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Amazon Pulls Out of Planned New York City Headquarters . Amazon has canceled its plans to build a new headquarters in New York City after heavy resistance by lawmakers, progressive activists, and union leaders. Groups opposing the deal contended that the government should not provide the tech giant with the up to $3 billion dollars in incentives that it had promised. Amazon decided that dealing with the heavy resistance would not be beneficial to the company in the long term, however, it has decided that it will still continue growth in its existing branches in the city regardless of government subsidies.
snakeware (GitHub Repo). snakeware is a Linux distro that boots the user directly into a Python interpreter. Python makes it easier for even beginners to contribute apps or other code to the distro. A link to a 3-minute video demo is available. The goal of the project is to eventually have a usable set of userspace apps and utilities written entirely in Python.
Iran says 'smart satellite-controlled machine gun' killed top nuclear scientist . According to Iranian authorities, last month's killing of Iran's top nuclear scientist was carried out remotely by Israel with artificial intelligence and a machine gun equipped with a satellite-controlled smart system. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the killing. The killing has exposed security gaps and the Islamic Republic may be vulnerable to further attacks. 13 shots were fired at the scientist. However, his wife was uninjured, despite sitting only 25 centimeters away. Five Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed inside Iran in targeted attacks since 2010.
Decellularized Spinach Serves as an Edible Platform for Growing Artificial Meat . The veiny skeleton of a spinach leaf can support the growth of artificial meat. Spinach provides a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly scaffold that may accelerate the development of cultured meat. Previous studies have demonstrated that spinach leaf scaffolds can be used for cultivating human heart tissue. Researchers will now focus on growing more cells on the leaves to create thicker steaks and to investigate other animal and plant cell alternatives.
Scaling our Spreadsheet Engine from Thousands to Billions of Cells (10 minute read). Causal is a spreadsheet with a complex calculation engine that executes formulas on an in-memory, multidimensional database. This article discusses how Causal plans to scale from millions to billions of cells. Causal still doesn't smoothly support one billion cells yet, but its team is confident in its ability to iterate to its goal.
'Extinct' large blue butterfly successfully reintroduced to UK . Conservationists have successfully reintroduced previously extinct large blue butterflies to Rodborough, an area in southwest England. Around 1,100 larvae were introduced to the area last year and around 750 large blue butterflies were observed. The butterflies were declared extinct in Britain in 1979 and hadn't been seen in Rodborough for 150 years. It took five years to prepare for the reintroduction of the butterflies, with experts in the area restricting cattle grazing and encouraging the growth of certain plants to create an optimum environment. Butterflies are sensitive to environmental changes and the effort to reintroduce them will result in habitat improvements for other plants and animals.
Tesla deploys new Megapacks at ‘WindCharger’ project . Tesla's new Megapacks are an energy storage product for electric utility projects. Each Megapack has up to 3MWh of storage capacity and a 1.5MW inverter. They take up almost half the space and have a faster installation time compared to competing products. Canadian electric company TransAlta will be installing Megapacks in its Summerview Wind Farm. The Windcharger project will use nine Megapacks to help TransAlta's wind farm more efficiently use its power.
Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job? (Hacker News Thread). This is a thread containing advice, warnings, and success stories about building profitable side projects/startups while working a full time job. Lots of interesting niche projects in there for inspiration.
A self-erasing chip for security and anti-counterfeit tech . By stretching a thin film of azobenzenes, a kind of molecule that shrinks in reaction to UV light, over a semiconductor, scientists have created a type of self-erasing chip that can store information until it is exposed to heat and light. The messages stored on the chip will self-destruct in seven days or it can be erased instantly with a flash of blue light. Once erased, the chip can record new information again. The semiconductor is made from a 'beyond graphene' material. Unlike graphene, it can emit light in particular frequencies.
Would you eat slaughter-free meat? . Silicon Valley startup Just has created chicken nuggets from lab grown meat using cells from a chicken feather. The original chicken is actually still alive, and lives at a farm close to the lab. The company places the chicken cells in a bioreactor that encourages the proteins to multiply. It takes about two days to produce a nugget. CEO Josh Tetrick says that Just's meat will be in select restaurants by the end of the year.
JPMorgan Chase tests neuroscience-based video games to recruit interns . JPMorgan Chase & Co is seeking to increase the diversity of its workforce by broadening its candidate pool, and it will use neuroscience-based video games to help achieve this goal. The bank will use technology developed by Pymetrics, a start-up that develops games that help companies assess an applicant’s social, cognitive, and behavioral features, such as attention, memory, and altruism. While employment history is usually a good indicator of performance, more recent college graduates usually do not have the work experience required, and using this technology may be a better way to assess their fitness during the recruitment phase. JPMorgan has been testing the games with existing employees for the last few months and will use the technology to assess applicants for their 2020 internships in the US.
Tesla starts deploying Starlink satellite internet systems at Supercharger stations . Tesla has started to deploy Starlink antennas at its Supercharger stations. The company has focused on creating a great complimentary charging experience as opposed to making its charging stations profit centers. Tesla owners can spend more than 30 minutes at charging stations, so Wi-Fi could be valuable for those without Tesla's premium connectivity. Tesla currently has over 3,100 stations. It plans to triple the size of its network within the next two years and open to non-Tesla vehicles.
Scientists have discovered a shape that blocks all sound–even your co-workers . A team at Boston University have created an ‘acoustic meta-material’ that is able to catch certain frequencies from the air and reflect it back to its source, effectively creating a sound barrier. The 3D-printed ring was mathematically designed and is completely open, which means that air and light can pass through it, but not sound. This design can be applied to HVAC systems, drones, MRI machines, and used to create quiet and visible office spaces. There is no limit to the possibilities for this material, but each application will need a tailored design. A 30 second video is available demonstrating the effectiveness of the material.
PHP Insights (GitHub Repo). PHP Insights was designed for developers to assess the quality of their PHP projects directly in terminal. Developers can analyze their coding quality and style, and there are tools to help make code reliable, simple, and clean. Users can create their own custom Insights to contribute to the project.
Fortran.io (GitHub Repo). Fortran.io is an MVC web stack written in Fortran 90. It can act as a controller, connect with SQLite databases, and serve HTML templates. Examples are available.
esbuild (GitHub Repo). esbuild is a JavaScript bundler and minifier. It is at least 100x faster than other JavaScript bundlers tested, with benchmarks available in the repository.
Liz Parrish Is Patient Zero in Her Own Anti-Aging Experiment (11 minute read). Liz Parrish, CEO of BioViva, is patient zero for two anti-aging therapies that the company is researching. BioViva is a biotechnology company that focuses on developing therapies to intervene with human aging. One of the treatments involves injections of a myostatin inhibitor which is expected to prevent age-associated muscle loss. The other therapy is a telomerase gene therapy expected to lengthen telomeres. Early results show that the length of the telomeres of T-lymphocytes in blood samples taken from Parrish had grown in length in the six months since the therapies started. The article contains an interview with Parrish about the therapies and her feelings about being the first test subject.
El Salvador is giving away free Bitcoin to its citizens . El Salvador will give $30 worth of Bitcoin to each adult citizen that downloads and registers on its new cryptocurrency app. President Nayib Bukele has introduced legislation that will make Bitcoin legal tender on September 7. The law is intended to generate employment and investments in the country. The app will be compatible with both US dollars and Bitcoin. Users can choose what currency they want to use on the app, but the gift will be in Bitcoin to promote its use. Bitcoin will not replace the dollar as the only legal tender in El Salvador.
Scientists Capture Living Giant Squid . A ten foot giant squid washed ashore in western Japan and was taken into captivity. It is likely the first time a live specimen has been captured. The squid was transported to an aquarium in the city of Sakai. Not much is known about the species, as they are incredibly rare. A video of the giant squid in shallow waters is available in the article.
How is it like to be a dev in Iran . In Iran, citizens have to deal with censorship and sanctions when accessing information on the internet. Many websites are blocked in order to protect the culture and its morals, but this includes websites such as YouTube, GitHub, and Twitter. Sanctions against Iran means that developers don't have access to Free Open Source Software, Visa/MasterCard services, and other important tools. Some services, such as Slack, manually deleted all Iranian users, some of which haven't worked in Iran for years. Developers are running into many blocks in their work, and they are losing jobs because of it. Many developers are now using HTTP proxies, DNS proxies, VPNs, and TOR to bypass blocks, with some success. However, this takes extra time and costs more, and some services such as Cloudflare block TOR traffic.
Twilio to Acquire SendGrid, the Leading Email API Platform . Twilio (an API to send SMS messages) is acquiring SendGrid (an API to send emails) in an all-stock deal worth $2 billion. The deal will close in the first half of 2019. Twilio's CEO says, "Increasingly, our customers are asking us to solve all of their strategic communications challenges - regardless of channel. Email is a vital communications channel for companies around the world, and so it was important to us to include this capability in our platform."
hacker-laws (GitHub Repo). This repository contains a collection of laws that people discuss when talking about development. It contains an overview of each law and provides examples and reference materials for further learning. Laws discussed include the Dunning-Kruger Effect, the Premature Optimization Effect, Cunningham's Law, and much more.
How Verizon connects the world with full observability from Pixie and New Relic (Sponsor). How Verizon connects the world with full observability from Pixie and New Relic . Verizon and New Relic team up to deliver observability at the edge, unlocking powerful performance insights and unprecedented network intelligence transforming how developers innovate. Learn how New Relic helps Verizon get visibility into their 5G Edge Network hosted on AWS.
A Meta prototype lets you build virtual worlds by describing them . Mark Zuckerberg recently showed off a prototype of an artificial intelligence system that lets people build parts of virtual worlds by verbally describing them. Builder Bot can create 3D scenes with sound effects and background audio. It is unknown if it generates the designs or if it uses a library of human-created models. Many unique moderation problems will come with the tech, so it probably won't be available any time soon. A video from Meta with Zuckerberg demonstrating the technology is available in the article.
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.
Blunt (GitHub Repo). Blunt is a CSS framework that provides helper classes to make positioning and responsive design easier. It focuses on allowing the developer to write all the positioning code in the HTML and only write CSS for the styling of elements. Examples are available on the repository.
Amazon preparing a wearable that ‘reads human emotions,’ says report . According to internal Amazon documents, Amazon is preparing to release a wrist-worn device that is supposed to be able to read human emotions. The voice-activated wristband will determine the state of a person’s emotions through the sound of their voice. While it is theoretically possible to detect emotions through biomarkers, building a generally reliable device is still a hugely ambitious undertaking. The wristband adds onto the list of Alexa-capable devices that Amazon has been rolling out.
Google Open Source (Website). This website contains a list of open-source projects by Google. Each repository contains most of the code for Google's open-source projects, with some omissions. There is a search function to search for code and files within the repositories.
Reverse Engineering (GitHub Repo). This repository contains over 3000 open source tools and around 600 blog posts on reverse engineering. There are Chinese and English versions of the collection.
Researchers translate a bird's brain activity into song . Researchers from the University of California San Diego were able to reproduce a songbird's vocalizations by only reading its brain activity. A songbird's vocalizations is similar to human speech in various ways. They are both complex and learned behaviors. The researchers used machine learning algorithms to analyze neural recordings from the birds. This study could lead to the development of a vocal prosthesis for individuals who have lost the ability to speak.
WhatsApp to launch ‘Communities’ . Meta has announced plans for a significant update to WhatsApp that will allow users to participate in discussion groups called Communities. Communities will support file-sharing, 32-person group calls, emoji reactions, admin tools, moderation controls, and more. The feature will allow groups to create networks for their members to interact. Communities can create sub-groups for specific discussions. Communities will not be discoverable, so users will have to be invited to join them. Many more details about the new feature are available in the article.
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Blacklisted in China—Misbehaving Scientists Poised for "Social" Punishment . Following reports of a rogue Chinese scientist birthing CRISPR-edited babies last month, China is rolling out harsh social penalties for scientific misconduct. Misbehaving scientists may be barred from getting a loan or running a company, their faces may be projected onto billboards for public shaming, and they may no longer be allowed on planes or high-speed rails. One scientist says "I have never seen such a comprehensive list of penalties for research misconduct elsewhere in the world." These measures are an extension of China's "social credit" system which will roll out nationwide in 2020.
Deep Graph Library (GitHub Repo). Deep Graph Library is a Python package that makes implementing graph neural networks easy while maintaining high computation efficiency. It improves model accuracy and training speed. Tutorials on basic use and realistic examples are provided.
Juul Shipped At Least A Million Contaminated Pods, New Lawsuit Says . A former Juul executive claims that the startup shipped out one million contaminated e-cigarette pods earlier this year without telling customers or issuing a recall. The executive has filed a lawsuit against Juul, claiming that he was retaliated against for raising concerns about the contaminated shipment. He had other concerns about the actions of the company, including the company shipping out pods that were almost a year old. Juul claims that the executive was terminated due to a lack leadership qualities. The company says that that the allegations about the safety and quality of its products are meritless. A nationwide lung injury outbreak now stands at 1,604 cases and 34 deaths. These illnesses are likely linked to vaping black-market THC. However, the connection to nicotine vaping products, such as those produced by Juul, has not been fully ruled out.
James Webb telescope: how it could uncover some of the universe’s best-kept secrets . The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is set to launch on December 25, if everything goes according to plan. It took more than a decade and $10 billion to build the telescope, which is now fueled and ready at Europe's spaceport in French Guiana. The JWST will be able to see much more than the Hubble Space Telescope, which has now operated for more than 30 years. Astronomers from around the world will be able to apply to use the JWST to support their research. One of the telescope's main tasks will be to study the atmospheres of exoplanets to see if they are suitable for life.
What’s the best lossless image format? Comparing PNG, WebP, AVIF, and JPEG XL . Lossless compression makes files smaller and allows the files to be decompressed back to the same original file. It works best for things like logos, screenshots, charts, and graphics. This article compares different lossless compression techniques on speed, file size, and quality. Most modern lossless image formats provide significant gains in efficiency compared to even the most optimized PNG.
Sanic Omnitool (GitHub Repo). Sanic is a complete tool for developing, building, and deploying Docker/Kubernetes projects. It focuses on developer experience and aims to make the process as streamlined and as fast as possible. Sanic supports concurrent builds, live-mounting, and templating.
Aino (GitHub Repo). Aino is an experimental HTTP framework for writing HTTP applications in Elixir. It is built on top of elli, a web server designed for building high-throughput, low-latency HTTP APIs.
Reliably Send an HTTP Request as a User Leaves a Page . There's no guarantee that an in-process HTTP request will be successful when a page is terminated in the browser. Sending data on page termination can be very unreliable, which can be an issue when creating logs for data-sensitive business decisions. This article looks at why this happens and ways to make in-process HTTP requests more reliable.
Scientists Just Found a Way For Machines to See Through Clouds And Fog . Scientists have developed a new system for seeing through clouds. Confocal diffuse tomography uses an algorithm that measures the movement of individual photons and then reconstructs obscured objects even if the light has been scattered and bounced by a barrier in the way. A gif is available in the article showing the system reading a symbol through a 1-inch layer of foam. This type of system would be especially useful for applications such as self-driving cars in heavy rain or capturing images of planets through cloud haze. At the moment, the technology is still slow, so there is a lot of development required before it becomes useful.
Twitter to launch a revamped verification system with publicly documented guidelines . Twitter has confirmed that it is developing a new in-app verification system. There has been confusion over Twitter's verification criteria in the past, resulting in the company announcing that it would reconsider its process. Twitter announced in 2018 that it was prioritizing election integrity over the overhaul of the verification system. It slowed the pace of verifications, focusing on verifying political candidates, and more recently, authoritative health experts. Twitter's new verification system will have clear guidelines for what is required for a user to be verified. It is unknown when the new system will be implemented.
Maybe you should do less 'work' . Some developers finish their assigned workloads faster than expected and then they ask for more similar work to do. Part of the reason for this is to try to reach a standard that they have already met. Constantly overworking can lead to burnout. Finding other activities to do along with work that can benefit both you and your employer, such as skill development, will help prevent burnout while improving your value as an employee.
Disaster ‘prepping’ was once an American pastime. Today, it’s mainstream again . The disaster-prepping industry has boomed since the start of the pandemic. Many people found themselves woefully unprepared in March. As the government has stepped in to help its citizens throughout the decades, individuals have become more unprepared for the unexpected. However, as trust in the government has lessened in recent years, more people have taken matters into their own hands by prepping. This has resulted in an industry that provides prepping services ranging from kits to armored bunkers. The trend is likely to continue as prepping has now overcome its stigma and become mainstream.
Some praise, some doubts as Facebook rolls out a prayer tool . Facebook has rolled out a new prayer request feature for groups. Users can post prayer requests and other members of the group can press a button to indicate that they have prayed for the person. The feature has been in testing since December in the US as part of an effort to support faith communities. Religious leaders have mostly responded positively to the feature, but there are concerns with privacy and how Facebook will use the data. Facebook says that advertisers aren't able to use prayer posts to target ads.
Google-backed Glance to launch in US within two months . Glance is planning to launch its lock screen platform in the US within two months. It is currently engaging with wireless carriers for partnerships. Glance's platform serves media content, news, and games on Android lock screens. It is installed on about 400 million smartphones in Asian markets. Glance is building a premium offering for the US. It plans to expand globally in the coming years.
IBM and Samsung say their new chip design could lead to week-long battery life on phones . IBM and Samsung have discovered a way to stack transistors vertically on a chip, allowing for electric currents to flow up and down the stack of transistors instead of side-to-side as with current chips. As chip designers run out of ways to add more chips in one place, it only makes sense to start stacking them upwards. The new Vertical Transport Field Effect Transistors design could result in cell phones with batteries that could go for over a week without being charged. It could also mean less energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining and more powerful IoT devices.
'Apple Glass' details leaked, will cost $499 and work with prescriptions . A trusted source has leaked details on Apple's long-rumored augmented reality smart glasses. The Apple Glass is expected to retail for $499, with extra costs for prescription lenses. It will feature a user interface called Starboard that can display information on both lenses and allow users to control the device with gestures. Apple will possibly use propriety QR codes, though it isn't clear if these will be the QR codes spotted in the internal build of iOS 14. The smart glasses will probably incorporate augmented reality, taking advantage of the ARKit framework as well as 3D sensors similar to the 2020 iPad Pro's LiDAR system. It will probably rely on a nearby device for processing, rendering, and data connections.
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Eyes wide shut: How newborn mammals dream the world they’re entering . Scientists from Yale have found signs that mammals dream about the world before they are even born. There are waves of activity emanating from the neonatal retina in mice before their eyes ever open. The activity disappears soon after birth and is replaced by a more mature network of neural transmissions. The retinal waves flow in a pattern that mimics the activity that would occur if the animal was moving through the environment. Human babies can detect objects and identify motion soon after birth, suggesting that our visual systems are also primed before birth.
eKill (Open Source Chrome Extension). This is an open source Chrome extension that will let you easily get rid of annoying elements on any web page (things like pop ups, those "this site uses cookies" notices, and things like that). Pretty nifty.
5 Best Practices for Securing SSH (Sponsor). In this article, Teleport explores five SSH best practices you should observe to boost the security of your infrastructure. Learn more.
Facebook’s dating app will let you list your secret crushes . Facebook’s new dating app, which is currently only in a testing phase in a few select countries, has a new feature which will let users list up to nine ‘secret crushes’ from their friends list. If one of their friends also lists them as a secret crush, Facebook will send a notification to both users and match them. Facebook Dating usually avoids listing friends as potential matches. While there seems to be no method of monetization during its testing phase, there is big money in the dating app marketplace. Analysts predict that the dating app industry could be worth $12 billion by 2020. The Match Group, who owns Tinder, OkCupid, Match.com, and many other dating sites, brought in $1.7 billion last year from memberships, advertising, and premium features.
pipupgrade (GitHub Repo). pipupgrade upgrades all pip packages and automates Python Dependency Management. It can detect packages within multiple Python environments and avoid updates that break changes. pipupgrade works with Python 2.7+ and Python 3.4+ with zero dependencies.
TikTok traders are pumping joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin . Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency based on an old internet meme. Day traders on TikTok recently started encouraging people to buy the cryptocurrency, causing it to quickly rise in value. The official Dogecoin Twitter account warned people to be careful about their investment choices and to be mindful of people's intentions when telling them to invest in a particular asset. Dogecoin has no cap on its supply, unlike Bitcoin, a feature that practically guarantees inflation.
Facebook is training an AI assistant inside ‘Minecraft’ . Facebook has started training an AI inside Minecraft in an attempt to create a generalist AI. Many different AIs exist for games, but they struggle when they are taken out of their normal trained environment. It is hoped that training the AI in an environment where players can create almost anything with a small set of tools can result in an AI assistant that is capable of helping people with their day-to-day tasks. Facebook has previously experimented with M, an AI-powered personal assistant within its Messenger app, but the project failed as not enough people were using it for it to be trained properly.
Apple to release three ‘iPhone 11’ models this fall, including A13 chip, new Taptic Engine, more . Apple will release three new iPhone 11 models this fall, all featuring the Apple A13 chip. The smartphones will have a Lightning port despite the iPad Pro moving to USB-C last year. All three models will have the same screen resolution as last year's models, but the replacements for the XS and XS Max will have a new 3x OLED Retina display. A new type of Taptic Engine will be introduced, but it is unknown what new features the engine will enable. The devices will have three cameras on the back contained within a square, including a camera capable of wide-angle images.
Apple closing down internal Slack channels where employees debate remote work . Many of Apple's employees have been fighting against the company's plans to require employees to work at least three days a week in the office. Employees were originally told to return to the office by early September, but this was delayed due to the increasing amount of coronavirus cases around the world. Apple has recently started banning internal Slack channels that aren't directly related to work to stop employees from discussing remote work options. The company has always had a policy to remove channels that aren't directly related to projects or part of official employee groups, but the policy wasn't always enforced.
Twitter to ban all political advertising, raising pressure on Facebook . Twitter will ban all political advertising on its platform starting from November 22. The ban is global and will apply to all electioneering ads as well as ads related to political issues. It is an attempt to stop people from using social media to spread misleading information. Facebook has recently decided to exempt ads purchased by politicians from third-party fact-checking. Political ads will also be exempt from a policy that bans false statements in paid advertisements. While Facebook claims to be committed to reducing misinformation, these exemptions allow politicians and political candidates to lie in paid campaign ads. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey calls for more political ad regulation as current laws are not enough.
Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook's Leaders Fought Through Crisis (25 minute read). TLDR Facebook knew more about Russian election interference than they let on, they're incredibly politically connected, and basically everything they've done in the past 2 years just leaked. Ok, so this was a huge New York Times investigation. While Facebook publically scoffed at Russian interference claims after the November 2016 election, Facebook's security team knew in Spring 2016 that Russian hackers were trying to get into Facebook accounts affiliated with both presidential campaigns, and later found more Russian Facebook accounts messaging journalists to share information about Hillary Clinton's stolen emails during the campaign. They hired a right-wing PR firm who helped them depict George Soros as being behind a broad anti-Facebook movement, and pushed out dozens of stories praising Facebook and criticizing Google and Apple on conservative news sites. After Tim Cook said that his company didn't traffic in personal data, Zuckerberg ordered his management team to stop using iPhones. Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York, whose daughter works at Facebook, has been a huge supporter. When Senators Mark Warner and Amy Klobuchar (both Democrats) introduced legislation to force Facebook and other tech giants to disclose who bought political ads on their sites, Schumer confronted Warner saying he shouldn't lose sight of the need for Faacebook to tackle problems with right-wing disinformation. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg called Klobuchar, who is featured on the site for her women's empowerment initiative Lean In. Klobuchar's chief of staff had previously worked at Sandberg's charity. Facebook hired Warner's former chief of staff to lobby him.
Watch A Waymo AV Get Freaked Out By Traffic Cones, Block Traffic, And Evade Support Vehicles . YouTuber JJRicks Studios documents his rides in Waymo's robotaxi fleet in Phoenix. In a recent video, a vehicle got confused when it detected traffic cones and was unable to plot a route around them, blocking traffic. The vehicle called Waymo's roadside assistance, but a road maintenance worker removed the cone before the assistance driver could get to the scene, freeing the vehicle, which got stuck again at another set of traffic cones soon after. The 35-minute video demonstrates how far self-driving cars have come, and how far they still have to go. It is available in the article.
Microsoft and GitHub Workers Support 996.ICU (GitHub Repo). Workers in China are often illegally forced to work long hours. 996.ICU refers to the 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week work schedule which causes workers to end up in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Microsoft and GitHub workers have released a public statement in this repository regarding their support for the 996.ICU movement, which is already being censored by companies like Tencent and Alibaba. People can support the 996.ICU movement by going to the original repository and ‘starring’ it.
Apple’s HomePod mini reportedly has a secret temperature and humidity sensor . Apple's HomePod mini smart speaker has a secret temperature and humidity sensor in its casing. It isn't currently usable by owners of the device yet, but Apple has previously included hardware in its devices before that were activated after release. New HomePod firmware tends to release in the fall of each year.
How I Got Pwned by My Cloud Costs . Cloud computing can be expensive if not set up correctly. This article follows the story of how a developer received an $8,000 bill after running a service on a cloud unmonitored. It discusses how the developer diagnosed and found the issue as well as mitigation strategies to prevent surprise bills like this from happening. Costs can gradually creep up without developers noticing, so it is important to set up cost alerts and act on them.
Spotify comes for audiobooks . Spotify is aiming at audiobooks as its next target for industry domination. The company is in the process of acquiring audiobook platform Findaway, with the deal currently under review by the Department of Justice's antitrust division. Spotify will apply the freemium model to audiobooks with ad monetization. The model would be a massive change for the industry and will greatly expand the market.
The Animal-AI Olympics is going to treat AI like a lab rat . A competition between different AI models will test their ability to solve new problems that are usually used to test for animal and human intelligence. The testing grounds will be a virtual world created in Unity, which means that participants won't need to create robots for the competition and can just focus on AI development. While it is expected that most entrants will use a reinforcement training method to build their AI systems, the researchers running the competition hope that new methods using a more cognitive approach will be used. A virtual training playground will be released later this month and entrants will be tested in June.
We Broke Into A Bunch Of Android Phones With A 3D-Printed Head . Security researchers have managed to break into four Android phones (2 Samsungs, an LG and a OnePlus) using 3D printed heads made for about £300. They used about 50 cameras, then combined the images into a single 3D model. Then they put it into editing software to iron out any errors. They were unable to break past the iPhone's Face ID security or the Windows Hello facial recognition. There's a picture of the 3D printed head in the article, it looks surprisingly realistic.
Apple removes app used in Hong Kong protests after pressure from China . Apple has removed HKmap.live from its App store, stating that it had consulted with the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau and found that the app was being used to target police and commit crimes. HKmap.live is an app that crowdsources information from users and public sources to mark the locations of police and inform about street closures. It has been widely used by Hong Kong residents during the ongoing pro-democracy protests this year. The developers of HKmap.live said that there was no evidence to support the CSTCB's accusations and that the app never solicited, promoted, or encouraged criminal activity. Apps like Waze, which similarly allow users to track the locations of police checkpoints, remain available on the App Store. The web version of HKmap.live is still accessible on the iPhone.
This is what a solid made of electrons looks like . A Wigner crystal is a honeycomb arrangement of electrons formed by slowing down electrons until they are significantly affected by the repulsion between their negative charges. The pattern is an arrangement that minimizes their total energy. A team of scientists has managed to image a Wigner crystal by adding a layer of graphene on top of the crystal and using a scanning tunneling microscope. The same graphene-based technique will enable STM studies of other interesting physical phenomena. An image of a Wigner crystal is available in the article.
VimCharm: Approximating PyCharm on vim . VimCharm is a vim configuration file that transforms vim into an approximation of PyCharm. It can be used as a command-line replacement for PyCharm on remote machines. VimCharm features autocomplete, PyCharm shortcuts, syntax and linter errors, and more. The article discusses how VimCharm was made. A link to the complete configuration file is provided.
Learnings from 5 years of tech startup code audits . This article contains a list of 16 lessons learned, ordered from most general to most security-specific, from someone who performed upwards of 20 code audits for startups that were around their Series A or B, when they had the cash to take a deeper look at their security. The security issues discovered during the audits ranged from catastrophic to just plain interesting. Some of the audits were performed up to eight years ago, so the lessons include insights on what factors have helped startups do well.
A two-legged delivery robot has gone on sale—and Ford is the first customer . Agility Robotics has made its two-legged robot, Digit, available for sale, and its first customer is Ford. Ford has been testing the robot for vehicle-to-door delivery since May 2019. Digit is able to carry items weighing up to 40 pounds and can navigate semi-autonomously. It requires some guidance to avoid obstacles. The specific price for each unit has not been released to the public, but it is in the low-mid six figures. Agility expects to be making a maximum of 30 bots in 2020.
How My Fears Doomed My First Startup . As a nerdy engineer that went to software development conferences for holidays, David Smith believed that if he could just build a great product, people would buy it. He developed a great program but never sold it because he never let anyone know about it. His fears of communicating with others about his product stopped him from releasing a program that could help others, and he didn't even know if it was a program that other people would want to use.
Tilck (GitHub Repo). Tilck (Tiny Linux Compatible Kernel) is an educational monolithic x86 kernel designed to be the perfect playground for playing in kernel mode while being able to compare how the same usermode bits run on the Linux kernel. It is Linux-compatible at the binary level and can run mainstream Linux programs. Screenshots and more details about how Tilck works are available in the repository.
The Race for the Next-Gen Space Station . The International Space Station is supposed to retire in 2024, though that date will probably be pushed back to 2030. It is slowly leaking air and getting increasingly expensive to maintain. NASA has awarded $415.6 million to Blue Origin, Nanoracks, and Northrop Grumman to develop a new commercial low Earth orbit destination. There will likely be multiple privately-owned space stations by the end of this decade. Illustrations of space station concept designs from several space companies are available in the article.
I relearned typing to save my wrists . After experiencing severe wrist pain that limited their ability to type for extended periods, Gregory Witek switched to using an ergonomic keyboard and Colemak layout. Software developers mostly don't work in dangerous environments, but there are still health concerns with the profession related to being sedentary and constant exposure to screens. This article discusses issues with the ergonomics of most keyboards, how ergonomic keyboards work, the process of switching keyboard styles, and the benefits of the change.
Google designed an envelope you can use to hide your phone from yourself . Google has released three apps that are designed to help you manage your time on your phone. These experimental apps are part of its Digital Wellbeing initiative. Envelope transforms users' phones so that they can only perform simple, specific functions. For example, users can choose to only be able to make and receive calls through a basic keypad interface, or to only be able to take photos or record video. Users can print out specially designed paper cases that help limit the function of their phones. Envelope is open-sourced on GitHub, so developers can alter the app if they want. Envelope is currently only designed for use with Pixel 3A devices. Activity Bubbles and Stopwatch are both apps that change users' home screens so that they can monitor their usage. Activity Bubbles creates bubbles on the phone background, with bigger bubbles indicating more time spent on the phone, and Stopwatch displays a timer for how long a phone has been unlocked.
Hackers Are Finding Footage on Police Body Cams They Bought on eBay . People purchasing decommissioned police body cameras online have discovered unencrypted video data still on the devices. While there was an attempt to remove the data from the devices before selling them, the data was easily recoverable using existing data forensics tools. Used body cameras are commonly for sale online. Some hackers have bought up stocks of used cameras to investigate the footage.
Vite (Website). Vite is a build tool that provides a faster and leaner development experience for modern web projects. It consists of a dev server with rich feature enhancements over native ES modules and a build command that bundles code with Rollup. Vite is highly extensible via its Plugin API and JavaScript API.
Amazon’s Biggest Campus In The World Opens In India . Amazon opened its biggest campus in Hyderabad on Wednesday, despite stringent regulations in India regarding foreign eCommerce sites and competition from companies like Walmart. The new campus covers 9.5 acres and has 1.8 million square feet of office space. It will be able to accommodate more than 15,000 employees. Amazon has budgeted more than $5 billion for its India expansion. Due to competition, it may partner up with local stores. Amazon originally entered India in 2004 but did not start focusing on its retail endeavors until 2013. It offers grocery delivery and video streaming through its Prime subscription, and it plans to add restaurant delivery services.
Windows 10X is now Microsoft’s true answer to Chrome OS . A near-final version of Windows 10X has leaked. The operating system will ship on Chromebook-like devices later this year. It will only ship on new hardware. Windows 10X was originally designed for dual-screen devices. It has a simplified interface, with features comparable to Chrome OS. Screenshots are available in the article. Windows 10X will probably not support desktop apps at launch, but Microsoft is working on a container technology to run traditional apps in a lightweight virtual machine. A redesign of Windows 10 is planned for later this year.
Here's How China Is Hunting Down Coronavirus Critics . When Joshua Left tried to send information about the coronavirus back to his family in China, he didn't expect to start receiving warnings from WeChat administrators and strange messages from contacts on his list. Left was concerned that his family in China was not getting accurate information about the virus within the country. Contacts on his list started asking for specific location details and other information soon after he sent the messages. When he refused to provide any information, the contacts urged him to return to China as soon as possible. It appears that the Chinese government is monitoring chat services and social media and moderating conversations amongst its citizens. People are being imprisoned for making posts on social media. China recently erased online protests after the death of the whistleblower doctor who tried to warn the world about the virus in December.
Tailwind CSS tutorial: learn how to build websites using a utility-first CSS framework (18 minute read). Tailwind is built on a new way of building user interfaces using a utility-first CSS class structure. This tutorial walks through how to install, configure, and build a responsive hero section using Tailwind CSS. It walks through configuring the project using the recommended PostCSS powered Tailwind configuration file.
Remember the Uber self-driving car that killed a woman crossing the street? The AI had no clue about jaywalkers . The first recorded death by a fully autonomous vehicle happened in March 2018, when a self-driving Uber car hit and killed a jaywalking pedestrian. An investigation into the accident found that the code didn't recognize the person as a pedestrian as they did not cross at an obvious designated crossing. The car had detected their presence, but it ignored them, classifying the person as a non-threatening object. At the time of the accident, the vehicle had a human driver at the wheel, but the driver was looking away from the road moments before the accident. The National Safety Transportation Board is set to hold a public meeting on November 19 to determine the probable cause of the collision. Uber will continue to improve the overall safety of their system by training it in scenarios that involve jaywalking, hard braking, and unprotected turns.
Neural net-generated memes are one of the best uses of AI on the internet . A website from Imgflip automatically generates captions for memes using a neural network. Users can pick from 48 meme templates and they can generate as many captions as they want. The neural network was trained using images uploaded to Imgflip's meme maker. Memes containing profanity were not filtered out of the training data, so the generated memes may contain adult language. A link to the generator and examples of generated memes are available in the article.
Chinese developers fear losing open source tech to trade war . The US-China trade war may begin to affect software developers in China as they question whether access to GitHub will be restricted. GitHub's export control rules state that the company must comply with US export laws, which may mean it must follow the same rules that restrict exports to Huawei and other similar companies. The Apache Software Foundation, another open-source distributor in the US, released a statement that said that open-source code was not subject to these trade agreements. Open-source code forms the backbone of a lot of projects, so this could have a large impact on the software industry in China.
A New Gene Editing Tool Rivals CRISPR, and Can Make Millions of Edits at Once . Retron Library Recombineering is a powerful tool that can simultaneously edit millions of DNA sequences and keep track of changes without breaking any DNA strands. Retrons are floating ribbons of DNA that can be converted into a single chain of ssDNA that can replace DNA during recombination. This technique results in the cells' progeny inheriting the target traits. The changes last through generations as cells divide.
Elon Musk is now the richest person in the world, passing Jeff Bezos . Elon Musk now has a net worth of more than $185 billion, surpassing Jeff Bezos, who is currently worth about $184 billion. Musk's wealth surge was the fastest rise to the top of the rich list in history. Tesla's share price increased more than ninefold in 2020, while Amazon's share price has remained more subdued due to the potential for increased regulation.
For the first time ever, travelers can join an expedition to the deepest spot in the oceans . The Challenger Deep is believed to be the deepest point in the world's oceans at a depth of 10,928 meters. A travel company and an undersea diving company have teamed up to offer paid spots to join an expedition to dive to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Until now, only seven people on Earth have visited Challenger Deep. Only three spots are available and they are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis at $750,000 each. The mission will take approximately eight days, with the divers spending up to four hours on the seafloor. No official date has been set for the mission yet. The submarine has been outfitted with comforts such as a 'Sky Bar' and a gym. No formal pre-departure training will be required.
Quantum internet: A revolution in knowledge is almost a reality . Physicists in the Netherlands have successfully connected three quantum devices. It is the first time a network has been constructed from quantum processors. A quantum-powered internet would allow astonishing levels of privacy and security. It would theoretically be able to supply the processing power needed to solve some of humanity's most challenging problems. Fully-realized quantum internet is still far away, but the three-node network demonstrates how quantum devices could communicate with each other to create a functioning quantum internet in the near future.
Privilege Escalation Cheatsheet (GitHub Repo). Vulnhub is a website that provides virtual machines for penetration testing. It gamifies the experience by making the goal to 'capture the flag' inside the system. This repository contains cheatsheets and walkthroughs for Vulnhub players to help them understand the fundamentals of Privilege Escalation with examples.
Rivian’s R1T electric truck brings adventure to the EV crowd . Rivian’s R1T electric truck is one of the first electric trucks to make it to the market. Starting at $67,500, the truck is built for adventure and has plenty of storage space for gear. The company also sells accessories, such as tents, that can be installed into the vehicle. With 835 horsepower and 908 pound-feet of torque, the R1T can go from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds. An in-depth video review of the R1T is available in the article.
Alphabet’s Wing launches app to manage air traffic for drones . Wing has launched an app to manage air traffic for drones. OpenSky has been approved to manage drone flights in Australia, where Wing opened its first public drone delivery service earlier this year. Air traffic management for drones is important, especially for Wing, who wants to put thousands of drones into operation. Other companies are also working on similar air traffic control systems. Wing is still trying to gain approval for drone delivery in the US. Australia and New Zealand have become the leaders in small, electric, unpiloted aviation. Wing is also conducting drone delivery trials in Finland.
Tesla can now scan for potholes and adjust vehicle suspension to avoid damage . Tesla's 2022.20 update enables Tesla vehicles to scan the road ahead for potholes and adjust the suspension for rough roads. The feature can be activated by selecting 'Comfort' under the Adaptive Suspension Damping setting. It will not affect Autopilot or Full Self-Driving, meaning that vehicles won't try to automatically steer around or avoid road damage. The update also includes a green light chime for vehicles equipped with the hardware 3.0 computer.
Google announces grab bag of new Android features for the end of 2021 . Google has announced several updates coming to Android that include new widgets for some Google apps, new Android Auto features, and updates for Google Assistant and Google Photos. Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S21 owners can now use their phones as a car key with compatible BMW vehicles in selected countries. Google's Family Bell feature is being updated to work on mobile devices, and the permissions-reset feature will start rolling out on older phones starting next month. Videos from Google explaining the new Photos widgets and the Family Bell feature are available in the article.
Google Brain, Intel, and UC Berkeley train robotic surgery AI with videos . Motion2Vec is an AI model created by researchers from Google Brain, Intel AI Lab, and UC Berkeley that is capable of learning how to do robotic surgery. It was trained with surgery videos from John Hopkins University and Intuitive Surgery, Inc. A two-minute video is available in the article that contains an overview of Motion2Vec as well as a demonstration of the model performing a suture.
Google Lens coming to desktop Chrome as new integrated image search tool . Google is bringing Lens to the desktop via Chrome browser. Users will soon be able to search images with Google Lens through the right-click menu. The desktop version of Lens allows users to crop and focus. Users can retry their search with Google Images if Lens doesn't provide the right results. The update will roll out with version 92 of Chrome.
Laser pincers generate antimatter by recreating neutron star conditions . A team of physicists has outlined a new way to create antimatter by reproducing the conditions near a neutron star using lasers. Antimatter is like regular matter except that its particles have the opposite charge. Much is still unknown about it due to its scarcity and instability. The new method involves firing two powerful lasers at a plastic block in a pincer motion, causing clouds of electrons to shoot off and collide with electrons coming the other way from the other laser. This causes a reaction that creates antimatter, which can then be focused using magnetic fields. The concept has yet to be tested, but simulations show that the principle is feasible.
Announcing Flutter 2 . Flutter 2 is now available. It has been broadened from a mobile framework to a portable framework, allowing developers to make apps for a variety of different platforms, including desktops, foldables, and embedded devices, with little or no change. Existing flutter apps can now grow to target desktop and web without a rewrite. Flutter 2 has production-quality support for the web. There are over 15,000 packages for Flutter. Flutter has an open-source toolkit for building apps.
Go read this story of tech workers who secretly work multiple remote jobs . Some tech workers have started to earn two full-time paychecks while working remotely, without letting either employer know about the other. The workers have to balance the two jobs, sometimes using paid time off to juggle the occasional big project. Many do not work more than 40 hours a week at both jobs combined. The workers are unapologetic, as they are taking advantage of a system that they feel has taken advantage of them.