 16 Feature Lets You Drag Subjects Right Out of Images | iOS 16 has a new feature that allows users to pull subjects out of any image or photo and paste them into another photo or use them as a sticker in the Messages app. 'Lift subject from background' is part of the Visual Look Up suite of functions. It works in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, Safari, and videos on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. A video showing how the feature works is available. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Sun Valley 2022 will discuss inflation, future of streaming video; Tim Cook expected | Sun Valley 2022 is a conference that has been described as a ‘summer camp for billionaires’. | 4Miscellaneous
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Security Newsletter (Newsletter) | Security is one of those subjects that I never really get around to really understanding (your email is safe with me I swear!), but I generally find it pretty interesting to read about casually. Security Newsletter is an expertly curated weekly collection of links from Dieter Van der Stock, a devops/security engineer at Articulate. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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swc (GitHub Repo) | swc is a super-fast TypeScript/JavaScript compiler. It can consume JavaScript or TypeScript files with new features and emit JavaScript code that can be executed on old browsers. swc supports all published TypeScript versions and all valid ECMAScript as input and supports es3 or higher as output. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Scientists use seismic noise to image first hundred meters of Mars | While NASA's InSight lander has a seismograph installed, it can only provide the big picture of Mars' internals, but not the small details, such as what is immediately below the lander. Scientists used seismic noise to reconstruct features and determine the makeup of the first hundred meters of Mars’ surface. Most of it is made up of what is likely sedimentary rock, with volcanic deposits layered through. The surface regolith appears to be only 1.5 meters thick. The data on the uppermost 20 meters is very uncertain. Using this data, the researchers were able to make conclusions about the planet's history. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Mind-Controlled Flamethrower | Nathaniel F built a mind-controlled flamethrower by combining brain-computer interface technology with machine learning. The system fires the flamethrower when it detects the correct thought patterns. It was created using a Mindflex, a Raspberry Pi 4, an Arduino, and a flamethrower. A 7-minute video showing how the flamethrower was made is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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OpticSim.jl (GitHub Repo) | OpticSim.jl is a package designed to allow optical engineers to create optical systems procedurally. It supports a large variety of surface types that can be composed into complex 3D objects. OpticSim.jl provides extensive control over the modeling, simulation, visualization, and optimization of optical systems. Examples are available in the documentation. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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The saboteurs you can hire to end your relationship | In Japan, it is possible to hire a 'wakaresaseya' to aid in ending relationships. Most of their clients usually wish for their spouses to end their affairs rather than to end their relationships with their spouses. A typical operation tends to begin with research on the spouse and their extramarital partner and usually results in an elaborate plan to get the other partner to fall in love with an agent and leave the spouse. Agents have to be mindful of how they behave as there are certain laws they need to be careful with. | 4Miscellaneous
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Deep Learning Weekly (Newsletter) | If you're interested in learning about deep learning, this is a great newsletter full of tutorials, open source library recommendations, and practical examples of deep learning being used in industry. Curated by Malte Baumann and Jan Bussieck of 9elements. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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China experiencing a drone ‘revolution’ in agriculture | Drone use in agriculture is expanding in China faster than in other countries due to advances in autonomous navigation technology and the presence of competent operators. XAG, a Guangzhou-based company that works with small-scale farmers, boasts that it has 42,000 drones flying over 1.2 million flights every day. Drones are more efficient and cheaper than skilled manpower while also being environmentally friendly. They enable older farmers to continue to work. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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23 rules to run a software startup with minimum hassle (13 minute read) | It is easy to waste time and energy when building your own bootstrap business. In order to avoid hassle, it is best to have customers pay upfront on a monthly subscription for some kind of software as a service. This way, you will have recurring revenue to continue development, locked-in customers, and no customers owing on payments. It's important to set realistic expectations, and use reliable technology. Automate as much as you can and follow the best practices of other businesses - choose a big bank, choose a simple corporate structure, and find a good accountant. When you first start your project, it is best to keep as much control over it as you can. If you take on investors or partners, there will be significantly more pressure to perform and it usually brings on more problems than it solves. Smart marketing is better than just spending on marketing. Don't respond to unsolicited requests until it is time that you need a particular product or service for your business. | 4Miscellaneous
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China tests world-first full-function space solar verification tower | A full-link, full-system space solar power ground verification system has been built in Xi'an, China. The project enables research into wireless energy transmission. It recently demonstrated wireless microwave transmission of power across a 55-meter distance. The project eventually aims to develop space-based energy systems. Pictures of the system are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Hacker claims to have stolen data on 1 billion Chinese citizens | A hacker under the handle 'ChinaDan' is selling several databases that they claim contains terabytes of stolen information on roughly one billion Chinese citizens for 10 bitcoins. The hacker says the information was leaked from the Shanghai National Police database. It includes data such as names, addresses, national ID numbers, contact numbers, and criminal records. This could be the most significant data breach yet for China and its citizens. | 4Miscellaneous
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Major Outage Brings Down Discord, Reddit, Amazon And More | A route leak by Verizon caused services which rely on Cloudflare to go down for several hours yesterday. Even though all of Cloudflare’s systems were running normally, traffic wasn’t routed to some parts of its networks. It is unclear whether the route leak was caused through error or malicious intent. Cloudflare has procedures to secure its service from these errors. Discord users were the most vocal about the downtime they experienced, with over 100,000 tweets published regarding the outage. Less than a month ago, another Cloudflare outage brought down YouTube, Snapchat, Spotify, and many other services. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Single Cells Evolve Large Multicellular Forms in Just Two Years (12 minute read) | Researchers were able to evolve single-celled yeast into complex multicellular organisms in just a short period of time by growing them in environments that favored clumpy growth. The yeast would evolve to stay together to survive the selection pressure exerted by the scientists. Further experiments revealed that removing the ability for the yeast to use oxygen resulted in massive clusters that could be viewed with the naked eye. The team continues to evolve the yeast to see whether they can develop sophisticated differences in their tissues. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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You Don't Know Gif - An analysis of a gif file and some weird gif features (17 minute read) | GIF is an animated file format that is popular for sharing short animated snippets. It was created in 1987 by Compuserve and was not originally intended as an animation platform. This article breaks down a GIF file to explore the format's hidden features, such as its ability to take user input, comment extensions, resolution limits, and more. Additional resources on learning how to parse GIFs are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Google working on ‘Spot’ app and ‘Find My Device network’ | Google is working on a new capability for its Find My Device network called Spot. Spot will use Android devices to locate other devices, similar to Apple's Find My network. Users will have an option to exclude their phones from being used as a relay in the network. It is unclear whether Google's network will support AirTag-like object trackers. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Learn Rust the Dangerous Way (Website) | Learn Rust the Dangerous Way is a series of articles for low-level C programmers who want to learn Rust. The series discusses how to translate C programs to Rust, Rust references and C pointers, optimization, pointer casting, safe wrappers for unsafe operations, and converting programs to mostly-safe code. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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In the Search to Stall Aging, Biotech Startups Are Out for Blood (12 minute read) | In the last few decades, the idea of using blood as an elixir of youth has come closer to reality. Some high-profile studies have demonstrated the regenerative abilities of young blood in aged mice. Several startups have launched with the aim to combat aging through our blood. This article explores some of these companies and their approaches to using blood to fight aging and age-related diseases. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Arm’s first new architecture in a decade is designed for security and AI | Arm has announced its first new chip architecture in a decade. The Armv9 protects sensitive data with a secure, hardware-based environment. It uses dynamically created 'Realms' to protect data and code from the rest of the system. The Armv9 uses Scalable Vector Extension 2, which should benefit machine learning and digital signal processing tasks. CPU performance has increased by over 30 percent. All existing software will run on Armv9-based processors without any problems. The first Armv9-based silicon will ship before the end of the year. | 4Miscellaneous
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Elon Musk to Host Next 'SNL' Episode With Musical Guest Miley Cyrus | Elon Musk will host Saturday Night Live when it returns from its spring break on May 8. Miley Cyrus will serve as the musical guest for the episode. Musk is the late-night series' most left-field and controversial choice of guest hosts this season. This will be Cyrus' sixth appearance as a musical guest on the show. | 4Miscellaneous
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Feathr (GitHub Repo) | Feathr is an enterprise-grade, high-performance feature store. It was built to simplify machine learning feature management and improve developer productivity. Feathr can be used to define features, compute them for training, deploy them in production, and share them across teams. It can significantly reduce the time required to add new features to model training workflows and improve runtime performance. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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10 Best Coding Games to Advance Your Programming Skills | Gaming is no longer just a hobby. Games can be used to learn to sharpen skills in a more entertaining way. This article contains 10 coding games that can help you level up your programming skills. The games cover various programming languages and there is even a game that helps you learn VIM. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Tiny, Solid-State Lidar Raises Stakes in the Megapixel Race | A team of engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have created a solid-state LIDAR with 16,384 pixels integrated onto a 110-square-millimeter silicon photonic chip. It can cover a field of view of around 70 degrees at a range of 10 meters with a resolution of 1.7 centimeters. The engineers have plans for improving the sensor's performance. The device can be mass-produced using standard semiconductor processes in commercial CMOS foundries. High-resolution LIDAR will allow for better self-navigating cars and drones, more accurate 3D map generation, mobile 3D sensing for augmented reality, and more. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Facebook could reportedly face multibillion-dollar FTC fine over privacy violations | The FTC is in discussions with Facebook over the exact amount of a multi-billion dollar fine as a result of privacy violations by Facebook. If an agreement is not reached over the amount of the fine, the FTC is likely to bring Facebook to court. The largest fine that the FTC has previously issued was to Google in 2012, at $22.5 million, as the company tracked users of Apple’s Safari browser after explicitly saying it wouldn’t. Privacy advocates argue that a multi-million dollar fine may not be effective in persuading Facebook to change its behavior, so the FTC is pushing for a much larger deterrent in addition to the threat of a court trial. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Mark Zuckerberg took on China in a speech defending free expression | Mark Zuckerberg has laid out Facebook's approach to moderation in terms of an ongoing commitment to free expression, drawing a sharp contrast with Chinese companies that might not share those values. In his speech, Zuckerberg emphasized that Facebook’s commitment to free expression was coming under threat from China. If China continues to set the rules, the US' discourse could be defined by a completely different set of values. Concerns over Chinese censorship have been a hot topic due to the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. A number of US companies have deferred to Chinese authority. Chinese platforms now form six of the top 10 platforms of all major internet platforms. Rules on platforms such as Tik Tok ban criticism of the Chinese government and censor events such as the May 1998 riots of Indonesia, the Cambodian genocide, and the Tiananmen Square incidents. Tik Tok has stated that they do not remove videos based on the presence of Hong Kong protest content. Zuckerberg poses the question of whether we will continue fighting to give more people a voice to be heard, or whether we are going to pull back from free expression. | 4Miscellaneous
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Samsung leaks images of its new Galaxy S20 | Samsung accidentally revealed the Galaxy S20 through a set of marketing images posted on one of Samsung's online stores in a European country. The posts were quickly removed but they confirmed a few details about the new phone, including its Galaxy S20 name, a hole-punch selfie camera, and a tall camera bump. A new gray case with LEDs similar to the LED case for the Galaxy S10 was also included in the leak. Samsung's Unpacked event is on February 11 and it is expected that Samsung will be revealing three variants of the S20 and a new vertically folding phone. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Aggressive testing, contact tracing, cooked meals: How the Indian state of Kerala flattened its coronavirus curve | In the Indian state of Kerala, more than 30,000 health workers are part of the Communist state government’s robust response to the coronavirus epidemic. The effort involves aggressive testing, intense contact tracing, long quarantines, building shelters for migrant workers, and distributing cooked meals to those in need. Kerala’s efforts appear to be working and could prove instructive for the Indians government, who has largely shut down the country to stop the spread of the coronavirus. India continues to see an uptrend in cases. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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lax.js (GitHub Repo) | lax.js allows web developers to easily create smooth and beautiful scroll animations. It is a very light-weight javascript plugin (2kb when compressed), and it comes with many preset animations. Developers can create their own custom animations if required. A linked page shows the plugin in action. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Meta open sources early-stage AI translation tool that works across 200 languages | Meta has created a single AI model capable of translating across 200 different languages. It has open-sourced the project so that others can build on the work. Meta sees the universal speech translator as important for growth across its platforms. Machine translation helps the company better understand its users, and the technology could develop into a killer app for its future augmented reality glasses. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Driverless electric truck starts deliveries on Swedish public road | A driverless electric truck has received permission to start making deliveries via a public road in Sweden. The truck does not have a driver cabin, which reduces the freight operating costs by an estimated 60 percent compared to a diesel truck with a driver. Freight operators are under pressure to reduce delivery times and cut emissions, and the industry is seeing a growing shortage of drivers. The T-Pod will operate between a warehouse and a terminal at a maximum speed of 5 km/hr. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Datafuse (GitHub Repo) | Datafuse is a real-time data processing and analytics database management system with cloud-native architecture. It was primarily designed to be stable, and it is high-performing and scalable. Benchmark results are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Push it jumps to No. 1 on App Store promising a way to send push notifications to friends | Push it is an app that lets users send push notifications to their friends. It is the latest creation from Sendit, an app popular with Snapchat users who use it to play games and have conversations with their Snapchat friends. Push it allows users to send push notifications to subscribers on the app. Followers are able to respond to start private conversations. The app is now the top app in many countries, even though the service is not yet live in all markets. | 4Miscellaneous
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Ask HN: What developer tools would you like to see? (Hacker News Thread) | Developer tools help developers get feedback and work more efficiently. In this Hacker News thread, developers discuss the tools they would like to be created and how these tools would help them with their workflows. Most replies to top comments contain suggestions on currently existing tools that do what the developer wants. | 4Miscellaneous
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Explorers Wanted: NASA to Hire More Artemis Generation Astronauts | NASA will be accepting applications for the next class of Artemis Generation astronauts between March 2 and 31. The basic requirements to apply include US citizenship, two years of related experience or 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft, and a master's degree in a STEM field or equivalent. Applicants will be required to take an online assessment that could take up to two hours to complete. Successful applicants who complete training could be launched into space in future programs to work aboard the International Space Station and other projects. A link to apply is available. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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MoviePass test reactivates accounts if users don't opt out | MoviePass has been sending out emails to customers who had previously cancelled, saying that their subscriptions would be restored unless they opted out of a "test". If they don't opt out by October 4th, then the credit card MoviePass has on file will automatically be charged $10 on a monthly basis again. Early responses on Twitter indicate that this is not going to be a popular idea. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Stand aside, hyperloop: This cross-continental train aims to replace flying | Planes account for 2.5 percent of the world's carbon emissions. Manyone, a strategic design consultancy, has proposed an idea to build a giant train that loops around half the world like a mega subway system. The AeroSlider will be an elevated train line that passes through magnetic loops instead of running on a track. It can potentially run at speeds of up to 500 mph. The loop would run from Africa to Europe to Asia. AeroSlider will be 820 feet long, much larger than the Airbus A380, the largest passenger plane jet ever in service. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Scoop: Amazon quietly building live audio business | Amazon is investing in a new live audio feature similar to Clubhouse. It will focus on live concerts and performances, but Amazon is also looking at radio programs and podcasts. The service will be integrated with Twitch, Amazon's live video service. Live audio services have exploded during the pandemic and many tech companies have made big investments in the space. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Apple Plans on Combining iPhone, iPad, Mac Apps by 2021 | Apple plans to release a new software development kit later this year for developers to port their iPad apps to Mac OS. Future changes to Mac’s computer hardware may help developers create cross-platform apps, as Apple plans to move their computer range over to using their own custom processors as early as 2020. Apple plans to have all of its apps available on all platforms as a ‘single binary’ by 2021, however, there are no plans to combine Mac OS and iOS into a single operating system. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Why ‘De-Extinction’ Is Impossible, But Could Work Anyway | De-extinction is not possible as even slight alterations in gene order can have significant effects. Even with 100% of an animal's genetic code, scientists can only create organisms with the same gene order and chromosome count as its living relatives. While de-extinction may be impossible, it is possible to create functional equivalents through breeding or gene insertion. This can be used to introduce species back into environments to benefit ecosystems. | 4Miscellaneous
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Microsoft Opens Edge Addons Store for Submissions | The Microsoft Edge Addons store is now fully open. Developers can submit their addons for the web browser through the Partner Center Developer Dashboard. Edge is now built on Google's Chromium web engine. Applications built for Chromium will be functional with Edge without any code changes required. Existing EdgeHTML-based extensions can be automatically migrated to the Chromium base. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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'Our little brown rat': first climate change-caused mammal extinction | The Bramble Cay melomys (Melomys rubicola), a little rat-like mammal from a small Torres Strait island near Papua New Guinea, has been officially declared extinct. This is the first recorded time a mammal has become extinct directly through climate change factors. Experts say that the extinction was predictable and could have been prevented through funding and change in policies to improve the environment, but no action was taken despite the evidence provided. There are currently around 500 other animals on the Australian endangered species list. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Lyft says it’s ‘not in the transportation business’ to avoid complying with disability law | A woman in Westchester County filed a class-action lawsuit against Lyft for not providing transportation options for people with disabilities. There are currently no options for people with non-foldable wheelchairs or scooters to ride with Lyft. Lyft has argued that the company is not in the transportation business in order to avoid complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. While Lyft claims to be a technology company, they have previously stated in their filing with the SEC that their mission was to ‘improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation’. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Apple took us on a surreal walk through San Francisco, looking at digital art on an iPhone | Apple's AR[T] Walk is a new program at Apple stores that takes people on an actual walk through a city while displaying digital art that can only be seen through an iPhone. The aim of the project is to promote augmented reality technology. AR[T] walk is available in six Apple stores in major cities, including New York, Hong Kong, and Paris. It takes about two hours to complete the walk. Reservations are made online, but if there are available spots, Apple will accommodate people who are there, so it is worth seeing if there are open spaces even if you can't make a reservation. During the walk, everybody is allocated a loaned iPhone XS Max with the non-public AR[T] app and a pair of Beats Solo headphones. The tour guides are able to control the experience from an iPad pro, and they also lead discussions about the artwork that is displayed. The walks will be available until at least the end of 2019. | 4Miscellaneous
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Amazon reportedly considering mall space for fulfillment centers | Amazon and Simon Property Group have discussed the possibility of converting the Group's mall spaces into fulfillment centers. The discussions started before the pandemic as the brick-and-mortar retail market was already being affected by the growth of the e-commerce industry. Mall stalwarts like Lord & Taylor, JCPenney, and Nieman Marcus have recently filed for bankruptcy. Simon is looking to fill empty retail spaces as tenants are unable to continue operating. Having fulfillment center warehouses closer to residential areas would speed up delivery times, but it is unclear how the arrangement would work. According to its second-quarter earnings report, Amazon doubled its net profit year over year to $5.2 billion. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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List of (Advanced) | This repository contains a list of JavaScript questions presented in a multiple choice test format. Users are presented with code and then asked what the output of the code should be. Answers are initially hidden. There are 43 questions listed. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Listen Later (Web Tool) | This is a nifty tool that lets you take Youtube videos and convert them into audio podcasts. Then it publishes this audio to a podcast RSS feed and gives you the URL, so you can subscribe to the audio feed from your podcast player. It's a really creative way to listen to Youtube videos on the go. Also, no sign up required, which I'm always a huge fan of! | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Genetically Engineered 'Supertrees' Capture More Carbon | Living Carbon is a San Francisco-based startup that is genetically engineering trees to capture and store more carbon. Its goal is to combat the effects of climate change without needing to take up land that could otherwise be used for agriculture. Fewer trees would need to be planted if they were able to absorb and retain more carbon. There are still many factors to consider before the trees become a reality, such as the environmental impact the trees will have and whether the modifications make the trees more vulnerable to disease. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Making friends on the internet | The internet can be a great place for finding friends. This article discusses several strategies for using Twitter or other platforms to find friends on the internet. It also tells a personal story of how the author developed their internet friendships. | 4Miscellaneous
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Thousands of autonomous delivery robots are about to descend on US college campuses | Starship Technologies has announced a plan to deploy thousands of autonomous six-wheeled delivery robots on college campuses across the US in the next two years. The robots have been tested in over 100 cities in 20 different countries, completing over 100,000 deliveries. Each campus will receive 25-50 robots. Robots have already been deployed in George Mason University and Northern Arizona University. The robots can travel around three to four miles at a maximum speed of four miles per hour. They can work for many hours without a break, carrying cargo of up to 20 pounds in weight. Starship charges $1.99 per order. Other companies have also introduced autonomous delivery robots, but Starship is confident that their technology is miles ahead of any competition. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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How I write backends (GitHub Repo) | Federico Pereiro has been developing backends for web applications since late 2012, and this document summarizes how he writes his code. He discusses architecture, tools, development, deployment, maintenance, security, admin, and many other topics. Topics go in-depth with explanations of the what, why, and hows of backend development. Pereiro also makes recommendations for best practices. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Record-breaking hydrogen electrolyzer claims 95% efficiency | Hysata, an Australian company, has developed new electrolyzer technology that promises to create competitively priced green hydrogen within just a few years. The cost of creating green hydrogen is one of the biggest barriers against using it as an energy source. By generating more hydrogen from the same sources, Hysata could drive the price of green hydrogen down to a point where it becomes competitive with dirty hydrogen and fossil fuels. Hysata's process is 98% efficient with extremely low gas crossover. The company plans to have its technology commercialized by 2025. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Asynchronous Communication: The Real Reason Remote Workers Are More Productive (13 minute read) | Studies have shown that remote workers are more productive than office-bound workers. Remote workers are able to avoid commutes, have more control over their workdays, and are able to dedicate more time to family, friends, and hobbies. Asynchronous communication may be a large factor in productivity and it can be applied to office work. Being able to respond to messages at your own pace means that workers have more control over their workday, communications are more thought out, employees are able to plan better, and people are able to focus more on deep work rather than constantly be on the lookout for communications. Synchronous communication is still necessary for some tasks, but in general, asynchronous communication is better for a more productive, happier work environment. | 4Miscellaneous
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Modified cotton could be human food source after U.S. green light | US regulators are now allowing farmers to grow a genetically modified edible version of cottonseed. Because cotton is grown so widely around the world, this could be very useful for cotton growers in poor countries who lack access to food. Researcher Keerti Rathore says "To me, personally, it tastes somewhat like chickpea and it could easily be used to make a tasty hummus". | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Salary Sharing Thread for Interns (Reddit Thread) | With summer internship offers coming out, the CS Career Questions subreddit is having a salary sharing thread. The thread is broken down by region and the comments list their school, prior experience, location, summer salary and stuff like that. Gotta say, Tesla is looking very stingy! | 4Miscellaneous
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ARLOOPA (Website) | ARLOOPA is an AR visualization tool that allows users to place virtual content into real environments. It can be used to create interactive experiences. Brands can use the app to grow their business with immersive ads and promotions. A short video explaining how the app works is available on the site. | 4Miscellaneous
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If DARPA Has Its Way, AI Will Rule the Wireless Spectrum (14 minute read) | A major problem with Bluetooth is that it shares similar wireless frequencies as WiFi, which means that there is always the chance of interference. DARPA's Spectrum Collaboration Challenge aims to have many teams across the world developing AI systems that will be able to effectively manage the switching of frequencies to maintain steady and fast data transmission speed. The systems are emulated in Colosseum, a special facility built for this test that can emulate more than 65,000 unique interactions between 128 radios at once. Results from the testing have been positive so far, with many teams having already developed algorithms that can handle more data transfer than traditional methods. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Snapchat will launch Bitmoji TV, a personalized cartoon show | Snapchat users will soon be able to watch their Bitmoji avatar in a full-motion cartoon series called Bitmoji TV. Users can register their interest on Snapchat's website to be notified about its release in February 2020. Many of Snapchat's core features have been copied by Facebook's family of apps. Facebook is developing Facebook Avatars to compete with Bitmoji. Bitmoji originally placed avatars in comic strips, and TV is a return to these roots. Snapchat's 210 million daily users can use Bitmojis as overlays in snaps, Fitbit smartwatch faces, characters in comic strip stories, game and profile avatars, and more. Snapchat has even launched merchandise based on Bitmoji characters. The success of Bitmoji TV will depend largely on the quality of writing. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Building a WebAuthn Click Farm — Are CAPTCHAs Obsolete? | Cloudflare recently proposed a potential replacement for CAPTCHAs by using signatures from hardware security keys and WebAuthn. It is possible to automate the Attestation of Personhood challenge, but it comes at a significantly higher cost to attackers than CAPTCHAs and can be easily detected. This article is a guide on how to bypass the challenge and also how to detect these attacks on a server. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Google hosting ‘Gather around’ press event at the Game Developers Conference next month | Google has announced a gaming-related press conference during the Game Developers Conference in March, following the end of its 4 month trial of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey on Project Stream. A GIF was released by Google with the words ‘Gather around’ and the date of the conference, March 19. Project Stream allowed users to play a AAA console title within Chrome Browser as long as they had a 25 Mbps connection. If the conference is about Project Stream, it is likely they will announce how third-party developers can bring their games to the streaming platform. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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TETRIS-OS (GitHub Repo) | TETRIS-OS is an operating system that only plays Tetris. It runs a fully custom bootloader, with a custom music track runner and fully hardcoded Tetris theme. The OS displays double-buffered 60 FPS graphics at 320x200 pixels with a custom 8-bit RGB palette. A 23-minute video explaining the development process behind TETRIS-OS is linked. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Supercooling advances human tissue preservation | Researchers from UC Berkeley successfully revived human heart tissue after it had been preserved in a subfreezing, supercooled state using a technique called isochoric supercooling. The supercooling did not alter the structural integrity, beat rate, or beat waveform of the heart tissue. Isochoric supercooling involves keeping samples in liquid in a sealed, air-free rigid container. It creates conditions that make it difficult for ice to form, even at temperatures below freezing. The technique could eventually become viable for preserving donor tissue and organs. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Apple Publicly Trolls Google Over Controversial Smart City Surveillance Plans | There has been some controversy over the recent plans announced by Sidewalk Labs to build a Smart City on Toronto's eastern waterfront. The $900 million development promises quality of living, support for low-cost housing, and urban regeneration. However, cameras and IoT sensors will capture data from residents, which will then be used to fuel urban planning activities and decisions. Google assures that the data will be governed by an independent trust and will not be sold without consent. Apple has erected a billboard where the development is planned that reads, ‘We’re in the business of staying out of yours. Privacy. That’s iPhone,’ as a commentary on the need for privacy. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Scientists Used Dopamine to Seamlessly Merge Artificial and Biological Neurons | Scientists have been able to connect an artificial neuron with a biological one, getting them to communicate with dopamine. Previous attempts at hybrid neural circuits only focused on electrical computing. Chemical computing would bring brain-machine interfaces closer to reality. It is theoretically possible to use these neuromorphic chips as replacement parts for damaged brains. The chips demonstrated the ability to learn. A lot more research is still required before the technology can be used for any practical applications. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Google Messages, with RCS in tow, is now Samsung’s default messaging app in the US | Samsung will adopt Google Messages as its default app in the US starting with the Galaxy S22 series. Samsung Messages will still be installed on Samsung devices, but users will have to actively choose to switch to it. Google Messages features enhanced RCS messaging. Having RCS support as a default option will help more users with a modern messaging experience. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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El Salvador plans to create an entire city based on Bitcoin | El Salvador plans to build a Bitcoin City near a volcano along the Gulf of Fonseca. The city will be shaped like a coin and have its own geothermal power plant. There will be no capital gains, income, payroll, or property taxes in the city, only value-added tax. El Salvador created a $1 billion US Bitcoin bond to pay for energy and mining infrastructure and to buy more bitcoin. The country will start selling its crypto holdings in five years and pay an extra dividend to bondholders. | 4Miscellaneous
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Starship chilled. Starship pressurized. And for the first time, it didn’t explode | SpaceX has finally completed a successful cryogenic test of a Starship prototype. The test was completed on Sunday in South Texas. SpaceX has lost three full-scale Starship prototypes during cryogenic and pressure tests since November 2019. The next step for SpaceX is to attach a single Raptor engine to the Starship prototype and conduct a static fire test. If this static fire test is successful, the vehicle will make a 150-meter 'hop' test. Most parts for the next prototype have already been created. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Startup that aims to 3D-print rockets says it’s fully funded for its first commercial missions | Relativity Space, a startup that aims to launch the first fully 3D-printed rocket into orbit, has announced that it has reached its funding goals and that the first commercial operations will begin in early 2021. By using 3D printing to create its rockets, Relativity Space can drastically cut down on costs by requiring fewer parts per rocket. The company hopes to replicate the 3D printing process on other planets. Its first rocket, the Terran 1, is a small-to-medium-sized vehicle that will stand about 100 feet tall and be able to carry up to 2,755 lbs. Relativity Space plans to increase its payload limits. The first Terran 1 rocket will be launched at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Seaborg plans to rapidly mass-produce cheap, floating nuclear reactors | Seaborg Technologies is a startup that is building a type of cheap, portable, flexible, and super-safe nuclear reactor the size of a shipping container. The Compact Molten Salt Reactors are designed to minimize the consequences of accidents. Accidents will probably happen, so the reactors are designed so that even the worst disasters can be managed. Seaborg plans to install the reactors on barges and float them offshore. They will be able to move anywhere on the planet with virtually no site preparation required. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Magic Leap 2 Hands-On: AR Glasses That Can Dim The Real World | This article presents a hands-on experience with Magic Leap's new augmented reality glasses. The Magic Leap 2 features a larger field of view, lenses that can dim the world and become blackout sunglasses, spatial audio, and more. It is notably smaller than the first version, with improved eye and hand tracking. No prices for the headset have been released yet. Photos of the device are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Neuroscientists Have Followed a Thought as It Moves Through The Human Brain | Scientists at the University of California used a technique called electrocorticography (ECoG) to track the movement of thought through the human brain. ECoG requires hundreds of tiny electrodes to be placed against the cortex. The technique is used to monitor patients undergoing surgery for epilepsy. In the study, 16 epilepsy patients performed several tasks while having their neural activity monitored and tracked. The results clearly emphasized the role of the prefrontal cortex in directing activity. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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ByteDance: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive | Zhang Yiming, the CEO and co-founder of ByteDance, will step down and transition to a new role by the end of the year. He will be succeeded by fellow co-founder Rubo Liang. The change in leadership will take place over the next six months. ByteDance's TikTok has an estimated 700 million active monthly users. Its popularity has caused it to be scrutinized by governments around the world. ByteDance was one of 13 companies targeted with tighter regulations by Chinese authorities last month. China has increased scrutiny over online platforms as they have started to branch out into financial services. | 4Miscellaneous
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What a World at Home Looks Like (3 minute video) | Public spaces around the world are now nearly deserted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This video shows many normally-crowded locations empty of people, some of them appearing to be completely deserted. In locations where there are still people, they are few and spread apart. | 4Miscellaneous
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“Game Changer” Perovskite Can Detect High-Energy Gamma Rays | Perovskites are materials made up of organic compounds bound to a metal. They are grown as crystals, and the quality and clarity of the crystals determine how they can be used. Scientists at EPFL's School of Basic Sciences have developed a perovskite that can efficiently detect gamma rays at room temperatures with a simple resistivity measurement. Gamma rays can affect biological tissue, so finding a cheap and reliable method of detecting them could be a game-changer for many industries. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Web Skills (GitHub Site) | Web Skills contains a visual overview of useful skills to learn as a web developer. It breaks down each topic into its key components and also provides links to begin learning each skill. The main topics include fundamentals, accessibility, web components, architecture, algorithms, databases, and more. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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