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Huawei tops Samsung as world’s No. 1 smartphone company for first time | Huawei has surpassed Samsung as the world's number one supplier of smartphones. It shipped more smartphones in the second quarter of 2020 than any other company in the world. Apple and Samsung have competed for the top spot for the last nine years. Analysts say that Huawei managed to achieve this feat by taking advantage of China's economic recovery after COVID-19 shutdowns. A majority of Huawei's smartphones are sold in China. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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In a world-first, scientists create eco-friendly cement from algae | A new carbon-neutral method of producing cement can drastically reduce the environmental pollution caused by construction activities. | 4Miscellaneous
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postgresqltuner (GitHub Repo) | postgresqltuner is a simple script that analyzes your PostgreSQL database and outputs with tuning advice. Installation instructions are available for Debian, Fedora, and MacOS systems. There is an example of the output included in the repository. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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AMP Has Irreparably Damaged Publishers' Trust in Google-led Initiatives | FLoC is a controversial initiative by Google to create a privacy sandbox for users so that ads can be targeted without the surveillance business model currently used today. Many major tech organizations and privacy advocates are skeptical of the project due to AMP, an older initiative by Google that resulted in an antitrust lawsuit that is still ongoing. Google throttled the load time of non-AMP ads and didn't rank non-AMP sites, resulting in losses for many publishers. More details about the case are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Chinese Tesla Competitor Unveils Flying Car at Beijing Auto Show | Xpeng Motors, who just sold $1.7 billion in a stock sale last month, unveiled a drone-like vehicle called the Kiwigogo at the 2020 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition. The Kiwigogo is equipped with eight turbofans and can carry two passengers up to 82 feet high. Xpeng plans to develop a flying car to create new avenues for its research into mobility and electrification. It plans to be more than just a Tesla clone as it branches out into various forms of electric mobility. Images of the Kiwigogo are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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I was at Amzn in 2000 when the internet bubble popped (Twitter Thread) | In 2000, the internet bubble popped. Capital markets dried up and Amazon was burning $1 billion a year, with expensive Sun servers at their data centers as their largest expense. The company spent a year replacing Sun servers with HP/Linux machines, which formed the foundation for AWS. Linux kernel had only been released in 1994, the same year Amazon started, so it was a novel and risky approach at the time. The transition made Amazon freeze all new features for over a year, causing a deceleration in revenue growth. Amazon came close to going bankrupt around that time. With the infrastructure completed, Amazon then decided to rent it out as the company only needed high capacities during peak retail seasons. | 4Miscellaneous
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Researchers Create Free-Floating Animated Holograms That Bring Us One Step Closer to Star Trek's Holodecks | The Optical Trap Display is a device that uses lasers to create free-floating animated holographic images. It uses an invisible laser to manipulate tiny opaque particles floating in the air and a visible laser to illuminate the particles with color. The display can be observed from any angle, but it is currently very tiny, requiring cameras with macro lenses and microscopes to see the effect in detail. A 4-minute video on the Optical Trap Display is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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DoorDash tests 15-minute grocery deliveries in New York City | DoorDash is piloting an ultra-fast grocery delivery service in New York City. The service will aim to deliver items to customers in less than 15 minutes. It will launch at a new DashMart outlet in Chelsea, which will be open between 7 AM and 2 AM. A team of full-time employees will handle the deliveries. DoorDash will be competing against a few other companies that offer similar services. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Crypto Cities (17 minute read) | There has been a growth of interest from local governments in engaging with tech and crypto communities over the last year as crypto becomes more mainstream. Some cities are trying to create coins, NFTs, and DAOs. The blockchain could make some existing processes, such as registries, lotteries, and voting, more trusted and transparent. This article looks at city crypto projects and explores how the blockchain can be used for different forms of governance. | 4Miscellaneous
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Microsoft is shutting down Mixer and partnering with Facebook Gaming | Microsoft will be closing its Mixer service on July 22, with plans to move existing partners over to Facebook Gaming. Mixer has struggled to compete with Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Gaming. The transition to Facebook Gaming will happen over the coming weeks. Existing Mixer Partners will be granted partner status with Facebook Gaming and streamers who were using the Mixer monetization program will be granted eligibility for Facebook's Level Up program. Viewers with outstanding Ember balances or subscriptions will receive Xbox gift card credit. Microsoft will be working closely with Facebook to bring its xCloud game streaming service to Facebook Gaming. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Xsolla lays off 150 after an algorithm ruled staff 'unengaged and unproductive' | Xsolla laid off roughly one-third of its workforce after an algorithm employed by the company decided that they were unengaged and unproductive employees. The company had increased its revenue by 80 percent last year, but growth has slowed down in the last six months. Xsolla decided to cut its salary budget using the algorithm, which analyzes employee's work activities. The CEO has blamed reduced productivity on remote work and has defended the use of the algorithm. Xsolla promised to help find new jobs for the laid-off workers. | 4Miscellaneous
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Elon Musk Says That Tesla Is Making Its Own Beer | Tesla has produced a Cybertruck-themed beer as part of its development of Giga Berlin’s campus. The GigaBier’s bottles were inspired by the Cybertruck's sharp angles and futuristic design. Giga Berlin will have a train station and graffiti murals throughout the factory. It is very rare for a car company to create a beer due to the association with drink driving. Tesla has sold tequila before as a limited release. | 4Miscellaneous
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How Netflix Content Engineering makes a federated graph searchable | The Studio Search platform was developed by Netflix to take a portion of a federated graph and make it searchable. This article describes how it was made. It covers why and how it was developed, how it was scaled and deployed, and the challenges that are still being solved. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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vy (GitHub Repo) | vy is a powerful modal editor written in Python. It has a very modular architecture and can be modified with many plugins. There are many available plugins to customize vy. All built-in functions are well documented, and documentation for plugins is also available. Some features include a Python debugger, fuzzy search, syntax highlighting for 300+ languages, and autocompletion for Python, Ruby, Golang, and Javascript. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Glow (GitHub Repo) | Glow allows you to render markdown on the command-line. It can be installed using your favorite package manager. An example of its output is available on the repository. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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What I learned from looking at 200 machine learning tools (13 minute read) | This article looks at the history and landscape of the field of machine learning. It discusses the problems facing the field, such as data quality, the size of ML algorithms, and many others. There are now many tools and startups that provide machine learning services. While machine learning has been a hot field in the past few years, the demand for ML researchers has lessened. Engineering for ML tools will become more in demand as companies start bringing their ML into production. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Move over, SolarWinds: 30,000 orgs’ email hacked via Microsoft Exchange Server flaws | 30,000 US governmental and commercial organizations' emails were hacked due to four exploits found in Microsoft's Exchange Server software. The exploits have been patched, but the cleanup process will be a massive effort. A Chinese hacking group has been blamed for the attack. The attack has been ongoing since January 6th. Microsoft released its patch on March 2nd. Exchange servers that haven't installed the patch are likely compromised. The attacks are not connected to the SolarWinds attacks. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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SpaceX Has Starry-Eyed Ambitions for Its Starship | Elon Musk unveiled SpaceX's prototype spaceship, Starship, a vessel that is roomy enough to fit 100 passengers that will be powered by a massive, reusable rocket. Starship will be involved in multiple missions to carry people to different cities on Earth as well as to the moon and Mars. The unveiling event marks 11 years since SpaceX reached orbit for the first time with the earliest version of its Falcon rockets. Last month, a Starship prototype levitated about 500 feet into the sky and then glided down. Musk aims to have the prototype fly to 65,000 feet within one to two months, and in orbit within six months. While SpaceX has demonstrated that it can reliably deploy satellites and cargo to space, it has never launched people. NASA, SpaceX, and Boeing are each building their own transportation systems to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, but the projects are behind schedule. | 4Miscellaneous
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Hologram Doctors Visit Space Station For The First Time Ever | A hologram medical team was 'holoported' aboard the International Space Station using Microsoft's Kinect camera and software from AEXA Aerospace, a startup that develops hologram tech. The technology could help humans communicate and explore in new ways over vast distances. NASA has been dabbling in hologram technology since 2016. AEXA's technology could make the 'holodecks' aboard Star Trek starships a reality. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Qualcomm To Launch Its Own Premium Snapdragon Branded Phones That Will Raise The Bar | Qualcomm is looking to enter into the smartphone market, partnering with ASUS to manufacture and distribute smartphones globally. It intends to create ultra-premium Snapdragon Android phones. ASUS already produces its own line of gaming smartphones. While Qualcomm chips are found in the majority of Android smartphones sold in the US, the company doesn't have direct sales channels with carriers, so it will be interesting to see how Qualcomm intends to market their devices. The official announcement is expected during the Snapdragon Tech Summit in December. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Hermes JS Engine (GitHub Repo) | Hermes is a JavaScript engine optimized for running React Native on Android. It features fast app launch times, decreased memory usage, small app sizes, ahead-of-time static optimization, and compact bytecode. Hermes can be integrated into existing React Native apps. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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The Steve Jobs deal with Dell that could have changed Apple and tech history | Before Apple received its famous $150 million cash investment from Microsoft and Bill Gates, Steve Jobs had tried to cut a deal with Michael Dell and his PC company. The deal never went through due to Jobs' licensing scheme. Dell recently released a memoir that covers the story of how Jobs wanted Dell to license the Mac operating system and ship it on his PCs. This article tells the story of Jobs and Dell, how they met, and the relationship between their companies. | 4Miscellaneous
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Bevy (GitHub Repo) | Bevy is a data-driven game engine built in Rust. It features a custom Entity Component System, a 2D renderer, a 3D renderer, render graphs, cross-platform support, hot reloading, and more. Bevy is still in the very early stages of development. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Facebook Connect: all the news about ‘Meta’ and Mark Zuckerberg’s VR dream | Facebook has rebranded as Meta. The announcement was made during the company's virtual reality labs Connect event. A new high-end headset, fitness-focused accessories, and a VR remake of GTA: San Andreas were also announced at the event. The Oculus name will be replaced with the new company branding. Facebook has changed its iconic sign at HQ to reflect the rebrand. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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MIT develops tiny ‘walking’ motor that helps more complex robots self-assemble | The future of robots is more likely to consist of tiny robot swarms rather than robots like Wall-E. A new ambulatory motor developed at MIT consists of little more than a magnet and a coil with some structural parts, but when combined together with many of the same motors, it can create many different types of machines that can carry out specific tasks. The goal of the project is to find a way to make these motors self assemble into larger structures, resulting in an extremely versatile type of robot. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Facebook is working on visual search for shopping on Instagram | Facebook is in the early stages of building camera-based search tools for Instagram. The feature will help users find products inside the app. Facebook Shops will soon arrive on Marketplace and WhatsApp. Businesses will be able to create storefronts in WhatsApp. The company is also working on a feature that will allow businesses to target ads based on people's individual shopping preferences. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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SEC settles charges with Tesla's Elon Musk, will remain as CEO but relinquish chairman role and pay stiff fine | The SEC has settled its fraud suit against Elon Musk for his tweet stating that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 a share. The terms of the settlement stipulate that Musk must pay a civil penalty of $20 million and give up his role as chairman of the board for at least three years. Additionally, the SEC imposed a $20 million fine on Tesla itself, which will also be expected to appoint two new independent directors to the board, and institute sweeping governance changes. The settlement is still subject to court approval. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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LG set to release 'rollable' phone next year | LG Electronics will launch a 'rollable' smartphone in early 2021. The phone will be made using LG's flexible OLED screens, which can be unfurled like a scroll. LG's mobile communications division has seen 20 straight quarterly losses. It aims to make its business profitable by 2021 by expanding its mobile lineup. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Kivy (GitHub Repo) | Kivy is a Python framework for developing apps that use multi-touch user interfaces. It is based on OpenGL ES 2 and supports various input devices. Kivy has an extensive widget library and the same codebase can be used across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Amazon’s answer to SpaceX Starlink delivers 400Mbps in prototype phase | Amazon's Project Kuiper has completed initial development on its Ka-band phased-array antenna for its customer terminal. The antenna is based on a new architecture and can deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband in a form factor that is smaller and lighter than current antenna designs. It is capable of delivering speeds of up to 400Mbps, with Amazon promising better performance in future versions. The antenna was difficult to develop due to the wide frequency range that it needed to cover. Amazon plans to invest over $10 billion into Project Kuiper. In July, it received approval from the FCC to launch 3,236 low-Earth orbit satellites. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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One Step Closer to 1,000 km/h Train | The Korea Railroad Research Institute has achieved a speed of over 1,000 kilometers an hour in a 1/17 hyper-tube train aerodynamic test model. The test model ran in a near-vacuum tube of 0.001 atm. This is the first test model that has successfully reduced the atmospheric pressure to below 1 atm. The institute is planning to start actual track and vehicle development in 2022. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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fastmac (GitHub Repo) | fastmac uses GitHub Actions to create a Mac or Linux terminal for free. The process takes around two minutes. A short video is available that shows all the steps. The GitHub Actions Terms of Service outlines how fastmac may be used on the platform. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Epic Games buys a huge mall for its new global HQ | Epic Games is buying an old shopping mall and converting it into its new global headquarters. The Cary Towne Center was sold for $95 million. Epic has been based in Cary, North Carolina, since 1999. It has about two dozen subsidiaries and studios in other locations around the world. The Cary Towne Center has struggled to remain open due to online shopping, and much of the mall is blocked off. Its owners got the Cary Town Council to approve its rezoning, permitting Epic to use it for office space. Epic's new campus will include office buildings and recreational spaces. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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YouTube reportedly working on TikTok competitor called Shorts | TikTok has changed the video entertainment scene and now YouTube is looking to compete directly with it by launching its own version called 'Shorts'. Users will be able to upload brief videos into a feed inside the Shorts app and take advantage of the licensed music that YouTube Music has in its catalog. It is clear from TikTok's growth why YouTube now wants a piece of the action. YouTube has previously taken features from other social media platforms and integrated it into its own, for example, Instagram Stories. Facebook is currently testing its own version of TikTok in Brazil. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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JWT.IO (Website) | JSON Web Token is an internet standard for securing data. It is a useful tool for authorization and information exchange. JWT.IO allows developers to decode, verify, and generate JWT. A list of libraries for token signing and verification, sorted by programming languages, is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Programming Digest (Newsletter) | Programming Digest is a weekly newsletter that curates interesting posts from engineering blogs as well as opinion pieces on programming. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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India has found its Vikram lander after it crashed into the moon’s surface | The Indian Space Research Organization launched Chandrayaan-2 on July 22. It reached the moon's orbit on August 20. Two weeks later, a lander was deployed. Communication with the lander was lost moments before it was expected to touch down on the moon's surface. The lander was aiming to land at a location 375 miles from the moon's south pole. It is thought that there are large ice deposits on the moon's south pole. The ISRO will continue to analyze the data to ascertain the lander's fate while the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter carries out an array of studies from 62 miles above the lunar surface. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Exclusive: In a world first, Facebook to give data on hate speech suspects to French courts | Facebook has agreed to submit data to judges that contains information which identifies French users suspected of hate speech. The government has been working with Facebook to take a leading role globally on the regulation of hate speech and the spread of misinformation online. Facebook has previously helped the French government on terrorist investigations. By expanding their scope of aid to the government, they are sending the message that hate speech is no longer part of free speech and will be regulated in the same way as terrorism. The French government acknowledges the power that Facebook has but is reluctant to support laws to break up large, powerful companies. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A click-on bionic arm could revolutionize how amputees do simple tasks: 'We think of it like a USB connector from the body | Edmund Rath is an amputee who underwent a new procedure called "osseointegration", in which surgeons implant a metal rod onto an amputee's residual limb. Then, nerves used to control his hand are connected to muscles in his upper arm. Now, when he imagines moving his hand, the muscles in his shoulder contract, and electrodes in his prosthetic arm perform the intended hand movement. It took six weeks for the implanted nerves to grow into his muscles and he can now open and close his prosthetic hand. Pretty awesome stuff, there are pictures of the prosthetic arm in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Life Advice from NYC Chess Hustlers (13 minute read) | New York's Washington Square Park has hosted many chess hustlers for more than 80 years. Some have made up to $1,700 of tax-free money in a day. The hustlers make money by playing against challengers or by giving lessons. This article features interviews with three chess players from the park where they talk about chess, how they make money playing the game, and life. | 4Miscellaneous
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Machine Learning for Beginners - A Curriculum (GitHub Repo) | This repository contains the Machine Learning for Beginners curriculum by Azure Cloud Advocates at Microsoft. The course is 12-weeks long and consists of 24 lessons. Each lesson includes quizzes, assignments, and more to allow students to learn while building. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Here’s what Elon Musk just told Twitter employees | Elon Musk addressed Twitter employees on a video call on Thursday. He spoke about his goals for the company, free speech, possible layoffs, his bias towards in-person work, and why he loves Twitter. The majority of reactions on Twitter's Slack messaging board were negative. Many employees are worried about the reduced focus on content moderation, inclusion, and diversity measures. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Eternal Change for No Energy: A Time Crystal Finally Made Real (12 minute read) | A time crystal is a phase of matter where an object cycles between states without consuming energy, similar to a perpetual motion machine. Researchers have been trying to create one ever since they were first described in 2015. A group of physicists from various universities, in collaboration with researchers at Google, have used Google's quantum computer to demonstrate a genuine time crystal. Quantum computers can simulate particles of any imaginable quantum system, so they are particularly suited for this task. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Zuckerberg rejects invite from international committee to give evidence on fake news | Zuckerberg was invited to testify about fake news before the UK Parliament. Canada, Ireland, Argentina, and Australia also showed support for the invitation. Zuckerberg refused, and a Facebook spokesperson explained that he does not have time to talk to every country's lawmakers. UK MP Damian Collins says he is "very disappointed with Facebook's dismissive response," and has re-extended the original invitation saying "We say again: the hearing of your evidence is now overdue, and urgent...We call on you once again to take up your responsibility to Facebook users, and speak in person to their elected representatives." | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Meet Doggo: Stanford’s cute open-source four-legged robot | Doggo is a four-legged robot that costs less than $3,000 to build and is completely open source. It was designed to be accessible so that labs around the world could build it and use it for their own experiments. Doggo performs better than many more expensive models available on the market while being less expensive. Legged robots are becoming more and more useful in the real world, and increasing accessibility to the technology will allow labs and universities to develop more applications for the technology. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Nissan and NASA team up on 15-minute EV charging | Nissan, NASA, and other big-name automakers have teamed up to outline a vision around next-generation battery technology. The plans include a dedicated production facility and possible 15-minute charging times for electric vehicles. Nissan sees cheaper solid-state batteries as a key pillar in the strategy due to their superior energy density, lower costs, and potentially shorter charging times. The company plans to have a production line up and running by 2024 and launch an EV with a solid-state battery by 2028. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Build a video game like a Lego set with this new Unity tool | Lego and Unity have paired up to create a Lego Microgame. The Microgame is free and it lets players create custom game worlds by snapping together virtual bricks. No previous video game programming knowledge is required. Custom mods are available that can add features to the game. A 50-second video from Unity that showcases some of the features of the Lego Microgame is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Oxford VR uses virtual reality to treat social anxiety | Oxford VR is a UK-based virtual reality startup that has recently launched a VR-based therapy to help people overcome social anxiety. VR technology has found a place in health care, with major health organizations like the UK's National Health Service already using the technology for social engagement. Around 15 million people in the US are estimated to have social anxiety disorder. With social engagement therapy through VR, people can train to be more confident, feel safe, and overcome trigger situations in safe and controlled environments. The program is automated and doesn't require the presence of a qualified clinician, which means that anyone who can access a VR headset can receive treatment. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Machine learning is making fruits and vegetables more delicious | Many commercial fruit varieties have become less flavorful over time. It is expensive and difficult for breeders to breed plants based on flavor, so other traits receive more attention. A group of scientists analyzed the contents of various fruits and then used machine learning to figure out which chemical combinations create what tastes. This technology could be used to easily test produce for taste, possibly resulting in better tasting food. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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PRQL (GitHub Repo) | PRQL is a readable, explicit, and declarative language for transforming data. It can form a logical pipeline of transformations and support abstractions. PRQL can be used with any database that uses SQL. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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The Coronavirus Pandemic has Changed Our Sleep | A study of over 100,000 people from around the world over the last few months has revealed the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on global sleep patterns. People are waking up later, especially on weekends. For 51% of people in the study, their sleeping habits stayed the same as pre-pandemic levels. 32% of people overall slept longer than they did before the pandemic, with 17% of people sleeping less. | 4Miscellaneous
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Boston Dynamics is open-sourcing its robot tech to help hospitals fight coronavirus | Boston Dynamics' Spot robot is being used for telemedicine, allowing health workers to communicate with patients remotely. This applications' hardware and software design is being open-sourced for developers and robot-makers to develop solutions for fighting the coronavirus. Boston Dynamics is also exploring ways to measure body temperature, respiratory rate, pulse rate, and oxygen saturation remotely via Spot. A disinfectant technology may be mounted on the back of Spot later in the project to remotely sanitize patients and surfaces. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Uber Lays Off More Than 180 Postmates Employees, Including CEO Bastian Lehmann | Uber has laid off 185 employees from its Postmates division, including most of the executive team, totaling about 15% of Postmates' workforce. Rival companies are gaining market share in the food delivery business. DoorDash went public in December and has recently acquired food delivery startup Caviar. Just Eat acquired Grubhub in 2020 for more than $7 billion. Uber closed down 2.65% on Friday. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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L.A. suspends Uber’s permit to rent out electric scooters and bikes | Los Angeles has temporarily suspended Uber's permit to rent electric scooters and bikes to use in the city. Uber has until Friday to appeal the decision. Meanwhile, customers can still rent out equipment through the Jump app. Uber has threatened to sue the city over the suspension. LA has attempted to implement a data-sharing rule which would require Uber to share real-time data on all trips made within the city. Uber has resisted the rule, saying that the policy constitutes government surveillance and that the data would reveal sensitive information about customers. LA officials say that the data was necessary to identify companies in violation of permit rules, including caps on the number of vehicles and bans on riding in certain areas. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Google is opening its first physical retail store this summer in NYC | The first physical retail Google Store will debut in New York City this summer. It will display and sell a variety of Google products and serve as a place for customers to pick up online orders. The stores will showcase how Google's products work together, offer in-store experts, assist with setups and repairs, and host workshops on how to make the most of Google's products and services. It is unknown whether Google plans to expand beyond a single location. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Scientists connect human brain to computer wirelessly for first time ever | A recent study from BrainGate technology successfully demonstrated the first-ever wireless brain-computer interface on humans. The system can transmit brain signals at single-neuron resolution and in full broadband fidelity to a computer. It allowed the participants in the study to achieve similar typing speeds and point-and-click accuracy as wired systems continuously for up to 24 hours in their own homes. The system will allow researchers to look at brain activity over long periods in a way that was nearly impossible before. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Two people with paralysis walk again using an implanted device | University of Louisville researchers have helped two people with paralysis due to spinal cord injuries walk again with a new implant that delivers electrical stimulation to the spinal cord. They're not all the way healed, but they can walk gingerly with the help of a walker. The technique isn't perfect, and two other study participants still can't walk, but they can stand and move their legs so it's still a huge improvement. It's still really early on, and researchers still don't know why it works for some people and not others, but hopefully this tech will continue to improve. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Webinar: A Privacy Professional’s Guide to the Modern Data Privacy Stack (Sponsor) | Webinar: A Privacy Professional’s Guide to the Modern Data Privacy Stack . Join Skyflow’s Chief Privacy Officer, Robin Andruss, and Co-founder and CEO, Anshu Sharma, as they share what you should know about the data privacy technologies that companies can use to tackle common data privacy problems, such as tracking data flows, determining where sensitive data resides, and governing how it’s used. Join us on Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at 10am PT. Register for the webinar today! | 0Sponsor
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Here’s what Google Chrome’s upcoming Reader Mode looks like, how to enable it in Canary | Chrome Canary v75 brings reader mode to the desktop browser, a feature that has been very popular on other browsers. The new version has a hidden setting which will add a ‘Distill page’ option in the drop-down settings menu. Instructions and screenshots showing how to use reader mode are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Introducing GitHub Super Linter | The GitHub Super Linter can lint code from any language and report any errors, the location of the error, and details about the error automatically any time a pull request is opened. It is highly customizable and comes with default rule templates. A link to the repository is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Prospectus On Próspera (50 minute read) | Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDEs) are special economic zones inside Honduras that receive help from entities that govern the territories to bring improved human rights and economic growth. Próspera is Honduras' first ZEDE, occupying a 58-acre tract of land. It currently only has three buildings, but it eventually plans to expand to a network of city-sized hubs. People interested in joining the project will need to sign a social contract, pay a fee, and get Honduran residency. Próspera has the lowest tax rate in the world. | 4Miscellaneous
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Headless recorder (GitHub Repo) | Headless recorder is a Chrome extension that records browser interactions and generates a Puppeteer or Playwright script. It can record clicks and type events, copy to clipboard, show what events are being recorded, and more. Only certain events are recorded. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Uber driver reclassified as employee in France | France's Court of Cassation has ruled that a former Uber driver was an employee, rather than a self-employed partner of Uber. As the Court of Cassation is the equivalent of the supreme court of appeal, Uber will not be able to appeal the decision. The driver filed a lawsuit against Uber in June 2017 after their account was deactivated. Uber drivers follow orders from Uber, are not allowed to create their own customer base, can't set their own prices, and are constantly being monitored by the company. The court ruled that self-employed people should be able to manage clients themselves, set prices, and choose how to execute a task. | 4Miscellaneous
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Apple’s board of directors reportedly tried out its upcoming AR / VR headset | A mixed reality headset capable of both augmented and virtual reality has been presented to Apple's board of directors. Apple engineers are now developing an operating system for the device called Reality OS, or rOS. The device will feature AirPods Max-like fabric mesh and a headband that looks almost like an Apple Watch loop. It will be powered by an M1-class chip. The device is not likely to be ready for an announcement at WWDC next month. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Total Recon (GitHub Repo) | Total Recon is a script that can install 17 recon tools on your Ubuntu system. The script can also install all the required dependencies. It has been tested on Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Beef Programming Language (GitHub Repo) | Beef is an open-source performance-oriented compiled programming language. Its syntax and many semantics were mostly derived from C# with some influence by Rust, Swift, and Go. It was designed to develop high-performance real-time applications, such as video games, while having low-level features that make it suitable for engine development. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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IRL to Anime With Cartoonization AI (4 minute video) | CartoonGAN is a neural network that can transform real-world images into different anime styles. The results aren't very convincing, especially when compared to hand-drawn art. White-Box-Cartoonization produces results that are better than other deep learning architectures. While White-Box-Cartoonization is unlikely to be used in anime production any time soon, it has the potential to be used once the algorithm is more polished. The video shows scenes from real life, drawn anime scenes, CartoonGAN generated scenes, White-Box-Cartoonization scenes, as well as examples of the White-Box-Cartoonization algorithm being applied to gaming and other footage. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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World’s First Floating City to Save Maldives From Rising Sea Levels | The Maldives Floating City (MFC) will be the world's first truly floating island city. It is designed to help the country mitigate the effects of climate change and rising sea levels. Some studies predict that low-lying islands, such as the Maldives, could become uninhabitable by 2050. The MFC will have homes, stores, hospitals, schools, and more. It will start construction in 2022. Renderings of the city design are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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The Unix Game (Website) | The Unix Game is a programming contest where players solve coding challenges by constructing pipelines of UNIX text processing utilities to complete the solution. There is a leaderboard and users can display badges of honor to showcase progress to friends. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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The race is on to replace the hypodermic needle | Up to 8% of people report avoiding vaccines due to the pain of needles. Constant use of needles can also pose health risks, such as an increased risk of infection. Scientists at Rutgers University have developed a patch full of microscopic needles that can be attached to the skin and deliver a drug without causing any pain. The needles are 3D-printed with polymers and the core structure can be programmed and reshaped. They can be attached for long periods of time, which means they can be used to track antibodies or changes in the DNA. The researchers were able to show that the microneedles could be used to deliver a drug over the course of a full, 24-hour day. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Electronic Tattoos Add Power to Wearable Computing | Researchers have created a way to make flexible metal tattoo-like circuits that can be applied to human skin after adding a bit of water (just like those tattoos that little kids get). The connectivity is high enough to support digital circuit functionality. This seems like a pretty big breakthrough in wearable electronics, there's a 2 minute Youtube video in the article demonstrating these circuits in action. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Microsoft launches business school focused on AI strategy, culture and responsibility | There is a need for business leaders to understand AI and how it can be used, as more companies start to integrate the technology into their practices. Microsoft has launched the Microsoft AI Business School, which is a free master class series to show business leaders how to lead with confidence in the age of AI. The course is non-technical and focuses on strategy, culture, and responsibility. It uses case studies of companies which have completed the transition to using AI technology to demonstrate how to successfully implement AI in their business. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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wpMail (Newsletter) | This is a weekly roundup of WordPress news, tutorials, plugins, podcasts/videos, and more. Really awesome, if you're interested in the WordPress ecosystem definitely check this out they've been consistently churning out a high quality newsletter for over 7 years now. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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How to train a machine to see 3-D in the dark | Researchers at the Australian National University have developed a method to create perfect holograms in near darkness. Optical holograms are used in ID cards to prevent forgery, in real-time imaging of living cells, and many other applications. The new method allows holograms to perform the same tasks in low light. Forming optical holograms using extremely low light usually produces grainy results. The technique uses machine learning to restore the missing information from the holograms. This method could make imaging cells easier as many cells are sensitive to light and are easily damaged. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Tesla will unveil its Cybertruck pickup on Nov. 21 in LA, Elon Musk says | Elon Musk has announced that Tesla's Cybertruck will be unveiled on November 21 in Los Angeles, the same location and month as in the opening credits of the movie 'Blade Runner'. The truck includes features such as a power outlet that will allow the use of heavy-duty 240V high power tools in the field all day without the use of a generator. Tesla currently sells three vehicles: the Model S, Model 3, and Model X. It is planning to release the Model Y by the end of 2020. A Tesla Roadster and a Semi truck have been planned for release after the Model Y. Tesla delivered a profit in Q3. It is ahead of schedule for its new factory in Shanghai and its Model Y crossover. Tesla will start manufacturing cars at its European Gigafactory in 2021. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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pyp (GitHub Repo) | pyp allows users to run Python code in the shell. It will automatically import any modules used. pyp can be used to analyze and process data, including dicts and iterables. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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What can ants, bees, and other social insects teach us about aging? (11 minute read) | Despite being almost genetically identical, individuals from colonies of social insects can have totally different life spans depending on their jobs. They can change roles, resulting in a change in their youthful traits. These insects could help scientists unravel the secrets of aging. Aging is a progressive loss of function and performance with time. It is likely an outcome of natural selection. Genes that affect the individual after reproducing are not selected against and accumulate. | 4Miscellaneous
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The Ultimate Guide to Onboarding New Developers: Industry Best Practices and How to Plan the First 90 Days (20 minute read) | This guide discusses how to onboard new hires effectively. A well-planned onboarding process can greatly increase long-term retention and increase new-hire productivity. Most organizations don't onboard well despite its importance. Onboarding programs should cover basic administrative tasks, have activities to help new hires assimilate to their teams and work environments, and help the new hire become productive and contribute to the team. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Researchers Achieve ‘Absurdly Fast’ Algorithm for Network Flow (10 minute read) | A team of scientists has developed a dramatically faster algorithm for maximum flow, a problem that asks how much material can flow through a network if the links in the network have capacity limits. The problem has been studied since the 1950s and it has many applications, such as internet dataflow, airline scheduling, and matching job applicants to open positions. The new algorithm's run time is roughly proportional to the amount of time it takes to write down the details of the network. More information about the history of maximum flow research and the new algorithm is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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hck (GitHub Repo) | hck is a cut clone that can use a regex delimiter instead of a fixed string. It makes common things, such as reordering output fields or splitting records on a weird delimiter, easy. hck is fast, and benchmarking results are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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TikTok is opening up its algorithm and challenging competitors to do the same | TikTok has announced that it will open up access to its algorithms and allow experts to observe its moderation policies in real-time. It is challenging its rivals to do the same, saying that all companies should disclose their algorithms, moderation policies, and data flows to regulators. Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon are currently under scrutiny by Congress for antitrust behavior. The US Government has threatened to ban TikTok due to its data practices and the company has also been accused of censoring content to please the Chinese government. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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After 7 years, a spent Falcon 9 rocket stage is on course to hit the Moon | In 2015, SpaceX launched NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory on a Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket's second stage didn't have enough fuel to return to Earth's atmosphere and it lacked the energy to escape the gravity of the Earth-Moon system, so it has been tumbling around in space for the last seven years. It is now on course to hit the far side of the Moon in early March. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and India's Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, which are both currently orbiting the Moon, will be able to observe the impact crater. It will be the first time a piece of space hardware unintentionally strikes the Moon. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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China's Xi Jinping personally halted Ant's record-breaking $37 billion IPO after boss Jack Ma snubbed government leaders, report says | President Xi Jinping halted Ant Group's initial public offering after Jack Ma criticized government leaders. The listing was expected to be the largest in history, but new lending rules led to the offering being suspended. Big private businesses that rack up wealth and power in the country are seen as a challenge to authority. Ma had criticized global banking rules and had wanted to use innovation to help solve China's financial problems. Xi and other government officials were enraged by Ma's comments and suspended the IPO on November 3. Ant Group had already secured over $3 trillion in orders from investors at the time. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Where Everyone’s an Influencer | Instabeach is an exclusive, invite-only annual party hosted by Instagram for the top 500 creators along with plus-ones, talent representatives, managers, and press. The goal is to help influencers meet each other and form friendships. In the last few years, it has transformed into a 'who's who' of young Hollywood, showing that the photo-sharing platform has become a place where young stars can go to make a name for themselves. There is no longer any distinction between being an influencer and an entertainer. Influencers are using their social-media attention to land roles in the entertainment industry and their follower count has become a method of currency. Some actors have experienced auditions where their talent was less important than the number of followers on their Instagram account. | 4Miscellaneous
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Portrait by AI program sells for $432,000 | A portrait called Portrait of Edmond Belamy painted by an AI created by Paris-based art collective Obvious has been sold for $432,000. It's the first AI generated picture sold by a major auction house, it was sold by Christie's in New York, who had estimated that it would sell for just $7,000-$10,000. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Google Search Is Dying | Google search results are dying as most of the web has become too inauthentic to trust. Most people now use Google to search through Reddit posts for answers. Serving ads creates misaligned incentives for search engines, SEO has resulted in poor quality sites surfacing to the top of search results, and AI now tries to figure out what the user wants rather than through only search terms. Reddit results are more authentic as people discuss what they think without the commercial aspect other websites have. | 4Miscellaneous
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Google Maps now lets you create Street View photos with just a phone | A new update in Google Maps allows any Android user with an ARCore-compatible device to create Street View photos. Google is restricting submissions to a few geographical areas at launch, with more regions to support this feature soon. User-contributed content will appear in the Street View layer on Google Maps as dotted blue lines. Google's own Street View trekkers and cars have collected more than 170 billion images from 10 million miles around the planet so far. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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U.S. Justice Department will not appeal AT&T, Time Warner merger after court loss | AT&T and Time Warner will no longer need to defend its merger against the US Justice Department after its victory in court on Tuesday. The court ruling denied the Justice Department’s claim that the merger would result in higher consumer prices. Previously, Trump had opposed the merger as it benefitted Time Warner’s CNN unit, which he claimed broadcasted ‘fake news’. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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SpaceX is almost ready to start turning Starship’s launch tower into ‘Mechazilla’ | SpaceX plans to use a giant tower with arms to catch its rockets. Mechazilla will be around 145m tall and will be outfitted with at least three arms. Construction started a few weeks ago, and the tower is almost complete. Pictures of the tower are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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On Leaving Facebook (10 minute read) | This article talks about the experience of working for and leaving Facebook. Working on a new project at Facebook can feel like working in a small startup, but in a large company. Facebook makes it easy to switch between teams, and working there can be very comfortable. It aims to pay the top 5% in the market, which means that leaving will almost always mean a significant pay cut. All the benefits and compensation make it difficult to leave, but eventually many people get burnt out and start leaving anyway. | 4Miscellaneous
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Spotify’s pitch to podcasters: valuable listener data | Podcasters will be able to view listener data with the new Spotify for Podcasters dashboard which is coming out of beta today. The dashboard will display listeners' music taste, age, gender, location, and how long they listened to a particular episode. It could potentially be used as a place to handle ad insertion if Spotify wanted to become an ad network. Spotify's other podcast-creation technologies, Anchor and SoundTrap, are kept separate from the dashboard. Around 100,000 podcasts have signed up for Spotify's platform since its beta rollout last October, and Spotify has more than 450,000 shows as part of its catalog. | 4Miscellaneous
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Apple reportedly wants to make its own wireless chips for the iPhone | Apple is opening an office in southern California and hiring engineers to work on wireless radios, radio-frequency integrated circuits, and a wireless SoC. The area is home to Broadcom and Skyworks' engineering offices. It appears Apple is attempting to recruit talent from these companies so it can develop its own hardware and lessen its reliance on them. Apple has long-term supply and licensing agreements with Qualcomm and Broadcom that extend until at least 2023, so it will be some time before Apple will have its own chips in its iPhones. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Tesla boss Elon Musk wins defamation trial over his 'pedo guy' tweet | A federal court jury has dismissed the $190 million claim brought against Elon Musk by a British cave explorer, Vernon Unsworth. Musk had called Unsworth a 'pedo guy' during a disagreement on Twitter. Unsworth, 64, claimed that Musk's statement would overshadow his relationships and job prospects for years to come. Musk's lawyers argued that the comments were off-hand insults in the middle of an argument that no one would take seriously. Unsworth failed to demonstrate that any harm came from the Twitter comments. In 2018, Musk's erratic Twitter behavior ended up with him paying a $20 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For most of 2019, his public statements have largely focused on Tesla's new Models and improved profitability, as well as SpaceX's technical progress. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Christmas Is Win for Meta: Oculus VR App Is Most Downloaded on Apple Store | Meta's Oculus virtual reality app was the most downloaded application on Apple’s App Store charts over Christmas. While Meta doesn't provide official data on how many Oculus VR headsets it has sold, the app charts provide an insight into the popularity of the device. Meta has declared an investment of at least $10 billion to create a metaverse, but VR technology is still in a very early stage of adoption. The increased sales will help Meta gain data and insight into what their audience wants with a VR experience. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Google Home Hub To Be Launched On October 9; A Smart Speaker with 7-inch Display | Pictures of the Google Home Hub have leaked, it will feature a 7-inch touch screen, a large full-range speaker unit, and a mute toggle. It will be integrated with Google Home, allow voice access to Google Photos, and will have partnerships with over 400 brands to build integrations. The product will be announced on October 9th. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Watch a real-life invisibility cloak designed for military use | A new Quantum Stealth material developed by Canada's Hyperstealth Biotechnology is able to make anything behind it seem invisible. Hyperstealth Biotechnology manufactures camouflage uniforms for militaries across the globe. The material is paper-thin, doesn't require a power source, and is inexpensive. It bends light around the target, making it seem to disappear. This includes ultraviolet, infrared, or shortwave infrared light. Hyperstealth has released more than 100-minutes of footage describing and demonstrating the material. The video shows the material hiding a scaled-down tank and a small jet. A one-minute video is available in the article demonstrating the use of the material. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Hackers Are Selling a Critical Zoom Zero-Day Exploit for $500,000 | Two critical vulnerabilities for Zoom's software that allows hackers to spy on users' calls are on the market for $500,000. The zero-day exploits are present in Zoom's Windows and macOS clients. Remote Code Execution bugs are sought after as they allow hackers to break in without having to rely on the target falling for a phishing attack. RCE exploits generally also allow hackers to access the target's whole machine. The Windows bug is an RCE exploit, while the macOS bug isn't, which means that the MacOS bug is less dangerous and harder to use in a real hack. Government bodies have issued warnings not to use Zoom due to privacy issues. Give feedback by replying here or messaging me on Twitter @tldrdan! If you don't want to receive future editions of TLDR, please click here. | 4Miscellaneous
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Linux Mint introduces its own take on the Chromium web browser | Linux Mint now has its own version of the Chromium web browser. Maintaining Chromium was a significant time investment for the Ubuntu Desktop Team, so they switched to using Snap to distribute Chromium. This resulted in security issues that Mint developers felt they needed to fix. In June, Mint cut Snap and the Snap-based Chromium from their distro. Up-to-date builds of Chromium are finally now available for Mint users. There was a delay as Mint needed to automate the process of detecting, packaging, and compiling new versions of the browser. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Chinese submarine reaches the deepest place on Earth | Fendouzhe, a Chinese submersible more than a decade in the making, reached a depth of 35,791 feet (10,909 meters) at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The submersible completed 13 dives in the area, with eight of those dives exceeding 32,808 feet (10,000 meters). It collected sediment, rock, and biological samples from the bottom of the trench while the crew overcame difficulties such as typhoons, rains, and high temperatures. The depth world record is still held by a private equity investor who dived to 35,873 feet (10,934 meters) in June. A 44-second video summary of the event showing footage of the vessel is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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How playing video games could get you a better job | There is a growing acceptance that gaming skills are transferable, with even the military focusing on hiring gamers due to their ability to assimilate information, react swiftly, and co-ordinate actions while remaining calm under pressure. Studies have shown that gaming can make students more successful. A startup called Game Academy wants to transform casual gamers into conscious ones in order to develop skills by applying critical thinking. While some employers will still need the science before considering game achievements as a hiring factor, there are many examples of people who attribute their success to skills they gained from gaming. | 4Miscellaneous
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