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9 highlights from Snapchat CEO's 6,000-word leaked memo on survival | Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel sent out a 6000 word memo to Snapchat employees detailing how they would turn the company around as Snapchat's stock hit an all-time low of $8 per share. He says that the redesign from earlier this year was a mistake, that the company needs to focus on being a chat app instead of a newsfeed app, and that Snapchat should beat Facebook by being about your best friends instead of your broader social graph. He also believes that the company needs to focus on users in older demographics and in developing markets. He gives the company, which lost $353 million last quarter, a goal to be profitable by the end of 2019. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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DuckDuckGo opens its privacy-centric Mac browser to beta testers | DuckDuckGo has revealed a desktop browser that features a tracker blocker, email protection, and a button that closes all tabs and wipes browser data with a single click. The browser's Smarter Encryption feature will help users use HTTPS more often. It can automatically clear cookie consent pop ups while rejecting as much tracking as possible. The browser is currently only available on Mac in an invite-only beta. More information about the browser and instuctions on how to join the beta are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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MQTT vs Kafka to build an IoT architecture (Sponsor) | This tutorial is a walkthrough of an experiment where an IoT advocate pushed time series data to InfluxDB with a MQTT publisher and Kafka producer to understand the core mechanics behind each.Learn how he did it and which solution he found more powerful. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Facebook app developers leaked millions of user records on cloud servers, researchers say | Researchers from the security firm UpGuard have found a database containing hundreds of millions of unencrypted user records on publicly visible cloud servers. The records included information such as Facebook user activity, account names, and IDs. There was data for an app which included passwords to access the app. It is unknown how long the data was exposed for, but it was removed as soon as Facebook was notified of its existence by UpGuard. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A Meta prototype lets you build virtual worlds by describing them | Mark Zuckerberg recently showed off a prototype of an artificial intelligence system that lets people build parts of virtual worlds by verbally describing them. Builder Bot can create 3D scenes with sound effects and background audio. It is unknown if it generates the designs or if it uses a library of human-created models. Many unique moderation problems will come with the tech, so it probably won't be available any time soon. A video from Meta with Zuckerberg demonstrating the technology is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Researchers create breathalyzer that can detect marijuana | As marijuana laws change, the technology to enforce DUI laws has to evolve as well. A team at the University of Pittsburgh has developed a breathalyzer device that can measure THC in the user's breath. Current THC detection methods require more involved procedures that can't be performed infield, and can only detect whether the user has recently used the drug rather than if they were currently under the influence. The new breathalyzer binds THC molecules to nanotubes, which changes the electrical properties of the nanotubes. It is taught to recognize the changes in electrical current caused by THC through machine learning. The prototype of the device looks similar to an alcohol breathalyzer, and researchers hope to be able to make it available for use soon. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Letter from Tim Cook to Apple investors | Tim Cook wrote a letter to investors warning investors that first quarter earnings would be much worse than expected, at around $84 billion instead of $89-93 billion as forecasted. Most of this is because of a huge drop in Chinese demand. Other divisions of Apple actually rose 19% over the past year, but the iPhone is their primary business, and sales have been sluggish especially as battery replacements caused more people to stay with their old phones instead of upgrading. Apple stock dropped 10% on the news. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Unity and others form Metaverse Standards Forum | Meta, Microsoft, Epic Games, Adobe, Nvidia, Sony, Unity, and other companies have joined together to form the Metaverse Standards Forum, a group that aims to drive open interoperability in the metaverse. The forum is free to join and it will focus on projects like hackathons and open-source tooling. The group sees the upcoming metaverse as an interconnected system that will need standards, norms, and rules for it to operate everywhere. It is led by the Khronos Group, a nonprofit that tried to set a standard for VR APIs in 2016. | 4Miscellaneous
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Privacy Not Included (Guide) | This is a guide by Mozilla to help you with your holiday shopping. It tells you exactly what information each smart device collects (audio, video, location tracking, and a lot more), and also allows users to vote on whether or not they think a device is creepy and whether or not they're likely to buy it. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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China Grew Two Cotton Leaves on the Moon | Two cotton leaves have grown from a mini biosphere that was part of an experiment onboard China's Chang'e-4 spacecraft, which landed on the far side of the moon earlier this year. Other seeds, fruit-fly eggs, and yeast were also contained in the biosphere, but only the cotton produced positive results. The cotton died on the onset of the first lunar night as temperatures dropped to minus 190 degrees Celsius. This is the first time a seed has sprouted on the moon. The team behind Chang'e-4 plans to send more biology payloads, including some with animals, into space for future missions. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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PayPal to allow cryptocurrency buying, selling and shopping on its network | PayPal users in the US will soon be able to buy, sell, and hold bitcoin and other virtual coins on the platform. Cryptocurrency payments will be settled using fiat currencies. The feature will be rolled out in the coming weeks, with plans to expand to Venmo and some other countries in the first half of 2021. PayPal's launch is noteworthy due to its vast reach. It has 346 million active accounts worldwide and it processed $222 billion in payments in the second quarter. | 4Miscellaneous
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Bose is closing all of its retail stores in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia | Bose will be exiting the North American, European, Japanese, and Australian markets over the next few months, closing 119 stores and laying off hundreds of employees. It opened its first retail store in 1993, and its product line has since grown beyond noise-canceling headphones to include smart speakers, sunglasses that double as earbuds, and more. Bose's retail stores were a place where customers could try out its products, but the needs of customers have changed and Bose is adjusting its strategy accordingly. Employees that are being laid off will be offered outplacement assistance and severance. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Ask HN: Top three questions for a startup before accepting a job offer? (Hacker News Thread) | This Hacker News thread has some good thoughts and insights about how a person should approach their employment with a startup and how these considerations are different from working at a more traditional company. | 4Miscellaneous
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GitHub: Generate new repositories with repository templates | GitHub has introduced the ability to create repository templates in order to make boilerplate code management and distribution easy on GitHub. To create a template, users only need to select the option to mark a repository as a template, after which it can be used to generate new repositories with all of the required files and folders. Template repositories will display a ‘Use this template’ button. More features and template types will be coming soon. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Meet the first NASA astronauts SpaceX will launch to orbit | Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first astronauts to launch in SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. The pair will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 27th. They will be the first people that SpaceX has ever launched into space and the first people to launch to orbit from the United States since 2011. It is unclear when the astronauts will return home. NASA will decide on a return date once the astronauts are on board the International Space Station. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A Wild Experiment Just Got Us Closer to Exploring Extra Dimensions | Scientists from Austria have managed to measure the smallest gravitational field on record. The team demonstrated gravitational coupling between two gold spheres that measured about two millimeters across. A high level of precision was required to conduct the test. The results could lead to the development of a sensor to detect these small forces. Measuring gravity is difficult as it is very easy to overwhelm the minute signal of a gravitational field. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Google's quiet experiments may lead to smart tattoos, holographic glasses (17 minute read) | Google Research is a branch of Google that focuses on technological breakthroughs. The Interaction Lab was created to make wearables and interface technology. It has developed several technologies such as sunglasses that can project holographic icons, a smartwatch with analog hands, temporary tattoos that can turn your body into a touchpad, and more. Google has been attempting to put a wearable to market for years. Wearable devices can collect personal data on users beyond what data mining on mobile devices can produce. This article takes a look at a few of Google's many experimental products, providing a video and explanation of each invention. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Match.com connected daters to fake accounts to boost subscriptions, US regulators say | The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against Match.com alleging that the company connected non-paying users to fake accounts in order to get them to subscribe to the service. Non-paying users can't view or respond to messages, but are notified if they received a message. Many users would pay Match.com to view a received message only to find that the account that had sent the message was banned, or was soon to be banned. When users complained and requested refunds, Match.com denied any wrongdoing. The FTC found 499,691 new subscriptions that were linked to fraudulent communications between June 2016 and May 2018. Paid customers would have their messages reviewed for fraud before being notified, but non-paying customers were notified of every message, regardless of authenticity. The lawsuit also alleges that Match.com did not fulfill its promises to customers for a free six-month subscription if they weren't successful in using its service, and that the company purposefully made canceling the service incredibly difficult. | 4Miscellaneous
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Infrared Radiation From Our Hands Could Be the Future of Encryption | Chinese engineers have developed a method for using the infrared radiation emitted from the human hand to secure data. The human hand radiates infrared light, and each finger can serve as an independent infrared light source. As fingerprints are unique, they can be used as a non-copyable encryption key. Using human components as IR light sources could provide more flexibility in the way we control engineered systems. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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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. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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New Mercedes Screen Spans Nearly Entire Width of Car, Regulates With AI | Mercedes-Benz's newest electric luxury sedan will have a large curved screen that will fill the full width of its dashboard. The MBUX Hyperscreen feature will be available on the EQS sedan. It uses artificial intelligence to learn the driver's most used functions and to suggest functions. The screen can display media to the front-seat passenger while obscuring it from the driver to keep them focused on the road. Pictures of the Hyperscreen, as well as a link to a YouTube video from Mercedes about it, 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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Scientists Bemused to Find Liquid Light at Room Temperature | Liquid light is a superfluid that follows the rules of quantum physics rather than classical physics. Researchers were able to create liquid light at room temperature under ambient conditions in 2017. Liquid light at room temperature could lead to developments in the field of electronics, healthcare, data science, and many other domains. It may be possible to store liquid light and save it for later use. More information on how liquid light is made, along with videos explaining the concept, are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Biohacking Lite (15 minute read) | The body is like a battery that can be charged indefinitely. Energy is stored to be released when food becomes scarce. The mechanism is complex, with different storage/release methods for different bodily functions. Weight loss is about removing mass and stored energy, but it isn't as simple as just burning through exercise. A lot of weight is lost through breathing. When losing weight, you should use more energy than you take in, decreasing the size of the 'battery pack'. Weight can fluctuate a lot depending on water intake. In a personal experiment, the author was able to lose around 0.58 pounds per week over a year with an average energy deficit of 500kcal per day. | 4Miscellaneous
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Spotify is acquiring an audiobook company | Spotify has announced plans to acquire Findaway for an undisclosed price. Findaway is an audiobook services and distribution company that operates multiple businesses. The company pairs authors with narrators and allows creators to distribute broadly, making it a powerful platform for creators. The acquisition will make Spotify a commercial bookseller and open up new revenue streams and features for the streaming service. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Grindr Is Owned by a Chinese Firm, and the U.S. Is Trying to Force It to Sell | The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is moving to force a Chinese firm to relinquish control of the dating app Grindr because of national security concerns. The acquisition of Grindr began around three years ago, but recent changes to the scope of national security threats have caused CFIUS to take a closer look at the company. Grindr has been criticized for its sharing of users’ personal information in the past. Several US senators requested the review of the sale, stating that Grindr’s ownership by a Chinese company could put US officials at risk of being blackmailed for their sexual preferences or history. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Awesome Stacks (GitHub Repo) | Awesome Stacks is an open-source list of tech stacks for building different applications and features. Each topic has a description with a list of a few of the key tools and technologies. Some topics also link to a tutorial, starter kit, or boilerplate to help beginners. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Researchers Say ‘Anti-Solar Panels’ Could Generate Power at Night | Researchers from the University of California have designed 'anti-solar panels' which would theoretically be able to generate solar power at night. Solar panels work because they are cold compared to the sun, so they absorb sunlight and convert it into energy. The anti-solar panels reverse the process and generate energy through the loss of energy from the panels to the cool night sky. It is estimated that the panels would be able to generate about a quarter of the power of a solar panel. The next step for the scientists is to build the devices to see how well they perform. It may be possible to boost the efficiency of the cells by using materials that can better interact with longer wavelengths of light. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Nike uses AR to help you find the right fit for your sneakers | A new feature on the Nike app will be available in July. Nike Fit will measure feet size down to the millimeter by using AR technology. According to industry research, up to 60 percent of people wear the wrong shoe sizes. With Nike Fit, customers can get suggestions for shoe designs straight from the app to order online directly. Store consultants will also be able to make recommendations after scanning a QR code from the customer's phone. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Facebook announces Bulletin, its Substack newsletter competitor | Facebook just announced a newsletter product called Bulletin. Bulletin allows writers to publish free and paid newsletters on the web, to subscribers' emails, or on Facebook. Facebook won't take a fee from writers at launch, and writers retain full ownership of their content and subscriber lists. Facebook has signed up writers already to cover topics from sports to finance. Newsletter platforms are growing in popularity as they offer a way for creators to monetize their work. Bulletin is not currently accepting writers. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Here are all the new Marvel, Star Wars, and other projects Disney announced at its investor day | Disney made a long list of announcements at its 2020 Investor day that included updates on its streaming services and projects. This article contains a list of updates from the event. It includes a list of movie and TV show releases from Marvel, Lucasfilm, Disney Animation, and Pixar, as well as some other franchises. Disney Plus will increase to $7.99 per month in March, with a bundle including Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and ad-free Hulu available for $18.99. Star will be Disney's international replacement for Hulu, launching in certain European countries, Canada, and New Zealand on February 23, and Japan and South Korea later in 2021. | 4Miscellaneous
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Eager to leave Big Tech behind? Try Vultr for Free! (Sponsor) | Eager to leave Big Tech behind? Try Vultr for Free! . With 19 global locations and better price-to-performance than the other guys, it's no wonder Vultr is the preferred cloud infrastructure provider for developers like you. Now TLDR readers have access to a special offer: $100 in credit just for signing up with this link! | 0Sponsor
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AI deepfakes are now as simple as typing whatever you want your subject to say | Students at Stanford University used a combination of techniques to create software that allows users to edit a text transcript of a video to generate realistic deepfake edits. The software matches the sounds made by the actor in the video with facial expressions, and this information is used to create a 3D model of the lower half of the face. The software then changes the 3D model of the face based on the edited text transcript and then pastes it into the target video. Changes in expression, emotional content, and visual interruptions, such as a hand obstructing a clear view of the face, heavily affect the believability of the deepfakes. The development of this software is an indicator that deepfake technology is becoming increasingly accessible. Deepfakes could significantly impact our ability to trust the media we see. A nine minute video is available that demonstrates and explains the software. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Apple, Google, and Amazon are teaming up to develop an open-source smart home standard | Apple, Google, and Amazon have formed a group called Project Connected Home over IP. The group aims to develop an open-source smart home standard to ensure that any supported smart home device will work with any voice assistant. For developers, this means that product development will be simplified and costs will be reduced. The new standard will work alongside existing connectivity protocols. While not all devices will connect directly to the internet, the new standard will be based on Internet Protocol as it is ideal for sending messages between devices securely and privately. The group will initially focus on physical safety devices before moving onto other consumer and commercial devices. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Beast (GitHub Repo) | Beast is a build system designed for the purpose of power, speed, and productivity. | 4Miscellaneous
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Tesla sues former employees for allegedly stealing data, Autopilot source code | A lawsuit filed by Tesla claims that Guangzhi Cao, a former engineer at Tesla, stole more than 300,000 files related to autopilot technology before leaving the company and joining Xiaopeng Motors Technology Company Ltd, a Chinese self-driving car startup. Xiaopeng has released a statement claiming they did not know about Cao's misconduct and were conducting an internal investigation on the matter. As Tesla is currently building a vehicle assembly facility in Shanghai, Xiaopeng is now a direct competitor in the world's largest electric vehicle market. Tesla has also filed a separate lawsuit against another four former employees and a US self-driving car startup, Zoox Inc, alleging the employees stole proprietary information and trade secrets for developing warehousing, logistics, and inventory control operations. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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China's state-run press agency has created an 'AI anchor' to read the news | China's state-run press agency Xinhua has created an AI news anchor by using footage of human news anchors, then using machine learning techniques to animate parts of the mouth and face along with speech synthesis to make the host say whatever they want. Now, these "anchors" can "work 24 hours a day on its official website and various social media platforms, reducing news production costs and improving efficiency." | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Elon Musk says SpaceX will attempt to recover Super Heavy rocket by catching it with launch tower | SpaceX will attempt to catch a heavy booster using the launch tower arm used to stabilize it during its pre-takeoff preparations. One of SpaceX's goals with the Super Heavy rocket is to remove its landing legs. By using the launch tower arm, SpaceX can eliminate the landing legs from the Super Heavy design altogether, saving both cost and weight. The Super Heavy booster would also be able to launch again almost immediately. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Google bans predatory payday loan apps from the Play Store | Google has banned apps on its Play Store which offer deceptive or harmful personal loans. Some of these apps offered loans where the annual percentage rate was 36 percent or higher. The new policy, which was implemented in August, is meant to protect users against exploitative terms. Apple does not have a similar policy. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Facebook asks for public input about its plans for a content oversight board | Facebook is taking the next step in creating its external oversight board by accepting public feedback on the draft charter that was released in January. The external oversight board will overview Facebook's more controversial content policy decisions, and the charter describes how the content review board will function. Public feedback will be received through a questionnaire with a free-form portion. Facebook will accept submissions for the next six weeks and will release summarized results in June. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Moderna’s HIV Vaccine Has Officially Begun Human Trials | The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and Moderna have announced that human trials for an experimental HIV vaccine have officially begun. The first shots were administered on Thursday. While modern medicines have proved effective at slowing the spread of HIV and reducing its mortality, it is still a threat to global health. The HIV vaccine builds on the mRNA vaccine technology developed by Moderna for the Covid-19 vaccine. The human trials are expected to conclude in 2023. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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CloudQuery (GitHub Repo) | This is a cool open source point and click tool to turn any website into a serverless API on AWS. There's a gif demonstrating how easy it is to create a serverless API for Hacker News with this tool, pretty nifty. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Turkey Restores Wikipedia After More Than 2-Year Ban | The Turkish government has lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia after the country's top court ruled that blocking it was unconstitutional. Wikipedia refused to remove references to Turkey's relationship with Syrian militants and state-sponsored terrorists in 2017, which resulted in Turkey blocking the website. Free expression is protected in Turkey's constitution. Turkey has tried to block YouTube and Twitter previously, but this was also deemed unconstitutional. The rights of people in Turkey have been under increasing pressure since a failed coup in 2016. Tens of thousands of websites are still blocked, and 47 journalists remain jailed. | 4Miscellaneous
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Facebook's upcoming AR wrist controllers will hijack your nerves | Facebook Reality Labs (FRL) has unveiled a wrist-mounted controller that reads neural impulses as they travel down the arm, translating them into commands. The device doesn't require strong neural impulses and the mere intention of movement is enough for the wristband to pick up a signal. There are more neurons dedicated to controlling the wrist and hands than any other part of the body and it is a convenient place to put a device for all-day use. FRL's device can pick up millimeter-level movements in a single finger. Video demonstrations are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Twitter will soon let you choose who can reply to your tweets | Twitter outlined the policy changes that it will implement over the next few months at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show. The changes will be implemented to promote healthy public conversation and to ensure the integrity of information on the platform. Twitter's conversation interface will be updated, making it easier to follow ongoing threads. Users will be able to choose who is able to reply to a given tweet. Twitter Topics will be able to algorithmically detect events happening around the world and it will have filters to ensure compliance with community guidelines. Machine learning moderation was able to effectively proactively remove half of all abusive tweets by the end of last year. Twitter will continue to develop these abilities and also extend them to remove misleading or otherwise toxic political messaging. | 4Miscellaneous
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Undermoon (GitHub Repo) | Undermoon is a self-managed Redis clustering system based on Redis Cluster Protocol. It features horizontal scalability, high availability, cluster management, automatic failover for both master and replica, and fast scaling. An explanation of the architecture behind Undermoon is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Rocket (GitHub Repo) | Rocket is an async web framework for Rust with a focus on usability, security, extensibility, and speed. It provides routing, pre-processing of requests, and post-processing of responses. Documentation and guides are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Apple’s new M1 Max MacBook Pro may get a virtual turbo button for High Power Mode | The upcoming macOS Monterey will feature a High Power Mode in the new 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pros. High Power Mode will optimize performance to better support resource-intensive tasks. The feature will not work with any other M1 devices, even though the 14-inch MacBook Pro can use the same chip. It is unknown whether the feature will unlock additional performance or if it is required for the kind of results that Apple has claimed. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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'Siri, I'm getting pulled over': A new shortcut for iPhones can automatically record the police | One of the big new features in iOS 12 is an app called Shortcuts, which allows power users to write scripts for their iPhones. There is now a script called Police that will activate the front facing camera and save the file to Dropbox if you just say the trigger phrase, for example "Hey Siri, I'm getting pulled over." | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Niantic launches platform to build ‘real-world metaverse’ apps | Lightship is a software toolkit for building metaverse apps by Niantic. It is free for any developer to access except for a feature that lets multiple devices access shared AR experiences. Niantic has already planned a major update to Lightship for next year that includes a system that will let glasses with displays in them understand exactly where they are in the real world. The company has focused on cross-platform compatibility as there will likely be many different platforms in the world of AR glasses. | 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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Chinese internet users turn to the blockchain to fight against government censorship | Blockchain technology is one of the major computing trends that is likely to shape the world in the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum. The blockchain works by creating a network in which information is stored and verified by multiple parties. This means that once something is on the blockchain, it stays there. If anything is changed, it would be immediately noticeable. Understandably, the Chinese government is concerned with this feature, as it makes it almost impossible to censor information. In response, the Chinese government has made it clear that it values certain blockchains over others - ones which have features that allow information to be removed. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Microsoft unveils Windows Terminal, a new command line app for Windows | Windows Terminal was unveiled at the Microsoft Build Developer Conference and will be available around mid-June. It is designed to be a central hub to access environments such as PowerShell, Cmd, and the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Windows Terminal will support multiple tabs, themes, emojis, and GPU-based text rendering. Microsoft has been working to improve the developer environment on Windows. They have previously released a Linux command line for Windows and listed Ubuntu on the Windows Store. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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React-Location (GitHub Repo) | React-Location is a router for client-side React applications. It features asynchronous routing, a deeply integrated search params API, route filtering and ranking, and more. A sandbox example is available on the main website. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Apple’s WWDC Highlights: Death of iTunes and $6,000 Macs | Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is over, and as expected, iTunes is no longer. It has been split into separate apps that will focus on each of its core functions. New features that demonstrate the iPhone’s focus on privacy were demonstrated at WWDC, showing how the operating system restricts apps from collecting user data. The Apple Watch will have its own store, suggesting that in the future the Apple Watch may be able to function without an iPhone. iPad OS was also announced, with improvements aimed at capturing a larger laptop user market. Users will now be able to multitask the same app in two windows, as well as plug in external hard drives. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Bill and Melinda Gates-funded invention could invisibly solve malnutrition | A lack of micronutrients can cause malnourished people to suffer even if they don't look starved. Additional nutritional programs in malnourished communities are often underfunded. Micronutrients in food are often lost due to long cooking times or improper storage. A new capsule has been invented that can keep micronutrients protected until they are ingested. Bill Gates was personally involved in the development of the capsule, and his organization helped fund the project. The next challenge is to distribute the capsules to the areas in which they are needed. While producing the capsules might not be profitable, it may have a long-term positive effect on the economy as people who are no longer micronutrient deficient will be healthier and more productive. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Netflix was the best-performing stock of the decade, delivering a more than 4,000% return (10 minute read) | Netflix had just over 12 million subscribers paying $9 a month at the beginning of the 2010s. Today, the company has a market cap of close to $148 billion, making it one of the most valuable US companies. The stock has risen 4,181% since it was listed. Netflix runs on a thin operating margin as it is expensive to buy and invest in entertainment, and competitors are forcing Netflix to spend more to stop customers from moving to other services. It projected that it would spend $15 billion on content in 2019. Netflix has borrowed close to $10 billion in the past two years, more than doubling its debt. Some shareholders are concerned as competitors, such as Disney+, are introduced to the market. Netflix is projecting that its cash burn will drop off starting next year. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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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. | 4Miscellaneous
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Huawei Revs Up Its U.S. Lawsuit, With the Media in Mind | Huawei is fighting back against the US blocking their business from dealing with American companies through the courts and media. A motion to accelerate the lawsuit against the White House was filed on Tuesday. If successful, Huawei may have the opportunity to receive a summary judgment, allowing the company to avoid the time and costs of a full trial and handing over sensitive information. Huawei maintains that they are not a security threat and that banning Huawei would not make US networks more secure. They also claim that the ban was unconstitutional as the company was never given a chance to appeal. The ban may set a dangerous precedent, as it demonstrates the US government’s power and willingness to punish other countries and companies. | 4Miscellaneous
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This tool can track social distancing in real-time | Landing AI has developed an AI-powered tool capable of analyzing real-time video to check if social distancing protocols are being observed properly. Social distancing is the best tool we have to curb the spread of the virus until a vaccine becomes available. Landing AI's tool cannot identify individuals and is designed to only give an overview of how social distancing is being observed in a given place. While this technology might be good during a pandemic, there is a high potential for misuse. 💻 | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Structured text tools (GitHub Repo) | This repository contains a list of text-based file formats and command-line tools for manipulating them. It also includes tools for producing structured text output and CLIs for single-file databases. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Markdown-Tag (GitHub Repo) | Markdown-Tag adds support to any website for adding markdown anywhere with a simple tag. Users just have to include a script at the bottom of their HTML documents and then they can add markdown or markdown with GitHub styling. The GitHub-flavored markdown syntax is still not 100% correct. Examples and demos are available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked device lineup may have been entirely spoiled in huge new leak | Noted leaker Evan Blass unveiled a lot of the upcoming news from Samsung's next Galaxy Unpacked event in a series of tweets recently. The tweets revealed two new Galaxy foldables, a new Galaxy FE phone, two new Galaxy Watches, and a new set of Galaxy Buds. Each tweet includes a GIF that shows off the device. The event will likely take place on August 11. The tweets are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Apple and Amazon Cut a Deal that Upended the Mac resale Market (11 minute read) | On January 4, a deal between Apple and Amazon went into effect where only the largest companies and specially authorized providers were allowed to sell Apple products. Sellers logged onto the platform that morning to find that all their listings had disappeared. Small businesses without brick and mortar stores are completely barred from doing any business on Amazon, as to qualify as an authorized reseller, a business is required to have a physical store. Apple resellers are now forced to move to other platforms to sell their stock. In the past, Apple has been against people’s right to repair their own devices and this move echos that sentiment in that it attempts to block third parties from repairing and reselling hardware. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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SpaceX gets $300 million from Defense Department | The Department of Defense has announced a series of contracts totaling $738 million, including a $297 million contract for SpaceX. While the specifics of the 3 missions in the contract are classified, it is likely they will involve sending satellites into orbit for information purposes. The first mission is expected to be completed in February 2021, while the rest are scheduled to be completed in December 2021. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Sony offers a first look at the orb-like PSVR2 headset | Sony has revealed the first photos of its upcoming PS5-compatible virtual reality headset. The PSVR2 will have similar ergonomics and balancing as the first version. It will feature a lens adjustment dial, a more rounded shape, a slimmer and lighter design, a force-feedback motor, a new cooling system, and an updated white casing for the controllers. The headset will have OLED panels with 2,000x2,040 pixel resolution per eye and a 110-degree field of view, eye-tracking, and an inside-out head-tracking system. Pictures of the headset are available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Yelp is Screwing Over Restaurants By Quietly Replacing Their Phone Numbers | Yelp has been redirecting customer calls through Grubhub owned numbers before connecting with the restaurant in order to enforce a referral fee of between 15 and 20 percent of the order total. Restaurants may not be aware of the routing until they try to call themselves through the app. Grubhub offers marketing and delivery services to restaurants, and it claims that restaurants would not have received orders if the restaurant was not listed in its directory. It has also created thousands of websites in restaurants' names in order to drive more online orders and commissions for itself. Restaurants have complained that Grubhub's tracking systems were inaccurate as sometimes customers called without placing orders. Employees are also unaware that they are being recorded. In response to the backlash from restaurants, Grubhub has extended the window in which restaurants can dispute charges from 60 days to 120 days. | 4Miscellaneous
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Tesla Model 3 Spoofed off the highway – Regulus Navigation System Hack Causes Car to Turn On Its Own | The navigation systems of the Tesla Model 3 and Model S were tested with the aim of exposing potential flaws within the software. The Model S was found to be less susceptible to GPS spoofing attacks as it used different navigation software to the Model 3. Tesla’s Model 3 uses Navigation on Autopilot, which can suggest and make lane changes with driver supervision. The requirement for driver confirmations on lane changes can be waived. As the Model 3 depends heavily on GNSS reliability, GPS spoofing resulted in the navigation system behaving erratically. Tesla responded to information about the potential vulnerability by pointing out that this was a general problem with GNSS-based GPS systems, and that they plan to implement features to minimize the issue. According to security experts, attackers can potentially take over the GPS system of any autonomous driving vehicle and alter its route. | 4Miscellaneous
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China built a tower that acts like 'the world's biggest air purifier,' and it actually works | China has built the world's largest air purifier, a 100 meter tall tower to fight their smog problem. It works by sucking in polluted air, heating it up with solar energy, then circulating it through multiple layers of cleaning filters. The purifier improves air quality over an area of 10 square kilometers, and produces more than 10 million cubic meters of clean air per day. A student who lives a few hundred meters from the tower says "I can't help looking at the tower each time I pass. It's very tall, very eye-catching, but it's also very quiet. I can't hear any wind going in or out. The air quality did improve. I have no doubt about that." | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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GitHub CLI 2.0 includes extensions! | GitHub CLI 2.0 supports extensions. Creating extensions is simple, and anyone can make custom commands and extend the core functionality of GitHub CLI. Links to documentation on how to create extensions, as well as several examples, are available in the article. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Sound waves convert stem cells into bone in regenerative breakthrough | Scientists in Australia have found a way to induce stem cells to turn into bone cells quickly and efficiently by using high-frequency sound waves. Collecting the cells needed to grow bone is usually painful and the process is hard to scale. The new method is cheap, simple to use, and can be easily scaled. It uses cells that can be obtained from fat tissue and the cells it produces can be injected into the body at the required site, removing the need for drugs to coax stem cells down a path and making the process faster and more efficient. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Google reportedly keeps tabs on usage of rival Android apps to develop competitors | Google employees reportedly have access to a program known as 'Android Lockbox' that allows them to see data on how Android users interact with non-Google apps and services. The program is apparently used to keep tabs on rival services. Google is currently facing an antitrust investigation in almost every US state. The investigations are focused on the company's search and ad businesses. Google stated that it is open about its data collection activities and that users have control over the usage of their data. | 4Miscellaneous
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Grindr has been sold by its Chinese owner after the US expressed security concerns | Grindr has been sold to San Vicente Acquisition for around $608.5 million. Beijing Kunlun Tech bought Grindr in 2018, but the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States identified Kunlun's ownership of the app as a national security risk and set a June 2020 deadline for it to sell the business. The sale to San Vicente Acquisition is still pending review. Grindr has previously been accused of sharing personal data with ad companies in violation of GDPR, as well as sharing its users' HIV statuses with outside companies. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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HeyDesigner (Newsletter) | This is a daily curated newsletter for product people, UXers, PMs and frontend developers. Curated by typography, alien, and robot enthusiast Tamas Sari. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Campus is closed, so college students are rebuilding their schools in Minecraft | University of Pennsylvania students recreated their campus in Minecraft after being told that their college commencement would be held online. Students report it being a rewarding experience to be able to recreate the campus they are graduating from, allowing them a chance to properly finish out their experience. Minecraft servers and creations are now being shared on Discord, Facebook, and Reddit. Minecraft has become a place where students can log in and process the sudden loss of an on-campus community. In May, there will be in-game graduations on a server specifically created to host Class of 2020 graduations for students from hundreds of different universities. At least 278 institutions have signed up so far. | 4Miscellaneous
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Hatsune Miku is the most exciting addition to Coachella’s 2020 line-up | Coachella is bringing in Hatsune Miku, a blue-haired CGI idol that was created as part of a software that generated songs that was made in 2007. The software was released around the same time YouTube arrived in Japan, and Miku became popular as people began sharing videos of her songs. Some of these videos became so popular, her songs entered the charts in Japan. Miku has since collaborated with Pharrell and Lady Gaga and has toured around the world. Holographic performances still involve a lot of work for everyone in the team. Miku's songs are all fan-made. Creators own the rights to their work, but Crypton, the company behind the software, gets usage rights. Coachella has previously had virtual performers, such as a holographic Tupac in 2012. | 4Miscellaneous
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Ask HN : Negotiating Salary (Hacker News Thread) | In this thread, the original poster is in a situation where they had just proposed a salary to a potential employer and is now waiting for a counteroffer. While the OP will accept the offer, they want to know how to make sure they aren't missing out on getting the best deal out of the negotiation. The thread is full of negotiating tips as well as some insights from the hiring side. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Scientists Rewind The Clock of Human Skin Cells to Make Them Act 30 Years Younger | Scientists from the Babraham Institute in the UK have reset human skin cells to a more youthful state in terms of certain molecular measurements. Previous research found that it was possible to turn normal cells into stem cells, but these cells would lose their specific identity. The new technique stops before the stem cell state is reached, allowing the cell to retain its original identity and function. The mechanism behind the technique is not fully understood. The technique still needs to be tested on other types of cells in the body and assessed for safety before it can be used in clinical trials. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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‘It will change everything’: DeepMind’s AI makes gigantic leap in solving protein structures | DeepMind's AlphaFold can determine a protein's 3D shape using its amino-acid sequence. The ability to accurately predict protein structures from their amino-acid sequence enables quicker and more advanced drug discovery. AlphaFold has the potential to change medicine, research, bioengineering, and other related fields. While there are other existing methods to solve protein structures, AlphaFold enables scientists to use lower-quality and easier-to-collect experimental data to create good structures, which means that more can be achieved with less lab equipment. Some areas of research are set to flourish soon due to the enormous amount of genomic data that can now be reliably translated into structures. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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YouTube removes videos of robots fighting for 'animal cruelty' | YouTube has started taking down robot combat videos, citing that the videos are in breach of its community guidelines. Each notice of removal was accompanied with a section of the guidelines which said that the videos displayed deliberate infliction of animal suffering or showed animals that were forced to fight. A spokesperson for YouTube stated that the videos were likely removed in error through a faulty algorithm. YouTubers who have had videos removed can appeal the decision in order for the content to be reinstated. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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This Molten Salt Reactor Is the Next Big Thing in Nuclear | Elysium Technologies is a startup behind a new molten salt reactor design that can scale up to 1,200 Megawatts electric. The design uses a blend of the most cutting edge technologies. It uses up fuel in the reactor process, and it can recycle fuel from itself, other reactors, or even weapons. The reactor uses up 95% of its fuel, leaving behind fuel that is toxic for shorter periods compared to other reactors. It features low-tech and effective safety designs. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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deepfakes_faceswap (GitHub Repo) | Faceswap is a tool that uses deep learning to swap faces in pictures and videos. While the technology has the potential to be abused, the developers encourage users to follow strict ethical standards, such as not using it for inappropriate or illegal content, seeking consent from the people being swapped, and to be open and honest when a deepfake is being used in a video. A video of Steve Buscemi's face swapped on Jennifer Lawrence during a question and answer session is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Compression (GitHub Docs) | This project is a resource for people who want to learn about compression algorithms. While the world focuses on its efforts in making internet speeds faster, the art of lossless compression is becoming lost. There are still some active projects, but compression isn't really mainstream. The benefits of compression are endless, including all the benefits of faster internet speeds but with less cost as it uses existing infrastructure. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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This 2-Acre Vertical Farm Out-Produces 720 Acre ‘Flat Farms’ | Plenty is a startup in San Francisco that focuses on vertical farming technology. It uses robots and artificial intelligence in its vertical farms to optimize the farming process, with a focus on eliminating plant stress. There are limited areas in the world that can grow fresh fruits and vegetables economically, and all of that land is used up. Vertical farming can be achieved anywhere in the world as it is indoors and the environment can be controlled, producing better fruits and vegetables while using 95% less water and 99% less land. It could give independence to many areas that have to rely on imports for food. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Scientists Just Discovered That Platypus Fur Glows Green Under UV Light | Scientists have discovered that platypus fur glows in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light. Biofluorescence is rare in nature, but the scientists were inspired to look for it in platypus after it was found in the fur of New World flying squirrels while studying lichens with a blacklight. Monotremes branched off from the marsupial-placental lineage more than 150 million years ago. The presence of biofluorescent fur in platypus shows how deep in the mammalian tree the trait of biofluorescent fur is. | 4Miscellaneous
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Airbnb's new $1 billion investment comes at lower valuation | Private equity firms Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners have recently invested $1 billion into Airbnb Inc. The firms received warrants that can be exercised at an $18 billion valuation, which is below the $26 billion that Airbnb valued itself at in early March. Silver Lake is targeting a value of $40 to $50 billion to hit its return target. Airbnb's cash reserves are now around $4 billion. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A case against security nihilism | NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware has been used to target journalists and members of various nations' political opposition parties. Deploying the tool is expensive, and fighting attackers with these levels of resources can be difficult. Apple and Google can raise both the cost and risk of exploitation by improving software security. It is impossible to stop all attacks, but making them expensive and difficult will stop countries with fewer resources from launching exploits. | 4Miscellaneous
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Alleged photos of Pixel 3 Lite aka 'Sargo' leak w/ headphone jack, Snapdragon 670 | The same Russian outlet that leaked the Pixel 3 XL has now leaked photos of what it claims is the Pixel 3 Lite, a smaller, cheaper version of the Pixel 3. It is 5.56 inches just like the Pixel 3, but has an LCD screen instead of OLED. It has 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage and a headphone jack on the top. It also has the exact same cameras as the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, which is awesome for a budget phone. The report says that the phone may cost around $400-500. There are photos in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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YouTube Automatically Deletes Some Terms Critical of Chinese Regime | YouTube will automatically delete comments that contain specific Chinese phrases commonly used to criticize the Chinese Communist Party. The comments are deleted within seconds of being posted. A link to a video showing the comment deletion is available. Examples of banned phrases are also available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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China hacked HPE, IBM and then attacked clients (2 minute) | Hackers from China's Ministry of State Security breached the networks of Hewlett Packard and IBM, then used that access to hack clients of both firms. This was part of a widespread Chinese cyber attack that spanned 12 countries and began in 2014. Two Chinese nationals have been detained and indicted. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Galaxy S10 photo leak shows Samsung wireless Galaxy Buds | Samsung is expected to announce its new Galaxy S10 phone in a few weeks. A photo has been leaked showing small wireless earbuds (nicknamed ‘Galaxy Buds’) resting in a case on the back of a Galaxy S10 Plus. It appears that the headphones may charge wirelessly from the back of the phone, similar to how the Huawei P20 charges Huawei’s Freebuds 2 Pro wireless earbuds. It is unclear whether these form a new line of products, or whether it is a continuation of Samsung’s Gear IconX headphone range. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Scientists step up hunt for ‘Asian unicorn’, one of world’s rarest animals | The saola is a rare animal that belongs to an entirely new genus of the bovid family, which includes cattle, sheep, goats, and antelopes. They were discovered in 1992 and have never been seen by a biologist in the wild. Their population has massively declined due to commercial wildlife poaching, even though they are not directly targeted by poachers. Scientists are now working to find the last saolas in order to build a captive breeding program. | 4Miscellaneous
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Super Wealthy Fund Mysterious Lab to Unlock Immortality | Altos Labs is a biological reprogramming tech company. It has received major funding from the uber-wealthy, including Jeff Bezos. The company has hired some of the world's top scientists with big salaries and given them free rein on their anti-aging research. There are no hard goals or deadlines for Altos' researchers. The company says that its aim is to understand rejuvenation and to create 'great science'. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Uber’s CTO steps down as company reportedly mulls 20 percent layoffs | Uber's Chief Technology Officer, Thuan Pham, has stepped down, ending his reign as the longest-serving top executive at the company. The company has recently been actively discussing cost-cutting plans, including possible layoffs of up to 20 percent of its employees. Ride-share bookings have dropped by up to 70 percent in most major cities due to the pandemic. Gains in Uber's food delivery division have failed to cover losses for its core ride-hailing product. Uber shares have dropped by more than 50 percent in the last month. However, Uber expects to end the year with at least $4 billion in unrestricted cash, plus $2 billion in revolving credit. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Merge Faster with WorkerB for PRs Chrome Extension (Sponsor) | The average PR sits idle for 2 days! Add context to your PR & merge faster with WorkerB magic links. Get estimated review time, number of changes, & related ticket in one click! Install it today. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Salty lakes found beneath Mars' surface | The team of researchers that found evidence of saltwater beneath the southern polar cap of Mars in 2018 recently analyzed 134 new radar profiles of the planet and found evidence of several salty lakes beneath the surface of Mars. While the extreme salt content might not be hospitable for life, some extremophilic organisms could still exist there. Extremophilic organisms are found in places that are permanently cold on Earth and may also be found on other planets. Searching for life will require drilling technology that we aren't capable of sending to space yet. NASA's Artemis program could pave the way for such exploration beginning as soon as 2024. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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ARL (GitHub Repo) | This repository contains a list of the most popular repositories, sorted by the number of stars, for each of the most favored programming languages. Users can view the number of stars, forks, issues, and when the last commit was from the database. The aim of the repository is to provide the most popular examples of how to code in every language. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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California Bill Makes App-Based Companies Treat Workers as Employees | The bill to require Uber and Lyft to treat contract workers as employees has passed in California. Starting from January 1, workers must be designated as employees if a company controls how they perform their tasks or if the work is part of a company's regular business. Other states are also considering similar bills. Many app-based companies have built their businesses on inexpensive independent labor and have avoided giving employees access to basic protections like minimum wage and unemployment insurance. It is estimated the bill will cause the costs of hiring workers to rise by 20 to 30 percent. Uber and Lyft have warned that they will have to start scheduling drivers rather than allowing them to work whenever they want. This means that the number of drivers who are allowed to work during non-busy periods may be restricted as the companies can not justify the payroll costs for employees. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A Cure for Ebola? Two New Treatments Prove Highly Effective in Congo | Two experimental treatments for Ebola have proved so effective that they are being offered to all patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The treatments have a 90 percent success rate, giving hope that the epidemic in the eastern Congo can soon be stopped. A recent epidemic that started last month has infected around 2,800 known patients, killing more than 1,800 of them. People are distrustful of health workers and underreport occurrences of the disease or hide sick family members. Both REGN-EB3 and mAb-114 are cocktails of synthetic monoclonal antibodies that are infused intravenously into the blood. When treated, less than 11 percent of patients died, compared to an over 70 percent mortality rate when untreated. The epidemic has been made worse due to violence and political turmoil in the area. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Microsoft’s AI generates voices that sing in Chinese and English | Researchers at Zhejiang University and Microsoft have developed an AI that can generate singing voices in multiple languages. Deepsinger was trained using data from music websites. It can generate songs in Chinese, Cantonese, and English. The resulting voices are high quality in terms of both pitch accuracy and voice naturalness. A sample from Deepsinger is available in the article. Technology like this has already caused issues in the music industry, with Jay-Z's Roc Nation label recently filing copyright notices against videos that used AI to make him rap a Billy Joel song. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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